When you decide to become a freelance writer, choosing a niche is the first step you’ll take. Having a specialization helps you find the right clients and concentrate your marketing efforts.
Whether you want to become a blogger or freelance writer, you will need to select a niche. This guide will walk you through the most profitable niches and how to find yours.
What is a freelance writing niche?
A freelance writing niche is a segment of the larger writing market defined by its own unique needs and knowledge that makes it different. A niche becomes your specialty as you begin a freelance writing career.
Nearly every freelance writing market can be refined by the needs and preferences of its readers. Some common ways to define a writing niche are based on:
- Industry (software, cryptocurrency, sports)
- Content format (long-form blogging, ads, email)
- Business model (B2B or B2C, subscription or ecommerce)
Choosing a freelance writing niche is a strategic business decision to serve a specific customer base better than generalists or competitors.
41 high paying freelance writing niches
So, which types of freelance writing pay the most? Each niche within these categories will offer a definition, earnings potential, and tips for How to start.
- Ads
- Annual reports
- Business plans
- Case studies
- B2B software
- Ebooks
- Grant writing
- Landing pages
- Newsletters
- Press releases
- Research reports
- SEO writers
- Technical manuals
- Trade publications
- UX writer
- White papers
- Consumer publications
- Slogans
- Brochures
- Book ghostwriting
- Journalism
- Crowdfunding campaign
- Online courses
- Email copywriting
- Facebook ads
- Chatbot conversation writer
- Resume
- Social media writer
- Speeches
- Scripts
- Finance
- Cryptocurrency
- Travel
- Education
- Health and wellness
- Books
- Food & wine
- Sports
- Entertainment
- Beauty and fashion
- Real estate
We’ll break each of them down by:
💰 Earning potential: the potential of making a six-figure income as a writer in that niche.
⚡️ Skill level: how skilled you need to be, and how many qualifications/experience you should have to master that niche.
⏳ Effort: how much time you’ll need to put into getting clients in that freelance writing niche.
1. Ads
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Ads are how businesses promote their products and services to their target audience.
As an advertising copywriter, you’re hired to write the content that a business would use in their paid advertising. This could be Facebook ad copy, titles for Google ads, or LinkedIn calls-to-action.
Salary: As a newbie ads copywriter, expect to earn anywhere from $300 per project. You’ll start to demand higher rates when you have experience under your belt, and results to show your advertising copy gets an ROI for the clients who hire you.
How to start: Start freelance ad writing by finding entry-level copywriting jobs–ideally for clients who run their own advertising campaigns. You’ll get your foot in the door with clients, prove you can write, and upsell your ad writing services.
Another option is to work for an advertising agency. You’ll get a crash course in writing across the agency’s client accounts. That information will help you build your writing career in the advertising niche.
2. Annual reports
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Annual reports are documents that allow businesses to report on their financial activity from the previous year to its shareholders.
Businesses tend to outsource writers to do this, so this is an exciting niche to look into.
Salary: Companies have different budgets to outsource their annual reports. It largely depends on the company’s size, the industry they work in, and how much work needs to be done to create the report.
A writer whose niche is annual reporting can make between $6,000 to $15,000 on average.
How to start: If you want to get into writing annual reports, tapping into your network would be a great way to get your name out there.
You could try reaching out to:
- Friends and family
- Old colleagues and Bosses
- Local businesses in your area
Reaching out to people you already know, or could easily reach and offering to do their annual report could help you become the person they look to every time they need reports.
3. B2B software (SaaS)
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Beginner to Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
B2B SaaS companies are businesses that create software for other businesses. Popular examples are Slack, Freshbooks, Shopify, and HubSpot.
The good news? Because software companies are known to attract funding, many B2B SaaS companies outsource their writing needs to freelance writers. (Databox, for example, runs its blog using only freelance writers.)
Salary: Based on our experience in this freelance writing niche, B2B SaaS writers can demand high rates for their writing.
We wouldn’t recommend going lower than $300 per post. But the rate you can charge increases as your portfolio grows. For example, our co-founder, Elise, makes upwards of $1,250/post writing for software companies.
How to start: There are tons of freelance writing job boards that B2B SaaS clients use to find freelance talent. Browse Problogger, Contena, and the Peak Freelance Job Board for your first job.
If you can’t find any freelance writing gigs right away, work on some personal projects around this niche. Write a blog, pitch a guest post, or create a writing sample. It’ll help fill up your portfolio with work that you can later use to pitch to clients in the future.
4. Business plans
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
A business plan is a document that businesses use to explain their objectives, goals, and the strategies they will use to reach them. Business plans can be labor-intensive documents for startups to produce, so some entrepreneurs use freelance business plan writers to do it for them.
Entrepreneurs and businesses will sometimes work with consultants to figure out what to include in their plans. Once all the contents are outlined, you’re ready to work on writing out the document.
Salary: Generally speaking, companies pay between $400 to $1,000 for a complete business plan. It all depends on how much the company has to invest before the business is profitable.
Some businesses don’t have funding to pay writers. Startup companies, for example, may rely on freelance writers to create their business plans, but because they’re self-funding the company, they may struggle to pay high rates.
