VOLUME 25, ISSUE 5 – MAY 2026
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. Sometimes the Niche Finds You
II. Competing Clients vs Conflicts of Interest
III. Teachable Taglines (from Peter Bowerman)
I. Sometimes the Niche Finds You
Freelancers often think about specialization as something you pursue deliberately. You research markets, identify gaps, and position yourself accordingly.
That’s a common approach. But some specialties come about differently. You land in one almost by accident and eventually realize you’ve become a go-to writer for a category of clients you never explicitly targeted.
That’s exactly how I fell into a sub-specialty early in my career: writing for web directory owners.
The Community Connection
Directory owners during that period were active in the same online communities targeting webmasters and online entrepreneurs.
I was also present in them as I built my own business and got into digital publishing and web development. I was even a moderator for one of the largest communities in that space, which gave me a boost to both visibility and credibility that helped me transition from music PR to PR and writing more for small online businesses.
Web directories had a bit of a boom at that time because they were seen as valuable resources for SEO. But for those directories to maintain their own visibility and attract paying users, they needed content. A lot of content.
One such owner became a client, and it wasn’t long before others in that community followed. These were clients who knew each other, who talked, who paid attention to what the others were doing.
Before long, even though I never once targeted this group, I was consistently working for three to four of them at a time (a perk being these were some of the most consistent writing gigs around, and competitive enough to pay well).
What to Do When It Happens to You
If you notice a cluster forming in your own client list, take it seriously. You may already have a sub-specialty without having set out to build one.
Leaning into it deliberately, deepening your knowledge and really understanding those clients’ needs, can turn an accidental pattern into a competitive edge.
II. Competing Clients vs Conflicts of Interest
That web directory roster I mentioned in the previous segment? Those clients were direct competitors.
They knew it. I knew it. Nobody had a problem with it.
Why Specialists Work This Way
When you’re embedded in a niche or industry, working for multiple players in it is normal.
Each client gets your full effort and discretion.
What you don’t do is carry proprietary information from one client to another. That’s the red line.
Work Follows the Niche
At one point, I even wrote for one directory through three separate ownership changes. And it was always another existing directory client of mine purchasing the other.
Each new owner kept me on. They knew I was involved with the other site they wanted to purchase and saw it as a benefit. They wouldn’t have to find someone new to manage the content. They were familiar with my work and how I worked. And they were already comfortable with my rates.
No one was ever put off that I’d worked for these similar, competing sites. It was a benefit. And the site sales helped solidify trust where I was working with the last one standing for over 15 years on not just directories, but other project launches as well.
Competition Doesn’t Have to = Conflict
When you’re a specialist, even accidentally so, serving competing clients isn’t a conflict. It’s the job. Keep that in mind if you ever question whether or not you should work for a competing company that approaches you.
And if you’re ever asked to sign a non-compete over a situation like this, you can (and probably should) say “no.” Offer to sign an NDA instead so the new prospect knows you won’t share proprietary information.
Knowing you work with similar clients is precisely what makes you attractive as a specialist, not a threat.
III. Teachable Taglines
In this guest segment, Well-Fed Writer founder, Peter Bowerman, shares well-crafted benefits-based taglines he’s come across on his travels. Keep their lessons in mind as your write copy for your own clients.
—
On a long drive up north some years back, I started looking for company slogans on the side of 18-wheelers, noting which did or didn’t resonate. In my 30+ year writing career, I loved working on slogans, headlines, taglines, book titles, etc.
These little “nuggetized” beauties can embody—good or bad—one of the key sales and marketing cornerstones from TWFW: The Features/Benefits equation (i.e., features are about a company and their products, while benefits are what matter most to their customers).
Always begin with benefits, follow with features.
While most of the trucking-company slogans I saw were lame yawners (i.e., in the mold of “Driving for Success” or “Delivering Excellence, Mile by Mile”), Old Dominion Freight Line’s stuck out:
“Helping the World Keep Promises.”
Love it. Not a word about them or trucking or excellence. Just this: When you tell your customer it’s coming on X date, you AND they can count on it.
Priceless.
Coincidence that they’ve been the #1 National Carrier for 16 years straight?
Saw another one recently, from disaster-restoration company Servicemaster:
“Like it Never Happened.”
Perfect.
Again, nothing about them, reliability, state-of-the-art technology, etc. Rather, only what anyone who’s been through, say, a flooded house, wants: To have it be, “like it never happened.”
Other great, benefits-rich examples:
- “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
- “The Quicker Picker-Upper” (Bounty)”
- “Because you’re worth it” (L’OREAL)
- “What happens here, stays here” (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority)
Bonus: Also benefits-rich, but this one reminds us to consider a different angle. It was a floral service ad I saw years ago. The picture: three flower arrangements side-by-side—small, medium and large. The tagline below:
“Exactly how mad is she?”
Use these examples as reminders to always keep your audience’s needs first and foremost when writing any piece of marketing material.