Social Media With Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan

by Catherine L. Tully

 

If you are trying to get the hang of social media but are tired of all the same old information, check out Chris Brogan for some enlightenment. Well known as a social media guru, Brogan gives advice on his site in a “best of” section that hits some pretty good highlights. Learn “50 Ways To Take Your Blog To The Next Level” or read “Framing Your Social Media Efforts”.

Social media has pretty much become a must for the writer, so if you have yet to dip your toe in the pool, there is no time like the present. Brogan also offers advice for those who have been around a while and are looking to maximize their presence on the web.

You can also sign up for his newsletter.

#BlogHer10 – To All My LadyBloggers

By Amanda Connor

BlogHer.com

Fact: 50% of your time as a professional freelancer should be spent working. The other 50% of your professional time should be spent networking and keeping on top of new trends in the industry.

Networking can be painful – root canal painful. Having to chat up a crowd of strangers can be a miserable and awkward experience. However, BlogHer10 is not your standard networking schmoozefest/snoozefest. It is two days of intensive seminars, hands-on learning and meeting the top female bloggers helping to drive the blogging industry. (Did I mention that this will be an all-women conference?)

What is BlogHer.com? It’s an online community of female bloggers who host, post, dish and share.

BlogHer10: As I write this, hundreds of female bloggers are preparing to descend upon New York City for two days of lectures, meet-ups, round-table discussions and Q&A sessions. I’ve rarely seen this much excitement surrounding a networking event. The buzz is immense on Twitter and Facebook and it makes me wish I was going! This year marks the sixth annual BlogHer conference, and as it has every year before, this year’s event is completely sold out.

This mega-conference, hosted and run by BlogHer.com, will focus on bringing the BlogHer community together to meet, greet, eat and learn together. Lectures this year range from general topics like “Usability Basics for Newbies” to hyper-focused topics like “Fashion Blogging” and how to handle your own blog photography and images. Essentially, this is blogger bootcamp, designed to celebrate and foster growth within the female blogging community. Can I get a “heck yeah” from all the blogger ladies out there? Woot.

From newbies who need tips on working a Wordpress blog, to professional bloggers looking for better ways to utilize their metrics, this event has it all. Check out the agenda. It makes me salivate.

If you are lucky enough to be attending this year, you have LOADS of networking opps, educational opps and FREE SWAG to look forward to (my God…the swag….the beautiful, beautiful swag.) If you missed out this year, keep it in mind for next year. And if this isn’t up your alley (or if you are of the male gender…) you should be keeping tabs on the best networking events in your area. These events can be invaluable.

What You Don’t Know About Twitter CAN Hurt You

by Joe Wallace

Over the last few years, in addition to freelance writer and editor, I’ve also added social media specialist to my list of titles. I got started doing MySpace accounts for music projects and music journalist sites and branched out over time as Twitter, Facebook and other social media gained traction.

Among the many trends I’ve noticed among social media, one thing remains constant regardless of platform preference; there are always people willing to find new ways to send spam. Twitter is a no-brainer when it comes to spam–it’s too easy to tweet, tweet, tweet ad nauseum and send annoying direct messages until the keyboard breaks.

But it’s also just as easy to block spammers, so a bit more innovation is required to send out the annoyance.

One way spammers are using Twitter can actually affect YOUR account’s reputation, get you blocked by potential readers, clients or customers, and give you a bad name all round. And if you’re not disciplined enough to check your account on a daily basis, you might never know it’s happening. … Continue Reading

Freelancers–Work Smarter, Not Harder

By Erin Dalpini

Okay, quick poll: how long did it take you to finish your last freelance assignment?

How about we take that time and slice that in half?

“What?” you say. “I’m already working my fastest.”

Ah, my friend, maybe you are. But maybe, just maybe, there’s a way for you to work more efficiently: smarter, not harder.

If you’re more efficient at work, you get to spend more time doing those other things you like to do: surfing the net, riding your bike, walking the dog, watching a movie, making some Jell-O puddin’ (don’t judge), relaxing with loved ones.

Here are a few tips and techniques to help you work smarter . . .

1. Time Blocking – Learned this one from my boss, and it still helps me on especially busy days. … Continue Reading

Why Hoot Suite Rocks

by Catherine L. Tully

If you are into social media (which you should be in my opinion), you need Hoot Suite. Seriously.

Hoot Suite helps you manage all of your social media accounts from one place, and it has a host of useful features, including:

- The ability to schedule tweets

- Easy updates on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook–all from one page

- The ability to shorten URLs without leaving the page

- Auto complete on your @usernames once you have used them before (I think this may be my fave feature)

- Statistics on how many people click through on the URLs you tweet. And yes–I’m serious!

I tried TweetDeck before, and while I think it looks much better (very slick interface), it is more confusing. I accidentally sent an update meant for Twitter to all of my social media accounts….

Not good.

If you are looking for a simple way to manage your social media without a big learning curve–this is it. I haven’t used the app yet–but there is one available for the iPhone as well. Check it out and you will really be glad you did! No more multiple log-ins and no more time suck. Do it all quick and easy.

I’m loving it!

No Time For Social Media, But Lots Of Time To Waste On Email

Freelance-Zone.com reached out to Joan Stewart, a speaker, trainer and consultant who blogs at Publicity Hound and My Social Media Solution and she shared a great tip on time management in terms of how to find space in your day to utilize social media…

One of our customers told me this morning how frustrated she is that she doesn’t have enough time to spend on social media.