How to start: Becoming a business plan writer can be tricky. Businesses tend to need a plan written up weeks before even starting to operate, so finding consistent clients could be a bit difficult.
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Start by positioning yourself as a freelance business plan writer in your existing network. Over time, friends and family who are starting a business will come to you for help. They’ll be your first clients.
5. Case studies
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
Case studies are pieces of content that help companies prove they know their stuff. They form part of a larger marketing strategy and are typically used by sales teams when pitching their product/service to a potential customer.
Case studies are a step up from testimonials–hence why you can choose this as a freelance writing niche. They break down how their product/service was used, the positive result the existing client got–and why future clients should expect to see the same.
Salary: Case study writers tend to charge companies on a project fee basis rather than hourly.
Most freelance copywriters reportedly charge $1,500 to $2,000 per case study. This is higher than other freelance writing niches because the company can see how their investment in your writing leads to revenue for their business.
How to start: There are certain skills you’ll need to become a case study writer–especially interviewing, research, and understanding of what makes consumers buy things. Work on building those skills.
A good way to find your first case study writing client is to write about yourself. Have you used a product or tool that helped you get a positive outcome? Whether that’s saving time or finding new clients, write up a case study framing yourself and your results. Send that to the company. If they publish it, that’s one way to build your case study portfolio.
💡 Bonus: Want an in-depth look at how freelance case study writing works? Watch our expert interview with Joel Klettke, who explains how he built his case study writing agency Case Study Buddy.
6. Ebooks
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
Ebooks are similar to other book writing jobs, except that they won’t be made into physical copies. They’ll be created and sold as PDFs for people to read online or on a Kindle.
Many companies use ebooks as lead magnets. They offer them to website visitors in return for their email addresses. They’re typically 1,500 to 5,000+ words long and ghostwritten, meaning you won’t take credit for the content.
Salary: Because of their value, intermediate ebook writers can make anywhere between 5 and 20 cents a word for ebook writing.
Experienced ebook writers, or those writing about an in-depth topic, can demand higher rates (up to $1 per word.) This can be lucrative if you’ve got a big project. A 3,000-word ebook, for example, could pay you $3,000.
How to start: Freelance blogging is a natural segue into writing ebooks if you’re writing long-form content. So, find a few freelance writing clients and upsell your ebook writing services once they know you’re a great writer.
7. Grant writing
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
If a company needs money to work on projects that provide jobs and services that boost the economy, it can apply for a government grant. Companies often outsource grant writing to writers who understand the best practices for submitting a pitch that gets accepted.
Businesses in their early stages of production may hire grant writers, but nonprofit organizations and charities usually approach the typical grant writer.
While it might not sound like the most exciting writing niche to pursue, it’s a great option if you enjoy helping people and being part of something that helps the local community.
Salary: Depending on the organization you’re working with, research shows that freelance grant writers can earn between $25 and $100 per hour.
How to start: Start by researching what government agencies look for in grant proposals. That way, you’ll know how to write a proposal that helps the business achieve its goal: funding.
Next, start to build your experience. If there are local charities and initiatives you’re passionate about, reach out to them and offer to do grant research (this doesn’t have to be paid work). They might lean on you when they’re writing their next grant proposal.
8. Landing pages
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
A landing page is a page on a business’ website that educates people on a specific product or service. The end goal is to convince the customer that it’s a good enough solution for a problem they’re facing–and that they should buy it.
Businesses invest a lot of time and money in creating great landing pages because they can be the difference between a potential customer looking into their products and buying, or getting the wrong impression and leaving without making a sale.
Copywriting is a skill that most founders don’t have the patience to build. That’s why companies outsource their landing page copywriting.
Salary: Research shows that landing page writers make around $300 to $800 per page. But just like other freelance writing niches, rates increase with your skill and portfolio.
Writers at the top of their game can charge around $5,000 for a single landing page. Companies will pay this because they can accurately track the return on their investment through the revenue the landing page generates.
How to start: Build your experience by creating a website for your own writing services. For each one, draft a landing page that explains what you offer, the price, and why people should hire you to do it.
You could also get your first client by pitching course creators. These people rely on landing pages to drive sales for their online courses. They tend to pay high rates to writers who’ll help them do that.
Interesting freelance writing niche alert 🚨 The apps surrounding a popular ecommerce platform.
— Peak Freelance (@joinPF) March 8, 2022
For example, Shopify has:
🖥 6,000+ apps in its App Store (including @privy, @klaviyo, and @OctaneAI)
📢 120+ service partners
Others like BigCommerce + Wix have similar ecosystems.
9. Newsletters
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Newsletters are a promotional tool used by businesses to share company updates and new products. They also use them to re-engage leads who’ve signed up for their email list but haven’t purchased anything yet.
As a freelance newsletter writer, it’ll be your job to craft emails that include:
- Clickable subject lines
- Engaging preview text
- Preheader copy
- Promotion of a product or service
- A clear CTA
Salary: Freelance newsletter writers usually charge around $80 per hour or $2 a word. Again, this changes depending on how complex the newsletter is and the client you’re creating it for.
