ASBPE’s “Solopreneur: Exploring the Business of Contract Journalism” is a 10-part webinar series, plus additional resources, that dives into the business side of freelance and contract journalism. During this series, we’ll cover key considerations and steps to launch, build, and sustain a successful contract journalism business.
We’ll cover topics including:
- Considerations for Launching a Contract Journalism Career
- Workshop: A Checklist for Your Transition
- Building Your Freelance Business Presence
- Keeping the Pipeline Full: Finding & Securing Contract Journalism Jobs
- Creating Bullet-Proof Contracts to Avoid Scope Creep & Negotiating Rates
- Tax Planning, Wealth & Retirement Planning for Freelancers
- Managing a Solo Workload: Project Management Tools & Tips
- Striking Work-Life Balance: Time Management Strategies for Freelancers
- Harnessing Contract Journalists + Pitching
- Scaling Your Contract Journalism Business with Referrals & Subcontractors
- Plus, we’ll share more resources!
Join this journey toward Solopreneur success, whether you’ve been a freelancer for most of your career or you’re a staffer just starting to think about this transition. This series will advance your knowledge about starting and building your freelance business, offer tools and strategies to help grow and scale your approach, and provide continuing education and improvement opportunities for our more seasoned contract journalists.
We’ll leave plenty of time for questions during each webinar, so come prepared, and keep an eye out for blogs and other resources we’ll be adding throughout the series, too.
Webinar registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members.
Solopreneur Webinar Series
Is “Freelancer” a Dirty Word? Considerations for Launching a Contract Journalism Career
Join professional contract journalists Diane Sears, Founder and President of DiVerse Media and author of Tapping Your Inner Entrepreneur: Making the Move from Employee to Business Owner, and Jen A. Miller, award-winning freelance writer and author of the Notes from a Hired Pen newsletter and ebook series, as we dive into the business of contract journalism in the first webinar of our Solopreneur Series (hosted September 5, 2024).
In this engaging Q&A, Jen and Diane explored:
- Who’s transitioning to contract journalism and why
- The key considerations for making the transition from publication staff to solopreneur
- What to research before you even begin a transition, including your new title and how to determine your services
Moderated by ASBPE Vice President and Founder/Chief Content Officer of Bantamedia, Brooke Bilyj, our speakers laid the groundwork for our Solopreneur series and celebrated the importance of freelancers in our industry–whether you call yourself freelancers, contract journalists, indie journos, savvy solopreneurs or something else entirely.
Solopreneur Workshop: A Checklist for Your Transition
Join professional contract journalists Diane Sears, Founder and President of DiVerse Media and author of Tapping Your Inner Entrepreneur: Making the Move from Employee to Business Owner, and Jen A. Miller, award-winning freelance writer and author of the Notes from a Hired Pen newsletter and ebook series, as we workshop a smooth transition from a publication staffer to independent contract journalism business. We’ll walk through a checklist that covers every step of the transition, from creating a business plan, to researching and setting rates, to addressing federal and state business regulations and requirements (hosted September 19, 2024).
Moderated by ASBPE Vice President and Founder/Chief Content Officer of Bantamedia, Brooke Bilyj, this interactive workshop-style webinar will help aspiring freelancers navigate this transition to launch their own business.
Keeping the Pipeline Full: How to Find and Secure Contract Journalism Jobs – November 14, 2024
Join ASBPE as we explore searching for and securing contract journalism jobs — from one-off articles to remote editor positions. Tatiana Walk-Morris, independent journalist and content writer, and Joanne Y. Cleaver, journalist, editor and author, will cover finding clients, how to be found by staff editors, tips for pitching, getting referrals, and more.
Moderated by ASBPE Vice President and Founder/Chief Content Officer of Bantamedia, Brooke Bilyj. We’re leaving plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members.
Building Your Freelance Business Presence – November 21, 2024
Learn how to promote and grow your freelance business through your digital presence and in-person networking. Adina Solomon, résumé writer and owner of Relevant Resume, and former freelance journalist, and Kristen Hampshire, freelance journalist, content creator, and owner of WriteHand Co., will take you on a tour of building online portfolios, launching websites, and elevating your social media presence. They’ll share the best tools and channels to use to fuel your digital presence and workshop real-life tips for in-person networking, including networking for introverts.
Moderated by ASBPE Vice President and Founder/Chief Content Officer of Bantamedia Brooke Bilyj. We’re leaving plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members.
Creating Bullet-Proof Contracts to Avoid Scope Creep & Negotiating Rates – December 17, 2024
For December’s Solopreneur webinar we dive deep into the world of contracts. You’ve heard and experienced the horror stories of poorly built contracts – now hear the tips, tricks and best practices top contractor Brooklin Nash, co-founder and chief executive officer of Beam Content, uses to avoid the tears and drama. Plus hear from Christina Pannos, Esq., owner and founder of Pannos Law, who will discuss the legal aspects of how to build your contract, the critical components and language to avoid.
Moderated by ASBPE Vice President and Founder/Chief Content Officer of Bantamedia Brooke Bilyj. We’re leaving plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members.
Tax Planning, Wealth & Retirement Planning for Freelancers – January 15, 2025
As a freelancer, you might have worried about — or not even stopped to think about — retirement. In this session of our Solopreneur series, we’ll be joined by Certified Financial Educator Julia White from The Financialpreneurs and Strategic Solution Professionals who will shed some light on real steps you can take now to improve your tax planning and create a plan to build wealth and retire well as a freelancer.
Moderated by ASBPE Vice President and Founder/Chief Content Officer of Bantamedia Brooke Bilyj. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members.
Managing a Solo Workload: Project Management Tools & Tips – January 2025
Long-time freelancers and project managers join ASBPE to talk about managing the solopreneur workload. Attend to learn the best project and content management tools and tips to streamline your work and even to automate some of your business needs.
More details to come. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members. Registration will open soon.
Striking Work-Life Balance: Time Management Strategies for Freelancers – February 2025
Now that you’ve heard about managing the work, let’s talk about how to manage your time and build better work-life balance. Long-time freelancers and a busy editorial director share their best practices for time management, along with tools and tips to keep you focused and sane.
More details to come. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members. Registration will open soon.
Harnessing Contract Journalists + Pitching – March 2025
Join three top editorial leaders for a discussion on what editors actually look for when hiring freelancers, their tips for pitching and landing stories, best practices for working with your editor clients, plus their pet peeves and the pitfalls to avoid.
More details to come. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members. Registration will open soon.
Scaling Your Contract Journalism Business with Referrals & Subcontractors – April 2025
Learn how to level-up your freelance business through referrals, adding subcontractors, and even marketing yourself as an agency. We’ll walk through the steps to cultivate a trusting team for broader project opportunities; how to spread out a heavier workload; and the tips, tricks and tools that help make it all possible.
More details to come. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions!
Registration and accompanying resources are free for ASBPE members, and $10 per webinar for non-members. Registration will open soon.
Solopreneur Resources
Register for the individual webinars or access our members-only webinar archive for incredible resources built for freelance and contract journalists by fellow contract journalists, including:
- Solopreneur Recommended Reading List
- Solopreneur Transition Checklist
- One-Page, Simple Business Roadmap Template
- Business Resources List
- Business Entity Comparison Chart
- The Freelancer’s Guide to Optimizing Your Website
- The Freelancer’s Guide to Résumés & LinkedIn
- In-Person Networking Tips for Introverts
- Where to Look for Freelance Work – Idea List
- Tips for Outreach & Pitching
- Letter of Introduction Samples & Templates
- Important Contract Components (Descriptions in Layman’s Terms)
- And more!