Perhaps the most crucial thing a blogger or journalist can do before going full time and independent, is to build up a name for him or herself. It is easier said than done, but in the age of new media and social networks the task is more manageable. There are a few examples in the world, but also in a 5-million country as Slovakia it is possible and some made it happen.
Perfect English, perfect starting point
Important thing to say about Slovakia, that the official language is Slovak, which is not spoken anywhere in the world, therefore the audience is limited only to the size of the country. If you speak English, half of the job is done for you already. According to statistics, 15% of the planet speaks it, which means one in seven anywhere in the world.Let others know what you do
Writing (reporting in the case of journalists) is fundamental, but it's just a start. Before social media took over, only thing to do was to e-mail your articles to some friends and hope search engines will think it is important. Today, you have it much easier. Stuff – articles, blogs, videos, pictures – spreads much easier via social media.An open Facebook or Twitter account, ideally both, make you easier to find, more accessible and if anyone likes your writing they will not only follow but also share it among their friends. There is no telling how much followers are enough to make you independent, but it's sure it won't happen over night. Let's look at some full time bloggers and freelance journalists and their path to independence.
Brain pickings based on donations
The idea of Maria Popova's website Brain Pickings is simple. She provides inspiration. Her blogposts ranges from book reviews (mostly old) to famous quotes, uncovered old letters of literary classics or vintage ilustrations of all kinds. Today, this is her living. “I want to build a new framework for what information matters,” she says.It all started out at her workplace where she took charge over sending every week an inspirational newsletter to all her colleagues in the advertising agency where she worked. Then she began uploading all of it on a website. People seemed to like it and were willing to pay enough so that she do not have to do anything else. At the moment she has 150,000 subscribers to her own newsletter, 263,000 followers on Twitter and 145,714 likes on her Facebook page. She lives out of donations and earns a percentage from books purchased on her recommendation through Amazon.
Freelancer after ten years
Before starting her own website OMediach.com (which translates to english as “AboutMedia.com”), Mirka Kernova worked as a full time journalist for the biggest Slovak daily newspaper. She reported on media for more than ten years. After she became a mother, a thought of freelance job seemed to be a way out. She could be at home, work and raise the kids at the same time.She started her own blog, reporting on media as she used to. As she put it a big help was starting a Facebook page for the blog and a Twitter feed. News about her activities spread via social media quickly. With enough followers, she started the OMediach.com website. The readers trust her experience and because of this she also has many contacts. The founding is provided through advertisements on her web and a single donator on her blog.
New frontier? Maybe
Social media gave freelancing a better chance at succeeding. Of course it is not only blogging or journalism that benefit from the rise of social media. You hardly find a company nowadays not trying to make social media part of their communication. Even though Google remains the giant serch engine, try to think next time you are looking for something, where are you looking for the information.Milos Cermak, a czech freelance journalist and big Twitter fan, says he tends to search more and more for information on Twitter. And he is not the only one. It seems, your presence on social media sites is becoming more important than ranking in Google searches.
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Pictures are taken from Brain Pickings Facebook page.
David Tvrdon
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