Freelance Writers: 7 Advantages of Working in Your Dream Market

Freelance Writers: 7 Advantages of Working in Your Dream Market

Reader Comments (29)

  1. Great article!

    How do you handle competitive clients? I work as a marketing consultant, and this has come up a number of times:

    “I want to work with you, but I don’t want you working with my competitors”

    If you specialize in a niche, you’re especially exposed to this problem.

    What’s a good way to handle this?

    We tell them that for an “exclusivity premium” we’ll refuse working with 3 competitors that the client names.

    Any other tips?

  2. Excellent post, Colin. You describe my dream job opportunity exactly. Even big dreams can come true. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

  3. Great article; I’ll add one observation. I write regularly for a well-known car magazine, and I am a well-known car ignoramus. One of the key benefits of knowing nothing about the industry is that I never take anything for granted. I assume my readers are highly informed, and I make it my mission to uncover something that they are unlikely to know.

    So I would augment point #1 by saying that, while you can come up with 20 topics easily, sometimes it’s the extra tidbit you have to work to get that makes the entire article worth reading.

    • This is a really great point Kaila. And a good reminder that all of us have to use Beginner’s Mind, when we approach almost anything in life.

  4. “The greater your level of knowledge in a subject, the more your editor will be impressed by your talents and your passion.”

    There is a lot of truth in that statement. Not only will a real expertise impress your editor, but it can make up for a lack of another area (style, small errors, etc.).

    Expertise is irreplaceable and invaluable, and any editor worth beans will want to hold on to you if you’ve got the chops.

  5. Great points, especially #1. I keep a notebook with me at all times — my kids still talk about the time I was caught without paper and wrote my story ideas on the outside of the baby’s diaper. Of course, by the time we got home the diaper was in very bad shape and difficult to uh, transcribe.

  6. Thanks Colin for the great tips!
    I’m a young freelance writer, just started putting my work down on paper (a virtual one that is…). I’d really love to read more of your work, where do you post it?
    I publish with Triond if you’ve heard of them and I’m pretty satisfied, there fast, they keep in touch with me alot, pay decently and my work get great promotion.
    I actually get alot of inspiration from there writers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally satisfied with them, but I’d like to hear some feedback from writers here about them. Heres a link to my profile at Triond http://www.triond.com/users/ron82
    I’d be more than happy if anybody here is a member at Triond and they can add me as a friend on their profile so I can check out their work.

  7. Very good post. I thought your final point on variety and making sure you are mixing up your writing was very insightful. Most people have more then one hobby and usually have something that he or she can contribute outside of their regular niche.

  8. Hi Colin,
    Great article.

    I find that many of the solo professionals I work with struggle with this very issue. They’re afraid to specialize and become the expert because they’re afraid they’ll lose business.

    Their fear is counter to reality. The more specialized you are the easier it is to attract your ideal highly qualified prospects to you.

    http://increasesalescoach.com/blog

  9. And how would one find one of these “editors” you speak of.
    Anybody can write. Finding someone to print it is the challenge

  10. This is an excellent post. The points are all related–footbone connected to the ankle bone, etc., but the truth is undeniable.

    If you write in an area you know, you can write better, write more, write faster–all the things you mention that will make you a more successful writer.

    Simple truths like this remind me of the Rube Goldberg machine–if you don’t know what that is, check it out at rubegoldberg.com.

    –Jack Sundown
    writingmall.com

  11. ‘Specialise in what you know..’ is also true for paid bloggers – I am one of these. I actually prefer it to the magazine article writing since I sweat buckets over the print article and work on it for hours. Blog posts, 40 minutes, a few edits and you’re done.

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