As an experienced journalist and editor, Alex Shakespeare provides content, editorial, PR and brand consultancy services for customer magazines, lifestyle brands and startups. She is also a Senior Lecturer and Course Co-Ordinator at Oxford Brookes, working regularly on academic publications and research papers. Alex shares her advice with us based on extensive experience of freelancing.
1. Introduce yourself and what you do.
After 20+ years working as an editor and journalist in the UK and Middle East, I am now a full-time Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, where I am also the Course Coordinator of the BA Media, Journalism and Publishing programme. In 2020 I developed and launched a new MA in Journalism at Oxford Brookes. Details about the courses can be found on the Oxford International Centre for Publishing website. Currently, I am a co-Associate Editor of an academic publication, the Journal of Magazine Media. I commission peer reviews of academic research papers. I live in South Oxfordshire with my husband Mark, a Digital Designer, our two children, and a Birman cat companion strangely named Bacchus.
2. How and why did you start freelancing?
I have been freelance at different times in my career. Sometimes by choice for more flexibility and creative freedom, and to gain the experience I needed to climb up the career ladder, and sometimes I had to in order to survive! The first time I was freelance was about three years into my career after I had graduated – I was a web editor at IPC Media where I was developing the very first website for Marie Claire UK and working on a women’s network called BEME.com. The Internet was booming – until it wasn’t. During the first crash (the dot.bomb period around 2001) many publishers closed their digital operations. So, I went straight into freelancing for print titles (as well as some consumer brands) by pitching content ideas – readers weren’t ready for online content and publishers hadn’t figured out yet how to monetize digital. The next time I was freelance was during my maternity leave for my two children. I needed the flexibility to work from home but #WFH for a salaried employer was not a huge thing then! So I built up my own client base.
Now working at Brookes full-time as a Senior Lecturer, I teach others how to be journalists and I only take on the odd freelance feature commission, usually during my annual leave in the summer months when there isn’t any teaching. I also occasionally work on ad hoc editorial consultancy projects for clients via the Oxford International Centre for Publishing.
3. Where do you find your clients and new projects?
Mostly word-of-mouth recommendations from my network of contacts built up over 25 years in the industry, but also via my website, and I have also had clients approach me via LinkedIn, which has been really fruitful in terms of commissions and jobs over the years. When I was a full-time freelancer I would pitch ideas to editors (some I knew, but most I didn’t) and approach potential clients too, and this was vital in terms of ensuring I had enough commissions to pay the bills! You have to be extremely proactive and line up work continually. Projects and pieces come in all shapes and sizes and all sorts of routes – there are now pitching hubs that will connect you with clients, sometimes a job interview that isn’t successful can result in a commission, or I would be asked to take on regular day shifts or maternity covers in editorial offices off the back of relationships I had forged and the strength of my freelance work.
4. How do you know what to charge?
You get to know the rates over time but there is a real lack of transparency in the creative industries. These days, other freelancers and contacts will share rates so you can get an idea. You can also find actual industry databases with this kind of information, sites like journoresources.org.uk, and on Twitter – sometimes freelancers and commissioning editors tweet their rates. Other times you can gather insights by following job ads published by B2B organisations like cision.co.uk and working out a day rate around that. Make sure you track down the trade title for your industry and read it religiously. There have also been times where I work my rate out on the cost of living.
But the best advice I can impart is to ALWAYS NEGOTIATE because a lot of budgets are not fixed. Remember also, that the more experienced you are, the more publishers and clients will pay for projects, shifts, and pieces so your rate will constantly evolve. And if you ever get inquiries from clients who want to know your rate before they commission you, reply by saying: ‘What is your budget please’? If they insist on you kicking off the negotiations, then work it out (as above) and double it!
5. What are your must-haves as a creative freelancer?
- A professional website that houses my portfolio, for marketing purposes – forge out a personal brand for your professional persona and promote your USPs, talent and interests across all your platforms.
- Access to industry insider job boards, trade titles, and professional networks such as Twitter and Linkedin – build useful connections constantly.
- Always read/watch/listen/follow/connect to the publications, organisations, and brands you are interested in working for – across all platforms – and invest in subscriptions if they are behind a paywall or in print and expense the costs via your self-employed tax return.