If you’re a freelance writer, you probably have a few niches you write about more than others. Maybe most of your clips are in the real estate space, or maybe you specialize in writing content for tech companies.
It’s important to build up a reputation as a specialist in a few specific areas. However, it’s also important to remain flexible and versatile to survive in a freelance market.
Whether you’ve noticed that your own niche doesn’t offer enough work or you simply want to expand your repertoire, here are some easy ways to break into new markets.
Identify Your New Niche
When considering breaking into a new niche, you may be tempted to simply look into the highest-paying markets you can find. While there are obvious reasons that strategy might make sense, it’s not the best way to go.
After all, if you have no interest in understanding, say, fintech—or you need to look up what fintech even means—it’s unlikely you’re going to get very good at writing about it. If you’ve chosen to become a professional writer, you probably already know how beneficial it is to pursue a career that aligns with your interests. The same goes for choosing niches within your freelance work.
What do you think about every day? Maybe you’ve been writing about personal branding, but you’re also a parent and know a lot about parenting trends and products like kids’ clothes and toys. Or maybe you’ve learned a lot about investing in order to make those freelance checks stretch further, and you really do know a lot about financial technology.
Don’t force yourself to fit a mold that you think will be profitable. Instead, let your natural instincts and interests lead you to new opportunities.
Where to Start?
That high-profile, high-paying client isn’t going to hire someone with no experience. In many cases, lower-profile clients with lower budgets don’t want to take a chance on someone new, either.
To get your very first clips, work on some pieces that you can publish on your blog or website. It should go without saying that the content you post on your own website is held to the highest professional standards, so your blog is the perfect place to showcase the quality of work that will attract paying clients.
Once you have a few different pieces you’re happy with, start small. Maybe use those clips to get signed to an agency that will assign you to clients in your new niche. Sure, that agency will take a fee, and depending on what kind of agency it is you may not even get a byline, but it’s a small step up that will lead to bigger things.
Network, Network, Network
As the old cliché goes, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
For a freelancer, a strong network is crucial. Word of mouth is better advertising than anything else, but your network can also give you guidance and advice.
Hopefully you’ve got a robust circle of freelancer friends, and if you don’t, there are lots of Facebook groups and other online forums devoted to professional development for freelance writers. Reach out to someone who’s already successful in your desired niche and ask for advice. Not the dreaded “can I pick your brain?” question, but something concrete like: Where did you get your first byline in this niche? Have you noticed any changes in this industry since you got started? If you were starting over in this niche today, would you do anything differently?
No one can give you the perfect advice that will make breaking into a new market easy. But a more experienced writer can point you in the right direction and help you set realistic goals.
What’s in a Niche?
Did you try out a new market only to find it didn’t reinvigorate your career? Are you still frustrated with your work and feel like you’re jumping from niche to niche?
Maybe you’re thinking about niches in the wrong way.
Consider what you don’t like about the work you’re doing now. Perhaps you ache to work on longer, more research-intensive projects. Or maybe it is your dream to write snappy, eye-catching social media copy.
Your niche isn’t just about a specific industry; it’s about the kind of content you’re writing. Do you make SEO blog posts for lifestyle brands to host on their websites, or do you write their product descriptions? Both are on the same topic, but they’re different kinds of work for you. White papers, ebooks, newsletters, and even scripts for videos are different kinds of content produced by freelance writers that may work for just one company.
If you realize the type of writing you’re used to doing is getting stale, it’s pretty easy to branch out. Talk to some of your longer-term clients, the ones who know and trust you, and ask if they’re interested in letting you take on some different kinds of content. You’ll get to try new formats, and they’ll be grateful for the chance to give more work to someone they know will deliver.
Just Keep Writing
The freelance world can be intimidating. On the one hand, there’s the freedom and flexibility of being your own boss. On the other hand, there’s uncertainty and a lack of structural support that comes with a traditional job.
As a freelancer, your destiny is in your own hands. You get to choose what you want to do, and you always have the power to try something new. All you need to do is keep doing what you do best: write.
Chelsea Ennen is a writer living in Brooklyn with her husband and her dog. When not writing or reading, she is a fiber and textile artist who sews, knits, crochets, weaves, and spins.
