Getting back in the freelance saddle -My early lessons to hopefully make it pay

For much of 2019 the scene in the photo above, watching a pen full of cattle being sold, was a big part of my life.

I was a national beef writer with one of Australia’s major agricultural publishers and my job meant keeping an eye on the prices being paid for cattle, the demand for them, and the issues which affected the industry as a whole.

It was a job I loved and which gave me great satisfaction. You were dealing with genuine people, not rent a quote politicians or highly payed spokespeople with glib talking points down pat.

The company I worked for owns over 160 mastheads around regional Australia, including the major weekly agricultural papers in each state, barring Tasmania.

It was once part of one of the country’s biggest publishers, but when it was sold to a TV network in 2018 the new owners made it clear they weren’t interested in regional or agricultural publishing, and those mastheads were sold for around AU$125 million.

There was a lot of hope the new owner would re-energise a part of Australia’s media that had been left to wither, and in May last year I wrote about this on my blog in this post.

I didn’t know then I’d end up working for them, but I did and I loved it, writing stories on everything from image issues for red meat to clean drinking water.

I’d hoped it would last but the issues affecting media worldwide started to bite, so after six months I was made redundant just over a week before Xmas.

Now I’m entering the contracting world again.

A year ago I first launched myself as a contractor, but in reality I was totally unprepared. I put to much trust in people who’d promised to give me work, and had a lack of focus on what I would exactly do.

The best analogy I’d give is I was loaded to hunt grizzly bears, but was living on a Pacific island.

This time the promises seem more genuine, and I’ve only been ghosted once so far, and I’ve done more preparing myself.

Early lessons I’ve learnt

Know the area you want to work in eventually. Right now in these early days I don’t think beggars (like me) can be choosers. To get busy and start earning I’m open to anything. But agriculture, agribusiness and farming is where my experience, knowledge and passion is, so I’m aiming to work for clients in that sector.

Know what you want to do. I’ve worked in all sectors of the media, so content, be it video, audio or print is my speciality. I’ve worked in news and communications so can do content which suits both sides. So that is the strength I bring to the market.

Know what you can’t do. I’m not a hotshot camera operator, video editor or sound engineer, but I know what is needed for stories in those mediums, and I know the people who have those skills. I don’t own a state of the art recording studio, but I know where to access one. You have to be prepared to accept you don’t know everything.

Be a sponge, but keep your location in mind. Read about the experiences here and take on board what you see. But keep in mind where you are. With respect to them up front, a lot of the Medium contributions are from US based correspondents, and that means many services they talk about as providing work, like LinkedIn Pro, aren’t available to for us in the land of Oz. There are sites like Rachel’s List and Commtract (I have no paid affiliation with either) and you can also become involved with some of the established recruitment services like Hays. I’ve been looking at others like Freelancer and Upwork, but have yet to make the plunge being a bit scared off from some of the reviews I’ve read. Any thoughts or recommendations from anyone would be greatly appreciated?

I’m not working for free. Even in these early days I know I bring value to the market and I’ve no intention of being paid peanuts. I’ll go and become a lollipop man directing traffice on a worksite before that. The news and media world may be changing, but over 20 years of experience is worth something.

Find some fun side gigs. These may not pay but I’m hoping to get a couple of side gigs happening. Like all writers I reckon I’ve got a good one or two books in me, both fiction and non-fiction. Also I’d like to find out if there’s interest in a podcast combining a book club style discussion with the best surf & turf dining experiences. Any other suggestions?

Those are just some of the things I’m looking at now. Hopefully, all going well, in a few months I’ll have more to add.

My fingers are crossed but I’d love to hear if you have something to say.

If you want to connect on Twitter you’ll find me at @SwanvalesView

I’m getting my blog up and running so if you’re keen to have a look at some of my earlier jottings you’ll find it here.