Do you want to achieve success with your writing business as quickly as possible?
Then narrow your focus and choose a single niche to write for.
Because when you write for a single niche three good things are likely to happen:
1. You’ll be seen as an expert. Clients are looking for freelance writers who understand their industry.
In fact, one of the questions you’ll hear a lot from new clients is “Do you have experience in our industry?”
By focusing on a single niche you’ll be seen as an expert. That will help you get clients faster and…
2. You’ll make more money. Did you know a general practice doctor makes an average of $195,000 per year, while a specialist rakes in a whopping $285,000?
Think about that: the specialist makes an extra million bucks every ten years just because she focused on, say, cardiology instead of general practice. That’s amazing!
And when you specialize in a writing niche you’ll be able to command higher fees than if you were a generalist. And also…
3. You’ll write faster. When you focus on a single niche, you’ll write much faster because you won’t need to spend as much time researching.
And the faster you write, the more money you’ll make.
Not to mention, the faster you can write and complete projects, the more time you’ll have for other things like your family, hobbies, or long afternoons with a cappuccino and good book at your favorite cafe.
(Which, by the way, is my idea of heaven on earth!)
So can you see why it’s a good idea to focus on a single writing niche?
Cool. Then let’s look at...
How To Pick The Perfect Writing Niche
First of all, there is no “perfect” writing niche.
Just like there are no perfect people, no perfect vacation destinations, no perfect writers (with the exception of Jorge Luis Borges), etc.
“Perfect” is a relative term.
Your perfect writing niche might be the actuary industry. But I’d rather tie raw steaks to my arms and legs and swim through a piranha-infested river than write for the actuary industry.
So how do you pick the writing niche that’s perfect for YOU?
Start with a self-audit.
What are your passions? Your hobbies?
What do you know more about than most people?
These are great places to look for your writing niche.
Because you can take your existing passion for and knowledge about this niche and quickly transform that into a writing business.
If you’re still trying to figure out your writing niche, or if you’re like me and trying to branch out into a second niche, here’s what I want you to do:
Take 10 minutes today and write down as many of your passions, interests, hobbies, or areas of interest you can think of.
Don’t hold anything back. Scribble them all down on a piece of paper.
Once you’ve got your list, narrow it down to 3 to 5 things that get you really excited.
These 3 to 5 things could potentially be the perfect writing niche for you.
To find out, take your list and hit Google.
What you want to do is use Google to look for potential clients in this writing niche.
For example, let’s say one of your passions is brewing beer at home. That’s probably not the first writing niche most people would think of, right?
But a quick search on Google reveals there are THOUSANDS of beer making equipment companies, microbreweries, trade journals, and home brewing aficionado sites online.
These are all potential clients.
But are they potential paying clients?
After all, we’re in this to make money writing. And that means finding clients that will pay us well for our writing services.
The short answer is: If they’ve got a website, chances are good they’ve paid for writing services at some point.
After all, someone had to write all their website copy, yes? And 9 times out of 10 it wasn’t the business owner who wrote it.
Focusing on a writing niche with paying clients is EXTREMELY important. And I’ll have a lot more to say about it in upcoming emails.
For now, brainstorm a list of 3 to 5 passions, interests, hobbies, or areas of knowledge you could focus on as a writing niche.
I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts that AT LEAST one of those is a potentially lucrative writing niche.
In a couple days we’ll start investigating how much money could be waiting for you in your writing niche.
One last thing before we say goodbye:
Like many of you, I’m still trying to figure out my writing niche.
I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities, but I’ve yet to pull the trigger on one or the other.
Would it be helpful for you if I sent an email that basically gives you an X-ray look at WHY I narrowed it down to these two writing niches…
And HOW I’m trying to decide between them?
I feel like it would be helpful. But I also don’t want to send too “personal” an email if that’s not what you’re looking for in this 90 Day Writing Challenge.
Anyway, if that’s something you’d like me to cover, would you quickly reply to this email with a “Sounds good!” or something like that?
Thanks!
Paul “what I’d do for a cappuccino right now...” Buzan
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