Many so-called copywriting gurus will tell you that the path to success is to proclaim a niche right away. Today, I’m going to explain to you exactly why that’s 100% wrong and potentially damaging to your career (and then explain what you should do instead). Read on…
Today’s question comes from Ron W., who asks, “I’ve heard that I should pick a niche and focus on building samples and finding clients there. Do you agree?”
This is certainly not the first time I’ve gotten this question; I’m pretty sure some copywriting teachers hang their hats on the “niche” advice as if it’s some kind of magic key to success.
Except choosing a niche when you’re just getting started is not a magic key at all. In fact, it could be deeply, deeply detrimental to your career.
Let’s discuss why that is.
When you’re just starting out in your copywriting career, you can’t possibly know yet what kind of copywriting you’ll like. And, even if you think you like a certain niche, you can’t know whether or not you’d like another one just as much or better.
Now is not the time in your career to limit what you’ll be working on.
But in addition to limiting the kinds of copywriting you’ll enjoy, you also may be severely limiting your career. For example, what if you choose healthcare copywriting as your niche, and there’s no market for that in your city? Or what if the current market dries up? Or the market that exists just isn’t big enough to support you? Or there are already too many other copywriters with more experience to compete against for each job?
Each one of those possibilities is very plausible.
Bear in mind, too, that in that scenario, all of your samples on your portfolio site will be for your healthcare niche. If someone from another industry is interested in you and they come to your site, it’s likely they’re going to assume that you don’t even want their work because it’s in another industry.
Does all of this sound scary?
It should.
At this point in your career, you need to get as many different types of samples in as many different types of industries and for as many different types of clients as you can. Collect samples for ad agencies and in-house agencies, for B2B and B2C, for banner ads, emails, newspaper ads, brochures, websites, magazines ads and anything else you can.
Having a variety of different kinds of samples lets you demonstrate your depth and breadth of ability to any prospective client or employer that visits your site. You want them to see how versatile you are so that it’s much easier for them to imagine you doing great work for them.
This also helps you start learning what kinds of work you do and don’t like. (If, indeed, there is anything you don’t like—I happen to be partial to any work that will pay me money.)
Eventually, you may decide to choose a specialty, but, first, you don’t have to. I never have, and I’ve been perfectly pleased with my career. But if you do choose to, you need to do it only once you’ve had experience with all kinds of different copywriting, and you have a good understanding of how much work that industry has to offer.
And when I say “eventually,” I don’t mean a few months into your career. I mean no sooner than five years into your career. Build your samples to show variety and you’ll give your career a flexibility and potential for growth that choosing a niche or specialty just won’t allow you.
Your turn! What other dubious (or downright bad) advice have you gotten about building your copywriting career? Let us know in the comments below!
I’m struggling with this very concept right now. I’ve been writing a lot of different things for many years, i.e. contributing to books, writing blog posts, magazine articles, social media posts, speeches, etc. Some of these were while I was working at a desk job for a government agency. I’ve only been doing honest-to-goodness copywriting on a freelance basis for 16 months. I have a lot of experience in alternative health and wellness, but my biggest client right now is an education company. I don’t want to build my site around either of those “niche” markets because I’d like to write a variety of things in all different subjects (I’m easily bored), but everyone has said I MUST CHOOSE A NICHE as though my life depends on it. You’re saying that’s not the case. You’ve not found clients who are hiring want a copywriter who specifically knows their industry?
Hi Michelle,
Yes, there *are* a lot of people out there who will tell you to choose a niche. But while you’re just getting started and trying to build up a business and career, it’s not a good idea. You don’t want to get yourself stuck in a spot that either you don’t like or doesn’t have enough business to support a career.
There are definitely clients who prefer that their copywriters have some experience in their industries, but they don’t need copywriters who *only* have experience in their industries. In fact, most are savvy enough to understand that experience writing for other industries brings increased insight and perspective.
The best way to have experience in a lot of different industries and cater to clients who are looking for some experience in their industries is to get a lot of experience in several different industries. Eventually, you may find a niche that you really love and you may decide you want to specialize in it, but making a decision like that is only for when you’ve had plenty of time to sample lots of different types of work. (You may also find you *never* need to specialize—I didn’t.)
