Good advice: Poynter’s 6 tips on getting freelance journalism work

You know what’s hard? Making money as a writer these days.

Oh, you did know that? One way to make money—and it’s one of the hardest, if also one of the most common—is to freelance.

Poynter.org offered some advice on freelancing last week from author and journalist Beth Winegarner in the form of an article headlined 6 tips for getting gigs as a freelance journalist and an embedded chat.

You should read at least the whole article to benefit from Winegarner’s advice, but to get you going, here are her six tips:

• Create a network and continue to build it
• Research potential publications—and their editors
• Pitch on subjects other reporters are missing
• Pitch more than you can write
• Create an online portfolio
• Share the wealth

By “share the wealth,” she means that once you’ve made some headway as a freelancer, which you’ve done thanks to help from the connections you’ve made in the network you’ve built, it’s time for you to help others who are trying to make their way as freelancers too.

But really, that’s just a restatement of the first tip. The way you create a network is by being a person who offers value to others, not just a person who seeks value from others.

So the whole thing’s like a big circle, see?