For new and established journalists alike, breaking into freelancing can be intimidating. Sherry Beck Paprocki and Tami Kamin Meyer, both freelance journalists, shared their advice and insights at SPJ26 during a panel — Beyond the Big Byline: How Freelancers Build New Revenue Streams — moderated by fellow freelance writer Ruth E. Thaler-Carter.
The panel focused on building your brand and curating an audience. Paprocki, a former president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), stressed the importance of using social media, recommending LinkedIn and another platform of choice to build a brand and following.
However, a journalist’s audience isn’t just their followers. It’s the outlets and editors they write for. Keeping a warm and friendly relationship with editors will help ensure more opportunities down the line, but that doesn’t mean journalists should limit themselves.
While creating a brand, Paprocki stressed how important it is for journalists to differentiate themselves from others.
“Building your personal brand and your personal platform is all you really need to know, and journalists aren’t necessarily good…at making it all about themselves,” she said. “And you do need to make it about yourself.”
She encouraged journalists to keep this in mind as they continue to pitch and write. Paprocki published “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Branding Yourself” in 2009. Her own brand, R.S. Rock Media helps others build their audience and cultivate a personal brand.
For Kamin Meyer, an attorney, that meant leaning into her identity as a stand-up and improv comic. It helped her stand out against the crowd. When Paprocki was the president of ASAJA, she said four members were attorneys. Kamin Meyer, however, was the only one who was funny.
After cultivating an image and gaining an audience, Paprocki said it’s time to pitch…pitch and pitch again.
“If you’re pitching stories, do it in triples,” she said. Pitching to three publications, each with a different angle or twist, will allow journalists more opportunities to publish. Journalists should tailor story angles to audiences of different publications, showing they understand the outlets they’re pitching to.
Still, it’s important to let editors know when pitching to many outlets. Otherwise, journalists run the risk of burning a bridge if editors see similar story angles.
Paprocki and Kamin Meyer also encouraged journalists to get vulnerable and look within their own lives for story ideas. Kamin Meyer, a self-described “very happy divorcee,” discussed how her divorce served as “fodder” for her stories. While going through her divorce, she “gutted” her home to begin renovations — and wrote a story about it.
Later, the death of her partner of six years spurred a story she wrote about young widows. “With improv, we’re taught to say ‘yes.’ Accept what you’re being told is true and build on it,” she said.
As for younger journalists, Paprocki and Kamin Meyer offered advice for dealing with rejections.
They emphasized that a rejection isn’t personal. Journalists can use the opportunity to ask why a pitch has been rejected and fine-tune their work for next time.
“Every no gets me closer to yes,” Kamin Meyer said. “I don’t take it personally because you know what? I’m good.”
Featured photo by Josie Dent.