1. Get a smartphone. You can’t understand how mobile apps work if you don’t use them, so the first step in your mobile internet education is getting a smartphone. Apple’s new iPhone 4 will be out June 24. But if you don’t have that kind of money to spend, get a cheaper one. Coinciding with the iPhone 4′s announcement, Apple dropped the prizes of existing models, so there are plenty of deals. Verizon has been running a buy 1, get 1 free offer for Motorola Droids – I’ve had a Droid since December and love it.

2. Play around with news or other content-related mobile apps. See what’s out  there. Some of my current favorites are AP Mobile, NPR and USA Today. But there are hundreds more, and many of them are free.

3. Get training. If you’re not the DIY type, take a mobile app development class from a journalism training center such as Knowledgewebb, J-Lab or News U. If you know journalists who’re already doing this, ask them to teach you – everybody’s busy, so offer to barter something you could do for them in exchange for in-person or virtual lessons.

4. Investigate mobile app markets. Publishers are looking for writers to write mobile apps. Travel guide publishers have been among the first to move existing content to smartphones or hire writers to produce fresh material. From what I’ve read on writer message boards, not all these opportunities pay well, but if it’s your first time out, think of it as getting paid to learn. Once you’ve mastered the form, you can ask for more money, or pick up some extra cash teaching other freelancers (see above).

5. Pitch yourself to publications. Start with the ones that are already producing mobile apps or publications you already work with. A publisher’s taking a chance investing resources in a new product, they might feel safer assigning the work to someone they know is reliable.

6. Write your own app. If you’ve got an entrepreneurial bent and are good with tech – or know enough about it to tell a software developer what you’re after – consider developing your own app. But don’t do the work without a willing buyer. Think of it like selling a book. You come up with an idea, put together a proposal, line up the resources you’d need, and shop it to a publisher. Finding a software developer who can write the code shouldn’t be a problem. Cities like Portland have thriving app developer communities with plenty of coders for hire who could do the back end stuff for you.

Have you successfully written or sold a mobile app? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

This quote reminds me of freelancers who continue to query print consumer magazines then complain when they don’t hear anything. When the print magazine industry’s losing ad pages at an alarming rate, it’s not surprising that editors aren’t buying. So why keep flogging that dead horse?

Online’s the future, and I’m not just talking about writing for content farms. There are all kinds of opportunities with online only-news sites, corporate sites, newsletters, trade publications, e-books, user guides, mobile phone apps and on and on.

Making the most of these opportunities could require retraining. But if you’re in the market to pick up some new skills, you don’t need to look far for opportunities.

One is a free hour-long webinar, Moving to Digital-First Content: How Intelligent Content Technology is Changing Publishing from Scott Abel, of The Content Wrangler fame, on Thursday, March 11 at 2 p.m. ET. Registration is free but you have to sign up in advance.

In the webinar, Abel will lead a discussion with content management specialist Ann Rockley and digital publishing innovator Dev Ganesan.

Here are a couple other journalism training websites that offer free or low-cost classes freelancers can take to pick up skills they need to create content online.

Knowledgewebb – Run by former journalist Amy Webb, this website’s motto is “Don’t sweat the tech. ” Knowledgewebb hosts online and off-line classes, webinars, tutorials and more. Subscriptions are $129 a year or $89 if you belong to the Online News Association or another partner organization.

Knight Digital Media Center - This partnership between journalism schools at UC Berkeley and USC offers multimedia trainings, bootcamps and other workshops at one or the other campus several times a year. Classes are limited to 20 applicants and are free, with costs underwritten by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. Here’s a list of upcoming classes in 2010.

Online News Association – The largest professional association for journalists working online hosts its own annual convention, regional seminars and informal mixers and meetups around the country. The group also maintains a calendar of outside seminars and training opportunities (but you have to be a member to access it). Annual dues are $75 for working journalists.

