Paolo, you’ve said freelancers shouldn’t just find a niche but become one themselves. What do you mean by that?

Exactly! I’m glad you brought that up. When I say freelancers are wrong in just “looking for a niche,” what I’m challenging is this old-school idea that you have to fit yourself into a predefined box to be successful. Too many freelancers are out there trying to squeeze themselves into a narrow niche, thinking that’s the key to success. They’re asking, “What’s my niche?” instead of asking the bigger question, “What makes me unique?”

Here’s the thing: the market is already flooded with niches. You’ve got thousands of web developers, copywriters, designers, marketers, all out there trying to claim their little corner of the industry. They’re specializing in one narrow skill or industry and calling that their niche. But what happens? You get lost in the noise. You become one of many offering the same service, and then you’re forced into competing on price or availability, which is a race to the bottom.

What I’m pushing for is a more radical mindset: don’t just find a niche—become the niche. This means that your focus shouldn’t be on finding some predetermined market space to slot into. Instead, you need to craft your personal brand and position yourself as a unique, irreplaceable asset. You don’t want clients coming to you because you fit neatly into a category. You want clients to come to you because you’re *you*, and nobody else brings what you bring. It’s not about what you do, it’s about how you do it, why you do it, and the unique value only you can offer.

Think about it: if you’re just another graphic designer specializing in branding, or another copywriter in tech, you’re a commodity. There’s nothing that differentiates you from the hundreds or thousands of other people doing the exact same thing. But if you make yourself the niche, if you build your brand around your unique combination of skills, experiences, perspective, and personality, then you become unmatched. You stop competing against others in your "niche" because you’ve created your own space. That’s where the power lies.

To become the niche, you need to be authentic and bring your whole self into your work. It’s not just about offering a service—it’s about offering a perspective that nobody else has. Maybe it’s your approach to solving problems, maybe it’s the way you communicate, or maybe it’s the way you merge unexpected skills into your offering. The goal is for people to come to you not because you fit a generic mold, but because they want what only you can offer. That’s how you build a real, sustainable freelancing career.

You can look at some of the top freelancers and entrepreneurs—they’re not just working within a niche; they’ve become the niche. They stand out because they’ve created a personal brand that’s inseparable from the work they do. Their clients aren’t just buying a service, they’re buying access to their unique mind, creativity, and energy.

So, instead of trying to find a niche and blending in with everyone else, craft your own space. Figure out what makes you different, and build your entire freelancing career around that. It’s not about fitting in—it’s about standing out so that people come to you for what only you can bring to the table. That’s the real power of becoming a niche yourself, and it’s what’s going to make you irreplaceable in a world full of freelancers trying to fit into predefined categories.