Do You Have to Stick to a Niche?
Or can you switch it up?
Since writing this post last year, I leaned into commerce for a bit and now I’m back to focusing on home improvement and building materials with the goal of working with individual companies to craft their content strategy and write case studies and other marketing materials.
This question has been on my mind a lot recently. When I started freelancing, I was mainly focused on real estate and building materials. This was during the pandemic, so real estate content was in high demand. Since then, I've worked mostly in the home improvement and design space. I know that I want to pivot into more personal finance content and will eventually spend more time on The Simple Girl's Guide blog and resources.
But - I also want to write about cool things people are doing and science stuff (what specifically, I'm not sure). I want to do more deeply reported piece. I've had some PR people reach out with samples that I'd love to write about, so I'd like to do some commerce stuff. There's also home security, organization, wellness, and, well, so much more.
In the midst of these thoughts, I received Rae Witte's Approved Pitches newsletter (which I love, by the way). In this edition, she featured an interview with Jen A. Miller that was originally featured in Freelancing with Tim's newsletter (also a great one). This bit stuck out to me:
"I’ve been a full-time freelance writer for 19 years as of January, and while I’d like to say what I write about, the answer is a lot — and my focus changes as my interests do. For example, when I started out, I wrote a lot of travel stories about New Jersey, and then for a while, I wrote about running. Now I’m more focused on specialized science work."
I know that some freelancers make a career as a generalist, but I also know there's a lot to be said about focusing on a niche. You have more experience and expertise, and pieces typically go a little faster because you have a lot of the background knowledge. My interests are wide ranging and always changing, so it was nice to hear the other side of things, that you can change what you're writing about and still be successful.
Just some food for thought.
But now I'm curious, if you're a freelancer and you're reading this, what is your niche? Has it changed? And how do you decide what to focus on?
I'm not a freelancer, but it's becoming more and more appealing to me. Plus, I have an English degree, so I know I am capable. (Still working on believing I can succeed, but I refuse to give up) Do you have any tips for how to get started? Thank you!
First of all, you can succeed! And I firmly believe that continually telling yourself that you can do it make it much more likely that you actually will. Here are my tips for getting started:
Decide on a focus area. You don’t necessarily need to “niche down” right away, but deciding whether you want to write about birds or write about cars can go a long way towards moving you in the right direction.
I haven’t used Upwork in a long time, but I did browse through it the other day, and I still think it’s a viable way to get started. Search for keywords related to your focus and type of freelancing you’re doing (blog content, case studies, web copy, etc). Send proposals to jobs that you think would be a good fit, and go from there. I think this is a good way to get a bit of experience, build your confidence, and get some samples built up.
Either at the same time or instead of Upwork, be on the lookout for calls for freelancers and/or pitches. You can reply to these and explain who you are and what you do. If you have samples, send them. If you don’t…
Create some samples. Write about the things that you want to get paid to write about. For instance, if you want to write about gardening, write mock article about the best plants to attract wildlife or 5 unexpected places to use mulch (I’m not a gardener, so these might not make sense!).
Start building relationships with other freelancers and people in adjacent spaces, including in your desired focus area or niche. This could include editors, content managers, founders, etc. I cannot say enough good things about the community on LinkedIn and through Groove (an coworking app). Not only will you get to know amazing people, but you’ll have a network of support and people you can ask if you need input on something. I regularly help some freelance friends with proofreading and feedback, and I’ve reached out to friends about Notion and Placed.
Keep going. Freelancing is honestly not for the feint of heart. It’s amazing, and I love it, but it can be hard. A lot of emails and outreach will go unanswered. A lot of pitches are going to get turned down. You’ll get feedback that’s not great. But keep going.
And finally, if something doesn’t feel like it’s working, really evaluate why you’re doing it and decide if you need to double down on it or if you need to pivot. Freelancing is all about flexibility, but not just when it comes to your schedule. You also have to be flexible in your approach and adjust when necessary.
Freelancers, chime in! How would you recommend getting started?
My niche is sleep, which I fell into by accident. For almost 20 years (still feels weird to write that), I've been in the commerce space, but much of that focus has shifted to sleep-adjacent products and stories so if I'm writing about sales, it'll likely be *mattress* sales. If I'm writing a best-of list (groan) it'll be about mattresses or pillows.
I do still take on other work, such a software reviews and general coupon write-ups. The fun thing about freelancing is that you don't have to box yourself in if you don't want to. These days, I'm referred to as a 'mattress expert' or 'sleep queen,' which is flattering! But I like to think of myself as a woman of many talents.
By the way, I think your advice for new freelancers is spot-on. I'd also like to shout out Growth Machine, as it was the source of my earliest freelance projects. If you're just starting out and have a few samples (either from clients or mocks), submit your information and see what's available. At the time I used it, I was still into skincare and beauty, so I had a fairly easy time finding work (until COVID).