Giblet sandwiches

Every day, Barry Enderwick posts on TikTok about the sandwiches he’s making. But these are not just any sandwiches. Barry has become a star by recreating sandwiches from the past, and currently has almost half a million social media followers.

He’s made 700 so far, dating back to 200BC. And he’s covered a wide range, from the pretty grim (raw oysters, 1909) to the intriguing (chocolate and wine, 1908) to the ordinary (club sandwich, 1973).

It began when a friend gave him a copy of the 1909 masterpiece: ‘The up-to-date sandwich book: 400 ways to make a sandwich’. Since then, he’s ranged across cultures in search of more.

“I’m a 55-year-old balding guy,” he says. “There’s no way I should have had anyone following me.”

So what’s the attraction? Well for a start, he’s focused on something a bit weird, which has got him noticed. And yet the context isn’t so unique as to be unrelatable – sandwiches, after all, have universal appeal. Finally, he’s rigidly consistent in his output and doesn’t veer from his theme – this not only compounds his message, but establishes him as an expert in his field, which generates trust.

You know where I’m going with this…

That word niche

Many people are terrified of nailing their colours to the mast and worry that by niching down they’ll be saying ‘no’ to loads of great prospects.

By being all things to all people it can be hard to differentiate yourself and establish you as a particular expert in a specific area.

This is why many advisers looking to proactively generate leads are choosing to specialise.

Take financial planner Tom Skinner of Barnaby Cecil who works with medics. His podcast on NHS pensions, simply called the NHS Pensions Podcast, will naturally be of no interest to the millions of people who don’t have one, but what about the people who do? It will be worth its weight in gold.

Despite being about as niche as it gets – not just medical, but medical pensions – it  has a dedicated audience. The podcast has so far been downloaded 10,000 times and brought in a number of high-quality leads – significantly, they’ve become some of Tom’s best clients.

“Having spent time listening to us, they’d already decided we were what they were looking for in a financial planner,” says Tom. “They'd already built a relationship with us, in their mind, before we’d met them.”

So where do you start?

Identify your personal interests, values, and skills. Reflect on what aspects of your work bring you the most joy and fulfilment. This self-awareness will guide you toward a niche that aligns with your passions – the more obscure the better.