Lately I’ve heard the same question a few times, and it’s one every freelance writer needs to think about. You see, the writing gurus are onto something. It’s something that seems really overwhelming, out of reach, something a writer would need years to develop.

Here’s the basic gist: “I keep hearing that the only way to make a lot of money in freelance writing is to have a specialty, a niche. But I’ve flitted around from job to job all my life. I don’t have a specialty – at least not one that people will pay me to write about.”
 

And you know what? You could easily let your lack of an obvious specialty – a sales background, a real estate license, years of teaching ELL, or whatever else – hold you back. If you were looking for a good reason you can’t succeed as a freelance writer, you could swallow this idea whole and chuck your laptop out the window, because in this, you’ve finally found a really good excuse for giving up. 
 

Or, we can take a look at this question another way – and use it to build your portfolio at the same time.

The way I see it, there are two types of specialties out there: field and function. A field specialty would be your years working in the fundraising office of a non-profit, your degree in biology, your former career as an accountant – something you learned inside out over a period of years until you became somewhat of an expert. Yes, there are tons of clients out there who are looking for a freelance writer with this odd mix of field experience and the ability to write.

But don’t overlook having a functional specialty. You may already have one, in fact. How many SEO articles have you written? How many blog posts? Sales letters? Brochures? Press releases? I’ve mentioned before that my very first freelance writing gig involved writing 100 500-word articles about mortgages (for $2 each! HORROR!). How much do you think I knew about mortgages by the end of that project? How much did I know about writing 500-word articles? Enough to have a specialty, for sure.

Think about your client base. If you don’t have a field specialty, odds are that your clients are as far-flung field-wise as you are. However, you may find twenty clients in a row who need sales letters written. Think that might be considered a specialty long about sales letter #19? Same thing with press releases, articles or blog posts for internet marketers, website text, white papers, or brochures.

One benefit of having a specialty is that it cuts your learning curve. You don’t have to research quite so much. You “get” what your client needs. You know your way around and don’t have to have so much direction. You’d develop packages, systems, methods, and client questionnaires that would make the whole process easier for yourself and for your clients.

We’ve talked a lot about articles lately, and how to build your portfolio (profitably) by writing them. Now, let’s move onto press releases.

They’re really not much harder than articles – but they do require a few more skills, some special formatting, and some know-how on getting them distributed. For these “extras” your rates take a nice upward leap – so they’re worth learning how to do.

I’ve been doing press releases for years now, but found an excellent guide that covers all the how-to’s of creating them, formatting them, sending them out, and even possibly getting you (or your client!) interviewed on TV. Do yourself a favor, whether you’re an old pro or just starting out and check it out. You will definitely learn a few new tricks that’ll make it well worth the $19.95 it costs – and if not, return it! Don’t you love a solid guarantee?

Just by upgrading your skill set from articles to press releases, you could easily double or triple your writing business’ revenue. Sounds like a specialty to me!