Picking one specific niche and sticking to it is the conventional advance from some more experienced freelance writers. But does it really matter?

Do freelance writers need to pick a niche? Choosing a niche does have its perks. You can charge more if you specialize and become an authority in your space. Generally, I think that most beginner freelance writers are better off going broad though in my opinion.

In this article, I’ll discuss whether it’s worth picking a freelance writing niche or not.

Don’t Feel Like Reading? Check Out My Video On This Topic!

Do You Need To Pick A Freelance Writing Niche?

As a freelance writer, you have a couple of options with how you market yourself.

You can choose to specialize and focus on a very specific niche. Or you can choose to go broad.

Picking a niche means you might only write about one topic. Like finance, travel, health, marketing, software, etc.

But maybe you don’t want to be stuck writing about the same topics for years to come.

I know I sure didn’t! I would definitely get burned out and bored if I had to write about the same topic month after month.

Even if a client gives me a batch of 20 articles to write on a single topic, I’m pretty sick of it by the end and need to take a break to write about something else.

Should You Use Content Mills Like Upwork or Textbroker? It’s one way you can start writing without a website of your own!

My Own Struggle With Niches

I’ve written about all sorts of different things.

A lot of it is topics that could be related. Like credit cards, insurance, personal finance, and the stock market all kind of go together.

But I’ve also written about gardening, cooking, SaaS, bedsheets, welding, beekeeping, stay at home parenting, and all kinds of other random things.

Personally I just love learning. So it’s really cool when I get to write about a new topic and learn everything about it. Sometimes it’s something I already had a passing interest in that I can become an expert on. Or it may be a topic I never thought would interest me that turns out to be fascinating.

When I started off writing, I heard all of the advice to pick one particular niche and go with it. But I just couldn’t bring myself to put all of my eggs in one basket and risk losing access to all of the other writing jobs that were out there.

I planned to start off just writing about whatever to start, and then eventually settle into a particular niche that made the most sense. But as time went on, I just felt that picking a niche became kind of unnecessary. At least for me and my situation.

The Argument For Picking A Niche

If you want to make a lot of money, picking one specific writing niche is a good way to do that.

By specializing, you can really become an expert on a particular subject matter.

For example, you can make a lot of money by writing articles about mesothelioma. It’s a type of cancer that’s caused by asbestos. So there’s a good amount of money for lawyers who get clients to sue companies over it. In fact, the average case is worth about 1.5 to 2 million dollars.

But do you really want to spend the next five years writing about cancer? Sure it’s a profitable niche, but it’s also a bit depressing and boring in my opinion.

The Arguments Against Picking A Niche

By limiting yourself to one specific niche, you’re really restricting what jobs you have access to.

I don’t have a specific niche. So if I go to a job board, I can apply to any job I want, as long as I feel like I’m qualified for it and it’s something I want to write about.

Writing for one niche makes you an expert on that particular subject. But I also think it restricts you from growing as a writer.

By not limiting myself to one niche, I feel that I’m a much more versatile writer. You can throw pretty much any topic at me, and I can write a great blog post about it!

You also diversify yourself across multiple different industries. If you’re a travel blogger and all of a sudden a global pandemic brings all travel to a halt, you’re kind of out of luck. But not if you have a few other niches that you can also write about!

Specializing vs. Limiting Yourself

On my website, I do state that I specialize in writing about business and finance, technology, gaming, and internet culture. That’s already such a long list that most writers would probably tell you it’s a no-no.

I do this more to showcase specific things that I’m interested in writing about and also experienced with, as opposed to limiting myself to a specific niche. Sure, I like writing about those things. But I write about other things too!

One idea I’ve thought about is whether it would be worth having multiple websites for yourself. One for each niche. For example, I could have a Dustin Yarc Travel Writer site, a Dustin Yarc Food Writer site, etc. But I think this would be super overkill.

Most of the time, clients are just looking to see that you’re competent and experienced, and that your voice and tone can match what they’re looking for.

Why become a freelancer? See my article Benefits of Being A Freelance Writer (Pros & Cons!) to see why I recommend it!

Conclusion

Most freelance writing experts online will tell you that you need to pick a niche if you’re going to succeed. But I’m not convinced.

On one hand I can see the benefit. Specializing in a niche makes you an authority in that particular subject. If someone looks at your website and sees that you only write about a particular topic, you’re much more likely to be seen as an expert and get hired. You can also charge a higher rate for your work.

On the other hand, I think that it can be less restricting to go broad and write about whatever you’re interested in. You won’t get bored and burn out from writing about the same thing every day. And I think it gives you a lot more opportunity to grow as a writer.