Every Artist Should Have a Niche
Remember those exercises from freshman year of an acting program where they have you list out your five dream roles? You’re continually told that you should “know your niche” and half the time the niche that they put you in on stage doesn’t even align with what you feel your niche is or should be?
Yea, that’s not what I mean when I say that you should have a niche as an actor. I’m talking about an ideal client.
As an actor, it is important to know your type. But the thing with acting programs is that they only teach actors how to act and not how to be artpreneurs.
I was listening to a podcast the other day and a quote struck me as odd. They said that being a professional musician or actor is 80% marketing and 20% the art itself.
I don’t know about you, but if someone had said that to me my freshman year of college, I would have laughed in their face and probably run the other way.
But it’s true.
I see so many of my friends who are so talented but have no drive to market themselves. Whereas, I know other people who are such insane marketers that regardless of their talent, they are going to make it.
Now, before you roll your eyes, stomp your feet, huff and puff and turn me off — hear me out.
I believe that you can be both immensely talented as an artist and as a marketer. You just need to find your niche and establish how you will market yourself.
We’ll dive into how you can market yourself in another post. Today I just want to explain to you how having a niche as an actor can benefit your career. Note, this is relevant for both film and stage actors; however, I am going to be speaking primarily towards stage actors in this post.
In marketing, a niche is your target audience. My niche for my blog is a performing artist who is tired of the constant audition grind while still making no real progress in her career — she is ready to take ownership of her career and step into the role of artpreneur extraordinaire.
This niche sets the boundaries for what content I should and shouldn’t share. For example, I probably wouldn’t make a blog about how to change a tire because it isn’t relevant to you, my artpreneur friend. However, juggling a day job on top of a hectic audition season? Totally fair game.
This works for you, the artist, too.
Which casting directors or choreographers would fall into your niche? Maybe your niche looks something like this: a casting director who is casting for a season that includes Oklahoma!, Next to Normal, and Grease. You can then begin to create your Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc… content to cater to your niche. Instead of using video auditions and self-tapes, how can you use hashtags and social media content to stand out to this director?
I want you to be intentional with your career. Don’t just accept any role at any theatre because you need to pay the bills. I want you to dig in and go after your dream role. Get creative in the pursuit and make sure that you know who you’re targeting.
Defining your niche will help you to establish the three key ingredients to marketing: know, like, and trust. You want this director to know your name, like your posts (figuratively or literally), and come to trust you. You want to ultimately be the first person they think of when it comes to casting time.
Come back next week for marketing ideas and how to use your niche to build your career.
You got this, artist. Get after those dreams and take ownership of your career.
