Looking for a Niche? Consider “Evergreen” Topics
July 18, 2008 by Jodee
Filed under Freelance Writing
by Jodee Redmond
You may have heard that as a freelance writer, you should specialize in a certain niche (or a few niches) to achieve success. Choosing a niche to focus on can be challenging, to be sure. I want to suggest that you consider choosing evergreen topics for your niche.
What are evergreen topics? Like the type of tree they are named after, they don’t change with time. Let me explain. There are some topics that people will always be interested in reading about, and they don’t go out of style from year to year.
If you have experience in writing about one or more evergreen topics, you may find it easier to find work because there will always be a market for them in print or online.
Examples of Evergreen Topics
* Money
* Relationships
* Parenting
* Employment
* Diet and Fitness
* Weddings
* Hobbies
* Decorating
There are other evergreen topics you can choose to focus on. Just think about things that many people think about/deal with/participate in at different stages of their lives. There are many different angles you can use to approach any of these topics, which should give you ideas to use when getting ready to query print magazines or showcase your work on a blog.
If you need help finding an angle, take an evergreen topic and use an online tool like Wordtracker to find popular keywords related to the topic. This will give you some ideas about how to approach it, based on the kind of search terms Internet users are using most often.
Do you write about any evergreen topics? Which ones?
I’m trying to crack the parenting market. I’m not a parent, but I’ve lots of experience working with kids of all developmental and behavioural levels–from autism to FAS to gifted–and I’m trying to draw on these experiences as well as the contacts I’ve made (who provide me with great quotes), for my story pitches. No one’s biting yet, but I’m still trying!
Thanks for a great post, Jodee!
I write art reviews and critique on contemporary and classic painters. People always seek that kind of information, which makes my blog evergreen
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I write a column about the “Miss Communication” that can occur in relationships, in life, etc. It’s a humor column that I’ve been writing for over a year now. Recently, I have been writing about family activities in my local area. Families are often looking for something to do.
Thank you for the post Jodee.
I’m seeing moderate success in writing about dieting and fitness on my blog “The Office Diet” — I took an evergreen niche but gave it a bit of a twist by focusing on office workers (which, let’s face it, is a pretty big chunk of the online population!)
I write a lot on parenting, as well as diet and food in general. I agree that evergreen topics are an excellent area to specialize in.
The topic of ‘Pets’ is another great evergreen niche.
When I look for evergreen topics to write about, one criteria I use is this question: “What are people spending their money on?”
If they are willing to spend money on it, it’s definitely something that holds their interest, and they’d most likely want to learn more about that subject.
I’ve written quite a bit about bankruptcy, because of my bankruptcy paralegal background. Last year I added food safety to my list of niches, because I began writing for two firms that specialize in food poisoning litigation. I also added drug liability law, as well as a few other niches within the personal injury practice to my “areas of specialty” (per se). The way things are going, it doesn’t look like I’ll be put out of work any time soon, although I do always hope that our government will improve so I’ll have fewer food and drug recalls to write about.
Since I quit smoking, I’ve also done a few articles on smoking cessation and recently started a blog on that subject. We’ll see how that goes…
I’m not sure that any of these are as “evergreen” (nice word, btw) as some of the more general niches, but at least I am versatile enough to pick up something new if need be. (At least I like to think so!)
Great topic, Jodee. I’m always curious to learn what others write about, and why they choose the niches they do.
The problem with writing niche blogs is that there are already so many of them. Finding an even smaller niche within the niche is a must in order to separate yourself from the rest of the pack.