Everybody who talks about marketing is pointing out to all of us that we need to double down and find our niche. Bet I bet a lot of us struggle with the actual application of these wise words into doable, actionable steps. What exactly are we searching for? And where is this magical crevice where all the worlds money is being kept hidden so well, that every guru we find online can tell us about it and we’re still searching for El Dorado?

Because it’s not that we don’t know what a niche looks like – I’ve seen plenty of holes in my life and they do seem easier to fill up than the Grand Canyon, so the advice seems solid enough (it is grounded in basic physics after all). And we all get that making clothes for everybody won’t get us that far (at least not while H&M and Zara are around) but making organic fair-trade cotton boxers with polkadots for people named Fabio just might work.

But who are the Fabios of fine art? Because art is so subjective, it’s quite hard to define your target group. It can also be very expensive, and supposing that anyone with the means to afford a 10.000 € paining will automatically buy one is unreal at beast, because some people just don’t know how to appreciate art that well. The same way people like me, who aren’t that much into cars, couldn’t fully appreciate a vintage Porsche the same way a collector could.

My guess is starting smart, analysing the art work and asking questions like: Where would this look good? Is this more of an office or a residential work? What can I know about the consumer, who would like something like this? If my work is a peaceful nature scene, what kind of person would appreciate it and want it in his or her home? What do people, who like nature, also like? And what can such people afford, so that I know I’m in their price range? Questions like this usually help me understand my customer. But I think the best thing one can do is to get to know oneself, because if I like to nature scenes then surely others like me, who chose to pursue a different profession, might like to have one. Because like Seth Godin puts it: “People like us, do things like this.”