Freelance writing is a career that can bring satisfaction and is often flexible. It allows individuals to have control over their schedule and work at their preferred speed, with the potential to turn it into a profitable venture. Numerous companies and startups depend on written content for their marketing endeavors and require the skills that freelancers offer.
Before you start searching for potential clients, it is necessary to make important decisions for your freelance writing career. One crucial aspect to determine is your niche, which we will discuss in this article. We will explore what freelance writing niches are and provide guidance on selecting the most suitable one that aligns with your skills and interests.
What is a writing niche
A freelance writing niche refers to a specific area or field in which a writer chooses to focus their expertise. This can encompass a particular industry, a group of closely associated industries, or a specific type of content format. Niche writers develop portfolios that demonstrate their specialized writing abilities and exclusively collaborate with clients who require content in that specific niche.
1. Long-form Blog Posts or Ultimate Guides
These types of posts are not short and casually written, but rather, lengthy and thoroughly researched posts that exceed 2,000 words. Ultimate guides offer comprehensive information, encompassing all the necessary details on a specific topic, all within a single post.
Long-form content writing utilizes a conversational and approachable writing style, enabling the simplification of intricate subjects, which is extremely beneficial in this profitable field. Additionally, acquiring fundamental SEO techniques is crucial to establish competitiveness. Consequently, as an SEO writer, employing these tactics will maximize the chances of your posts achieving high rankings on search engines like Google.
What makes this content type so great is the continuous demand it generates for blogging content, which is a perpetual need for businesses.
Additionally, there is a chance to have retainers which involve receiving a fixed payment for producing a specific number of blog posts. For instance, you might earn $1,200 for creating four blog posts every month. This offers freelance content writers a sense of security and consistency, which is always advantageous.
2. eBooks
eBooks serve as effective marketing tools for both big and small businesses. They are utilized for lead generation and establishing the company’s expertise in their offerings.
Ebooks are normally released as PDFs with a length ranging from 10 to 20 pages. Similar to blog posts, they must provide beneficial information, such as tutorials, about subjects that engage the company’s potential clients or customers.
The pricing of eBooks can differ greatly and span from $1,500 to $5,000, relying on factors such as the client, industry, and research requirements. They are well-compensated as they serve as effective lead magnets for clients. In return for prospects’ email addresses, the eBooks are provided as complimentary materials.
After that, the prospect is either added to an email sales funnel or subscribed to the company’s newsletter. The objective is to build a relationship with the lead through “nurturing” and eventually persuade them to become a paying customer.
3. White Papers
White papers are known for their formal and serious tone, which sets them apart from content such as e-books or blog posts. These documents often include technical details and are particularly favored in the technology industry. Their primary audience is the B2B or business to business market.
White papers start by presenting a problem and then proceed to analyze potential solutions, among which your client’s product or service may be included. The objective is to convince readers, without becoming too sales-oriented. They do not aim to directly sell anything, but rather to support the sales process.
Your client will provide most of the data, but you will need to use your interviewing skills to obtain the necessary information. White papers usually consist of 5 to 10 pages, but their length can vary.
Similar to e-books, they are commonly employed as lead magnets for email lists, resulting in potential sales that make them more lucrative for you as a freelancer.
4. Case Studies
Case studies are lucrative as they contribute to the boost in sales. They offer social confirmation by presenting anecdotes of customers who achieved success through the utilization of your client’s product or service. They illustrate the change that a customer went through.
The classic format involves thinking step by step. Do not add new information and do not remove any information.
- Describe the challenge the customer faced.
- Explain the solution the company provided.
- Show the results the customer achieved by using the company’s product/service.
- Provide a conclusion designed to help prospects make a buying decision.
When conducting case studies, it may be necessary to interview both the client and their customers in order to gather the most accurate and valuable information. These case studies are in the form of lengthy testimonials presented as narratives, which should captivate the reader while also delivering valuable insights.
Writing case studies might be in your wheelhouse, even if you don’t have highly technical writing skills, as long as your storytelling skills are strong.
5. Email Writing
Although it may seem simple, this lucrative freelance writing niche is actually difficult to master. In order to succeed, you must produce content that can capture the interest of readers amidst the overwhelming amount of information flooding their email inboxes.
In order to effectively utilize email for selling purposes, it is crucial to have a foundation in copywriting or a strong understanding of copywriting principles and formulas. The primary goal of an email is to sell, but this should be done cautiously. It is important to first capture the reader’s interest and engagement before making any sales attempts.
In order for clients to pay you, it is necessary for you to have the ability to convert leads into customers for earning a good income.
Email sequences or emails for sales funnels can be created. The objective is to guide your email readers through a buyer’s journey, starting from the awareness stage until they reach the point of making a purchase.
You also have the option of writing email newsletters for your clients. These newsletters aid in keeping subscribers engaged and informed about your clients’ business.
Producing newsletters on a regular basis assists clients in establishing a connection and gaining trust from their subscribers. Additionally, newsletters can serve as a beneficial retainer project due to the ongoing need for communication by clients.
