Joanne the Coach

A cautionary tale for freelancers

 

Now here's an odd one - I wonder what you make of this?

Towards the end of April I was contacted out of the blue by X. He said that he knew me from the Journalism.co.uk forum, and enquired about my availability to do some writing work.

As it happens I don't frequent that forum. I did have a freelance listing on the site, but I didn't renew it because it proved to be ineffectual. But perhaps this untrue detail should have been a red flag to me, in the light of what followed.

Over the following weeks I had a couple of emails from X (copied in to 3 other people), saying that the potential project was delayed but still in progress.

I didn't think too much about it - every freelancer gets approached about potential work that can sound terribly exciting at first but doesn't turn out to add up to a whole hill of beans. You soon learn not to get too excited until a definite contract or commission definitely appears.

Last week I was contacted by Y. 

Y is very angry with X. 

Y sent me a bunch of correspondence, including a lawyer's letter, to this effect. There's some kind of dispute going on about money owed, and work done, or not done.

So I asked Y: Why are you contacting me about this? I'm just a freelancer that X sounded out about possible work.

To which Y replied: "I thought you were working for that company and were perhaps a shareholder"

And when I looked at the attachment to Y's reply I could see why - for there in the pages of a marketing brochure were my photo and professional details. Neither of which I had directly supplied. The brochure starts: "We are a group of five journalists", which sort of implies, as they say in High School Musical, we're all in this together.

What I really didn't like was that part of the blurb boasted that "one of us writes the UK's only mother and daughter blog" - whilst it's true that I do that, and am very proud to do so, it's a non-commercial venture. I feel very uncomfortable that my 12 year old daughter's creative efforts are now part of some company's marketing blurb.

And as a pedantic writer I don't like being represented by a text that sees the need to capitalise 'Web sites' and 'Social Networking' - who does that?

There are repeated references to "we" and "our people", and some of the 'facts' about me make no sense at all.

Whilst it's not uncommon for freelancers to band together in order to win a bigger contract than they might do individually, for the love of God, surely you ask people's permission before you do a thing like that?

So I told Y, and then I emailed X pointing out that I hadn't given him my permission to do this, and that in any case I was no longer available to work with him. This is true, but even if I had nothing to fill my days, I don't think I'd ever be comfortable working for someone who thought that this was an OK way to behave.

When I emailed X, I cc'd in the 3 other people involved, who were also featured in the brochure. As it transpired, one of them is X's partner, but the other two, like me, are independent freelancers who had not supplied the information, didn't know that it had been used in this way and aren't happy about it.

So, what's a freelancer to do? I've been researching the legal situation but it seems unclear. Our names are our brands, and we need to get them out there in order to continue to attract work. But what can you do if someone uses your name, your brand, without your permission?

Well, if you've trademarked your name (which, unless you're a celebrity, you probably haven't) then you have a lot more rights if it looks like someone has breached your trademark, and you can sue. Luckily I have an expert in international law in the family so will get him to look at this.

X has said that my details were only in that one brochure, but then also says that my name will be removed "from all of our materials", which implies that there is more to it than that.

I guess it brings home to me the freelancers' curse - we must continually put ourselves out there in order to continue to attract work. It's something I often talk about with coaching clients - freelance journalism is a business, and all businesses must market themselves on an ongoing basis. But in putting ourselves out there we make ourselves vulnerable that our names and experience will be harnessed to something we did not intend.

And what to do differently next time? I think I need to research prospective clients a bit more, and set my red flag alert higher. I did google X, and found a somewhat home-made looking website, but that's hardly the crime of the century. Deep down I think I always knew that this wasn't an opportunity that would amount to much, but again that's not unusual. What is unusual is the element of having your details used without your knowledge or permission. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth. At least now I know who not to work with.

If you were me, what (if anything) would you do now?

 

image credit: Flickr user, twicepix

Mistakes I made when I started blogging

I have now been writing this blog for 5 years. The done thing at times like this seems to be to slap the ugly word 'blogaversary' on it and use it as an excuse to party on down.

