“I want to work with first-time authors to help them build their brand,” I said to a friend several days ago.

There…I said it. It’s out in the open, and that makes it feel real.

And real scary.

It’s so scary because I feel completely unsure of myself. Imposter syndrome kicks in, and I think, “Who am I to do this?”

Have you ever felt that way? If you’re a business owner, freelancer, writer, podcaster, speaker, or entrepreneur of any kind, chances are you have.

So you’re in good company.

But as scary as it may feel…every expert I’ve followed, read, listened to, or learned from (like Donald Miller, Christy Wright, and so many others) have all said that niching down is critical to your success.

But what does “niching down” even mean – and how do you do that?

According to dictionary.com, the word “niche” (in marketing terms) means “a distinct segment of a market.”

Simply put – to “niche down” is to intentionally market to a particular group of people within a market.

Many entrepreneurs, myself included, are fearful to focus in on “one distinct segment” because you think if you are only focusing on one type of customer – then you’ll be excluding everyone else.

Guess what?

You will be. And you’ll be doing it ON PURPOSE. Sounds, crazy, right?!

For example: when I first started my graphic design business, my market was pretty much anyone who needed what I had to offer, and they were willing to pay me for it. (My very first design client was a style blogger who paid me $100 to create her logo AND her business card design.)

As I began to take on more clients, my market was small business owners. I helped people in all different industries: from real estate agents to event planners, CPAs and lawyers.

Throughout that time, my wonderful network connections (several of whom were from my old company!) introduced me to marketing agencies who brought me on as part of their team to serve their clients. This opened the door to working with many non-profits, which became an exciting new niche to serve.

And over the past several years, as I shifted into building The Collective with my biz partner, I began to understand more about what niching down was and why it was beneficial to business. So I turned my attention to work exclusively with women entrepreneurs.

I mean I really freakin’ love helping women business owners! They are who I feel like I relate to the most, as one myself.

But last summer, as I was writing the preface for my upcoming book, I started to do some research. According to WBENC, a group of over 400 of the nation’s largest and most successful corporations, there are 13 million women-owned businesses in the U.S.—and counting.

This represents 42% of all American businesses – woah!

I could spend my next 50 years trying to help all of these women business owners, and I would never be able to reach them all.

And that’s where niching down gets really exciting.

Consider the impact you can make if you decide to hone in on a particular market. You discover their problems and pain points. You understand them so well, in fact, perhaps even better than themselves. You can connect with them in your website copy and on your social media that they think, “Woah, she’s talking directly to me!”

They immediately connect with you and see you as the expert – someone they can trust and are willing to give their credit card information to when you put an offer out there – one you created just for them.

So how do you niche down?

You can do this in 2 simple steps – you ready?

ONE

Consider the problem you solve and get 100% clear on that. If you’re not totally clear, take a few minutes to brain storm all the issues and pain points your customers/readers/listeners face.

TWO

Determine who, specifically, has that problem. Are there people in a certain location or industry that have this problem? Do some homework and make notes. Are there people with particular demographics who experience the pain points you solve?

Sounds simple enough, right? I encourage you to take made notes and write it all down!

When you’re ready – you can turn that particular niche’s problems and pain points into a transformation statement showing how you help them solve their problem.

Here’s an example from yours truly (keep in mind, this is a working draft, so be gentle!):

I help aspiring authors build their brand by transforming from passive Pinterest scrollers, overwhelmed by technology and marketing, to confident pros with eye-catching brands, compelling websites, and clear marketing plans to attract and convert their audience into buyers.

Niching down means you will be leaving people out – but for good reason.

Because you’ll finally be “exclusive.”

And the people who are attracted to what you have to offer will be that much more loyal. Are you ready to find your niche?

As my pre-teen always says, “Less gooo!”

Are you someone who’s an aspiring author or creative entrepreneur, and you’re wondering how to manage all the tech stuff that it takes to build your brand (i.e. website platforms, CRMs, email service providers – oh my!)?

Then I’ve got a brand new FREE resource for ya – it’s my Tech Resource Guide where I give you my top five 5 tools that help me design it all.

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Happy creating!