Steps to Finding Exceptional Writers to Follow in Your Niche
Thanks to our community for this question! How do you find quality writers to follow in your niche to learn about your industry and clients? Who are some great writers to follow and how do you find them? Should you follow other writers in other niches?
In this week's livestream, we're going over how to get better at writing by finding other high-quality writers in your niche, how to learn from all different types of writing, and how to read far and wide to bring unique skills and perspectives to add value to your clients.
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Steps to Finding Top Writers to Follow in Your Niche
What are some exact ways to find exceptional top quality writers in your niche so that you can follow and learn from them? And this is kind of one of my little like secrets that I tell my students about trying to figure out how to communicate, how they help in their niche, or what types of projects to do, or what kinds of things that they can help their clients achieve.
Right? So this is a really interesting question that came in and. Just kind of how do you figure out who to follow or who to really, you know, who kind of knows their stuff in your industry. Right? And this is something that I think is super interesting because you can learn a lot and writers often learn a lot from just reading other people's work, right?
We learn a lot of things. Hey Holly, um, we learn a lot of things just from, Hey, Vicky , we're glad you're here, Vicky, we're glad that you could spend a few minutes with us. We always like when you're here and you, you do your little. That's, I always love the wave. Um, as we're kind of going along, we learn a lot from just reading other articles from writers or we learn a lot from following certain people or from looking at their portfolio or, um, becoming, not obsessed like, but becoming kind of, Um, intertwined in like how they create their work or the words that they're using or, uh, the types of things that they go after, right?
The types of projects or clients or, um, the types of things where we can kind of learn like, okay, where, what are, what can I do next? Like, what are those kinds of things? So we're going over a few things today that are really important with this, and this is one of my, my like favorite strategies. So even though this question came from our community, this is something that I don't talk about super often.
1) Why are we looking for other writers to follow? How will you get better at writing and increase your niche knowledge by following them?
It's something that I mostly talk about with my students. Um, so we're going over that today just because I think it's really important to give kind of an overview on this. So number one, Number one here. Also, we have some friends. One is having a lithon and one is sleeping. So let's hope that , Let's hope everybody stays calm.
Um, so the first thing we're gonna talk about is we wanna look at these other, like, why are we doing it right? Like, we're looking at these other writers. For a few specific reasons, right? And so I have my notes. I always, I have like notes to make sure we go over stuff. So when we're looking for these different writers, right?
Why are we doing this? This is really important to learn the types of writing that you can do, right? Like if you find 20 or 30 other writers in your niche now, you know, Many different types of projects that you could focus on, right? It's not just blog posts or case studies. It could be a bunch of white papers or email sequences or, um, doing different types of blog posts, campaigns.
Or you could be doing content strategy or marketing strategy, or a bunch of PR stuff, right? We're now learning all the types of projects we can do. The second part is we're learning types of companies, right, that we can look at. We're not going after, and I'm gonna say this as like a really important note.
You're not looking for other writers so that you can just like steal their clients. You're not just like collecting like, Oh, they're at, they're working for all these clients. I'm just gonna write to them. And we're not looking to like steal their clients, right? We're looking for the types of companies they go after.
are they typically working for like very specific types of SaaS companies? Cuz we know SaaS is huge, right? Are they working for very specific types of FinTech companies or like we are looking for the types of companies? Are those companies Fortune 500 companies or are they startups? Are those companies often like very small businesses, or are they very large, like they've acquired like six other companies?
Right. We're looking for the types of companies that they're going after. Like how much revenue do these clients have, right? How many people work there? We're looking for metrics that we can use to go off and find our own clients. We're getting a lot of data points from just looking at these other writers, like looking at their websites, looking at LinkedIn, looking at their samples, right?
So now we know a breadth, right? Like a huge breadth. Like breath, like wide breath , not like breath . Um, we can see the types of projects that they do, right? These big giant, We have tons of options. The next thing is we now know huge piles of clients, like not only names of clients that we could look for competitors or we could look for other types of companies just like them.
But we now know metrics of like who works there, how many people work there, what types of companies are they, um, what maybe sub niches are they in? Know, not just sas, but it's like a very specific type of sas or like I said, like a very specific type of FinTech or maybe it's like, um, a mixture of the two.
Like we're looking for all these data points so that we can go off and, and build like our better business. Because what we're doing is like trying to figure out how to do it in the first place, right? So we're doing this to get a bunch of data points. The other thing. That's really important is when we're looking over their stuff, is like actually read their work.
Okay, this is something that's really important. Um, you need to read other writers' work. And I have a couple writers in different niches that I just like their work. I just read their stuff all the time. Um, and I really enjoy it and it's because I did this. I found them by reading widely and by being like, Oh my gosh.
