You need a profitable freelance writing niche to make real money from your writing business. But how do you find it? And how do you determine the profitability of your niche?
In this post, I’m sharing a step-by-step process to find a profitable freelance writing niche.
So, keep reading!
Step 1: List Your Interests and Hobbies
Take some time to jot down your interests, hobbies, and things you’re genuinely passionate about. These could be anything from cooking and travel to technology and fashion.
Instead of picking a boring or complex topic out of your interest, starting with your personal interests is better.
Why?
It ensures that you’re passionate about the topics you write about. If you are not passionate about the topic, you must at least have some interest in the topic.
And this enthusiasm will reflect in your content, making it more engaging and relatable to your readers. It also helps you stay motivated and dedicated to producing high-quality work.
Step 2: Consider Your Expertise
Reflect on your skills, knowledge, and experiences.
Do you have any expertise that aligns with your chosen niches? How can your personal expertise enhance your content’s credibility?
If you’re writing about a niche where you have experience, your insights are more likely to be accurate and trustworthy.
For instance, if you’re a certified fitness trainer interested in health and fitness, that could be a great niche for you to explore.
Step 3: Identify Market Demand
Why should you care about the demand for your chosen niche?
Caring about demand ensures that your efforts will be worthwhile. Writing in a niche with high demand means there’s an existing audience interested in your content.
It can lead to more readers, followers, high-ticket freelance clients, and potential monetization opportunities.
Here are a few ways to do it:
1. Freelance Websites and Freelance Gigs:
Check out freelance platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. Look for job listings and see which types of content writing projects are in high demand. You can also go through the fixed-price gigs on these platforms and the number of sales they made. This can give you an idea of what businesses are looking for.
2. LinkedIn:
Use LinkedIn to check the types of jobs posted. Connect with professionals in your industry of interest. Pay attention to the content they share and engage with. What topics are they discussing?
What articles are getting a lot of attention? This can help you gauge industry trends.
3. E-commerce websites:
If you’re interested in lifestyle topics like Home, kitchen, beauty, health, fitness, travel, etc, sites like Amazon will be a great place to narrow down your niche. You can check various product categories to understand the broad categories in your niche.
4. Exploding topics:
This is another great place to figure out what’s trending and what subtopics you can cover.
Here is a detailed video tutorial for you.
5. Google Search/suggestions:
Use Google to search for keywords related to your niche. Look at relevant searches and questions related to your keyword.
This can indicate the demand for information in that niche.
6. Answer The Public:
This is a great tool to discover questions people are asking about a specific topic. It can help you understand what kind of content people are looking for and what problems they need solutions to.
8. Google Trends:
Google Trends shows you how search interest in a particular topic changes over time. You can see if a topic is becoming more or less popular, which can guide your content choices.
7. Forum websites
Additionally, explore online forums, social media groups, and Q&A sites like Quora to gauge the questions and discussions related to these niches.
Step 4: Determine the profitability of your niche
Here are key factors that contribute to the profitability of a niche market:
Limited Competition:
Check the number of freelancers in your niche. If it’s too crowded, it might be challenging to stand out. You can do it using freelance platforms and LinkedIn.
But with fewer competitors, you have a better chance of getting noticed and making money.
Check how much people are willing to pay for content in your niche.
If you see high prices for writing jobs or freelance services, it’s a positive indicator. High prices often mean there’s value in that niche, making it potentially profitable. Job posting’s expected PRICE/BUDGET/SALARY on freelance platforms and job boards will give you a clear idea about it.
Check Freelancer Rates:
Look at how much freelancers are charging for their services in that niche. Freelance profiles, hourly rates, freelance gig prices, and number of sales will give a rough idea about it. If you see high prices and more sales or average prices with more sales, it suggests clients are willing to pay well for content in that area.
On the other hand, if you see too many low rates with more sales, it could mean less profitability.
Consistent Work Opportunities:
A profitable niche should offer a steady workflow. A reliable stream of clients and projects is important to maintain a consistent income.
Check for Monetization Opportunities:
Profitable niches often offer various ways to monetize your content. This could include affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, advertising revenue, product sales, or services related to the niche. Multiple income streams enhance profitability.
And how to do that!
Here is how!
Determine how people make money in your niche. You can check websites or blogs within your niche. Are there affiliate links within posts?
Do you find ANY:
- Product reviews with affiliated links
- Shop page
- Memberships
- Digital product sales
- Sponsored content possibilities
- Products/services of the website or brand you can promote
So, finding a niche that checks these boxes can significantly enhance the profitability of your freelance writing career.
Step 5: Evaluate Longevity
Consider whether your chosen niche has the potential to remain relevant for a while.
Why?
Some niches might be trendy now but could fade away quickly. Thinking long-term ensures that your chosen niche remains relevant over time. It prevents you from investing efforts in a niche that might become outdated quickly, allowing you to build a sustainable content writing career.
How can you predict if a niche will remain relevant over time?
Look for trends, technological advancements, and societal changes that indicate the ongoing importance of your niche.
Tools like Google Trends and Exploding Topics will help you with the trends and seasonality of topics or products.
Consider whether the niche addresses fundamental human needs or interests unlikely to disappear.
Test the Waters with relevant sub-categories of your Main topic:
Remember that profitability can vary from niche to niche and depend on industry trends and your unique skills and approach.
Sometimes, the best way to determine profitability is to start writing content in the 2-3 relevant niches and see how it goes. You can take on small projects to see the response and demand. It’ll also help you understand your potential and client’s expectations, requirements, and more. If it doesn’t work, you can change your niche.
But if you take the time to follow the steps I discussed, you’ll definitely find more than one topic in demand and profitable, too. It will save you a lot of time and energy later on after getting started.
Can you have more than one niche or focus on only one niche better?
When we say “niche,” it doesn’t mean you have to be super specific, like talking only about one tiny thing. Instead, you can choose a bigger category or a few related topics that you like and that people are interested in.
For instance,
Imagine you love writing about technology. Instead of just focusing on one tiny gadget, you could choose a broader category like “smart home devices” or “new tech trends.” That way, you’re still specialized but have room to explore different cool things within that bigger area.
So, having a few related niches can be a good idea. It lets you write about what you enjoy while ensuring a demand for your work.
Remember,
Finding the perfect niche might take some trial and error. It’s okay to adjust your focus as you learn more and gain experience. With dedication and consistent effort, you’ll gradually become a proficient content writer in your chosen niche. Good luck on your exciting content writing journey!
Also, pick something you enjoy because you’ll be writing a lot about it.
