The Best Niche To Pick Is Unique To You

The Way Out West Newsletter

13th April 2024

You can try to niche down as aggressively as you like, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to succeed.

This is the problem with the “nice down” guru talk.

You can decide to specialise in something, without ever really enjoying it (or being good at it).

You can put all your eggs in one basket, and never stand out in that niche.

And still, you won’t be paid anywhere close to what you want because your brand is just another commodity.

So rather than deciding to write about what actually excites you, you sit there procrastinating over the same questions.

“Should I pick a niche?”

“What should I write about?”

“How do I balance authority with authenticity, without being pushy?”

The people who worry about these questions are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle:

Specialisation puts you in a narrowly defined category where you’re compared with all the other specialists in that field.

Copywriters vs copywriters.

Personal trainers vs personal trainers.

Doctors vs. doctors.

This leads to problems.

You feel like you’re an orange in a sea of oranges.

You’re competing in a zero-sum game – like there’s not enough to go round.

You’re in a red ocean, where all the fish feasted on and bled dry.

And worst of all, you feel like the possibility of realising your potential is slowly slipping away… you’re going to have to settle for average after all?

This is how the school system trains you to think.

You train or study for years in a specific skill or area of expertise, followed by getting a job in that field, then only to compete for those jobs with all the other highly talented and more knowledgeable people in that field.

Like Crabs in a bucket.

No matter how much of a master you are at that thing, you’re still a commodity.

And in a commoditised market, it’s a race to the bottom.

A one-way ticket to capped earnings and constant competition for the same employers and clients.

And it makes sense that schools and universities emphasise specialisation. They’re preparing you for life as an employee.

“The world needs doctors”.

“The world needs engineers.”

“The world needs lawyers.”

It’s a safe route.

But sadly, this has conditioned your way of thinking to be “silo-d”.

“Silo Thinking” is dogmatic.

Silo Thinking would argue "If you really want to be successful, you just have to do X/Y.'"

Now. In the short term, this works.

You're repeating a “proven formula“ after all...

However...

When you tell everyone to do that one thing, it quickly becomes saturated.

Example:

• Lawyers vs Carpenters

Lawyers get paid more right?

Not necessarily.

In Australia for example, I know carpenters who make 1.5x the salary of lawyers.

With no flash university degree, and none of the debt acquired to get qualified!

Why?

Because the construction boom in Australia meant that tradespeople were more valuable at that given time.

The result?

The demand for lawyers goes down and the demand for carpenters goes up, along with wages.

The winners?

The carpenters of course.

The only reason why being a lawyer worked in the first place is because there weren’t enough people doing it.

And now a lot of people are it, it stops working.

Lawyers are no longer as valuable.

That’s just simple supply and demand. And common sense.

Same thing with niches.

If one guru shows 10’000 people how to do ghostwriting for CEOs because it’s the best thing to do at that given time – it quickly becomes “not the same” anymore.

When we bring this back to writing – too many people write from a place of Silo Thinking.

They worry about “what to write”, rather than simply focussing on writing.

The only option is to stop worrying about what to write, and just write.

Your Niche Emerges…

Emergence;

“The combination of random branching and orderly underlying lattice creates the exquisite complexity of the snowflake, poised on the brink of chaos and minutely sensitive to tiny variations in the temperature and humidity of the air.”

― Philip Ball, Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does

The most successful brands in the world get paid for being themselves.

• The Rock

• Connor McGregor

• Joe Rogan

• Naval

• Dan Koe

The list goes on.

They didn’t “pick” a niche.

Their niches emerged over time.

The good news?

There is a path to crafting your own niche.

Most people think that everything happens in a silo.

They like to trap everything down and bolt everything down and force everything to happen ONLY that way.

Emergence behaviour is different.

Emergence behaviour is complex behaviour that arises out of a defined set of very simple rules.

Based off these simple rules we get complex behaviour.

Something unique.

A niche of one.

My own client is an example of this.

He didn’t know his niche. But he knew he wanted to help people.

So what did we do?

We decided to create a content strategy that was both effective and unique to him.

The objectives were simple:

1) Stand out to a specific type of individual

2) Showcase his interests, expertise and unique story.

3) Invite his (small) audience into his world by sharing his journey.

The results?

Within weeks, an inbound lead came in.

He nurtured them in the DMs and they became his first client.

This single client was enough to pay off his mortgage.

It gets better…

He’s been working with them for 4 months already and recently up-sold that same client to a $2500 coaching package – tripling his income.

The best part?

His audience is tiny.

You don’t need a massive following or to be a huge authority to get paid for being yourself.

He was just raw, authentic and used a strategy that brought clients to him.

By being HIMSELF.

And as for “what to write”.

Don’t worry about that.

Just write.

I started out as a fitness account.

Your content will mature over time.

And as a result, your niche will emerge too.

This is why you don’t need to control everything in your business to get the result you want.

YES. Of course, Emergence takes time.

It doesn’t happen overnight.

If you’re looking for a quick fix, certainly go and jump in the silo with all the other lot.

But if you’re playing the long game here (where the real money is made), let things emerge.

The Emergent Thinker

Crafting your own niche requires a unique way of thinking.

Emergent Thinking.

Emergent Thinkers don’t think like most people.

They’re open-minded enough to experiment.

They’re patient enough to let things evolve.

They’re disciplined enough to follow their own set of rules until complex behaviour emerges.

Here are the 5 traits which all Emergent Thinkers have in common:

Flexibility and Adaptability: Emergent thinkers thrive on the dynamic nature of challenges. By embracing flexibility and adaptability, they seize the advantage of being able to swiftly pivot their strategies in response to changing circumstances, ensuring continued effectiveness and resilience in their efforts.

