The Multi-passionate Myth and Why You Need a Niche

[00:00:00] Kellee Wynne: Well, hello. Hello. I'm Kellee Wynne, artist, author, mentor, fiercely independent mother and wife, and the founder of a multiple six figure creative business. And I love my life, but I've been where you're at. I was slogging away at this art business thing for more than a decade. Once I finally connected with my true calling, unlock the magic of marketing and built a system that could scale, while I realize I can make an impact and make a substantial income, I'm finally running a business that I love and it makes all the.

[00:00:32] Difference in the world. My biggest dream is to help you do the same. Let this podcast be the catalyst to your biggest success. You already have it in you because you are made remarkable. Well, hello, hello, artists. I am really excited about this podcast episode today, but I am very well aware. I am going to be ruffling some feathers and I'm okay with that because that's kind of how I do things around here. I'm your tough love coach. If you haven't figured that out, I'm willing to tell you like it is.

[00:01:02] Be completely transparent and honest as often as possible. So I'm going to tell you right now, if you think that running a business, being a multi passionate is going to work for you, I have other news. It's a myth. And it's a killing you, you're exhausting yourself, you're spinning your wheels, you're throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what's sticks, and you can't keep going like this anymore.

[00:01:25] And that's what this podcast is about today is to help you realign yourself and really consider that choosing a niche is going to be the thing that works best for you. So two weeks ago, there was a podcast episode that I released called You Don't Know Niche. It was a workshop that I had done. In the fall, and I wanted to share with you that.

[00:01:47] And since then, I've been getting a flood of questions, either through email or DMS, or even in my Instagram feed, because this is a subject that I am very passionate about. And I speak from experience, not only my experience, but the people I've been coaching for the last couple of years. I, without a doubt, believe that the key to success is to go all in on 1 thing, at least for the time being.

[00:02:14] And until you see the results and the success that you want, that's where we stay. Now, I get it because success is different for all people. And for those of you who have been listening to this podcast and you're not running a business and you're just sticking around because You like the guests that we have on and the subjects that we talk about, then I just want to say thank you for being here.

[00:02:34] But this podcast is directed to all of you who are probably sticking around because you do want a business, or you have a business, or you've been running a business for a while, and you're feeling a bit overwhelmed on how to grow it, how to market it, how to, Be successful. And there's nothing I want more than to see more creative business owners become profitable powerhouses because money in the hands of the right people means the world's a better place and you have more influence.

[00:03:01] You can make a bigger impact and you make changes in this world that I really do believe are necessary. So one of my big goals right now is to help a million creatives. Become successful business owners, whether it's through my Instagram feed or my podcast or one of my programs I am really hoping that I can change the minds and hearts of the creatives in this world to Reach for bigger dreams and make a bigger impact.

[00:03:32] So with that in mind, I'm ready to dispel The multi passionate myth, because this is where creatives get hung up the most. They don't want to niche down, they want their work to be for everyone, they want their offers to be for everyone. They want to be able to do all the things, and every single creative idea that comes into their head.

[00:03:56] And I'm like you. Put me in the shower, hike me on the trail, or whatever, when I'm disconnected, all the ideas come flooding into my head, and I have a million of them. Every day I wake up with ten new ways in which I could start a business. Ten new ways in which I could make my art. Ten new ways in which I can help other people.

[00:04:13] Ten new ways in which I can market my products. But, I can tell you since I've been doing this for over 10 years now, that's how you burn out. In fact, I've talked about it before and I'll probably talk about it again. It's in the doing all the things that we actually end up doing nothing. We make a much smaller influence on this world when we are for everyone doing all the things.

[00:04:37] So I'm making a case for the niche. In fact, I'm making a case for you to rebel against your nature and go all in. In fact, in the industry, I'm going to put quotes around that, in the industry, and I'm going to put quotes around that. I'm going to say so many advisors say, the power of one is the way to go. And if you've never heard of the term power of one, I want to explain that to you now so that you have a frame of reference as we work through this podcast episode. 

[00:05:07] The idea of the Power of One is to have one simple business model, one ideal customer, and use one social media channel to get your message out. And we start there and we stay there until we find success. And the reason we do this is because we can't do all the things. But when we focus and we get laser focused, And we create this niche, we're going to make a huge impact and we're going to be able to grow our business faster.

