Four years ago, digital marketer Jack Appleby found himself out of work. 

It wasn’t great timing, coming right at the onset of the pandemic.

He had one advantage, however. He had accrued 30,000 Twitter followers by posting regularly on social media for years.

On June 30th, at 11:48 a.m., he tweeted: “Big news: I’m free for hire thanks to COVID.” 

He ended saying: “Give me a shout, let’s make something cool.”

Within 24 minutes, he received a direct message from Twitch that led to a job paying $200,000. 

Overall, he got 100 offers for job interviews from that single post, which was seen by 250,000.

Jack understood something about social media that most people don’t. By writing something valuable online you can build a community akin to a digital field of dreams.

Then, when you call, they will come. 

Jack told that story to explain the value of having an online presence to five dozen reporters at a Journalists Club event hosted by Phil Rosen, who writes the financial newsletter, Opening Bell.

“There is no better job security than having a personal brand,” Jack told the group.

Jack spoke on a panel with Evan Frolov from Morning Brew and Joseph Milord from LinkedIn.

One irony is many journalists in the mainstream media are surprisingly passive on social media. They may follow people, but don’t actively engage beyond posting links to their own stories.

I noticed that recently when the Wall Street Journal fired two dozen journalists from its Washington, D.C. bureau. A review of the people affected showed few had large followings most rarely posted and some had no profile at all. 

It’s true some news organizations restrict employees from posting.

But there is often a way to be active without violating the terms.

A former colleague of mine at Bloomberg is a case in point. By day Steven Dennis covers Congress, but at the end of every week he curates examples of insane house listings. He calls it #Fridaynightzillow. It’s helped him gain 169,000 followers.

There can be negatives to writing on social media. Jack said he’s had to fend off the mob on occasion. He takes pride in having blocked more than 1,000 people. 

But the pros outweigh the cons, he said, especially when so many reporters are getting fired and need to find new work.

“Be shameless,” was Jack’s advice. “It will help your career.”