When you get started in running your own business, you will be faced with one question pretty quickly: Should you pick a niche?
For me, it wasn’t even a question. I came out with loads of contacts in the tourism industry and I leaned into that. And social media marketing was in its infancy at the time, so I had no choice other than to be a generalist. People were still struggling with what social media marketing actually was that they expected anyone who engaged with it to do everything. So that’s what I tried to do.
But times have changed. And I like to think my views on this have matured based on experience.
So what do I think about niches now? Let’s talk about it.
Pros about being a generalist
This isn’t great, but there is still an expectation among many potential clients that they can just hire a social media consultant who can do everything. So teaching yourself a little bit of every aspect like videos, content planning, etc. can really cater to the expectations of these clients.
Being a generalist can also leave you open for more jobs. When you can do a bit of everything, you have a foot into more jobs than you might otherwise.
And when it comes to the types of clients you work with? In that case, having a wide variety can protect you against industry problems. For example, there was a point where I had nothing but tourism clients. When was this? Just before the pandemic hit. Pretty quickly I went from having nothing but tourism clients to no clients at all while tourism tried to figure out what was going on and what the next steps were. I couldn’t have seen it coming, but I wouldn’t have hit that rock bottom if I had been more of a generalist when it came to clients.
Negatives about being a generalist
If you try to be good at everything, you’ll be good at nothing. I want to rage against this, but it’s just a fact. You can only know a little of everything or a lot of one thing. You just simply don’t have the capacity to know it all or keep up on the latest of everything that happens on social media.
You’re also going to have to do work you don’t enjoy. Maybe you really enjoy writing but the project calls for video. Video is not that exciting for you to create, but because you’re a generalist, you have to do it. Do you really want to not do something you enjoy in favor of something you’re meh at? Here’s a clue: You don’t. Life is about enjoying what you do and this won’t get you there.
Of course that’s not to say you shouldn’t do anything that doesn’t bring you joy. There are concessions of course. But if you absolutely hate doing something, you need to figure out how to not do it regularly.
As far as clients go, you should absolutely love who you work with, because it will come through on your work. If you can’t fall in love with them, then your work just will suffer. Being a generalist may leave you open to all kinds of work, but that also means it can leave you open to the wrong kind of work. You could get inquiries from work that doesn’t align with your values or that you just don’t have interest in for whatever reason. Fielding those inquiries can use up a lot of valuable time.
Pros about picking a niche
One of the best parts of having a niche is that you can focus on the things you do really well and love. And if that’s what’s true about your work, your whole life will feel better and just a tad easier.
Changes are easier to track because you are locked into one area rather than loads of areas. So you’re more likely to be on top of exactly what is going on in that area, whereas others are steps behind you.
And if your client base is well-defined, you are more likely to only be contacted by those who are a good fit. And those who are not are more easily identifiable. So you are spending less time working with potential clients who you just don’t want to work with.
Negatives about picking a niche
Look, it’s not all rosy when you pick a niche.
Like I said before, I lost all of my clients when the pandemic hit because I was in one niche. If you want to prevent yourself from a catastrophe because of a major industry change, do not do what I did. You’ll end up with the pieces of a business. Trying to figure out if they can be put back together again is not fun.
You will also have a much smaller amount of clients to draw from. If you’re focused on doing one or two things or you will only work with clients from specific industries, you have to make sure you have enough clients to draw from who will be interested in what you offer. And if the economy changes, will that pool still be large enough? Or should you start looking at increasing your offerings and/or your industries to make sure you are safe?
Where I Am Now
The truth is that you are never safe when you are working for yourself. But you can put some safeguards in place. And for that reason, I tend to go towards a middle approach between being a generalist and picking a niche.
If you ask me what my business is focused on, I would say writing, community building and content marketing, especially within the tourism and nonprofit spaces. I’m a little general and vague with this answer for a reason: I’m trying to cast a wider net to capture something new that interests me. In reality, I will take something outside of my current industries. And I will look at opportunities in areas such as influencer marketing or other social media-related projects. They’re just not what I will lead with, because I’m out here looking for my perfect clients first. But if a non-perfect client catches my eye, I’m open.
It’s not perfect, but it’s where I am now. And that may be because of the economy and too many people going after the same roles. Let’s hope that changes in 2025 and we can all settle into a more perfect working life for ourselves.
Are you a generalist or have you picked a niche? Do you think you’ve picked the right path or would you go back?