Holistic Perspective: For emergent thinkers, seeing the big picture isn't just about understanding; it's about leveraging every interconnected element to their advantage. By adopting a holistic perspective, they harness the power of synergy, maximizing outcomes by considering the intricate relationships between different components, thus achieving results greater than the sum of their parts.

Embracing Complexity: Emergent thinkers view complexity not as a hurdle but as an opportunity. By embracing complexity, they unlock a world of potential solutions that may elude those confined by simplicity. They harness the power of intricate systems, turning ambiguity into a playground for innovation and discovery.

Diversity and Innovation: Emergent thinkers understand that the future belongs to those who embrace diversity and innovation. By valuing diverse perspectives and encouraging innovation, they tap into a wellspring of creativity, propelling them toward groundbreaking solutions and unprecedented success.

Non-Linear Problem Solving: Emergent thinkers don't just solve problems; they cultivate solutions organically. By embracing non-linear problem-solving methods, they create fertile ground for emergence, trusting in the natural process to create novel solutions that defy traditional constraints. They unleash the power of creativity, diversity, and organisation to navigate complex challenges with fluidity and finesse.

How To Craft Your Own Niche

You’ll never craft your own niche if you copy and paste what everyone else is doing.

Consider any of your favourite creators.

They created their own lane, and became 1 of 1 by Embracing The Power Of Emergence.

Here’s a roadmap of how to let your niche emerge so that you can get paid for being yourself.

1. Get Interested In Your Own Psychology

This is the building block for this whole process.

Know what your heart desires, what your strengths are and how you operate.

Know yourself, so you can:

• Write to yourself.

• Build for yourself.

• Sell to yourself.

• There is no other person you can understand, help, and profit from than you and those like you.

The level of your creations depends on your how well you know yourself.

Few will understand. Those that do, dominate.

2. Gain Specific Knowledge (Learn How To Learn)

Learn the stuff that feels like play to you but like work to others.

• Read books you love

• Follow your curiosities

• Internalise what you learn

• Create a system for how you consume information

When you embark on a life journey rather than playing it safe you unlock new levels to the game. Your game.

Secret caves, quests and missions which you’ve completed. The reward for solving these puzzles is specific knowledge.

Specific knowledge is ultimately what makes you irreplaceable.

3. Become Your Own Client First

Marketing 101: Be for some-ONE.

And why not yourself?

• List out your interests.

• List out your goals.

• List out your problems.

• List out exactly how to overcome the problem and achieve the goal.

Depending on how many points you listed, you have:

• A unique message.

• Unlimited content ideas.

• The starting point for a profitable product or service.

This is how you become a magnetic individual, attracting people just like you, with the exact struggles you overcame yourself.

Remember: Your mess is your message.

4. Write To Yourself

• Write to your past self.

• Write to your current self.

• Write to your future self.

• Write out your beliefs, opinions, and experiences.

• Teach your interests.

• Teach how to reach your goals.

• Teach how to overcome your problems.

If you had a problem, struggle or desire – someone else has.

Imagining where you were is the best way to create resonance with your audience.

Picturing where you are now is how you solve problems for your peers.

Writing to your future self is a reminder of your vision for yourself, and will appeal to those “ahead.”

This is how you help a wider variety of individuals, and broaden your scope of potential customers and followers.

5. Shameless Accountability & Radical Transparency

Another way to put this would be “build in public”.

• Take risks under your own name

• State your “why”

• Tell people what you’re working on

• Give progress updates

You’re on stage. So you have to step up your game.

Accountability will give you everything you want in life. The more you take on, the more society will reward you.

6. Learn To Build

The world belongs to the builders.

• Build a product you want to see in the world.

• Build a product that scratches your own itch (solves a problem you already have).

A simple axiom I live by: “You sell what you suffered for.”

When you solve your own problems and sell the solution, you get to skip ahead of the 99% who chase what’s hot right now.

This is how most successful entrepreneurs start out.

Turn that time, energy and sacrifice into profit.

7. Learn To Sell

People whine and complain that no one wants their services, products etc.

But the real problem is that they don’t know how to persuade.

Give people a reason to care.

• Your readers want to know why your brand, content, or product benefits their life.

• Your readers want a story. A transformation. A reason to change.

• Be accountable. Be vulnerable. Be persuasive.

This is how you convert attention into revenue.

8. Sell Your Ideas Through Your Own Story

How to stand out from the crowd?

Frame everything you create through your own story.

• The pains.

• The struggle.

• The emotion.

• The benefits.

• The successes.

• The potential.

Use personal experience to draw your audience closer to you. Be an example for people to follow and a familiar friend to relate to.

Your story is your USP. Use it.

Fact: It’s going to be messy at first.

I’ve bounced around a few different “niches”, from fitness to personal branding to sales.

The key takeaway from it all?

It’s a journey!

One minute you’re posting about sales because you’re learning sales… the next you’re talking about writing because you’re learning how to write.

It doesn’t matter.

Every time you post about a subject, you’re attracting people into your audience who love that part of your story, content or interest area.

Sure, you might not be the “go-to” guy/gal on sales, copywriting etc… but realistically, will you ever be?

However, people know that you can help them with all of the above.

Because here’s the thing…

People don’t want to just learn some skill…

They want a transformation.

By showcasing your own transformation – both previous and in real-time - you stand out from the crowd and become truly one of one.

Rare art sells for more than common art.

It doesn’t have to “be” anything… it just is.

Totally unique, with a totally unique message and a totally unique story.

In a market full of oranges, be an apple.

Have a great week.

PS. This post was supposed to go out on Saturday. Every subsequent newsletter will go out on Saturday from here on out. :-)