Like why are they using those word choices? Or why are they using this structure? Or how come their work consistently does this? Right? And it might just be something that they do as a writer, but it might be something that's really useful in the niche. Read their actual work. Go through their website. Go through their portfolio, go through their.
Read their actual stuff. You will learn a lot from reading 20 to 50 items in someone's portfolio. And if they don't have a ton, go find 20 to 50 to a hundred items from 20 different writers. This is really important and this is something that I think, um, writers are often very good at, is like research, getting data points, reading a lot, right?
These are things that we like to do and I, I sometimes, you know, feel like this is just a good foundation. We have to kind of. From what others have done, right? So we can kind of iterate in the first place, right? So what are they doing? Okay, what can I do? And now how can I iterate this to make my business more of my business?
And also like better. So maybe I can spend hi so I can spend more time, you know, with my family, or I can make more money or I can, um, have more schedule flexibility or I can work for better clients. Like there's a whole bunch of things that we gather from that. But we have to have all these data points.
So read their work. And this is like, this is like writing 1 0 1. All of the best writers read a lot. And this is something that I often, um, I tell my students, and I probably should tell them more, is just like I probably read 10 to maybe even a hundred times. I've probably, in my lifetime read a hundred times more than I've.
Like, probably even bigger than that. Like I've read a lot more than the stuff I've written. So when I sit down to write for a new client, a lot of times I go read stuff, right? I'm reading through old blog posts, I'm reading through old content of theirs. Hi Sassy. Um, I'm looking at their stuff and I'm reading a ton of it to write one piece.
So if I go right for, um, If I go right, like for example, when I was writing, um, when I worked on stuff with Kae, Nass Traveler, I read dozens and dozens of articles before I wrote mine, right? I read a ton just to write one article. Woo. Um, and that is really important, , because oh my goodness, go lay down.
That's really important because you learn tone and style, you learn different kinds of quirks. You learn what to do. Hey, Shta, welcome. Um, you learn a lot of important things just by reading the work. Like you learn a lot about the magazine, what they will and won't accept, what types of word choices, what the structure is like.
You learn so much from just read, read, read, and I, I, that's the thing that I recommend the most is go read, read their clips. Then you will learn a lot about how to write in your niche or what topics are important. Or you'll notice things that continually come up, right. You'll notice a bunch of things that, um, That are really important to your niche, like trends or different types of topics.
Like you noticed that every single writer has done like a listal, about 10 ways to do this, right? And you're like, Okay, so it seems like every client kind of needs to do a 10 ways article, right? And that's a really important thing to notice. Hold on. Here you go, bud. He's looking. Hold on. Ugh. I have an eyelash.
Be right back. But reading is important. Hold on.
Back up.
Okay. I think we're eyelash free. I've been having some , some issues. Yeah. Yeah. You can have a chat party while I'm not here. Okay. So I think we're, I think we're good. Oh, now I just almost pawed my contact out. Okay. I think we're good now. , back to the topic. So read a lot. Okay. Read widely. Read their samples.
So we're doing. For a lot of different reasons. And the last part of this that I wanted to mention in this, in number one here, is that you learn how to write better from reading a lot. This is a true thing, right? The more you read in your niche, and the more, um, sorry. The more that you read in your niche and the more that you read good writers in your, your niche and you more, you read content that's created in.
The better writer you become. It becomes part of your like brain buffet basically, right? And you have all these different things to pull on and all these different ideas and all these different words and the types of things that they talk about. It's really, really useful. So you become a better writer by reading a lot and reading complex stuff, and reading simple stuff, and reading really good stuff and really bad stuff, right?
You learn a lot of stuff from the bad. Don't do this and don't do that. And you learn a lot of things from like the good work you're reading, right? Like specific structures or types of things they talk about, or topics or, um, words that you need to know or ways they describe things. Those are all really important.
Um, let's talk about too, Woo. I've got a Woo machine in here. I don't know if you guys can hear her making woo noises, but she's down here being woosh. All right, let's talk about two. Let's talk about number two. Go back to your hava hole. First, maybe we'll do like a little hobbit intervention. All right.
All right. Can you do a little high five for us? Good job. Good job. All right, Barry, you want Rito? Good job. Uh, alright. Little high five. Action. Are you having a great day? Yeah. You having a great day? Mi, you just have one. It's okay, buddy. There you go. You just got one. She's like, Give me one more. One little piece.
You get one little piece. Good girl. Uh, you gotta do the other one. The other one. Good job.
Good job. All right. She's like staring at me like, Is that it, Charlie, you just got a huge bunch of. She's like, But more please. I'm cute today. Char, you're cute every day. You're the cutest. She's getting all gray on her jowls. She, uh, so Barry is just like a few days away B's just a few days away from turning 16, which is like incredible.
