What happens when you want to change niches as a freelance writer?

You can write in one niche for a while and eventually become an expert on the topic (and maybe that’s where you are right now). But what if you don’t want to write in that niche anymore? What if you want to pivot to a new specialty?

It can be daunting to find yourself in that position, but thankfully, it’s not as scary as it might seem. In this video, you’ll learn 3 tips for changing niches:

Let’s take a closer look at those 3 tips:

1) Test the waters first.

If you go full speed ahead and change niches overnight, you might run into some problems.

For example, what if you end up not liking the new niche? Or what if you’re having trouble finding work?

It’s much safer to make the switch gradually. We recommend starting by taking on a handful of jobs in your new niche. Evaluate the experience, and see how it goes.

If you love it, great! You can ease into your new niche. On the other hand, if it’s not what you expected, you can easily step out and go back to your first niche. Then you can begin the search for another new niche if you want.

2) You don’t have to start from scratch!

It’s understandable why so many people think changing niches means starting over.

After all, it seems like your current experience won’t cross over to the new niche. For example, if you’ve made a name for yourself as a parenting writer and you want to break into travel writing, it doesn’t make sense that travel editors would care about your experience in parenting.

However, your existing work isn’t worthless––quite the opposite! No matter the niche(s) you’ve written in, your portfolio showcases your experience. You can leverage that existing work and use it to provide social credibility and prove that you’re an expert at writing.

In addition, most editors don’t mind if your portfolio contains work that’s unrelated to the niche. Of course it’s best if you do have published work in the niche, but it’s often not a deal breaker. Use what you have.

3) Establish yourself as an expert early on.

The sooner you establish yourself as an expert in your new niche, the sooner you’ll be getting paid and published.

When you switch niches, you probably won’t feel like an expert at first. You might even come down with a mild case of impostor syndrome. That’s completely normal! But you have to realize that you are an expert whether you believe it or not.

You may not have published work in this niche, but you have knowledge about it. You’re passionate about it. You’re also an expert at writing. That’s everything you need to be an expert in any niche. The only thing you’re lacking is publication, which you’ll achieve (probably sooner than you think).

Changing niches isn’t as scary as it seems.

Taking on a new niche seems intimidating, but it really isn’t. We hope this article has illuminated the reasons why you don’t have to be scared. You have everything you need to get started in a new niche right now. So go out, test the waters, and see what happens.

Your Turn: Is the idea of changing niches frightening to you? Have you ever changed niches before, and if so, what was it like?