Hi Friend,
It’s the age-old question that every person who becomes a freelance writer or editor faces: do I have a niche or am I a generalist?
The question has vehement proponents on both sides of the equation. Like those who will battle to the death over whether Ross and Rachel were on a break (yes, I’m old enough to have had strong opinions on the topic at the time—and I still do), there are those who will swear up and down that in order to be successful you MUST have a niche. And there are those who will call you a fool for narrowing yourself arbitrarily, who say that being a generalist is the only way to go.
Here’s the thing, whether you generalize or have a narrow focus depends on a number of factors that are entirely unique to you. Much like your fingerprint, your decision to wear socks with sandals, and whether you hate cilantro (the only rational feeling to have about cilantro, for the record), the decision to niche or generalize is entirely yours alone.
The right answer is the one that works for you.
But, there are things to consider on either side of the equation and there are some misconceptions about niching, which I feel it is my duty to point out.
What does it mean to have a niche?
Having a niche means you have a topic, industry, and/or type of document you specialize in. You might, for example, specialize in environmental writing. Or you might specialize in helping legal firms with their content. Or you you might focus on writing blogs.
Or you might become hyper-focused and specialize in writing blog posts for legal firms that focus on environmental law.
What are the benefits of niching?
When you niche, you get to know a topic more thoroughly than if you generalize. You become known as an expert in that field, topic, or document. Potential clients hear about you from their colleagues in the field and more likely to trust you because of your knowledge and reputation. They may also find you more easily if you regularly post about your area of specialty on social media.
As you become more of an expert in the field, you can charge higher prices. You can also more easily market yourself by sharing thought leadership, on social media, in articles and even hosting webinars. Engaging in conversations with potential clients in your niche is easy because you know the topic well. You use their jargon, which further establishes trust.
You get to know the target audience, which means coming up with topics and solutions that engage the audience comes more easily. Brainstorming ideas and creating content will likely come more easily to you. So will fact-checking and ensuring your sources are reliable and credible.
You aren’t starting at square one every time you take on a new client. You’re starting around square 10.
And lest you worry about conflicts of interest, many clients are happy to work with someone who understands their industry and their needs. They don’t mind that you’ve worked with the competition, provided you’re not spilling any trade secrets (that’s where non-disclosure agreements/confidentiality clauses come in).
If you’re starting out as a writer or editor, having a niche often means you also have a network to build your business from. You may know people in the industry personally or you may be familiar enough with it to identify the best candidates to market yourself to.
Using me as an example: I am a writer who specializes in legal and financial writing. Many of my clients have found me on LinkedIn because they search for “legal writer” or “financial writer” and my name comes up. They read my posts, look at my website to verify my experience, and often hire me. If I didn’t identify myself and share my knowledge of these topics, those clients wouldn’t have found me.
Having a niche is ideal for you if:
You have a specific topic area or type of document you already have experience in (if you’re coming to writing or editing as a second career, your original career has likely given you a lot of valuable experience that can compensate for a lack of writing or editing experience).
You have any sort of educational background in a specific topic (such as a university degree or courses).
There’s a topic/industry you’re highly interested in or a type of document you love working with.
You don’t love networking with a lot of people in different industries and you want to make the networking process as painless as possible (note that this is not the same as “pain free”).
You want to work in a highly specialized or technical industry, where the clients are more likely to prefer specialists.
Misconceptions about having a niche:
Many people think that if you have a niche you turn down work that falls outside it. This isn’t true. I’ve done plenty of work in other topic areas. I just don’t market myself to clients in those areas. If I’m doing research for myself I’ll do it in my niche areas, to expand my knowledge in those topics.
In addition to legal and financial work, I’ve done work in:
Real estate
Dance/performing arts
Non-profit/grant-writing
Beauty/lifestyle
Mining
Agriculture
Families
Oil
Reasearch reports
And a host of other topics. If clients come to me in a field outside my niche, I take the work on if I have the capacity. But I don’t spend my time reaching out to clients in those industries. I don’t go to networking events in those industries or publish any thought leadership content in them. I don’t study those industries.
Issues with niches
One issue I sometimes see is freelancers jumping on a market trend, without considering their background or interests. Some topics quickly come into high demand, but if it’s not in an area you’re knowledgeable about or interested in, it’s harder to sustain over the long-term. Additionally, some topic trends have a shelf-life shorter than a reality dating show contestant’s fame.
Another issue is limiting yourself to one niche, unless you’re an expert in one field. If you’re starting out having a couple of niches can help you immensely. You may have noticed that above I mentioned I focus on both law and finance. Having two niches enables me to become knowledgeable in both areas and it gives me some diversity in the work I do. It’s also a bit of a risk mitigator: If one market suffers a sudden downturn, I can focus more on the other.
I suggest having 2-3 niches, especially when you’re starting out.
As for Ross and Rachel
The take that literally no one asked for: The question of them being on a break or not is beside the point. Regardless of whether he thought they were on a break, he didn’t take any time to confirm that they were broken up, he committed the very act that he was worried Rachel would commit (and fought with her about repeatedly), and he tried to hide it from her because he knew it would hurt her (which is sign #1 he knows he did something wrong). Those all add up to a man you don’t want to be in a relationship with. Debate closed.
If you have a niche did you choose it or did it just sort of happen? Share your story in the comments.
Here’s to your continued freelance success,
Heidi
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If you have a niche did you choose it or did it just sort of happen?
I sort of fell into my niche, but in the best way possible. My other dream career growing up was law and I was just about to start applying to law schools when I learned about the writing program I wound up taking. During the program, I realized I wanted to freelance and when I graduated there was a posting for a freelance writer with an agency that specialized in legal marketing. It seemed like the perfect fit. I focused on law for a while and then finance felt like a natural second niche.