And Charlie is like a few months away from turning 10. And so she's like graying on her jowls, which is so weird because she's, you know, she's just always been a very jet black. And uh, and now it's like really, you know, looking like she's aging. It's weird. I know. Charlotte, I like your interested ear, your interested ear.
I know your interested ear is asking for more, but we gotta wait a little bit. , she's like, Yes, Charlotte, you're so cute. Okay, You get one little more piece cuz you're so cute. You go. Good job. Good job. All right. Back to business. Back to business. But you guys do look cute today. Bury your eyes. Leaking a whole bunch.
you know what? Such as life. Okay, so . Yeah, Whisper. Whisper always gets snacks. So we get snacks. Okay. So, and I see there's comments in here that I wanna pop up, so hold on one second. Uh, B. B, um,
Vicky says, Should I look for top writers in my niche? Shouldn't I look for writers who are just noticeably better than me, but I can get to their level in the foreseeable amount of time? I like to read widely. So all types, like I think the top writers in your niche, like I think that. So top writers could be people at publications, it could be freelance writers who have tons of clips, who have worked with lots of clients in your niche.
It could be, um, people who are just like specializing in a very specific part of your niche and go reading their stuff. But you learn a lot from like reading the best of the best that you can't. Like how would you figure out like, It would be weird to go find people who are in the middle. Like how , how would you, you would have to read the top people in the bottom people to find the people in the middle.
And you don't wanna just like incrementally do this like weird little step up. That's the thing that a lot of writers think is like, Oh, I should just find someone like a little bit ahead of me and like a little like, no, read the, the best stuff you can find that helps you like get a lot further quicker than trying to do this like little bit here and little bit.
Um, the other thing too is that you're gonna read widely. So when you read widely, you're gonna see people who are like, slightly better than you, slightly worse than you, really worse than you, and like way better than you. And there's, that's the same for everybody, right? Same for me. There's people who are way better than I am, way worse than I am, a little bit better than me, a little bit worse than me, right?
So we're not. We're not looking for like incremental stuff. We're looking to read widely to get a foundation of like what is expected, what's the best stuff I could create, or what's really good stuff I could create, or what are some common threads, right? What are some common threads between these that are important in my niche?
Um, what are some things that I can add, like words or phrases or structures or, um, types of topics or things like, There's a lot of comparison that you can do by reading all of their work, right? So I think it's really important to look at top writers and, you know, everybody else, but the top writers are really gonna be kind of like ahead of the curve in a way that like helps you get further ahead of the.
And this is something that you'll notice too. The more you read the top writers, the more you'll be like, Oh, wait, why didn't they do this? Or why didn't they do that? And that gives you your own kind of edge where you're like, You should be doing this. Like this is really important now that you know your niche better.
And now that you've written a bunch and now that you've read a lot, you can find these little edges where you're like, Oh, my work can be better now by doing this, this, and this. Right? And those are really important things. Okay. Uh, let's see. Uh, yeah, you could read novels as like fun time. Yeah. But I also, I mean, for me, reading a bunch of magazine articles or a bunch of articles about my niche is really fun.
So yeah, I mean, you're, you're learning grammar stuff. You're learning other things from reading magazine articles or just online publications or even blogs from, um, top like places in your niche. But yeah, I mean, reading novels is, uh, is not exactly what I'm talking about here. So, um, You're welcome Vicky.
2) How do you find writers to follow in your niche in terms of search, and what can you learn about their different types of clients and projects?
Uh, let's talk about two. Let's talk about two. So two, we're gonna learn a lot of different stuff here. So how are we gonna do this? So, what we're gonna do when we find all these writers, right? So number one, let's just talk about like, real quick, we're gonna find them just by Googling around, okay? We're not gonna make this like a.
Complicated web of like CIA stuff. , Okay. We're gonna make this basically like Google some freelance writers in your niche, Google, like find some publications that talk about your niche. Like there could be, you could be Tech Crunch, um, that talks about your niche and you find some writers in there who, um, often report on your niche.
It could be something like Fortune or it could be something like Ka na. Find some places like that, Google around, and then pick some people, right? So go look at, like I said, like 10 to 20 or even 50 different freelance writers in your niche. Like just Google it, look at their LinkedIn, look at their website, read through their stuff, take some notes, write down what they're doing, right?
Um, the other thing is like, look through those publications. Look through, like there are trade magazines and then there are also regular publications, um, that cover your topic. She's over there making noise. So what you. Is to go find a lot of different people. You gotta gimme high five. Good job. Right? So first we're gonna find a whole bunch of people and then after we find a whole bunch of people, we're gonna narrow it down.
