"As a new creator, one of the toughest battles you’ll face is marketing your creativity into one effective niche. The tendency is to want to do and offer everything because on the surface this seems like a fantastic way to attract a large audience. However, when you try to appeal to everyone, you’re actually appealing to no one because you haven’t established that key ingredient that separates you from the crowd.

So as a creator, you first need to decide: What expertise can I share, and what about my approach makes me different from those who do the same?

And based on that answer, you should then answer the most important questions: Who is my target audience? What problem will my business solve? What is the desired result I want my ideal clients to achieve?

This will allow you to attract the right people at the right time. Nothing is worse than casting a wide net and disappointing everyone within it because you can’t meet the demand or fail to deliver on what’s promised. Know what you do best and lean into that specificity so that you can attract followers who will become lifelong fans.

For example, I just don’t serve fiction writers. I specifically coach female cozy mystery writers (think Agatha Christie or Knives Out) over forty who have chosen to change careers and chase their dream of writing their first novel.

Now, please note that I didn’t choose that at random. It is very reminiscent of my own story as a shorthand stenographer who had a great idea about writing the perfect mystery but had no idea how to put pen to page. Because the story and picture of my ideal client is so close to my own, I am able to foresee the pitfalls that my customers face and can speak to them more effectively.

This makes it much easier to attract people than if I was shouting from the rooftops about genre fiction in general. In other words, this is a smart niche because it gives me a clear path for finding and nurturing clients as well as clarifies what I need to highlight about myself to attract the right person. So at the early stages of content creation, be sure that you choose a business model that not only aligns with your vision but also focuses on catering to the goals, dreams, and needs of your ideal customer.

Bottomline, the key to becoming a content creator is to realize that your products and services aren’t about you. They are about serving your audience and understanding their problems so that you can continue to create solutions that are going to keep them satisfied and part of your family for the long haul."