The what, why, and how of choosing a freelance writing niche.
Niche is a huge buzzword.
A hot topic.
“You’ve gotta niche down,” says every freelance coach ever.
But do you really?
What are the benefits of niching down and what are the costs?
How do you do it?
And when do you do it?
Niching helped me to effectively scale.
But I didn’t niche down right off the bat.
Here’s a quick rundown of how niching worked for me.
What is a niche?
A niche is a specialized segment of the market for your service.
For example, I am a freelance writer but I don’t write everything.
More specifically, I am an SEO content writer who specializes in personal and business finance blogs for news outlets and industry-leading financial education sites.
And it took me about 7 years to niche it down that far.
By narrowing your focus, and specializing in a specific type of writing for a particular industry, you can become an expert — well-known, well-paid, and in-demand.
Starting out as a generalist
I never would’ve guessed finance would be my niche.
I started out writing about anything and everything.
Cabinets, pest control, the great outdoors, home improvement, recipes, you name it!
I also wrote all types of content and copy, such as:
- Emails
- Web copy
- Branding guides
- Whitepapers
- Product descriptions
- Ads
- Articles
- Social media posts and bios
- Ebooks
- And even a letter to the President once! True story.
I wanted to earn as much as possible so I took almost every job that came my way. Little did I know — that wasn’t getting me closer to my revenue goals.
While the variety was interesting and I was gaining a lot of experience, I got stuck in a certain price range and had a hard time getting to the next level.
I was pitching and negotiating but was struggling to move the needle on my freelance writing rates.
Plus, I was getting tired of jumping from left to right field. It was eating up too much time.
All that drove me to really analyze what I was doing with my freelance writing business.
Tip: “If you are in a place where you’re opting to write as a generalist,” says Liz Heflin of Mace Writing, “You better be sure you’re a quick study in a lot of different topics and formats. And you’d better love research. Like, love it.”
She adds, “If you’re working on a flat fee, make sure you’re also accounting for adequate research time in your rates. If you’re hourly, make sure you give your client a realistic idea of how much research time a project will entail. Nobody likes money surprises. Not your client and not you!”
How to find a winning freelance writing niche
I recommend asking three key questions to find a winning niche:
- What do you like writing best?
- Which writing projects are paying the best?
- What writing types are in high demand?
For me, personal finance blogs ticked all three boxes.
They were in demand and paid the best among my projects.
They weren’t a one-and-done. Clients who needed them, needed lots of them on an ongoing basis.
And, I hardly ever had clients asking for revisions. The workflow was optimized and mostly free of bottlenecks.
I recommend looking over all of the work you’ve done and asking the three questions above.
Implementing a freelance writing niche
Next, I began focusing on finding freelance writing jobs writing personal finance blogs and articles. I also started saying no to everything else. Soon after, I started building my personal brand online as a personal finance writer. I updated my website, my LinkedIn profile, and my other profiles across various channels.
Niching pays off big time
The combination of those two things finally took my business to where I’d wanted it to be and far beyond.
Opportunities now land in my inbox each week with people asking me to write for financial sites because they see my work on other sites.
And, overall, my rates have significantly increased (often client-led), while my demand heavily outweighs what I can supply.
So do I recommend niching?
Absolutely.
100,000x over.
But as much as it can help you, it can also hurt you.
Be sure to niche wisely
While niching can be awesome for your business, it can also leave you feeling trapped in a freelance writing niche you don’t like (with low demand and low pay). That makes for a very bad time.
So before committing to a niche, I recommend researching profitable niches and trying out a few that sound good to you. Test the waters. Don’t go into a niche blind.
Also, try out different types of content and copy.
Take note of what pays well, what offers ongoing income opportunities, and what you like.
At that point, you can pick your niche wisely. Or, perhaps you’ll decide you’d like to remain a generalist. That’s the beauty of freelancing—the choice is yours.
Have any questions?
Drop them below!
Want more advice?
Check out:
- The ATFW podcast: Freelancers sharing tips and advice
- 28 ways to find legit freelance writing jobs
- How to scale a freelance writing business (with or without an agency)