choosing specializations

I'm doing something a little different today. I'm journaling my thought process on which specializations I'll be writing about.

Yesterday I joined the Location Rebel Academy. I'm enjoying the course so far. Although I read a ways past this point, I'm circling back to the lesson 'How to Choose What You’re Specializing In'. I'm not going to retype the whole lesson, but if you are hung up similarly, you should be able to follow my method.

I am very resistant to the idea of nailing myself down to one niche. I even had the motto 'NICHES ARE LEASHES' on my homepage. I took it off when I thought more about who would see my page at this stage. There's nothing wrong with checking out someone's page to see what they can write. (I'll have to do it myself, to complete some networking steps later in the course.)

The first advice in the article is to find an industry, and then specialize in a niche. After this, financial services, insurance, technology, and health are listed as profitable niches.

I can cross two off the list right away. I don't believe in insurance, so I won't be able to write effectively to those who buy or sell it. I also don't enjoy writing about health. I know a little about dieting, but I outsource my workout plans to an app, and I can't even watch TV shows about doctors.

My relationship with technology is more complex. I struggle to stay awake in conversations about cars, or smartphone capabilities. But any time that technology overlaps with my core interests in business, politics, or entertainment, I'm intrigued.

Wait a sec. How did I figure out my core interests? I placed the question in the back of my mind for a few weeks. I paid attention to the media I was drawn to consume. And I asked myself what I could contribute to these spheres.

Business is obvious. Anyone who is drawn to the idea of going into business for themselves has an interest in the meta-discipline. Entrepreneurship in particular is a lucrative but crowded field. I think my political stance sets me apart. Since I come from a political tribe that is skeptical of capitalism, I know how alienating much of the space can be to this tribe. I think I am more willing to navigate that resistance, and to ignore the audience that seeks wealth while ignoring politics. This only works because I'm crazy enough to talk about both fields at the same time.

Politics is not obvious. I don't want to spend much time advocating for a party or cause. (This should be easier when Trump leaves the stage.) However, the past few years convinced me that society needs ways to communicate around political chasms. Also, the political space profoundly needs more participants who aren't outrage farmers. I'm not sure if there is much financial incentive to this approach. My theory is that I will gain the trust of a few by communicating clearly, and inadvertently angering the rest might help with traffic.

Entertainment is just a great secret sauce. It's my excuse for writing about whatever I want. It's another crowded field, but I know how to focus on obscure trends and media that haven't hit the mainstream yet.

A cool byproduct of narrowing down to these three interests is that they combine in interesting ways. I hope you're this lucky.

*****

You can tell that I write these blog posts with no outline. Here comes an awkward transition back to the lesson.

When choosing freelance jobs, you have to choose between pay and prestige. Easy enough. I wasn't planning to apply to high-competition sites or magazines anyways. Maybe a ways in the future, but it's not a personal goal.

For choosing a type of content, I might have already done this. I'm demonstrating that it is easy for me to crank out blog posts. But in the future, I would like to write scripts (for YouTube influencers and films), maybe a handful of books, and some copywriting gigs just for the filthy lucre.

Next is taking an inventory of current skills. Let's go through each of the prompt questions:

Where do you have the most experience?
I worked in transportation for twenty years, but I'm not sure how actionable the knowledge I gained is. For over a year I coordinated electrical needs at conventions, where I learned some things that could potentially save a lot of people money and frustration. I worked at the county election department in a few roles; though what I learned there isn't as valuable, the knowledge supports my interest in politics. I've learned so much recently by training AI models. And in other jobs, I picked up all kinds of things, like what door-to-door salesmen notice about a house before they knock on the door. This doesn't even touch what I have learned outside of employment, or how many podcasts I listened to during that twenty-year data entry stint.

Where do you have the most expertise?
I don't know how to answer this one, but the answers around it are strong enough that I probably don't need to.

Do you really enjoy anything on the list?
Yes. I enjoyed the creative aspect of crafting AI prompts, which I know I can divert into writing. A common thread through some of the other jobs is that I appreciated helping others navigate difficult topics.

Can this industry pay? (some industries pay better than others)
As I mentioned earlier, I have some hunches. I need to do more research.

If I had to pick one thing to write 700 words on today, what would it be?
I feel like I'm writing it now. But if I had to narrow to one industry, writing ties everything together. AI is a close second. And third, convention work likely has the most untapped potential.

The next step in the lesson, 'researching your potential ideas', will be too lengthy to include in this post. So is 'make a big list of places and people in your niche', which suggests a minimum of 100.

The last step is 'just start'. With that in mind, this is the first post I'll link to X, disordered as it is. I'm expecting my specialties to narrow a lot over time, just because writing creates the path.