3 Simple Ways to Find Freelance Writing Niches Using Your Unique Skills
As you get started looking for writing jobs, honing in on freelance writing niches that align with your strength and skills is critical.
3 Simple Ways to Find Freelance Writing Niches Using Your Unique Skills
As you get started looking for writing jobs, honing in on freelance writing niches that align with your strength and skills is critical.
Finding freelance writing niches that work well with your skills and strengths will improve your chances for winning jobs and enjoying the work. We all have specialized experience, hobbies, interests and knowledge which makes us unique. For example, perhaps you have worked for years for a broker in the real estate industry. Maybe you are an avid reader of a particular field, like the financial markets. Or maybe you know a ton about dogs and have spent years writing about them on a personal level.
Whatever the case, you already have a specific knowledge that can help you get a foot in the door. This is especially important when you are just starting off and are trying to land your first clients. It is also a very smart strategy to narrow down your writing niche to become an expert in that field.
In addition, you will find that writing about things you are interested in is more enjoyable than trying to be a writer of all trades. Additionally, if you have technical or other knowledge and skills that can be applied to writing, your rates will increase dramatically.
Here are 3 simple ways to find freelance writing niches using your unique skills:
1. Your Unique Skills and Experiences = Freelance Writing Niches
To start, think about your personal and professional experiences and make a list of what you know well. Include hobbies, past work related experience, and any other skills that you have. An example list can be as simple as this:
- Dogs
- Soccer
- Stock trading
- Accounting
- Fixing cars/mechanics
- Parenting
- Vegan food/cooking
- Vegetable gardening
- Social media marketing
- Fitness
- Marriage/relationships
Once completed, take a good look at your list. These are all potential writing niches that you can target and become an expert in. Obviously, some will be more competitive and lucrative than others but in many cases you can find writing jobs covering the skills and experiences that you already have.
2. Align Your Skills to In-Demand Freelance Writing Niches
- Personal Finance
- Healthcare
- Stocks/Cryptocurrency/Forex
- Legal/Law
- Politics
- Sports/Fitness
- Gambling
- Automotive
- Arts & Culture
- Nutrition
- Insurance
- Real Estate
- Pet Care
- Medical
- Gaming/Esports
- E-Commerce
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As you can see, there are tons of potential niches that you can explore. Now, align your previous list of experiences and hobbies/interests to the types of common writing niches. For example, if you have a great interest in dogs, the dog care niche would be a great place to start.
Once looking for and applying for jobs, targeting businesses that sell pet care products would be an ideal client.
Also worth mentioning is that within each of these niches are sub niches (ex. Personal Finance —> Budgeting —> Family Finances). Know a lot about budgeting for families? Position yourself as a writer with a subject matter expert in family budgeting and start targeting businesses that need that content.
*Keep in mind, you do not have to limit yourself to one niche. For example, we get paid to write in about five niche markets at this point in time.
3. Search Job Boards to Find Popular Writing Niches
Businesses of all sizes are constantly adding new content to their marketing and branding mix and are posting writing jobs for them. Many do not have a full time writer on staff so when new content is needed, these businesses will be hiring a freelance writer to fulfill their needs.
As you get familiar with job board sites and experience searching for writing jobs, you will start seeing trends and popular niches more often than others. The key is to filter through the competitive, low-paying niches and projects to find the low competition, higher paying gigs that meet your skills and strengths. If you are trying to land your first paying clients, you can relax those standards a bit to build up your own experience and portfolio.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of writing job postings to give you an idea of how niches come into play in real life:
This client is looking for someone that knows sports, specifically wrestling. They are interested in someone that can create articles for their website and have wrestling “expertise.” As you can imagine, this job posting will have way less competition than others. For anyone that knows the basics of wrestling, it can be relatively easy to get in with a client like this. And who knows, it might turn into a longer term opportunity.
Love all things Disney? In this example, the client is clearly in the market for a writer that is knowledgeable about Disney theme parks.
Clearly, niches are a major theme in the freelance writing industry. Clients hire those that can demonstrate a level of expertise in their desired topics.
As an example, Mike found his first client by responding to a very niche job posting in the car audio space. Although he was not an “expert”, he demonstrated the knowledge needed to land the job. That client, which started off as a small blog post, has turned into many repeat assignments and thousands of dollars in income.
Continually search for writing jobs and use your experiences and skills as keywords to narrow down results. Look for common trends and take note of which types of niches and project types are the highest paying. Build a name for yourself within the right niches and watch your earnings skyrocket!
What writing niches are you targeting? How have you found writing niches that work well with your experiences and skills?
About the Authors
Hi there! We are Mike & Michelle, freelance writers, business owners, and parents to two young girls. Thanks for reading and joining us on your freelance writing journey. Whether you are beginner or a seasoned vet, we hope to help you grow your earnings and writing potential.