No Niche, No Problem!
More so than a niche, success is important. So why do we put more emphasis on the former rather than later?
If you’re like me, nicheless, I welcome you to #TeamNoNiche. Ok maybe "nicheless" isn't the right phrase but the others can also be confusing such as multi-hyphenated, multi-passionate, multifaceted, polymath or my personal favorite jack of all trades and master of none!
No matter what we label ourselves here are 8 rules, that we must embrace to have success while we either find our niche or embrace a life of what makes us great and that's being a master of whatever we put our mind to.
1. GET A MENTOR
Find a mentor or person to look up to that does not have a niche. If you are following the regiment of a person that has had success in a super-specific niche, you are likely not getting yourself any closer to success. Instead, you should find someone to look up to or to mentor you that is successful while not having a niche. The tips you pick up from this person will be far more valuable.
2. HAVE CLARITY
Make it crystal clear what your focus is and how people can hire you. The major downside of not having a niche is that others will have to work harder to help you and/or hire you. To avoid this roadblock, make it known what you are looking to do. For example, I am only looking for speaking gigs at this time and my focus is on digital change.
3. BADASS BIO
Be consistent with your bios. I’m not talking about copy and pasting, I’m talking about your ‘tagline.” I was introduced as a “millennial speaker” twice and it stuck. If you look at my bio at any event or on any platform, you will see ‘millennial speaker.” Find the bio that will stick and set you out from the rest and use it ALWAYS, ALL-WAYS.
4. SAY A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING
Sprinkle a little bit of everything into your content. If you have claimed that you don’t have a niche and then go on a three-week tangent about a certain topic, people will start getting the wrong idea. Instead, you need to be talking about a little bit of everything all the time. So you can focus in on a topic, but try to relate it to the other things you are interested in and have shown an interest it. This will tell the audience that you aren’t going all-in on a niche.
5. BRAND, BRAND, BRAND
Having a clear personal brand is major in 2019. This can be as simple as a profile picture, a color scheme, an accessory or anything. Be known by something and for something. I use the yellow and black color scheme (I’m a huge Pittsburg Fan), I usually have a backward hat and I talk really fast. People know that about me. They know if they see “Fanzo” I’m gonna be jabber jawing somewhere and they may as well put their pen down because they won’t be able to keep up. If you brand yourself, people will know what they are getting and you are going to build trust.
6. KNOW IT CAN ALWAYS CHANGE
Remember that just because you don’t have a niche today doesn’t mean you won’t tomorrow. The same goes the other way, by the way. If you have a niche today, you may not have a niche tomorrow. If you're a TikTok sensation and the platform goes down tomorrow (cough, cough, vine), what is your backup plan? There is a major importance in relationship building and storytelling that cannot be overlooked when you are a part of #teamnoniche. You have to be ready for the changes because after all if you don’t have a singular niche, your niche is technically always changing.. So be ready at all times.
7. FOCUS ON SUCCESS
Don’t worry about tomorrow or forever, worry about success. It doesn’t matter what the end looks like for you, what matters is knowing what success looks like for you and what you are willing to sacrifice to get there. Your eye should be staying on the prize at all times.
8. KNOW WHEN TO JUMP SHIP
Building off of #7, you have to know when to jump ship before you drown. As someone without a niche, you are going to be presented with many ideas and many projects. You must be able to determine the projects to pursue and the projects to put on the back burner. Everyone will have a different system to make these decisions, but everyone needs one.
Don’t let society tell you that being nicheless is a one-way ticket to failure. By doing these 8 necessities, you will be just as successful, if not more successful, than anyone with a niche.
Cheers, #TeamNoNiche
Listen to more on this topic as I go in-depth on each of these on episode 104