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With the last year bringing so much uncertainty to the media industry, many journalists are choosing to parlay their skills into content roles in the public sector - and what's not to love? Job security, a regular paycheck and super make this an attractive proposition. But what do you need to know before you take the leap? Journo Nigel Bartlett, who's currently working as a content designer in a government role, joins us to share his tips on: - Updating your LinkedIn so you're attractive to government agencies and have a desirable skillset - How to find the right jobs - either via LinkedIn or agencies recruiters or HR departments - At what stage you should negotiate flexibility (eg working off-site, even part of the time) - How to assess whether a government role is right for you - Skills that are important and those you'll pick up (Nigel's picked up some great UX skills which are in high demand) - And much more.

Low-paying clients. We've all been there as freelancers - so how do you deal with it? In this episode, we cover several scenarios: What to do if you're offered work then told the rate is ridiculously low How to raise your rates with low-paying clients you already have How to weed out low-paying clients from the get-go, without wasting time How to educate clients about market rates. Tune in for the scripts we use with clients, how not to burn bridges (in case that client pops up somewhere else or suddenly gets more budget) and how to nip scope creep in the bud - which often seems to happen with low-paying clients! Plus, we tackle the great debate about whether to put your rates on your website and some strategies on how to use your website as a digital gate-keeper for the tyre-kickers who'll just waste your time but not hire you (or pay you what you're worth). Resources: The Rachel's List pay rates report Grab 20% off the following tools for the next week with the code BYTE20: Mini Masterclass: Your essential guide to quoting freelance projects Ebook: 25 Scripts for Freelance Success

This week, Rachel and Lynne talk all about how we can build up a powerful network with a special guest – Tory Archbold. Networking! Sometimes that is a word that drives fear into people’s hearts, but we think that Tory Archbold has a great take on it. She calls it connecting rather than networking and has developed some easy and introvert-friendly ways to connect with people – and help those connections to take your business to the next level. About Tory: Tory is an entrepreneur, CEO and business coach. She has run her own business for many years and now helps women find their own superpowers and take their business to the next level through courses and one-on-one mentoring.  Some of the things we discuss with Tory include: Why developing a network is so important How to make LinkedIn work for you How the pandemic has opened up opportunities Why sharing the engagement and results of your work can lead you to new opportunities How her coffee date system works How to connect without sounding pushy  Tips for meeting via Zoom or virtually How to connect with Tory Website www.powerful-steps.com Instagram @powerfulsteps Podcast Powerful Stories with Tory Archbold Book a coffee date with Tory  link is https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=20045920&appointmentType=15489103

This week Lynne and Rachel share their tips and tricks on how to repurpose and reuse content, without plagiarising. We think writers are crazy if they don’t keep track of what they’ve written about and revisit those topics – but we're talking updated, fresh, completely new articles. Not a spit and polish and a re-sell on the old one. We talk about: Using fresh ways to tackle the same subjects How interviews with new experts can give you new angles on stories Using new research to update existing stories How to get two articles out of the same topic How you can put procedures in place to stop repeating yourself when writing about the same subjects We also mention the Plagiarism Checker: https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/

With the last year bringing so much uncertainty to the media industry, both Rachel and I have known a few former colleagues who have moved to onto other roles – and even whole new careers. However, it can be a tricky switch, so in this episode we're chatting to careers coach Jane Jackson about making that step. A bit about Jane: Jane is a Career Management Coach, LinkedIn Top Voice 2020, Founder of The Careers Academy membership portal, host of Your Career Podcast and author of Amazon best-seller Navigating Career Crossroads. Over the past 20 years Jane has coached thousands of career changers, empowering them to make a successful career transition and create their dream career. Jane’s MISSION: To make career guidance accessible and affordable to all who need it globally. In this episode, we talk about: - LinkedIn, marketing yourself and visibility - Job-seeking trends Jane's seen during the pandemic - Sideways careers and options for journalists - Retraining and transferrable skills - Keeping your spirits up when the job hunt goes on (and on) - Important skills for a future AI-dominated world of work - Future-proofing your career going forward - Jane's advice for all job-seekers looking for work Further reading From the Rachel's List blog: Just been retrenched? Careers coach Jane Jackson shares her tips Where to find Jane LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janejackson/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneCareerCoach  Website: https://janejacksoncoach.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janecareercoach  The Careers Academy: https://www.thecareersacademy.online/  

Newsletters are big bikkies right now - so how do you create one that people want to open week after week? In this episode, that’s a question we put to  Sophie Hansen, creator of the Monday morning missive 5 Things To Be Cheerful About. Sophie shares the story of starting the newsletter, why she chose the format she did, and how she grew her audience. Plus, if you’re considering starting your own newsletter, you’ll get Sophie’s great tips and advice on how to do it and get that all-important momentum. About Sophie Sophie Hansen was born and raised in Sydney, and now lives with her family (husband Tim, daughter Alice 13, son Tom 11) on their deer farm just outside of Orange in country New South Wales. She trained in print journalism (at the University of Canberra) and has over 20 years experience as a features writer and content creator. She is currently writing her fourth book, her third In Good Company is to be published by Murdoch Books in April 2021. Her second cookbook, A Basket by the Door, is in its fourth reprint and widely distributed around the world. She spent three years working with Slow Food Editore in Northern Italy in her twenties and for the past ten years has been sharing recipes and social media tips on her two blogs Local is Lovely and My Open Kitchen. She also teaches social media and content marketing to producers and small businesses across Australia. In 2016 she was awarded Australian Rural Woman of the Year (via the Federal Government’s Agrifutures initiative) in recognition of her commitment to rural communities. This week we chat to Sophie about: Why she decided to start 5 Things To Be Cheerful About How she went about bringing the newsletter together, designing a template and choosing the whole look’n’feel What her process is for collating the items and writing it How she’s built up her subscriber base and grown her newsletter community What a typical day looks like for her How the newsletter is an important piece of the marketing puzzle What it’s like being a freelancer in rural Australia Her advice for anyone thinking of starting a newsletter. Where to find Sophie Local is Lovely website local-lovely.com 5 Things To Be Cheerful About Subscribe here LocalLovely Instagram www.instagram.com/locallovely A Basket By the Door Buy here 5 Things to be Cheerful About Podcast

