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- Privileged writers perform better than you
I have a thesis to kill it in content - but I must warn you, it comes from a place of privilege.
Not the Bollywood star kids kind of privilege, but the position you are in to say no to any brands you’re not interested in working with.
Here it comes… will keep it short.
To produce high-quality output for clients, you need to have either of two things:
First-hand expertise
Incredible passion
Irrespective of your niche, your chances to excel exponentially increase if you have first-hand expertise or incredible passion as leverage.
First-hand expertise is you doing the real work in the domain. If writing is a service, I am talking about psychologists writing in the mental health niche, athletes writing in the fitness niche, baristas writing in the coffee niche, etc.
You don’t have to be an expert, but a doer.
Ex, I was a professional cricketer. If I need to cater content to an athlete, I am confident my content’s quality will be way higher than any other content marketer who hasn’t played sports.
Incredible passion is, well, just an obsession to learn more information - whether or not I will use that information in content.
How to define? A niche falls under incredible passion if you answer yes to “Will you read more about [topics in niche] even if you’re not supposed to for work?”
In my case, it’s niches like watches, nutrition, sex toys, etc.
I am into watch collection/making; I briefly worked with a newsletter about watches. My passion allows me to stay updated with the latest releases, learn history more than needed, and dig into rabbit holes where most non-passionate folks give up.
This gives me more stories, insights, and depth than any writers who work in the same niche, but are not into it.
It’s the same with nutrition. I became health-conscious ten months ago, and I am always curious to learn more about food science whenever possible. This again, places me in a position to consume more and present better insights.
…and with sex toys, well, let me not reveal my kinks.
How to make the most of this information?
Start here:
Start identifying your leverage. What skills or activities do only a subset of people participate in - that you already have first-hand experience with?
What are some popular topics people search for, that you’re naturally curious about?
Is there a way to develop this leverage? Yes, just explore more activities and see if you like them.
Ex, I got into coffee brewing because I was running Caffeineletter with Aravind. I didn’t want to market a product I only had a vague understanding of.
Now grinding beans and experimenting with my French Press saves my mental health, and more importantly in this context, I constantly learn new things about coffee.
Why did I mention privilege?
Because we can’t always get opportunities only in the niches we love. Sometimes work is just work and you gotta do it for several reasons.
I am talking about the most ideal situation. Just give it a space in the corner of your mind, and maybe someday we all find brands that we are incredibly passionate about.
I hope this makes sense.
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Love,
Vikra