How To Find Your Niche In 3 Easy Steps
There is a quote you may have heard before – the riches are in the niches.
And I could not agree more. Finding your niche is a VERY important step when beginning your entrepreneurial journey. It simply means getting clear on your 'what' – a very specific product or service, your specialty, and that which you will be best known for.
Examples: when you think about personal development, you think about Tony Robbins. Glowy make up? The first thought immediately is Charlotte Tilbury. James Oliver for food, Seth Godin for marketing, Pamela Reif - for workouts videos, and the list goes on.
To some people defining their niche might sound like a limitation. However, rather than being constraining, niching is actually rewarding and freeing.
No more scratching your head thinking what you should talk about on social media and feeling all over the place. A well-defined niche will help your business to stand out amongst the others and attract a specific target audience – your ideal clients.
Sound good, right?
Then let's get into the fun part - how do you actually find your niche? By following three super-simple steps.
Let's jump in.
3 Steps That Will Help You Find Your Niche
Step #1: Get To Know Your Beautiful Self
First, defining your niche has a lot to do with you. I know, I know, this might sound a bit selfish, but let's be honest here – your niche will be your 'sweet spot' and your 'happy place', so have to make sure you enjoy it.
The reality is that the process of finding your niche involves a lot of genuine soul-searching and self-assertion. If you want to get clear on your niche, you first have to get clear on your passions, strengths, skills, and experience.
My biggest recommendation here is this – WRITE IT DOWN.
If you are a multi-passionate person like me, your head is exploding with endless ideas and possibilities. So, the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey might feel chaotic and all over the place. However, as soon as you put that pen on the paper, I promise some structure will start to appear.
Begin by answering some simple questions:
- What are my passions?
- What do I enjoy doing the most?
- What comes easily to me?
- What are my skills and talents?
- What do I have experience and expertise in?
- What do I wish I could do every day?
- What type of advice/help do people come to me for?
- What do people tell me I am good at?
After answering these questions (by writing them down) it is time to analyze them. Start searching for what your answers have in common. Pay attention to any connecting points, keywords, and reoccurring themes. This, my dear, is what you are looking for.
My secret trick:
If, after performing this task, you still lack clarity and struggle to narrow your niche down, visit websites such as Umedy or Skillshare. These online platforms are selling courses from almost all fields you can imagine. After choosing the main niche, check-out its sub-categories to explore the possibilities to narrow down your main niche. For instance, if your niche is marketing, you might want to narrow down even more. Just a quick search on Udemy shows the most popular niches within marketing:
Yes, the marketing niche is still too broad. What about picking any of the suggestions above and focusing just on it for a while? I promise this is how you will become known and gain that "on top of the mind" awareness real fast.
Step #2: Get To Know Your Audience
After getting a clear(er) idea of what your niche is, it is time to do your homework. The thing is, as much as your niche is related to you and your passions, your hard-work will use its point if nobody cares about it. In other words, you need to check if there is a market for your idea and what it looks like.
My best tip here is to simply go online - figure out where your ideal customer hangs out and start taking notes. Look out for any clues suggesting what problems, struggles, and questions your target audience has. Gathering this information will help you to adjust your niche to the current demand for your product or service.
My secret trick:
- Go on Pinterest.
Look out for any boards where users are pinning any content related to your niche and what posts get most pins.
- Join Facebook groups.
Search for online communities around your niche and follow their activities. Check - what do people discuss, what questions are being asked? Take notes and create educational content that responds to these questions and dilemmas.
- Explore online forums.
Search Quora and similar websites to research forums about your niche and explore relevant discussions. Hanging out in places where your ideal customers spend time is the best way to get to know them.
- Google away!
Use tools such as Google Trends and Google AdWords keyword planner to research keywords and the most popular searches in your niche.
- Use answerthepublic.com
This website is amazing. You can put any word, and you will get results of what people are looking on the internet in relation to this keyword. For instance, we put "Instagram" and that's the results we got:
This information gives you endless content ideas. Look - I just put the word "Instagram" and this website presents me so many ideas of Instagram-related content that other people are actively searching for.
So just write a word related to your niche, pick any of these results, and create some content around it. This will ensure that your content is relevant to your audience, and they will be very excited about it.
I said that content creation doesn't have to be so hard, right?
Step #3: Research Competition
Besides finding proof that your target audience exists and getting to know it, you should also research your competition.
Before I scare you away, let me tell you that the presence of competition, in this case, is actually a good thing. It means you have picked a demanded and profitable niche!
Analyzing your competitors helps you to identify what is lacking in the market and how you can fill that gap. It allows you to set yourself apart and create a unique position for you and your offer in your chosen niche.
My secret trick:
Create Google Spreadsheet and write down IG handles, websites, or other social media platforms of your competitors. Write down comments. What do you like about them? What is their offer? Price range? This will help you to get a clear picture of how you can stand out and differentiate yourself.
Final thoughts
Lastly, let me give you a little final disclaimer – niche is not forever. Although it feels and sounds committing (in fact, it is), you always have the freedom to change, adjust, re-discover, and expand.
With time, our visions and ambitions tend to grow, so re-thinking your niche is natural. I started from the wedding planning niche as I opened my first wedding planning business six years ago. As my knowledge grew and my interests expanded, I began shifting towards entrepreneurship, social media, personal branding, which is my niche for the last two years. So trust me, it is totally doable.
Want to learn more about social media and owning your niche? Then grab my FREE 22-pages Personal Brand guide. You will discover my favorite apps, perfect Instagram bio formula, most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make, and so much more. I know you're going to love it.
And remember, whether you are just starting your entrepreneurial journey or are ready for a complete change – I am here to help.