When you’re seeking freelance writing jobs, an important decision you need to make is whether to be a generalist or a specialist. I prefer being a specialist. It’s easier to become recognized as an expert freelance writer when you possess specialized knowledge and abilities. Clients often prefer working with a specialist.
How do you pick a specialty that can lead to a six-figure freelance writing career? Look for a niche that’s large enough, has sufficient numbers and types of lucrative freelance writing opportunities, fits your expertise, and allows you to differentiate from the competition.
Choose your specialty carefully so your freelance writing business can be profitable with relatively few high-paying assignments (quality), rather than many low-paying projects (quantity). Higher-paying projects tend to pay better when calculated on a per-hour basis. Also, it takes more effort to get (and complete) a lot of small jobs than to aim selectively for a few much better paying ones. Of course, you’ll probably diversify and take both large and small projects from different clients to ensure a consistent cash flow and profitability.
Perform a profit analysis to help you pick a specialty. Consider the 12 points in the specialization profitability analysis checklist. Ask yourself these questions to help decide if your potential specialty will be profitable–will it be worthwhile pursuing?
- Assignment types: What types of assignments are possible in my potential niche?
- Pay: How well do these assignments pay?
- Time to do: How much time will a typical project take compared to what it pays?
- Higher-paying jobs: Are there enough of the higher-paying assignments?
- Lower-paying jobs: How numerous are the bread-and-butter lower-paying jobs?
- Project flow: Will there be a sufficient flow of projects to keep me busy all year?
- Potential clients: How many potential clients can I market my services to?
- Likelihood to hire: How likely are they to hire freelance writers?
- Competition: How competitive is my market?
- Competitive comparison: How do I compare with other freelance writers?
- Differentiation: How difficult will it be to set myself apart from my competition?
- Getting jobs: Am I likely to get top-notch jobs with my expertise, contacts, etc.?
What is your freelance writing niche? How well does it match your interests and expertise? How have you differentiated yourself from your competition? How are you unique? Are you appropriately specialized to meet the needs of your target market? Are you getting the type of lucrative freelance writing jobs you want? Are you a successful six-figure writer yet?
