To niche or not to niche?
Help me find the answer?
Riley says hello to everyone. And that goes for me too!
I didn’t send out my usual Weds/Thurs article last week as I have been having a huge think about a number of things.
One of those things is whether I should make my Substack a bit more representative of myself, and if so, how. The Self-Esteem hub is a reflection of the part of me who is the therapist. It satisfies the part of me that passionately believes that having good self-esteem is the key to good mental health. That being proactive with our mental health is so important. I have started to try to create the self-esteem hub as the “greens” for our minds.
The thing is, I have not always been a therapist. I have been for that last 20 years or more for sure (I don’t really want to keep count at this point in my life!!). But I have done lots of things before that. I started off as a photographer. I can remember deciding on a whim that is what I wanted to do when I was 17 years old. I had loved taking pictures all my life to that point and since. I walked around all the photographers in Brighton until someone said yes to giving me a job!
Not in any particular order. I have worked as a project manager, a shipping coordinator (shipping containers of soya protein all over the world, random I know!), I have started and run a wedding stationery and favour business to get myself through university. This was to fund my way through university when I trained as a mental health nurse and needed money as I was also a single parent at the time.
I am creative and did, what was called back in the steam age of computers, desktop publishing. This is now called Graphic Design! I have worked in photography studios, sold cameras in a Kings Road (London) photography shop, run a fashion warehouse, a short stint as a local newspaper photographer, printed pictures in a photography dark room (yes steam age photography)….the list goes on. It is really diverse isn’t it? More by accident, than design.
During my mental health career, I have worked in many different teams in the NHS in both adult and children’s services, had my own private practice and currently hate working in the corporate world as a psychotherapist. I love my client work, but the other stuff, well!!!!!!!!!
And so I have been considering the niche idea in relation to me. Struggling with the apparent overwhelming advice, you should niche. And then this love lady wrote this:
This has really resonated with me. Look at that lovely piece of art as well! And it has made me think that maybe I should be more holistic, myself on Substack. I am not sure at the moment. It is whirring around in my brain! I wonder what other people think about niche vs not to niche? Do I do this as different publications, mix it up on this one or not at all?
I so enjoy the notes part of Substack. I feel a freedom there to post a photo, lambs, Riley’s latest exploits, thoughts, ideas and so on. Should this publication be the same?
Partly the reason for this thinking is that what is in the works now is going back to the wedding industry. It is our retirement plan (if the man in the Whitehouse stops messing with our pension!). We did our letterpress training about 18 months ago.
It is a beautiful thing to do and I have hopes we could employ an apprentice or two at some point, to learn this old trade. It feels such a nice blend to me. Slower, more mindful, fun. Just looking at the image below creates a sense of calm within me. The sound, the sight of the press moving, the smell of oil and ink. The solidness (is that a word?) and surety of all that metal. It is a very multi-sensory experience that creates truly beautiful paper products.
Photo by Melody Zimmerman on Unsplash
How am I going to present myself here, I just don’t know at the moment. The above press is sadly not ours. We have a very small portable press currently, Mable we have named her! But she is not big enough for wedding invitations. We plan to get a lovely big press, similar to the above, when we get back to England, hopefully soon!
Buy me a coffee
It is important to me to make my work accessible to as many as possible and so I currently do not have a paywall. If you found this post or this publication helpful, I would be so honoured if you would consider buying me a coffee. Thank you in advance. I seriously love coffee, mine is an oat, flat white, what is yours?
Meet Mable:
In the meantime we are developing our handmade favours and gifts line. Here is a sneak preview of a wire flower in development, our homage to the beautiful dahlia, you might notice a little copper broom as well! Still in development though. You might also notice Riley’s teeth marks in my plyers!
What would your advice be? Niche or have a bit of everything or different publications? What would you like to see from this publication that I am honoured you subscribe too?
I look forward to hearing from you.
With all kind wishes
Jane
Accredited Cognitive Psychotherapist
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Mindfulness & Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
➡️If you would like to work with me on a 1:1 basis you can contact me at: mail@janewatkinscbt.co.uk
Subscribe now (it is all free at the moment) and join the movement towards healthy self-esteem development, something we can all benefit from, for ourselves and those around us.
I had the very same thoughts when I wrote on Medium. I'm a personal essay writer at heart but also adore animals and nature. My day job has always been as a parenting and health writer and editor, but I also am falling in love with writing poetry. When I was pondering the same questions that you have here, I came across a word I had never heard before: multipotentialite. There is a name for being fascinated with many things and not sticking to one niche. I think I'm going to write whatever comes to mind here.
Such a brilliant article Jane, I love the way you write. And you did wedding stationery and favours too - that's how i started! (I still have my business but winding it down now in the hope of building up Her Handmade Hustle my mentoring one!)
I think you have so many interesting things to say that you can dip into whatever topic you feel is relevant at that time when you write. People have so much expertise and experience in many areas and we have a lot to share! I tend to pick one topic a week (so last week for example it was about comfort zones) and then write or talk about it on my podcast from a personal and professional point of view. I like to mix it up a bit!
I love what you write so keep doing it, that's all I actually wanted to say!