[00:05:35] And I'm going to tell you why. But first, I wanted to go to some of the questions that the audience has been asking. Some of the things that people have been telling me and some of the concerns that you have. Because I understand, I'm an artist too. I don't want to have to give up anything. But I also look around my studio right now and I say, I'm Well, I've loved jelly plate printing and I've loved journaling and I love watercolor and I love mixed media and I do these landscapes and I do these florals and I have this idea for these sculptures and also these mixed media projects and I can go on and on and on and it's loads of fun but I don't have time for all of it and so now I feel overwhelmed just looking in my studio at all the possibilities and not knowing where to focus.

[00:06:22] Same thing with my business. I can teach the art courses. I can also do the workshops. I can teach people how to make art. I can teach people how to sell art. I can coach. I can do summits. I can do memberships. I can do a master course. I can do little courses. And I've done all of these things, worked in galleries, done licensing, curated shows, tried to sell to interior designers, my list goes on and on.

[00:06:52] In fact, again, if you go back to the episode of what I would do if I was starting from scratch, I talk about all of that. And I absolutely do feel like having all this experience gives me kind of the authority to tell you now. so much. That in the process of finding myself, I've come to the realization that it was doing too much that was keeping me from reaching my goals.

[00:07:16] So that's why I'm willing to get laser focused and I'm hoping you will too. Here are some of the questions that you have. You meaning my audience and the things that have been sent in to me through email. In choosing a niche, it's really hard to let go of other things. In knowing that you are a multi passionate person, creative, artist, however you want to identify yourself, and you say to me things like, I change my mind frequently.

[00:07:44] How am I supposed to know what to do? Which medium or subject should I focus on? Do I really have to limit myself to just one thing? What about selling art and or doing other things? So, I get it. You get stuck on this is like, do I really have to do one thing? And I'm going to say yes and no, yes and no.

[00:08:04] Here's the yes. When it comes to business, you need one simple business model with one customer on one channel until you're successful. When it comes to building that model, though, it doesn't mean that you have to leave out all the other elements of you. You can build it based off of your best assets, your expertise, the thing that you're good at, the passion that you have for a particular subject.

[00:08:30] And from there, you can build your power. You can create your niche, if you will. But when it comes to finding your voice and your style, that is a little bit different from finding your niche. And that's where we have to differentiate. And so when I get all these questions of people who feel like anxious and trapped in a box and don't want to have to let go of anything, I have to.

[00:08:51] I have to tell you, there may be some things you need to let go of, but there are a lot of things that you can combine and make into one beautiful, simple business model. And I want to explain that to you.

[00:09:03] I had one question from somebody who loved to make art, also loved to make products from her art. However, she was making both clothing and home decor. Goods from her art and wanting to sell her art and wanting to help people with Design and so I had to take a look and say what would make the most sense In order to build this business simply, to find a niche and to be able to figure out who your ideal customer avatar is.

[00:09:34] And so when I saw that there was athletic wear being designed at the same time that there was wallpaper and tablecloths and home goods, and she wanted to sell her art, I said, who would be the ideal customer here? The customer who wants athletic wear is completely different from the customer who wants home goods.

[00:09:53] home goods and decor. So what if for now you put aside the athletic wear and you go all in on talking to the customer that's either an interior designer or a stylish homemaker who wants a beautiful space? Because art and homeware all go together and that's one simple business model. Selling products.

[00:10:17] For the home that you can show how beautifully it looks in a space and the customer is the same person. The customer is not the same person who wants athletic wear. I can tell you that. But the person who wants a beautiful, stylish home and your artwork speaks to them, you can get more specific and niche than that.

[00:10:38] Maybe there's a certain style of home or a certain income level that you want to, Attribute to your work to these are things that you can go deeper in and I do that in my courses to help you really understand who that person is and how to reach them. But it's in deciding how to let go of some of the elements of who you are.

[00:10:59] you are and go all in on something that you enjoy and that makes sense that it can go together. I'd like to give you another example. Someone who is struggling to narrow down their product line, maybe they're making art, but they are doing weaving and they're doing oil paints and they're doing sculpture.

[00:11:20] There does come a point where, how can you be a master of that? of any of it if you're trying to do all of it. So where would it make more sense to concentrate your focus as a style or finding your voice? And I want to give you the example of the Impressionist artist Degas. I love his work, but I especially love the fact that when I see a collection from him, mind you, as artists, we're going to keep changing our style and our voice over the years, but there's always a thread that runs through it.

[00:11:53] And in his case, one of the exhibits that I saw that made the most sense to me as an artist who is multidisciplinary, but not necessarily multi passionate, was Degas and the Dance. And he did this Beautiful series, and I saw this exhibit way back in spring of 2003 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and it was all about all of his point of view of the dancer.

