How to become a successful freelance journalist

Blogging has been on the brain. Although, I don’t know if it is something that I can completely commit to. And this is where freelancing comes into play. Freelancing is doing bit of work here and there for personal purposes or, as Nikki Parkinson of Styling You also mentioned in her lecture, for earning a bit of extra pocket money on the side.

After searching around the World Wide Web about freelance journalism, I came across an article written by Matthew Stibbe about how to become a freelance journalist. The now CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, editor of  Golf Hotel Whiskey and writer of the Forbes Aviator column previously worked for five years as a freelancer, publishing for various UK business magazines, Wired and Popular Science. While the article is slightly out of date and does not take into account the use of social media, it still provided many useful tips on how to become a successful freelance journalist. I have narrowed the article down to the three most important points:

Firstly, you need to have the journalistic skills in order to write for a publication. To gain these skills, Matthew recommends reading and writing LOTS. By reading a large range of magazines, newspapers and websites you can get an idea of publications you may like to target in the future, the style and tone in which articles are written and you may even find an idea for a story of your own. And of course the best way to improve your writing skills is to keep on practicing! 

Secondly, find one or two subjects that you feel confident in writing about. “You’ll do better as a freelance journalist if you specialise,” Matthew says. I had a think about what subjects I would write about, and I have come down to food (I love cooking and trying new recipes) and travel (I have done quite a bit of travelling and am always interesting in going somewhere new). It’s always going to be easier to write an article about something you know about and are interested in!

Finally, you need to be able to market yourself and your work! Just as Matthew says, in order to have your stories read you need to be able to market them appropriately. Before approaching a publication, research the style and tone of their publication and the types of stories that they have recently published. When you have a better understanding of what they are looking for, you will be able to make a better pitch. Build relationships with a smaller group of editors rather than a large group, as they are more likely to remember you when you submit work. Matthew suggests creating a website to showcase your work and establish yourself in the online community. 

Of course, now that social media is becoming more prevalent in the journalism community, it is important to establish yourself using various platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. However, these tips are helpful as a starting point when it comes to freelance journalism. By having a large portfolio of published articles and clearly demonstrating your networking skills, you become increasingly appealing to future employees. So I had better start writing!