Transcription
Hello my friend, welcome back to the channel. This is season 2, episode 2, and today I'm going to be talking about how to discover the most future-proof niche out there.
And in order to do this, I'm going to talk about three different ways of thinking about niching. The first two are quite common, and the third one is more nuanced. It's the way in which I'm approaching this channel, which is one where you can actually build an online presence that creates freedom as opposed to keeping you trapped. So I'm pretty sure that's what you want, cuz isn't that what all we want? All of us want. We all want freedom. We want to be able to live the life that we want. Of course we do. This life is ridiculous. So lucky to be alive. So I'm going to unpack this thing, and hopefully you will connect with it in the same way in which I have.
Figuring out what your niche is is probably one of the most complicated, most difficult, confusing things on the whole journey of building an online presence. I know that because I struggled with it. Because there's so much information out there. There's so many different people singing from different song sheets. So I thought I would just bring them all into one specific video where I can sort of unravel all three of these, and you can kind of figure out what works for you. And and and and you know, maybe it'll inspire you to even take a different direction with your channel.
So the first one, the first kind of niche is the skill-based niche, the topic-based niche. And this is the kind of niche where you just talk about the same thing all the time. So, um, you have some sort of skill set, you have some sort of expertise, a lot of problems that you've solved in your whole life, and you can talk to a very specific audience that is looking to learn from that skill set. This is an amazing way to build a channel because it's a lot quicker, you know, it's a lot more efficient, it's a lot more direct. Your audience knows exactly what it is that you're doing on your channel, and it just, it just allows for a lot more quicker growth. Uh, the problem with this is after after time, you might get a little bit bored. You might feel stuck. You might feel like you can't talk about anything else apart from this one very specific skill. And for a lot of people, that's fine. You know, it's like having a job where you just do one thing, like an accountant, you just do accounting. Uh, that's fine. You know, it's a job that pays money, and this is probably the best way to actually build a business online, you know, where you can actually just sort of sell digital products and and coaching and all that sort of stuff because you're speaking to your audience about this very specific skill, and you're helping them solve that problem. So if that's you, that's cool. Um, that's an amazing way to do it. There's lots of people out there that are crushing it, you know, working in this way, but it's not for everyone.
So the second kind of niche is, we've all heard it, it is the "you are the niche" thing, which was popularized by Dan Koe, I think, a year or two ago. I think that was the first video I ever watched of his, and I really resonated with it because I was like, "Yes, that makes so much more sense to me because I don't want to be stuck in some skill set where, you know, forever I'm just talking about the same old thing because there's so many different things that I'm interested in." So I wanted to be able to bring this into my channel. I feel like there's a lot of confusion with this thing because when you hear the, when you hear the statement, "you are the niche," it makes you feel like you can just talk about whatever you want, you know, whenever you want, you know. But this is a very, very difficult way to grow a channel. And there's some people that have done it very well. You look at the Joe Rogans of the internet. He is able to, you know, talk about whatever he wants, to whoever he wants, whenever he wants, and he just, that's what he's always done, that's what he's will always do, and he's still the most popular podcast out there. But this isn't for everyone. You know, I think you need to have like a very magnetic personality. You need to have a lot of, you need to have a strong presence. You have to have a lot of charisma. You have to be able to be completely authentic and take a stance on whatever subject that you feel passionate about, and then you build your tribe, you build your audience, and you can talk about anything. And, um, I feel like there's a lot of content creators that actually go down this path, and their channels just don't really grow anywhere because, you know, a lot of people, they might, they might do this and drop a video, and maybe one video blows up, and then lots of people love it, they got a lot of subscribers. Next week, they come back and they talk about something completely different, but the audience isn't interested in that, and it starts to tank. So there's just some inconsistency that can happen with that way of thinking about a niche.
The third one, which is like, like I said, the one that I've chosen, the one that's more nuanced, and it's actually kind of a combination of the two. And this is called a mission-based niche. And I would like to thank Dan Koe for this because a few weeks ago, he dropped a video, you know, really sort of clarifying this. Since then, I think he's deleted the video for some reason. Uh, but I thought it was like, really amazing video. Um, and there was a lot of incredible wisdom in there, which I'm going to kind of release over here.
So the mission-based niche is where your niche is completely driven by your mission, your why, the thing that you stand for. And obviously, if you've been on this channel following me on my journey, this has been the thing that I've been talking about the most, you know, the importance of like, knowing who you are, knowing your why, knowing your mission, so that you can actually build an audience, build a tribe who are really connected to the thing that you care most about. So the thing that I've been talking about most on this channel is freedom. Freedom has always been the thing that I've been completely deeply connected to since as far back as I can remember. So this is the thing that I'm so passionate about, and it's the thing that I talk about in my films, in my documentaries, and it's the thing that I've pivoted over into this YouTube space and speaking about here as well. That's the mission, right? But there is a skill that's attached to it. So like I said, it's combining, you know, the "you are the niche" and the skill-based thing. So the thing that, the thing that's important with this sort of niche is having a skill set that actually helps you and your audience move towards the desired outcome of your mission, towards that freedom that I'm so passionate about.
