Helping You Shine
By Tiffiny Carlson, N2Arts Correspondent
How to find your niche
 

nyone can be a Broadway singer. But not everyone can be Broadway singer who specializes in grace notes. Anyone can be a black and white photographer but not everyone can be a black and white photographer who specializes in outdoor car shots. By making a niche for yourself, you can create an individual uniqueness that no one can match but you!

Benefits Galore

With the hordes of competition, discovering your niche is your best chance at professional success. Dabbling in a little of this and a little of that is fun, but once you get serious about becoming a professional, it’s all about singling yourself out. Here are some reasons why finding your niche is so important:

The process of finding your niche helps you find what you’re really good at.

Once you’ve chosen a niche, it will become your identity and help people to remember you.

A niche also makes entering the professional world much easier.

Successful artists who’ve been around for years agree. Look at the late Barry White. He specialized in smooth, sexy R&B. That was his niche and he owned it. Look at Renoir. He specialized in impressionism and everyday situations. Coldplay is another brilliant example. They originally used the piano and an anti-war message as their niche. And look at them now; they’re one of the hottest bands out there.

Read about Helen Speilman, an accomplished flautist who found her niche:
Larry Krantz

Ways to Discover your Niche

Attention artists of all areas: performers, musicians, writers, fine artists; if this is you, start specializing in a certain area of your playing field immediately. If you’re an artist who enjoys oil painting, narrow your area by focusing only on nature scenes or animals. If you’re a country singer, refine your image and focus solely on bluegrass or country-rock. Own an art form within your art form. That is your goal.

Your first step is to ponder what turns you on. What made you interested in your art form? Was it a childhood experience? Perhaps spray painting your bike was your inspiration for modern art. Discover your point of inspiration and use it to find your niche. For this case, spray paint art could be your destined area of expertise.

Focus on what you know you’re good at; what people have complimented you on and what feels right. Whatever motivates you is something you can succeed in.

Along your discovery process, if you find there’s a shortage of a certain talent, see if you can become the artist who meets that demand. Enhance your opportunities at every chance you get.

But watch out, don’t make your niche too narrow and miss opportunities. If your niche feels too extreme or specific, it probably is.

Check out niche advice from 1 Record Deal Music Business:
Niche in the Music Industry

Read more about the power of having a musical focus:
Music Niche

And remember; don’t wait for someone else to mold you. Go ahead and find your niche now. No one knows you better than yourself. Discovering your niche will not only get you noticed, it will help you sharpen your talent years before you become a pro.

Tiffiny Carlson is a freelance writer and N2Arts contributor.