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.

Marketing Matters

Marketing is easier when you understand who and where your target audience is. And when doing marketing research, you may discover additional target audiences which are suitable to your goals. These following 2 sites go into detail and appear to do a great job of presenting details of how to market to your target audience.

• 30 Day Marketing Bootcamp – September at The Query-Freelancer, the announcement post
• Market Your Freelance Writing in 31 Days

When you review these posts, you’ll see how knowing your audience informs your marketing strategy. As well, developing your marketing strategy can actually unveil additional target audiences. This is only the briefest look into what you need to do to track your audience trends and changes. Details are in the posts above. I’m going to catch up on the 30 Day Marketing Bootcamp that’s underway this month. And, I’m passing them on because they will likely become a resource for you too. How do you keep up with your target audiences’ trends? And if you try the marketing bootcamp, I hope you get great things out of it. Hope to hear from you. Marketing resources:

• 30 Day Marketing Bootcamp, from Jennifer Mattern
• Wrap Up – Market Your Writing in 31 Days, from Thursday Bram