Category Archives: Freelance

Mad to start freelancing in the recession? I’ve been carrying the foetus of freelancing

One really great thing about freelancing through a recession is that you don’t have to worry about being made redundant. Of course, you’re at the mercy of budgets as much as the next journo, but there is something to be said for being your own boss and not having to worry about that steely possibility that you could soon be facing a life-changing moment.

It’s not that life-changing moments are necessarily a bad thing (indeed, it was a spate of redundancies at a previous job that kicked me into my best career move to date) it’s just that they are a usually very stressful – especially when the control of your life is taken out of your own hands.

Which brings me onto my next point – control. I’ve been freelancing now for a good nine months. Indeed – and bear with me on this one – that leads rather splendidly to an analogy: I’ve been carrying the foetus of freelancing, and I’ve now given birth. Because the truth is, I’m loving it. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve been lucky to get enough work to see me through, perhaps it’s that I’m not in a stuffy office with anyone breathing down my back, perhaps it’s because I can cook lunch rather than chow down on a squashed sandwich, or perhaps it’s just the fact that for the most part, I’m in control.

I decide what time I get up, what time I finish and what time I (note the recurring theme here) lunch. Freelancing also releases you, to some extent, from the bureaucracy and politics of the office. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here – for, as my previous posts will testify, there is a certain amount of being ignored, late payment and managing your own (yawn) tax involved, not to mention the development of RSI from refreshing the inbox obsessively – but on the upside, at least you can blip while you process your expenses.

In other news, I was asked to go on the Radio Kent breakfast show again to talk about the rise in popularity of ethnically diverse restaurants – another nice little foray into broadcast journalism, and I was impressed by investigative journo-flick State of Play. Aside from discovering that Russel Crowe has definitely grown on me, I liked the way it reflected the conflicted but semi-dependent relationship between print and online journalism – and the fact such a high profile Hollywood thriller was adapted from a BBC series.

Rosie Birkett is a freelance journalist and sub-editor who specialises in food, hospitality and travel. She can be contacted on rosiebirkett1 at hotmail.com. She also blogs at thelondonword.com and at fiftyfourfoodmiles.wordpress.com. You can follow the series ‘Mad to start freelancing in the recession?’ series here here.

Do you freelance? Get in touch with your own experiences: laura or judith@journalism.co.uk.

Freelancers’ resources: ‘Podcast for Freelancers’

Stumbled across a Twitter link to an audio update, on the website Audioboo, aimed at freelance workers.

FreelanceKnight is doing a great job of posting quick audio tips to the site (you can see his account here) and has a great website, which focuses predominantly on how freelancers can make the most of online and social media tools.

Or follow FreelanceKnight on Twitter.

TechCrunch: Review of new crowd-funded journalism project Global For Me

Would you pay a journalist to report the news you want to read, asks Robin Wauters.

This is the premise behind Global For Me – a new journalism service, which asks for individuals or groups to donate money for story pitches.

When the necessary funds are found to hire a journalist, they can be deployed on the donors’ behalf to chase stories, attend events or press conferences, says the website.

The idea is similar to the non-profit, San Fransisco-area, crowd-funded site Spot.Us (though as this is a project of Global Radio News (an independent freelance news agency), I’m assuming it’s for profit and internationally-focused?) – can it gain enough traction to work?

Full story at this link…

Infuze: Training freelancers in cross-platform journalism

On Friday I was lucky enough to sneak inside the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLAN) Sandbox – a space dedicated to ‘digital media R&D’.

I was there as part of the final day of Infuze – a joint training scheme from UCLAN and the BBC to retrain freelancers in multimedia journalism.

It was the first time the six-week course had been run (Journalism.co.uk reported on its launch back in January) and while course leader Paul Egglestone said there were some improvements to be made, he was pleased how far all participants had come in a short time.

Presentations from Ilicco Elia, head of mobile for Reuters, and videojournalist David Dunkley Gyimah gave all of us some food for thought, but mainly it was a great opportunity to chat with a group of freelancers facing the challenges of cross-platform journalism head on and hear about their experiences.

Only fair then to give them (and some of their newly founded websites ) a shout out (in no particular order):

Nazia Mogra – freelance broadcast journalist, now looking at the possibilities of newspaper video too.

Sean Smith – former print freelancer who turned his hand to broadcast journalism during the course. Smith said he’d learned that the ‘new skill is adopting a mindset of not being intimidated by tech that’s meant to be intuitive’.

Rumeana Jahangir – who is looking to develop a specialism on grassroots, community news and investigative work.

Emma Blackburn – freelancer broadcast journalist turned videojournalist during her course placement at Times Online.

Erisa Lluca
– who having now set up her own website is determined to keep it going beyond Infuze.

