Tax Time for Freelancers

Hi All,

Quick post: remember to file your taxes by April 15. I know you know this, but seriously - it's crucial. And if you're a freelancer new-to-the-game, make sure you know what you owe and what you don't. Check out the IRS site for self-employed peeps and consider paying in installments throughout the year.

'Tis all for now!

(I have to finish straightening out my own taxes :-)

~The Enterprising (Aspiring) Media Maven*

A Chance for Female Media Pros to Rock the World

Remember when you got into J-school and vowed to change the world through your work? Well, if you're a woman and a journalist, here's your chance. The McCormick Foundation is giving away three $10,000 grants for projects in new media that will impact the world. Check it out at the New Media Women Entrepreneurs Web site. As always, you can thank me later.

Fashion Week Coverage from an (Aspiring) Media Maven

New York City's Fashion Week has been going on for about a week, and one of my friends - another (aspiring) media maven, is covering it all - LIVE! Check out her finds on her blog, Around Town Brown.

Get some mentorship in your life!

This week I'm beginning a new formal mentorship program tailored toward young media professionals. It was started this winter by a group of friends who wanted to share their knowledge of the industry, learn a thing or two and have cocktails along the way :o)

Its members are mostly in their 20s and 30s, work at well-known media companies and are part of great professional organizations. (For those of you "in the know," it's a burgeoning Ed2010 - minus the no-TV-people-allowed rule and plus the have-a-little-melanin-in-your-skin request.)

Anyway, side-stepping some connective dots, here I am with yet another person to offer me advice on my career. And I say another because I collect mentors and career advice like middle-age women collect Hummels. Ever since middle school I've sought out people to emulate professionally (you know, other than my artist/guidance counselor mom and minister dad). I never did it because anyone told me to, or really even suggested it. I started sitting at the heels of the well-heeled because I wanted what they had achieved and knew that they knew how to help me attain it.

Now, this may seem like a no-brainer to you, but I'm sure someone out there needs this advice: mentors, whether informal or formal, can provide you with professional insight, give you an industry status boost and help you develop career clarity. If you're older than 18 and don't have one, you need to get like Beyonce and "check up on it" (um, for all you non-pop culture savvy folks, that means "inquire about the matter :o)

With that stated, I'll be posting more about mentorship relationships and my own new experience in the near future.

Until then,

~The (Apprentice) Aspiring Media Maven*

P.S. For information about the growing networking group I'm a part of in the Big Apple, contact me directly.

UPDATE: You can still contact me directly, however, the group - Color Bars - now has a website: http://www.colorbarsnetwork.com/ Go check it out!

Why Katie Couric Rocks...

Back in the day, I loved Katie Couric on the Today Show. Then, she went to CBS to be the nightly news anchor. Clearly it was a promotion - her chance to run with the big boys (first female nightly news anchor in U.S. broadcast history) - but it didn't allow her to shine. Now, the station unofficially for old people has given her that chance.

Tonight I finally got around to watching the primetime interview special she did with Lil Wayne. And though she seemed a tad uncomfortable at first, she eventually owned that interview - creating a nice juxtaposition between interviewer and interviewee. In my opinion, this was a great example of entertainment journalism. And that's why Katie Couric rocks :o)