HOW TO FIND YOUR
FREELANCING NICHE.[PART 2]
Who
do you think makes more money: a general dentist or an endodontist? Both have
the education and skills to perform root canals, though one is presented as a
specialist. According to the American
Association of Endodontists, “The average endodontist completes 25 root canal
treatments a week, while general dentists do about two root canals a week.”
The
same goes for freelancing.
Specializing in something makes you a hot commodity. The rarer you are, the
more in-demand you’ll be.
While some people find success in
being a generalist, most writers, bloggers and freelancers generally, will need
to focus and narrow down a topic of expertise. You guessed it: a niche!
Note: “If you’ve already found your
niche, leave
a comment at the end of this post, and tell us what it is and how you found it”
Likely you’ve heard of finding
a niche or “niching down,” but
what does that even mean? It means to choose a narrow topic or audience to
focus your content. The reason for doing this is to allow you to create the
most valuable content for a specific audience. That way, your readers will love
what you wrote and feel like you wrote it just for them. That is what builds a
loyal readership or client base.
While many people say that your niche must intersect with an
industry or a market that is highly profitable, I think that you should find a
profitable niche based on your interests, experience and abilities. Based on
this I have outlined a few tips (some of which are personal questions), to help
you in finding your niche;
what is your expertise or background?
o
Coursework
that you've completed
o
Any
degrees or certificates you've earned
o
Professional
work experience
Ø What are your passions or interests?
o
Hobbies
and activities
o
Ways you
spend your free time
o
Things
you like to talk about with your friends
Ø Who do you want to help?
o
Any
volunteer experiences you have enjoyed
o
Social
causes that are personally meaningful to you
o
Nonprofits
that you contribute to or follow.
There may be more subconscious interests that you
didn’t even consider!
o
Pinterest
board content and topics
o
Types of
people, companies, and organizations you follow on Twitter and Instagram
o
Topics of
any blogs you follow
Put these lists next to each other. Do you see any
themes emerging? Highlight list items that seem relevant to one another (or colour
code them) and connect some dots. Your college minor in fine art may seem
useless until you pair it with your passion for the local art scene and realize
how much content marketing help small art studios and galleries need. Boom, you
found your niche!
Haven’t found your niche yet? Here are a few other
ways which you can use to find it.
ü Sculpt Your Niche from Your Passion
What do you
read? When you’re running in the morning, ruminating on your commute, or in the
shower, what topics is your mind regularly drawn to? These are all clues that
can point you toward a future niche. If you’re faced with too many options, the
idea of making a decision can feel overwhelming. Grant yourself the freedom to
purge, on paper, any possible idea you could ever dream up. Your list may
consist of blog topics, statistics, or quotes that interest you, or strategies
you’d love to suggest to a business. Everyone’s list will be different, so
don’t put any pressure on yourself to perfect the ideation process.
Another tip is
to make note of the kinds of writing projects you enjoy. Of all the assignments
you’ve written recently, which did you find yourself most engaged with? That
right there is a great place to narrow your focus.
Elizabeth
Wellington, a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist, has this to say:
“I started as a generalist and narrowed my niche by noticing what I loved to
write about. As I wrote about different topics, I kept track of the articles I
enjoyed the most and which ones gained the most traction with audiences. I
looked at that cross-section and noticed that they all spoke to an audience of
Millennials about how to create a life and career that they loved. I started
specializing in topics underneath that umbrella.”
ü Understanding Your Business
To find your niche, you have to get serious. You have to upgrade from hobby to business and define it.
You can lay the foundation for the future of your business
through these exercises:
- Defining your success; For
some, its 5 cars; for others, 50 employees. By setting business goals, you
develop ideas about what you want your business to become and lay a road
map for how to get there. Think
big, and think long-term.
- Characterizing your audience; If
you don’t know which clients you’re primarily targeting, you can’t tailor
your business to that market. Use your expertise and passions to help
characterize your audience.
- Naming your business; It’s
not just “I need a name,” it’s defining how you want your audience to
perceive your business.
- Developing your business
identity; Business name in hand, you’ve
got to brand your business keeping in mind your target audience.
Ps; if you’ve found your niche do well to tell us
what niche it is and how you found it in the comment box below.
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