Advice From Freelancers to Journalists Who Were Laid Off
A special edition for anyone in media who’s been laid off and looking to freelance, whether for a long time or short, here are some pointers from freelancers who have been doing this a long time and w
If you’re in the media and have been laid off, condolences. But life will go on and possibly better than it was. And if you know someone who was laid off, please feel free to send them a copy of this, as they might find the contents useful.
Each wave of media layoffs mean a chance that many who lost their jobs would consider freelancing as a way of keeping income, if only for the short term. But freelancing isn’t like a full-time job. It’s running a business and has considerations that those coming off staff positions might not consider. And so, a number of us chipped in suggestions that might help those trying to orient themselves.
These aren’t arranged in an exacting order, and the contributors are listed after without noting who said what, because much of this could have been offered by any experienced freelancer. We all have sympathy for some of the challenges running this type of business can be, and when new to it, we’ve all benefited from the advice of colleagues. This is our hope that we can shorten your learning curve.
If you see red flags at the start of dealing with a publisher or company, run. There will be other work, but the chances of a situation going from bad to great are highly unlikely.
If you find editors or clients you like, check in with them periodically to see if they have assignments.
That said about checking for assignments, plan to pitch ideas a lot, especially early on for two reasons. One, you won’t be handed enough work at the start. Two, you want to break the mindset of being an employee. This is your business and the broader a set of clients you have, the better off you are.
And that said as well, ongoing relationship are vital and something you want to build.
Connections from your former positions are great, and definitely tell all your colleagues that you’re open to freelance and consulting work. But don’t depend on them. You need independence and should spread wide.
Remember everyone you know or have worked with in or adjacent to the field. Enjoy catching up, regardless of what someone can or cannot "offer" me. Treat them like people and don't burn bridges.
Don’t waste emails on one assignment. Send the pitch, a follow-up maybe a week or two later, and a final nudge another week or two after. If you don’t hear back, assume it’s a no. If you’re surprised by eventual interest, it’s gravy.
Set and stick to your rates, which have to cover not only writing time, but research, expenses, administration time, time off, and so on. This gets a little complicated, so I’ll attach something toward the end that I once wrote that is a starting point.
Beyond the starting point of setting rates is charging for the value you bring, not just the time and effort it takes you.
Accounting, keeping records and receipts, and thinking about tax-deductible expenses can save you a lot of money. You’re in business and all this is part of it.
Get savvy on contracts by understanding common contract elements/clauses you'll encounter so that you don't find yourself screwed in various ways. There are many freelancers who do have a handle on many of the practicalities. (I’m not a lawyer, but offer free help at Freelance Success and UPOD, more about those later.)
Never accept their promise that because the contract says something onerous or unfavorable, it doesn’t apply to you. If it’s in the contract, then it does, and the person making promises might not be there when a question arises. Any changes in the contract have to be in the contract.
Always ask for changes you need in the contract. It can be surprising how often you can get what you ask for, and the time to negotiate is right when they ask you to do something because it’s your time of maximum leverage.
Be polite, but quietly never believe an editor who says that no one asked that question about a contract before. You can always say, “Well, I guess this is a first.” And still get the answer.
Be aware of the new independent contractor rule slated to take effect on March 11. (There’s something brief with links to more information later on.)
Save up money if you have time before you’re laid off or treat your severance as a starting fund. It can take time to get work and get paid and you don’t want to be too stressed about money.
Educate yourself about self-employment taxes immediately.
Freelancing isn’t for everyone and there’s no shame in that. Some people find it’s just a terrible fit for their personality and work style. But if you’re stuck in the short run, it can be a helpful transition while looking for a new position.
Aim for six months of expenses in a relatively liquid account, like money market or savings. Until you have that, cut unnecessary expenses. That is your “bad times” money, only to be tapped when you don’t have incoming funds to pay your bills.
Avoid requests for free work, like writing sample articles as audition pieces. All work should be paid for by whoever wants it.
Maintain your physical and mental health. It's easy to devote all your waking hours to your new freelance career, but allocate time for fitness, nature and friends/family.
