Why You Need A Writing Niche & How To Pick One (1)

Yes, You Need a Freelance Writing Niche! Here’s How to Pick One

Picture this. You’re making an epic dinner. The recipe calls for an obscure ingredient, so you slide into your shoes and head out to do some shopping.

There are general groceries all over, but as you turn the corner, you see a different kind of store.

It’s a specialty grocery—slightly more expensive, a little further from your apartment. But in the window, there’s a poster featuring the obscure ingredient you need.

Are you going to waltz into the local Key Food or are you hauling ass to that specialty store to get exactly what you need?

I think you see where I’m going with this. When we have a specific need or problem, price and other factors become less important than securing the solution.

This is true in virtually every industry, from home goods and clothing to medical services and hospitality.

This concept is the reason writers who specialize—or find a niche—end up making more money than those who offer broad writing services.

Today I’m going to break down this concept a little further and show you how to choose your own niche.

Because, yes, you need a writing niche.

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Writers Q&A - How to change your niche! - Day Job Optional Digital Nomad Writers Blog

Q&A Video: How To Change Your Niche & Hit The Ground Running

Do you know what your writing niche is?

Having a definitive niche is one of the first steps to growing your career as a writer. A narrow specialization will let you can target higher-paying clients and quit your habit of trying to please everyone.

Sounds pretty sweet, right? But a well-defined niche takes time to develop. It can take months and even years of trial and error and honing your skills to arrive at a niche that’s perfectly suited for you. And then, when you least expect it, you could wake up one day inspired to change it!

Yup, it’s allowed. Hopefully this wave of inspiration is backed by some thorough market research, buuut that’s a story for another day.

You should go ahead and expect changes along the way as you evolve in your independent writing career. Be ready to make bold moves, call the shots and adapt when it feels right! Deal?

So anyway, when Erica, one of our facebook group members, asked us how to smoothly handle the transition of changing her niche, we whipped up this video to break down the process.

Click through and check it out. We had a blast making this one, and there are more of ’em loaded up in the queue. *wink wink*
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How To Fall In Love With Writing Again - Day Job Optional - Michelle Christina Larsen

How to Fall in Love With Writing Again (Even if It Feels Impossible)

Don’t judge me, but… my laptop is totally going to be my Valentine this year. *slow jam plays*

Yep, I’ll be spending February 14th writing about New York Fashion Week and sipping an endless supply of coffee while snow pummels the ground outside.

The countdown to the most romantic day of the year had me thinking about the ups and downs of love this week. I started to see some vivid parallels between a love for writing and love for human-folk.

That said, let me ask you something: Is being a writer really what you thought it would be?

Are your visions of scrawling cutting-edge articles, breathtaking travel stories, exciting fiction or the wittiest copy on the planet panning out?

If you’re knee-deep in writing career bliss right now, I am sending you a giant high-five through the screen.  That is awesome. But for those who’ve begun to feel a little lukewarm about our writing work, just know that you’re not alone.

Writers of all levels sometimes groan at the thought of hitting their word count. Even the pros sometimes feel tempted to reschedule a client call they just don’t feel like having.

So the question is, how can we get the magic back? How can we fall in love with writing again?

After almost a decade of falling in and out of love with my writing career, I’ve put together some tried-and-true tips on rekindling the flame.

Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on those sexy tunes, and read on.

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12 Best Digital Nomad Apps & Tools

If you’ve been working online for any amount of time, you’ve probably come up against some of the most common challenges of the “digital nomad” lifestyle.

Finding Wi-Fi can be a pain. Staying productive in paradise without a boss requires crazy amounts of discipline. Setting boundaries and managing your own projects isn’t easy. And time zone differences with international clients?

Don’t get me started.

Once I logged onto Skype at 3:00 AM to video chat with a client on the other side of the world. I had to wake up at 2 to do my hair, clean my desk (and any space that’d be on video), and drink some water so my voice didn’t sound groggy.

Anyway, as you can see, working remotely comes with a whole set of challenges you don’t encounter in the corporate world (in addition to a bunch of challenges you do find there—fun!).

Luckily, working online is becoming increasingly popular, and we have apps for just about every conundrum.

Whether you’re aspiring to escape the office or have already broken free, this list of digital nomad apps will prime you for productivity and efficiency.

We’re using everything on this list, and we’ll keep adding to it as we find new gems to share.

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What To Do When Clients Don't Pay

DJO Podcast 003: What To Do When Clients Don’t Pay

Non-paying clients are the worst, and freelancers deal with them often enough that there are now widespread campaigns to end this epidemic.

If you landed on this post, it’s possible you’re in a non-payment predicament right now.

So what do you do when clients don’t pay?

Whether you’re just beginning on your freelance career path or you’ve been working for yourself for years, it’s time to brush up on how to protect yourself. We compiled some steps you take right now to ensure you don’t fall trap to a deadbeat client.

In this podcast, we’ll tell you what to do right now and give you some tips for making sure you get paid in the future.

Hit play on this episode and empower yourself!

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Launch Your Freelance Career With No Experience

DJO Podcast 002: Launch Your Freelance Career With No Experience

Episode 2 is a big one, babes! It’s all about launching a freelance career and getting those first clients when you have little or no experience.

The paradox many new writers believe is that if they’ve never written professionally, no one will hire them… thus, they’ll never get writing experience.

So how do you launch your freelance career with no experience?

While there’s no “magic switch” to turn you into a freelance writer overnight, if you’re willing to hustle and put in the effort, you can land your first freelance writing gigs sooner than you think.

Seriously, though. You can do it!

We broke down exactly how in this week’s episode, so jump below and click play!

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Ways To Get Motivated - Inspiration for Freelance Writers

9 Ways to Get Motivated That You Haven’t Tried Yet

The other night I sat at my desk, cup brimming with coffee—a.k.a. writing fuel—and stared at my to-do list like I was waiting for it to resolve itself.

Try as I might, I just couldn’t get motivated to write.

Nothing feels worse than having a long list of things you need to do… and zero motivation to do ’em. Maybe you can relate?

This kind of rut happens to everyone at some point. The cause can be anything from a messy room to IRL problems, but it’s hard to know how to snap out of it.

I’ve tried pretty much everything to bust out of ruts during my seven years as a freelance writer.

I also try to make a note when something works. This week I noticed that my list of fixes has gotten pretty big, so in light of my own recent rut, I decided it would be a good time to share.

Below you’ll find some unique ways to overcome that stubborn, don’t-want-to-do-anything feeling. If you’ve tried all the standard fixes, these might help.

From Clorox wipes to shifts in perspective, here are some ways to get motivated, harness your productivity, and feel good about working again.

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