Episode 170: How to Nail Down Your Niche as a Designer with Sophie Malik

Have you niched down in your design business? Maybe you’re not sure who you want to serve or how you want to serve them. Sophie Malik joins us in this episode of Brand Strategy Podcast to discuss the importance and benefits of niching down, along with the biggest mistake designers make and how to avoid it! Niching down is a marketing strategy and tool to help you focus how to present yourself to the world. Sophie Malik is a business mentor & coach for creatives, and the co-founder of Magnetic Creatives, which helps graphic designers to attract quality clients without them having to justify their pricing. Sophie Malik is a great believer in YOU and that you can achieve great things as long as you set your mind to it. She is super perceptive about distinguishing between focus items and distractions. With her background in consulting, she has ample experience with winning, retaining, and interacting with clients. Sophie is a trained and chartered engineer, which is not who graphic designers would expect to learn from! But, just like you, she designs to solve problems. Her practical mind is a perfect complement to her biz partner and sister, Ivy. Together, they make a great team! Niching Down When you use the term, niche down, people assume that it means boxing yourself in and missing out on opportunities in your business. It’s actually quite the opposite! Niching down is a marketing strategy and tool to help you focus how to present yourself to the world and your ideal clients! Benefits of Niching Down Instead of looking at it as cutting out your work, look at it as a marketing strategy to look at it as a specific type of service. When you consider niching, think about the benefits: * Help Determine How You Present Yourself* Your Revenue Increases* You Delivery Better Client Experience & Retention Rate When you’re clear about what you provide, they’ll think of you as the solution to their problem. How to Niche Down When you’re ready to niche down, it’s important to determine what services you want to offer and how they overlap for your ideal client. After you figure out what you love and what you’re good at, it will be easy to decide what you need to niche down to! Mistakes in Niching Down Niching often gets misunderstood. While you may decide to target a slice of the market, it’s important to consider why and what your market looks like. For example, if you niche down to service providers, it can feel like you have said no to every other industry. Look at the market you’ve niched down to and look at what you’ll provide them. Each of those service providers are different.  How to Avoid this Mistake:  * Get Clarity – Self awareness & reflection is key. You need to understand * Think of niching as a tool to make you more attractive and to stand out.* It’s easier with outside help – someone who will ask you uncomfortable questions. So once you’ve niched down, ask yourself: How will you serve them and have you actually niched down? Catch the Show Notes Get to Know Sophie (00:45) Why You Should Consider Niching Down (9:02) How to Niche Down (12:58) Mistakes in Niching (15:51)