The first thing I thought when I learned that my energy type affects my business is “well…shit.” Because I had such a negative outlook on being a Projector in business. I had barely any knowledge about what this was going to mean for me overall, I didn’t know how the heck invitations were supposed to work in business, and I didn’t want to niche down because it felt like putting myself in a constrictive box.
Now, today we won’t go into everything I just laid out, but we will go into the whole Niche dilemma. And I’ll get to the rest of those topics in the future.
If you haven’t read the blog post or listened to the episode about Invitations yet, go check that out after you’re done here. I have a very different perspective on invitations that you may never have been told before – and it’s one of the secrets to your projector magic!
What’s a Niche?
Niche, (pronounced knee-shh or nee-sh), is an area or topic that you excel in and know at great lengths that’s specific to either the type of people you help or the problem you help solve.
For example, Business is not a niche. It’s a category.
You can niche down three ways:
- Work specifically with one area of challenges that you solve – regardless of who encounters the challenges.
- Work specifically with a certain group of people – regardless of what challenges you’re helping them solve.
- Do both so that you’re working with a specific group of people who have a specific set of challenges you help them solve.
For example, let’s say you’re a Pilates instructor. You could help Expectant Moms (that’s your who) that want to stay fit during pregnancy with Pilates (that’s the solution to the challenge they could be looking to solve).
There’s many different ways to niche down. These are two specific ways, but you could stay broader as well.
To Niche or Not to Niche – That is the Question
MY personal opinion is: YES.
However, hear me out because I don’t mean to go dig yourself a small hole of one topic.
Here’s the baseline question I like to ask:
- Does it feel constrictive to you?
If it feels like too small of an area for you to be in, broaden up. If it feels like there’s wayyy too much to cover so you’re not really covering anything, niche down.
Ideally, you’re looking for YOUR sweet spot. And your sweet spot will look different than others. And that’s okay!
The best part is that you don’t have to niche down right away.
Start with what you DO know
If you’re not ready to go niching down because you aren’t sure about it yet, then don’t go too deep. ESPECIALLY if you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur.
Every single person who has started a business has pivoted, even if they don’t readily or up front tell you that they have.
It takes time and testing to figure out what works best for you. Give yourself permission to pivot. Give yourself permission to test out different things. No one else cares if you pivot; BUT they WILL care if they can tell you hate what you do. That kind of energy isn’t fun to be around.
So if you don’t know exactly who you want to help yet, don’t niche yet.
If you don’t know exactly what problem you solve yet, start with a category instead.
As you go and as you create content, you’ll figure it out by feeling whether you like to talk about certain things.
Pivot, Pivot, Pivot!
Anyone else having Friends flashbacks to Ross as they’re carrying the sofa up the stairs? No? Just me?
Live by this: Each time you take a step forward, you’re one step closer to figuring it out.
For me, I pivoted over 30 times in under a year. Why so many? BECAUSE I HADN’T FOUND THE RIGHT ONE YET.
AND as a plus, since I didn’t hold myself back from pivoting, I was able to take as many steps forward as I needed to in order to get where I am today. And I’m so freaking glad that I didn’t take multiple years to do it!
There’s NO shame in pivoting.
The only one stopping you from taking steps towards your future is YOU.
The only one judging your progress is you.
Think of it this way: The ones who say ANYTHING negative to you about your journey are the ones who AREN’T on a journey of their own. Because the ones who are on their own journey don’t have the time or care for what you’re doing since they’re focusing on themselves.
Another gem: Don’t take insult from those you wouldn’t even take advice from.
Just saying!
What it looks like IRL
Let’s say you eventually will want to be that instructor we talked about earlier.
If you don’t know that you want to teach Pilates yet, start with Fitness.
Start creating fitness content on your platform of choice.
When you’re creating this content, you’ll realize “wow, I like creating [this] type of content more” and do more of that.
When you start working with people, see which people you enjoy working with the most.
These are the ways to keep taking steps forward.
You’ll end up going from Fitness to Low Impact Fitness to Mindful Fitness to Yoga to Pilates. Not specifically these or in this order, but you see how it went down in niche across the progression. That’s what you’re doing.
Allowing it to progress naturally.
And that’s actually the last big thing we’ll talk about.
Don’t force it
Too many times I see people force themselves to fit in a box they didn’t even care for in the first place.
The more you allow yourself to natually move forward, the faster you’ll find your niche.
I know it seems counterintuitive, and as a Projector it may be hard to trust and lean back, but that’s the BEST, fastest, and easiest way you’re going to find what’s right for you.
Final Thoughts
So overall, should you as a Projector niche down?
Yes. But only to your sweet spot.
If you have questions on this, let me know! We’ll dive deeper in the future, this is just the basis. And tell me, are you a projector in business? Do you have a niche or do you despise the niche down idea?
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