Tag: audience building

“Riches in niches.”

You’ve heard it. Every marketing guru repeats it. Go narrow, they say. Be specific. Target a tiny, highly-defined audience.

So you do. You niche down to “vegan meal prep for busy single moms with food sensitivities in the Pacific Northwest.”

And then you wonder why nobody can find you and why your audience is too small to sustain a business.

The Narrow Niche Trap

Here’s what they don’t tell you about going narrow: specificity doesn’t equal visibility.

Yes, it’s easier to create targeted content when you know exactly who you’re talking to. And yes, a specific message resonates more than a generic one.

But you know what else happens when you go too narrow? You disappear.

Your potential market becomes so small that even if you capture 100% of it, you can’t build a sustainable business. You’ve optimized yourself into irrelevance.

The Visibility Problem

Let’s talk about how people actually find businesses online.

They don’t search for “productivity systems for left-handed freelance graphic designers who work from coffee shops.” They search for “productivity tips” or “time management.”

The broader the term, the more search volume. The more search volume, the more potential customers.

By going ultra-narrow, you’re targeting search terms that maybe 10 people per month actually use. Congratulations, you’ve eliminated competition by eliminating the market.

What Actually Works

Look at any successful business. Did they start narrow?

Amazon didn’t begin by selling “hardcover mystery novels published between 1990-2000.” They sold books. Then everything.

Apple doesn’t market to “creative professionals who value minimalist design and seamless ecosystem integration.” They market to people who want great products.

They have clarity, yes. But they don’t artificially limit their market by being ridiculously specific.

Positioning vs. Limiting

There’s a difference between positioning and pigeonholing.

Good positioning means being clear about what you do and who you serve. “I help entrepreneurs automate their businesses.”

Bad positioning means being so specific that you exclude potential customers. “I help solopreneurs in the health and wellness space who’ve been in business 2-3 years automate their Instagram engagement for service-based offerings.”

The second version might sound more “niched,” but it’s just unnecessarily restrictive.

The Pivot Problem

When your niche is too narrow, you can’t pivot.

Market changes? You’re stuck. Want to expand? You’ve boxed yourself in. Realize your niche doesn’t have money? You have to completely rebrand.

A broader position gives you flexibility to evolve. You can still create specific content for specific audiences without limiting your entire business to one narrow lane.

What About Competition?

“But if I go broad, I’ll have too much competition!”

Let me ask you this: would you rather compete in a crowded marketplace with millions of potential customers, or have no competition in a market with 47 people?

Competition exists because there’s money to be made. No competition often means no market.

Plus, competition in broad markets is lazy. Most competitors are doing the same thing. Stand out by being different, not by being narrow.

The Real Strategy

Start broad enough to be visible. Get specific in your content, not your positioning.

Position: “I help people build automated income.” Content: Specific articles addressing specific problems for specific people.

This way, you attract a wide audience while still creating targeted, valuable content. You’re not limited, but you’re also not generic.

When Narrow Works

I’m not saying narrow niches never work. They do in specific circumstances:

• When you’re entering an established market with entrenched competitors
• When you have expertise in a genuinely underserved area
• When your narrow niche is actually a large, specific group (not just specific for the sake of it)

But “narrow” doesn’t mean “invisible.” There’s a sweet spot between “everyone” and “practically nobody.”

Stop Overthinking Your Niche

Most people spend months agonizing over their niche. Trying to find the perfect, narrow, uncompetitive space.

Here’s a better approach: start broad enough to get visible, then let your audience tell you where to focus.

Create content. See what resonates. Notice who responds. Follow the signals.

Your real niche emerges from the market’s response, not from your planning spreadsheet.

The Bottom Line

Going narrow doesn’t make you focused. It makes you invisible.

You need enough market size to sustain a business. You need enough search volume to be found. You need enough flexibility to pivot when needed.

Specificity is good. Clarity is essential. But artificially limiting your market because some guru said “riches in niches” is just bad strategy.

Be clear about what you do. Be excellent at doing it. Let your market define itself through who actually shows up and buys.

That’s better than any niche research worksheet.

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