How to Find Your Freelance Writing Niche
The right freelance writing niche can make all the difference in your content marketing strategy.
It’s important for freelancers to find their ideal niche. This will help them to focus on a specific type of content. Know what is expected from them in order to get hired by a particular client company.
How to find your freelance writing niche
If you’re struggling with finding an ideal freelance writing niche, here are four tips that may help:
1) Identify Your Strengths
The first step in finding your freelance writing niche is to identify what you’re good at. This might be difficult if you haven’t been freelancing for a long time, but try taking an inventory of the types of articles that you find yourself gravitating towards..
Another way to find your freelance writing niche is by identifying what type of content you’re producing. If, for example, all of the articles that you write are about finance and economics, it might be a good idea to find an appropriate freelancing platform or company that specializes in these types of topics. You’ll find yourself more employable and find the work more rewarding.
2) Narrow Down Your Interests
Narrowing down interests can help narrow down your niche even more.
For example, if you find that science is your passion and you’ve been writing a lot of articles about astronomy lately, it might be in your best interest to find freelance platforms for writers who specialize in this field.
Remember: the more specific you can make your niche, the easier it will be to find job opportunities with companies looking for someone with your skills.
A good way to find a freelance writing niche is to find something that you’re passionate about and identify what type of content or articles are related to it. This will give you an idea of where your talents might lie, as well as the types of companies for which this may be a perfect fit..
If you find yourself gravitating towards a specific type of content or articles, it may be for the best to find an appropriate freelance platform that is looking for writers who specialize in that field.
3) Evaluate What You Have Already Written
The next step in finding your freelance writing niche is to find out what you’ve already written for other people. This can give a lot of insight into the type of content that you find enjoyable and, potentially, profitable..
Start by looking through your portfolio. If you find that you have been writing a lot about one type of content, it may be because this is what you enjoy the most and are best at producing..
If there’s no pattern in the articles that you’ve written for others, then take some time to evaluate the ones that sound like they may be interesting or enjoyable to write.
If you find yourself writing a lot about finance and economics, it might not hurt to find freelance platforms for writers who specialize in that particular field. This is especially true if money isn’t an issue..
The more articles written on the same topic means that you have knowledge of this type of content and find it enjoyable to produce.
Evaluating what you’ve written for other people will provide insight into your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and passions which can be used to find a freelance writing niche that is perfect for you.
4) Consider What Projects You Enjoy
Lastly – consider what projects you enjoy! There are plenty of different types of freelance writing jobs, find one that suits your skill set.
For example, if you’re good with grammar and love reading classic literature – then becoming a freelance editor may be an excellent choice for you!
This is also true of any other type of writing job. Find what interests you the most while still being profitable.
Why Selecting a Niche Can Be So Difficult
One of the most difficult parts about freelance writing is finding your niche.
There are many aspects that go into this including technical factors and how you will feel while writing.
The biggest obstacle I faced was myself, or rather how much something doesn’t interest me when I really have no expectation of getting paid to do it.
Most people find it hard to pick a niche because they are afraid of being wrong.
After all, nobody likes to be wrong.
I also struggle with this dilemma each time I make a business decision.
Every now and then, the thoughts that run through my head:
“I’m not sure if I’ll find a niche”
“What will happen then?”
“What will my family do?”
Challenges faced when choosing a freelance writing niche
It’s important to remember that there is more than one way to make money as freelance writer.
You can always find projects from other companies and clients outside of your area; you just need to be willing to find them.
The most important part is to find a niche that you enjoy. If you’re not in love with what you are writing, it will be difficult for the reader to find enjoyment and trust your expertise.
You’ll find yourself feeling drained by this type of work – especially if there’s no sense of accomplishment or fulfillment when all is said and done.
Look for a niche that suits your personality and find the perfect balance of challenging work you enjoy doing!
If you’ve struggled with niche selection in the past, this article is for you.
Some of the difficulties we face when choosing a topic to write about are:
1) running out of good ideas fast while our list number grows larger.
2) getting stuck looking up too many articles on Google and not being able to find anything
When I find myself in this position, it is because the topic doesn’t interest me anymore.
Selecting a Freelance Writing Niche – The Hard Truth
Finding a niche as freelance writers can seem daunting, but with the right direction, you’re guaranteed to find it.
In every venture I’ve been involved in, both online and offline, we’ve targeted a specific niche. Here’s one examples:
I had to choose between completing a degree or starting a business.
I chose the latter.
In my early twenties, I had two decisions in front of me: stay in school or start a business.
As an entrepreneur, time is important and money is on resource. Sometimes, you have to make difficult cuts such as quitting what might be most beneficial for you in the long run for what might be best for you now.
It’s important to find a niche that suits your personality and find the perfect balance of challenging work you enjoy doing!
If you’ve struggled with niche selection in the past, you’re likely to find it difficult choosing a niche as a freelance writer.
The business was about shoes. We all know shoes is a broad niche but we specialized in ladies shoes.
The company specialized in things like colors, heel heights, and other specifics.
This is an example of narrowing down your niche to find success when starting a business.
The same concept can be applied if you’re trying to find freelance writing work!
Freelance writing is a business – treat it like one.
Choosing an Ideal Freelance Writing Niche
After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of selecting your writing niche. Now that we’ve learned about the challenges and importance of picking one, here are three questions to help guide us in our decision:
1) Which niche is best for you?
2) How do you evaluate the potential of a freelance writing niche before you go for it?
3) How do you identify the difference between a mediocre writing niche and a great writing niche?
How to find your freelance niche
To find your freelance niche as a writer, it’s important you do thorough research and assess what you have to offer.
One of the most important decisions when starting a new blog is deciding what niche to choose.
