Depth Over Breadth

𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚'𝒔 𝑾𝒂𝒗𝒆:

🔍 The shift from generalists to hyper-specialists
💎 How narrow expertise is commanding premium pricing
🌐 When being known for one specific thing trumps broad knowledge
🔮 What this means for personal brands and business models

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕

Mastering one specific thing is the new competitive edge.

For years, we were told to diversify our skills, avoid putting all our eggs in one basket, and maintain broad appeal. Now, the pendulum is swinging hard in the opposite direction.

The most successful creators, professionals, and businesses are deliberately narrowing their focus to claim ownership of increasingly specific domains. I'm calling this "Depth as Distinction" - when hyper-specialization transforms from just a focus area into your defining competitive advantage.

We're witnessing the return of blog-era specialization but with better monetization models. The hyper-specific creator of today is essentially the 2000s blogger reborn, but with direct revenue streams rather than depending on general advertising.

𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔

Education: "Smart Nonsense" has built an audience of over 100,000 subscribers by focusing exclusively on explaining complex topics through daily comics "like you're 5." By specializing in this specific format and approach, they've carved out a unique position in the crowded educational content space.

Food: "Pizza Every Friday" focuses solely on pizza and its ideal pairings. This hyper-focus on a single meal concept led directly to a book deal featuring 52 pizza-salad combinations, proving that depth in an everyday topic can create distinctive value.

Meta-Newsletters: Matt McGarry's content is 80% dedicated to newsletter growth strategies. By creating "a newsletter about building newsletters," he's established himself as the go-to expert for creators looking to grow their subscriber base. Let’s just say this is my plug when it comes to writing a newsletter.

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒘?

Three converging factors make this shift particularly significant:

1. Platform risk has reached critical levels. As social media platforms become increasingly volatile, creators are recognizing that email subscribers represent a more valuable and defensible asset than followers. The owned audience has become more valuable than the rented one.

2. Information overwhelm has reached critical mass. With content creation accelerating exponentially, consumers are seeking trusted filters rather than more options. When faced with endless choices, we don't want more options - we want someone to tell us what's worth our time.

3. The math of audience value has changed. The revenue potential of 1,000 true fans now often exceeds what was previously possible only with audiences 100x larger. This restructuring of the creator economy means specialization isn't just creatively satisfying - it's often more financially viable than going broad.

𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔

• Personal brands will evolve from general expertise to "signature specialties" that become immediately recognizable and ownable in ways that broad positioning never could.

• Business models will shift from high-volume, low-margin offerings to high-specificity, high-margin products that serve particular niches with unmatched precision.

• Premium pricing becomes not just possible but expected when you're the definitive voice in a specific domain – people will pay multiples more for specialized knowledge they can't get anywhere else.

• Niche expertise will increasingly translate into book deals and other premium formats – industry forecasts predict that "newsletters on complex or niche topics will collate their work into books" as publishers recognize the value of pre-built, highly-engaged audiences.

The true premium lies not in knowing something about everything, but in knowing everything about something very specific.

𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑻𝒊𝒑𝒔

In case you want to start your own newsletter:

🎯 Build for a Market of One: Instead of writing for a broad audience, identify your ideal reader with extreme specificity. What would this single person find incredibly valuable? What are their specific pain points? What language do they use? Writing for one person creates focus that paradoxically expands your appeal to the many others who share similar characteristics.

🔍 Go Three Levels Deeper: Most creators stop at the first level of specificity, which isn't deep enough to create true distinction. Push yourself to go at least three levels down:

• Level 1: Sports (too broad)

• Level 2: Basketball (better, but still crowded)

• Level 3: NBA draft analysis (getting distinctive)

• Level 4: Data-driven evaluation of international prospects' transition potential to the NBA (truly distinctive)

The fourth level creates a position that is both defensible and compelling while maintaining enough breadth to build a sustainable content business.

🧠 Lead With Contrast: When introducing your specialized focus, clearly articulate what you're NOT doing. Smart Nonsense doesn't just explain complex topics - they specifically reject comprehensive education in favor of extreme simplification. This contrast helps potential subscribers immediately understand your unique value proposition and sets clear expectations.

Need help finding your niche or building your specialized audience? I offer one-on-one consulting to help you identify and develop your depth distinction.

𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌

If you found value in this issue, please let me know with thoughts or the word ‘wavey’ to this email. This gives me a gauge on what you like as the reader. If you don't like it or would like to see more, please let me know as well - I promise I won't be offended.

𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝑾𝒂𝒗𝒆

See you next week, same time, same place.

If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here.

Stay wavey,

Haley