Freelance Writing Topics: What Interests you?
I receive a lot of emails asking what topics the majority of my freelance writing projects cover. I assume that many people think that some subjects pay better than others. While this may be true in some cases, you should not get stuck in this train of thought for too long. If you only take on projects that pay a lot, you are going to find out soon enough that you are bored with the content that is staring you in the face. I find it much easier to enjoy my job if I am making a decent wage writing about topics that I enjoy.
At this time, I am working on projects based around a wide variety of topics. Some of them include: insurance, real estate, sports, gambling, health care, and software among many others. Do I enjoy writing about every one of these topics? I sure do! Although some of them are more exciting than others, they are all subjects that are of great interest to me. Over the years I have found that writing on subjects I enjoy makes it easier to complete a project while also learning a lot at the same time. By learning from every freelance writing project that you complete it will make your job much easier in the future as you ponder and accept new jobs.
The bottom line is simple: although money is important to a freelance writer, you do not want to chase projects that you perceive as high paying if they are not of interest to you. Believe it or not, every topic, no matter what it is, can be turned into a high paying project. I have worked for large companies with thousands of employees that paid in excess of $.50 per word. At the same time, I have worked with smaller firms in the same industry that paid just as much or more. In most cases, it does not matter what industry you are working in but the company or publication that you are working for.
All in all, concentrate more on topics that interest you and less on those that you feel will pay the most money. Remember, there are well paying clients within every industry. It is your job as a freelance writer to find them and then break in where possible.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Chris, do you think it helps to have niche – like specializing in writing about real estate or health insurance for example? A lot of successful freelance writers seem to be pushing the idea of claiming a niche, even if you can write about a variety of other topics. I’m curious to know what you think of this.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Kimberly – Yes, I definitely think that you can benefit from specializing in one niche. As mentioned, this allows you to more or less claim “expert status.” That being said, I hate to narrow my focus too much.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I think this just about sums up the golden rule of any freelance writer. Stick to projects you think you will enjoy, and reap the benefits of being able to pass through them quickly with ease and light research. I can’t tell you how much I’ve kicked myself in the ass for taking a project that made me dread typing the next hundred words.
Did you happen to get my email, Chris?
Justin Dupre
June 17th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Excellent post Chris. There really are high-paying clients in any niche or specialty (even SEO content writing! lol). It comes down to whether or not the writer has the networking and marketing skills to find those clients and get those gigs.
And I’m another big believer in writing what you know and love, pushing specialization constantly to new writers. I look at it this way I guess: One of the biggest perks of working independently is that I get to wake up every day knowing I love what I do, and I’m in control of how successful I am (or am not). Once you lose that because you’re suckered into doing anything that will pay the bills, you may as well just get a 9-5 job as far as I’m concerned.
June 17th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I just started freelance writing recently, and its been on things I enjoy like movies. I see a couple of sites I belong to where people write on “How to Do” certain things. On most sites, do you have to write about “How to Do” something, like for example, repairing a cars engine? I was just curious. Thank you!
June 17th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Good Point Chirs!
When you start gravitating towards things you like, the most important ingredient to success comes forth : passion.
When you pitch for projects, when you write, the words that come out are powerful. These words reflect the passion you write with. Passion drives the use of prudent words that are skewed to bring you success.
I, for instance, noticed that I find myself writing about business, finance and technology and I don’t really write about much else. Most of my day passes by writing about these things and there ends my niche.
I am not saying I won’t write anything else, but I am saying that I enjoy writing in the topics I am comfortable in.
– I rest my case.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:41 am
Hi Chris. Great advice and one of the first advice given to me back in writing school. Always write about what you know about best and what you really want to write about. People can tell if you have a passion for the topic or not and it is always good to specialise in something to distinguish yourself from the other writers!
October 30th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
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