The Importance Of Choosing A Niche

Explaining to your potential clients what you do and who you do it for in a single sentence is vital. You should tell it briefly and as simple as you can.

This is where niching comes in. It will be able to help you clearly understand the things you want to do and the clients you want to help. In return, you can close the deals that you truly want. And the great thing about it is that you’ll be doing more of the things you love.

Niching enables you to focus on your skills and do more of it instead of being a jack-of-all-trades. Also, it’s the quickest way you can win clients since most of the time, they prefer hiring a specialist over someone offering general services.

Determining Your Niche When Starting Out

While some designers got it all figured out in terms of their design career, most people struggle to find out where they fit or what their passion is.

Working with different projects, taking on side projects, and producing work yourself, are part of the entire process. Likewise, you’ll often find out what you don’t like before even discovering what you love doing.

Also, taking on various projects is okay, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s a great way to gain experience. Nevertheless, avoid accepting every project that comes your way. Make sure to set some limitations.

Furthermore, never accept those with red flags all over that will make you feel like you’re a design robot. This occurs when your client gives you a design and requires you to straight out copy it for them. Doing so can make you feel defeated, which can lead to burnout and frustration.

So reflect on what excites you the most, what you love to do, and who you prefer working with. You’ll be able to narrow down your choice makes it easier to pick a niche by doing so.

Adopt A Business Owner Mindset

Everyone begins their career as a freelancer. And as a freelance designer, you typically do everything your clients ask you to. However, you can turn this around. You’ll be able to tell your clients what you do instead of doing what they want you to do by switching from a freelancer mindset to a business owner. And as an entrepreneur, you’ll be able to set your price and tell future clientele the elements where you’ll help them.

Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Niche?

Niching too much and not obtaining clients in that specific niche is probably one of the major fears of graphic designers about niching. But keep in mind that niching too much is practically impossible. No matter how small your choice of niche is, you’ll never run out of clients since are thousands of those in existence all over the world.

Welcome the fear and go for it. It’s nearly inconceivable that you’ll niche too much. And even if you pick a niche that goes downhill, you can change your niche. You don’t have to stick with it, and it’s fine to change your niche if it doesn’t work after trying it for a while.

Moreover, look for other individuals who have the same niche as the one you’re interested in. Analyzing them will give you an idea if you’ll gain success and profit in that particular niche. If you find that a designer or two has achieved massive success with it, then so can you.

Making The Transition

At this stage, the first order of business is to rework the message of your brand. The things you need to figure out are the following:

•  Who do you want to target?

•  Where can you find them?

•  What do they do, and what can you do for them?

•  Why are they your target, and why are you offering them this service?

When you have a clear idea of what your new branding message is, change your website copy and social media profiles. Also, you may want to keep the people in your newsletter list on the loop by emailing an announcement about the latest changes. You’re most likely to miss out on opportunities to gain new clients if you don’t inform them about these changes.

And lastly, browse your blog posts. Unpublish those that have no relation to your new niche. Make sure to center your blog around it and also on the topics you find interesting. Your readers should have no problem identifying what you do and for whom when reading your blog entries.

How To Market Your Niche

In comparison to a non-niche, it’s easier to market to a certain design niche. You can specify the design of all your marketing materials, such as your website, Facebook ads, business cards, and brochures, to ensure they appeal to your chosen niche. It will ensure that people within your design niche will be able to recognize them easily.

Moreover, you may want to do a little research on what kind of wording and visuals others are utilizing in your target niche. And then structure all your marketing materials to ensure they reflect it.

What If My Design Niche Is Not Profitable?

If there’s no money in your niche, then look for a new target market. Finding a profitable market is a must if you want your business to become profitable. When your chosen niche is not paying enough for the services you’re offering, then look for a similar market that can.

You may also consider taking projects pro bono occasionally if you’re really enthusiastic about working on a certain project but the client doesn’t have the means of paying you. Doing this enables you to run a profitable company but still do what you love. Also, you’ll be helping individuals that you actually want to lend a hand.

Niche And Not Lose Your Business

Some graphic designers are hesitant to focus on a specific service. Their biggest worry is that they may lose business to others offering a full package. But there’s a simple solution to this, and that is to collaborate with another designer.

If the focus of your service is on brand design, find someone with a focus on web design, and then partner with him. This will enable you to concentrate on what you do best while keeping your business thriving.

Be Patient And Persistent

As they say, great things come to those who wait. It will take a lot of effort and time on your part to build your portfolio of dream clients. It will not happen overnight. But if you work hard and persevere, success will come your way.

Keep in mind that it’s not always the end of the road if a client turns you down. Some companies are constantly developing new ideas and strategies, especially those big ones. So reach out to them every now and then. Show them the projects you’ve produced for other companies that you’re most proud of.

Don’t hesitate to ask them if there are any projects they’d like to discuss with you. Take a chance because you never know, that may be the time that they need your services.