If you talk to a technology content marketing writer these days, they are likely to tell you that business is booming. Not just that they are doing well, but the majority of writers I know have more work than they can handle and are turning down well-paying gigs simply so they have time to do important things like sleep, eat, and shower.

With technology involved in almost every part of our lives these days, there is a tremendous need for content in this area. Technology has invaded pretty much every single industry. There a gazillion technology companies creating programs, applications, devices for businesses in every industry – also known as B2B technology because they are selling technology to another business (Business to Business).
This means that a ton of content is needed in the B2B technology industry. But it seems that there simply are not enough writers for the work available. The reason is that, in order to write in this space, you have to have some expertise – it’s not something just anyone can write. The other reason is that many writers think that B2B technology sounds super boring or very intimidating or both.

Find an industry you know well and transition into technology for that audience.
I personally think that the majority of writers (even those who are not overly technical) can dramatically increase their income and expand their potential clients by adding a B2B technology niche. My exception is writers who really dislike technology and do not find it the least bit interesting. In this case, you are probably better off sticking to other niches. But I really think that writers with a moderate interest in technology can be very successful in this area.

For example, the hospitality technology niche is full of companies selling technology products to hotels, such as property management software system to manage all aspects of the hotel. This can be anything from tablets so that housekeeping can work more efficiently, digital signs that change based on which guest is walking by, sensors for the room that turn off lights, adjust the temperature based on the guest preference and even open the blinds when a guest returns to the hotel lobby after being out and about.

The audience for all of these things is hotel people who are not overly technical people. So companies need people who understand how hotels work and can write to this audience. You don’t need to understand how the technology works under the covers – you know, the really geeky stuff, but instead you need to understand the audience of people that own, manage and work at hotels. If you understand the audience and have a basic understanding of technology, you can likely pick up the rest of the technology details you need to know.

It’s not just hospitality that needs B2B technology writers. There is a huge need for marketing technology writers (known as MarTech), financial technology writers (referred to as FinTech), healthcare technology writers (HealthIT is the term here) and education technology (you guessed it, EdTech). All of these areas always seem to be looking for writers and there are not a ton of writers pounding the door for these.

Note that for the healthcare, marketing and financial niches, a lot of the technology stories revolve around data analytics, which is not as complicated as it sounds. You don’t need to know how the software gets the nitty gritty results, just how the information can be used in the industry, so it’s a lot less scary than it seems. But I highly recommend studying up on data analytics before taking on your first assignment.

I was talking to a writer the other day who specialized in construction and she said that there are a ton of companies selling construction technology products. So whatever niche you write in, you should investigate the market. Odds are that whatever industry you write for, there are companies selling technology specifically for businesses in that sector.

9 steps to transition into a B2B technology niche

1. Do a Google search on your industry and ‘technology.’ You will likely be very surprised at the companies, articles and even conferences in this niche. Do a little bit of reading and research about the possibilities.

2. Look through your clips in your niche to see if you have any clips about using technology. It is very possible that you have already written about using technology and not have really given it a second thought.

3. If you do not have any clips, use my double niche pitch to get the clips you need:

• Make a list of all of the publications or even brands in the niche that you have the ability to pitch stories.
• Think of some story ideas that would be appealing to your audience for the publication, but are also about technology. For example, if you are writing for a trade publication for doctors, consider writing a story about how doctors can use patient portables or wearables. A marketing writer could pitch a story about using data analytics to personalize emails to potential customers.
• Repeat until you have you have probably around 5 clips, more is even better. You can get them all from the same publication or among a few. The topics are the most important thing in this case.

4. Use my 3 step method to find clients. But instead of brainstorming in step 2 all of the different products a business in the industry needs, narrow it to technology products.

5. Create a Letter of Introduction (LOI) using your experience in the industry as well as your clips. Be sure that everything in your LOI really markets yourself as an expert in the industry. Be sure to include brands and publications in the industry even if they are not directly technology clips because you want to show that you really understand the company’s target customer.

6. Update your website and LinkedIn with the technology niche. I recommend adding section for your technology clips on your website so that when a potential client looks, they immediately see you have technology experience in the niche.

7. Send your LOI to the brands you discovered in Step 3 of my 3 step method to finding clients.

8. Do a search for agencies specializing in your niche both the general niche and hospitality. I learned this week when helping the construction writer that there are a number of content agencies that specializing in marketing for the construction industry and I got a gig this last week from an agency that specializes in hospitality technology. Send an LOI to these agencies.

9. Follow up. Follow up. Follow up.

Trust me that you don’t have to be a technology geek. You just have to understand your industry and be interested in learning how technology is used to run a business. Odds are you already know more than you think you do. And with just a little bit more knowledge, you can significantly increase your clients.

 

Have you ever added a B2B technology niche? If you haven’t, what is holding you back? Any questions?