J-Lab – The Institute for Interactive Journalism helps professional and citizen journalists use digital technologies to to report the news, through training, research and publications. The organization also provides grants to new media projects, and will award a total of $25,000 to nine such ventures this year – but hurry if this is something you’re interested in, the deadline is March 1. J-Lab and the McCormick Foundation also run a separate grant program to fund women-run new media ventures; that deadline is April 12.

Poynter’s News University – Nicknamed News U., this online journalism training program offers 150 free or low-cost classes. The e-learning project of the nonprofit Poynter Institute has more than 150,000 registered users and currently offers courses such as Mobile Media 101: Producing News with Your Smartphone (March 3) and Becoming a more Effective Editor: Strategies for Editing Yourself, Others (March 2010).

Know of other places – online or off – where writers of all stripes can get training? Let me know and I’ll add them to the list.

It was the year conferences went digital, Twitter went viral and the bad economy made every writer a business reporter.

It was the year phrases like hyperlocal, meetup and content aggregators entered freelancers’ lexicon.

It was the year of the mobile app, the multimedia story, SEO tags and crowdsourcing.

It’s only fitting that as we say goodbye to 2009, and with it the first decade of the 21st century, we also bid farewell to journalism practices of yesterday and embraces those of the future as the media business leaves print behind (more or less) for an online-only world and all the changes, risks and opportunities that come with it.

With that in mind, here are my picks for the top media trends of last year, and what they mean for independent writers in 2010:

Content aggregators – They’ve been called mills, farms, and in one case even demonic. I’ll stick with the more neutral-sounding content aggregators to describe sites such as Demand Studios, Associated Content, Helium, and possibly AOL’s new Seed.com. All those sites are hiring freelancers to churn out thousands of SEO-enabled how-to pieces and other “articles” a day in hopes the information will show up high in Google search rankings thereby maximizing the proprietors’ online advertising earnings. The debate over the opportunity these sites present for freelance writers has raged on here and on other freelance blogs for the better part of the year, and media industry heavyweights have weighing in with their (mostly) negative opinions.
Takeaway for freelancers: Content aggregators are here to stay, at least for the short term – although recent changes Google’s made to its search algorithm could affect them in the long run. Also here to stay are a contingent of writers happy for the query-free gigs these sites offer, even if the rates they pay are pitifully low when calculated on a piece-by-piece basis. I remain unconvinced of the merit of doing this type of work, though understand its attraction to someone breaking into the freelance business or with limited time or desire to pitch stories.

Hyperlocal – From the everything-old-is-new-again department. Never have so many been so interested in what’s happening in your Zip Code, your voting precinct, your city block or rural postal route. They are to the news business what nanotechnology is to the tech industry. From biggies like MSNBC, AOL and Examiner.com’s billionaire owner Philip Anschutz to tiny startups, hyperlocal is everywhere. According to Knight Citizen News Network, journalists and hobbyists have started more than 800 hyperlocal sites to date. But will they last? Some are already shutting down. The cofounders of one ambitious southern California hyperlocal project – both long-time journalists – opted to shutter their site at the end of 2009 despite accolades, ads and a partnership with their area’s major metro daily. Why? They couldn’t scale the business to make it profitable without taking on more employees – and the cost that comes with them – a step they were unwilling to take.
Takeaway for freelancers: Hyperlocal remains a viable alternative to working for content aggregators. But like aggregators they don’t pay much. Treat it like the experiment it is. Include work for hyperlocal sites in a broader assignment mix so if a venture goes under you’re not stuck. Or if you go on staff, treat it like a stint at a community newspaper – which is basically what it is – and gauge how long you’re willing to stay for the experience and clips you’ll gain. If you’re interested in starting one of these on your own, you can apply for one of 9 grants of $25,000 each that American University’s J-Lab is awarding for community news sites this year. Applications are due March 1.l

