Knowing your niche isn’t the same as knowing your market.
A portraitist once told me he knew what his clients wanted: their picture taken. But he was wrong – they all had phones and could take a selfie any time. However, what they wanted was “professional status”, and a selfie or a picture from a park simply could never provide that.
After validating this through a couple of conversations, he finally stopped fearing anyone offering cheaper services in his market. Many of them could produce pictures, but basically none could provide a status anywhere close to the amount he could.
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Technical knowledge will turn an input into an output. A material into a widget, so to speak.
Market knowledge will turn your output into a desirable input for someone else. It will make some people realize that your widgets are an answer to their prayers.
Anyone selling knowledge for a living will need both to survive. Without technical knowledge, you’re a fraud. And without market knowledge, you’re broke.
Most clients don’t care about how you solve the problem, just that you can prove you can do it in a way they understand and recognize as relevant.
If you want to get better at market knowledge, ask people what they are trying to achieve, instead of what features they are interested in. What is their plan B if you are not available? In this “game”, assumptions are expensive, but curiosity is not.