We're gonna narrow it down. Oh my gosh. Look how ridiculous you are. Look at little Mermaid legs sticking out. Where's your other leg? Oh, there it is. Oh my gosh. She's so funny. After you find a ton of people, that's when you start narrowing it down. So for example, the, the example I gave my students the other day, I think it was actually even yesterday, was there's a writer at Texas Monthly who often reviews restaurants or talks about food.
I love her stuff. She came from me reading widely about all these different food writers and all these different publications and all these different places and all these different blogs. I just fell in love with her stuff and I just read it all the time. It always helps me learn more. It learn, it teaches me how to write better.
I learn a lot of like interesting words to use to describe food. I see how she talks about it, how she talks about the restaurant atmosphere, the restaurant's, food, the chef, like all these things. Yeah, she has a mermaid leg. Um, and I, I understand more about how to better describe and talk about and, um, relay the information to the audience.
So when you're reading all these things, just Google around, spend some time. This could take a few hours or a few days, or you just do it regularly. Make a collection, right? Like make a collection, Google around, find people's LinkedIn, read their portfolios, um, find people at publications, and then you will naturally kind of select like five or 10 people in your niche where you're like, Oh, okay.
You know? These are the types of people that like I wanna follow, Like these are the people who like really are, like, their stuff resonates with me. I get it. Like they're, they're a little, they're ahead of me, but like I, I learn a lot every time I read their stuff. So this is why we wanna do that. We wanna get a bunch of people so we can narrow it down to the ones that make sense for us, and then we can continue learning from those.
So you're literally just gonna search around. This is . This is something like you're looking in all different places, whether it's a trade magazine, online magazine, top publication, a blog. Like there are lots of, um, this is another one is like there's lots of real estate agents. Um, That have blogs, but only a few of them are like really great blogs.
But there's like a few where I'm like, yeah, like I always love to le read your material. Like it's really good and I learn stuff and I, you, you know, there's a bunch of things that they talk about that I find really interesting or really useful to my niche. Right. But I did that by reading around, right, by like looking for stuff.
So we are just kind of like going on this mission of many to like a few, right? And that's what we're gonna end up following is like these few people in these bunch of different places. Um, that really help us push our work forward. The next part of number two here is, oh, and if you feel like this was helpful so far, give it a thumbs up.
If you feel like you wanna learn more about building a freelance writing business, you adore or building a six figure business. Subscribe. We have grumpy hamsters. . She's over there. She, you're, you're being good, Charlotte. She's being good because like I told her not to like, come over here. So she's being good.
Charlotte, are you in your hava hole? Charlotte, are you in your hava hole? Don't sit on. Are you in your hobbit hole? Go back to your hobbit hole. Good job. Good job. All right. Can you gimme high five? Good girl. Other one? Other one? Not. Not this one out. Good job. Very. I like your tail wags. Good job. You guys are doing great.
All right. The second part of this. Is when we're learning from different types of writing, we are looking for specific things, and you should always write these down, right? It's not just grammar, it's not just boring stuff like syntax. It's like how they describe things. How are they describing things in your niche?
How are they talking about specific topics? Why are they covering specific topics? Why do you keep coming across the same similar topics from different types of. Why are they using these types of words? How are they communicating with their audience? Is their work muddied or is their work really clear and readable?
There are a lot of different things that we can learn that we need to start writing down. Woo. Go back to your hava hole you're doing. So well go back to your hava hole. So when we're kind of doing that, we are reading a lot. Go back to your hava hole. No, go back to your hava hole. Go back to your hava hole.
Good job. Good. So we're learning a lot of different things and we're taking notes, and this is for me something. Um, it's not just types of writing, it's also learning. And it's not just reading like specific things to learn, like how they're putting the structure of the piece together. It's also learning the differences between why is this blog article better than this one?
Or what's the difference between a blog article, a white paper, a case study, an ebook, um, a downloadable, a guide like any a webinar script and deck. What are the differences? If you're reading a lot of different work in your niche from a bunch of different writers, it will become very clear, right? Let's say you read a hundred different things.
Let's say you read a hundred different things. I'm pretty sure it would be very easy for you to say, like, if I pop something up, you'd be like, case study, white paper, blog post. Like it would, you know, I could just give you a paragraph and you would be able to tell me where that's from. These are the kinds of things that we're learning, not just like fi, finding people in our niche to follow who are just like really great writers, but also understanding the nuances of different types of work that we will do, right?
So as we look through that, that helps us gain a better ground for like when someone says, Have you, you know, Can you write this white paper? You can say like, No, I haven't written a white paper, but like, I've read enough white papers to know I could do that. Right? These are kind of important things.
There's different strategies to writing different things. Like some people write a one page case study, some people write like a 20 page case study, right? We need to make sure we're reading all these different types of samples so we can start kind of pushing our stuff together. This is the same thing as like we are reading a lot of stuff to cut it down to certain things.
