How to Find Your Niche

The biggest thing that held me back from building personal brand was…

“Choosing my niche”

I was stuck in this stage for 5 years all because I could not figure out the “perfect niche“ for my personal brand.

I did not know what to narrow down in when I have so many different interests.

I bought lots of different courses.

Watched hundreds of hours of content.

Tried producing different types of content.

I tried narrowing down around web design and development…

I tried narrowing around being a digital nomad…

I tried narrowing around business in China…

But I just did not feel like these niches fully represented who I am or fully aligned with my purpose.

So I was stuck in this phase of deciding on a niche for too long.

And this sadly happens to lots of people going on this journey of building a personal brand.

You probably hear it all the time.

Choose a niche if you are serious about growing your personal brand.

You will understand your target audience like the back of your hand if you choose a niche.

You will have less competition if you choose a niche.

You will make more money if you choose a niche.

In theory, choosing a niche makes perfect sense.

In reality, choosing a niche creates lots of anxiety, confusion, and pressure for those on this journey.

It limits your thinking by putting who you are into a single box.

And we both know you don't fit inside a single box.

You don't need to narrow down.

Because the ultimate niche is you.

You see there are millions of people with the same interests, problems, and desires as you.

And with you as the niche, your main objective is simple.

Solve your own problems and share the solution.

You purpose becomes to help those that are steps behind you to reach a new level in your shared areas of interest.

In doing so, you build your knowledge on this topic, which ultimately allows you to level up in this area of interest.

You see in my case...

The big problem was building my personal brand.

Although I have the experience, expertise, and skills from working with several 6 to 7 figure creators, I never really got started on working on my own personal brand.

So I decided this is the problem that I will solve and share with those on a similar journey.

By sharing what I know, what I find interesting, and what I am learning, I am inching myself closer with every step to reach my own personal goal of growing my personal brand.

And in doing so, I am helping others reach their goals through my content, products, and services.

Ultimately, I want to help people build a profitable personal brand so they have the freedom to create a lifestyle that is meaningful and fulfilling to them.

This statement alone is a mixture of two areas of interest for me. Building a personal brand and lifestyle design (influenced by my digital nomad lifestyle).

And these are not the only things I will be sharing. I am into martial arts, fitness, mindset, dancing, tech, and a list of other things.

Although these other topics will not make up a big portion of my content, I will be incorporating each of these topics into my content some way or another to fully share who I am in the most authentic way possible.

You see it all ties in together but it starts by focusing on two to three areas of interest first to get the ball rolling.

Here's how I would start if I were to start the process all over again:

Step 1 - Self Awareness is Key

Self Awareness is the basis of building a personal brand around you as the niche.

First, you need to understand your purpose.

Your purpose is the backbone of your personal brand and will keep you in check throughout the process of building your brand.

Take some time to sit down and write out answers to the following questions:

1. Who do you want to become?
2. What are you passionate about?
3. What do you want to contribute to the world? What legacy do you want to leave behind?
4. Why do you want to build your personal brand?

Second, you must layout your life's vision. Think of this as writing out the life you want.

As stated in the book the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho:

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

You see by setting a clear intention on what you want, your actions, perceptions, and mindset shift to attract the right opportunities and connections.

You will face many challenges along the way but your vision serves as a reminder to keep pushing forward.

To better understand your vision, imagine the life you want to create:

1. What would your typical day be like if you had all the money in the world?
2. What is your ideal amount of time you want to spend working per day?
3. If you could do anything for work, what would you do?
4. How do you want to feel about yourself?
5. Where do you want to live?
6. How do you want to look?
7. What type of relationships do you want in your life? Who do you want to be surrounded by?

Third, you need to evaluate who you are:

1. Take the MBTI test to get a better understanding of your personality. Write down your result. By understanding your personality, you can create content for people similar to you.
2. What problems do you have in your life right now?
3. What problems have you solved in your life? Are there any problems you can help others solve?
4. What are you current interests? On your free time, what do you spend your time doing?
5. What are your good at? What skills do you have? What do others say you are good at?
6. What are you doing today that brings you happiness?

By doing these exercises, you will have a better idea of your why, where you want go, and who you are.

Now, I am not telling you that you have to have it all figured out to build your personal brand.

You just need to have an idea in order to start with something.

Trust me, you will gain more clarity with time as you work on your personal brand.

Step 2 - Choose Your Starting Area of Interest

Remember how I mentioned you are the niche?

Well, the self awareness exercises in the previous step will be a guide to help you choose your starting area of interest to build your brand around.

These area of interest should be based around your vision, your purpose, and your current reality.

Choose something you are passionate about.

Think of a problem you want to solve or have already solved.

Think of how you can use your current skills or learn new skills to provide a solution to this problem.

Think of how you can package this solution into content, products, and services.

Step 3 - Dive Deep Into Your Area of Interest

The last step is to immerse yourself into your area of interest.

Your goal for the next few months is to live and breath your area of interest.

You need to consume lots of different content on this very topic.

Read books, watch YouTube videos, listen to podcast, read articles.

Follow people on social media who are an authority in your area of interest.

See what type of content they are producing.

Look at what they are doing that works.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel here.

Use their content as a reference and add your own uniqueness by adding your story and your point of view.

This is part of the process to start producing your own unique content in the future.

My content is heavily influenced by other content creators.

I gain inspiration from them and add my own uniqueness into the content.

Follows these steps to start building your personal brand.

The goal of these steps is to help you choose an area of interest to start with and you always have the option of changing if it doesn't feel right.

The most important thing is to start.

Building your personal brand is a long game.

Your ultimate goal is to solve problems for people just like you.

Have some patience with yourself in the process.

And always remember to align what you do with your vision and purpose.

Enjoy the process and happy creating!

- Angel