TOP NICHES FOR CONTENT WRITING

Freelance writing is a rewarding and often flexible career. It offers you the freedom to set your schedule and work at your own pace, with the possibility that it may become a highly lucrative business. Many companies and startups include written content as an essential part of their marketing efforts and need the talent freelancers offer.

While starting a freelance writing career is a relatively straightforward process, you still need to make important decisions before you begin looking for potential clients. One of the most important considerations you’ll have to nail down is your niche. In this article, we’ll go over what freelance writing niches are and how you can choose the right one to match your skills and interests.

What is a writing niche?

In simple terms, a freelance writing niche is an area of specialization in which a writer wishes to concentrate. This can be a specific industry, a cluster of closely related industries, or a content format type. Niche writers build portfolios that showcase their specialized writing skills and work strictly with writing clients who need content in that particular niche.

It’s also important to note that there are several types of writing that break down even a specific niche into further categories. See the four essential types of writing below:

Expository. This type of writing aims to educate the reader on a particular topic. Modern examples of expository content include long-form general articles and blog posts.
Descriptive. The main purpose of this type of writing is to form a clear picture in the reader’s mind by describing characters, events, or locations in great detail. Descriptive writing is used extensively in screenwriting, fantasy writing, and critique writing just to name a few genres.
Persuasive. This type of writing leverages logical, technical, or emotional techniques with the aim to convince readers of the writer’s opinion or influence them into performing an action. Persuasive writing is used in various contexts ranging from advertisements to editorial newspaper pieces.
Narrative. The goal of narrative writing is to convey a cohesive story. Narrative writing relies on dialogue, characters, and settings to engage or entertain the reader. Examples of when narrative writing is used include novels, essays, and short stories.

Why freelancers should have a niche

To a freelance writing newbie, working as a generalist could seem like the path of least resistance. After all, being a generalist would mean you’d have an almost endless list of potential clients to pitch services to, right?

Not always. Being a generalist in freelance writing doesn't necessarily prove successful in practice. Clients often seek out writers who are experts in their subject matter, have a proven track record of addressing industry-wide issues, and can show testimonials of satisfied clients in the same niche. A generalist’s portfolio is unlikely to impress high-paying clients who are looking for substantive content with more value and less fluff.

From a content writer’s perspective, working as a generalist has its drawbacks. The pressure to deliver compelling content across dozens of subject areas can be overwhelming. Having to deal with a learning curve for each new writing project can quickly lead to burnout. This brings us to why niches are important.

Here are some reasons why every writer needs to niche down:

You can leverage your personal experience and interests. It’s difficult to write high-quality content if you have little interest in the subject matter or have no experience covering it. Picking a niche that aligns with your interests will bring out the best in your work and make freelance writing feel less like a job and more like a passion project.
You’ll have a steady stream of clients. Once you establish yourself as an authority in a specific niche, you’re likely to have many prospective clients looking to retain your services. In a market dominated by subpar content writing services and generalists, an expert with a laser-focused portfolio will easily stand out.
You can command higher rates. Due to their relative scarcity, niche writers are always in high demand and are therefore in a good position to seek higher rates than their generalist counterparts. Your rate can increase substantially as you gain more experience and continue to beef up your portfolio.