What I’m listening to: Kinda Fuzzy by Eels
Another day, 
another project showing up. I love it. In a month that can often resemble the Mojave Desert, any work is welcome.
And another day, another way for you to ramp up your business. I hope you’re following along and adopting/adapting those strategies that appeal to you. If you know me, you know I’m not one to advocate that freelance writers follow blindly any and all advice. In fact, nothing puts a nail in your professional coffin faster, in my opinion.
So let’s leave you one more breadcrumb to consider.
December 9: Emphasize Your Specialty
When you specialize, you simplify your marketing, your client prospecting, and your networking (not to mention simplifying your workload). Specializing means you’re targeting specific types of clients, projects, industries. So how does it make life easier?
- You’re now focused on a particular type of client, not just shooting in the dark
- You’re now marketing specific skills to specific clients
- You’re now networking within a smaller set of people, meaning you’re more likely to be connecting with key influencers
- You’re now building a solid background in one area, not several
- You’re now being paid more (yes, we specialists get more money because we have built a solid reputation in one area)
But Lori! I’m a generalist! How can I emphasize a specialty? Well, odd as it may sound, generalists can be their own type of specialty. What do you write about most? What do you like writing about most (those answers may not necessarily be the same thing)? Suppose you write for consumer magazines. You’re a consumer generalist. What if you write for any old company, but handle a lot of blog work? Guess what that means — yes, you’re building a specialty area in blogging.
[bctt tweet=”Writers, don’t fear the specialty: embrace it.” username=”LoriWidmer”]
That’s not to say you should pigeonhole yourself. In fact, I’d wager that some of you are reluctant because you don’t want to turn down work in any area. Then set up your website or your marketing pieces to promote your overall skills, then add a section/page for that specialty. It’s not schizophrenic until you have six or more specialties listed. Then it’s time for separate websites/pen names perhaps.
How to land on your specialty? Ask yourself these questions:
- What do I enjoy writing about?
- What projects are challenging enough for me, but still manageable?
- What’s already on my portfolio that I’ve done for a while?
- Do I have areas of expertise somewhere? (think outside of writing — bridge champion, dog grooming, landscaping, interior design, real estate, farming…)
- What interests me despite having little or no experience?
That last one — it’s my reminder to you to not limit yourself to what you know. That old “write what you know” garbage advice is fine if you know a ton of stuff.
Instead, follow your interests. Do you have an interest in learning how to play bocce? How about quilting or Irish dancing? Finance? Technology? Start reading. Invest in books to get you the basic knowledge. Join forums and associations. Subscribe to feeds and blogs. Educate yourself, pitch articles, then become that specialist.
Once you figure out your specialty area, have fun with it. Narrow it down to a niche within that specialty. Or try a few niches. I started out writing about risk management and insurance. Then I wrote in niches — workers comp, technology, cyber risk, finance…. it blossomed from there. Once you learn the basics of your specialty, you can narrow it down to pockets of expertise, and even expand into more niches as your career develops.
Writers, do you have a specialty? Why or why not?
If you do, did you find it or did it find you?
What advice would you give to other writers wanting to build a specialty?