What’s in a name?

When I started out as a freelancer 100 years or so ago that's what I was - a freelance journalist. No one queried that title or said "Is that all you do?" other than some family members enquiring as to when I would be getting a proper job!

Over the years and two kids later, it became clear that writing for the print media didn't pay too many bills, so I diversified, doing agency work (a stringer), lecturing (a lecturer) and training within the industry (media trainer).

Who's got the real money

As children grow, so do their needs - more money needed. Again I looked around at where I could earn a few more bucks. That's when I discovered who's got the real money - the corporate world. No more did I have to sweat over R2 a word stories - I could actually be paid what an experienced writer should get. Enough to pay school fees.

Yes, some of you are thinking, you sold your writing soul for money - now you mention it, I did - a little...

So writing newsletters may not be what Pulitzer Prizes are made of, but it's using your writing skills to earn a living. More and more freelance journalists today are doing just what I did - diversifying to make ends meet. In many cases, media houses are still paying today what they paid 10 and more years ago and it's simply not enough to live on.

In the last week I've met up with two top freelance journalists who wanted to pick my brains on how to step out of the writing world into the business world.

How did you do it?

How did you do it, they asked? How will I know how to edit business documents? What kind of services do people want?

Well, the answer's not simple. It's often a case of putting yourself out there and learning on the job. The point being that, if you've been a top writer for a number of years, you should be able to edit the average business persons' work and even a company report.

The secret is also never to take on, say a job for a financial organisation, when you haven't got the vaguest idea of anything with the word money attached. The same would go for law or perhaps academia. Here you need a certain amount of expertise.

But everyone has some speciality - so draw on that. If you've been a travel writer then why not offer your services to travel organisations? You know how awful their media releases are - offer to write a free one first so they can see how good you are. And with your connections in the travel media maybe you could help draw up proper press listings.

Same goes for any area

The same goes for any area you feel competent to work in.

AND tell people about your services. Someone will know someone who knows someone who's looking for a decent writer to help them write ............ or ............

In any one month, I can be working on company reports, newsletters and ghost writing. That's the good side of spreading your wings: no two weeks are the same. And, of course, a good website is essential for people to find you.

A joy for me these days is being able to pick and choose what I write and for whom in the media industry; the money's not the key factor any more. And any writer will tell you they love to write. In fact, we'd all just love to sit at our computers writing about real issues every day - if only someone would pay us properly!