Note from Jennifer: If you missed the post about the Find a Niche Challenge on Monday, check it out to get in the drawing to win a $25 gift card. The goal is for each reader to come up with a new to them niche that they are already qualified for or narrow down an existing niche to specific sub specialty. Once you post your new niche, give ideas to other readers on the types of clients that they should approach in that niche. There are so many possibilities that the more minds the better. You will receive one entry in the drawing for  posting your new niche and 1 entry for every helpful comment you post by midnight EST on December 4th (this Sunday). Don’t miss the chance to get a ton of new market ideas as well as some cash to buy the new book (or sweater or whatever catches your fancy). 

I really need to take finance off my list of niches. I went into it for the wrong reason – because I worked in the accounting field as my first job out of college (a job I hated) and thought I would land higher-paying clients. And that is the only reason. I don’t really enjoy writing about finance. And I don’t really find it interesting. Not surprisingly, I haven’t been overly successful.

You might be different, but when I don’t really care about what I’m writing on or I find it boring, then no matter how hard I try, it is not likely to be my best work. Plain and simple. But when I really care about a story or at least find it fascinating, then that passion shines through in my writing. No matter how hard I try to cover up my lack of interest, I am just not capable. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t typically turn in bad work on those stories, but they’re more average and nothing special. Those aren’t the types of stories that land you repeat work with high-paying clients. They put you in the “B Writer” bucket. Yes, you often get work from that bucket, but you aren’t the go-to writer and you can’t command the high bucks.

Why people go into niches that they don’t care about

It’s a fact that certain niches, such as technology, finance and specialized health fields, tend to pay better. So many writers, especially those in the more saturated fields like parenting, travel and food, often want to move into those niches to get a higher paycheck. And I actually think that this is a good move – assuming you are interested in these fields. Or you can find a specialized niche within one of these topics that you care about. But it often falls flat and goes nowhere if your only motivation is money.

I help a lot of writers move into different niches or find more work in their own niches. (I offer free coaching over the phone to any writer who asks; just email me.) And most of those writers end up meeting their goals. But over the years, there have been a few times I haven’t been able to figure out why they never took off in these new niches, because I knew firsthand that there was work. It hit me last week that the reason is most likely that they did it because they thought they should, not because they wanted to.

So how do you get the higher-paying gigs if you don’t like technology, finance or health?

The best way is to figure out a way to turn a niche that you love into a B2B niche. For instance, food writers could market themselves to companies making industrial kitchen products. Or travel writers could write about the tech used in travel, such as hospitality technology. Yes, I know that’s technology but technology is so broad, and I do think it’s possible to find a technology angle related to a niche you love, especially when writing for a nontechnical audience. Here is a post on how to find B2B content marketing writing clients in any niche.

You might think B2B is boring, but the work is more plentiful and the money is better. And if you look hard, you can find interesting and fun projects in B2B markets (Check out this post on 3 Things You Need to Know about B2B) since more companies are loosing it up and writing in a more casual tone with more interesting topics even for a B2B audience.

The other way is to find a sub specialty in a more common niche. If you are a food writer, then you can write about gluten-free cooking. Or heart-healthy cooking. The trick is to enjoy it and pick a sub niche that is not oversaturated with other writers, such as my good friend Leslie Lang, who specializes in Hawaiian travel or Sally Abrahams that writes about senior technology. If I ever run across potential clients in these niches, I immediately think of my friends and send it their way. I often get leads from other writers who send leads on data analytics gigs to me (my friend Wendy says if she doesn’t understand what the ad is talking about then, I probably write about it). The goal is to become known for this niche.

I really believe that there is a niche out there for every writer where they are an expert, enjoy writing about it and can get high paying gigs. The answer is different for each writer. And the trick is finding the perfect niche for you at this point in your career.

Have you ever tried to break into a niche because of the money only? What was your experience?