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If you’re new to freelance writing, you’re probably keen to take on just about any work, writing about anything. And that’s fair enough - you’re trying to build your network of clients and create a steady income. But down the line, having a niche to write in can grow your business more than if you stayed and dabbled in a ‘Jack of all trades’ pool of work. It’s definitely worth the time to figure out what it is you’d like to specialise in.
What are your hobbies or interests?
Picking one particular topic makes it easier for clients to hire you because you can demonstrate existing knowledge and expertise. One way to find out what niche you could specialise in is to think about what you love reading about or what your hobbies are outside of your work? Do you love learning and development? Boats, freelancing, investing? Do you love trains, plants, music or software? You name it. You can create your own writing niche out of any of those topics.
What are your strengths?
Another way to go about it is to figure out where your strengths lie. Are you really good at simplifying complex information without dumbing it down? Do you have a background in science, engineering or law? Do you have a degree or diploma (i.e. an expert degree of knowledge) in something that you could use to build the foundation for your writing niche?
Interests vs money
I’d recommend choosing a niche in part based on something you enjoy writing about (because life is too short and it would be very difficult to write day in day out about something you do not care about at all) and in part based on what pays well. Some topics are saturated with freelance writers, such as music, fashion and pop culture for instance, and other genres just don’t have the number of businesses in it to successfully sustain a well-paid freelance writing career. While a few freelance writers manage to make decent money writing on certain popular topics, most writers won’t be able to make a living writing solely on those subjects.
Some of the highest paying writing niches out there include technical writing, ghostwriting, SEO writing and financial writing. To do well in technical writing and financial writing you need high-level knowledge of the topic. SEO writing requires a particular finesse for incorporating keywords into content in a fluid and natural way. Ghostwriting pays well because your name won’t be on the article, which means you're being compensated for missing out on free advertising and networking opportunities that could help you get more work.
Wrapping it up
Once you’ve found your niche, it’s totally sensible to move within it too. As your career progresses, you may find that you’ve ended up writing more and more about one particular topic. If you’re happy with that - great. If you’re not, it’s good to pause sometimes and reassess the direction your freelance career is going in. Your personal and professional interests can change too, so while finding a niche is important, changing it slightly to work with your evolving interests or expertise is important too.
Like what you’re reading?
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This week’s great reads
I think it’s important to read widely, so you can expect to find a broad range of topics in this list every week:
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Freelance/contracting jobs opportunities
Cold pitching companies and publications you’d love to write for is a great way to grow your confidence and your network, but if you’re keen on “warmer” leads - here are a few opportunities I found.
Apply for a 6 months maternity leave cover at The Fuller Project
Apply for a paid remote internship at Pineapple Street Studios
Note: I try to only include opportunities that are decent and well-paid. However, more often than not rates, unfortunately, aren’t discussed in the call for pitches/writers. You can check Who Pays Writers? or Contently’s freelance rates database to see if the publication or organisation is listed and what they tend to pay.
That’s it for this week’s WordCount! If you’ve enjoyed reading this edition, please feel free to share it with fellow freelance writers. Or have a look at last week’s newsletter.