Ever the belligerent fool, I'm using it as an excuse to look at where it all went wrong.

So these are the mistakes I made when I started blogging. I'm still making some of them. I hope this is useful to anyone who is also starting to blog and wants to know what not to do:

• Buggered up the site address
  I mean look at it:   http://joannemallon.typepad.com/joanne_the_coach/ it's an utter, unmemorable mess. Later on I bought JoannetheCoach.com so I have something a bit more elegant to put in my email signature, but it's all a bit half-assed and still makes for a crap hyperlink. When I started our new blog, I made sure to use the easy, simple address Eljae.com - it cost under £20 to do, and it's not even difficult to do the mapping across business that covers up the wordpress part of the address.
• Terrible name
  Joanne the Coach, WTF is that all about? Actually, there was a point to this way back when, in that I used to to write a lot more about my life coaching business. I'm still doing the coaching, it's just that I found out it was more fun to blog about movies and Doctor Who instead. So now I think it's better to have a flexible name that will grow with you. Bloggers who blog under Mummy2cutesypie.com say they also find this issue to be a problem, usually around the time Cutesypie starts shoplifting and growing a beard.
• Didn't reply to comments
  I never used to appreciate comments at all. I totally took them for granted. Now I feel very embarrassed about being so arrogant and am much more respectful of people who take the time to comment. I aim to reply to them all, even the spammers. Interestingly, some bloggers are now turning off their comment facility. Next thing you know they'll be turning off the blog altogether and going back to shouting in the corner of a field.
• No theme, niche or planning
  I still don't do any of that stuff. If there is a theme, it's "stuff I am interested in", and if I can shoehorn in a Doctor Who reference, all the better. I post when I have something to say, so that might mean nothing for a week, then four posts the next week. Apparently that stuff's important if you are serious about your blogging. Luckily I am just in it for shits and giggles, so that's OK then.
• Images? What are they?
  For about the first couple of years, none of the posts had images, mainly because I didn't know how to create, find or upload them. But the trouble with that is that big wodges of unillustrated text can be hard on the eye and lacking in personality. A big help for me has been using the Instagram app which makes it easy for anybody to create nice looking original images. So I didn't really raise my skill levels, it's just that the technology lowered itself to my level. Rejoice, technodunces, our time is now.
• No community involvement
  Whilst I am basically a  loner at heart, I like online communities and hanging around with people I've never met, so I can pretend to be more confident than I really am. I was flailing around by myself for the first few years until there seemed to be more blogging communities springing up and supporting each other. This is why I started doing more parenting content, so I could hang out with the parenting bloggers. They are always either laying golden eggs or having fights so it's kind of like hanging out with a bunch of magic chickens. I like that. Blogging is a lot easier and more fun when you find your own magic chickens to hang out with.
• Too many categories
  Cast a glance down the left sidebar (actually, don't) and you'll see masses of the buggers. Nobody ever clicks on them, not even my personal favourite Bizarre Celebrity Encounters. When we started Eljae, the categories were: Rants; Fiction; Random Wisdoms; Stuff We Love; Reviews; Top Tips and Funnies. What else is there to say in a blog?

I don't believe in regrets - I believe that making mistakes is what makes us human, and learning from mistakes is what makes us intelligent. So, Happy Birthday to you, Blog of Mine. Here's to the next regeneration.

How to piss off a parent blogger

 

I was chuckling all day today at the tale of the blogger who got sent one shoe out of a pair to review.

So much so that by the end of the day I was wondering if it was some sort of reverse psychology PR stunt to make the shoes seem more interesting and desirable. Why didn't I get one shoe to review? I can hop. I can balance. I can do basic Irish dancing.

