Freelance writing niches are types of writing specializations, whether it be a specific industry you’re targeting or a unique type of content you’ve mastered.
As a new freelance writer, you may often hear that you should “find your niche” or “niche down” as a freelance writer or blogger… But what does that mean?
Aside from focusing on industries where your writing chops will earn you higher pay, you need to understand the process behind actually choosing a freelance writing niche.
Choosing Freelance Writing Niches
Choosing which niche (or niches) to write for can feel scary, especially when you’re starting out in your freelance writing journey. You may be feeling a lot of pressure to niche down from the beginning and think your decision will dictate your writing career forever.
I’m here to tell you that’s definitely not the case.
In fact, arguably, you don’t have to ever niche down. Is it wise to choose a niche? Yes – and it will often (though not always) result in you commanding higher pay rates. But is it necessary? Certainly not. You can still make great money writing as a “non-niched” writer.
When you’re starting out, it’s best to gravitate toward industries and topics that you have a personal interest in first. You have more authority to write about these simply because you actually know something about them.
Writing about topics you know makes your work more enjoyable because you’re writing about something you’re personally interested in. This is a great way to get your feet wet if you’re new to freelance writing and build up your portfolio: If some of your interest areas aren’t as well-paying, you may be more willing to take them on as “starter” assignments.
5 Profitable Freelance Writing Niches
It’s easier to find high-paying writing jobs if you pick a niche and demonstrate your mastery of it through your portfolio.
However, it can be hard to know what niches are profitable when you’re first starting out in your freelance career. In general, the highest-paying niches will involve clients who are looking for specific content that may need to fit a certain format or obey certain rules.
If you’re not sure which niche you’d like to target in order to maximize your profits, here are 5 profitable freelance writing niches to consider.
1. Travel
You might be thinking I’m nuts to even suggest this one, but hear me out.
Yes, travel writing can be difficult to break into and yes, there’s a lot of competition. But if you look, there are lots of opportunities to write for the travel industry.
This is especially true now that things are starting to pick up after Covid lockdowns. People were cooped up in 2020 and were forced to save their travel dollars. Now they’re ready to spend them and they’re not holding back.
Many luxury travel agencies and hotels are willing to pay a premium price for content that highlights their services. This is a great niche for writers with a creative flair, as it’s important to paint a compelling picture with your words when writing about a new location.
Sometimes travel writing jobs will pay you to actually travel to the place you’re reviewing, and other times you might just be doing research from the comfort of your own home. Either way, if you enjoy writing travel guides, hotel and restaurant reviews, or articles about travel deals, this is the market for you.
Keep in mind, though, that to be considered for many of these jobs, you’ll need to have actual experience traveling. If you’ve never left your hometown, this might not be a great place for you to start your freelance writing job search.
All that said, travel isn’t just a fun industry to write about. It’s a profitable one, too.
2. Cannabis
As medical and recreational marijuana become legalized in regions around the globe, cannabis clients are looking for writers capable of producing quality educational content. You could end up writing sales copy for a dispensary, cannabis law blogs for an attorney, or articles about marijuana for a health and wellness website.
This industry is tricky because you need to be acutely aware of the legal implications of the language you use, so publications are usually willing to pay top dollar for experts in this area. If you know your stuff, this could be a great outlet.
3. Finance
Finance is a very broad niche that contains a number of very profitable topics you can master. Think cryptocurrency, budgeting, credit cards and scores, personal finance, accounting, the stock market, other investments, and more.
I’d argue that finance is one of the most evergreen, forever-of-interest industries you can write for as a freelancer. (And I’m not speaking from experience here… I don’t write for this industry!)
Why? Because everyone, at some stage in their life, is interested in some facet of finance. After all, money makes the world go round. There will always be opportunities to write about finance.
There are a number of outlets where you can either get published with your own byline or ghostwrite about finance. Of course, getting your name published with your work is harder when you’re just starting out, but if you prove your abilities, you can really make a name for yourself.
Finance writing tends to be very specific and actionable, so you need to really know the right terminology in order to succeed in this industry. It definitely helps if you’re interested in the topic. Still, if you know a decent amount about finance and can write about it in a way that appeals to industry experts, you’re set.
4. Technology
This is another broad field. But if you’re a tech geek who’s passionate about the latest trends or devices, there are lots of possibilities for you in the technology industry.
Technology is ever-advancing. And like the finance industry, there’s always going to be a need for informed, well-spoken writers to explain the ins and outs of the “new cool stuff” to the laypeople. (And to the experts, for that matter.) If you’re able to turn jargon-heavy information into understandable content for non-technical people, you’ll have a fairly easy time finding freelance writing gigs in the tech industry.
Likewise, tech experts need to inform other experts and outlets of what they’re doing. If you can write in a way to help everyday people understand, you can most likely write for the professional audience, too. There are two sides to this industry and both need clear, concise voices.
You might end up writing about the latest Apple releases, advancements in virtual reality, tutorials on building or repairing computers – the possibilities are endless.
5. SaaS – Software as a Service
This is kind of connected to the technology industry but given its prevalence these days, SaaS bears getting its own mention in our lineup.
“SaaS” is a term you’ll often see on job boards, and you might assume you’re unqualified for the job if you’re unfamiliar with what it means.
But SaaS isn’t anything scary – it’s an abbreviation for “software as a service.” SaaS refers to software that’s hosted online rather than downloaded as a program on your computer, like Google Drive or Canva.
This industry is growing constantly as we continue to develop better technology. As such, there are so many writing opportunities available for this niche. SaaS startups are often looking for writers to help them craft their forward-facing image and, if they’ve got the funding, can be a great place to target for these gigs.
If you love highly technical language and know a lot of software jargon, this might just be the industry for you. SaaS clients want writers that understand the industry inside and out, so you’re not likely to get away with writing fluff pieces. If you’re experienced with software marketing, there’s money to be made in SaaS writing.
Bonus: Content-Type Niches
There’s more than one way to “niche down” as a freelance writer.
If you’re overwhelmed with trying to narrow your focus, don’t worry. Niches don’t have to be industry-specific. You can also choose to specialize in writing a particular type of content, and that can be your claim to fame no matter what industries you decide to write for.
For example, well-researched long-form blog posts, white papers, video scripts, and case studies are all content types that clients are willing to pay higher prices for, as not just anyone can write them well. They’ll take longer to write than a typical blog post, but with that extra time comes a higher price tag.
Personally, this is where I consider my niche to be. I love writing long-form blog content and researching the topics I’m writing about. This is where most of my freelance writing income comes from, though I’ve also written email newsletter content, website copy, social media blurbs, and more.
I’ve written content for all kinds of industries and while I technically could choose to specialize in any one (or a few) of them, my personal preference is to keep my industry options open and instead, focus on writing great copy for businesses that don’t necessarily need an expert. There are plenty of those out there, too, just as there are industries that need well-informed writers.
While it takes time to master your chosen niche – whether it be an industry or a content type – once you’ve got a few high-quality portfolio pieces under your belt, you should have an easier time finding clients. If you’re curious about a specific industry or copy format, it’s worth your time to dive in and learn more about it. You never know when a high-paying gig will come your way!
