Writing specialists make all the money
IT PAYS TO BE AN EXPERT
At one of our recent workshops, we spoke to a writer named Talia who had built a boutique writing agency. The group was curious about how Talia shifted from doing 80 and 90-hour weeks to sustaining herself on just a few clients. The short answer: she specialized.
But let’s back up for a bit.
The purpose of this piece is for you to understand that the one thing you do great is more valuable than those few things you do well. It’s for you to understand the value of building a skill to the point of being an expert. This piece will also show you a path to monetization so you can start earning more because you better understand your true value.
What is specialization?
Let’s define this word so we’re all moving together. The dictionary definition of specialization is “the process of concentrating on and becoming expert in a particular subject or skill.”
Let’s also define expert since we’ll be using these two interchangeably. An expert is “a person who has comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.”
Basically, you’re not good at something, you’re great at it. But we’re here to talk about writing and making money, so how does being an expert translate into dollars?
You don’t just add value, you become valuable
After years of working sixteen-hour days, Talia had enough. She needed to figure out what she could do to cut back her hours but still earn enough to run her business. What she recognized over her years of work as a writer is that she was most excited and energized working with a specific kind of client in a specific industry.
Talia also realized that over her years of work, she acquired expert-level knowledge in that industry. So what did Talia do? Two things:
She focused all of her time pitching organizations in the industry she wanted to write for
Her pitch wasn’t “here’s what I could do for your company.” It was more like “here’s what your company could be doing if I wrote for you.”
Do you see the difference between the two examples for number two? Because Talia was now an expert, she could analyze the organizations she wanted to work for and identify the gaps in how they were currently operating.
By helping an organization address a deficiency, Talia is not just a service provider, she becomes an asset. And when you’re an asset, your value skyrockets. What does that mean? It means Talia can charge a higher price. Because she can charge a higher price, she doesn’t need to take on as many clients. Less clients, less work, more money and more time to add balance to your life.
See how that works?
I should also mention that Talia does not advertise her services. She works on referrals only. That means she doesn’t even need to give any attention to creating marketing material and devising any outbound campaigns. This is another benefit of being a specialist. Word gets around.
More opportunities come your way
In our final workshop (Final for this round. We do workshops year-round), we spoke with Allison. Allison is a writer who centers her content around race and equity for Black people and people of colour. Allison is one of those writers who generate significant revenue just from blogging (through Medium).
Because Allison is a specialist, opportunities come her way. She’s been featured in Oprah Magazine and has more recently been asked by Medium to edit one of their sections based on…race. Are you getting this?
Being a specialist places you in a distinct category. It means that when people think of whatever it is that you specialize in, they think of you. That’s where you want to be. That’s where the money’s at. You get to set the price and because you, yourself, are valuable, organizations are far more willing to pay that price.
None of this is easy, by the way. You actually need to put in the work to reach the point of expertise. But once you do, it opens up opportunities and income streams you wouldn’t believe. I speak from experience when I say that the checks get different when you’re an expert in something.
So where can you start? How about with your experiences? Expertise doesn’t need to come completely from studying and learning. Your lived experiences count, too. Include those experiences into your expert bucket and find organizations or groups that value the information you have.
Let’s start understanding our value then increasing it so we can truly start living like superstars.