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Personal branding · Creators and public voices

Your bylines live on somebody else's website, and your next job depends on them.

Personal branding for a journalist is control of your own record: the clips, the beats and the contact route that stay with you when a masthead changes hands, a desk is closed or a site is rebuilt.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

A professional shares her expertise in a recorded interview

In one paragraph

Personal branding for a journalist is control of your own record: the clips, the beats and the contact route that stay with you when a masthead changes hands, a desk is closed or a site is rebuilt. GullySales assembles that archive once and keeps it current with you, inside whatever your newsroom's policy on outside work allows.

Also written for

Journalist, Editor, Correspondent.

For journalists and editors

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “Your archive can be deleted by somebody who never met you”

    A publication redesigns, drops its back issues or shuts the desk, and ten years of reporting stops resolving. The stories were yours. The links never were.

  • “Editors commission the name they can check”

    A features editor with a slot and a deadline goes to whoever is visible and quick to brief. If your recent work is scattered across four sites and a paywall, you are harder to pick than somebody with a page.

  • “Sources judge you by your record, not your masthead”

    A person deciding whether to hand over documents wants to know what you have written before, how you treated people in those pieces, and how to reach you without going through a newsroom switchboard.

  • “Independent work needs a business nobody built”

    Freelance commissions, a newsletter, a documentary, teaching at a journalism school. All of it comes through your name, and none of it has an address, an invoice or terms behind it.

What we do

What we deliver for journalists and editors.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A clip archive that cannot be taken down

    Every significant piece captured with its date, outlet and headline, held on a site you own, with the original link where it still resolves. Built once, topped up as new pieces appear.

    Result: Twenty years of reporting stays yours through any change of employer.

  2. A page that says what you cover

    Your beats, the languages you report in, the regions you know, the formats you work in, and what you do not take on.

    Result: Commissions that fit, and fewer pitches from people who never read you.

  3. A contact route you control

    A way for a source or an editor to reach you that does not sit inside a newsroom inbox you may lose access to, with your stated position on what you do with what you are sent.

    Result: The tip arrives with you rather than at the desk you left.

  4. Panel and teaching material

    A biography, a current photograph and the subjects you can speak on at a conference, a university or a policy forum.

    Result: Paid appearances that used to go to a colleague with a bio already written.

  5. The hour about the beat

    One call about what the reporting has taught you that never fits inside a story. We draft, you cut it to what you will defend, and nothing goes out without that. If the hour is not there, skip this piece and keep the archive, which is worth having on its own.

    Result: A public position on your subject that costs you no story.

  6. The freelance side with paperwork behind it

    A rate note, an invoicing profile and written terms on rights and kill fees, so a commission does not stall inside somebody's finance department.

    Result: Freelance money that arrives in the month it was promised.

How the result is measured

  • Enquiries that name you or came through your profile
  • Searches for your name, from Search Console
  • Profile views and connection requests from your industry
  • Speaking invitations, press enquiries and podcast requests
  • Posts published against posts planned, and what held up the rest

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full personal branding page

How it works

How the work runs for journalists and editors

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Work out whether this is even your bottleneck

    The first conversation covers how enquiries reach you today. If the company's own site is the weaker link, that comes first, and we say so.

  2. 2

    Search your own name with you

    We look at what a buyer sees today: every profile, old listing and photograph. Some of it you will want taken down, and some of it only you can take down.

  3. 3

    Agree what you will and will not say

    The subjects you know cold, the ones that belong to your clients, and the lines your regulator or association draws. Written down before anything is published.

  4. 4

    Rebuild the profiles

    The bio page, LinkedIn and the directories that matter in your field, done once and done properly.

  5. 5

    The routine

    Interview, drafts, your approval, publication. The interview is the only part that needs you, and it is the part that cannot be skipped.

  6. 6

    Hand it over

    The subject list, the drafting notes and the calendar are yours. If you would rather keep it running yourself, that is a fair outcome.

Before you hire anyone

The first thing to do yourself.

It costs nothing, and it shows what a buyer sees before they ever call you.

  1. Search your own name and your practice or business name in a private browser window, and list the first ten results.
  2. Open your profile on each major platform and check that the name, photo, description and contact details agree.
  3. Ask two people who recently chose you what they looked up first, and write down their answers.

Judge any provider

What to ask any agency or ghost-writer.

Useful whoever you choose, including us.

  • Who writes my words, and do I approve everything before it goes out?
  • Which of my own details and claims will you need to check with me before publishing?
  • What will you not write because of the rules my profession follows?
  • Whose account do the profiles and the content sit in, and what happens to them if we stop?
  • What do you count as a result, and what will you not promise?

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

GullySales builds every engagement from three pieces of sales work. This page is not one of them, but the same three steps apply to the business behind it.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Is this a conflict with my employer?
It can be, and that call is yours before it is ours. Most newsrooms have a policy on outside writing, paid speaking and anything resembling an endorsement, and some contracts claim your work outright. Show your editor the plan before we build anything, and we keep inside whatever they agree to.
Will you pitch my stories or get me coverage?
No. We do not approach editors for you, we have no relationships to trade, and we would not put a reporter in that position. We start by looking only at what a search for your name returns today.
Does this make me look like I am for sale?
It would if it were done as promotion, which is why it is not done that way here. A clip archive, a stated beat and a contact route are things a newsroom already expects of you. Brand work and sponsored anything stay out of it, because the day you take one, your sources read everything else differently.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on what is being changed and how many of the people who matter see it. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever the work touches, such as your profiles, your website or your accounts, and time with the people who can answer our questions.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

Creators and public voices

Personal branding for the rest of the creators and public voices.

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Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

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