Many freelance writers depend on one or two topics or markets for the majority of their income. If you are one of these writers, you may have found your monthly income shrinking during the past few months.
A second problem many freelance writers face is that most print markets haven't increased their payments in proportion to inflation. Writing for online markets may seem like a better option, but you'll have to do your homework. Can you really afford to write 16 articles every month at 400 words each for a monthly payment of $50?
The same is true for businesses. While there's still a need for quality writing for Web sites, marketing materials and newsletters, many companies are cutting back on their budgets. Again, if you rely on just a few businesses or one market niche for most of your income, you need to diversify.
The best way to boost your income is to make sure you don't have all your eggs in one basket. What happens if that basket breaks? All your income is gone at once.
Finding New Niches
Finding new markets for your work may seem like a daunting task, especially when the economy is still in a downward spiral. Brainstorm ways that you can use this to your advantage. Better yet, brainstorm ways to branch out so that your income comes from many baskets.
Hop to a new medium
If you write primarily for print publications, consider writing for online markets. A business writer might want to add some how-to articles or e-books to the mix. If you broke into freelance writing by sending our query letters to magazines, you will need to learn new ways to approach these different markets.
Be a Trend-Watcher
You can't just read a few headlines and come up with ideas for new markets or new spins on old topics. You need to make a serious study of trends. How are things changing? In what direction? Where might they go next? Again, if you're working for print markets, consider the lead time before you article will appear. What's current today may be ancient history by the time your article sees print.
Re-vamp old standbys
Take a look at the list of topics below and pick a few that appeal to you. Then read through old magazines to see how these topics have been treated in the past. What can you do to update these topics for today's market? If you have a few old standbys that just aren't selling as well as they used to, find new ways to package them, new ideas to tie them to current trends, or new topics add to your repertoire.
Browse the News Stand
Go to the local news stand or the library and browse through all the magazines, not just the ones you'd normally read. Make a list of the magazines devoted to each topic area, as well as notes on how each magazine differs. Just the act of making such a study may get your brain into prime mode for developing new niches and new markets.
Research Hot Topics
Reading the headlines of your favorite newspaper or online news site can give you some insight into what's hot. Take a good look at these perennial favorites and consider how much each of these topics has changed over the past five years. Pick a few and figure out ways to make these rapid changes work to your advantage:
- Finance
- Real Estate
- Technology
- Health
- "Green" topics
- Politics
- Online Marketing
- Entertainment
- Erotica
- Travel
- "How To"
Above all, be adaptable. The only way to stay ahead of the game as a freelance writer is to keep changing your approach, adding new skills, and finding new ways to market your work.