If you're new to working from home full-time, make your workspace as health-supportive as possible (chair, lighting, ergonomics, etc.). It's hard to write well with a migraine, sore neck or aching back. Carpal tunnel is no fun either.
Be wary about SEO-based assignments. Some make money there, but it’s heavily commodified.
It takes a lot of work to get going at the start. Hustle hard. Send out large numbers of pitches and introductory letters (100 in a month isn’t unrealistic). The more effort you put in, discouraging as it can be, the faster things will develop. This is marketing and sales, and they are activities that benefit from large numbers.
From a commissioning editor: Be professional, approach me with a clear idea of what I might be interested in. If you aren't familiar with my publication, get familiar. You can even ask me for a couple of sample copies. Have a resume and clips, online or in PDF. Write a good cover letter and include solid ideas/suggestions for stories. Don't just say you're available and expect me to give you an assignment. Answer emails or texts promptly. When you turn in a story, expect questions and suggestions. No first draft is perfect.
Consider whether you want to do journalism only. You might consider doing some content marketing work, corporate white papers, or other things that pay a lot better. Some of us do so to underwrite the journalism we prefer to do. It might not seem fair, but it may be realistic.
Track your time on assignments, even if you are billing by the project. You need to know what you are earning hourly, and how that fits in with your desired annual income.
If you've never written a query, look for examples that sold online.
Invest the time to research a query, even if it means calling up sources. Don't trust the local reporting on an idea.
Accept rejection and move on to the next idea with that market or the next market with that query.
Learn to read a publication critically as a potential writer. Be brutally honest with yourself about what ideas will be a good fit.
Most apps that offer freelance work are a waste of time. Old-fashioned networking is still the way to go. Reach out to everyone you know because you don't know who is looking for freelancers or who knows someone who is looking. The best freelance jobs are never advertised and never make it only apps or job boards.
You don't need a full-time job to get health care coverage. The ACA works well for most people, though it is expensive if you make more money.
Do a little marketing every day, even when you’re up to your eyeballs in work.
From a 30-year full-time freelancer: My overall suggestion for people who want to freelance primarily as a money-making endeavor is don't think of yourself as a writer or reporter or journalist. Think of yourself as a proprietor of a consulting/writing business. Forget about most of the advice you see on freelance writing sites; to be candid, many of the people who are providing freelance writing advice never had much success freelancing themselves.
Look at your life experience and knowledge and see what niche areas you might have some expertise in. Depending on the niche, you can find better paying work with less competition.
If you have the ability, download the entire Rolodex of connections you’ve made at your job and send their info to your permanent email address. (Note, be sure you’ve got the legal ability to do this.)
Be generous to others. Pass on work you can’t take on. Freelancing can feel like a zero-sum game when you're just starting out, and your insecurities can lead to poor decisions, but the times other writers are colleagues vastly outnumbers the times they’re competition.
Offer clients something they don’t already have. You don’t need someone else’s assignment, and you’re better off creating something new, especially as that is the sort of thing editors often want.
Take advantage of specific topics related to where you live which other freelancers might not be able to cover as easily. Similarly, connections to a given story or topic can give you the edge in offering a story.
The Contributors
Alexandra Grabbe, Anna Medaris Lynch, Brenda Lange, Caren Lissner, Catherine Dold, Cinnamon Janzer, Connie Chang, David Crook, Debra Eckerling, Donald Frazier, Elizabeth Gardner, Fred Topel, Grace L. Williams, Jamie Gee, Jen Singer, Jenna Schnuer, Jennifer Willis, Jenny Peters, Jim Morrison, Joe Mullich, Kat McGowan, Melissa Locker, Michelle Goodman, Renee Bacher, Sally Abrahms, Teresa Mears, and Ziba Kashef. Plus a long list of people who helped all of us in years before.
Resources
Some of these resources are free. Some are paid. They’re all worth the consideration to learn and/or find professional community.
Freedom With Writing has a list of magazines and websites paying at least $1 a word.