PRs, this will not do. What are bloggers supposed to moan about on their secret parent blogger forums if you're making us laugh instead of annoying us? So here is my definitive cut out and keep guide for PRs on how to piss off a parent blogger:

• Start your email Dear Mummy Blogger - parent bloggers LOVE that, particularly if they are men.
• Follow up by getting the name of the blog wrong. Mail merge is your friend here.
• Then say I love your blog, I've just spent all morning reading it followed by a sentence which shows that you have never actually clapped eyes on it in your life.
• Offer products for review which have no discernible relevance to the blogger in question. Quite a rich seam of parent bloggers will go apopleptic if you offer them nappies when their youngest is 24.
• Offer content for their blog including four links to your client's site, and make a big deal about how you're not going to charge them for this service. This saves the blogger from having to write their own posts which they hate doing really.
• Play Blogger Beauty Parade - ask too many bloggers to an event, then ditch the ones you don't want or simply go silent as the grave when they get in touch.
• Alternatively, offer something really cool to do or review, and when it looks like your blogger has got super excited and told their kids about it, just disappear and never mention it again. It's not like they'll bear a grudge or remember your name.
• Send an invitation at 4pm on a Friday for an event at 10am on the Monday. Tell your blogger they can only bring one of their children to your event. It's OK, they've all got a favourite.

Stay lovely!

 

PS Anybody got a single shoe they need reviewing? Will consider one sock or some chocolate covered nuts that you've licked the chocolate off instead. #prrequest

Social media for journalists: Part three - Getting work, getting paid and wasting time

And now the end of my presentation is near. How did I ever hope to cram this lot into 30 minutes and take questions as well? Daftoid. At least you know when you book me you get your money's worth.

Anyway, make sure you read part one of social media for journalists, which is an introduction to Twitter. And part two is all about LinkedIn and Facebook and some cool forums that'll help you get writing work.

Here in part three we're looking at what kind of social media work is available for journalists, what you might expect to get paid and how not to let all this stuff suck up more time than it's worth.

Social media work for journalists

• This could be tweeting or blogging on behalf of a client
  Essentially, it's the new copywriting, and much more dynamic than the old stuff. Could be worth suggesting to clients you've already written web copy for.
• Charge for time rather than per word
  Per word, the rates start to look pretty poor, so when quoting think in terms of what the client wants and how long that'll take you. Also take into consideration how much regular work can be guaranteed - £50 per 350 word blog post isn't great, but if you can finish it in under an hour and do 10 a week, it all adds up.
• An hour a day can add up to a lot more
  Typically, you might be asked to look after a Twitter feed for an hour a day, but any job which extends across the week will inevitably take up more mental space than that. Be realistic about what you commit to, and how that fits in with the other work you're doing.
• Other journos are charging from £300/day, or from £25/hour for social media work
  I did a mini survey and these figures were mentioned most commonly. So as a guide, you're thinking in terms of your copywriting daily rate.
• Clients may wish to pay a lot less!
  This is a brand new area of work, so the 'going rate' is still under negotiation. There will be clients who do not recognise that this is a skilled job for a writer and will expect to pay you in buttons. Whether or not you take those buttons is up to you, but remember that part of progressing as a writer is, on occasion, turning work down.

 

Social media for journalists: Part two - using LinkedIn, Facebook and forums to get work

Following on from the post about how journalists can start using Twitter for work, this is part two of my presentation to the Guild of Health Writers - here we're looking at other forms of social media including LinkedIn and Facebook.

(It was at this point in the presentation that I realised I had far too much to say.)

Using LinkedIn to get work as a journalist

• Fill in your profile to get your name at the top in Google searches
  LinkedIn ranks incredibly highly in search engines, so if somebody Googles your name (and editors will), your profile will pop up at the top. Particularly useful if you don't have a website for your journalism work (though frankly, you should). 
• Link your profile to your Twitter feed
  If you're using Twitter to circulate case study or other requests, link the two so both networks will see it.
• Ask for recommendations
  Get people you've worked with to fill in a LinkedIn recommendation to add to your credibility.
• Include keywords in your profile relating to services you can offer
  Recruiters are searching, so make it easier for them to find you. Nobody can offer you work if they don't know what you've got to offer.
• Join groups relevant to your specialism
  There're thousands of professional groups on LinkedIn, so there's bound to be a special little haven for you.
• Check out potential clients
  If you've got a meeting coming up with an editor, check out their LinkedIn profile to get the cut of their gib. *stalker alert*

 

Social media for journalists: Part one - Twitter for beginners

These notes are extracted from a talk given to the Guild of Health Journalists on 14th September 2011. If you're interested in this subject then you might want to also have a read of the post about 10 things Twitter can do for journalists.

