Maria Schneider left mainstream publishing behind last year to start Editor Unleashed, a site covering writing, publishing and social media. Share tips and advice for startup journalists here.

Downsizing, layoffs, newspaper and magazine closings have put journalism on the most endangered careers list. But hundreds of smart journalists are realizing the opportunity and using their connections, reporting savvy and deep knowledge of their subjects to start sites covering their familiar beats.

These bootstrapping indie journalists are learning to run their own small business, including tending to many details they never had to worry about before—ad sales, marketing, promotion, tech and design to name a few.

Here, five former mainstream media reporters share their tips and best advice for creating a startup journalism site.

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The Reporters

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James Erik Abels was recently laid off from Forbes where he covered the digital media beat. He’s launching a network focused on video reports of media going digital on Three Minute Media.

Laura Rich was downsized from Portfolio magazine, which folded earlier this year. She recently joined several Conde Nast refugees in the launch of Recessionwire.

Tom Foremski left his newspaper job five years ago and now reports on his own site Silicon Valley Watcher.

John Rebchook covered real estate for the Rocky Mountain News, which folded last year. He’s launched InsideRealEstateNews.com.

Elizabeth Larson was a journalist working for the local weekly newspaper when she left the corporate newspaper scene three years ago to launch the Lake County News.

Here are some of the biggest factors to consider if you’re thinking about going the indie journalist route:

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Startup Costs

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The biggest startup cost is most likely going to be your time. With powerful open-source platforms like WordPress.org readily available, startup costs tend to be negligible.

But don’t quit the day job yet. Most indie journalists support their efforts in the beginning through freelancing or holding on to their day jobs while working on startup sites in their off-time.

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Advertising and Sponsorship

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This is a sticky point for many indie journalists who have upheld the typical church vs. state stance about advertising. Some sites, such as RecessionWire, bypass this problem by establishing relationships with ad Networks. Federated Media handles ad sales for RecessionWire. Another ad network to check out is BuySellAds.

And for Silicon Valley Watcher, Foremski has built partnerships with several sponsors who pay him on a regular basis, leaving him free to concentrate on journalism rather than sales.

(Editor’s note: Federated media is a partner of Mashable)

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Tech and Design

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Many indie journalists rely on a cadre of talented friends and family members, and bartering for getting their site up, logo designed etc. Preferred platform: WordPress.org with a template or premium theme.

“If you want to write text on a single topic area, the most cost-effective and efficient method may be publishing your words on a simple WordPress theme,” says Abels.

Some journalists with tech help build sites with Joomla! or Drupal. But most startup journalists say WordPress is the most cost-effective option and easiest to master so you can focus primarily on the content.

For low-cost logos and design help, two more good resources are 99 Designs and Crowdspring.

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Audience Development

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Of course, developing an active social media presence through Twitter and a Facebook Fan Page is critical to developing a readership. But for hyper-local journalists, face-to-face community building is also crucial to the mission. “When you’re ready to launch, make contact with community members you trust and respect as well as the local leaders who you’ll be covering to introduce your site,” says Larson. “Community support for your effort is critical, and having the respect and response from your sources will help you lead the pack.”

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Best Advice for Indie Journalists

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Foremski: “It’s a tremendous amount of hard work. If you want a nine-to-five job don’t do it. Advertising won’t be able to support you unless you have very high traffic and that will take time to build. The noise level is huge and getting louder, it is ever more challenging to stand out and build traffic.”

Rebchook: “I think it is crucial to have a targeted niche. In my case it is real estate. I would then get sponsors for the site. I heard of one person who launched an online real estate blog in another state who has no sponsors, no ad revenues. He is writing for free. I think that model is unsustainable.”

Larson: “First, realize that this is going to be an incredible amount of hard work, with the occasional 20-hour day and lots of headaches. Also realize that when you own it, all the work you do really belongs to you, and the rewards can be amazing and gratifying.”

Rich: “Do it! But have a good plan for keeping the site fresh. Either consider posting several times a day with smaller bits, or post even just once a day with something meaty. Having a good structure for content – categories of topics, regular feature types (we have regular features like Recession Concessions, Recession Lexicon, The Recession Will End…) will help organize your thinking about stories.”

Abels: “I say do it. Not everyone will succeed, but I really believe that business is about gut instincts, hustling, and taking risks. Launching your own product is a part of how the market works—it respects people who have an idea and figure out how to make it a reality.”

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More journalism resources from Mashable:

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- The Journalist’s Guide to Facebook
- The Journalist’s Guide to YouTube
- Is Crowdfunding the Future of Journalism?
- The Journalist’s Guide to Twitter
- Everything I Need to Know About Twitter I learned in J School

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, enot-poloskun

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Reviews: Drupal, Mashable, Twitter, WordPress, iStockphoto

Tags: how to, journalism, Journalist, online journalism

[Mashable]

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