Step 1: Abandon All Your Principles

Last week I sunk to levels I never thought I'd reach. I did something I quietly teased my buddy about for months. I actually used my Google Chat status to link to something I wrote. Yep, it's gotten to that point.

It won't be the last time I do it either. I once read somewhere that success is unattainable if you're unwilling to do the uncomfortable. Actually, I might have made that up. Regardless, it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

It's no secret I don't love social media. I've been off of Facebook for more than two years; though I've reluctantly acknowledged that Twitter does have some benefits I'll probably never have an account; I don't subscribe to LinkedIn, nor do I use any of the countless social media applications I read about every day on Business Insider.

Yet social media is crucial to the modern journalist. Sure, the better-known media types, likeTimes columnists, don't need one. But until you achieve that status, you do need to create a following, or else you'll never get to that level.

That's because the old model of print journalism--where you start with a localized beat, and work your way up the ladder towards wider coverage--has given way to a new model. Now, you start with a localized following (friends, family and so forth) and work your way towards establishing a wider audience. The biggest and best media sites want to hire writers who can already guarantee an audience. The upside for journalists is that we can essentially choose our subject matter, but that comes with competing with just about anyone willing to create a blogger account for that audience.

Image: Flickr User Jurvetson. Yep, that's going to be my audience one day.

That's why I linked to a story I had published in my G-Chat status. Unlike many of the features on the site--for example, "The 25 Best Tech Companies to Work For"--it wasn't an eye-catching item that readers could click through relatively mindlessly. It was a longer story whose payoff would only come to the reader who dedicated time to it.

It's also the kind of story I most enjoy writing. It's essentially a profile of an interesting person who lacks name recognition. I got to speak with the subject, Paul Block, at length and learn his story. However, it didn't do well on the site. Maybe the headline wasn't catchy enough, perhaps it wasn't featured at the most opportune time, and it definitely wasn't newsworthy enough to make it to the front page of the main site. But, I believe, it's a damn good story. So if I'm going to get Business Insider to allow me to do more of them, I have to publicize it as best I can. I have to recruit some dedicated readers among my social network, however small it may be, and hope that they return to the site for more of my material.

That's called personal branding and it's a necessity for any journalist today. Much to my dismay, it requires that I utilize social media. But, like the athlete willing to go to whatever length necessary to make the team, I'm committed enough to the cause that I'm willing to be uncomfortable to achieve success.

It's inspiration from that saying--made up or not.