Nonprofit news – This year, everybody who wasn’t busy creating a hyperlocal news site was putting together a 501c3 to start a nonprofit news venture (actually, some were one and the same). According to popular thinking, if nobody’s making money from advertising anymore, why bother, just start out as a nonprofit and hunt for financing through grants, corporate sponsorships, subscriptions and donations. So far it’s working for sites such as MinnPost, Voice of San Diego and ProPublica, which have raised hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars respectively. The bigger question: whether it’s a model that dozens, or hundreds of other ventures can successfully duplicate, similar to the country’s public radio stations. As a matter of fact, don’t rule out the country’s public radio stations as a source of nonprofit news innovation, as stations such as Oregon Public Broadcasting are busy working to expand their coverage areas and the news they dish up on their websites.
Takeaway for freelancers: Nonprofits aren’t the backwater they used to be, especially if an organization is savvy or lucky enough to get backed by Knight Digital Media or another source of major grant funding. Most of these enterprises are being started by ex-newspaper or magazine journalists – meaning if you write for them you’re more likely to get high-quality editing, always good for the clips file.

User generated content – Where to begin. User-generated content is old news if you think of it in terms of YouTube and Facebook. But it’s catching on in new ways. For example, in a different type of user-generated content, more companies are choosing to bypass newspapers and magazines and instead of advertising, starting custom publications, especially online. Expect these types of projects to flourish in 2010 (Disclaimer: I started working on one of them not long ago). Is it journalism? Yes, and no. Sponsored content is after all, sponsored content. But some sponsors understand that for their publications to be taken seriously they have to present information that’s reported and presented like the real deal. The more well-known user-generated content trend is of course the reader comments, videos, etc., that more publications are building into what they do. Expect to see newspapers, magazines and websites do even more of this in 2010.
Takeaway for freelancers: If you don’t already do work for custom publications, now’s the time to look into it. Don’t think you have to pitch publishers of custom publications for the work. If you’ve written for corporate clients in the past, why not pitch them on a news site, or even an e-newsletter. Another options: introducing yourself to one of the growing crop of digital media agencies that produce online-only custom publications. As for the other kind of user-generated content – any writer running a blog or specialized social network has to think about ways to maximize reader involvement.

Entrepreneurship - With so many journalists getting laid off, it was inevitable some would go into business for themselves. Unlike long-time solo writers – such as yours truly – these reporters and editors don’t want to identify themselves as “freelancers,” a word that for better or worse still connotes a lower status word worker in some circles. Besides, some portion of these newly unleashed writers are opting to steer their own destinies rather than wait for editors to answer their queries, so calling them entrepreneurial journalists fits. What are these EJs doing? Creating news apps for iPhones and Androids. Working on the hyperlocal and nonprofit news ventures above. Creating technology platforms or providing the training journalists or newspapers need to their jobs better in the future.
The takeaway for freelancers: There’s never been a better time to start something on your own. The tools are abundant and free or close to it.  In cities such as Portland and New York, it’s relatively easy to find coworking spaces dedicated to writers or start ups or both. There’s also a wealth of information online and

Twitter - At the start of the year Twitter was still Facebook’s little brother, a circus sideshow fun for goofing off on but not really anything you could use for business. At least that was the perception. But as the year wore on and more publications and writers opened accounts, it became apparent Twitter could be used not just to research stories but tell them too. Dan Baum drove this point home when he took to Twitter to tell his tale of being fired from The New Yorker. If that wasn’t enough, there was always coverage of the plane landing in the Hudson, the Iranian election protests and Michael Jackson’s death to convince you Twitter had arrived as a news source.
Takeaway for freelancers: If you haven’t hopped on Twitter yet, now’s the time. Don’t worry about how you’ll use it, at least not at first. Give yourself some time to play around with it and see how things work. Then come up with a plan that fits into your writing business. You read more of my advice on how writers can use Twitter on this blog post and this one.

Other trends: the wave of online-only startup publications on all matter of subjects will increase; blogging will remain big; more publications and writers will experiment with mobile apps; and writers will see publications’ freelance budgets increase, though not all will return to pre-2008 levels.

Got your own picks for the major media industry trends of the past year?