If you had told me fifteen years ago that I would someday be writing about heart disease in apes and museum programming for teens – with no background in either one – I would have been skeptical. But that’s where writing for professional and trade organizations has led me, with rewards that include interesting stories, cool interviewees, a lot of new knowledge, good pay, and great clips. Here’s how you can do it, too.

Use your non-writing experience to position yourself as an expert. 

Upon leaving college fundraising to become a freelance writer, I sent my first pitch to a professional journal I’d been reading for years: Currents, published by the Association for the Advancement and Support of Education. I pitched a humorous back page column about fundraiser resumes, and although the editor didn’t want it, she assigned me a new column called “Writing for Fundraisers,” which led to dozens of features and profiles. That success prompted me to send a letter of introduction to the editor of Advancing Philanthropy, published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She became my first $1/word client, and I became a regular contributor for more than a decade.

What associations are related to your job? Check out sites like https://www.directoryofassociations.com for a comprehensive list. Study the association websites that make sense for you. What do they publish that you could write? If their guidelines say they use freelancers, craft and send a pitch or a letter of introduction (LOI), making sure to highlight your experience in the field.

Build your portfolio by staying connected to your editors.

Editors of association publications often move from one to another, and I wanted to make sure that my editors took me with them. Whenever they got new jobs I sent a congratulatory note, adding that I was always available to freelance for them if the need arose.

After one of my first Currents editors moved to the Residential Real Estate Council, she hired me to write regularly for The Residential Specialist. Many years later another former Currents editor hired me to write for Museum, the member publication of the American Alliance of Museums. These experiences sharpened my ability to conduct research outside my knowledge base in order to write intelligent interview questions.

Developing and maintaining good relationships with editors should be a no brainer. Be professional. Be nice. Deliver fact-checked, error-free assignments on time at the desired word count. Ask questions when you need to, but don’t be contentious, whiny, or high maintenance. I’m driven by the desire to make my editors’ jobs easier, and it has paid off – even when they’ve moved on.

Expand the niche you never thought you’d have.  

When the Association of Zoos and Aquariums posted an ad on the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) website I pitched myself as an animal lover and skilled interviewer with extensive experience writing for association audiences. I have written for every issue of Connect since spring 2015 and they’ve become a favorite client that illustrates my stories beautifully.

Then I saw another ad on the ASJA site from an executive search firm that specialized in senior-level association searches and needed a writer who could interview candidates and write profiles of them. I got the job, have written hundreds of profiles, and learned a lot about the executive search process.

If the association world feels like a good fit, start with job-related groups like I did. Or, mine your non-working life for potential clients by considering your hobbies and interests The aforementioned association directory has hundreds of listings that include everything from ballet to gardening to health. And even if you target just one publication that gives you a chance, that’s a start. Writing about fundraisers led me to write about rhinos and realtors, curators and candidates, and that’s been an unexpected, and profitable, surprise.

BIO: Mary Ellen Collins is a freelance writer and essayist whose work has appeared in Writer’s Digest, The Writer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Arizona Republic, The Tampa Bay Times and The Christian Science Monitor. She is currently working on a memoir and an essay collection.  http://www.maryellencollins.com

(Graphic by Heidi Birky Sawatsky)