The Perils of Niching Down

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The most ubiquitous piece of advice in the creator economy is to niche down. Immerse yourself in one subculture. Pick a topic. Own it. Specialize. Become known for one thing.

This advice is everywhere because, in many ways, it works. Internet media is noisy and competitive, and it's easier to earn attention when your work is hyper-specialized. When you're focused on a single subculture or topic, marketing and monetization become more controllable and predictable. If your goal is to create things online and earn a living in a somewhat reliable fashion, niching down is a smart bet.

This is why, up until mid-2021, I was fucking obsessed with niche strategy. I'd built my first business, Filmmaker Freedom, around helping indie filmmakers break free from industry gatekeepers. I did this by going deep into the mechanics of how to identify niche audiences and then selling films directly to fans instead of through a network of middlemen. Even though I'm not in that world anymore, I'm still immensely proud of that work.

I also centered the early version of Ungated—my collection of resources for creators—around niche strategy. I figured I could take what I'd been doing for filmmakers and apply it to all types of internet creatives, from writers to YouTubers to podcasters and beyond. I started developing a business philosophy called NicheCraft and wrote the definitive guide for discovering a niche you love.

My entire online identity began coalescing around this one concept. I was following my own advice and slowly becoming The Niche Guy™. I was confident that my expertise in this area would result in a successful business.

And then, I blew it all up.

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