All posts by Amanda Connor

social networking

Pinteresting Thoughts for Freelancers

I drank the Pinterest Kool-Aid and now I find myself spending ridiculous amounts of time on Pinterest. However, I feel fully justified in pinterestimageusing this under the ruse of  “doing work.”

What is Pinterest?

In short, it is a virtual bulletin board. In long, it is a virtual search engine, with direct links, that allows for real time trending and visual branding. The site has 16m users per month and is now #3 in terms of social media platforms, behind Facebook and Twitter, and it ranks highest in buyer trust (in social media platforms) with women.

What’s this got to do with me?

1. Research – Whatever you’re writing about this week, you can find educational resources, info-graphs and videos about said topic on Pinterest. While this search engine may be visual, the links are improving in quality and you can find great images that link to even better learning resources.

2. Thought Leaders – You can follow and re-pin images from thought leaders in whatever industry you are writing about. With so many companies and business owners on Pinterest right now, you’re bound to locate more than one individual who is posting some interesting trends, info or images about your topic.

3. Inspiration – When you’re stuck for ideas and just want to find some amazing visual inspiration, you can dial back your logical side and let the creativity and visual stimulation flow.  Where do you think I got the idea for this blog post?

Need an invite to get into Pinterest? I’m happy to help! Leave me a comment and I’ll send you one.

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media strategist for a one of the biggest publishing companies in the country and has managed online communities and content development for many start-up and Fortune 500 companies.  She has been a professional editor for more years than she can remember.

social networking

Using the New Facebook Timeline to Make Mo’ Money

By Amanda Smyth Connor

Surely you’ve heard about the new Facebook Timeline Structure – and if you haven’t, you’re soon in for a surprise when your profile

Screen Shot 2012-03-21 at 9.22.13 PM

is forcibly switched to the new structure in the near future.

How do I feel about the new Facebook Timeline? I freaking LOVE IT! And that’s an understatement.

Sure, sure. We all hate change. I get it. “But I love my Facebook just the way it is! Boo modern advances in technology!” I would argue that if you’re feeling this way, you haven’t yet fully grasped the epic awesomeness that is this new timeline feature and all of the amazing ways that Facebook can make you look good and score you mo’ business. That’s right, I said MO’ BUSINESS.

1:  Regardless of whether you have a business page set up for yourself or you use Facebook as a personal profile, you should begin thinking of your Facebook page as a living resume.

2: Choose a cover photo that is professional and engaging. Check out what Dove is doing in the inset image – they have attracted customers to their page by humanizing their company. For other great examples of companies who are engaging their core customer base, check out Coca Cola, Old Spice and Starbucks on Facebook. They are using cover images that attract a specific customer base, so in presenting yourself as a dynamic freelance writer, don’t think “small business,” think “What would Starbucks do?” – Answer: They would utilize an engaging cover image that makes people want to use their services.

3. Set up your new timeline to emphasize amazing milestones in your career. I’m going to use a unique Facebook page as an example of how to do this – Carmen Sandiego (I run this Facebook page – self promotion!)  If you click on any date on the timeline listed on the right hand side of the screen, you can see Carmen’s “career milestones.” You should consider setting up your profile to reflect your education (1990 – Graduated from Blank University with a degree in Journalism and Creative Writing,) career highlights (1993 – hired to work as Staff Writer for Blank Magazine – published 30 feature length articles (and add a photo of a clipping)) and major milestones (2003 – Opened the doors to “Blank Freelance Business” where I have written over 200 blogs, features, etc for 50 clients, including Blank, Blank and Blank) and include an engaging photo or image that best captures your work.

4. Highlight Top Status Updates: Once you have added a great status update to your profile, consider “Highlighting” it by clicking the Star icon in the upper right hand corner of the status update. This will increase the physical size of your status update and will draw visitors eyes to it quickly once they reach your page. Are you accepting new clients now? Let people know and make sure you highlight that update!

For more info on getting the most out of Facebook Timelines, check out this great webinar from Social Candy that shows you what you might be missing.

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media strategist for a one of the biggest publishing companies in the country and has managed online communities and content development for many start-up and Fortune 500 companies.  She has been a professional editor for more years than she can remember.

advice, resources

Homework Help for Writers – Social Media Tips

"Lamb diaper" was, oddly enough, not a very strong search term.
"Lamb diaper" was, oddly enough, not a very strong search term.

By Amanda Smyth Connor

Before starting any new writing project, you need to do your homework. Any new client will either enjoy or demand the added benefit of linking and keyword usage, and not everyone has the money to spend on high-end social media tools like Radian6.

SocialMention.com is a good place to start for keyword research. It’s free to use and will get you off and running in terms of weighing the strength of the brand you are writing about, or narrowing down the subject matter that you are tackling.

Here’s how to start:

Let’s use “diapers” as an example.

1.  Go to SocialMention.com and type in “diapers.”

2.  For the sake of this trial run, adjust your search results to reflect the time period as being “one day,” but you can track back as far as one month.

3.  Now that you have searched “diapers,” you will see your search results on the left hand side of the screen, as well as a running timeline of live mentions from Twitter and Facebook.  You will see a variety of results that estimate the strength of “diapers” as a keyword and search term, such as:

  • The word “diapers” is mentioned online every 21 seconds, on average.
  • The information sentiment surrounding “diapers” is strongly neutral but this word is also often used positively.
  • You can view a list of the top keywords used in conjunction with diapers, with “baby” as the most often used keyword and “wings” (a feature in some adult diapers) as the second most commonly used term associated with diapers. (Oddly enough, when I started writing this blog post a few days ago, “porn” was the number 3 result on this list of terms associated with diapers. What??)
  • You can also view the top hashtags associated with diapers (“moms,”) and the top sources where this word is mentioned most frequently (Twitter.)