So you start learning that blog posts have these three characteristics. Case studies have these five to 10 characteristics. The white papers in your niche have these three to five characteristics right now. You kind of know, and this also helps you give your clients advice. . This is something that I get asked about a lot is like, how do I give advice to my clients?
Well, I read a lot , like I know in my niche that people do a certain type of downloadable, or I know that they do it so regularly because they're actually getting subscribers. So many people wouldn't do a similar downloadable if it wasn't working right? So if I'm reading a lot and I'm seeing all the different types of work out there, and I'm seeing all the different things and how they're different and the words they're using and how they speak to their.
And the different types of writing, and I can tell the different projects apart, right? A case study from a guide and why they're doing these things. That helps me become a better educated writer. Now I can create better content and advise my clients, and then I can work on bigger projects, right? So I have a lot more stuff than I'm gaining by doing all of this research on the back end.
A lot of times freelance writers wait until they get something. They're like, Oh, well I'm not gonna learn how to do X until someone asks me to. Nope. Do it now. , do it now because then the, the ramp up time when someone does ask you to do it and the explanation are different, right? If you don't learn how to write something and then someone asks you, you have to be like, No, I don't know how to do that.
Instead of saying, I know how to do it, I just haven't done it yet, or I, I know how to do it and I'm transitioning into doing that, I would love to help you with it. Right? You need to have this kind of like framework. Before you start, like, you know, moving along, I think it's really important because it helps you go further faster.
Like this is something where we are pre-planning the kinds of stuff that we wanna do in the future. We're giving ourselves like a leg up, right? We wanna be prepared when we have a client who loves us, who says like, Hey, can you do this thing? And you'd be like, Yep. And then you knock it out of the park cuz you do know how to do it.
You may have not done it before, but you've read enough of them that you're like, I get it. I know what I'm supposed to do here legally. Here you go, buddy. Good girl, Bean. Good job. Can you catch it? Let's see if you can. Let's see if you can catch it. You probably can. Oh, so close. Here you go. Here you go, buddy.
Good job. All right. Wow, Barry, you're really chewing that thing. Soon you're gonna be all gums, . Just kidding. Barry. Barry still has a bunch of his teeth, even though he is about to be 16. He may be mostly blind and partially deaf and have dog dementia, plus a bunch of other things. But , he still has teeth. Um, this is a good one.
Hold. So chia says, Apart from when I'm working on an article, I don't really read much. Do you choose to read white papers? Case studies? I'm gonna change this to say blogs cuz it's gonna bother me. Hold on. There you go. Um,
I'm gonna put that there. Okay. Um, do you choose to read white papers, case studies, blogs, et cetera, to pick up bigger projects? Yeah, the, you have to have a framework. You have to kind of know where you're going. And this is something, um, Shta is one of my core students, so this is something, this is why when we go through the course that I'm giving you all of these seeds, right?
So even if you get to, like, like right now we're at module four, right? And when you're gonna get five, six, and seven. So most of you, like a lot of people in the course will use five and six, and seven will be when you're ready to scale your business. It'll be a lot more. But I'm plant the seed with you now so that when that happens, you already have a framework to work from, right?
That's really important. Knowing all these things and how to do them and how to explain them is really important. So let's say shta, you and I get on a call. And you're like, Hey, I wanna do this project. We're thinking about doing blog posts plus one case study in white paper per quarter, so we wanna do four blog posts a month, plus one case study and one white paper per quarter.
And then you start talking about like what that is. And they're like, Have you done? You're like, Yeah, I've written hundreds of blog articles. And then they're like, Well, what about case studies in white papers? So if you didn't have a framework, you'd be like, I know what they are. Like I've heard of that term, but like I haven't done them yet.
And you have no like explan. , if you had read a ton of case studies and white papers, you can be like, I haven't written them yet, but like I've read a ton of them. I know that what's really important in your niche is to do abc, and I know when you're working on a white paper, you need to do D and I know that the differences between the two, like it's your audience, right?
For this particular. Niche needs more white papers than case studies. So you may wanna consider doing more white papers in case studies. You can actually give them advice cuz you've read a ton rather than just being stymied almost at like, No, I haven't done it. Right. You need to be able to like give them answers to build confidence because it's a lot easier for someone to say yes when you can explain stuff, right?
I know we need to do this. I know this is important in your niche. That's way important, right? That's way important to you. Getting a bigger project or, or getting things, is being able to explain why you're doing it or how to do it if you just ignore it, right? Until , until it's time. Now we have very little to work with on a call or to talk with a client about, right?
So that's the important thing that I like to do with students and like that Chita is gonna get soon is, well, she already gets it, but like in five, six, and seven. Is all of these seeds that I plant, right? I'm doing that on purpose. This is the same thing as this topic we're talking about on the live stream.
