Seth's Blog : Niching up

Niching up

Along the way, folks have talked about “niching down” as a way to help a project find focus.

But that’s backward.

When we identify and embrace the smallest viable audience, we’re moving up. Up the quality hierarchy. Up in responsibility. Up in the likelihood that we’ll make an impact.

To niche up, identify the smallest group of people that would be enough to sustain the project. That group, the group you get to choose, what do they have in common? What do they want? What would they miss if it disappeared…

This puts us on the hook, because if they don’t like it, the work needs to be improved.

And it gives us the foundation to kindly recommend alternatives to people who aren’t in our group. Instead of hustling for more, we’re focusing for better.

[PS today is one of the calendar’s great universal holidays. Hugs to all groundhogs, of any species.]