How to find your niche as a freelancer
A majority of us make the mistake of spreading ourselves too thin. We assume the more capable we are, the more work will come our way. I’m culpable of making this mistake, and it took me quite a while to snap out of it.
As a new freelancer, I guarantee you’re suffering from what I call “client desperation” — unless you’re coming into the game with a network of connections. You’ll essentially take on any work, as long as it doesn’t involve taking your clothes off. It may be tough to realize now, but this is actually a drawback rather than a benefit to your client outreach efforts.
Let’s work through a scenario. You’re a new freelance graphic designer, you want to specialize in UI/UX, and you’re looking to land your first client (remove friends, family, or business connections from the equation for now). You put up your bare portfolio, hand out some flyers to local businesses, and launch a few Facebook ads (not the best strategy, just using this as an example).
With a very minimal portfolio of work, why would a business owner that runs a cleaning service be interested in some designs you did for a crypto app? They could google “cleaning service designer” and find someone that matches their industry needs. Better yet, the flyer you handed out has a “futuristic” feel to it that’s better suited for startups and SaaS businesses; it probably wouldn’t catch their eye in the first place. What about the Facebook ads? Surely the thousands of impressions should garner some attention. You targeted 10 different interests and behaviours because you don’t know what excites your ideal client.
See where I’m headed? Niching down makes all of these outreach strategies easier, and that’s not the only advantage. Take me for example, my first ever client was a local construction company. Coming from a blue-collar family, I knew how to speak to them on the phone and what problems they were likely facing. I wasn’t aware of the importance of a niche at this point, so all of these benefits blew right over my head.
Selecting a niche also provides you the opportunity to be “the go-to guy/girl.” You’ll have clients handing out recommendations left and right because you know your sh*t. You have the opportunity to become an expert in “your field.” Don’t underestimate this, it has been hugely impactful for me in recent years.
Now for the meat and potatoes: choosing your niche.
Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to niche down your freelance venture. How exactly do you choose a niche? You have so many interests, and you want to work with brands in several industries. I get it. And you can. But you must walk before you run. For now, focus on just one, there will be plenty of time to expand later, and you’ll have the funds to execute by then as well.
So, follow along. Firstly, write down at least 5 personal interests, then write down 5 industries that you’d like to perform work for. If one interest matches an industry, boom you have a niche. If more than one match, order them by what interests you most. I stumbled upon this strategy on Twitter, and I figured it was a good little exercise for beginning freelancers.
If you’re like me, none of these really match up or make sense.
What I did was a little different, I struggled for several years just taking any work that came my way. I freelanced my way through school and learned plenty of programming languages, frameworks, and tools along the way. Early 2016(?) I became engulfed in React. Two years later, that’s technically my niche. I’m a React developer. I still take on the odd WordPress project, but for the most part, companies contact me to produce React projects.
This is an option that’s often overlooked as well. If you focus in on one single paradigm of programming — let’s say react — you can become an expert in that field. In certain areas, if you google “React freelance developer” you will run into my business. I also have a litany of projects that I can use to display my proficiency to potential clients.
No matter what strategy you use to select a niche, I guarantee you will see results faster if you’re just starting out freelancing. Perhaps this can apply to other freelance fields and not just development/design — wedding photographers for example.
If you need help niching down your current business, please feel free to DM me on twitter.
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Also, if you want to accompany me on this journey, follow me on twitter.