You have to plant the seeds first because while you water them and while they slowly grow, eventually you're gonna get a potential client that says, Are you ready to harvest? And you can be like, Yep. Rather than someone who never planted any seeds and then they have to rush around like a chicken with their head cut off being like, I don't know what a white paper is.
Like, what do I do? Oh my God. And then they like, emergency, have to do this project. And then once it's over, they've gone through this entire emotional rollercoaster of like trying to get it done and trying to do all this stuff and hoping that the client, it's like a disaster, right? And then they're ex exhausted cuz they had to like ramp up really quick and hope that they did it right.
And what if it backfires and it ends up being a disaster, Right. And their client hates it. We wanna make sure that we're prepared so that when we're asked to come in to like create this content, we're like, even though it's not published, I know exactly how to do this stuff. So yes, you need to read more.
Go back to your hava hole. No, no, , I love your little high fives. You're so cute. Go back. Go back to your hava hole. I'll give you a snack. Go back. No, you gotta go all the way back. So yeah, you need to read these things and they do help you pick up bigger projects because now here, Because now you can explain things and that's really important.
I know, buddy. You can't really see. You're close. You knew me. High five. Good job. The other one. Good job. Good job. So, um, any way that you can, and this is why this topic is such a good one to talk about. Hello Tommy. Little tugboat Thomas. Um, this is why this topic is so important to, to talk about because Yeah.
Business force, um, is that we need to plant the seeds so that we can be ready, like to go when our clients ask or when potential clients ask. It's really important. So this thing, um, I wanna make sure if there's anything left that I wanted to add. The other, the last thing I'm gonna say in number two here is that you wanna make sure that as you learn from different types of writing, that you learn like the things that work.
So what that means is like you start seeing metrics, right? So on certain publications they have metrics that say, this is how many likes or shares or whatever this has gotten. Um, some blog posts have 'em too. Start looking at some metrics and see what types of things are resonating with. Okay, this is kind of important.
Back work. Um, you can also use Ubersuggest, So like if you come across some articles you like, you can pop 'em into Ubersuggest, which is by Neil Patel/neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/. Um, and then you can see like who, like the likes and shares and all this stuff on there too. So . Um, so as you kind of go through that look for metrics just as like a, just as like a kind of guidance point of like what types of things are resonating with the.
3) Why are we reading far and wide, how can you bring unique skills and perspectives to your clients, and how are you now adding more value to your clients and content writing projects?
All right. That's two. Let's talk about three. This is our last thing that we're gonna talk about in today. So if you feel like this was helpful so far, give it a thumbs up if you feel like you wanna learn more about, um, building a freelance writing business you adore, or building a six figure writing business.
Freelance writing business, subscribe. All right, so why we're reading foreign wide? So we're talking about skills and perspectives. So this is something that I think is really important to adding value to. When you read far and wide, you now have a lot more knowledge to pull from and a lot more ways to make the work unique for your client.
Right? So if you've read dozens and dozens of articles, you now have some general threads that run through these articles. But you also have different ways to make that work really shine. You start realizing as you read more like where the pitfalls are or where you could make it better, or where you could add value to your clients.
Where you're like, Man, like they keep describing it this way, but it just doesn't seem to make sense. Like I know that what they're saying, but it's not really translating. I know. Woo. I know you got lots of woo thoughts. Good girl. Good. So you need to kind of figure out as you go along, like what are some things that you personally can add?
And this comes from reading a lot and seeing those writers do what they're doing and figuring out what the differences are between the top writers and other people. You're reading. Go Boo, here you go, bear. Good job. So, As you kind of read, you also see a bunch of different perspectives. So like you see that a certain publication always talks about it this way, and you see somebody else actually varies different perspectives, right?
They're like, Well, you could do this or you could do that. Here's the pros and cons of this and that. Like you get a so many different perspectives that you now have a good kind of cross section of all these different people who write about this, right? In all different backgrounds, all different fields, all different areas of your niche.
Excuse me, They're coming in to write about it. So now if you have all these different perspectives, you have a better cross, right? If you kind of had just have one perspective, just like across the niche, or you just like read kind of similar people, then you don't get a good feel for it. You need to read widely, like a lot of different people with different backgrounds all over the place.
Then you can kind of distill like what's important, and then you're like, What am I bringing to this? Like what kind of experience or what kind. Um, things, can I pull from this? Or how can I make it better? Or how can I make it more interesting? Or how can I help the reader understand it better? Or how can I make it resonate better with the reader?
All of that stuff is value you bring to your clients, but you only get that by reading widely. You have to know what else is out there. If you know what else is out there and now you know how to like, fine tune it and add your own little, like sprinkle and sparkle, right, to make it better for your clients.