UPOD Academy has video interviews with editors who talk about what they’re looking for. That part isn’t free but is high quality. There is also the UPOD community on Facebook (search for it). You have to apply to get in but it’s free and there are many members who are generous with their experience and knowledge. (I’m a member on Facebook and am available to help people with contracts.)
Jen Miller is a long-time pro who wrote a $10 e-book for media people who had been laid off: Notes from a Hired Pen: Freelance Writing for Laid-Off Journalists (and Those Who Want to Quit). She speaks from experience.
Natasha Khullar Relph is another long-time pro. Her site, The Wordling, offers free resources for writers.
Freelance Success has been around for decades. It’s a paid site with many freelance writers with information and insights to share. (I’m a contributing editor there and am available for help with contracts.)
Freelance journalist Abigail Bassett’s weekly Six-Figure Journalism Jobs Newsletter is a paid subscription with very high-value listings.
Sonia Weiser’s Opportunities of the Week is another paid newsletter, this one pulling together many of the notifications from Twitter that you don’t want to spend your time hunting down. She asked me to mention that a subscription is donation-based, regardless of income, so if you can’t afford the fee, you can still get a subscription. I’ll add that if you can afford it, be good and pay. She does a lot of good work in it and for writers.
Freelancer Estelle Erasmus has her Freelance Writing Direct Podcast that has advice and interviews with editors and writers.
Kaitlyn Arford offers her free-for-subscription Freelance Opportunities.
Independent Contractor Rule
The independent contractor rule is an attempt by the Biden administration to as closely as possible nationally implement the disastrous California AB5 rule that destroyed many freelance careers. The push is to turn most, if not all, freelancers into employees. For more information on the history and what’s happening now, the site Fight For Freelancers is a good resource.
How to Set Your Initial Rates
You need to determine your economic needs and circumstances and then calculate how much you need bottom line to meet them.
Sit down with paper and pen to list expenses. Calculate everything from housing, food and clothes to gas for the car, summer camp for your children and how much you spend on books. Determine the money you need each month to live, and not at a subsistence level. Don’t tell yourself, “Oh, I can get by on eating packaged macaroni and cheese every day.” If you don’t fully accept both what you need and what you want, your business will fail.
Once you have the list, add money for retirement, health insurance, life insurance, taxes and investment. Add 10 percent for your profit, because the business should generate money above what you pay yourself. This is no time to be forgetful. The final total is the amount you need to make each month.
Now consider the amount of time you have available to work each month. In the average 4.3-week month, there are roughly 21 working days. Subtract at least four days of this time for marketing (more on that later), and another two days for vacation, sickness, holidays, and other time you will be doing something else. That leaves you 15 days of actual labor. With eight hours in each day – or ten, if you are like many of us – you have 120 to 150 hours of time. Figure that half of that time will actually be billable, so 60 to 75 hours in which you can charge. Take the amount of money you want to make each month and divide it by the number of available billable hours. That result is the amount of money you should be making every hour, on the average.
Take a deep breath because the amount will seem daunting. Yes, it really is that large. Let it be for now.
You do not have to reach this figure immediately. This is a goal and, as you will eventually see, a realistic one. There are many writers who regularly make $90, $100, $150, $200, and more per hour of their time, although the people paying for the services may not see them charged in such a fashion.
For example, a magazine editor might pay by the word, a marketing director for a brochure, a radio producer by the minute of airtime, a corporation a completed project like a white paper, blog post, or article. This is immaterial so long as you know how much you are receiving and how long it takes to do a particular project.
Remember four things about this financial goal:
First, it is an average. There are days you will make more and days you will make less. Sometimes you may happily take lower-paying assignments because of other benefits they offer, such as interesting work or quick payment.
Second, if your writing does not currently offer this level of remuneration, it’s a goal to aim for. Do not give yourself the out of giving up because you are not yet making the money you wish.
Third, there is a learning curve to knowing how long a specific project might take.
Fourth, a financial goal is an attempt to set a floor, not a ceiling. If you do better than your plan, then increase the difficulty of the goal.