How to start: Begin by looking at your email inbox. Scan through newsletters you’ve got from companies, and analyze what’s good (and bad) about them. Did the email subject line convince you to click? Was there one single CTA that made you buy something? Include them in your copywriting swipe file.
Once you know what a good email looks like, make a list of those in your inbox that didn’t meet the mark. Write a pitch to that company that explains what it’s missing. Mention they can hire you to fix it.
10. Press releases
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰
Skill level: Beginner
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
Press releases are pieces of content that generate publicity for launches and events. They send these press releases to journalists at national newspapers and local publications to publish them.
Businesses put a lot of time and effort into running a successful press release, so finding a writer that can properly convey their message isn’t a step they take lightly.
Salary: For writers charging per hour, an experienced writer typically charges $182 an hour, but the average for writers of all levels is $80 an hour. Writers who charge a flat fee for a press release range from $700 to $1,500.
How to start: If you want to write press releases, figure out which type of press releases you’d enjoy writing for the most—such as product launches, events, or funding announcements.
Next, build up your portfolio with free small press releases. You won’t be able to include your byline on press releases. However, building up work for your portfolio and getting your name out there amongst businesses will set you up for success with paying clients.
11. Research reports
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
A research report is a document that evaluates specific issues or queries that a business is looking into when creating or developing a strategy. The goal is to do data analysis, and prepare a report with those insights, to come to a conclusion on an issue.
Research reports require a lot more time than other types of writing niches, so if you enjoy researching and digging into the archives, research reports could be the niche you choose as a freelance writer.
Salary: As a freelance researcher, you can earn between $15 to $25 an hour, but if a client needs you to interview a source, these rates can rise to $25 to $35 an hour.
How to start: Start by taking on your own research projects. Sampling parts of older research projects you’ve done in the past would be a great way to show potential clients how you work and write up reports.
If you’re looking to start doing research reports for businesses, try reporting on surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. This will help to showcase your ability to find the information you need to report on.
12. SEO writing
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Beginner to Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) writing is a niche that prioritizes using keywords and phrases on a website. The goal is to boost a site’s organic ranking and improve visibility on search engines when potential customers search for them.
SEO is a multi-billion dollar industry. Companies spend big on improving their search engine presence, so they bring in SEO writers to:
- Carry out keyword research
- Develop content clusters
- Write optimized articles
- Build links to their content
Good SEO writers are always in high demand because of how valuable they are to businesses. For a company trying to boost their website traffic, investing in a good freelance writer to drive traffic from those channels can be a significant investment in the long run.
Salary: SEO writers can take up different roles for each client they receive. The rough pay they earn for each task works out to be $1,500 to $25,000 for website copywriting, and $100 – $2,000 per blog post.
How to start: The beauty of SEO is that you can start learning it yourself without any qualifications. Create a blog on something you’re passionate about. Then, use the techniques you learn to optimize your site.
Once you’ve proven that you know how SEO works (and that you can write SEO content that ranks), include the results in your portfolio.
13. Technical manuals
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
A technical manual is a document that explains how to successfully install, operate, maintain and maintain a machine, system, or software in greater detail.
Technical manuals are created by businesses to make their product or service as usable to the end-user as possible. Many of these businesses don’t have the time or resources to create a manual themselves in-house, so they look for freelance technical writers to handle it for them.
Salary: The average technical writing specialist charges about $30 and $60 an hour. Writers who charge a flat fee for a 1,000 word tend to price their work between $90 and $120 per document.
How to start: If you have a background, or an interest in engineering, software, and IT, you’d be great at technical manual writing.
Start by finding a client you’d like to work with and reading the technical documents they already have. What are they doing well? What could they do better? If you can improve it, edit the document and pitch it to them.
(If they don’t already have technical documentation to describe how to use the product/software, pitch it. They need one!)
14. Trade publications
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
Trade publications are a mixture of both popular and academic sources for professionals in specific industries. They exist to inform and educate people of that industry on current trends and best practices. Examples include Chemical and Engineering News and Adweek.
Writing in trade publications can be a great way to get your name out there in a specific industry. Publications normally look for writers who:
- Have an advanced understanding about industry topics
- Are qualified to make judgement on a given topic
- Can talk about the industry in-depth
Salary: Freelancers who write for trade publications can expect to make around $1 per word for their work. It’s one of the highest-paying freelance writing niches because you need lots of experience in a given industry.
How to start: Once you’ve chosen an industry you’re experienced in, research the trade publications you want to write for. Read their older issues to see which topics they usually talk about.
Next, look into the requirements needed to write for publications in that industry. Some require contributors to have qualifications in a related field or previous bylines in other publications in that niche.
15. UX writer
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
User experience (UX) writers create the text you’d see in website messages, app notifications, and other digital interfaces.
Think of it like technical documents broken down into short, timed messages that users see when they use an app for the first time. The UX writers’ job is to write content that helps a new user to navigate through sites, software, and user interfaces.
Salary: The salary a full-time UX writer would expect to earn would be between $75,000 and $125,000, depending on their experience in the industry. UX writers have been seen to make upwards of $126,000.
How to start: The first step in becoming a freelance UX writer is to understand microcopy. UX messages tend to be very short and direct. Work on getting a point across in the simplest, easiest way possible.
