Diverse or niche, which is the best way for a freelance writer to go?

I went to a marketing lecture for small business owners recently and came away wondering what it is I actually do. I don’t have a niche: my writing covers many fields, from copywriting for other businesses, writing freelance articles under my own name, blogging about health related matters and writing children’s fiction.

As a writer, there are advantages to having a niche. You become an expert in your field, a person others turn to for advice. This alone makes it worth looking into. ‘Write what you know’ isn’t that what they say? I do this with my blog, as my background is in nutrition and my interests lie in food allergies and intolerance. Perhaps I could stop there, if it was possible to make a living from this alone, but life as a writer isn’t necessarily so cut and dry.

If you use your writing skills, you can write about anything can’t you?

I did some training in journalism as well as copywriting which meant being able to apply my writing skills to different styles. If a business approaches me to help them, say, create some content for their website, it’s not the nature of the business I need to be an expert in, but the way in which I put together the right words to tell the story of that business, help them stand out from the crowd, or more importantly, be found in the search engines.

If you want to write for magazines and make a name for yourself, then niche writing is definitely the way to go.

As a copywriter, I’m a ghost writer, in other words no one knows I’m the creator of those words. I have to rely on testimonials and referrals to get more business and of course, my own website. Niche writing takes dedication and you don’t become an expert overnight, but the more you write in your chosen area of expertise the more likely you are to be recognised.

During this marketing lecture*, we looked at seven of the ‘marketing P’s’ and were asked to answer these questions:

My business is fuelled by a passion for…
My business is guided by these principles:
My business is here for the purpose of…
My business has a unique personality which is…
My business has a unique position or perspective which is…
My business is here to serve people who are…
My business has proof that it serves customers well, look at…

It’s a good idea to ask yourselves these questions from time to time so you can truly understand your business and what it is you do. What I realised, once I’d put in my own answers and digested the information from the lecture is that first and foremost I am a writer. Yes, I write in different forms and areas, but that, surely, is my USP? Being diverse has helped me become the adaptable writer I am today, making a living from doing something I love.

Is niche writing the way to go, or do we all need to be adaptable and able to write about a diverse range of subjects? What do you think?

*The lecture was run by Anwen Cooper of Get Fruitful Marketing. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.