Tag Archive for professionalism

Thoroughness and Fact Checking

June 2, 2012 Business Tips, Working 2 comments
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Facts are a journalist’s stock in trade. Getting them right is key to your credibility. So what happens when you make a mistake?

Earlier this week I attended a product launch event. It was a spectacular launch held in a proper theatre, with the string section from an orchestra, celebrity host and currently popular artist doing a song. I was flown in for the event.

The whole thing took about two and a half hours. To get there, my day started at 5.00am with a drive to the airport, flight and cab to the event. By the time it was over, I headed back to the airport and sat in the lounge to quickly look at the new product. I only had about 20 minutes but I noticed something that hadn’t been mentioned at the launch.

In my rush, what I had thought was something previously unmentioned was actually a mistake on my part. However, as it was unexpected, I called the vendor’s local representatives and asked if this was a feature of the device. They did some quick checking and confirmed that this was an important new feature.

So I made an error and the “fact” was confirmed as “correct” by a trustworthy source. I wrote the story and it was published online. I did note in my story that I hadn’t tested the feature.

These sorts of errors are likely to become more common. Not because journalists are less competent but because we live is a world of short news cycles, short attentions spans and limited resources for validating information.

I’m fortunate that most of the work I do is not news-related. So I usually have time to thoroughly test and check my work before submitting it to my editor. But with news, it’s often a race and that sort of time isn’t available. Coupled with my need to get on a plane, I rushed, made a mistake, got some bad information and ended up publishing with an error.

Credibility is critical for a successful freelancer. And getting the facts right is a core competency for a journalist. Next time, I’ll be more thorough and won’t push something out until I’m 100% certain.

The Business of Freelancing

March 31, 2012 Business Tips, Guides No comments
Freelancing - Taking Care of Business

This afternoon, I gave a presentation titled “Taking Care of Business - Tools and Tech for Running your Freelance Business” at the annual 2012 Freelance Conference. The crowd was great and asked some incisive questions. Freelancing is a tough gig and I’d never have made a success of it without taking what others shared with me. this was a chance for me to give something to my freelancing comrades.

Once of the challenges of such a talk – I only had 45 minutes including question time – is to cover such a broad topic and do each part justice. I’m hoping to organise a longer version – perhaps a half or full day seminar on the business of freelancing – in the near future. If you’re interested let me know.

However, here’s my slide deck from today. Naturally, it’s not the same when you just look at the slides without the rest of my presentation. I’ve added a couple of extra slides here to add some extra information.

Time Wasting Clients

January 11, 2012 Fun Stuff, Working No comments
time-wasting-clients

Some clients expect you to be able hit short deadlines even though they delay sending you important information and are clearly out of their depth when it comes to managing time and organising a project.

New media equals new opportunities

January 10, 2012 Business Tips, Working No comments
Image credit: Grant Robertson

New media offers new opportunities for journalists and freelance writers. Technology has changed the world, and allows us to think and communicate in different ways. For journalists, this means keeping up with new communication methods and, without compromising your professional integrity, adapting to new and spontaneous media forms, like blogging and social media.

Image credit: Grant Robertson

Traditional print media has a history of protocols and expectations that ensures the communication of quality and reliable information, and journalists can easily sink into comfortable patterns that have been proven with time. New media and the Internet can often be overwhelming to established journalists, as it requires them to adapt and forgive some of those well respected practises they took so long to develop.

But new doesn’t mean poor quality. New doesn’t mean transient, and it certainly doesn’t mean a lowering of professional standards or respect. Sure there are countless websites filled with irrelevant dribble, some just to stand attractive to search engines, and some only holding a vague resemblance to the English language. But as a journalist or professional writer,  you don’t need to join them. Hold your own standards high, because there are plenty of online outlets who will take you on, and give you opportunities to explore your areas of specialty in new and innovative ways – without sacrificing the quality of your work.

Radio is a time-proven traditional media format that promotes intimate communication, and podcasts take on the same objectives. The only difference is that they are broadcast on the Internet and can target niche audiences. If you have recently worked on a project through traditional media, transfer the same message into audio format. Minimal technical equipment is required, and using basic research skills you can find a podcast publisher that attains both high levels of traffic and a reputation for quality broadcasts.

Blogging

The debate over a blogger being a journalist won’t die out soon, however what do you call a journalist who blogs? Does a journalist instantly lose their integrity when they publish online and explore the issues that interest them both personally and professionally?

Thousands of high-profile journalists around the world keep their own blogs for a variety of reasons, including self-expression, a break from constrictive corporate rules, or simply to get down and dirty with the raw issues that are of importance to them.

While professional blogging certainly doesn’t pay the high rates of printed media, it often won’t take you as long. You can also keep your own blog and use this as a networking tool to interact with other professionals, and score new and diverse projects online.

Information Products

Corporate work allows for journalists to transfer their skills into the production of annual reports, internal magazines for clients and colleagues, online web systems and innovative promotional products.

Corporate doesn’t always mean big, ugly and corrupt. You can also check out charities you are passionate about, the publications they produce in print and online, and also work with other professionals in creative areas like graphic design, film and animation.

Small and boutique creative studios are producing impressive and alternative products like wall calendars, coffee table books, and information wall art. These jobs probably weren’t around 40 years ago, but they certainly are now. They just aren’t advertised. You need to open your mind, talk to people outside your industry and work out ways to integrate and expose your skills.

Social Media

People are still learning how to use social media. There are plenty of public mistakes, and plenty of anti-social profiles that seem to forget the essence of social media, is actually interacting. As a freelancer, you can make your own rules, but just don’t forget the basic factors of communication and publishing. Know your audience, write for them, check your facts and invite a response.