It’s also worth taking a UX-related qualification to ensure you’re up to date with best practices. CXL has a bunch of affordable UX mini degrees available to newbies.
Ready to find your first gig? Working in Content has a job board specific to UX writing. Scan through there to find freelance jobs, and pitch your UX writing services to those actively looking for someone like you.
16. Whitepapers
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Whitepapers are in-depth, detailed guides that report about a certain problem. The goal is to aggravate a problem a company’s target customer faces and explain how their product or service solves it.
Whitepapers are important marketing tools for most companies. They’re also ghostwritten from the perspective of a company founder, sales rep, or marketer. For that reason, freelance whitepaper writers can make a lot of money.
Salary: Because whitepapers allow businesses and organizations to educate, promote and sell to their customers and target audiences, a whitepaper writer can expect to make anywhere around $4,000 to $7,000+ per whitepaper.
How to start: Like the other B2B freelance writing niches we’ve mentioned so far, blogging is a natural segue into offering whitepaper writing services.
Build a client base of companies already relying on you for long-form content. Chances are, you’ll be their first port of call when they need longer content, including whitepapers. (You can always pitch your new whitepaper offering to them, too.)
The best part? You don’t need to have paying clients to start whitepaper writing. Create a freelance website and draft a whitepaper for yourself. So long as you can prove to potential clients that you know how to write, you’re ready to start pitching.
17. Consumer publications
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰
Skill level: Beginner
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
Consumer publications are magazines for the general public and not a specific trade or industry. Examples include TV Guides, AARP Magazine, and People Magazine.
Salary: Freelance writers make different amounts depending on the magazine publisher, but as a general guide, you’d be looking at a rate of between £420 and £700 for 1,000-word magazine articles.
How to start: The best way to get into writing for consumer magazines is to decide which one you’d like to write for. Most magazine editors have contributor pages that outline how to submit a pitch, what they’ll pay, and the topics they cover. Follow these guidelines to a T.
Although there is no guarantee your pitch will be successful, practicing this process will help refine your pitching for future consumer magazines.
18. Slogans
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
Ever heard those catchy phrases on the radio that get stuck in your head all day? That’s a slogan: a short, catchy, memorable phrase used by businesses. The goal is to make people remember the slogan and the brand.
Salary: Most businesses pay around $250 to $300 for a single slogan, though this can rise depending on experience and the client’s industry.
How to start: It’s no secret that you need to know how to write catchy slogans to make a living writing them for companies. So, start by looking for slogans that already exist. What makes them great? Are there repeatable formulas that advertisers use to make their slogans memorable?
Next, get slogan writing work in your portfolio. If you haven’t had a paying client yet, create a slogan for a fictional company (or re-write one for a company you know.) This can help build your portfolio and appeal to companies looking to hire a slogan writer.
19. Brochures
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Brochures are promotional documents that are typically used to introduce consumers to a company’s brand. They’re used to familiarize new customers with a brand’s products or services.
Brochures are used by all types of companies, including healthcare, marketing, and retail niches. As a freelancer with this writing niche, it’s your job to communicate a company’s news, products, and announcements through the brochure.
Salary: Freelancers usually make $300 to $500 per brochure. This can rise to $1,000 for 6-page brochures, with larger clients paying higher rates for in-demand freelancers.
How to get started: Writing mock-up brochures will help you build up your freelance portfolio of work when starting out. Create a sample brochure for a company you’d like to work with and use that as your pitch.
A brochure is a marketing asset for businesses. If your portfolio can showcase your skill for writing one, the process of pitching your brochure writing work to potential clients becomes a way easier.
20. Book ghostwriting
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
Some of the books you’re reading might not have been written by the author listed on the cover. People who want to be the author of a book, but don’t have the skill or time needed to write themselves, can hire freelance book ghostwriters.
Ghostwriters are brought in to write books for a client to use as their own. This means they don’t get credit for writing the book–but are paid well because of it.
Salary: Depending on the client, industry, and the experience of the writer, ghostwriters can make anywhere between $2,000 to $9,000 per book. Experienced ghostwriters can demand anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 for a single book.
How to get started: Want to start ghostwriting? Nail down your process for writing lengthy content. Long-form blog posts, whitepapers, and research reports are other niches to start with that’ll make the switch to freelance ghostwriting easier.
It’s also worth practicing how to mirror other people’s language. If you’re writing for a well-known person or public figure, they likely want a ghostwriter to mirror their language in the book (so people don’t recognize that it’s been ghostwritten.)
Finally, find your first ghostwriting client by pitching people you’d like to work with. Networking with other authors can also bring opportunities your way.
21. Journalism
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
A freelance journalist is someone who collects data and reports on trends. Their writing gets published in newspapers, digital magazines, and blogs. It’s their job to collect information and deliver it to publications’ readers.
Salary: The average freelance journalist makes between $125 to $250 per piece. It’s estimated that a freelance journalist can make around $60,000 per year, with top earners bringing in up to $104,000.
How to get started: As a freelance journalist, you’ll be pitching stories to several publications. More often than not, you’ll need approval from an editor before they commission you to write the piece.
