“TOP 10 SECRET TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING: Write for a Niche!”

TOP 10 SECRET TIPS:

8. WRITE FOR A NICHE. You can’t write for everybody. Well, maybe some people can, but most can’t. It’s best to carve out a piece of your own territory, turf, piece of the rock, and put yourself in good hands with Allstate. I bet you have an itch to know your niche. Pick a niche (derived from the French words, “enrique iglesias,” meaning literally, “your retina’s detached”).

Key Questions. Answer these questions:

• Who is interested in your writing?
• Who cares about what you have to contribute?
• What definable group do you know well enough that could benefit from your work?
• What is your demographic?
• What do they read and need?
• Could you put yourself in there jobs and see their professional worlds through their detached retinas?

Define Your Niche. Clearly define your readership or audience. Draft a profile of what they look like, for example, 30–80 year-old, male and female, all ethnic, semi- to fully-pretentious university professors. YIIIKES! That a tough group!

Target Your Writing. Write specifically for your audience and think about your niche in what you write and how you write it. Your writing must connect with that group. It drives your writing by providing the focus, direction, purpose, and style. Custom tailor your writing (and humor) to fit your target readership. Within the above example group, your writing will be very different for researchers, teachers, general practitioners, and clinicians.Take careful aim to tantalize, captivate, and dazzle those readers with your writing gifts and messages that they will improve their professional lives.

My next blog will consider Tip 7: how you determine WHAT to write. What's your purpose and intended outcome?

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