How to Find Your Freelance Writing Niche

TL;DR:

• Engage in self-reflection to uncover your skills and passions.
• Conduct a little market research to align your freelance writing niche with demand.
• Stay adaptable to build clips and a writing reputation.

Identifying a unique writing niche is crucial to building a successful and sustainable freelance writing career. Having a niche can help you stand out when you’re pitching because you already have background knowledge of a topic and can write about it effectively. But how do you determine the right niche for your freelancing business? Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you identify your unique freelancing writing niche.

Should You Only Have One Freelance Writing Niche?

What is a niche? In this context, it’s a specialized topic area. It may be an industry you’ve worked in or a subject you’re passionate about. Specialization in a niche can be the key to landing an assignment with a publication.

When starting out, focusing on one area keeps you on track and helps you find publications where your writing will be a good fit. Most writers settle into one or two niches and build expertise in those areas. You’ll expand into more areas as you grow in your freelancing career. However, most writers will return to the same one or two topics as they develop deeper relationships with editors and subject matter experts.

Reflect on Your Skills and Interests

Let’s start by listing your skills, experience, and interests. What are you passionate about? What do you excel at? Your niche should be something you enjoy because that passion will drive your motivation and help you deliver exceptional work.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

• What topics or tasks do I enjoy working on the most?
• What do people often ask me for help with?
• Which of my skills are in demand or could help people?

Once you have a list of skills and interests, narrow down your list to the top two or three to investigate further.

Research Market Demand

Identifying your list of interests is the first half of the battle. Now, you’ll ensure there’s a writing demand in those areas. Use tools like Google Trends and publication directories to gauge the popularity and demand for different niches. This research will help you identify opportunities where your interests align with market needs.

Tips for Research:

• Explore publications at websites like Muck Rack or search for your topic and “publications” in a search engine. Here’s one of many publication lists you’ll find with a quick search.
• Visit LinkedIn and search for “publications” and your niche. You can try this search on any social media platform.
• If your niche is a particular industry, search for trade magazines. Here’s a directory of trade publications organized by sector.

Analyze the Market

While researching your niche, take note of the writing in the publications you find. Are there a lot of publications in that niche? Do they pay? If you love a niche, you may not mind writing a few articles for free to get the byline. But, if you’re looking for ongoing assignments and income, you need to focus on subjects and publications that pay.

As you explore publications, check the writer’s guidelines for payment terms. If you can’t find that information, feel free to email the editorial team and ask for their pitching guidelines and rates. Most publications have this listed on their website or will send you information on request.

Things to Consider:

• Did you find more than three or four paying publications that you can pitch?
• Think outside the box: Could you pitch this topic to different kinds of publications? For example, if your niche is bookkeeping, could you write for family publications, small business publications, and professional accounting organizations?

A specific niche makes it easier to market yourself and attract assignments where you’re paid a premium for your expertise.

Stay Adaptable!

After looking up publications, you should know which niches are worth focusing on when starting out. If there are a handful of paying publications, go ahead and get started with pitching! It’s a good idea to start with just one or two niches so you can focus on excelling in one or two areas before branching out.

Publications are constantly evolving, so stay adaptable. Be open to expanding your niche as you gain more experience. You’ll probably find new avenues to explore as you land more assignments. Flexibility helps you stay relevant and grow your business.