A byline is one of the most important things for freelance journalists looking to get more work. Being able to say you’ve been featured in well-known publications is superb for social proof–and convinces other magazines to accept your pitches.
If you’re passionate about a certain topic, or you enjoy researching and getting your opinion out there, getting into freelance journalism could be the best route for you.
22. Crowdfunding campaigns
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
When companies or charities raise money for a project (through fundraising or asking donors outright), they need to run a crowdfunding campaign. These campaigns bring exposure to a brand or charity and get stakeholders involved. The goal is to raise more money.
As a crowdfunding campaign writer, expect to:
- Write the campaign copy for newspapers
- Draft possible slogans
- Write copy for social media posts
Salary: Freelance crowdfunding writers usually receive a flat fee rate of about $200 to $500 for each campaign launch.
How to get started: This niche is great for writers who want to use their skills to help support any brands, charities, or organizations they are interested in.
If you’re considering getting into crowdfunding writing, reaching out to any local organizations could help you land your first gig.
Expressing your desire to help see a client’s crowdfunding campaign could work as a cold email. Layout how your written content can help them reach their fundraising goals; it will set your outreach out to the best start.
23. Online courses
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Online courses are digital training resources that help people learn a skill or build their knowledge on a given subject. These days, educational courses are completely remote and independently done.
That’s why more people are creating (and buying) them than ever. There’s an online course for anything you can think of–including marketing strategy and taking care of plants.
Salary: An hour-long online course can take up to 90+ hours to produce, so course content writers can make from $1,300 to upwards of $10,000.
How to get started: Online writers create all the written assets for the courses, like the lesson transcripts and additional guides and resources.
If you have expertise in a topic that could be covered in a course, experiment with creating your own. Not only will it be a great side hustle and way to make money on the side of freelancing, but you’ll prove to other online course creators that you know what it takes to produce a great course.
24. Email copywriting
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate to Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Email marketing is a valuable channel for most businesses. Once a customer enters their email address and opts in to marketing emails, companies have a way to reach them directly–and convince them to become customers.
For this reason, clients hire copywriters to write emails on their behalf. It’s your job to write the email’s subject line and body copy, with a clear call to action at the end.
Freelance copywriters specialize in writing the following emails:
- Welcome
- Weekly newsletters
- Lead nurturing
- Order confirmation
- Re-engagement
Salary: Though it depends on the client and industry, freelance email copywriters can make up to $2,000 per email. This can increase if you’re creating email sequences (like welcome series.)
How to get started: The best way to become a freelance email copywriter? Watch our interview with Samar Owais. She’s an in-demand writer specializing in emails and walks through how she got started in this writing niche.
25. Facebook ads
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Businesses from every industry use Facebook ads to find new customers online. This means Facebook ad copywriters have a super important job: Get people to stop scrolling and click. You can be a generalist ad copywriter and write for many types of brands. Or focus on a specific sub-niche like construction, pet companies, or influencers.
Facebook ads aren’t just for lead generation either. You can write copy for different objectives like remarketing, engagement, Messenger, or video views. If you can get conversions across different campaign types, you’ll be more marketable to potential clients.
Salary: New freelance ad copywriters charge about $50 to $80, while experienced writers charge around $120 to $200 per hour.
How to start: Learn a little bit about how Facebook ads work. You’ll want to have a good idea of the different types of ads a business can create. This information will help you write better copy for each format. Many businesses also use A/B testing to experiment with different ad variations, so you’ll want to learn how to write different types of copy for the same campaigns.
To break into Facebook ad writing, you can partner with a few Facebook marketing agencies and work with them on ads. You could also run Facebook ads for yourself targeting your ideal clients. If you can turn a client into a lead from a Facebook ad, that shows them you can do it for their business also.
26. Chatbot conversation writer
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
A chatbot is a piece of software that creates a conversation with someone on the internet. Businesses use chatbots on their websites to interact with visitors. Visitors can ask a chatbot questions, receive coupons, and get support instantly, rather than wait for a live agent.
Most chatbot developers aren’t very good copywriters, which makes this niche more in-demand. Conversational copywriters can build conversations for most campaigns, from ads to website lead generation, retargeting ads, and more.
Salary: Freelance writers can make an average of between $100 to $500 for a simple conversational chatbot that offers basic conversation and dialogue for clients.
How to start: If you are brand new to chatbots, it’s a good idea to build one for yourself. There are endless free courses available, like the ManyChat Video Course, that’ll teach you how a chatbot works. If you want to take it to the next level, you can take Kelly Noble Mirabella’s Chatbot Beginners Course. She’s a certified chatbot educator and can help you learn the ins and outs of this particular industry.
You’ll also want to learn more about UX writing. Conversational copy is not like regular writing. It involves writing in short sentences and understanding how a particular audience speaks (and uses emojis 🤓).
To get into chatbot writing, you could partner with Chat Marketing agencies to work directly on conversational copy projects. It’ll help you get experience in the industry before going out on your own. You can also promote yourself as a chatbot copywriter on social media and guest post in niche publications like Chatbots Magazine and Chatbots Journal.
27. Resume
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Resumes are the documents people use to showcase their qualifications, accomplishments, work experience, and character statements. They are often used to get a job, apprenticeship, or internship.
