Spot.us story on oil spill published

http://spot.us/stories/63

That's the place to go to read by San Francisco Bay oil spill story on Spot.us. Other Web sites or newspapers are welcome to pick up the free story, which was funded through "crowdfunding." The check to me is in the mail. Nice to have some freelance work published. Now on to my next story for Spot.us, about the cost of installing solar power in your home.

Thankful for the little things

As one of my favorite holidays of the year approaches, (what could be better than gathering with friends and family and eating?) I try to remind myself of what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving and how it relates to my job hunt:


I'm especially thankful for the family and friends who have encouraged me during my job hunt and who try to help in many ways.


I'm also thankful for the many part-time jobs I have and to the state unemployment department for keeping me off the streets by providing me some money in exchange for my hard work or my taxes. It seems like every day I add up how much I'm making, or about to make, from my part-time work, so that I'm sure I'm making progress. I've detailed these before, but here are the many jobs and/or projects I'm working on that are either bringing in a semi-regular paycheck or I hope will soon someday:

1. United Reporting. A great company that has treated me well as I collect police arrest logs for them.
2. AOL's personal finance site, WalletPop.com, where I'm among a host of bloggers who write daily. I've said it before, but if you want to read my stuff that would have made it to this blog, at least some of it, then bookmark this:
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/bloggers/aaron-crowe/
It's a Web site I plan on writing more for, and a job for which I'm very grateful for because this blog led me to it.
3. Spot.us, a community funded reporting Web site where "crowdfunding" is used to raise money for serious journalism in the Bay Area. I have two story pitches there, one of which I plan on writing soon.
4. Writing, editing and designing city newsletters. With only one client so far, the work is sporadic but gives me hope for the future. This is work that I think will start to increase early next year as I push to plant more seeds for my consulting business.
5. Investigative work for a company that does background checks on executive hirings. Early next year I expect this job will start, where I'll go to courthouses and gather public documents on potential hires.
6. RedwoodAge.com, a Web site devoted to people 45 and older. It's an Internet startup in Mill Valley and so far I'm not making money at the blogging and few stories I do for the site, but I hope it will someday pay off well, as many people who work at startups look for.
7. The Public-Press.org, a noncommercial news site for the Bay Area that is expected to go live with news in January. The site is already running, and for now mostly deals with the need for alternate media. I'm volunteering at this Internet startup as an editor, although I don't expect it to be a paying job anytime soon. For now I'm helping coordinate stories and I'm also blogging about the media.

Lots of work, although I'm trying to concentrate on the actions that pay and less on the ones that don't, because bills still have to be paid. I'm writing in four blogs, only one of which pays, so some of that writing may have to be cut back. All of that doesn't leave me much time to look for full-time work, which is my ultimate goal, so it may soon be time to rethink my strategies. My hope is that some of these part-time jobs and volunteer work will lead to full-time work somewhere down the road. This blog, a non-paid effort, led to a part-time gig for AOL, so at least that worked.

For all that, and all of you faithful readers, I'm thankful. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

The problem with freelancing

One problem I'm running into as a freelance journalist is identifying myself as such and being taken seriously by sources. Or getting callbacks.

As you may already know, I have a story pitch on Spot.us, a Web site where people donate money to have a story done. One story I'm working on is a follow-up to the oil spill in the San Francisco Bay a year ago. When asked what news organization I represent, I respond that I'm a freelancer working for Spot.us and that my story may be picked up by newspapers but will most certainly be on the Spot.us Web site and other Web sites. So this morning I make a few calls and after the source checked out the Web site, I could almost hear her laughing in her head about who I represent and how the official I'm trying to reach may not want to talk to me because of his limited time and because I'm from a startup Internet site. But, she said, I could talk to her (the public information officer), which is OK but not like going straight to the source. Frustrating.

Retiree bios

In the search for employment, if not a full-time job, I'm trying to increase my freelance business. I'm editing city newsletters, trying to find a way to get blogging to pay, and I'm now trying to drum up business at Rossmoor and other retirement communities by writing short biographies for people. I placed a small ad in the Rossmoor News, offering to write peoples' stories and bios as something they can give to their grandchildren, children, friends and family. It can be a few pages long or a short book. Few people ask their grandparents about their lives, and fewer get it on paper to save for generations to read later, so I thought this would be a good gift someone could give their family to remember them by.
Rossmoor is a retirement community in Walnut Creek, CA, and other than the ad I'm trying to figure out a way to maybe meet with a group of people there to propose this bio idea, or get the word out in a larger way. I'm also planning to visit a few retirement homes in the area. So far, no bites on the ad, but I keep plugging away.