Name: Claudio E. Cabrera, 25

Current City: New York City (Manhattan)

Looking For: A Sports PR Position, Freelance PR / PR Internship Leads, Journalism Opportunities

Our Notes: He’s fashionable, award-winning and game-changing. He won the Independent Press Association 2006 Award for Best Article on a Social, Racial, or Immigration issue. The article, Punishing Phone Call Tax for Prisoners’ Families forced the New York Congress to confront the issue.

Skills: Writing, Editing, Public Relations

On the Web: Live Above Mediocrity

Mopwater: Where do you see yourself fitting into this industry?

CC: Well, I can’t say that I dreamed or even still dream of becoming a publicist; it’s just something that I have experience doing and actually like. But, I don’t like the agency side of it [because] I don’t like being hovered over. I feel I’m at my best when I’m able to sit down and speak with a client one-on-one and develop a plan of attack to garner him/her press. Not to say I wouldn’t take a position with a firm, but I prefer freelancing.

Mopwater: Describe your work history, including relevant internships, up to this point.

CC: While I was in college, I was a paid intern for over two years for the NY Amsterdam News, one of the oldest black newspapers in the country. I was brought on by the owner, Elinor Tatum, and former Editor in Chief Jamal Watson. I covered news in the Harlem community and garnered close to 100 clips at the weekly publication.

I also interned for TravelwithVal.Com, a website that focused on travel deals and destinations. It was a great experience because it exposed me to  a field of writing I was never familiar with. I’ve also interned for the Columbia Records A&R and Universal Music Enterprises Catalog Department.  I was also a writer for DefJam.com profiling artists and generating news pieces.

After graduating [from Brooklyn College] in the summer of 2008, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to find a job considering the direction the economy was headed in. But I contacted a company called yoonew, whose focus is in sports tickets; and considering that I have experience doing ticket re-selling and journalism, I was brought on as their PR Manager. Read the full story

Freelance writers are really a publicist’s secret weapon.  Building relationships with freelancers can be a great way for PR pros to get coverage for their clients, because freelancers often write for multiple publications. And if a particular publication folds, a freelancer will often have relationships with editors at other outlets that publish similar content. The main downside to working with freelancers is  they are often much harder to reach than staff writers or editors, because they don’t have a permanent home at any given publication. But hard to find or not, freelancers present an awesome opportunity for publicists.

Why They’re Great

Freelance writers are generally passionate about the subjects they cover. They have to be since they are usually working outside the comfort and security of a staff reporter position.  Freelancers, generally speaking, are self-motivated go-getters who hustle their content to editors until they get someone to buy.

They’re a great resource because they’re often hungry for content. Since freelance writers aren’t on staff, the more they write, the more money they make. Simple as that.

Freelancers can write for more than one publication.  A business writer could easily freelance for Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and their local Business Journal.  Many often do.  This bodes well for publicists and people looking to get coverage because you can go “multi-outlet” shopping when working with a freelancer.  The down side is that you could work with a freelancer on a story for months only to have them pitch it without success. But that’s the gamble. Read the full story