Job seekers often hire professional writers when they want more money, responsibilities, and a higher title.
Salary: Depending on how advanced a resume needs to be, a professional resume writer can expect to make anywhere from $100 to $400 per resume.
How to start: Resume writing isn’t an easy task. But becoming a resume writer is easier to start than, say, a journalist. Start asking your friends and family applying for jobs if you can write their resumes. It’s an easy way to get freelance writing samples and build a portfolio for bigger jobs.
28. Social media writer
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰
Skill level: Beginner
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳
Social media has taken over the 21st century, and businesses are starting to make the most of it. Regardless of the growth of paid advertising on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, content marketing on social media plays a big part in building brand awareness and engagement.
Businesses bring in social media writers to:
- Write up content for social media
- Edit and publish content
- Optimize posts
- Create and maintain the tone of voice and messaging
Salary: Full-time social media writers make around $37,000 per year, with the majority making around $26 an hour.
How to start: The great thing about getting into social media writing is that you don’t always need to show paid work to businesses when pitching your services. You can start creating a portfolio of work by building up social media accounts and creating consistent, engaging content for them.
If you have a love for social media and have a marketing flare to you, social media writing is a great niche to own.
29. Speeches
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Speechwriters are hired to prepare speeches for other people to deliver as their own. Independent speechwriters are usually given a brief of the concept and key messages to get across in the speech they’re creating. Usually, they have creative freedom when it comes to making the speech engaging.
Speechwriters are normally hired by:
- Wedding planners for brides and grooms
- Corporate event speakers
- Politicians
Salary: Freelance speechwriters normally charge a flat fee rate for their work. This tends to be between $8 to $2,000. Well experienced writers can charge up to $15,000 for bigger clients.
The writers that charge hourly instead of project-based can make around $150 to $350 an hour.
How to start: Most speechwriters start working for political parties and big businesses or are affiliated with people who do. If this doesn’t sound like you, don’t worry, you can start building a name for yourself by getting involved with other speechwriters, organizations, and groups you believe in, and fill them in on your speech writing skills.
30. Scripts
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Scriptwriting (or screenwriting) is creating stories in the screenplay medium. It involves writing the movement, actions, expressions, and dialogue of characters in a screenplay. Scriptwriters can write for film, explainer videos, tv, video games, and online web series.
Salary: A screenwriter can make $72,000 to $136,000 per year from all their writing projects combined.
How to start: Getting into script and screenwriting can be difficult because of how competitive the niche is, but following the right steps will make the process a lot easier for new screenwriters.
Screenwriting is a very technical form of writing that requires great formatting skills, so before you do anything else, get to grips with the craft itself.
Get your work out there and make it easily accessible for potential clients. Luckily, there are loads of opportunities script and screenwriters can take to get their work seen.
You can send your work to contests, submit the pieces to the blacklist (to receive a numeric rating for your scripts), apply and submit to writing fellowships, pitch and send your work to producers.
31. Finance
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Freelance financial writers produce articles around topics like:
- Accounting
- Business Banking
- Insurance
- Investment banking
- Personal finance
Because of all the legal aspects of financial services, financial copywriters always have to ensure that their writing is high quality and meets legal requirements at all times, especially when it comes to promoting services.
Businesses will usually look at outsourcing freelance financial writers that have experience and past work history in:
- Financial regulation
- Trade finance
- Life insurance
- Foreign exchange
- Fintech
Salary: Finance freelance writers make around $55,800 per year on average. Writers with a broader portfolio of work can make up to $70,000+ per year, and new finance writers can expect a starting salary of about $40,000 per year.
Getting into finance writing can appear very difficult because of how crowded the finance industry is. As a freelance writer, you can start writing your own sales literature as writing examples.
32. Cryptocurrency
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Cryptocurrency is a newer topic in the world, and with it, freelance writers have the opportunity to get into writing about crypto.
Cryptocurrencies are the decentralized digital currencies that verify and record virtual transactions. They are a type of digital currency that can’t be controlled and maintained by a single person or entity.
Because of the recent hype around cryptocurrency, businesses are hiring writers to:
- Write up crypto whitepapers
- Create written content for social media
- Produce blogs and articles
- Write the copy for newsletters
Crypto can be a bit hard for people to wrap their head around, so businesses usually look for writers who:
- Understand and explain crypto
- Know of cryptography and its security
- Can make financial analysis
- Know how to engage readers
Salary: These writers make around $20-$50 per 500-word article.
How to start: First, learn about the major cryptocurrencies and how the blockchain works. Document your findings on your website and share tips and information for potential investors in the space.
Similar to the stock market, the crypto market has an endless, global news cycle that influences the coin’s prices. You’ll want to sign up for a few publications and stay dated on the latest data. As you start pitching for gigs, you’ll have a massive backlog of articles and information to share with readers, which can increase the chances you’ll land the gig.
33. Travel
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Beginner
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Travel writing is another popular niche for freelancers to take up or even just try. Normally travel writers work with travel agencies, travel publications, and booking companies.
Travel writers are tasked with writing:
- Their own experience of certain destinations
- Tourist destinations reviews
- Travel articles
- Travel guides
Salary: To most, travel writing can just seem like a hobby, but the average travel writer often makes around $60,00 per year for their writing services.