[00:12:19] So he had sketches, he had pastel paintings or pastel drawings, he had oil paintings, and he had bronze sculptures all about the dancer, the ballerina dancer. That's a cohesive voice and that's a way to move forward. How does all of the different things that you love to do combine together into one point of view that the same person on the receiving end could appreciate?

[00:12:49] Meaning if you are doing weaving and you're doing pottery and you're doing painting, those are all for three different customers usually. And then that means three different ways in which you need to market. But if you were to do paintings of people and then sculpt people in in clay, now you've got something that's cohesive.

[00:13:10] So I wanted to kind of put that on display for you. The difference of finding your voice as an artist, finding your point of view as an artist, and. Finding your niche as a business is different. So there is a way to combine all the different aspects of who you are. Being multi disciplinary is different than being multi passionate.

[00:13:31] Multi disciplinary means that you have a lot of different skills. Multi passionate means that they're different skills that don't go together. But multidisciplinary means that you can pull them together and you can put them into one niche or category or specialization and move forward for one customer.

[00:13:52] And that's what I want you to think of. How do you take the skills that you have and put it all together and go in and get laser focused on it so that you are known for that thing. And that is the key to success. Being known for the thing That you want to be known for. So maybe you already have that.

[00:14:07] Maybe you already can see that thread running through all the things that you do. Maybe you can see that. You already have a customer in mind that you serve. Maybe there are skills that you have through, working with children or, an art therapist or maybe you are a spiritualist and you have a path to go forward with with your art.

[00:14:32] Another thing that comes up all the time is, What happens if I want to create online digital courses or workshops or whatever, but I also want to sell my art?

[00:14:43] This is the one part that I will break away from the niche and say, Hey, I get it because we are creatives. We're artists. We make things. How can we not sell it? So if your main focus for your business model, your niche is to teach, Other artists how to make their art, but you still want to be able to sell your art.

[00:15:04] That makes sense to me. However, I do caution you because if you want to make money, like, make your majority of your income from selling your art, then go all in on that. But if you're making the majority of your income, your success is hinged on your digital courses. Or your workshops or whatever that you're doing online as a coach or creative or, or teacher, but you still want to sell your art.

[00:15:30] I'd say there's an 80 20 rule put 80 percent of your effort, maybe even 85 percent of your effort into your niche, your main focus and your goal. Your online platform and then spend that time once or twice a year, releasing a collection of your art and instead of spending the entire year trying to sell the work, pick a time where you can focus on it.

[00:15:52] That's different from the other times that you're marketing your other products because this is where we get to break the rules a little bit as a. Artist as a creative entrepreneur is there are oftentimes products that we still need or want to sell if that's not our main business model. Now, a little side note, I haven't actually put my artwork up for sale in over two years.

[00:16:17] In fact, it might be Coming up on three years now, and that's because my passion really does lie in my niche, which is this podcast and supporting you and finding your success and becoming a profitable powerhouse. That's my niche. That's what I love doing is coaching other creative entrepreneurs to their success.

[00:16:38] I really love marketing, messaging. I love helping people with their strategy and their structure. And that's what I'm all in on now. But you may know me from before that when I was doing art courses and I was known as kind of the color girl, right? In 2017, when I started Color Crush Creative, that's what I became known for.

[00:16:58] How to use color, how to mix color, how to see color, how to use color in your artwork. And I infused that in most of what I did. So I had a niche as far as what I was known for and who I was serving. It did not have a simple model for my business because I kept adding more things onto it. And this is in full transparency.

[00:17:20] This is where my pitfall was. Because I started a membership, but then I added on courses, and a summit, and workshops, and a book, and then I wanted to do coaching, and next thing I knew, I had given myself a lot of jobs. So I want to propose this idea to you because part of the multi passionate myth is that so many people are taught that they need seven different streams of income.

[00:17:44] in order to make it as an artist. And I'm going to tell you, it's not that you shouldn't have some diversity in what you're doing. It's that when you have seven different jobs for yourself, if you were to go out right now and get seven different part time jobs in order to make it, you'd exhaust yourself, wouldn't you?

[00:18:01] If you were working part time at Starbucks and you were also Running Uber, and then you also had like a side gig marketing, doing social media for people and you were cleaning house. And then you also had a few hours where you were, Working at the retail store. Like, I'm trying to think of like 7 little part time jobs and how absolutely exhausting that would be.