As with any business endeavor, you’ll need to research and decide on your target audience. This may lead you toward looking at demographic data for where people live. How many potential readers you will base this off of in order to make an informed decision.
The last thing you want to do is find a niche and find out it’s not as popular or profitable as you thought!
Passion or Profit?
Should you pursue your passion or focus on making money?
When starting, most freelance writers focus on making money.
If you find a niche that suits your personality and find the perfect balance of challenging work you enjoy doing, then chances are you’ve found yourself an ideal freelancing writing gig.
However, we’re all human beings with bills to pay so don’t forget about earning money as well!
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying you should find a niche that’s going to make you the most money. I’m saying find one where your work will be valued and have people wanting to hire you!
Identifying a Profitable Freelance Writing Niche
Content marketing isn’t going anywhere. But how do you identify a profitable freelance niche?
When you’re considering a niche for your freelance writing, it can seem overwhelming to try and identify the ones that are evergreen — or those that will never go out of trend.
Health and finance are some of the evergreen niches out there. If you’ve got the knowledge in these fields, go for it! If you don’t there are other options out there you can pursue. As you go for your writing niche, just remember there is no shortage of competition.
What are some of the things to consider?
1) Search volume:
Is there adequate search volume for the freelance writing niche you want to go after?
How many people are searching for your niche? How competitive is the term you’re considering to find freelance work in?
For example, if you were looking at a writing niche like technology, there will be plenty of competition. However – with over 100 million monthly searches and high demand from new businesses who need content marketing services – it’s a lucrative freelance writing niche.
There are some things you can do to find out if this is a profitable writing niche for yourself. Like checking the search volume or using Google’s Keyword Tool.
Competition
The same goes with your competition. How many other writers specialize in that particular area? The more people who write in it, the more competition you will find, and the less profit you can make.
If there are other freelance writers in your niche – how do they rank on Google?
Google SEO is very competitive! So if you find a profitable writing niches with low competition then it’s time to go after that one instead of spamming high-competitive areas like technology.
If you find a low-competitive niche, it may be that no one else has discovered this profitable potential either! This might mean an easier time for you to make money since there are less writers in the field and more opportunity to rank on Google’s first page when looking for specific content marketing services.
2) Beware of short term “flash in the pan” type of niches
Finding a niche is great but you don’t want to end up with something that will fizzle out in the next couple of months. Do you?
You don’t want to find a niche and find out it’s not as popular or profitable as you thought!
A lot of writers make the mistake of finding something that is topical right now but will soon be this year’s trends.
There are all sorts of short-term niches like those for New Year’s resolutions.
Here’s a good example: find out what people are doing for New Year’s resolutions, create some content around it and then find something else to write about when that topic is no longer popular!
When you find your niche, keep in mind the longevity of it – don’t go after short-term topics. They’re not worth your time!
Not sure if it’s short-term? Check Google Trends to get an idea.
3) Demand
Is there an adequate demand for content in your freelance writing niche? This is a consideration that you shouldn’t overlook.
The demand is going to determine how many people are looking for content in your niche.
Keep in mind content takes on different forms. Here are some examples:
- Print articles
- Blog posts
- Product reviews
- Sales and Ad copy
- Video scripts
- Website content
- Ebooks
- How to guides
- Case studies
- Listicles
For example, if you find a freelance writing niche that has low search volume but high demand, then this might be worth it!
On the other hand, if there’s lots of competition and not much need – don’t bother with it.
4) Affiliate offers and paid advertisement in your niche
When you search google for your niche, do you see any ads related to it? Are there any companies that have affiliate programs in your freelance writing niches?
If the answer is yes to the above, then chances are you’ll make it in big in this niche.
If the answer is no, then you might find it difficult to find enough freelance writing work in this niche.
Remember content is king. Companies are always willing to pay top dollar if it converts.
You can also put up your own affiliate offers (sometimes called “affiliate links” or “performance marketing”) and paid advertisements for your content – but if there are any available opportunities out there already, that’s one less thing you will need to worry about!
5) Follow the money
The purpose of finding a profitable niche is to make money writing. So find blog posts or other articles that are popular, and find out what the writer’s niche is.
Most stay at home moms would choose the parenting niche. After all they have hands on experience on matters parenting. But is this a profitable niche? Yes and no.
Yes because you can make money with a parenting blog through ad networks and affiliate marketing.
No, because as a freelance writer who is probably a newbie, they’ll want you to share your content for free.
Free doesn’t pay bills, does it?
As a freelance writer trying to carve out a niche for themselves, I would say follow the money. Focus on high paying writing niches. A freelance niche that pay top dollar. Niches that attract the highest bid on Facebook ads and Google ads. As long as you know your value, offer your writing services to the highest bidder.
6) Is your niche solving a problem?
Writing niches that solve a particular problem tend to do better. For example, if you find that a lot of your readers are writers looking for tips on how to make money writing; then this might be the perfect niche for you.
Would it help people solve their problem?
If you find a niche that is solving a specific problem, go for it. More so if there are products to be sold that can help the reader solve a pressing issue.
Take the shoes niche for example. There are so many shoe brands that one can choose from. But what if you focused on writing about shoes for people with flat feet? Someone reading your content is likely to be looking for a shoe may be to alleviate pain or correct their flat feet.
How to find your freelance niche summary
Here’s a summary of what you need to consider when choosing freelance writing niches to go after.
Find a freelance writing niche that has:
- Low competition and high demand
- Affiliate offers, paid advertisements, or content related to your freelance writing niche
- Solves a problem for the readers
- Pays well
- Has a high conversion rate
- Is in your area of expertise
When you find this niche, make sure to focus on it and specialize. Increase the power and reach of this freelance writing niches by adding more content related to that niche. And don’t forget to keep updating!