How to start: If you enjoy traveling and connecting with different cultures and lifestyles, travel writing might be the best writing niche for you to pursue. You’ll want to develop the right mindset because if you’re a travel writer, you’ll be moving around the world a lot. You want to write constantly and share your stories and experiences online.
34. Education
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Education writers create content that revolves around educating people on a given topic or subject that requires many resources and guidance.
Freelance education writers end up doing a lot of work on:
- Literary compositions
- Articles
- Research reports
- Textbooks
- Writing syllabuses
- Study pieces
- Reading guides
Many educational writers have expert experience and qualifications in a given field or subject to properly educate readers.
Salary: Education writers make around $63,000 per year, equating to between $35 and $40 an hour. Freelance education writers will often do a lot of project-based work, so their monthly income can vary.
Education boards, publishers and organizations will often expect their writers to hold some level of qualifications to work for them. This can be a bachelor’s degree in literature or communications or other qualifications like Masters (and even PhDs), depending on the level of writing they’ll be creating and its purpose.
How to start: If you want to start on educational writing, having a good level of education and qualifications will be a big factor in finding those high-ticket clients.
Writers in this niche are often responsible for handling big research studies, interviews, and sourcing projects, so making a start on creating longer-form content and reports will act as a great social proof for clients looking for a writer.
35. Health and wellness
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Health and wellness is an active industry for writers to take on. There are a lot of routes you can take. Some writers will choose to take on smaller jobs like lifestyle blogs and articles. While others will choose to only work on longer research reports used in medical circles and communities.
The three main types of health and wellness writing sub-niches are:
1. Medical: Writers who choose to focus on the medical side of health and wellness focus on the science side of treatment, symptoms, and prevention methods.
2. Fitness: Fitness writers usually focus on sports and exercise, healthy muscle mass advice, and overall maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They typically create content for gym and fitness-goers used for workouts, managing health, finding new products, and more.
3. Wellness: Wellness writers tend to handle more lifestyle matters like diet, nutrition and recovery more than the other fields. These writers normally promote wellness companies’ products and services to their audience.
Salary: Writers in the health and wellness niche make around $0.32 a word, $25 to $50 an hour, and about $100 to $350 for individual articles and blog posts. However, medical writers tend to make considerably higher, at $52,000 to $80,000 per year.
How to start: If you’re considering getting into the wellness writing niche, you’ll need to make sure you’re on top of all the trends. Health and wellness is a fast-moving industry, so there is always new information to share with readers. Aim to write for niche publications and your own blog. Since it’s a big (and saturated) industry, you’ll want to get bylines as soon as possible. You can pitch to publications for paid gigs or look for guest post opportunities on credible sites.
36. Books
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Advanced
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳⏳
Becoming an author might seem very intense to begin with because of how much of a commitment and journey it takes to become successful. But if you love creating long pieces of literature, have a passion for storytelling, or if you have life lessons and experiences you believe people will want to read, becoming a book author could be the path for you.
Salary: Although becoming a successful author can be a really hard challenge, the average author makes around $1,000 to $10,000 for an advance on their book from publishers.
Multi-book authors have been reported to make at least $100,000 from their books.
How to start:
- Come up with the concept of your book
- Create a writing environment you’ll be comfortable spending a long amount of time in
- Create a schedule to delegate your time
- Look into finding a publisher
- Plan and map out the structure of your book
- Make a start!
Book writing can be challenging, but with the right commitment, and solid marketing strategy, you really can make a good living from writing books.
37. Food and wine
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Food and drinks writers normally fall into the reviewer and critic side of writing. Writers in this niche are responsible for going out and sampling food and drink from restaurants and bars for the sole purpose of:
- Giving a review on the quality of the food
- Rating the service being provided
- Reviewing the ambiance of a restaurant
These writers are often hired by magazine publishers, newspapers, and online reviewal sources.
Salary: Food and drinks writers and critics make between $49,000 to $90,000 per year from publishers.
How to start: Successful food and drinks writers tend to have a quirk to their content. This could be anything from mentioning the history of the restaurant you’re reviewing and explaining the origins of the food, or focusing on mentioning the agricultural side of the food and how the ingredients are sourced.
These quirks will differentiate your reviews from other writers who only talk about the food and their opinions.
Branching out and having a diverse catalog of work in your portfolio is great, but finding a focus on your work will help you create your freelance writing business’s brand identity.
Do you want to focus on talking about travel food? Do you want to only write about start-up restaurants? It’s up to you. Finding your style and content niche will make it even easier for the right publisher to find you for those specific services.
If you love to write, love trying new and diverse food, and a bit of a sweet tooth, going into food and drinks writing could be the perfect niche for you.
38. Sports
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Sportswriters specialize in writing engaging sports news and update pieces for social media channels, websites, newspapers and magazines, and even sports broadcasting statistics.
Some freelance sportswriters are hired to:
- Create written content for a particular sports team
- Write articles and blog posts on recent team performance
- Research and compile statistics and game data
- Handle a teams PR
Salary: Sportswriters tend to make between $30,000 and $50,000 per year for all the services they offer.
