The Art of Finding your Niche and Thriving, with Insights from Nine Five

For many creatives and entrepreneurs, carving out your own lane and thriving there is the ultimate goal. But doing it isn't always easy. In today's blog, we share key strategies for successfully carving out your own lane. Plus, in our Creative Spotlight, we're featuring rapper Nine Five, who’s making his mark and carving out his own lane in the music industry. Read on for his valuable insights.

Finding your niche: the power of pivoting

Carving out your lane, or finding your niche, in an industry (and doing it successfully) isn’t an overnight project. It takes time and, in most cases, lots of pivoting! History shows us that even well-known brands revise their business models (or products) when establishing themselves in a lane. Take Lego for example: The company started out in 1932 as a small workshop making wooden toys and furniture. It wasn’t until a decade later that Lego began producing their iconic plastic building blocks. Their lane today? A globally recognised brand known for its creative building sets.

Keys to thriving in your own lane:

Breaking into an industry and mastering your lane can be challenging—but we’ve got three key strategies you can start using today to make the process easier: 

Study your industry

You can’t break into (or even think about dominating) an industry without understanding its fundamentals. For example, if you’re developing a line of shoes, it's a good idea to know the current landscape of the footwear industry and where it’s likely to be in a year’s time. You should also be aware of the key players, and the things that drive the industry—this includes staying on top of the latest trends and influences shaping the market.

Study Yourself

Whether you're operating solo or as a business team, studying is crucial. We can’t stress enough how important it is to apply this principle to yourself as well. By understanding your own strengths and weaknesses, you can identify how they position you and your business for success. It's worth noting that even what we perceive as "weaknesses" can turn into advantages.

Maximise your unique strengths Once you identify your strengths, the next step is to look at how they set you apart—and how you can use them to your advantage. For example, if you're an introvert, lean into the strengths of being an introvert! Instead of forcing yourself into high-energy networking events, it can be more favourable to focus on building deeper, more meaningful one-on-one relationships, or create content that showcases your expertise. This can help you stand out in a way that feels natural and authentic to you.

Carving out a unique style and sound: meet Nine Five

Meet Nine Five, a UK-based rapper who stepped on the scene with a unique sound and is carving out his own lane with excellence. He shared what inspires him to create music, plus valuable insights on how to stay focused when building your brand.

Be part of a community that inspires you

I’ve been blessed to be around people of a certain stature when it comes to music—people who have a passion and love what they’re doing. For them, it's not about money or accolades its about the pure art of it —and being surrounded by them has inspired me to keep a high standard in my own music. 

Embrace the moment AND the journey

Something I’m trying to learn is how to embrace living in the moment 100%. Because I’m so into my work, it’s easy to let the essence of a moment slip past me. For example, when I’m at video shoots and photoshoots I don’t always relax and enjoy the moment. Sometimes I even feel like I don’t enjoy anything outside of being in the studio because I have such tunnel vision. I’m working towards changing this and learning to embrace the moment.

I think the journey itself is underrated. A lot of people who reach their end goals (without stopping to embrace the journey) find they've missed out on the treasure of the journey itself. You realise it’s not always about getting to the highest of highs—but actually about the course you’ve been on.

Your biggest challenge is usually your own perspective. Change it to overcome it 

My biggest challenge was probably changing my perspective on what support looks like. For example, in whatever creative industry you’re in, its easy to assume that people will support you straight away but you have to understand that one, people don’t always see things (which is why its important to constantly promote your stuff) and two, maybe they just don’t believe yet. And that’s your job—to turn people into believers. I think people take you as seriously as you take yourself, so continue to do the work and people will gravitate to it.

Lean into your strengths and maximise them

For anyone in the creative industry trying to set themselves apart, one piece of advice I can share is: you have to be completely yourself, that’s what I believe. The things that make us stand out are usually the most powerful things. They’re our superpowers.

Whatever creative field you’re in, it's important to understand: the things you can do with ease are your strengths. They’re your gifts. You should lean into them and maximise them.

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About Nine Five

Nine Five is an emerging rapper based in London, United Kingdom. Connect with Nine Five on Social Media