So the skill that I'm talking about on this channel is how to build an online presence. It's how to grow a YouTube channel, how to build a personal brand by sharing everything that I've learned throughout my life of, you know, 20 years of being a filmmaker and a storyteller, because that perfectly sort of integrates into, you know, content creation. And I also have this complete love for self-realization, self-knowledge, you know, to really understand who we are because I believe that at the core of everything that we do, if we don't know who we are, you know, then it's very difficult to kind of figure out what it is that we really want to do with our life, and you end up in in autopilot. So discovering yourself on a deep level is essential for really sort of understanding how to sort of get into this more mission-based niche because if you don't know who you are, you won't know what your why is, you won't know what your mission is. So it's a very, very essential part of this whole thing.
So it's not for everyone. It's again, but if that is you, if you're somebody that's really interested in that kind of thing, or maybe you're just on your journey to kind of discover you on a deeper level, that's amazing. And that's kind of the sort of stuff that I will be expanding this channel into because that is my mission. And the skill is obviously helping people sort of move along this journey to this desired outcome of freedom.
So I'm going to break it down to four different steps. Step one is discover your mission, is discover your why. There's a lot of people on this channel that have already figured that one out, you know, you feel clear about that, and you know what that is, you feel passionate about it, it's a thing you stand for. There's other people that aren't so clear on that. So for me, I think you should get clear on what that is. You know, if you want to take this mission-based niche, you got to get clear on that mission. So it's really the thing that gets you up in the morning. It's the thing you feel completely passionate about, the the thing that you can feel in your bones, you know, the burning sensation that you feel you need to do in this lifetime, the thing that constantly drives you. You need to get clear on that.
The second step is getting clear on the skill that actually helps you move towards the mission, the desired outcome. So you need to get clear on what that skill. So some people are clear on the mission, but they don't know what the skill is. So it's like, what kind of skills have you got in your life that actually helps you move towards your mission? So you need to get clear on what that is. And once you've got clear on that skill, you move into step three because you start creating content which is helping people learn that skill so that they can move towards your mission, you know, towards your desired outcome. So you you were talking, so it's so it's still clear that every single episode, you're helping people solve that problem, which is building that skill. But again, there's a larger mission at play where you can kind of like, you know, you just have a lot more, there's just a lot more force behind it, there's a lot more power, there's a lot more energy, there's a lot more enthusiasm because you're not just kind of stuck in the sort of like hamster wheel content loop where you're just sort of like creating based on, you know, what your audience is desperately needing. It, it, it, it also brings in your ability to kind of like express the things that you feel deeply passionate about, and these two things merge, and you know, it creates this sort of way of doing things.
And then the fourth thing is on your presence, on your platform, you're just really building out this, this, this larger mission. And the larger mission is the thing that's going to create the sustainability throughout the journey of your, you, you know, your, your, your creator life, and and to be able to to to sew that into the tapestry of everything that you're doing. And this is the essence, you know, the essence of your channel is the mission. The skill is the vehicle that drives it. And if you can get clear on those things, you know, everything else kind of becomes a lot more meaningful. You know, because you might see a lot of creators that have like started on the skill-based thing, and they feel like they can't really expand out of it because for so long, they've just been talking about this one particular topic. And then all of a sudden, they come back and they try and just talk about the mission, and there's just no, there's no alignment.
So that's the mission-based thing. And the reason why I think this is such an the best way of thinking about niching is because, you know, it allows you to build an online presence which could last a lifetime, you know, where you can really create freedom in your life as opposed to be trapped in one particular topic or one particular skill. And again, if you are just obsessed with that skill or that topic, that's cool, you will never feel trapped. But if you're somebody like me that's interested in a lot of different things, that's always going to be a student of the world, that's always going to be developing new skills and new ideas along the way, I'll be able to incorporate that into the channel as long as it's moving you towards the desired outcome, which is freedom, the bigger mission.
So I might just do this for a year, maybe two. Maybe when I'm talking about online presence, because that's what I'm doing here. I'm building an online presence. I've been learning how to do the whole thing, and I'm kind of sharing all of that stuff along the way. And so that's where I am in my life right now. If it was a couple of years ago, it would have just been filmmaking, you know, completely just filmmaking, that would have been the thing. But who knows where I'm going to be in a year or two years or three years or four years? But I will say this is that my channel will continue to expand because I'll still be kind of, you know, passionate about the mission, the thing that I've been passionate about my whole life. But again, the skills can continue to sort of grow, and I can bring my tribe with me along the way. And this just makes sense to me. This just makes sense for me as opposed to the other two ways. And, um, if that makes sense to you, then you're definitely in the right place because that is the kind of thing that I'm going to be, you know, driving hard on this channel. You know, it's the thing I've been driving hard on this channel since day one, and it's the thing that I'll be doing, you know, moving forward.
So, so just to give you some clarity on this, the way to think about this is it's your mission plus your skill set equals the desired outcome of the mission. Now, again, if I just go, your mission plus your skill set, that skill set can be the thing that's constantly changing. It can be shifting all the time, as long as it equals a desired outcome. Makes sense? Just makes sense. It's just, just the way to go. That's kind of the best way I can really describe, you know, creating a niche or uncovering your niche, which is the most future-proof way of doing things that generates the most amount of freedom, so that you can just continue to do the thing that you love while serving your audience on the highest level. And if that resonates with you, let me know in the comments. Join my school community. I'll leave a link in the description below, and I will see you in the next one. Thanks for tuning in.