8 Practical Tips for MENA Freelance Journalists to Keep Business Rolling

Today’s blog post comes from Ahmed Medien who specializes in online publishing, blog writing and social media marketing. Ahmed has experienced freelancing first-hand after he left his writer job at Tunisia Live (Tunisia’s leading news website) in January 2012. He has tried it all and has failed on several occasions, but has acquired, in the meantime, a lot practical knowledge about the profession. He also had the chance to meet other freelance journalists from everywhere in the region. 

 

If you are a freelance journalist in MENA, then worry no more. There is tons of work for you and a lot of opportunities to become a fully-established reporter in your area. The Arab Spring has brought a lot of change and dynamics to the region. And, most importantly, the world is still hooked to our news. The demand is virtually high, and you are the supplier.

Here are 8 useful tips to become the next legitimate source on Middle Eastern affairs.

The purpose of this post is to help freelance journalists position themselves both financially and professionally in the MENA media industry, and also improve your status as a freelance journalist.

1) Know your priorities

It is important to establish some priorities before getting into journalism. Journalism is a very demanding job. It can be both frustrating and exhausting if you don’t prepare or, as I call it, strategize enough for the job. Your career might not even pick up if you are not sure what you are trying to accomplish with this new job.

Therefore, it is useful to ask yourself some of these relevant questions before starting writing, filming, photographing, etc.: How many hours will you allocate to this new job? Is it going to be your main job? Are you mentally prepared to follow news around the clock in different countries and languages? Do you have the necessary technical skills to make it on top of the market? Are you ready to do it without pay?

Basically, you want to know where you are headed with this profession when you decide to take a stab at it.

2) Make the right investments

The word investments, here, could be interpreted literally and loosely as it could a more expensive phone plan, a tablet, your own website, a better camera, a better sound recorder, a video/sound editing software – you name it.

Basically, you want to make sure that you’ll be using your time and strategic location more efficiently through these assets to help you make the most of your experience as a journalist.

Internet on the go or a mobile device will help you stay connected with people and actions wherever you go if mobility is part of your reporting activity. A better camera will help you deliver better quality photos that will sell more in the market or attract more clients.

3) Get online

This is beyond obvious. It is the most efficient way to interact with your community, larger community, and also engage your audience with the kind of journalistic content that you produce.

4) Seek out an internship

Just like any other profession, you will need job credentials in journalism in order to be taken seriously by other publishers. Therefore, whether you live in a small or bigger city, try to find any media outlet that is hiring a new member in their team. This could be paid or unpaid, but it is really up to you to establish your priorities and must’s in your new career.

Preferably, you want to choose a media organization that focuses on your topics of interests be it a specific city or country, a “region”, foreign affairs, culture, etc. When you do start this new job, you want to absolutely make sure that your organization is completely onboard with staff writing or producing for other outlets. Otherwise, abstain, because it is not professional.

You will also need to quantify your experience at this new job so that you can display it nicely in numbers on your CV/portfolio. For example: I have worked x hours a week. I wrote x many articles with x thousands in unique views and social media shares. I covered x political/cultural/social demonstration events on the ground. I produced multimedia content (video, photos, sound bites) for my organization, etc.

5) Build up a portfolio

Do not limit yourself to your CV. Portfolios can make a difference when a media outlet is hiring a freelancer in the region. Your employer wants to look easily and quickly through your proven publishing, photographing or video experience and a portfolio is the best fit platform for that.

This is why you do also want to make an online portfolio. One of the most famous free portfolio hosts are Carbonmade.com. If you do believe that you even need your own website with more content to yourself, then you may also want to try breezie.com. It allows you a more aesthetic web presence that potential employers can scroll through easily.

6) Take initiative

You have got to take the initiative and go cover breaking news or any other interest of yours even if you don’t have any client yet on the line. You could always find people who would be interested in your work later. This really depends on your ability to market yourself and present your work, but that wouldn’t happen at all if you don’t have the necessary content.

Even if nobody reaches out to you personally and ask you to write or produce any media piece about a particular event, you can literally go to knock on other editors’ doors. Ask them if they would be interested to have this or that. Be creative and authentic with your coverage. This might or might not work. But, you will get some interesting contacts that you will keep for future uses and dates.

7) Narrow your breadth of coverage

This is something to keep in mind as long as you’re doing journalism. You do not want to be the kind of person who does everything. Editors will not take you seriously if you present yourself with a minimal experience – let’s say – and an alleged expertise in 10 different topics. You have got to pick one or two or three depending on what your experience is.

If you are Palestinian and have grown in the West Bank or Gaza, then you might know about the subject legitimately more than other fellow MENA freelancers. Topic expertise could be anything such as Arab Spring, war, Hezbollah, Palestine, business in the Gulf, culture, human rights, Iran, etc.

8) Pay

Pay is perhaps the trickiest subject among the other aforementioned tips. Excessive pay demands or expectations might draw some employers off especially that there are also many competitors in the media industry in MENA. Typical pay for more renowned international media organizations is often in the xxx dollars, but beware that these media companies do also know their way around the region as much as you do. Do not think of robbing anybody off. Never.

It’s hard to determine how much you should ask for pay i.e. your profit margin, as it really depends on your line of coverage, technical skills and experience. Therefore, it is best recommended to talk to peers and try to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the work expected to finish the job.

You have to send out the message clearly enough, though, at the beginning that you are expecting to be paid. You should keep some kind of leverage so that you can guarantee that you won’t be robbed off. However, in case you do agree to waive your rights to a fair compensation of your efforts, please make sure that you will commit your employer into health insurance if you know that you will be risking your life or any other legal liability of that sort.

