Tom Ross on the Power of Niching Down & Why It Isn't a Life Sentence

<h2>The Phases of Your Creative Side Hustle...in My Opinion</h2><p>I want to preface this preface of today’s interview: I’m speaking <i>solely</i> from experience here on my philosophy on the phases of your side hustle.</p><p>I think, early on in your hustle—once you truly accept you’re a creative and you’re figuring out what direction to go—that experimentation and trying new things is important. I think of this as Phase 1, and I was totally there. In fact, I played in this Phase for like 4 years, until I reached what I feel is Phase 2.</p><p>Phase 2: you start to figure out what is and what isn’t working. I call this the "sweet spot secret sauce" that overlaps your greatest passion/interests with your greatest strengths. You start to narrow down and go deeper down this rabbit hole and connecting with yourself and your potential audience/clients on a deeper level. You start to really understand yourself and what these hungry and connected humans want/need and how you could potentially provide that solution...that’s where Phase 3 starts to come in.</p><p>Phase 3, to me, is when you add the next ingredient to the secret sauce of the Sweet Spot: the market. You’ve now combined something you’re passionate about with something you’re good at, so now you need to pinpoint where you’re able to provide a valuable solution to that perfect follower or client. To me, this is where the magic happens: your ambitious side hustle pursuits start to <i>really</i> gain traction and shape into the possibility of something more.</p><p>I think Phase 4 is something I’m on the cusp of, but I don’t truly know what it looks like yet. However, I'm definitely thriving in my secret sauce sweet spot and finding new ingredients to add to the mix to help scale what I’m doing and go deeper.</p><h2>Narrowing Your Focus By Niching Down</h2><p>I guess this philosophy I’m speaking toward all started with experimenting, but now I've narrowed my focus. I not only listened to my gut, but I also soaked up outside perspectives and advice how I could ste