Successful Freelancer Spotlight: Jane Boursaw

Good Monday morning readers! Today I’m putting the spotlight on Jane Boursaw, a veteran entertainment writer and blogger who lives in Traverse City, Michigan.

Jane blogs about the film industry at FilmGecko.com, which is part of the b5media network, and at WeSeed.com. She also is the co-lead blogger for two TV blogs, AOL TVSquad.com and CliqueClack.com. She writes a syndicated family movie column, ReelLifeWithJane.com. And in the past, Jane also has written for People.com and SoapNet.com.

I have received so many questions from readers in recent weeks about blogging that I thought Jane would be the perfect person to interview about the subject. And for those who want more information and coaching beyond this article, check out Jane’s six-week blogging course.

Can you tell me a little bit about how you became a full-time freelancer? Did you work in a regular 9-to-5 job at any point during your career?

I started out writing for local publications in the 1980s, and also wrote and edited a newsletter for a local food co-op. After several years, I started querying and writing for national magazines, including Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Ladies’ Home Journal, SELF, Fitness, USA Weekend, Christian Science Monitor, AARP, iVillage.com and many other print and online publications. My celebrity profiles have appeared in American Eagle Latitudes, Emmy magazine, Valley Life magazine and others. I also write a syndicated family movie column called “Reel Life With Jane.” Home base is www.ReelLifeWithJane.com.

I moved into blogging about five years ago—about the time blogging was gaining steam. I held a few office jobs out of college, but haven’t held a “regular” 9-to-5 job since getting into writing. I’ve always been freelance.

How did you get started blogging? Do you do other kinds of freelance work, or do you blog almost exclusively now? What do you enjoy most about it?

My first blogging job was a now-defunct baby boomer Web site that came to me looking for a TV blogger. At that point, I had a personal TV blog and a personal movie blog—basically, just to get into a routine of blogging and also to show editors I could do it.

The baby boomer site came across those  blogs and e-mailed me about writing for them. So even though I wasn’t making money from those first TV and movie blogs, they were an important stepping stone to the work I do now.

Right now, most of my work is blogging, but I still write celeb profiles and entertainment stories for a few publications in addition to my syndicated family movie column, which includes monthly and weekly versions.

I love blogging for a lot of reasons: 1) it gives me the freedom to be myself, rather than trying to conform to a certain magazine’s style; 2) I’m writing in niches that I love (movies, TV and celebrities); and 3) it’s immediate.

After writing for magazines for many years, where an article might take months, even years, to see the light of day, it’s such a joy to write something and have it appear online immediately. I love that blogging is fast-paced, keeps me on my toes, and requires constant motion, which, frankly, I’m pretty good at! I like to always be moving forward, learning new things, and looking for entertainment news hot off the wire. I work a LOT, but I enjoy it.

For the writers who don’t have a blog, why should they consider creating one? In your opinion, what  can blogging do for your freelance career? Does it give writers a competitive edge?

A blog can serve a lot of purposes: 1) to show editors that you’re knowledgeable and can write in a specific niche, as I did with my early movie and TV blogs; 2) to create a platform to write, sell or market a book; 3) as a place where you can just let loose with your own personal thoughts and ideas about . . . whatever! Sometimes it’s nice to just have a place where you can do that, where you don’t have to worry about pleasing anyone but yourself. Dooce.com is an example of a very successful blog that started out as a personal journal that struck a chord with readers—and hence, advertisers.

A blog can help to build a freelance career, but it has to be in constant motion, which requires some time and commitment. You should plan on posting a minimum of three times a week. Every day is even better.

For those freelancers who want to start blogging, but don’t know where to start, what would you recommend as some first steps?

Take my blogging class! I’m offering a 6-week blogging class through Renegade Writers that will teach blogging basics, including program options, offline editors, tags and categories, drawing readers and creating community, social media sites, images and videos, contests, blogging jobs, and more. For more info:

Aside from my awesome class, scout around the Web and see what blogs attract your attention. Check out the text, graphics and colors, to get a feel for the sort of blog you’d like to have.

From your experience, is it possible to make a living as a blogger? Any advice for others who want to learn how to make money blogging?

It’s definitely possible to make a living as a blogger, but as mentioned, you’ve got to be willing to put the time and commitment into it. But some people, like me, love the constant motion every day. One of the best ways to make money blogging is to apply for a job in one of the many blogging networks, such as b5media. They handle most of the nuts-and-bolts of setting up the blog and attracting advertisers; also, you instantly have a community of other bloggers with whom to interact and share ideas.

As far as blogging platforms are concerned, do you have any recommendations? Should people consider buying a domain name? What about Web hosting?

There are some easy (and free!) ways to get started blogging in minutes, including Blogger.com and LiveJournal.com. You choose a domain name, see if it’s available, pick out a template and start blogging!

Many people start blogs, but find it challenging to keep them going. Any advice?

I’ve heard that a habit takes 21 days to form, so look at it this way: If you blog consistently at a nice pace for 21 days, it gets easier to stick with it and keep blogging. And if you feel blocked or don’t know what to write about, sometimes just getting those first few words down is all it takes to get a post going.

One of my favorite books is “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. He talks about this very thing—creating daily habits where you do things (blogging or writing), even when you don’t really feel like it. Sometimes it’s all about getting past that resistance and getting something—anything—down on the screen. The rest will follow.

Any advice for people who want to start a blog but just don’t know what to write about? How do you come up with ideas?

As mentioned, blogging is a big commitment. I feel strongly that in order for your blog to succeed, it has to be something you love to write about every day. Think about what strikes you, what you’d be doing if you could do anything, and whether you can maintain a blog on that subject day after day. That’s what you should be blogging about. Sure, you’re going to have down times where you think you just can’t write one more word about [fill in the blank]. That’s ok, too. As an entertainment blogger, I write about movies and TV shows I don’t necessarily love. But in the big picture, I love the entertainment business and can always find something interesting to write about.

Once you start writing a blog, how do you drive traffic to your site? Any tips on how to find regular readers and promote your blog?

I’ll cover a lot of this in my class, but there are tons of ways to draw readers to blogs, starting with writing interesting posts with fun images, to using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to draw readers.

If people want to learn more about blogging, where would you recommend they go for more information? Are there classes that people can take to learn some tips and tricks? Are there any books, Web sites, or blogs about blogging that you would recommend?

One of my favorite go-to sites for blogging is problogger.net, maintained by Darren Rowse. Also, take my blogging class!