Team Niche for the Win: What Other Creatives Confirmed for Me About Strategic Positioning

Last week, I posted something on LinkedIn about the niching debate - something that I have been hearing about over the last several years. 

You know the conversation where one side says "niche down or die" while the other side warns "don't box yourself in too early."

I laid out both perspectives and shared my take:

You're not niching down to limit your creative range. You're niching down your MESSAGING so people actually know when to hire you.

Within a few days, the post took off. 3,289 impressions. 39 engaged comments. (A personal record for me, even though I thought the graphic of me was actually horrible by my traditional standards😣 but I kept repeating to myself “Done is better than perfect! Post it already!” That was another lesson in itself…)

And here's what surprised me: I wasn't watching a debate unfold. I was watching a masterclass.

Almost everyone who commented was Team Niche. But they weren't just agreeing with me - they were building on the concept, sharing their own insights, and teaching me (and each other) how to niche effectively.

This is what I learned from that conversation.

Why I Needed To Hear This

In the beginning of my design career, I was just excited to have new skills and actually land a project. Nowhere in my brain was I thinking about who specifically I could help. I was just happy to get a gig.

Then I spent years positioned as a “financial advisor.” I didn’t even think about the idea of niching. Do you see how vague that was? I didn't know who I was talking to. Sometimes I was talking to people who were retiring, sometimes it was a new married couple, sometimes it was a college student. Cringe. It was all over the place. No wonder the struggle was real! 

So when I decided to really lean into my design background and focus back on creative entrepreneurs, I realized I had to get specific: "I help creative entrepreneurs stop attracting budget clients and start charging premium rates through better positioning." (And I’ll be honest… sometimes I find myself constantly tweaking and refining and asking how do I make this simpler and easier to understand?)

Everything shifted and my content got clearer - the right people started reaching out and my rates went up. Marketing was getting smoother and refined. I got strategic about what transformation I deliver and who I deliver it for.

But even after living through that transformation myself, I still needed to hear from others that this approach works. The comments validated what I'd experienced and taught me even more about how to do it right.

What Chris Do Taught Me (Again)

Chris Do - founder of The Futur with 2.6 million YouTube subscribers and over 1 million followers across platforms - showed up in the comments with this gem:

"Niche as early as you can - but only if you want to be an expert and paid premium prices while lowering competition."

Let me break down why this matters so much.

When you're a generalist, you compete on price. There are thousands of designers, strategists, and creatives who can do what you do. The only way to stand out is to be cheaper or work harder.

When you're a specialist, you compete on transformation. You're not just "a designer." You're THE designer who helps AI artists position themselves for gallery representation. You're THE strategist who helps e-commerce brands scale from $500k to $2M.

That specificity doesn't limit you. It elevates you.

Sabina K.'s Perfect Analogy

Sabina K., who builds story-led marketing systems for B2B brands, gave us the perfect way to think about niching:

"You're not being boxed in by a niche. You're just finally putting a label on the box so people know what's inside and why it costs more."

I love this so much I might steal it forever.

The fear around niching is always about limitation. "What if I pick the wrong thing? What if I want to do something else later? What if I'm leaving money on the table?"

But you're not putting yourself in a smaller box. You're labeling the box you're already in so people can find it.

Your skills stay broad. Your interests stay diverse. Your capabilities stay unlimited. But your MESSAGING gets focused so people actually know when to hire you.

Imran Khushal on the Real Cost of Being Vague

Imran Khushal, a LinkedIn strategist, put it even more bluntly:

"Most people don't lose opportunities by 'niching down,' they lose them by being so vague that no one knows when to pick them."

THIS.

I can't tell you how many incredibly talented creatives I've seen get passed over simply because their messaging was so broad that nobody could figure out what they actually specialized in.

Vague positioning is expensive. It costs you clients who would have hired you if they'd understood what you do. It costs you referrals because people don't know who to send your way. It costs you premium rates because if you're not clearly the expert in something specific, why would someone pay expert prices?

What This Means: It's Not Just Demographics

Here's something that became crystal clear through this conversation: niching isn't just about WHO you serve demographically. It's about who you serve psychographically.

You could work with two creative entrepreneurs who are both 35 years old and running design businesses. But one comes to you asking "What can you do for me?" and checks in every few months. The other says "This is hard, but I'm willing to do what it takes" and shows up ready to implement.

That's the difference between someone who's a fit and someone who isn't.

When you get clear about the transformation you deliver AND the type of person you work best with, you naturally repel the wrong clients and attract the right ones.

The Real Test: Can Someone Refer You in One Sentence?

This is what I kept coming back to throughout the entire conversation.

Can someone refer you in one sentence without hesitation?

If your ideal client's friend asks, "Do you know a good designer?" and they have to pause and explain what you do, you're too broad.

But if they immediately say, "Oh yeah, Jen specializes in premium positioning for creative entrepreneurs. She's THE person for that," you've nailed it.

That's the difference between niching your skills and niching your messaging. Your skills can stay as broad as you want, but your messaging needs to be sharp enough that people know exactly when to call you.

So What Does This Mean for You?

If you're early in your business, stay open, build skills, try different types of work, figure out what lights you up and what drains you. There's real value in that discovery phase.

But if you've been in business for a while and you're still attracting budget clients, getting ghosted after proposals, or feeling like you have to explain what you do in five paragraphs?

It's time to sharpen your messaging.

You don't have to change what you're capable of doing. You just need to get clear on:

• What transformation do you deliver?

• Who do you deliver it for?

• Why are you the obvious choice?

Answer those three questions with brutal clarity, and watch what happens.

Because "I help creative entrepreneurs" isn't a position. It's a description.

And descriptions don't command premium pricing. Positioning does.

Here's to getting clear and getting paid.

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With appreciation and gratitude,

Jen
Premium Business Strategist for Creative Entrepreneurs
Speaker at Cre8tive Con 2026 | Chicago
Author of 4-time award-winning “The Creative Code: A Creative Professional’s Way to Happiness, Wealth and Joy"