Freelance Writing

My Secrets to Side-Hustle Success

A woman smiling, sitting before a table covered in magazines
Writing for magazines like B-Metro, Birmingham, and Good Grit has been a key part of my side hustle success.

This year my side hustle not only helped me make money but cost me money, too.

During tax season many people use their tax refund checks to plan trips, splurge on fancy dinners or new outfits, or beef up their savings. And usually, I’m doing one or all of these things. But not this year. This year I wasn’t doing any of these things because this year instead of getting a check from the IRS I had to send a check to the IRS — a check for an amount of money that had a comma.

And I was so excited!

You see, when I talked to my accountant about why I suddenly had to pay back all this money he explained it was because I’d had such a successful year with my side hustle — See Jane Write LLC and my freelance writing. This was good news for me since I was planning to make my side hustle my full-time career, which I did last month.

Related Reading: So…I quit my job!

If you’re eager to learn my secrets to side-hustle success, keep reading.

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Girl, Stop Procrastinating!

Last month I read Rachel Hollis’ new book Girl, Stop Apologizing and it has me ready to write a book of my own — Girl, Stop Procrastinating!

Girl, if you really want to be a writer you have to write! You can’t just think about writing. You can’t just talk about writing. You can’t just post quotes about writing on social media. YOU MUST WRITE.

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A Girl’s Guide to Freelancing

I had my first byline when I was only 19 years old. I pitched and wrote a story for The Birmingham Times, the Southeast’s largest black weekly newspaper, and it was published! Since then I’ve had the honor of seeing my byline in publications all over the country including The Seattle Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today and a number of national magazines. Today I write for several local publications including B-Metro magazine, StyleBlueprint Birmingham, and Birmingham magazine. 

Today I want to offer a few tips on how you can start freelancing for your favorite publications, too.

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Media Maven: Robin Colter of B-Metro Magazine

Today I’m launching a new feature here at See Jane Write — Media Maven, a series of interviews with women in media. I’ll be talking with women in newspapers, magazines, television, radio, online publications and more.

To kick things off I had a talk with Robin Colter, creative director of B-Metro magazine, a publication for which I write a monthly column. Even though Robin has been editing my work for years I didn’t know much about her journalism journey so I was eager to hear her story.

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What’s the difference between a blogger and a journalist?

blackburn institute

On August 27 I had the honor of returning to my alma mater, the University of Alabama, to serve on a panel at the Blackburn Institute, one of the nation’s most unique and dynamic leadership development programs for college students.

The panel I was on was called “How to Find the ‘Truth’ in the Shifting Media Landscape” and was all about how to discern fact from opinion in a world full of blogs. podcasts, alt-weeklies and more.

Despite my experience as both a full-time and newspaper reporter and a freelance magazine writer, I was there mostly to represent the world of blogging.

During the panel discussion an audience member asked, “These days how do you determine if someone should be called a blogger or a reporter?”

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