If you are an established journalist you will naturally attract enthusiastic followers who will be eager for some insight and entertainment. Just take some time to work out your own objectives, and what you’d like to achieve through social media. You have the power, because this time you are the publisher, and your publications are instant.

Get creative. Think ahead.

Ultimately, a journalist is responsible for the accurate and timely communication of news, facts and relevant information. Keep these objectives in mind, but also open your mind, to consider the emerging platforms available to your profession.

Keeta Nova is a journalist, copywriter and content strategist from Sydney, Australia. She helps small businesses, entrepreneurs, and innovative publishers create impressive printed and multimedia content. Keeta Nova is the editor of Brilicious Lifestyle Magazine, sports reporter for Cornerman Magazine,news and blog, and contributor to No Bull Business Deals Magazine.

Setting up your own email

December 6, 2011 Business Tips, Guides, Tools No comments
email-at-work

Although there are lots of free email services like Gmail, Windows Live and Yahoo!, setting up a domain name and customised email address is much easier than it sounds and can be done by anyone who has a moderate level of computer literacy. If you can follow instructions, type and use a mouse – you can set up your own email.

It’s really worth doing this if you’re in business. It makes you look more professional, it’s cheap and it means that you are the master of your domain (pun intended) so that your email address won’t change of you swap your ISP. It also means that you can set up multiple email addresses for different purposes.

Also, it means that you can separate your home life from your work – a good thing for freelancers trying to ensure that the work/family balance is maintained.

One other thing – it should only take an hour or so to set up the email account but it can take up to 48 hours for the changes to take effect. You’ll be editing something called a DNS record for your domain and it can take a couple of days for the changes to propogate across the entire Internet. However, it’s possible that the email will be active in less than a couple of hours.

This isn’t a comprehensive guide – it’s an overview of the process. Most service providers have comprehensive instructions on their websites. The problem I’ve found in the past is that knowing where to find those instructions is a challenge.

Step 1 – Register a Domain Name

A domain is a unique name that’s used to identify a internet resources. When you look at a web address it will be in the form www.journoadvice.com. The domain name is the “journoadvice.com” part.

To claim or register a domain name, you need to go through one of the companies that has been authorised to hand out domain names. This company is called a registrar.

There are lots of different registrars to choose from. And although they are all selling similar products, they all offer different extra services and, therefore, charge different prices.

If you’re purchasing a regular “.com” domain name, then it’s pretty much a free-for-all. Sure, you can’t purchase a domain that would obviously misrepresent you and thou can’t cybersquat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting).

When you’re choosing the registrar you’ll be buying the domain through, makse sure that you will have the authority to make modifications to the domain’s DNS record. I know that sounds very complicated and nerdy but it’s actually easy as long as you’re allowed to do it. Most registrars allow this but a few charge extra.

I usually purchase my domains from GoDadddy (http://www.godaddy.com). You’ll need either a credit card or PayPal (http://www.paypal.com) account to make the purchase. It’s important that you shop around. Although I use GoDaddy – I’m not necessarily recommending them as being a good choice for everyone.

If you do choose GoDaddy, pay attention as you go through the ordering process. The ordering processing has some fairly heavy onselling so make sure you don;t buy anything extra that you don’t need. In particular, don’t pay four the email hosting option as there are free options available.

Domain registration for a “.com” address is about $12AUD per year from GoDaddy.

If you want a “.com.au” domain, then you’ll need to go to a registrar that is accredited for Australian domains. There’s a list of Australian domain registrars (http://www.auda.org.au/registrars/accredited-registrars/) at the AUDA website. You’ll need an ABN in order to register a “.com.au” address.

Step 2 – Set up the email service

Once the domain is registered, you’ll need to create an account with an email provider.

There are several options here. I use Google Apps but there’s also Microsoft’s Live and Crazy Domains offers unlimited email storage and up to 50 different addresses for less than $20 per year. A web search for “free email hosting” will reveal lots of options and leads.

If you choose Google Apps, then you can do the domain registration there so that Step 1 and Step 2 are combined.

Once you’ve chosen your preferred provider you’ll need to enter some information. You will need an alternate email address as well as the one you are setting up. Your current, non-business one will suffice.

This process is very straightforward. All you need to do is follow the instructions. There’s nothing tricky or technical to do.

Step 3 – Putting the domain and email service together

Back in Step 1 we said that you needed to ensure that you had control of your domain’s DNS record. The DNS record is the information that tells the world what to do when someone tries to access your domain.

For example, it’s the DNS record that directs the world to your website when the enter “www.yourwebsite.com”. It’s also the DNS record that tells the world where the mailboxes for tour domain are so that email is delivered correctly.

In order to make the appropriate changes with your email provider, you’ll need to prove to them that you own the domain you’re registering. To do that, you typically either need to upload a file to your website or make a chnage to the domain’s DNS record. If you haven’t yet set up your website, changing the DNS record is the easiest thing to do.

If you’ve chosen Google Apps for your email, they provide detailed instructions for modifying the DNS record. In summary, the process involves:

  1. Logging in to your domain registrar’s website.
  2. Going to the Account Management area of the site
  3. Opening the DNS record for the domain you’ve registered
  4. Making the changes as instructed and saving the changes

The process should only take a few minutes to do but up to two days to take full effect.

Once your ownership of the domain is confirmed, you can change the DNS record so that your email uses the new domain name. This involves changes the MX (Mail Exchange) records in the DNS.

It’s important to enter the information exactly as directed, including any trailing fullstops and ensuring that there are no extra spaces accidentally typed in or other errors.

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