VOLUME 25, ISSUE 6 – JUNE 2026
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. Why Boring Industries Can be Gold Mines
II. The Business Knowledge Advantage
III. Steve Jobs Understood Features / Benefits (from Peter Bowerman)
I. Why Boring Industries Can be Gold Mines
The freelance work that pays best often isn’t the work that sounds the most exciting.
Industries like manufacturing, logistics, or insurance might not be on your dream client list. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a second look.
Going Where Other Writers Won’t Go
If a niche or industry sounds interesting to you, it likely sounds that way to plenty of other writers. You would all chase the same assignments.
These “boring” companies that need case studies, white papers, manuals, and product documentation might draw less attention than bigger names. But they often have significant budgets and steady work.
One of my clients in a duller industry (to me) was one I took on ghostwriting trade features for. They designed and manufactured custom closet solutions. Exciting? No. But it paid well, and competition was low.
What Makes Boring Industries Pay Well?
Quietly profitable industries often have:
- recurring needs for certain project types;
- technical subject matter, or regulatory elements, that screens out casual competition;
- buyers who value writers willing to learn their industry or market.
The catch is these projects take specific industry understanding and project-related skills you have to build with intent.
Well-Fed Craft shows you how to handle this commercial work with confidence, so a niche that sounds dull becomes a specialty you can charge well for.
II. The Business Knowledge Advantage
It’s not uncommon for professional writers to keep studying their craft. Another course. Another copywriting book. Sharing and gathering feedback on their writing.
That’s great.
But sometimes the business side is treated differently. Learn how to pitch and send an invoice, and that might be the extent of a writer’s underlying business knowledge.
There’s more to it though, for commercial writers in particular.
A client’s business is the context for every commercial writing assignment.
Writing well is one thing. But understanding the underlying business decisions, goals, and activities of clients sets you apart.
When you have a strong grasp on business fundamentals, it changes what you notice before you begin writing.
You understand the business problems your words are supposed to solve. You can ask better questions before getting too far into a project. You can spot opportunities before clients realize they exist.
One of the highest compliments I’ve received from a client…
They said they loved that I treated their business as I treat my own.
I understood what their situation was and where they wanted to go. I didn’t just understand business. Those fundamentals made it easier for me to understand their business.
There’s a big difference between being in that position and being just another writer a client could easily replace.
Business fundamentals apply to your business too.
Those same business skills impact how you run your own freelance commercial writing business.
Pricing. Positioning. Negotiating. That’s just a start.
There’s also accounting, managing expenses, content strategy, understanding and using marketing analytics, hiring and managing contractors of your own…
You don’t need an MBA to build a solid understanding of business basics. But continuing to learn about these things helps both your clients and yourself. The business skills behind your writing deserve as much attention as your writing does.
What will you choose to learn more about next?
III. Steve Jobs Understood Features / Benefits
In this guest segment, Well-Fed Writer founder, Peter Bowerman, reflects on the importance of business and commercial writing fundamentals, like the differences between features and benefits, and what matters most in copywriting.
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How surprising is it that the founder of one of the most successful companies in U.S. history, with a current market capitalization of well over $4 trillion (with a “t”), intimately understood a cornerstone sales and marketing principle?
I came across the most interesting little video clip from way back, of Apple’s Steve Jobs fielding a question during a live meeting.
As an old sales guy, I’ve got a special place in my heart for the fundamentals like the Features/Benefits Equation*. As such, my ears perked up at his words.
(*Features are all about a company and the products they sell; benefits are all about the things most important to a customer; Always begin with benefits, follow with features).
Here’s an excerpt:
“One of the things I’ve always found is you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it.
“[A]s we have tried to come up with a strategy and a vision for Apple, it started with, ‘What incredible benefits can we give to the customer? Where can we take the customer?’ Not…’Let’s sit down with the engineers and figure out what awesome technology we have and then how are we going to market that?'”
The entire clip:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_GUsYU2DcJM
As a sidenote, in the clip, Mr. Jobs serves up a wonderful example of how to graciously reply to a fairly snarky, borderline-hostile questioner.
AI may be all the rage now, and, no question, its impact is nothing short of seismic, but never forget the fundamentals: they are timeless, and keeping them front and center in your strategic mind will always serve you well.