Desk Notes
(Please excuse the mess…still building dreams) ✨
We ran a Pitching Clinic with Dr Lily Canter this week. If you want something done, ask a busy mum! Her portfolio career encompasses freelance journalism, running coaching, lecturing, awards, and podcasting.
Top takeaways (some useful tips here across industries)
- Niche: She started as a generalist, specialised, then changed specialism. It took her 5-6 years to find a niche she enjoyed and wanted to stick to (running and fitness).
- Format: Now 70% online clients, 30% print.
- Diverse portfolio: 5-7 clients on her roster and always seeking new ones. Look beyond traditional media to online outlets, trade publications, in-house mags. “Nationals can pay well for commissioned features but their rates for shifts are poor. I’ve found they sit on copy for ages and a lot of them do payment on publication so I rarely write for them now. With Metro being the exception.” (One took nine months to pay her!)
Be open to new types of work as it can come from unexpected places when you least expect it. Get out of your comfort zone.
- Social media: Set up a Hootsuite – one list for freelance media accounts and at least five search columns relating to areas of interest, e.g. “call for submissions” and “freelance writers.”
- Networking: Contact editors you’ve worked with and ask how they use freelancers – ask for shift work. “You’ll be surprised how few people actually do this!”
- Email signature: Say what you specialise in.
- Be entrepreneurial: Podcasting, journalism, copywriting, journo education, newsletters, awards, running coaching. She’s teamed up with her friend and colleague Emma Wilkinson to grow the Freelancing For Journalists book, pod and community.
Having a portfolio career is the key to security.
I love that. What struck me is that despite all the shiny tech and remote working freelancing is still very old-school. Talent yes, but success depends on the strength of your relationships and network (many commissioning eds still use Facebook groups!)
“You’ve got to pitch, hustle and network to get work.” She said 70% of her work comes from pitching, which is a lot – time-intensive work that might go nowhere. Nor do media orgs make it easy to cold pitch – you have to hunt down the right contacts.
No mention of AI so I asked her afterwards if she’s using it to save time. “Ooo, great idea! It’s not something we’ve tried out yet, but we will add it to the podcast ideas list. Thanks!”
Someone asked if there’s a ‘directory of commissioning editors’ and where to find content/digital agencies to offer your services. ChatGPT gave me a list of 15 agencies and seven editors in seconds.
Kudos to Lily for juggling a busy career with two boys. She’s found a good balance – desk work vs active adventures that feeds into the writing and keep her fit!
Collaborating with a friend and colleague makes life more fun as you can bounce off each other and share opportunities.
Check out their podcast, Freelancing For Journalists for deep dives into specific topics (just listened to this one on Newsletter publishing). So refreshing to have a writer’s perspective on it rather than a marketer’s.
Nika ✨
Cool Reads
▶️The Audiencers’ Festival is coming to London on June 21—a free day of expertise for digital publishing pros covering everything engagement, conversion, and retention.
▶️Jack Appleby is looking for contributors for his newsletter Future Social. Getting burned out and wants to explore other areas of his business. Email your pitches!
▶️Meet the AI candidate ‘Steve’, running for UK parliament. Here to humanise politics. Far too serious a matter to be left to politicians.
▶️Dear Writers: What is your paid vs free publishing schedule? Invaluable thread by Cody Cook-Parrott. Everybody’s experimenting!
▶️Destination Thailand: New visa allows digital nomads to stay for five years (you must leave and re-enter the country every 180 days + pay a fee), but there’s no strict income requirement with this one – you just need 10K savings.
Tim, I do. Though doing dishes is my brain yoga, it calms me down. Unlike knowledge work, you can finish the job and see the results immediately!
Abha said she has one of those clever robot cleaners at home and it’s great fun.
My Internetland
I help founders make a global impact with their stories. Life’s too short to play small.
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Nika Talbot 