👉 How to Pick A Lane for Growth

Good morning.

To niche or not to niche, that is the question. 🤔

I’ve always leaned into being more of a jack-of-all-trades. Perhaps I watched too many James Bond films growing up. 🤵🏻‍♂️ He seemed so skilled at everything.

The trouble is, in a world that’s bigger and more competitive than ever, becoming a true master of one thing can help you stand out.

When you become known for something really specific, you don’t need to become the best in the category; you create your own. Zero competition.

Oh, speaking of questions, the answer to last week’s poll, asking, “Was today's newsletter written by A.I.?” was “Nope! It was written entirely by Gordon. 🙋🏻‍♂️” Thanks for playing!

Let’s get into it.

— Gordon

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There's a lot of mixed advice regarding picking a niche.

I know because I've been working to narrow down what content I create.

Choosing the right niche is like which comes first; the chicken or the egg?

Some say you need to niche down to stand out to build an audience.

Others say just create content; your audience will help you find your niche.

Perfect, now you're stuck in the middle of competing advice, wondering what to do. 🤷‍♂️

The right niche should align with your passions and expertise and tap into a market demand that's either underserved or in need of a better solution.

Here are three steps that can help get you in the right direction:

Step 1: Identify Areas of Interest

Start by identifying potential niches that interest you.

But wait, what is a niche, exactly?

A niche is a specialized or hyper-focused area of a broader market that your business serves.

Think about a larger market and then go two or three levels deeper.

Here’s a quick example:

Real Estate > Residential Real Estate > Residential Luxury Real Estate > Residential Luxury Real Estate for New Professional Athletes

Once you’ve chosen a few areas you'd be interested in serving, conduct market research to understand your target audience's problems within those niches.

I use AnswerThePublic to learn what questions people are asking in various areas.

Step 2: Match Your Niche with Your Passions and Skills

Now, reflect on your strengths and passions.

What are the things you won't shut up about?

Music, hoops, sneakers, technology, building wealth?

Don't choose a niche solely based on market potential and ignore your interests and expertise. A successful business requires long-term commitment, which is much easier when you're obsessed with your work. List your skills and interests, and match them with your identified niches.

Your business should be at the intersection of your skills, passions, and market needs. Like this:

Step 3: Assess the Competitive Landscape

After narrowing down your options, analyze your competition within those areas.

Use tools like Google Trends to gauge competition.

Look for a niche that isn't oversaturated and has enough room for another player.

You want a niche where you can offer a unique value proposition or significantly improve upon existing solutions.

Better yet, as we discussed earlier, go one level deeper so you have no competition, making your business the choice to solve the defined problems.

Ideally, start as focused as you can and master that skill or topic.

As your business or audience grows, expand into topics surrounding your niche. Continue to expand, adding in more of your personality and interests along the way to build a stronger connection with your audience.

If you’re like me and have a few skills and interests but nothing that immediately jumps out, talk about all of it and watch closely for small signals that indicate you should continue down that path.

Maybe, it’s the chicken and the egg. 🐣

ONWARD TOGETHER.