How does a writer expand a portfolio into new subjects with little or no expertise? If you are primarily a music journalist, but want to break into medical writing, how do you take that first step? Here’s my secret for branching out into other areas. It’s so simple you’ll wonder why you never thought of it before.

Any time I want to start doing work in a new area, I first examine the paying opportunities in that market. Can I do straight articles? Web content? Trade mag writing? Commercial copy? Where are the opportunities? Who reads and buys this kind of writing? Knowing your market is half the battle, but breaking in could be easier than you thought by doing what I do.

I start by finding the lowest-paying, content hungry editor I can dig up who publishes in my newly selected field. I check out that editor’s publications and try to find an angle. By seeking out an editor or publication that is hungry for content, chances are good that I’ll find myself with a publication credit in that subject before too long. While I am waiting for that article to get published, I also try to find web content companies where I can publish in that subject, again for low pay. Once I have a set of clips under my belt, I keep at it until I feel like I’ve got some clips I can impress a slightly larger publication with.

This strategy takes time, but if you branch out into a lucrative subject area like medical writing or trade mags in a specific industry could could find yourself building a whole new set of revenue from those early efforts. You just have to be careful to use these stepping stones in a measured, careful way. Don’t go running off to Sports Illustrated after publishing a few low-level articles about football for Associated Content and the local paper. Use each successive credit to boost your clout with a slightly larger market and watch your credibility rise over time.