Freelance Writing: Be Good at Something
If you are interested in freelance writing, keep this in mind: you need to be good at something. What does this mean, exactly? Well, a lot of freelance writers spread themselves thin. In other words, instead of concentrating on a couple topics until they become well versed, they try to be the best at everything. But guess what? Before you can become good at everything, you need to become good at something.
Early on in my freelance writing career I got stuck in this rut; it can be hard to avoid, there is no denying that. I was so caught up on making money, that it did not matter what I was writing about. This included everything from travel related articles to adult website reviews. But over time, I realized that honing in on a few niche subjects was a better idea than being a do it all writer.
So what subjects did I decide on? Even though it has been a while, I can still remember the three topics that I catered towards in the early days. They were insurance, health, and real estate. Why did I choose these topics, you may ask? Simply put, when I was starting my freelance writing career, these were the subjects that most people requested articles on. The reason for this is that these niches were most profitable. And even after a few years, this still holds true.
This is not to say that I kept a narrow focus as my career moved forward. Today, I feel comfortable writing on a wide variety of subjects. In fact, there are not too many topics that I would not be able to write about. But as mentioned above, I only began to expand after I first became good at “something.â€
To condense things, here are two tips to keep in mind.
1. From day one of your freelance writing career, decide on three topics that you would like to concentrate on. From there, take the time to become proficient in writing about them. When choosing, you can decide on topics that are of interest to you. Or you can do what I did, and choose the ones that seem to have the most opportunity attached to them.
2. Once you become good at writing on these first three topics, begin to expand into other areas. In no time at all you will be in my position; one in which you feel comfortable with the majority of topics.
Here is one last point to keep in mind: some freelance writers are faster than others at developing a good working knowledge of their first three areas of expertise. This may take you a couple months, or maybe longer. You may not believe it now, but as you begin to write more and more, you will get a feel for how well your skills are developing. And from there, your path to the future will become much clearer.