This is something that's really important, like this is. Right. Like when you read, this is a, a good example when you read like Conde Nass, Traveler and Travel and Leisure. They're very similar publications, but they're different in certain ways. So like if I read an article, I can tell you if it's Travel and Leisure or Kanye Nast Traveler, and that's because I've read widely enough to know, like immediately why they're different.
Like if someone else reads it, they're like, they're travel articles, right? Or they're like, It sounds like they're describing things similarly. They really aren't. They really do different things. They are similar, but they have a bunch of differe. This is kind of how you add value, is you're able to say like, I know that your two competitors do these things.
I've noticed that these handful of things they do are successful, but here's an extra layer of how we can be successful together on top of what they're doing, because you have all this knowledge to pull from to say, Yeah, I get it. Like I know, I can see how you, as my client might wanna do that, but after reading, you know, hundreds if not thousands of articles or whatever, case studies, white papers, blah, blah, blah.
I know that these are the kinds of things that work, and these are the kinds of things that make sense to your audience, and these are the kinds of things that get the information. So these, all of this stuff is adding value to your clients. You're able to compare and contrast. You're able to add your own little spice, and you're in that in those ways, right?
You have a cross section of people. You kind of cut it down. You learn a lot about your niche. You learn the different types of writing. You see the little holes. You will see the holes, like this happens. Even in my work, if you go read my work, you'll see the holes like where, like the things that could be done better.
And then you bring that to your client saying like, Hey, we could do this, this, and this. Now you have suggestions to give them because they're based on data and facts and knowledge, things you've already seen. Right? That's really important. Yes, we, we agrees. She says it's really important, so you should do it.
All right. Hold on. Woo. Hold on. Do a little high five. I I like your mermaid legs. There you go, Barry. I like your mermaid legs. They just kind of like, look like little fins down there. . Hold on.
Oops. Good job. Good job. Here you go buddy. I like your tail Wags. Good boy. Good job, Barry. Well, if you guys were interested in a skunk skunk date, a skunk update. Charlotte still smells like skunk. We're still trying to scrub it out of her. Hopefully it'll be gone soon. It's still like in her chest and face, but it's not so bad.
You still have to wash your hands after you pet her. Like I have to wash my hands after this. But we're getting there. We're getting there. I know you're just loved to be over here and woo at me. You gotta go back to your ho ahold. So I'm hoping that this is making sense about how you can bring unique skills and perspectives and like fill the holes, right, for your clients and how you can add value.
I'm not asking, go back to your , ha. No, I'm not going. No, you sas, you sass. Go back to your hava hole. Go back to your hava hole. Um, I'm not asking you to read far and wide, and I'm not giving you advice about reading all these things because like, it's super fun. I mean, it is fun, but, um, , it's, it can be boring sometimes and it can feel very tedious and you can be like, Why am I doing this like this?
I'm doing this over and over and over again, like, Why am I doing this? The key is to give your clients more value. The whole point of doing this is that you can say, when someone says like, Oh yeah, I like, I've had clients say like, I really like to read X publication because of the information they give about our niche, right?
And I'm like, Yeah, I love so-and-so writer. He talks about this, or she talks about this, or they talk about this, whoever it is. And, uh, then we can kind of like move from there, right? Like, they watch their niche a lot more like a hawk than we do, right? So being able to have a conversation with our clients to add value and being up on things that are going on and understanding the, the width right of the niche and what are, what's available helps you not only create better cont like you're more educated, you're.
Um, you have more information at your disposal, so then you can make better decisions. And as you make better decisions and as you create better content, you can advise your clients better and you get better clients and you get paid more money, , right? All those things, um, all those things go together, right?
I know. Woo. I know. So this is the kind of thing to keep in the back of your mind. You go, Woo, that your job. In finding these top writers, in finding these exceptional writers in your niche, the job is to learn, to gather, gather information to get more educated, to learn from lots of different types of people.
Wither that down, right? Like whittle it down to a few people that you really like and that, that constantly are kind of like pushing the envelope or giving a lot of information or doing different things with their writing. Now we've read so many things that we can get bigger projects because we can like talk about things, right?
You're getting bigger projects cuz it's easier to talk to your clients about, Yeah, we could do this. Like you have a lot more information. So rather than them drilling you like an employee, right? And saying like, Do you know this? And how do you do that? And like you have all the information, right? Then you get bigger projects and then because you have better information, you now can add more value, which means you get better clients.
And then because you're adding so much value, you get to charge more, right? Or you should charge more, You. So all of these things kind of roll together, right? This is the interesting thing about this topic is like people think it's just literally just finding top writers in their niche and like going about their business.