Hosts Rachel Smith from Rachel’s List and journalist and content creator Lynne Testoni talk about what we have learnt during 2020 – and how it has made our work better. Last year took us out of our comfort zones, but it wasn't all bad. We each share our tips on what we are doing differently because of the pandemic.

It's been a great year of stellar guests ... and in this bonus Christmas episode, we each share our top five tips and moments from the year that's been. Plus, find out the episodes in our back catalogue we really think are worth a listen. Merry Christmas!

It's no secret that media has been doing it very tough for several years now, with magazine closures and redundancies across the board. Add in a pandemic and it's been the year from hell for editors, staff and freelancers alike. So how has a magazine like delicious. just gone from strength to strength? And what do you do when you're editorial director of a travel brand like Escape during a time when no one's getting on a plane? We chat to Kerrie McCallum about all of the above and more, plus what she looks for from freelancers these days. A must listen for any journalist in the travel, food and lifestyle space. 

Pitching. It's something we all need to be doing as freelance writers if we want to ensure our pipeline of work is always full. And in today's episode, we welcome veteran journo and university lecturer John Burfitt to share his pitching system, ways to generate ideas, tips on following up and dealing with rejection, and much, much more. A must-listen if you want more pitching success and regular commissions landing in your in-box.

In this episode, we talk about our experiences freelancing and working around children - the childcare we've chosen and why, the government help we've tapped into and other interesting tips for freelancers who may be thinking about starting a family.

Are you a freelancer with a website who struggles to blog regularly? This week, we have a longer episode for you that's packed with gold from digital marketer and trainer Brook McCarthy. Brook talks to us about why blogging is so essential, the mistakes writers make when blogging and topics we should be considering. Plus so much more. Grab the show notes at rachelslist.com.au

A shrinking media landscape was one of the reasons journalist Nicola Conville started to explore other career options - and she'd always wanted to work for in the NFP sector. In this episode, she shares how she got her job as a content manager at the UNHCR, which skills of hers have been most useful, and her advice for other journos at the career crossroads.

Whether you're renovating and creating a dedicated home office for yourself, or just carving out a corner for a workspace - this episode is all about bringing the elements together and creating a space you want to work in. 

This week we're excited to chat to journalist and founder of Interiors Addict Jen Bishop, whose one-time passion project has become an incredibly successful interiors website. She spills the beans on her milestone moments, why she doesn't pay much attention to SEO, lessons she's learned and why she thinks journos should be taking advantage of the huge content marketing industry. Plus a whole heap more!

Whether you're writing a print story or a piece for digital, the headline is all-important. In this episode, we explain the differences between each, share our tips for writing great headlines including those requiring keywords and list our favourite online headline tools to speed up the headline writing process.

Hosts Rachel Smith from Rachel’s List and journalist and content creator Lynne Testoni talk to Sara Tasker of MeandOrla and Hashtag Authentic about Instagram and how to make it work for you as a freelancer. About Sara Sara is an Instagram Expert and Creative Business Coach, best-selling author and host of the successful podcast Hashtag Authentic where she shares Instagram strategies and support. She runs courses and retreats on Instagram and has more than 200,000 followers on the platform – last time we checked.   In this episode we talk about:  How Instagram differs from other social media channels in that it is visually driven, rather than words-driven Instagram Stories and Reels – how they work and the difference between them Why Instagram is prioritising Reels in your feed at the moment Why you shouldn’t be pressured into creating content that doesn’t feel right to you How to use the analytics to create stickier content How to create content that will bring you business as a freelancer Why it’s a good idea to change your Instagram account to a business account if you use it for work – and what the change will bring you in terms of features in the App. Here are some links we mention Buffer (Rachel’s scheduling tool): https://buffer.com/ Mosaico (Sara’s planning tool): https://www.mosaicoapp.com/  Find Sara Tasker Website (with links to her courses and book, Hashtag Authentic) MeandOrla https://meandorla.co.uk/   Instagram: @me_and_orla   Podcast - Hashtag Authentic     The Content Byte   email: thecontentbyte@gmail.com   Web https://www.rachelslist.com.au/blog/the-content-byte-podcast/ https://www.lynnetestoni.com/podcast-the-content-byte   Instagram @thecontentbyte @lynnetestoni @rachelslist and @rachelsmithjourno   Facebook @thecontentbyte @lynnetestonicontent @rachelslist.com.au  

If you do a lot of interviews for editors or clients, you need cost-effective, time-saving systems that work for you. In this episode, we talk about the tools, apps and services we've used and the ones we go back to again and again. 

It's been a crappy year and many of us have lost work, faced extended lockdowns and isolation, and suffered poor mental health to boot. If that's you, what steps can you take to feel better? In this episode, we talk about what works for us to boost mood, motivation and a sense of positivity.

JobKeeper payments are changing in the coming weeks, and many freelancers know what a minefield it can be! If you're relying on it to prop up your income right now, accountant Holly Shoebridge shares all the information you need to know in this week's episode.