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Q&A with William Knight: Moving abroad as a freelancer

Posted: 18/05/09 By: Laura Oliver

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In January this year freelance journalist William Knight took the plunge and left the UK for New Zealand.

Moving a career across the globe takes thought and perseverance, Knight tells Journalism.co.uk. So how has he coped with the transition and what new opportunities has launching blog This New Zealand Life brought?

What made you decide to move to New Zealand?
I've had a bit of a love affair with New Zealand ever since I first visited on a Big OE (Overseas Experience) some 15 years ago. As a bit of a geography freak, I wanted to see Fijords at both ends of the globe so I organised a trip to Norway and a trip to NZ on the same, over-excited day.

NZ made an immediate impression with its extreme geology, isolated geography but, above all, with the relaxed attitude to work and play that Kiwis have managed to cultivate. Beers in the office fridge, breaks to go surfing, a more egalitarian working environment. I ended up staying for a year.

When I got back to the UK and met my, now, wife, I convinced her she needed to see the place and she developed stronger feelings about the country than I have. I was happy to come back for another few years, but she was desperate to, so we hatched a plan to move out here with the children some 12 months ago.

It took us until January 2009 to actually arrive.

What impact has the move had on your work as a freelance journalist?
I didn't imagine moving to New Zealand would be a good career move. I've worked freelance for some five years covering design, technology, science and engineering and writing for magazines, newspaper sections and the trade press.

I've been very lucky that most of my work has been through regular editors, coming back with commissions without me having to run the query gauntlet too often. But NZ was a different prospect. While I hoped that I could maintain my regular work it was inevitable editors would want writers closer to home, with a finger on the pulse of the UK, as it were. Even though it was rare to be asked to cover events at short notice or to require face-to-face interviews, moving to NZ, obviously, makes you less flexible.

How did you handle existing commissioning editors and clients?
I briefly thought about not telling any of my editors I was moving away, but decided the move might well close some doors while opening others. There was nothing to be afraid of, I reasoned. Subsequently I've covered NZ innovation for one magazine and Asia Pacific computing for another - commission topics I wouldn't have got before.

But as it's turned out the rate of commissions coming from UK editors has dropped off. This, I think, has as much to do with the recession as it does with the move to NZ. The timing could have been better!

Are you picking up New Zealand commissions?
As yet, however, I've not needed to start chasing work in the UK or in New Zealand. I have approached NZ editors and taken on a few commissions but I haven't yet aggressively tried to build a business from NZ or Australian magazines. The market here is far smaller, supports a much smaller publishing industry, and they have their own economic issues, as in the UK.

One of my UK editors told me: "There is a perception that nothing ever happens in New Zealand or Australia." That, I think, is the biggest challenge to working as a freelance here while trying to win NZ-themed commissions in the UK.

If commissions have a UK or EU theme the challenge is organising interviews that everybody can join without getting out of bed or getting up too early. I've done a few phone interviews at midnight, but I don't function very well at that time. I'm not an owl.

Why did you decide to launch This New Zealand Life?
I realised the numbers of commissions from the UK would slowly diminish and that breaking into the Australasia market would take time so I decided to start my own project.

I'd long been aware of the success of Craig McGinty's This French Life blog and thought the concept would work well for This New Zealand Life. Lovers, partakers and aspirants of life in New Zealand are a geographically-diverse bunch, the web is the only place they could have a magazine-style news and views publication.

After talking it through with Craig and others in the UK and NZ I decided to launch my own site, committing 3-4 hours a day in the first instance.

This has meant evenings working and early mornings, but I can always find more time when I am busy with freelance work in addition to the blog. It's been going for a month now and while it takes time to become an established voice in a particular niche the signs are good. Craig has been a great help driving traffic to the site and suggesting strategies.

I can't help but stress that any such blogging project is bound to be a long-term investment. I've been told this over and over by other bloggers and, at last, I believe it.

What advice would you give other freelancers in your situation?
Like other freelances I don't have thousands of pounds knocking about to buy advertising, PR, coverage and such like, but I do have a journalist's background with many and varied contacts. Getting advice and help from those you know is vital if you want to build your blog's brand. Joining Craig McGinty's network of blogs has helped shortcut the launch process and, I hope, will help get those wild traffic levels all bloggers dream of.

In time, This New Zealand Life will grow to provide a modest income for the time invested, and I will be in control. There will be no more copyright grabs, missing payments or rushed deadlines and the articles I write will continue to earn, well into the future.

Despite modern communications, moving to the other side of the planet will always affect your freelance work. I've attempted to make the affects minimal, but starting my own blog has meant I am more in control of my destiny. It's not a replacement for freelance work, yet, but it's an excellent insurance policy to keep you fed, watered and sane.

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freelance | new zealand | william knight | thisnewzealandlife |

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