The Renaissance Niche, Part 1 – Finding Your Niche
18. Jun, 2012 
10 Comments
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Neon Orange Tribal Chevron Necklace by: DrCraze
The Renaissance Niche, part 1
written by Gypsy from Estuary Magicks
Has anyone ever told you that you do too many things?
“Pick one,” career counselors tell us in school, or “what do you like more than anything else?” One of the first pieces of advice you get as a creative entrepreneur is to “find your niche” and stick to it.
They have a point. If your work — or your mind — is all over the place, your brand can’t be cohesive. The story of your business won’t be a story so much as a badly-made collage, and while you may get different buyers for different work, people will find it hard to appreciate your business as a whole.
But you don’t have to do just one thing.
In my little liberal arts college, I had the privilege of creating my own major. Creative Studies, I called it, and armed with that title I did theatre, screenwriting, poetry, painting, photography, novel writing, music theory, philosophy . . . you get the picture. I was all over the school. But every time I looked at specializing in one field, I mourned the loss of the others.
So I decided to specialize in all of them.
Each genre has its own process and its own rules, but they have something in common: creation. I discovered that my working method for lighting design was exactly what I needed to refine my abilities as an illustrator. Watching the shows taught me lessons about story and character that I now use in my novels. Music theory helped me write better poetry.
But what about niche?
If you want to work with multiple art forms, you should. But to have a successful business, you need to have a cohesive brand. If the unifying aspect is not your medium, think of what else it could be. Is it your process? Your materials? Your aesthetic? How do your different projects affect one another, and how do they interact?
A ‘niche’ doesn’t have to be a single, specific product. It does, however, need to be a unified idea or story. A niche is not a cage for your creative mind.
So the next time someone says, “find your niche,” don’t think that means to throw your novel (or amateur pottery, or assortment of vintage puppy statues) out the window. It means just this: find your story. Bring all of those interests together, and find out what makes it work.
How do you use different abilities in your business? Has your process ever been improved by lessons from unrelated fields?
Stay tuned for part two, where you will find specific tips and links for combining your many abilities.
About The Author
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Looking forward to part 2. Think I found it.
Wonderful.
By all means let me know what you think.
Great article. I sometimes despair that I can’t seem to concentrate on creating in one field. But my knitting, silversmithing, polymer clay and card making are all important to me. I love that when I am not in the mood to work in one area, I am excited to plunge into something else. And when I cannot be in my studio, my knitting is portable, so I can feel that I am not wasting a moment.
I originally trained as a dentist, and absolutely feel that the skills learned then have helped me enormously with my silversmithing. You never know what will come in useful later on.
Wow, that’s an amazing combination!
What did you learn in dentistry that you’ve been able to apply? (I don’t know much about that, or about silversmithing, for that matter!)
I hope part 2 will be helpful to you.
I love the unity you’ve given your shop with the arrangements by color — it works really well.
Very helpful post. Thank you! When I looked for a “common thread” in my work, I realized that although I make a variety of items, they all fit within the category of “fun and functional fabric items.” I try to bring color, style and a sense of whimsy to my work, which is driven by my love of fabric.
Your shop definitely feels unified to me, with the material and your sense of style. I love that you can bring together so many different products with one material.
Really great post! I too love to do many things-there is not enough hours in a day! Abandoning any of it just doesn’t work. I have been in a process of determining how things need to come together-this post was truly helpful! Thank you.
So glad I could help — and I hope Part 2 will be useful to you as well. There are several links there, but I found on for you that might be more relevant — http://puttylike.com/how-to-choose-which-tasks-to-focus-on-in-your-renaissance-business/
Don’t give up on yourself!
I’m feeling the same way, but I know you’ll be all right.
This article really rang true for me. I had a bracelet shop, a watches shop, and a earrings shop. Now I have decided just to make one shop and put my items in it. I needed cohesion. My niche is jewelry…even if it is competitive…I just have to accept it. I struggled with it a long time BECAUSE it is so competitive. But it was driving me crazy to have a lack of cohesiveness. Now I have a jewelry shop and a shop where I do readings. It’s work putting in all my items into one shop…I wish we could import…but it will be worth it. Thank you for your article.
I found this after entering into google “I have too many talents and can’t decide,” and eventually came to this. I’ve heard alot of advice that says to choose ONE thing and do it, and it’s never made sense, because like you I ‘lament the loss of the other things’ when I focus on just one…
I write both comedy and serious stuff, I film & edit and also create original music and am good with sound. I love all of these, but when I think of doing just one thing as a job, like JUST editing all day, I’ve been super stubborn to apply for that kind of work…
I’ve always thought ‘I can develop that skill on my own and use it for my own works,’ but now that I’m 31 with a kid, I feel like I’m willing to do any job that uses just one of my talents.
Yet I know I’ll still be unsatisfied. I like your idea of finding a ‘niche,’ which is probably totally essential for people like us, but I gotta admit I don’t get how to go about that, nor do i understand what you mean by “find your story.”
You mean my life story? Will things suddenly click if I find that? I know you don’t have all the answers, but if you could clarify what you mean by story, that would help.
Thanks