I'm a Real Pain in the Niche

Why are niche-less writers shunned by the online business community?

This one’s for the entrepreneurial writers.

Time for an about-face. (Photo by Claudio Schwarz)

You’ve heard all the advice:

• Pick a niche

• Write to one person

• If you write for everyone, you write for no one

🙄

Now that those platitudes are being spouted by damn near everyone, it is crystal clear that they are 300 pounds of horseshit. Yeah, I said it.

I’ve become allergic to those instructions. Hives. Instantly. I’m so sick and tired of watching gullible online creators get sucked into bad advice (and yes, I was one of those gullible online creators, so I KNOW the lure).

The reason we get duped is simple: we lack confidence.

Maybe ‘duped’ is the wrong word. It’s not that the course creators are INTENTIONALLY trying to sell you snake oil, it’s just that they were sold it and taught to sell it, so now they have to recoup their investment by selling it to you. If it feels Ponzi, you’re not wrong.

That’s why it makes my skin CRAWL.

It feels gross and inauthentic to never take a moment for a real gut check— a time-out to say, Does this even make sense?

❌ Short answer: No. No it does not make sense.

🤔 Longer answer: It usually doesn’t make sense, but sometimes it sort of might. Like in this example.

When you’re a brand with a very specific offer—let’s say you’ve created sports wrap for gymnasts with ankle injuries—you definitely need to talk to those gymnasts. This is what the niche-ing looks like:

Industry: Athletics

→ Audience: Gymnastics

→→ Niche: Gymnasts with ankle injury

→→→ Micro niche: female college gymnasts with ankle injury

Here’s why this can work, but isn’t the be-all-end-all of positioning:

Yes, you’re talking to your ideal audience and informing them of your great product that’s been designed to solve a problem they have. Good!

But…by going so niche, you’re pigeonholing yourself and shrinking potential market share. In other words, you’re playing too small.

Instead, the pre-wrap brand can un-niche. They can have a broader brand promise: “The best pre-wrap that sticks to itself and nothing else” and they can then have campaigns and market outreach to multiple audiences: injured gymnasts, dancers, quarterbacks, etc.

Get nicheless or die tryin’

Niche-ing is especially ridiculous for writers hoping to expand their own community.

As a corporate copywriter, I’ve built a career as a chameleon. I’ve slid into different brand voices like the dude in Catch Me if You Can slid into criminal role play. As a writer for hire, I’m expected to understand, adopt, and exemplify a brand’s tone of voice so the audience continues to know and trust the brand seamlessly. And I’m good at it (if I do say so myself).

When I landed on Substack, here to write personal essays, there was a moment of reflection: Who should I be here? Who should I talk to? What should I help with?

I landed on the simplest answer: Me.

I have to be me, talk to “me”, and help with becoming the most authentic “me” I can be. If I do that, it will help others do the same thing.

Honesty is the cost of entry

Early on in my Substack pub, I decided I’d be honest. That doesn’t sound like a big revelation, but it actually is. Most of us out in the entrepreneurial world want to position ourselves as go-to experts, impervious to mistakes or missteps. I decided to go another way.

I was going to embrace and discuss my “oh-shit” moments and my “not-again!” real-life situations. What Are the Chances? was born as a publication that doesn’t shy away from the messy stuff for fear of not being considered experienced or professional enough. Not “perfect” enough.

If perfect's what you’re looking for, I’m not your girl. (No one is, but I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.)

It Came With Age

I couldn’t have been this honest in my 20s or 30s. I didn’t have the courage or the confidence. Those had to be earned. And earn them, I did—the hard way. That’s actually the best part of midlife—the accumulated courage and confidence, and the death of the imperative to “prove” anything to anyone anymore. It’s liberating.

So, if you’re a writer here and you’re stuck in a wheel of analysis paralysis and guru-courses telling you to “pick a niche and stick with it”, or giving you templates that stymie your creativity and chip away at your soul, I give you permission to press pause.

Chances are, you’re the niche. And you’re not one-dimensional. You’re not limited. You’re not simple. Don’t pluck and bleach yourself into blandness.

✅ You may want an overarching theme for cohesion.

✅ You may have points you’d like to hit over and over in your publication to set expectations. That’s all fine.

But pepper that with some breaks that offer a fallible human touch.

Let your audience in. Allow them to see the imperfect person behind the scenes. That’s where you’ll build connections and “Me, too!”s, and loyalty. Dare I say you’ll even build some friendships.

Niches are for Biches

I have a rule of life I will share with you: if the entire crowd is running in the same direction, turn around. I’m seeing so much parroting of bad advice that I just had to chime in with a contrarian’s perspective. Forget the “niche” and focus on the connection. Once you connect, your audience will naturally want what you have to offer because they will already anticipate its value. They’ll believe in you like your momma never did.

For real

You can’t “fake care” about your audience. Either you don’t, and everything you do is transactional…or you do and everything you offer becomes meaningful and likely to be shared without you even asking.

We can make a living from our writing without “convincing” anyone we’re worth paying. They can come to that conclusion on their own by observing what you promise and deliver. Sales doesn’t have to be hard or feel uncomfortable. They’re just a way to trade something of value for a means of exchange (money). That exchange doesn’t have to go deeper, but the lead-up to the point of the exchange does.

If you’re starting out, build relationships way before you have something to sell. In fact, getting to know your audience in a genuine way will help shape the offer you design for them. Solve a problem, fix a pesky issue, or make life a little easier and they’ll gladly pay for the convenience.

Zoom out

You’re your brand. People pay with their attention and their money. You don’t have to box yourself into one niche thing, especially when your audience is most interested in your voice, your perspectives, and your takes on various topics. Sharing yourself takes bravery, especially if your opinions might be polarizing. But, I encourage you to explore doing so. Zooming out will also give you more options if your interests change—which is important for me because…oh, look, SQUIRREL!

You will not, I repeat, you will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Your audience will self-cull. Don’t panic at unsubscribes or stagnant growth—it happens to everyone. The right people will find you and love you and stick with you.

The niche you’re putting way too much thought into isn’t what will keep your audience coming back for more: it’s you. Your range, your adaptability, and your personality. Put it on blast.

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