But what if I can't niche down?

Is my stubbornness costing me a career? 📲

For the last decade-plus, I’ve been producing a steady stream of content online. I was obsessed with blogging in the early 2010s, posting regularly through 2015. I adopted Instagram immediately and excitedly and have been contributing consistently to most new platforms as they emerge. This is on top of producing mountains of content for employers and clients as a social media specialist.

As cringe as it may feel to say out loud - I WANT to be a content creator full-time. Whatever that looks like. I WANT to share my life and ideas with the world and build a growing community - and have that work be what supports me financially. And while my output has been consistent, earnest, and sometimes arduous, my following has never quite popped off. And I have to wonder why.

At an industry event this week, I watched a panel with a successful digital creator whose trend-forecasting content has gained popularity across multiple platforms, gaining her millions of followers. She was at the event to speak about the keys to success for aspiring content creators. Her main point? Find your niche and double down. Find the one thing that works, the content style, template, or topic that the audience latches onto, and produce more and more of it.

For years, this has been a guiding best practice for those wanting to be successful creators. And I know because I literally advise people to do so AS A CONSULTANT. Niche down, pick your lane, be specific, have that one thing that people know you for, establish a clear brand.

But no matter how much I KNOW that this is a helpful guardrail that can lead to opportunities and act as a springboard for success and followers, I just can’t seem to do it myself. Restriction Breeds Creativity is a mantra I often swear by but apparently don’t live by.

I don’t want to paint myself into a corner or to focus on just one of my many interests. I want to enjoy the process of creating content by making things that spark joy and inspiration for me in the moment, not focusing on the outcome. But I guess that’s just not good business sense.

Am I willing to sacrifice the joy of having a well-rounded and holistic internet presence for further success?