We started with some general points about using social media:

• It's a conversation, not a broadcast
  Don't just pump out updates -  talk to people, jump into conversations, retweet their messages and see it as a two way flow.
• Look for personal connections and work will find you
  If you go in explicitly and solely looking for work, you'll probably be disappointed. See it as a source of new contacts and ideas and the opportunities will occur.
• Use your own name – that's your brand
  As a journalist, your byline is your brand, so don't tweet as your dog or your porn star name. The exception to this would be if you have a blog with an established name, in which case you might want to create a specific Twitter account just for that.
• Keep your photo consistent
  It's all about establishing you as a human being that other human beings will want to connect to and work with, so use the same photo across all social media and don't change it more than twice a year. Using the Hipstamatic App will produce the most flattering photo you've ever had.
• Klout.com will track your progress
  If you like statistics, Klout will track how your social media network and influence is growing - useful if you're worried that you're wasting your time.

Social media mythbusting

I had a spiffing time last night talking about social media for journalists with the Guild of Health Writers in the (frankly rather elegant) surroundings of The Medical Society of London.

The thing that struck me when talking to peole who don't use Twitter or other social media tools was that it's the myths that seem to put people off. Myths including:

• You have to be a tech-y gadget freak to make sense of it
• It uses up all your time
• Why would I be interested in what random strangers have for lunch?

Social media for journalists - London event

Just wanted to let you know that I'm speaking at a Guild of Health Writers event in London on Wednesday 14th September.

The focus is on social media - Susan Aldridge will be talking about writing blogs and making money from them, Barbara Gibson will be talking about how to develop your social media strategy, and I'll be looking at how to get work via Twitter, LinkedIn and the rest, and also how to make the best of your social media time and not just spend hours hoovering up pictures of funny cats.

You can find all the details and how to book tickets here. Non menbers can attend, and whilst it will be fairly medical writer heavy, I think all journalists (particularly freelancers) will find it useful.

If you can't make it to the talk, I will put some of the notes and most important bits up here. And if you have a question about social media, especially if you're a journalist, put it in the comments box below and I will make sure you get an answer.

image: Flickr user, Rosaura Ochoa

What next for the journalists of the News of the World?

I really feel for the staff of the News of the World who've lost their jobs. My only encounter with the paper was years ago when there was a rumour going round that someone I knew had had a fling with a household name. I was offered a grand to wear a wire and go and record the flingee spilling the beans, but I turned down the offer. I just know I would have got it all wrong and turned up with a huge microphone by mistake.

For the journalists I've coached who've been made redundant from staff jobs, it's a shock. When you've been used to the security of a staff job and not had to look for work, the freelance world can be a strange and scary place.

I hope that at least some of the NOTW staffers will now move into a better phase of their lives. Options include:

I'm hiring Johann Hari as my spin doctor

When I ran media training workshops, we used to talk about people's fear of being misrepresented in interviews. A certain amount of misquoting is understandable - the written word is never exactly the same as the spoken word.

If you're interviewed, the journalist will take out all the ums and ers and stick your half sentences together to make a whole, so that what you've said can be understood coherently by the reader. If they didn't, all but the most polished (AKA boring) interviewees would come across as illiterate.

And a good thing too, I thought as yesterday I gave a right dog's dinner of an interview. The journalist caught me on the hoof, chucked a subject at me which wasn't especially interesting and which I didn't exactly have a pint pot full of bon mots to chuck at.

Of course, 10 minutes after I'd put down the phone I was living in Soundbite City. I kept thinking of interesting things I could have said, but didn't, jokes I could have made but hadn't. It wasn't my finest hour. Let's hope I'm not quoted verbatim.