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Hi Nicki
This is so timely as I have been contemplating on which niche to serve and it has been almost 5 months now which is why I am stuck! Thanks for your post.
Thanks,
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Great! I’m so glad it was helpful! It’s so easy to let decisions keep us stuck. Isn’t it great when it turns out you don’t even have to make a decision at all? 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Hi there,
Just wondering how to/whom to target if you’re not choosing a niche? If I knew it was healthcare for instance, I’d look up the typical person I’d be in touch with for, say, health centers.
Kind greetings,
Naomi
Hi Naomi,
Great question. You shouldn’t use a niche to decide the only kind of work you’re going to do — but you *can* use niches to help organize how you reach out to potential clients. For example, you could first reach out to healthcare companies, then you could reach out to technology companies, then retail companies, etc. Does that make sense?
One side note, though, is if you’re going to reach out to a company, you need to make sure your portfolio is commensurate with the kind of work they do/need done. For example, if they do a lot of banner ads, you’re going to need to have some banner ads in your portfolio. If they do a lot of direct mail, you need direct mail pieces. These can absolutely be spec pieces, but you just need to make sure your portfolio is prepped to make you an appealing candidate, full of the kind of work they’d want you to do if they hired you.
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
As a beginner I have been stuck in what niche I should choose,because my current coach keep emphasizing on the need to stick to a niche. This led me to google which in turn lead to your page. It becomes more clearer after reading this ,I think I would just write for any industry for now and hope for changes in no distant future……Thanks
Hi Ayodele,
Yes – when you’re just starting out, choosing a niche is actually a really bad step to take. Give yourself some time to learn and get experience and then, after three or four years, you can choose a niche if you want to. (But you don’t have to!)
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
This is also helpful for me to read. This subject caused me a great deal of concern and frustration recently because I had also been advised by prolific coaches to “niche down” from day one of launching a business. While some coaches mentioned that remaining open to other niches was a good idea, they still guided students to focus on a niche.
Nicki, I think your way of looking at it makes more sense, and I also know a writer couple making high six figures with no specialization either.
I’m on board with this new approach, but now I need to work out how to best design my business website and branding to convey what I do concisely.
“
Hi Phillip,
Yes, “niche-ing down” is a very common piece of advice and it’s also a very bad piece of advice – at least while people are new to the career. After a few years and some experience people *can* choose a niche but also, as you note, it’s not even necessary then. As to how to design your website and branding, well, we’ve got plenty of resources for that in the Academy. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
I thought choosing a niche would help me with the fact that I am easily distracted. I also thought it could simplify and shorten my training time. (I am completely new to copywriting.) Everything I have read in this article makes TOTAL sense.
I have seen in my lifetime that people who are approaching a field or industry for the first time have fresh insights that insiders cannot see any more. They are also less likely to fall into the trap of using “lingo” that potential customers or a product or service would not be familiar with.
Hi Susan,
Yep – “you have to choose a niche” is a pretty common piece of misinformation being passed around. You can choose a niche eventually, but definitely *not* when you’re first starting out!
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Thank you for this post! People all around me are telling me to pick a niche when I consult them for guidance. I’ve been copywriting for around 16 months and while I’m learning the types of copywriting I prefer, I still can’t bring myself to choose just one industry/market to focus on. I’m mainly stuck on how to find clients – I’m stuck in the feast/famine cycle right now and everyone makes it sound like niche-ing down will alleviate that, but I’m not so sure?
Hi Sarah,
Choosing a niche when you’re new to copywriting only makes you unnecessarily limit your career – it’s definitely not the magic bullet to finding steady copywriting work that some people make it out to be. What *does* is creating an easy-to-follow, crazy-effective system for outreach to potential clients. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Hii there
My self leo
I’ve been learning copywritin for about 4 months.
I’ve learned a lot of things in copywriting, But I’m facing a problem in choosing a niche.
I’ve choosen SAAS as a Niche,but SAAS IS HUGE…
I’m not able to choose my sub-niche in SAAS.
I’m IT STUDENT AND AWS(AMAZON WEB SERVICE) :- IN SIMPLE TERMS I HAVE GOOD KNOWLEDGE IN CLOUD COMPUTING….AND STILL I’M STUDENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY..
Do you have any suggestion for students who is just GOT started in copywriting pathhh…..