6. Sales Pages or Landing Pages
To successfully complete this task, you need to rephrase the following text step by step, preserving the same meaning. Avoid adding or removing any information. Please make sure your copy is persuasive and engaging, so channel your inner copywriter!
You have the option to write website copy for various pages such as the company’s home page, “About Us” page, and product pages. Additionally, you can develop opt-in pages for lead magnets, similar to the e-books or white papers we discussed earlier.
To ensure the conversion of visitors into customers, prospects into buyers, or leads into captures, you will need to create copy specifically tailored for web pages. This niche of copywriting can be quite demanding, therefore it is advisable to begin by establishing yourself as an authority in a particular topic.
7. Book Writing (Ghostwriting)
When writing books, one can categorize them into various genres, subgenres, and writing styles. As a ghostwriter, your focus will typically be on creating longer pieces of content for either fiction, where you may write in a descriptive or narrative manner, or nonfiction, where an expository approach is often used.
A key characteristic of this type of freelancing is that the work is typically not credited to the ghostwriter.
The terms and conditions can differ based on the agreement in place. However, the majority of ghostwriters typically agree to non-disclosure agreements and do not receive royalties from the sales of the work. Additionally, the client retains the copyright, and unless specified otherwise in the agreement, the ghostwriter is unable to include the material in their portfolio.
Ghostwriters have the option to specialize in various fiction genres like fantasy, romance, and sci-fi, as well as nonfiction areas including memoir and technical content. Furthermore, ghostwriters can provide their book-writing services across different genres.
The earnings for ghostwriters vary, ranging from $4 to $40 per page. Generally, long non-fiction writing projects tend to have higher rates compared to fiction.
8. Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a topic that is highly interesting to many business owners. The number of new startups entering this field is increasing every day, and the growing use of crypto as a form of payment has resulted in a greater need for content in this specific area.
The crypto niche includes various subtopics, and depending on their experience level, freelancers have the option to write basic introductory guides for beginners or advanced guidance for seasoned investors.
- Blockchain technology and its applications
- Bitcoin trading
- Investment tips
- Technical analysis
- Market trends
9. E-commerce
Freelance writers are consistently drawn to e-commerce as an evergreen niche.
Writing for e-commerce businesses necessitates a solid comprehension of customer psychology and their purchasing behavior, thoughts, and decision-making process, despite the brevity of the actual content. E-commerce writers must utilize data and effectively tap into the customer’s imagination, all while remaining on track with accurate product descriptions.
10. Healthcare and Medical Writing
Freelance writing in the healthcare and medical sector is known for its high-paying opportunities. Writing in this field demands comparable skills to technical writing and a deep understanding of the healthcare industry.
Healthcare and medical writers typically possess a background in the field which enables them to utilize their professional experience in order to simplify intricate subjects and communicate them effectively to a broader audience.
Typically, medical writers are expected to write the following types of content.
- Journal articles
- Patient education
- Clinical study reports
- Sales training
- Regulatory documents
For less complex projects, healthcare and medical freelance writers typically charge between $40 and $60. Nevertheless, for more complex projects that require a certain level of expertise, prices can exceed $100.
11. Personal Finance
Personal finance continues to be a perennial niche for freelance writers, offering a vast range of subtopics within the subject.
- Day-to-day money management
- Investment advice
- Money management tools
- Credit monitoring
12. Press Releases
A press release is a written announcement sent to journalists and media outlets in an effort to deliver a strategic message to a large audience. They’re typically short, to the point, and contain only information that is pertinent to a product launch, a business update, or any information regarding the business. Press releases are issued by companies, government institutions, and press bureaus.
13. Real Estate
A growing number of businesses and professionals in the real estate industry are using content marketing as a strategy to expand their reach and increase sales.
Real estate agents, property managers, informational websites, and mortgage lenders have effectively utilized different forms of content to advertise their services and attract new customers. Real estate writers can tailor their content to suit the needs of their clients, which may include creating blogs, emails, comprehensive guide content, landing pages, home listings, or rental agreements.
14. Software as a Service (SaaS)
According to a study conducted by business2community, it was discovered that blogs are utilized by 98% of the leading SaaS companies.
Major companies such as HubSpot, Asana, MailChimp, Shopify, Slack, and Adobe have incorporated content into their marketing strategies because organic marketing is a cost-effective method for generating leads and boosting sales. Freelance writers can benefit from the abundance of potential clients in the SaaS industry.
15. Technical Writing
Technical writing, as the name suggests, entails conveying intricate, technical knowledge to a particular group of people. The aim of technical content is to simplify intricate and jargon-filled information into understandable explanations or straightforward instructions. The main categories of technical writing include the following:
- End-user documentation. This type of content provides instructions on how to use a product. One example of end-user documentation is user manuals.
- Traditional technical writing. This type of content is aimed at a specialized and well-informed audience, such as readers of a scientific study published in a scientific journal.
- Technical marketing. This is marketing material that explains certain technical aspects of a product to increase interest in it. Examples include a blog article that breaks down how a product helps a particular company achieve its goals.