How to start: If starting as a sports writer interests you, having an invested interest in a specific sport/sports team, or having a keen eye for analytics will help a lot in the day-to-day of being a sports writer.
Sports teams and sports news broadcasters usually look for writers who at least have a college degree, but not having one isn’t a deal-breaker.
Although having a college degree makes the process a lot easier, building up a following on a social channel, or running a blog that generates engagement amongst sports fans is an even bigger selling point than a degree.
If you can prove that you have the skills to write long-form content at a high level that brings readers in, then reporting and showcasing your analytics will be a great way to pitch your services.
39. Entertainment
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Entertainment writing covers everything from movie and TV reviews to creating newspaper and magazine pieces on the latest news in entertainment.
Some subjects an entertainment writing might cover:
- Commentary on music, movies, and TV programs
- Updates and celebrities and influencers
- Pop culture trends
Salary: If you’re looking to get into entertainment writing/journalism, you can expect to make roughly $58,000 per year.
How to start: New entertainment writers can start by creating blogs around different topics they find interesting. Once their blogs have enough content and engagement, some writers choose to build up their platform and site further to make money from advertisers.
If you’re looking to write pieces for more prominent publishers, building up a catalog of writing samples and pitching your angles to publications is all it takes to make the most of entertainment writing.
40. Beauty and fashion
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳⏳
Beauty writers typically cover fashion and beauty trends, upcoming products, and services in the industry. One of the biggest misconceptions about beauty writing is that you need to be an expert to break in. This is not true.
What makes a beauty writer isn’t about glamour and makeup. It’s about writing. You can be an expert in skin, hair, or fashion, but if you can’t write well, you won’t make a good beauty writer.
Topics you’ll talk about are:
- New product launches
- The latest industry trends
- Reviews of products and services
Fashion and beauty writers are typically approached by fashion publications, advertising and promotion agencies, newspapers and magazines, and even online forums.
Salary: Writers in this niche could make anywhere from $12,000 to $300,000+ per year, with new freelance writers making an average of $58,000 per year. Established writers with a bigger name in the industry making $300,000 and more per year.
How to start: You don’t need a journalism degree to get into beauty writing. However, it may help to get an internship or experience working with publications to better understand the industry. Regardless of your route, the best place to start is to create a blog for yourself.
Whether it’s an ecommerce brand or fashion magazine, people will look at your website to see if you are legit. A blog will build trust with them and prove you are the right person for the job.
41. Real estate
Earning potential (out of 5): 💰💰💰
Skill level: Intermediate
Effort (out of 5): ⏳⏳⏳
Real estate writers do a whole host of different things, from the standard creating articles and blogs about new building projects and properties, to:
- Creating email and newsletter copy
- Writing content for social media
- Handling real estate agencies PR
- Writing eviction notices
- Creating the copy for brochures and infographics
- Making cold emailing templates
Writers in the real estate niche usually find clients a lot easier than other niches because agencies tend to outsource content creation, which gives writers consistent work.
Subjects include buying and selling all types of properties from residential and commercial to luxury, land, or industrial. Or discussing topics such as lending leasing, design, building, architecture, and home life.
Salary: The average real estate writer makes about $75 an hour.
How to start: The best way to tackle getting into real estate writing is by creating a base for your work. You’ll want to create a website to host a blog and publish articles on different topics.
Newbie real estate writers should also pitch consumer and trade publications. If you can write an article for major publications like Realtor Magazine or Architectural Digest, you’ll build credibility with potential clients and win projects easier.
How do I find my freelance writing niche?
How do you go about choosing a niche that interests you and can be profitable? Start by browsing the list of possibilities above and choosing a few niches. Then take the following three steps to identify your niche.
Step 1: Decide if you want to learn more about the niche. Good writers should become subject matter experts in their industry over time. The only way to become an expert is by being curious and staying on top of trends and events.
Step 2: Determine if you can solve the niche’s problems. Maybe you have a specialty or training experience that could benefit a particular niche. This would be an excellent way to present new information and help businesses solve their problems.
Step 3: Research if the niche is profitable or not. Run a Google search to learn how popular a particular niche is. Look at different market research reports and how often people search for the topics in your niche. Check how much competition you may have in the space. Remember that competition is a good thing because it signals clients are ready to buy.
Running a freelance business takes time and commitment, so you want to pick a niche that you are passionate about. If you don’t enjoy it, you’ll have a hard time motivating yourself to succeed.
The secret to freelancing success
Finding a niche is the way to go if you want the best freelance writing jobs.
Use the most profitable niches we’ve mentioned here to find one for your freelance biz. Then, do a little research to see if it’s the best fit for you and start building your portfolio today!
You’ll soon start to see the impact of having a specific niche first-hand and how you can earn more money freelance writing.
Finding your niche is just the first part of building a freelance writing career.
Now you have yours, Freelance Writing Essentials is the course you need to start finding new clients. In it, you’ll learn how to:
- Create a portfolio that attracts your niche clients
- Write a pitch that convinces them to hire you
- Manage several freelance projects
- Set your freelance writing rate
The best part? You’ll get five bonus templates that we rely on to run our own businesses.
