Mar 20, 2021
Seeking clarity in the niches
I wanted to get clarity on what type of clients should I work with? how to niche down? and what industry should I work with the most?
A conversation starter,
I went to Selma Mekuii a strategic brand designer to learn more about her positioning and eventually figure out mine as well!
Why is this important to you?
- To avoid the competition as much as possible (hint: partner with them instead)
- To Build recognition patterns in problem solving
- To gain authority and charge higher prices
“Amateurs give advice, experts diagnose”
We started diagnosing the problem to find it’s routs by reverse engineering the current client state, here’s a role play:
Myself: Who is your target client?
Selma: Mid to large companies who pays $X
Myself: Do you have a specific industry (niche) to work with?
Selma: No, I just set limitations on the demographics of a specific client persona (this is the gap)
The gap:
Her target client wasn’t well positioned it was too broad and not based on a specific niche industry.
Myself: So you must have a lot of competition, why would they choose to work with you? (distinctive factor)
Selma: I have a unique style, I’m very good when it comes to minimalistic logo design
Myself: That’s great! but I’ll be honest with you, that, on its own, will not bring you those high end clients that you want, will it?
(Facing the objection by letting her say the answer instead of me telling her what to do)
Selma: I agree, it does not bring me those kind of clients
Myself: Listen, very few succeed on getting high end clients doing general and none-customizable work, you have to be at the top 1% of minimal logo designers in the world to get those kind of results
(prescribe)
But there is a shortcut!
Specialization
In order to get those types of clients, you need to narrow down your client’s choices and make it easy for them to find you and even easier to work with you. That’s why you have to specialize
If you can answer these questions, you’ll know how to position yourself and better serve your clients:
· What’s your passion? what are your hobbies? what do you do in your empty time? what do you think when you’re doing nothing?
______________________
· Who did you work with in the past and what did you enjoy in the most? (collect data)
______________________
· What did you love to do as a kid? what activities did you enjoy the most?
______________________
· What’s your desired future state? where do you see yourself in 5–10 years from now?
______________________
· Who are you responsible for helping? If you have all the money you need, what cause will you seek, who would you help?
______________________
After having this conversation, Selma could find her voice and this is her result:
”I love lipsticks and fashion clothes from brands like Gucci, I like to take care of my health and my child’s wellbeing and all my past clients were 80% female
I want to work with empowering women who owns a beauty / fashion brand”
Inception
I’ll leave you with this dangerous “idea” of inception
This isn’t a rule of thumb but did you notice that the none creative-ish industries like pharma, health, law etc… have a tendency to pay high rates
Why?
because there is a lot of help calls from those industries but limited responds, creative people tend to lean for” “cool” gaming, tech, “shiny syndrome” projects
-I felt for this trap-
I tried to catch a deal with “cool” brands like Apple, Microsoft and Xbox and I was either rejected or ignored because of the huge demand on their end
You would be considered lucky to build a portfolio case study with an Apple-ish brand on it, don’t mention the risk of doing it for free to get your ticket in
I’ll leave you with this question,
Would you go on a hunt for shiny brands
or a small niche that actually need your help?
Specialization is a very deep subject, I’ll leave you with this article to learn more about it:
https://2nomads.org/blog/entrepreneur-guide-niching-down/
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