Since this is The Diversified Writer blog, I thought it might be nice to talk a little bit more about diversification. When I first became a freelancer, I got a lot of helpful advice from others, mostly around the idea of settling into a niche.
I fought the idea of owning a niche and wasn’t sure why until a potential client said to me, “Oh, I get it. You specialize in being a generalist!”
Bingo!
My portfolio has print, interactive, long, short, feature, copy and other types of writing. I like writing lots of different things and, frankly, I think it makes me more valuable to my clients to have such a broad base of experience from which to draw.
Now, mind you, fellow writer Kim Stacey is highly specialized, choosing to focus solely on writing and consulting for funeral homes. Until I reached out to Kim online, I couldn’t even imagine there was a need for such a thing. But there is and it works for her.
Why?
Because she’s passionate and single-minded about the topic of funeral homes. (Now, me, I’m passionate about a lot of things and single-minded about very little.)
I always tell people that, for me, being a writer is like being an actress: I get to become a subject matter expert on something for a short period of time and then move onto the next thing.
Being diversified suits my personality. And, as it happens, it suits the kind of clients I like to attract.
So who’s right, me or Kim? Both!
That’s the beauty of freelancing. You get to choose how you want your business to look.
Your turn:
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