Christina McDermott – or @misscay as shes known to her followers on Twitter, who discussed how she’s using social media as a freelancer (more from Christina on this later).

BJP: Guardian in alleged photography rights grab

The Guardian is going to demand increased usage rights for commissioned images, according to this report.

The paper will reportedly ask for full and future usage rights, but with no extra compensation.

A Guardian spokeswoman said the matter was still under discussion.

Full story at this link…

‘Twitchhiking’ freelancer Paul Smith completes journey

Paul Smith, a freelance journalist who pledged to ‘Twitchhike’ the globe in 30 days, has completed his adventurous journey by reaching New Zealand.

The aim of the trip, during which Smith was only allowed to accept accommodation and travel help offered via Twitter, was to reach the furthest point – Campbell Island off the coast of NZ – from his starting location – Gateshead – to raise money for Charity:Water.

Lack of transport, poor telecommunications in New Zealand and – as a result – a smaller Twitter community thwarted Smith’s plans to reach the remote Campbell Island, he said in a blog post today.

“After two months of living and breathing this project, I’d reached my journey’s end. I wasn’t going to see Campbell Island, but it honestly didn’t matter anymore. The aim was to travel as far as I could from home as possible within 30 days, and by reaching Stewart Island I’d travelled to a place the majority of New Zealanders have never set foot on, never mind the rest of the world,” wrote Smith.

Congratulations to Paul – and a safe journey back to the UK – but perhaps this isn’t the end?

“The big question is: what happens next? I don’t feel like this is the end. I’m already mourning the loss of this project from my life. It now feels entirely natural to live out of a single messenger bag, to throw my belongings into the back seat of a strange car, to bed down wherever I’m offered charity.

“There’s something else there. I just don’t know what it is yet.”

WebProNews: US confidentiality bill overlooks freelancers and blogger-journalists

According to WebProNews, the House of Representatives’ version of a US bill that would enforce a journalist’s right to protect their sources includes a definition of a journalist, which rules out freelancers, non-profit journalists and blogger-journalists.

Full post at this link…

Mad to start freelancing in the recession? Don’t panic!

Needless to say, my New Year’s freelance resolutions didn’t last long, especially not the one about not procrastinating (I mean, have you seen the talking cats on YouTube?). Maybe I should get into viral marketing… Anyway, since we last met I have come up with a belated addition to that little list – thou shalt not take on too much at once.

This current climate is one in which budgets and staff are being cut – forcing new freelancers to enter the market place, and as as an existing freelancer out on your own it’s easy to panic about commissions. Will there be enough to get by? Will it look bad if I say no? Will they pay me if I say yes? Are my rates too high or too low?

It’s understandable, in light of this, that you might jump at any work that comes your way – but one thing that I’ve learned over the past, very hectic three weeks – is to know your limits (unless you want to spend a string of weekends burning the proverbial candle). Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining about having work during a recession, in fact, I’m a big fan of it, but I really have realised that it’s important to stop panicking.

The nature of freelancing is sporadic, manic even, in some ways – there will be quiet times when modestly-paid web stories or blog posts will be a godsend – but when you’ve got a few big commissions on the go it’s important to leave time to be thorough, rework things and have contingency time in the case of family crisis (and don’t they always happen at the wrong time?).

Maintaining the definition between work-time and home-time is crucial, otherwise you’ll find yourself living in a constant state of guilt – fretting about looming deadlines when you’re eating bread and jam, and taking your copy to read on the loo. That’s no way to live my friends, no way at all.

On another note, I issued my first threat to a rogue payer. After dozens of phonecalls, subsequent rebuffs, ignored emails and left voicemails (for some work I’d done in November), it was time to get heavy. Finally, after stating my case and assuring them that I would be getting my solicitor involved if they failed to pay me in due course, I got put through to the accountant.

“There’s no need to threaten us with court action Miss Birkett,” said the accountant. Oh, but there is – especially when you’re freelancing in a recession.

Rosie Birkett is a freelance journalist and sub-editor who specialises in food, hospitality and travel. She can be contacted on rosiebirkett1 at hotmail.com. She also blogs at thelondonword.com and at fiftyfourfoodmiles.wordpress.com. You can follow the series ‘Mad to start freelancing in the recession?’ series here here.

The Golden Pencil: Deadly freelance assumptions (or how to go out of business)

Jenny Cromie tells journalists to rethink their ‘deadly freelance assumptions’ in the current economic climate.

“I believe that you have to challenge your own assumptions about your business and the way you’re operating it in order to survive this economic climate. And then once you identify what those are, you can develop self-defensive strategies to move forward and ensure that your business stays afloat,” she writes.