No, this is almost like a ripple effect, like a bunch of dominoes that really affect your business and it's really important and I know. I know that it can sound tedious, and I know it can sound like a lot, but it, I'm telling you, it is super important. Like the research that you get, the information, the people that you follow, the stuff that you read, like all of that is informing the later parts of your business and it's helping you get.
Much more, um, of a stable ground like to, to stand on when you're explaining things or talking to clients. Like, there's nothing like knowledge that makes you feel more confident with clients, right? Like if you read so much and you know so much about your niche or you know so much about what's going on, like who's gonna stump you , right?
Like, that's things, right? Freelance writers are worried. They'll get on a call and they won't know the answer. The more you do this, all the stuff I talked about today, the more you do that, the easier it is to like feel super confident and calm on a call. Cuz you're like, I already know this stuff. You're like, whatever they ask me, I'm pretty much gonna be able to answer it.
And if they ask me something, I don't know, I just say I can figure it out. Cause I figured out all this other stuff. That gives you a ton of confidence. Like that's why when I have an actual conversation, like with my clients now when we're talking about content strategy or we're talking about like what works in their niche and what doesn't.
I have so many examples that like, I'm not worried about it. If they ask me something, I don't know. I'm like, I can figure it out. But like by that point, we've already discussed so many things and I've already read so many things. I've looked at all this stuff that like they, they like and trust me. Right.
Cause I've given them a ton of information. Yeah. If there's one or two things, I don't know, I can figure it out. Cause I've already shown I know this other stuff that's really. Freelance writers often just kind of like, wait. They're like, Oh, no, I have a client now what I do? Don't wait. Plant your seeds because when your clients come along, you need to be ready to harvest.
Okay? And this is something that I do with my core students, right? My core students sometimes are like, Well, I don't have this yet. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. If you don't have that yet, plant the seed. Figure it out, because now you're gonna be way ahead. You're gonna be way ahead because when a client comes along, you're ready to go.
Now you have the ideas and the framework in your mind so that it's not new information that you need to be scared of, or a new step where you're like, Oh my gosh, now what do I do? Like now I'm lost. Nope. , you have all the seeds, they're planted. You just have to be ready to harvest. Right? And there's a difference between planting the seed and having the idea and like letting it marinate and then taking action on it, right?
So we wanna make sure that we kind of plant all these seeds so you have the information and you know what to do. So when you get on a client call, you're ready to go. Right? How many days has it have been already? I don't know. , I don't know how many days since. . Um, okay, so those are the important things I, I wanted to talk about.
We'll do a quick pup date cuz we have Oh, that's a nice mermaid leg. Mini. I like how, I like how you're, you're showing everybody your mermaid this. Good job. Good job. No. Ow. Clamy
right here you go by. Here you go. Good job. Can I shake your mermaid leg? Nope, not today. I like your funny little Elvis look. You're so funny. You're so funny. I know it's hard to see it, Mary. It's hard to see. Um, oh, there she goes. Now she's running away. So I hope that this has been really helpful for you to understand that this isn't just about following like thought leaders.
This isn't just about like, Oh, if I'm just in their circle, I kind of know. Now you kind of understand the domino effect of how these things all play into each other and how it can help you grow your business and how it can help you like become a better writer and learn a lot of things and help your clients and add more value and make more money.
right? All those things work together. So if you feel like this has been helpful, thank you for sneezing on my foot. , give it a thumbs up if you feel like you wanna learn more about building a freelance writing business you adore or building a six figure freelance writing business. Subscribe. We are here every Friday.
At noon central time with a live stream, you can submit topics too. So this topic was submitted by someone asking a question. If you go to mandy s.com/question, you can submit a question or a topic for me to do on the live stream. Bless you. Bless you, . Um, and we will do it on the live stream just like today.
So, oh, the other thing too is if you wanna price your projects better, this also goes. This whole theme, go to mandy s.com/pricing guide and you will get my free pricing guide. I updated, I did like a huge over like overhaul just a little while ago. And, um, you could get it for free. Go to mandy s.com/pricing guide.
So. All right people. Um, I think that's all the notes that I wanted to cover, but make sure that you think through these things, like read widely, get all this stuff together. Um, Hello. And Charlotte says Work hard, . Just kidding. All right, so I hope everybody has a good weekend. The pups say, Thanks for coming to hang out.
Bless you. Oh my gosh, you've got a little sneezy cheesy over. Uh, we'll see you next Friday at noon, and then you can always submit a question or a topic or, um, you know, hop into something or leave a comment. If you feel like this has been something where you have more questions on this topic, always feel free to leave a comment.
I answer all the comments. Bless you. I answer all the comments. Um, and if you have anything that you wanna be a topic, you can always throw it in the comments too. All right. I hope everybody has a good weekend, Good Friday, and I will see you next Friday.
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