Freedom to Choose
Being a self-employed creative professional comes with privileges. One of them is the freedom to choose where to apply your design and illustration expertise. Ask yourself what type of companies and businesses you want to work with and why? For example, is there a market you’re curious about exploring because it fascinates you? And because of this fascination you’re inspired to read, follow and learn more about what’s happening in the market.
Uncover Insights
Clues to choosing a market niche may be hidden within your client accounts. It’s possible to uncover insights by reviewing your current roster of clients. Look back at your prior design and illustration projects and gigs and identify which ones you enjoyed the most. Plus, which ones paid well?
Furthermore, where do the majority of your client accounts come from? Take a moment to label the industry for each company that hires you. Do you see a pattern emerging? Do the majority of you clients come from one industry sector like publishing, media, technology, health, finance, education or the arts? And is this a pattern you would like to continue? Would you be willing to invest time and business development efforts to find more clients like this? Or do you want to move into a more promising market?
Follow Economic Trends
Of course, interest and passion is not the only guide for choosing a market niche to enter and serve. Another consideration is about the market sector itself. What are the economic trends in the niche market you want to pursue? Is a growth trend in the forecast or is the industry in decline? These indicators can provide clues for marketing and promoting your creative services in a market sector with the resources to pay fair market rates earning for your expertise.
Find Opportunities to Leap Ahead
Finally, if you’re the type of creative solopreneur who wants to be on the cutting edge of new opportunities you may find yourself pursuing a strategy to be an early adopter of new technologies to leap ahead of your competition. You may find yourself building a strong reputation and deep expertise in a less crowded playing field. For instance, consider emerging opportunities for 3-D design tools, virtual reality experiences and voice controlled technologies.