Bobby Warren: A Successful Life After Journalism

I’ve witnessed talented reporters lose their jobs and opt out of traditional journalism jobs — or media altogether — so they can support themselves.”

Rachel Glickhouse

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So wrote Rachel Glickhouse for Nieman Lab, an organization devoted to helping journalism figure out how it can survive in the age of the internet. I think we need an organization to help reporters after journalism.

I worked with some of those very journalists at a former family-owned newspaper in Northeast Ohio. They were reporters who worked all hours of the day:

• Who were out after midnight when a house caught on fire;
• Who awoke the next morning at 5:30 a.m. to make a 7 a.m. school board meeting;
• Who allowed their family plans to be disrupted because duty (or an editor) called, or they saw something on Facebook about a wreck, a fire, or something worse, shots fired.

Journalists willingly did this for little pay because many viewed their career choice as a calling, not as a job. There was something noble about the profession. But, all of the changed when venture capital firms started investing in, buying up and taking over struggling newspapers, leaving many to figure out what to do after journalism.

When local families owned local newspapers, they viewed news coverage as a priority, as a social contract with the communities they served. As ad revenues shrank and circulation numbers dipped, these families continued to invest in news coverage.

All of that changed when newspapers became investments.

The Sad Secret of Journalism Outsiders Don’t Know

The sad secret behind what many view as a rewarding white-collar job is the low pay of journalists. When Glickhouse wrote reporters have left journalism jobs or media altogether “so they can support themselves,” it resonated with me.

I was one of those journalists.

I loved journalism. I loved working for family-owned newspapers in Daytona Beach, Fla.; Washington Court House, Ohio; and Wooster, Ohio.

But, my journalism career ended in January 2018, three decades after it first started in 1988 at the News-Journal in Daytona.

I left journalism after GateHouse Media, then a $1.2 billion media giant, bought The Daily Record in Wooster, Ohio. I thought the purchase would be a good thing. It had deeper pockets. Surely, it would provide more training opportunities. The pay had to be better.

Sadly, I discovered my perceptions were way off-base, which is why I needed an exit strategy after journalism was no longer in my future.

Have you ever started or considered a GoFundMe campaign to pay for emergency car repairs like some of my former co-workers?

GateHouse Media (which has since acquired Gannett and is operating under the Gannett name) came in, raised subscription prices, raised advertising rates, started offering events and contests and premium content … all to raise revenue. It did so because their leaders viewed The Daily Record as a “value.”

However, I guess they didn’t consider the workers a value because none received raises during my time with the company. I needed to make more money to support my family, and it became clear the $1.2 billion company would not be the way to a brighter future.

What is Your Story Involving a Journalism Career?

Is my story similar to yours? Are you a journalist struggling to make ends meet, but ashamed to admit to it? Still paying back student loans on a meager salary? Are you like a former D.C. reporter who could not afford to repair his car when it broke down, so he rode his bike to interviews … and showed up sweaty to a Bernie Sanders interview?

Or, are you like Teresa Stack Hunter, another D.C. reporter who often had to choose between paying bills and buying groceries? She liked to cover events that offered food so at least she would have something to eat that day.

Have you ever started or considered a GoFundMe campaign to pay for emergency car repairs like some of my former co-workers or to help you pay rent or move?

Or, worse yet, did you walk into work one day only to be escorted out of the building because you are part of the newspaper’s plan to pay off the acquisition?

I left GateHouse Media for two reasons: It did not value its employees, and I needed to make more money.

What I Decided to do After Journalism

My path forward after journalism involved the formation of a business. I devised a threefold plan:

1. Conduct search engine optimization audits of business websites and analyze the details to determine why the site does not rank higher in Google searches;
2. Write content for those sites to rank higher in Google searches; and
3. Share the content via social media to increase traffic.

Optimize. Publicize. Socialize.

That was the plan. I seriously thought SEO audits would be the bulk of my revenue. Turns out, writing is. They very thing I love to do pays me the most.

Own a business or be owned by a business.

— Norgard (@BrianNorgard) August 30, 2020

I formed Wooster Media Group LLC as primarily an SEO business, but in reality, it operates more as a content creation company — much to my surprise. Most days, I feel like a freelance writer, and I love it.

On Becoming a Freelance Writer

My wife, Wendi, and I attended the FinCon Expo in Washington, D.C., at the encouragement of Claudia Pennington, who taught me how to conduct SEO audits. While there, I got connected to this incredible community of writers, bloggers, podcasters, vloggers, YouTubers, influencers, and brand reps. I discovered there was a whole new world out there for writing.

I connected with the creators of two personal finance blogs who needed writing. Honestly, it shocked me to discover how much money could be made freelance writing for blogs.

I connected with Clint Proctor, founder of Wallet Wise Guy, who is a six-figure freelance writer. My best year in journalism was $34,200. I thought to myself, “Can you really make $100,000+ a year as a freelance writer?”

Clint assured me it was.

The Freelance Writing Course Helping Former Journalists

Clint told me he took Holly Johnson’s Earn More Writing Course, and it was a worthwhile course. I jumped on it.

In my review of Holly’s course, I wrote how I wasn’t really looking for a writing teacher, but I am so glad I took the course. What Holly did (on her own) was to figure out where to find clients, how to charge clients, how to charge more, and how to work hard day-in and day-in to make a comfortable living.

In other stories about Holly’s success, she talks about how she earned more than $200,000 a year. However, in her private Facebook group for students like me who sign up for her freelance writing course, she revealed how much she made in 2019 — let me just say, the $200k pales in comparison.

I am not there yet, but I am getting close.

What Will You Do After Journalism?

If the financial projections of Wooster Media Group remain steady for the remainder of 2020, revenue will top six figures … perhaps around late October/early November. I realize nothing is guaranteed, but the trajectory is in the right direction.

Are you still working in the industry? Are you ready to leave it? Has it left you? What plans have you made for after journalism?

If you want to be a freelance writer, then Holly Johnson’s Earn More Writing Course can help. Read my review of the course here, or enroll in the Earn More Writing course here.