Originally Posted by slowpoke
Thank you.
Mate - unbelievably lucky.
A few people have asked me how I got into the gig. Now is probably a good place to answer.
Honestly - I Somehow seem to have been right time and place from about 4 weeks after we arrived here,
I had my site up and running and Mr Crosby at Shaft liked what he saw and got me build theirs - and it's been a whole domino effect from there - so random chance has something to do with it - along with the right skill set.
I suggest the way to break into motoring journalism is to just start doing it.
All I do is go and beg, borrow or requisition a bike from somewhere (the guys at AMPS have been great to me, Triumph NZ I owe big time too), be objective, be positive (face it - there are no crap bikes now days - just some better than others and every one is different) and write 'a composition' about it - then submit it to Kiwi Rider, BRM, Trader or whoever.
Sometimes you end up doing the first one or two for nix - but then if you prove to be solid and reliable and can string a sentence together some $ will possibly come your way.
I've been fortunate (again) that I have a good eye and know sales, so most of my income actually comes from advertising design and production - the motorjourno bit now feeds off that.
Eventually I suspect I'll run out of ideas, annecdotes and the embelishments that make an article more than a specifications sheet with punctuation. (I still got stock at the mo!) and there will be a tall gap to fill.
I'm also finding there is much more $ to be made outside the MC industry in business' where the RRP means something and there are margins in the product.
But at the moment it's still all about the lifestyle and being a professional biker. It's certainly not a tough gig - life rich - a little cash poor perhaps.
And yeah - I'd do it for nuffink too.
Unfortunately there is still 3.5 years payments to go on my Buell - so everyone visit motomail, AMPS, buy your tyres at motohaus, wear shoei helmets, ride a triumph, wear teknic and use RK chain and most importantly subscribe to Kiwi Rider Magazine.
I have to eat.
cheers
dc
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