[00:18:23] And that's what you're giving yourself when you add in so many different ways and projects for building your business. It's just a fact there's not enough energy in this world for 1 person, or even a small team to be able to do that. So, instead of choosing 7 different streams of income, which need 7 systems, 7 different audiences, 7 marketing plans, 7 projects.

[00:18:46] To manage seven different social media campaigns, seven different sales pages and marketing campaigns and emails to write. Why not narrow it down to one simple business model with a main focus and elements that need, you need to support it. I've actually heard it described this way before. Your business is an island.

[00:19:08] Your offer in and of itself is an island. And before you go to add more offers, which mean more islands. Build all the bridges to the one, get your customers to find as many pathways over to find you, get all the systems in place, run it on repeat year after year until you have it so dialed down that you are, you are making the kind of income you want.

[00:19:32] So here's an example. Instead of me. Having a membership and then adding in courses that I was launching and a summit that I was launching and workshops that I was doing. Had I spent all of my time leading all pathways to the membership, I would probably be where Louise Fletcher is with several thousand people in a membership.

[00:19:54] She has a very simple business model. She launches one big course and she has a membership on the back side of it. She has a simple plan that she's been putting in repeat for years now. And that is why she's successful at what she's doing. All pathways lead right there, instead of doing all the things and changing directions on a regular basis.

[00:20:16] Basis, in fact, take a moment and think of the most successful artists or entrepreneurs that, you know, on the Internet, those who are selling products, selling courses, have a membership, do coaching, they put their message on repeat and they're talking to 1 person. Over and over and over again. I can think of some amazing artists who are selling their artwork and they're selling hundreds of thousands of dollars of artwork and that's because they're doing that same thing on repeat and that's all I'm asking you to do is to pick a lane.

[00:20:51] Maybe try them all out. Try it. Do a beta test. That's the thing that I love to teach. It's a trial test. Try on the different hats. But when you find one that fits and you can put it on repeat, I'd stay there. And I'd work it until it became easy as pie. Because once things become easy, you actually get your freedom back.

[00:21:13] That's the thing that we've noticed in the Remarkable League. We've spent a whole year together and after a whole year The thing that I was pushing for in the very beginning, which was to pick a niche and pick a very simple business model and put it on repeat, they finally came to the full circle realization was, oh my goodness, if I just do this one thing on repeat, I have more time for myself.

[00:21:36] I can make more art for myself. I can travel more. This business actually gets easier. It's in the reinventing the wheel every time. That you get exhausted. So if you're sitting here going, oh, wait a minute, my life could be easier if I actually pick a niche. Yes, I'm telling you it can. And that's why I wanted to spell the multi passionate myth.

[00:22:00] Because the truth of the matter is, when you're trying to do all the things. You're going to go nowhere. You're going to speak to no one. You're going to be trying to market this thing and that thing. And it's like a squirrel. Look over here, audience. I want you to join me for this. And I've got this collaboration over here.

[00:22:16] Can you do this? And also I have this thing for sale. Would you like to buy my products? And after a while, your audience doesn't know what it is that you want them to focus on. And you don't know what to focus on. And you have a bunch of halfway finished bridges to islands that are incomplete. And so I would much rather get you to think like a rebel in this creative business and go all in on one niche.

[00:22:42] Now, how do we do that? Because that's where it really comes down to a bit of friction, because not only do you maybe not know what to focus on, or how to focus, or even how to define your niche. So, I want you to spend a little time, I'm going to be working on more offers for you, listen for that. Listen to the email, get jump on my email list.

[00:23:03] Just go to made remarkable. com slash 100. You'll get my 100 ways to build your creative business. It's a good peek into defining your very first step of defining a niche or which business model that you want. And then I have more coming for, for you because I really want you to start thinking like a rebel in this creative industry and start defining your niche so that you can stand out and be recognizable, be remarkable, be the person that people say, hey, you're thinking of color, go to Kellee Wynne.

[00:23:38] She's got all the color courses. That's what I want you to get to that point where you're known for something. And in the process, here are the four questions I'm going to leave you with. These are the four things you need to answer to get started. And this is going to be the basis of your entire business structure, strategy, and marketing plan.

[00:23:57] Ready? Write them down. You might have heard of these from me before and you're going to hear them from me again. I'm going to repeat them as often as possible because I have found that these four questions are the Key that unlocks everything. And I've used them with my customers, my clients over and over again, and it's solved a lot of problems.

[00:24:17] So here you go. Number one, what are you known for? Articulate this, write it in clear details for yourself. What is it that you want to be known for? Dig deep, think of all the different aspects and, and multifaceted parts of and put them together to stand out as. the thing that you are known for. I am boss, not bossy.

