Niche, like Quiche

What it is, why you need it, and when to stop

Hi Cringers,

I have some exciting announcements, so here are extra exclamation marks!!!

First, I’m doing a brand partnership with Stampfans, a “snail-mail publishing platform for writers!(!!!)”

For $6/month, you can get an old-fashioned snail-mail letter every month from Yours Truly (the name of my Stampfans account).

If you’ve been enjoying the more humorous/storytelling writing I’ve been sharing here and on LinkedIn, you’ll want to sign up.

I’m hoping to get 100 subscribers by the end of this month, so please sign up and pass it on to any friends who might be interested! StampFans sends to US, UK, and Canada addresses.

As for Cringe Letter, don’t worry it’s not going anywhere, but it will be more focused on personal branding, which is probably why you signed up for this newsletter in the first place.

To kick off this new Cringe Letter chapter, I asked my connections on LinkedIn to share their burning questions about personal branding.

So, let’s get into it.

The first question comes from Alice Ramsay, who asks about niching:

Tell me about it…niche, niche, niche, niche, NICHE!

If you follow any solopreneur or personal branding accounts on LinkedIn, you’ve undoubtedly heard this more times than you care to count.

For those out of the know (or who have lives off LinkedIn…as if), the basic idea is you need to niche to stand out and attract clients.

For instance, better to say you develop apps for turtle owners in Nebraska than “I make apps.” 

The thinking is the more specialized you get, the less competition you have, the more likely you are to attract clients because you’ll be offering the specific solution they’re looking for. 

The problem is it’s not always as easy as it sounds...

Often when I talk to people they feel paralyzed by this idea that they have to have it all figured out before they market themselves.

This is why the “Niche, niche. niche!” advice can sometimes do more harm than good.

Yes, if you have a specialty already and can niche, it probably makes sense to do so, but if you don’t and you’re feeling paralyzed, know that niching takes time.

It’s totally normal to not have all the answers right away, especially at the beginning.

Just look at my niching journey:

• Content Marketer

• Content Creator’s Content Creator

• Personal Branding Strategist for Unconventional Solopreneurs

• Personal Branding Strategist for Neurodivergent Solopreneurs

I’m still figuring it out! But it was only through posting, getting feedback, and talking with people that I began to identify my strengths and ideal clients.

So don’t let the niche shaming stop you from getting started. 

If all you know is that you want to develop apps, start there. Aim to get narrower as you go.

Also, keep in mind that there are several ways to niche, and to niche within that niche, including:

• Industry

  • I develop apps for EdTech companies

• Geography

  • I develop apps for EdTech companies in Nebraska

• Approach

  • I develop apps for EdTech companies in Nebraska using my 3-step usability framework

• Audience

  • I develop apps for EdTech CMOs in Nebraska using my 3-step usability framework

• Delivery

  • I develop and deliver apps with 24-hour turnaround times for EdTech CMOs in Nebraska using my 3-step usability framework
    

But do you see the problem here? Sure, you COULD niche, then niche again, then niche another time, then eat some quiche, BUT at a certain point, there is such a thing as too much niche (and quiche).

This is why it pays to take it slow when niching. You want to niche enough that you’ll start magnetizing your ideal clients, but not so much that you’ll put yourself in a tiny box with the two turtle-owning Edtech CMOs in Nebraska and cap off your market after a month.

Niching at “Develop Apps for EdTech Companies in the Midwest” is a good start. If this person were my client, I would tell them to pause there. That’s industry-specific and regionally specific enough to help them stand out without over-filtering their market.

So my advice to anyone feeling the pressure to niche is this: Get specific, but not too specific, especially at first. 

Pay attention to what you enjoy doing, who you enjoy working with, the gaps in your industry, and the questions people ask you. Look at others in your space. Who’s making money? What are they doing? How are they doing it? How could you do it better?

Observe, talk with your ideal clients, and stay curious. Be willing to experiment several times before you find your niche and know it will evolve as you go.

Did you find this helpful? Reply to this post and let me know, along with your favorite quiche flavor.

P.S. Do you need help building your brand? I offer 1:1 personal brand consulting, marketing support, and LinkedIn profile design. Visit isabelsterne.com to learn more and book, or reply to this email to set up a free 15-minute discovery call.