 Did you like Ahmed’s tips? Follow him at @ahmedmedien or know more about his skills on Nabbesh . 

Freelance Designer in Dubai – What is it really like?

We wanted to give you a peek inside the life of an expat freelancer in the UAE. Danny Ammounah is the CEO and Creative Director of The Design Hat, he is originally from the UK and has settled in the UAE since the 90’s.He started his own agency after working as a designer with agencies such as Fitch and retail art pioneers Gallery One for over 5 years.  And his guest post tells you why he took the plunge and how has his life changed as a freelancer. 

Every freelancer has his own history that led him to his true passion, which then turned into a dream job. This is a little insight into my brief experiences as a self-employed web and graphic designer. The life of a freelancer might seem somewhat idealistic, but in reality its hard work and your work ethic, and your willpower needs to remain strong in order to ultimately succeed. Prior to becoming self-employed I had a pretty regular working lifestyle. I worked all day 9 till 6, came home and usually had more work to do then. This was my life for a good five and a half years. Working for some of the largest design agencies in the UAE, this was an important time and life experience for me as it taught me the basic fundamentals of which I rely so heavily on today.

However, it started to get a little tiring and I saw freelancing as a way of easing up this hectic work schedule and starting a new chapter in my career. I mean why not? I had gathered all the necessary skills and know how over the years, why shouldn’t I take a slice of the cake? The thought of running my own business really excited me but also posed a great challenge as well. Not only would I need to do the actual design work, but there’s also the need to manage the finances, prepare the proposals, find the clients & also get those deals sealed. This is a lot to take on when you are used to having multiple resources and man power available to help collaborate on a project. Now it was just going to be me. It’s a frightening thought but as I found out it’s all about time management and adapting strong organisational skills to your everyday routine. In a way, I find this is the most enjoyable aspect of freelancing.

Being self-employed I have a strong responsibility to ensure that each piece of work I undertake is completed on time. How I manage that time is entirely up to me. If I want to leave my desk and got to the pool, I can. If that means making up the time by working into the early hours, that’s fine. As long as the deadline is clearly set, completed and delivered by then, who is to argue? Mostly, I have been trying to stick to a fairly standard 9 till 6 routine, mainly so that my life doesn’t completely go out of sync with others around me. The freedom to choose when and how much work I do is a fantastic feeling and that’s what really sold this gig to me.

However…

There is one minor downside that I have noticed. Freelancing can usher you into quite a lonely everyday working environment. Generally I’m very happy with my business and don’t get fed up easily, but being on your own Sunday – Thursday can start to test your ability to maintain sanity. To help alleviate this, I often head out to my local coffee shop or business hub and treat this like my mobile office. This a great way to meet other freelancers, take meetings and a puts you in a more creative and buzzing environment than that of your bedroom. One of the greatest surprises when I decided to go freelance was the fantastic support I received. Before I decided to go freelance, I did take the time to asses my options and really examine if this really was the correct move for me. I wasn’t sure at first and it’s never easy leaving a secure working environment for something somewhat unknown and usually risky. But after I took the plunge and the support I received through family, friends, emails and work referrals, I was in no doubt it was the correct decision for me.

If you can relate to Danny’s story, connect with him on twitter, or hire him as a freelance graphic designer via Nabbesh. 

How I Stumbled Into Freelancing as a Résumé Stylist

We are interested in learning about how people choose the freelance journey. This is a guest post by Yvette Ali who is currently a Résumé Stylist by night and homemaker and part-time student by day. Her exhaustive career spans over a period of 20 years in everything from sales, marketing, management, operations to small business. Originally from the United States Virgin Islands, she has worked and served clients both in the USA and the UAE. 

After years of working the 9 to 5 lifestyle, I felt stifled. At day’s end, there did not seem like much room for creativity left in the corporate world. Rumors of company cutbacks pushed me to start thinking what if I lost my job? That in addition to the fact that I needed some extra cash to pay for my college classes pushed me to a brown study mode where I began to identify my marketable skill-sets. I had done a few résumés for my colleagues and students with great reviews and feedback – until one day someone offered to pay me to do theirs. Hence, my ah-ha moment!

I began on a small-scale and grew my clientele base over time via word-of-mouth and eventually social media. Although, this has never been a full-time gig for me, it has allowed me to work whenever I need to and make some extra income. There have been times, I’ve had to turn clients away. But I did not become a great resume-writer overnight, which is my key takeaway here: you must maintain a solid grasp of the latest developments in your area of expertise and focus on selling or marketing one skill that you have truly mastered. Clients looking for freelancers do not want a jack of all trades.

My advice to those who want to become freelancers is to take a close look at all of your current skills and interests to see if any of them can be turned into a freelancing career. This can be just about anything you’re really good at, have good knowledge of, and most importantly really enjoy doing. The possibilities are endless and can run from copywriting, business writing, and audio production to catering, cartooning, researching, social media virtual assistant, photography, proofreading, language translation, medical transcription, tutoring, voice-overs and dog training. The potentials are well worth looking into. Best of all, it’s a business you can run out of your own home right from your kitchen table, although I highly recommend establishing a home office free of distraction. You can establish your own hours and take it to any level you desire! Most  importantly, pursue a path that you REALLY are good at, otherwise you will find yourself pushed outside the door by your more qualified peers.

 

Interested in connecting to Yvette? You can reach her on twitter or via Nabbesh.