Category Archives: social networking

Social Networking With Ning

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Have you heard of Ning? It is the latest thing to hit the social networking field, and it has a different twist. Centered around common interests, this site fills a unique niche and is catching on quickly. CNN reported that Ning has had 4.7 million unique visitors since January. If you are interested in social networking, this is a good site to check out. There are plenty of groups centered around writing and it is easy to find one you like.

Tweet Tweet Twitter

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Do you use twitter? If not, it might be worth looking into. I resisted at first, but have found that in some ways it is better for networking than facebook. (Although I must admit to liking facebook more.) On twitter you can find professionals that you might not normally have access to and link up with them. Plus, you can get the word out to a large number of people about what you are up to in your writing career.

That said, be nice too. It is considered “polite” to mix self-promotion with helpful advice, quotes and other fun stuff. And if someone follows you, it is always a good idea to thank them for it. Personally, I have my privacy settings on so that I have to accept someone who wants to follow me, but do what you are comfortable with.

The learning curve on twitter is a bit more steep than facebook in my opinion, but there is a help page that really does the job. Start there for the skinny on things such as finding people, following and direct messages. You don’t have to dive in and start tweeting away, but not having this social marketing site in your toolbag means you are one step behind as a writer. It’s worth a shot.

(And look me up! I’m catherinetully on twitter. Tell me you are a FZ reader so I know who you are…)

I Found It On Facebook

i-found-it-on-facebookBehold our new series, I Found It On Facebook. I wanted to start this after learning that somebody actually purchased a Snuggie, but instead I decided to do the more responsible thing and try (at least in THIS post, anyway) to point to freelance resources.

I joined the Facebook Freelance Writers group, then promptly forgot I had until today. I had an old DEVO CD on the player, and by the time the goofiest track on the disc came round, it dawned on me that I’d joined this group and haven’t so much as posted a hello.

Then I realized I’ve become a bit of a FB addict, and since that’s the case why not make this time-waster activity into something that might actually be fun to write about here? So begins our newest feature. I Found It On Facebook won’t always be directly relevant to freelance writing, blogging, or earning a living by working at home, but every good freelancer knows the Internet timewaster is a tried and true way to stay sane under heavy deadlines. I’m headed back to FB right now…if you haven’t joined, why not head over and open an account? It’s a great way to network with your fellow freelancers and it’s good coffee break fun.