The Business of Me: Online, June 4-6

Photo by Flickr user Victor1558

Whether you’re working in a mainstream news organization or striking out on your own with a blog, news site or freelance business, we’re all media entrepreneurs these days.

In this three-day webinar, learn how to brand and market yourself and to pitch your ideas, plus understand the basics of financial and time management.

Identify five next steps to advance your career as an entrepreneur.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Charli Penn-Watkins successfully transitioned from journalist to entrepreneur after her blog, "Man, Wife & Dog," found a dedicated audience. Photos copyright manwifeanddog.com.

How to:

• Turn your idea into a business
• Brand yourself and project your worth
• Pitch your idea
• Build a community of followers
• Find funding
• Manage your time and finances

IS THIS WEBINAR FOR YOU?

This webinar is designed for both those thinking about setting up their own media business, as well as those within mainstream media organizations who want to approach their jobs with an entrepreneurial bent. Even if you’re not setting up your own business immediately, you’ll learn how to better brand yourself as an expert and increase your value to your current employer.

AGENDA: The Business of Me

June 4: What’s your brand and your business idea

• Who are some journalists who have made the leap to being entrepreneurs?
• How to turn your idea into a business — What IS my idea? Is this a “business”? What resources exist to develop a business plan?
• Branding yourself — What is my expertise? How can I use the Web and social media to establish myself as an expert?
• Determining and projecting your worth — How to use Web analytics to track your reach online.

June 5: How to pitch your idea

• How to pitch your idea — Perfecting the elevator pitch, finding contacts and how to connect with others.
• Exercise: Volunteers practice pitching followed by group critique.

Mark S. Luckie

June 6: Nuts and bolts of building your business

• Building a community/following online
• Financing your business: How do ad networks, crowdsourced funding and alternative ideas work?
• Managing your time and money — How do you balance a full-time job with outside work, plus keep up with the records for your business?
• Discussion: Identify five things to do to advance your career as an entrepreneur.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Mark S. Luckie started a new job in June 2012 as Twitter’s creative content manager for journalism and the media. He left a position as the social media editor for The Washington Post. He founded the 10,000 Words blog in 2007 and sold it to Mediabistro in 2010.

Luckie is an experienced journalism trainer and also the author of The Digital Journalist’s Handbook.

FIRST-TIME ATTENDEES

Check out our Technology Help Page for connectivity requirements, helpful tips and an instructional video on how to access Reynolds Center webinars. You will receive an email with the URL and instructions on how to join the session. We archive recordings of all our training at http://bit.ly/self-guided-training.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This webinar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. Those who attend three of the center’s training events are eligible to receive a Circle of Achievement certificate. If you have any questions about the center’s training, please email Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

Self-guided training in being an entrepreneurial journalist

Please check out other Reynolds self-guided training on entrepreneurial journalism, branding and social networking:

• Getting LinkedIn — Sourcing through Social Networking
• Digital Efficiency for Business Journalists — 36 Tips to Tame Info Overload
• Sales Strategies for Freelance Business Journalists
• How to Launch You.com — Build Your Personal Website
• How to Be an Entrepreneur as a Business Journalist
• Social Media 101, 202, 303