Going Beyond Niche Marketing: Specializing Your Skills
When it comes to specializing, it helps to begin by revisiting the concept of the USP – the unique selling proposition of a product or service. (See Section 11 of your Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting for more about the USP.)
In the case of this month’s highlighted niche – fundraising – the USP has to connect with something special about the project or organization you are raising money or awareness for.
As a copywriter, it can be useful for you to have a personal USP as well.
Many copywriters define their personal USP by the niche they write for. One copywriter might be an alternative health copywriter, while another might be a financial copywriter or a fundraising copywriter. That strategy works well. But it’s possible to take it a step further. You can develop a specialty within your chosen field … and that can give you an edge.
Let’s see how this can work in the fundraising niche.
In last week’s issue we learned that two-thirds of Americans give to charity every year … that individuals give more in total than companies … and that non-profit organizations are now depending more on repeat donors than ever before, because the number of new donors is down.
Some other facts to consider: Seniors make up a growing segment of donors … far more people are making donations over the Internet … and it’s often more difficult for fundraising organizations to get support for individual projects than to get general support.
The above information gives you a number of opportunities to develop specialized skills. Here are a few possibilities. You could specialize in …
- new donor acquisition
- promotions to people who have given in the past
- project-specific fundraising packages
- general fundraising for organizations
- SEO copywriting for fundraising clients
- appeals to companies or to families or to seniors
- any number of sub-segments, from protecting the environment to fighting for animal rights to helping underprivileged children to providing shelter for the homeless
Spend a little time to determine which particular area you find the most rewarding. Then read everything you can about it. Next, tailor your self-marketing materials to emphasize your specialized knowledge in that area. Finally, begin marketing yourself to your prospects.
By specializing, you give yourself an added advantage when it comes to landing the types of projects you most want to work on.
To get started on building a list of prospects today, visit www.idealist.org.
You’ll find more than 75,000 organizations listed that you can search on by location or area of focus. This is a great tool for anyone looking to connect with non-profit organizations, and a great place for you to start looking for clients.
Take Your Copywriting to the Next Level
Ready to take that all-important step from where you are now … to the “next level” of success? If so, you’ll need to master the bigger, deeper secrets of copywriting. And AWAI’s Master’s Program is the most comprehensive advanced program on copywriting ever created. Simply put, it’s a collection of all the most powerful copywriting secrets you’ll ever need to know to become a great copywriter.
