I learned long ago that when it comes to your business, understanding how to leverage your brand goes a long, long way. However, knowing and doing are two totally separate things.
I for one didn’t fully embrace my brand of being an illustrator (and nothing else) until the beginning of this year.
Before, I was the jane of all trades offering everything that involved visual and graphic design. Yet no matter what I did, or how well I did it, people were more interested in my illustrations.
So instead of embracing the urge to yell “BUT I’M SO MUCH MORE!!!!”, I decided to niche down.
What is niching down? It’s the practice of focusing on one main thing/subject/theme/topic/offering.
In niching down, I dropped the services that brought me the most headaches and that was web design — bye bye CSS!
Then I updated my online portfolio to reflect the new direction I was taking.
Finally, I raised my prices knowing I needed to compensate for what I thought I was about to lose as I wasn’t offering the same packages as before.
My results… less stress, better clients, working on fun/rewarding projects and having more free time. This can’t be life… but it is!
Recent Client Work for The Curvy Critic – www.thecurvyfilmcritic.com
You see, with niching down you’ll be better able to attract the right people looking exactly for what you have to offer. We all see this in some form or another in our everyday lives.
For example, if you wanted a romantic candlelight dinner, I’m sure going to McDonald’s doesn’t come to mind first, if at all. That’s because McDonald’s didn’t brand themselves in the specific niche of romantic dining when it comes to food services.
In knowing what you want, you go to the places that have what you want. That’s the same mindset your ideal clients have when they need to retain certain services or products from a business.
With your own business, you want people to come to you for a specific reason so niching down is actually a good thing.
And don’t worry if niching down is cramping your style because once you’ve attracted your ideal client, upselling them will be a breeze (considering your additional products and services are a complimentary add-on)!
So how do you niche down?
Answer the following questions to see in what ways you can niche down in your business:
- Start with what you know well.
- Does it come easy to you?
- Is it something you can do better than others?
- Can you package it?
- Do you enjoy doing it?
- Identify who would benefit the most from what you know.
- Who is your ideal customer?
- Where are they located?
- What are they into?
- Why would they choose you?
Written by Daveia Odoi, Your Visual Branding Advisor and owner of DNT Dynamite Design, LLC / The DynaSmiles® by DNT
