Summary

A writer who specialized in writing about money has seen significant opportunities arise, including potential new writing gigs, emphasizing the benefits of focusing on a niche.

Abstract

The author shares their journey of transitioning from Quora to Medium a year ago, focusing on writing about money. This specialization has led to offers for writing jobs with investment companies, underscoring the value of niching down. The article discusses the pros and cons of niching versus writing on diverse topics, suggesting that specialized expertise can lead to unexpected opportunities. The author advises having multiple income sources as a writer, highlighting the importance of diversification to mitigate risks associated with relying on a single income stream. The piece also touches on the importance of setting oneself apart from peers by leveraging unique achievements, such as being published in reputable magazines like Money. The author reflects on their self-taught investment knowledge and the lessons learned from past mistakes. Looking ahead, the author anticipates a busy and transformative year as they balance multiple writing platforms and potential new roles.

Opinions

Niching down in writing can establish one as a specialized expert and open up targeted opportunities.
Diversifying income streams as a writer is crucial for financial stability and to guard against unforeseen changes in the industry.
Personal achievements, like publications in well-known outlets, can give writers a competitive edge in job opportunities.
Self-education and real-world experience are valuable in building expertise, especially in fields like investing where formal training isn't a prerequisite.
Making mistakes can be a significant, though sometimes costly, learning experience.
Focusing on one's passion and expertise in writing can lead to unexpected and rewarding prospects.

When You Focus Your Writing Efforts, Amazing Events Happen To You

A new writing gig opens up, after niching for a year as a writer.

Writing Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels

A year ago, I began my transition from Quora to Medium, now another writing gig could open up because I niched down in an area I love — money. This past week I was offered a writing job for an investment company and another writing gig is pending.

It may be too early to talk about this but I won’t discuss the writing jobs. I will tell you that when I decided to write about money, that is working in my favor.

To niche or not niche

Writers will tell you to niche down or not, but honestly, it really depends on your long-term goals. When you write anything and everything, that may help since companies may ask you to write on one of those topics.

When you niche down on a specific topic, this helps make you a more specialized expert in that field.

Initially, I didn’t plan to get another writing gig, but it happened when I was looking for other writing opportunities.

Multiple sources of writing income

It helps to have multiple sources to earn income as a writer. You never know when your main source of income gives you a pink slip silently telling you they are either cutting back on writers or going in a different direction.

You don’t want to be in that situation. Having multiple sources to earn your money as a writer is a necessity unless your name is Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. They could write a flop but it would still pay their bills because they have true fans.

Even top writers such as Tim Denning have multiple sources of income. I have received an email newsletter from The Ladders and saw a few articles from Tim recently. I’m sure this is not his only other source of income.

Having multiple streams of income is necessary as a writer. Make your time work for you and not against you if you really want to be a paid writer.

You need something that sets you apart from your peers

During my interview, I answered the typical question such as why do you love writing about investing. Then I added the kicker which I’m sure caught the interviewer's attention.

I told the interviewer that I was published in Money magazine, not once, but twice. Getting featured in the magazine was great since I have read Money magazine for years. They laid out the foundation for my financial education.

As a long-time Money reader since 1997, this magazine was one of my sources for education about investing before the internet came about. Today you can easily Google for information that you want to learn more about.

Over 20 years ago, this was not possible. The internet was barely getting started and there wasn’t much to find with the slow speed of dial-up technology.

If you think internet sites are slow today, you don’t know the half of it.

With dial-up technology, you had to wait for minutes for your computer to connect to the internet.

I’m not a school-trained investor and never took a finance class in school. I did a lot of my learning the old-fashioned way by reading and making real-world mistakes. Some of which were costly.

Those mistakes are some of the best ways to learn though they can be expensive lessons.

My way ahead

Time is going to change drastically for me as a writer in the near future.

I already write here as well as News Break. With two more possible writing jobs, this could be challenging.

As time is limited, picking up two more writing jobs make this an eventful year.

When you go all-in, sometimes the end result is surprising.

You get more than what you ask for when you focus on what you truly want to do.