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3 Ways to Find Your Niche as a Freelance WriterNick Usborne To make a six-figure income as a freelance writer, to need to be an expert. You need your name to jump to peoples lips when a particular job or challenge comes up. "Direct mail for software You should get in touch with Bob. Thats what he does." Insert your own name and specialty where appropriate. You cant get that kind of awareness or referral if youre someone who just writes about anything in any medium. Nobody is going to believe that you are a trusted expert in absolutely everything. So how do you determine a viable niche You have three choices... 1. Niche by industry... That is to say, work within a particular industry. For years I worked with pharmaceutical clients. All my clients were drug companies. I wrote direct mail, brochures, sales aids, video scripts. I wrote anything, so long as it was about pharmaceuticals. That was my niche. And my clients knew that I was knowledgeable in that area. So they came to me. 2. Niche by medium... In this scenario, you make a particular medium your specialty. After my years with the pharmaceutical industry, I decided to specialize as a direct mail copywriter. And for that period, about 15 years, I ONLY write direct mail and associated media...like inserts, fliers, postcards etc. I was a direct response specialist. And I wrote for all kinds of different industries - financial, cable TV, magazine publishers and more. My specialty, my niche, was as a direct response copywriter. Other writers have built their careers around writing annual reports, radio scripts, white papers etc. 3. Double-Niche When you double-niche you are making a specialty of serving a single industry through a single medium. For instance, writing direct response for the financial industry. And ONLY writing direct response for the financial industry. In conclusion... As I said at the beginning, you cant be an expert at everything...not within every industry, not with every medium. So you need to take some steps to find your niche. How do you choose First, know yourself. Know what you are good at. Know what you like. Also, be smart. Create your niche where the money is. Find your niche where there is a strong market. And be smart about the size of your niche. Dont go so narrow that youre forever starved of work. Dont go so broad that people view you as a Jack or Jill of all trades, a generalist.
| | | | RELATED ARTICLES Poetry in a Nutshell Poetry is more than just rhyming and prose that is in meters and verse. It is an art form. It is something that can not be judged by its cover and can not be critisized to the point where it just "sucks." Poetry is about expression. Poetry expresses the way we feel on a certain subject through imagery and other senses. It helps us deal with our daily problems, be it good or bad. Marketing for Writers When Writing Just Isnt Enough Many writers write for the experience. Others dream of having a number one best seller. Both are wonderful reasons for writing. What many fail to realize is that these two do not have to be mutually exclusive. With a little research, you can enjoy writing incredible stories and see to it that they generate a profit. Writing For Free: When & When Not to Do It! Right off the bat, I want to say that there is no right or wrong answer to this topic. A lot depends on your end goal — to get a job, garner publicity, build a portfolio, etc. However, there comes a time when every writer should say no to writing for free. Below are some issues that Ive been pondering about freelance writing. If The Viewpoint Character Is A Secondary Character, Have You Established Who He is Creative Writing Tips – Interviewing an Author: Dont Be Left Speechless Edited by Jenny Wilson Cookbook Publishing - The Basic Ingredients and the Secrets to Success You are about to embark on the most exciting enterprise of your life -- publishing a cook book! You will soon learn that writing a cook book is truly a fun, exciting and challenging project – more than you can imagine. Like me, you can publish your own wildly successful cook book. And if you ask me if I think publishing a cook book is worth the time and effort You bet I do! 6 Steps to a Remarkable Reapplication OK. You didnt get accepted at any of the schools you applied to. What should you do now Killer Press Kits - Press Kits That Demand Attention So,m youve had your book published or youve gone the self-published route, but what do you do now 5 Keys to Unlock the Waitlist Lock Being wait-listed is tough, and you need the right set of keys to open the door to your dream program. The truth is that even with these keys, its still not guaranteed that the lock will work. But this keychain has the critical pieces of metal youll need to turn that lock. Beginnings Just about everyone is familiar with this beginning:“In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep . . .” Genesis 1: 1-2 RSVIn a sense we’re playing God when we write a story.We create the characters, plot, and setting, turning a blank page—nothingness—into a compelling story. Write For Yourself First It would be very selfless or noble of me to tell you that I have created my web site only to help you and the rest of humanity. The reason for me spending so much time and energy into my writing and this site is selfish. And I must remind myself of that from time to time, especially when I move into a down period and I am asking myself "why." Five Steps to Goal-Setting What would you like to achieve in your lifetime The Top Five Mistakes That Companies Make with Regard to Technical Documentation I’ve seen it time and again. One of the most common weaknesses that I’ve seen in engineering companies—indeed, an almost universal fault—is the lack of proper technical documentation. Some would laugh this off as a minor detail; however, the repercussions are often severe. A company’s entire future can be made or lost based on the amount of attention they pay to this issue. How To Stay Fit While Writing Day after day, writers tend to sit for hours writing that novel or story, and over time, this can become a potential problem. Their metabolism may slow down and the pounds can inch up. Statistics show all kinds of health problems associated with obesity. How To Break Into Print Publishing The big question. Do you submit directly to the publishers, or do you find an agent who will do that for you Based on anecdotal evidence Ive heard, it can work either way. The bottom line is, if a publisher reads what he can sell, hell buy it. It doesnt matter if it comes from an author or an agent. The trick is getting him to read it. Thats always your focus. 7 Deadly Mistakes that Cost You Money and Assignments Sometimes, you just don’t get second chances. Freelance writing works a little that way. If you’ve offended an editor, it’s quite unlikely that she’s going to work with you again. If you don’t muster up the courage and ask for a higher payment rate, you won’t get that chance till the next acceptance. And if you sell all rights for less, you write away all future income from the sale of that piece. The Way of Light The Netherlands is a country known for its religious, ideological and ethnical tolerance. But what is perhaps less known is that it is also a country religiously divided into a northern part dominated by a culture of Calvinism and a southern part, which is predominantly Catholic. Today, when people speak of below the rivers they refer to the Catholic provinces and when they talk about above the rivers they are pointing to the Calvinist provinces north of the geographical border of the rivers Maas, Waal and Rhine, which roughly run parallel to this historical and cultural border. Basic Writing Tips – Some Controversial, All Correct As a previous article “Making Better Word Choices – 4 Examples” explained, writers can take steps to prevent simple, and common, errors from degrading their writing.Five areas of writing that cause authors problems are discussed in this article. The Write Habit: How to Strengthen Your Writing Muscle Writing is a muscle that needs exercise to stay in shape. Writers Turn to the Internet for Support, Friendship and Advice Riding on the fumes of potential, you take pen to paper or keyboard to monitor. Endless hours of creativity intermingle with apprehension, but your need to write engulfs your spirit. You swim high on the waves of excitement and trudge forward through the waves of doubt. Finally, your manuscript is complete. |
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