MY MAIN QUESTION TO YOU :- I’M FACING PROBLEM IN CHOOSING SUB-NICHE IN SAAS.
SHOULD I CHANGE MY NICHE AND JUMP TO NEXT ONE. or STICK TO THIS ONE???
WHAT DO YOU THINK ?
Hi Leo,
I actually don’t recommend that you choose a niche when you’re just beginning for the reasons I outline in the article. You can certainly still pitch these companies, but I still don’t recommend that you designate the industry as your niche.
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Hi Nicki,
I just want to thank you for clearing my mind. It’s been almost 7 months since I’ve started copywriting but many *successful* coaches out there would always promote the need to pick a niche when starting out so that I’ll know who to reach out and have a clear target.
The problem is, I don’t know which niche I personally like so I just kept on searching “Best copywriting niches” and end up being miserable…
Anyways, this article is downright helpful!
Hi James,
I’m so glad it was helpful. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of poor information out there, even from “gurus”. Sometimes people who are successful have a hard time remembering back to what actually works when people are just getting started. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Strong statement! I heard the niche strategy over and over for copywriting. You bought up some very great and valid points to support not niching down. Love it!
Hi Omar,
Absolutely – you’ll hear it a lot, but it’s misguided advice. It can make sense eventually, but certainly not during a copywriter’s first few years.
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
Hi Nicki
I just wanted to say thank you so much for this statement! I heard you say it the first time in your introduction webinar. Can I just say how freeing it was to hear! For so long I felt so stressed and trapped thinking I will never get anywhere in a career cause I didn’t stick to just one thing when I got started. I have a lot of interests and knowing in copywriting that is a good thing is super encouraging! I also makes me feel a bit less like I am behind in life because I didn’t stick to just one thing from the start.
Hi Monique,
I’m so glad it was helpful! There’s a lot of bad information out there about “choosing a niche” – it can certainly work for some business types and later on in a person’s career, but it’s a downright terrible idea when you’re first starting out. 🙂 You’re not behind at all – you’re in just the right place!
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
I took a free introductory copywriting course before I found yours (I’m sure you’re familiar with it, because you must be aware of your competition), and one of the first lessons was that you *must* choose a niche immediately. That felt so wrong to me, because while I may have a certain expertise on a subject, that is by no means the only thing I want to write about for my entire career. The introductory videos also focused largely on blog posts, which even I know isn’t really copywriting.
The other piece of advice this course gave that made me move on almost immediately was to read a particular sales letter posted online because it was written by “the best copywriter ever.” While that sales letter might have made the writer money, all it did was make me want to run away. I’m sure that kind of writing can make people money, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. Then I found this course, and I could tell immediately that your advice was a better fit for me.
Hi Jody,
I’m so glad the information I gave you resonated with you! There are some prevalent pieces of misinformation out there and some dated techniques, as you’ve seen. 😉 But the good, tested information and techniques are the ones that stick around and, even more importantly, make big differences for our clients and earn their respect for us.
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki
I agree that copywriters shouldn’t limit themselves in the beginning…But I’m curious: Why wait five years to pick a specialty? I would argue that the length of time isn’t important, rather the number of projects you’ve taken on. If you’ve completed 10 eCommerce projects over the course of 3 months and see there’s a demand for that (and you enjoy doing it), then why not niche down to that sooner?
Hi Mary,
Absolutely – 5 years isn’t a magic number, it’s more of a ballpark. For people who build their businesses slower or are working part-time, they’ll need more time to get experience and see what’s out there. For people who ramp up quickly and/or are working full-time, they may get a sampling of what’s possible faster. I’d mention, though, that even completing 10 ecomm projects doesn’t give someone full sampling; it just gives someone some experience with just ecomm. If they just get experience with ecomm and decide to specialize from there, they don’t know what it’s like to work with other kinds of clients—perhaps even kinds of clients they’d like better or would at least like to include in the mix. Bear in mind, too, that not niching doesn’t mean that a person can’t focus on pitching a certain kind of company for a while or even on certain days of the week; it just means that they’re not drawing a line in the sand and gearing their website and marketing toward ONLY that niche (effectively closing off any possible opportunities from other types of clients).
Thanks for commenting!
Nicki