How to Choose a Niche in Your Creative Freelance Business

To niche or not to niche. That seems to be a big question for many creative freelancers like copywriters and designers, coaches, and content creators who are aspiring to be influencers or at least start making money off of their content.

Here’s how the dictionary on Google defines niche:

niche

/niCH,nēSH/

noun

1. a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment.

“he is now a partner at a leading law firm and feels he has found his niche”

1. a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.

“he believes he has found a niche in the market”

In our case, definition number 2 seems to be the most fitting. “A specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.”

I like this definition because you can make it as general or specific as you want. Just like you can make the niche of your business and general or specific as you want. That’s the beauty of entrepreneurship – there are no rules!!

I’m going to offer some suggestions, but that’s all they are. Suggestions. Take what feels good and leave what doesn’t.

Your Mindset Around Having a Niche is the Most Important Part

So many of us – myself included – take the advice of other “experts” very literally. When I was first starting out I was binging free content 24/7. I was listening to all of the podcasts and I was actually implementing a lot of what they were teaching me. I learned so much from that experience, and some of it worked, and some of it didn’t.

Through the successes and failures of my business, the major lesson that I have learned is to listen to my intuition first and foremost and make decisions that align with my values. PERIOD. If you find yourself choosing a niche just because you think that it will make you a lot of money or because some trend report came out saying that it’s going to be very popular, but deep down something feels “off,” you have to listen to that feeling. It might work out, but in most cases, it leads to burnout and resentment of your business.

Benefits of Niching Down

The word “niche” might sound limiting to you. Like you’re going to be restricted from working with some clients or industries, but there are legitimate benefits. Especially when it comes to content creation. It’s just EASIER to create messaging around a specific, targeted audience.

On an energetic level, you’re making it easier for your subconscious mind to understand what it is you want, and help you make choices and take actions to accomplish those goals. The subconscious mind loves SPECIFICITY, so choosing a targeted niche in your business is like using the wiring in your brain to your advantage.

Niche Down Your Services

One way to niche down your business is to only offer a select amount of services. Remember: just because you “can” do something, doesn’t mean you have to offer it as a service. I have fallen into this trap so many times, and it leads to so much frustration and resentment. Take a look at your services and decide which ones you enjoy doing most. 

Then run some numbers. Take into consideration how much money they are worth (aka what the market will actually pay for them), how long these services take you to complete (aka investment of your time), how much time you have in your schedule, and if all that adds up to meet the needs of your budget. Play around with all of these and take a moment to notice how each scenario FEELS in your system. Our body is constantly communicating with us but we have made it a habit to ignore it. Slow down and feel into your niche and make decisions from a calm and regulated place.

Niche Down the Industries and People You Serve

Another way you can niche down is by picking an industry. Are you a copywriter for Saas companies? Are you a launch strategist for online coaches? Are you a coach for women who are looking for love? When you pick an industry you can really use targeting, keywords, and the algorithm to your advantage too. The robots will notice that you are creating content that helps this specific niche, and know to push your content to that specific crowd.

And energetically, your subconscious mind is going to love the clarity, and so is the universe. Did you ever notice how when you see a pregnant person you start seeing a million? Or you see a yellow car for the first time in months and all of a sudden there are yellow cars everywhere? Yeah – it’s the basic law of attraction. The same can happen in your business, too. If you pick a certain group of people to speak to and digitally surround yourself with, the universe will end up sending you more of those people in totally unexpected ways.

YOU ARE THE NICHE!

Remember that you get to take all of this advice and use it however you want. You are the niche, even if there are other people in “your niche.” They’re actually not. Is a “niche” even possible? Technically yes, but no one is going to do things exactly the way you do them. No one has your exact hobbies, interests, style, and sense of humor. Infuse all parts of yourself into your brand and marketing! If it feels good to you, post it. Talk about it. Don’t worry about the people who aren’t hiring you and focus on the ones who are destined to hire you. Showing up with authenticity is the BEST way to serve your niche.

Want More Support? Let’s work together!

If you are looking for 1:1 support in your online marketing, I got you. I specialize in helping online entrepreneurs and B2C businesses. Booking a 1:1 Strategy Intensive with me is a GREAT way to start, and I offer a variety of copywriting and consulting services as well. Have a look at all of my services here, and reach out so we can chat!

Want to connect with other passionate female copywriters, grow your network to get new leads, improve your craft as a writer, and have a safe space to vent about clients? Join us in the Copywriting Girls Club! It’s our private girl gang on Facebook, and we would love to have you in there to share your zone of genius.