Finding Your Niche
Maybe you're sick of researching "finding your niche", or maybe (like me) you still feel like you can't pronounce "niche" correctly. Either way, I think it's important to talk about, so let's dive in.I've seen a lot of buzz about finding your dream customer, and really OWNING your niche. It's solid advice, but to be honest, after a lot of analyzing, I realized that my clients don't fit a mold. I work with art directors, small business owners, couples, universities, manufacturers, others designers, and so on. What I realized, is that my work attracts a certain type of project, regardless of the industry. I've learned that my "niche" might not be a specific industry or type of person, but my clients still have a common thread.I recently found a new face on instagram, their work was incredible, but their bio left me thinking. Their bio said they were a graphic designer, specializing in "branding, print, social, web & more". How can someone actually specialize in THAT many things? If you're specializing in everything under the sun, how is it special?! Specializing should be special! This is how I'd like to think about my "niche". When I first started my freelance career, I took every job - you had a problem, I would figure out a solution. It was a great way to find out what I liked working on, build up my portfolio, and stay busy. Now, after a few years under my belt, I'm lucky to be able to cater to specific projects, or clients that feel like the right fit. I don't advertise web design services, because I'm not seeking those types of projects, but I still work on them every so often. Typically it's a client I've worked on something else with, and they want me to continue the project into web. I'll even call in an expert and get to collaborate with an even more talented team, which is always exciting. I've purposely taken web design projects out of my portfolio, and have an awesome list of talented web designers if an inquiry lands in my inbox for web-only.What attracts people to my work? I'd like to think that they are looking for something playful, personalized, crisp and type heavy. Hopefully they also like puppies, dessert, and black and white everything. I want to know what attracts people to YOUR work? What makes your work special? Why do people want to work with YOU?