[00:24:44] I am your no nonsense creative business coach. I want to be known for somebody who's going to tell you it's straight. I want to be known for the person who understands marketing for creatives and how the creative mind works. That's where I want to stand out. And I want you to be able to say, Hey, you're interested in growing your creative business.

[00:25:05] Go speak to Kellee Wynn. She's got the answers. That's what I want to be known for. I've been known for many things over the years, but that's where my focus is now. Two, who do you serve? And I use serve very importantly because when we are in business, we are not in it for ourselves. If you are not in a place of service and understanding that you are going to help other people, you're going to make their life happier, brighter, solve a problem, fix their challenges, provide all of their biggest dreams, whatever it is.

[00:25:36] Who do you serve? Who is that person, specifically? And now I'm not talking about the old fashioned trope of give her a name and where does she live and how many kids does she have and blah, blah, blah, blah. That's not it. But who? What is, what does he or she or they want? What is it that You're doing for them.

[00:25:58] What stage of life are they in? Where are they located in this world? Really think about that. Sometimes called an ICA or ideal customer avatar. Really think about it. What is their deepest desire? What's holding them back? Who are they? Who do you serve? Number three, What problem do you solve?

[00:26:19] Because in all honesty, if you're not solving a problem, you don't have a business. Now, for a lot of you, you're like, oh, but I just make art. What problem is that that I'm solving? How is that a problem? Well, guess what? Somebody needs their house to look so much more beautiful, and that's the problem that you're solving.

[00:26:37] You're making their life harder. Life gorgeous, but every time they walk into their living room or every time they're sitting down in their breakfast nook and they're staring up at their artwork, they've got that little piece of joy in their life. That's the problem you're solving. It may not seem like a big problem like curing cancer, but guess what?

[00:26:53] That's the problem you're solving. The problem you're solving is creatives who are struggling to get through. Understanding color composition and design for abstract painting and they get stuck and frustrated and they give up on themselves. And here you are to swoop in and solve that problem for them.

[00:27:11] Define that. What is that problem? All those pain points. How is it that you're going to have somebody coming out the other end from experiencing your business with you? What is it that you're solving? And if you don't like the word problem that you're solving, go ahead and say, what deep desire are you fulfilling?

[00:27:29] That feels a little more comfortable. And the last one is how do you stand out? And this one's important because this is part of your niche and this is part of your marketing plan. But if you can't articulate how you're different from everyone else in this world, how your unique point of view is going to light a fire in somebody else's heart, then you're just going to sound like everybody else.

[00:27:50] And this is the part that I love to dive deepest into is how do we stand out? That's where the boss not bossy comes from. That's where I'm sitting here and telling you myth is what's getting you all hung up in your business. I'm willing to take some controversial views. I'm willing to stand out in this world of vanilla, Creative business coaches, no shame on any of them, but if they're all telling you the exact same thing to just make the art that your heart desires and share it online, I'm going to tell you, no, you need more than that.

[00:28:22] You need to answer these 4 questions. You need to pick a niche. You need to really dial it in and show up and talk about it and talk about the things that make you different from everybody else, because the things that make you different are the things that you're going to use to solve other people's problems.

[00:28:39] Now there's so many more elements of picking a niche. There's so many more elements of designing a business that works for you. But the most important takeaway that I need you to walk away from today is that you're going to exhaust yourself if you try to have seven different ways in which you are building your business.

[00:28:54] Because seven ways is like having seven part time jobs and nobody becomes a CEO of a business. By having seven part time jobs, and I want you to be the CEO of your business. I want you to be able to take control and become successful, become the profitable powerhouse that you know that you can be.

[00:29:11] It'll make all the difference in the world. We're going to circle back to this again. I have so many more things to share with you. So keep tuning in to the podcast this spring. We are going to be on fire because I am in the runway now for build it remarkable program that I have designed specifically for creatives and artists in mind to help them build their profitable powerhouse business.

[00:29:35] And. I want to see you on that remarkable list, all right? Thank you so much for joining me. I love talking about these things. Come, stop by my DMs, respond to my emails, tell me what you thought of this. What did it bring up in you? I have had a lot of people say they disagree with me on this, but the proof is in the pudding.

[00:29:57] Have you reached your goals? And if you haven't, I'm gonna ask you, maybe try my way. All right? Thank you so much. Talk to you soon. Bye. 

If you'd like to listen to or learn more about the podcast visit https://www.maderemarkable.com/blog  for our show notes and links to the main players.