Here’s answer #2 of 12 Questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think these questions are especially important for people newly striking out on their own. This is a short answer. But don’t be fooled. Targeting and tracking your audience is a lot of work. As a freelancer you are in a position to choose. You may do different kinds of writing to make ends meet. Notice the topics that present more attraction for you than others. Start there.

• Determine what writing genre interests you, what subjects, and what is the niche you want to fill in that area.
• Research topics in your area of interest. Read through the popular keywords to know what has people’s attention. Review the information to determine if there’s an audience.
• Describe your target audience: individual, company, family or business, end-user or publication.
• Keeping on top of trends is a matter of reading, reviewing and searching topics. Follow tangents to know what is related and may potentially become a focal point.

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This is my answer to the first of 12 questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think they’re especially important for people newly striking out on their own. The obvious answer to this question of activities between assignments is to look for more work. And that is true. However, I do some other things too that revitalize me, and get me ready for my next assignment.

Review

There’s really a lot involved in the work search process. I have to decide who I’m going to query, what work sites to visit, and what type of work I want to do next. I review work sites bookmarked already and search for others I might like. Review my protocols. It’s important for me to keep my routines current. That way, when I’m working on an assignment, the routine stuff stays that way, routine, and doesn’t make me hesitate. Right now, I have a routine for searching out article topics and submitting that I’m working up. Read more »