4. You can continue to investigate what social media users are saying about “diapers” by clicking along the top navigation bar. You can then view results within specific sources, like microblogs, comments, images, news, etc. This way, you can see what people really think about diapers…and it just might surprise you! (I’m kidding. It’s pretty much what you would expect.)

5. Now that you have a good overview of the buzz on diapers, you can dig deeper by investigating specific brands (“Pampers diapers,” “Luvs Diapers,” “cloth diapers,” etc) so that when you do start your writing project, not only do you know what keywords are being used heavily in support of your content, but you will have a better understanding of your product and how it is perceived by users.

By using this tool, you’ll give yourself a leg up on the research end of your project, and you can tack this simple leg work on as part of your overall billable hours, or you can use it as added value to impress your clients…and BLAMO! You can call it a day and put on your “Team Awesomesauce” jacket. You earned it.

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media manager for a major publishing company, owns her own wedding planning business and has managed online communities and content development for many start-up and Fortune 500 companies.  She has been a professional editor for more years than she can remember.

Uncategorized

Talk Tech-y To Me

By Amanda Smyth Connor1stGen-iPad-HomeScreen

January 19th brought a wave of excitement as Apple announced their latest and greatest technology. Not only will they be selling iTextbooks (at $15 a pop) but they will be offering iBooks Author, a new self-publishing app that essentially allows authors to upload PDF’s, edit, complete layout and upload to the iBookstore.

This is clearly not the first self-publishing platform to emerge and it won’t be the last, but as an editor, I find myself a traitor to the cause for selfish reasons and not-so-selfish reasons.

Obvious questions arise that Apple has yet to address. How will they approve these new iBooks? Will they offer editing services? What requirements are there for content, layout, etc? What kind of reimbursement can writers expect from offering their books in this fashion and will Apple offer various packages that would include marketing or promotion?

Furthermore, will this lead to an increase or a decline in the quality of self-published books? I like to think that by enabling authors with better tools and resources, the quality will increase, but you have to wonder –  if the increase in the volume of new self-published uploads increases, will quality remain top priority, or will these self-published books look as messy as my Freelance-Zone posts? I shudder to think.

What are your thoughts on this buzz story?

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media manager for a major publishing company, owns her own wedding planning business and has managed online communities and content development for many start-up and Fortune 500 companies.  She has been a professional editor for more years than she can remember.

advice

Branding Yourself pt. 100…

By Amanda Smyth Connor

Make Mo' Money
Make Mo' Money

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve discussed the importance of branding yourself and marketing yourself as a means to growing your freelance business, but I really can’t stress this concept enough.

As a freelancer, you are your own business. You are the CEO, the administrative assistant, the Senior VP of Marketing….janitor… Basically, you can’t just produce a great product without covering all aspects of running a business, and my favorite part of running a business is in branding and marketing myself.

With regard to making yourself into a “brand,” the more high-quality exposure you have, the more recognizable your name will become as an authority in your industry.

1. Do you have a professional blog? Are you maintaining it regularly (2-5 times per week)?

2. Do you optimize your blog with good keywords so that Google knows what kind information you’re offering, thus helping others find your site more easily?

3. Do you Tweet often (at least 4 times per day?) and do you maintain a professional Facebook page for yourself/your business that you also update regularly (once a day)? Do you use these social media sites responsibly to establish credibility for yourself?

4. Have you joined several networking groups within your industry (starting with those found on LinkedIn)?

In order to start your magical journey into the world of self-branding, your answers to the questions above need to be a resounding “yes.”

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media manager for a major publishing company, owns her own wedding planning business and has managed online communities and content development for many start-up and Fortune 500 companies.  She has been a professional editor for more years than she can remember.

advice

New Year’s Resolutions

1335432_new_year_1By Amanda Smyth Connor

I hope this blog post finds you all enjoying a wonderful holiday season and looking forward to an exciting new year. As far as how I will be spending my new year’s eve, aside from the inevitable lampshade-hat I will wear sometime around 1am, I will be spending the evening with close friends and loved ones, playing nerdy bored games, dancing to 80’s music and sharing hilarious stories and memories.

As far as my resolutions for the coming year, I’m taking a different approach. I resolve to work to make small changes in my career and in my daily life that will add up to big improvements.

This is my theory.

I’m not going to resolve to lose 20lbs, I’m going to resolve to kick my gym routine into higher gear.

I’m not going to resolve to finally write that novel, I’m going to resolve to draft a good outline. And maybe I’ll write one chapter.

I’m not going to resolve to write all of my blog posts and articles way in advance (totally not realistic,) I’m going to resolve to getting all of my work in on deadline (this blog post was a day late.)

If you set the bar at a reasonable level, instead of setting unrealistic goals for the coming year, you can give yourself the chance to exceed your own expectations.

Go into the new year with a sense of accomplishment, happiness and excitement. It’s going to be a wonderful year ahead.

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media manager for a major publishing company, owns her own wedding planning business and has managed online communities and content development for many start-up and Fortune 500 companies.  She has been a professional editor for more years than she can remember.