When To Know It’s Time to Niche Down

Have you ever heard the saying “The Riches Are In The Niches”?

I’ll be honest with you. When I first heard that, I wasn’t really a fan. I mean, I kinda liked doing everything, for everyone. I was a unicorn, and so proud of it.

But, let me tell you the truth: it leads to burnout.

Without a niche, I wasn’t able to charge enough. Or create profitable packages. And I certainly wasn’t able to set boundaries!

So one day, I decided to roll up my sleeves and niche down to working with just wedding professionals. I went from offering $30/hour retainers, to removing hourly and only offering specific packages. Want to know what happened next?

I booked out. And I grew a team. And I doubled my pricing, again! (And will be doing it again in 2023!) When I started to only work for wedding professionals, and really dove into that niche, I became completely booked, raised my pricing, and allowed me to grow a team!

And it doesn’t just work for me. A student inside The Creative VA Masterclass got multiple inquiries within a week, all from changing her Instagram bio to say “Instagram For Wedding Pros”. By really focusing her business on JUST wedding professionals and offering JUST Instagram, she was able to quit her 9-5 within two months of niching down.

Over the last few years, I’ve seen a lot of people join the creative virtual assistant world, but are no closer to seeing the kind of income they are dreaming about. The thing is… you’re not feeling stuck because you know how to structure a business. But because you have tried too many things – it all becomes overwhelming and it’s natural to just freeze and stay in place.

What are some signs that you are ready to niche down?

• You love some of the services you offer, but not all. But you keep telling yourself the only way to succeed is to offer #allthethings.
• You’re a true creative, and multi-passionate, and are afraid to really commit to a single thing.
• You have a client you love working with and want to find a way to clone them so that you can only work with that type of business.
• You are running out of hours in the day, and the idea of taking on MORE clients is a hard pass.

So, What is Niching Down?

Niching is simply finding that core service, or group of services, that you love, and your audience can’t get enough of. Finding a niche isn’t just about what the hottest service is at the moment (because trust me, this changes all the time). It’s about finding a niche that lights you up inside.

See how I said YOU and not your clients?

That is because one of the top reasons you probably did this whole creative virtual assistant thing was to do things you loved to do.

And that is hands down the most important part of running your own business. It’s what helps prevent burnout.

When you first start a business, you gotta try everything to see what you like.

And as you start to work with clients, you start to see the things you love to do. And the stuff you just plain hate.

(For me, it was blogging and social media. I LOVED blogging. I hated social media.)

The Six Benefits to Niching Down

1. Less competition – When you have a specific product or service, there will be fewer companies out there with the exact same offering! This means you will naturally have less competition. 
2. More visibility– This can lead to more clients and a better online presence. Businesses with a unique product or service tend to stand out, and allow you to move up in Google rankings easier. People in a niche tend to be in frequent contact with others in that niche, which means more opportunities to get the word out about your business.
3. Better customer relations– When you are engaging with fewer people, you can focus on the quality of those engagements and on nurturing your relationships. Your emails can be more personalized, your follow-ups more diligent, and your thank yous more frequent. You can also accommodate special requests, offer custom services, and get to know your customers on a more individual level.
4. Scalability – When you first get started, you are only one person! Focusing on niching on an industry or specific service offering can help you scale and grow. Big companies often start with one item. Amazon? They sold books.  
5. Easier marketing – When you start to target your ideal client, and the services you are going to offer, you can start targeting them easier with your marketing! You will know where to find clients, and what #hastags to use, and what to message on your website.
6. Higher rates – By becoming an expert in your niche, you are able to increase your rates, because you are the expert in your field. 

Niching Down As a Creative Virtual Assistant

That is why I tell all my students inside The Creative VA School the same thing: niche down to what you love to do.

When you have a passion and are an expert in it, your clients will pay a premium. They will see this passion and want only the best person to do it for them.

For today’s action step I want you to write down three things you love offering to clients. Don’t worry if you only have one client you offer it to. Or it’s something you’ve done in the past and don’t do now.

Just write down three things that light you up. 

And to hold you accountable, I want you to post them inside The Creative VA Lounge. Because when you share your passion with the world, you take one more step towards that dream.