Writing For Niches
Niche marketing is big business on the Internet. This post is another installment on my Freelance Writing Guide For New Freelancers. Most people find it hard to imagine what exactly this involves. Niche sites can be built on different platforms, using several models of advertising.
To help you see the bigger picture, here is a list of how a niche could be constructed:
- BANS sites
- A product specific site
- A service specific blog (like freelance writing)
- A site targeted for Adsense income
- An affiliate product site
- A physical product site, involving postal shipping
- and more
I wrote about niches sites a little while ago. Feel free to read this post, since it might help you understand a little more on what could be possible with niches.
Writing for niches as a starting block for freelancers
For budding freelance writers niches provide the ideal platform to get their feet wet. As a matter of fact I have recently employed a new freelance writer to help him get off the ground financially.
He writes articles for my niches, which I wouldn’t have time to build as fast right now, since I’m so busy with clients. Having him write for me takes the self imposed pressures off my back. Plus I can use his articles to populate my niche sites faster, while still concentrating on my primary business.
My main motivation behind building my own niche sites is to create residual income besides my freelance writing income. Residual income is my retirement money. It will allow me to take long term holidays in the future, while only having to work a few hours each day. My niche sites will also provide me with additional funds like sick pay, bonus income and added financial security.
Since there are a lot of niche marketers looking for writers, it is an ideal way to get started in this industry. As a matter of fact, that is how I started. Most of my work in the beginning stages of my business was writing for niches.
Added benefit – great understanding of SEO
Doing this has actually helped me greatly in understanding SEO and writing highly focused keyword articles. This is huge, since SEO based articles pay handsomely.
I could seriously write just about any topic now and use keywords accordingly to rank them well in search engines. Obviously the higher the competition, the more on page and off page SEO will have to be done by the site owner.
Breaking into niche writing
If you want to break into niche writing, then I suggest you seek jobs from the various freelance writing job sites.
These job sites will form the foundation of your writing business and help you to attract higher paying clients in the future. Having a great understanding on how niches work will help you as a writer in the long term. Writing for niches is not hard and if your English is a little short of being perfect, niche sites are the best way to sharpen your skills without losing face.
About the Author: I'm a passionate freelance writer and problogger. To further build my business I'm also in the process of building my own niche empire which pays me residual income.
Hendry Lee | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
For article marketing, I’ve seen people are paid as low as $3-$5 per article.
I suggest that freelance writers should consider looking for ways to cash in on their content directly. I’ve posted a list of web sites where they can make money without learning the whole Internet marketing thing.
Of course, they want to move on this path, if they only have the slightest entrepreneurial spirit.
Otherwise, expand into copywriting or add other skills to the arsenal to make their service unique. I agree, SEO is one good example.
Hubpages for Internet Marketing | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
I started on hubpages and they still make most of my (pathetic) income :about $30/month on 12000 page views. I know someone who makes 10x that on the same amount of traffic. Its all in the keywords of course: 5c clicks are not the way to go! I have just started doing some freelance blogging but I am torn because I could be using the time to build my own sites: but the backinks are useful of course!
You are quite right: developing your own niche sites is your key to passive income.
Lissie
Monika | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
@ Hendry Lee: You have a great looking blog there. I love the images you use, it makes the site stand out. I agree with you in regards to copywriting being a great income source.
I’ll have to spend some more time looking through your info though. Thanks for stopping by, it’s always nice to see new faces.
Monika | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
@ Lissie: Thanks for being so forthcoming about your hubs. As you said so yourself, keywords matter. Although I’ve seen hubs become very popular in the last year or so I haven’t ventured beyond building the one page.
Judging by your comment though they can be worth the effort.
HubPages for Internet Marketing | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
Ive never considered myself a writer: writing at Hubpages with a great community including a number of professional real-world published writers and journalists really gave me the confidence thatI was OK at writing. It is probably a good place for aspiring Freelancers to write. It can look pretty good as a on-line resume
Monika | Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
@ Lissie: Great point. I’m glad you mentioned this. I reckon any written articles online can serve as a great portfolio for aspiring and established writers.
They are all a writers footprint (uuh, there comes a new blog post, thanks for giving me the inspiration)