The Niche Trap

Everyone told you to niche down. Pick one thing, be known for that one thing and build your whole identity around it.

So you did. Somehow the money still feels inconsistent and the right opportunities still aren’t coming. You’re doing everything right and it still feels like something is missing.

Here’s what nobody told you.

Niching down is a positioning strategy, not a business strategy. If you only built one without the other, you’ve built half a career.

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The Advice Is Incomplete

Specializing works, yes..

The market rewards clarity
Clients hire specialists

But the people who niche down and actually stay there didn’t just get good at their craft. They gained knowledge and became good at everything around it.

Negotiation
Attracting an audience
Finding clients directly
Building relationships
Reading what someone actually needs versus what they’re saying they need.

That’s not craft, that’s business and most freelancers treat it like an afterthought.

What This Actually Looks Like

My Instagram says cinematographer. That’s the positioning, the flag I’ve planted so the right people can find me.

But I also run a production company. Here is an example;

When I’m sitting across from a business owner, I’m not just selling a Cinematography services. I’m solving their problem. Sometimes that’s a DP. Sometimes it’s full production. Sometimes it’s ideas on a future product launch or sharing ideas to attract a certain audience. I move based on what they need.

That’s the business strategy and it’s what’s kept me working for almost ten years. Positioning gets you in the room, business strategy keeps you in the game.

The Two Types Who Make It

Type one niches down so precisely, and executes so well, that one lane is enough. The volume and rates inside that niche sustain everything. This is real, but it’s rare.

Type two niches their identity but diversifies their income. Known for one thing, but behind the scenes things like consulting, marketing, weddings, designer or other adjacent work that offers optional streams of income feeding the main thing. The niche is the flag. The hybrid thinking is what keeps the ship moving.

Many people who are actually making it are type two. They just don’t talk about it that way.

What You Need To Build

How to negotiate, not just quote
How to build relationships that last past one project
How to identify what a client actually needs and solve for that
How to create workflows that make your business run smoother

Hybrid thinking, forming great friendships and relationships within and outside of your circle has helped me sustain during the best and worse economic years.

So do you think niching down is the best play? What value can you add to the subject that may help someone else? Leave a comment or enter chatroom

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The Niche Trap