So, you’ve made the difficult yet exciting decision to break out on your own and enter the wonderful world of freelancing. Now you’ve got another decision to make.
What kind of freelancer do you want to be? Would you prefer to be a jack of all trades or an expert in one particular area?
It may seem like a trivial thing, but this can have a huge impact on your ability to attract and retain clients as you try to build your reputation.
What are the possible benefits of advertising yourself as more of a generalist? Let’s take a look.
What is a freelance niche?
A freelance niche is basically your go-to area of expertise – the thing you’re known for and that people start to link with your name.
If you imagine yourself as a kind of brand, then your niche is the unique product or service which you offer.
For example, rather than being a web designer and developer, you might specialise in building e-commerce websites for independent fashion brands.
With this in mind, it’s important to pick the right niche, as this will determine how you’re thought of, essentially becoming your whole identity as a freelancer.
Examples of freelance niches
Some common examples include:
- Content writer specialising in finance
- Video editor for music videos
- Graphic designer (creating visual content like social media graphics, infographics, logos, etc.)
- Virtual assistant (e.g. email management, travel booking)
- AI specialist/prompter (using AI tools to assist in content generation and workflow)
- Social media manager/assistant (managing Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn for brands/companies)
Why choose a niche?
For starters, it gives you a way to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace, so you can optimise your marketing knowing exactly who to pitch when the time comes.
You essentially pick a lane and fully lean into it, so that you become people’s go-to for that particular thing.
It’s not about limiting yourself, but taking on a unique identity, and the biggest reason you want to do this is because people will remember you as the expert.
There’s also the fact that hiring a perceived expert to carry out a task is obviously a lower risk than hiring a generalist freelancer who might only have a working knowledge of your chosen field.
Let’s say you needed a logo designed; would you hire a general marketing freelancer who does a bit of everything, or a designer?
All in all, specialising helps you build a reputation as the go-to expert in your field.
Do freelancers with specific niches earn more?
Here we are – the million-dollar question. So, what’s the answer?
Well, picking a niche enables you to start building your personal brand, so you have something to actually base it on.
This in turn allows you to start charging more, as it’s generally accepted that freelancers who specialise are able to offer services which are more bespoke, and therefore more valuable.
But, it can be argued that a generalist freelancer has access to more opportunities overall, which (in theory) equals more work in the long run.
For example, those who’ve enlisted your services may refer you to others – something which isn’t quite as easy if you’ve chosen to put yourself in a box.
We also live in an ever-changing technological world, so it might not be the best idea to lock yourself into one thing.
A more general freelancer is naturally better positioned to adapt to their changing environment, and because of this, generalisation should provide them with a greater sense of security than focusing on just one area.
Still, it’s important to remember that generalists may sometimes be overlooked in favour of freelancers who are perceived as being more qualified. It all goes back into the classic question all freelancers have around how much they should charge!
Does every freelancer need a niche?
Not necessarily, no. As we’ve established, it’s perfectly possible to survive – and even thrive – as a generalist whose main selling point is that you offer a wide range of services.
Another thing to consider is that working as a generalist gives you the chance to sample lots of different areas, meaning you can discover what it is you really enjoy doing.
This could then lead to you choosing to specialise at some point down the line, once you know what your thing is.
As a generalist, you also have the freedom to be more selective about the projects you want to work on, as well as the people you want to work with.
The key is to find what works best for you. If you’re passionate about a particular topic, turning it into your niche makes a lot of sense. If not, then being more flexible has its own advantages.
Ultimately, though, whether you decide to go with a niche or not, you need to be able to articulate some kind of unique selling point in order to attract clients.
As clichéd as it may sound, just try and be yourself, as authenticity may in fact be the golden ticket you’re looking for.
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