I suggested that she set aside a block of time twice a day, say as soon as she starts work in the morning and again before she closes the office for the day, to blog, post to her Facebook and Twitter profiles and do what needs to be done on LinkedIn.

When she hemmed and hawed about how difficult it would be to find the time, I asked her, “”How much time do you spend on email each day?”

“A lot,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because it’s a way for me to check in with my clients and other people who I like to hear from,” she said.

“How profitable is answering email?” I asked. … Continue Reading

Social Media For Writers

This post is sponsored by FiledBy – where authors can claim their free website and build their online marketing platform

by Catherine L. Tully

I stumbled across a real gem of a site in Social Media for Writers and thought I’d share it with you today. It was great to see something specifically devoted to writers out there, and this site has a little something for everyone…

If you are a rank beginner when it comes to social media sites, the author (Donna Talarico) provides a good overview of two of the best out there–Twitter and Facebook. More advanced users will appreciate things such as information about promoting your blog on Twitter or information on how to use Twitter lists.

One of the most refreshing things about this site is the easy tone that Talarico uses. She communicates good information without talking down to writers, but it isn’t so basic that you’ll be bored. Take a few minutes to check this site out and see what you can learn about making social media work for you.

And if you haven’t already joined us on Twitter or Facebook, please drop by and sign on. We should all be connected!

This post was sponsored by FiledBy – where authors can claim their free website and build their online marketing platform

Grammar, Grammar, Grammar!

This post is sposnored by FiledBy – where authors can claim their free website and build their online marketing platform.

by Catherine L. Tully

I know I have mentioned this great resource before, but only in passing. Grammar Girl is a heavy-duty tool for the writer–new or experienced. Mignon Fogarty is the name behind this character, and her “Quick and Dirty Tips For Better Writing” include goodies such as:

• Affect vs. Effect
• Toward vs. Towards
• All Right vs. Alright
• Lay vs. Lie

These are excellent, bite-sized tips for the writer that can mean the difference between getting a query nod and having the editor hit delete. Let’s face it–in this business, you’ve got to know what you are doing when it comes to grammar and sentence structure.

It doesn’t really matter how you decide to keep up with Grammar Girl. She’s on Twitter and she even has her own podcast on iTunes. A little honesty? It’s the only podcast that I have actually downloaded and listened to on my iPhone.

Naturally, if you prefer a good, old-fashioned book you can go that route as well.

Why am I so excited about this? Well, grammar is huge, and it is usually presented in the most awful, boring format. Grammar Girl gives it to you straight, but in a palatable way, without taking too long to get the point across. I’m a serious fan.

This post was brought to you by FiledBy

Follow Friday?

 by Catherine L. Tully

If you don’t know what the title of this post means…get ready to learn a great promotional strategy on Twitter. “Follow Fridays” is a way to figure out who to follow–and to share those you follow with others. To participate, simply tweet the words #followfriday (don’t forget the “hashtag” # before it) and then the username of the person you wish to share with the @ sign. For example, #followfriday @freelancezone @catherinetully.

It’s that simple. You can add as many people as characters allow (140) and if you run out of space, you can create another tweet. Try it–it’s fun!

Using Social Media

by Catherine L. Tully

How do you use social media? I’m getting into it pretty heavy and I’m really enjoying what it does for me. Joe and I use Twitter and Facebook for this site (come join us if you haven’t already!), and I use LinkedIn as well. The learning curve on all of them is a little to deal with on the front end, but they are fairly user-friendly overall. It can get a little complicated when you try and use some of the more advanced features, but all writers can benefit from having an account set up.

If you haven’t yet jumped on the social media bandwagon, try it. Set up a Twitter account and tweet. Create a Facebook page for your business. Take the time to walk through the LinkedIn profile and get that out there. It’s worth the effort–trust me!

Linked Up With LinkedIn

 by Catherine L. Tully

Did you know that you can link your Wordpress blog up with LinkedIn? You can–and it is really easy. As a matter-of-fact, there are a number of cool things you can do with the applications on this social networking site. Be sure to check them out and see if there is something there that can help you save time or be more organized. LinkedIn is a great resource–I strongly advise setting a page up if you don’t have one already.

Twitter Directories

by Catherine L. Tully

Are you using Twitter to the best of your ability? Do you know how to find people to follow? Are you listed in a variety of Twitter Directories? If these questions make you nervous, you can probably use a little help on how to do this effectively. Good news…I’ve got some…

Here is a list of 20 Twitter Directories to get you going. It’s a good list too. While you are there, be sure and check out the rest of the site (TwitterTips) too….there is a lot of good stuff there.

Social Media For Writers Blog

by Catherine L. Tully

Well, well…look what I found today! A blog that is dedicated to social media for writers! It looks fairly new, but has some info on Twitter and Facebook thus far, and it says that LinkedIn is coming soon…

What I’ve seen so far–I like. Keep an eye on this one–it could really be a great resource.

Twitter Tips For Newbies

by Catherine L. Tully

Who better to give out some Twitter tips than Darren Rowse from ProBlogger. Be sure and check this out if you are new to this social networking site. Read and learn…

And if you haven’t been around the ProBlogger site–be sure to visit that too–it is one of the best in the business.

Using Twitter With Purpose

by Catherine L. Tully

Do you just get on Twitter and tweet away about whatever comes to mind? If so, you aren’t taking full advantage of the power of this social networking tool. Writers need to be thinking about how they are marketing themselves and their services when they post.

To that end, I’d like to point out a Twitter Guide that breaks a lot of the information out there down in a very palatable way. Mashable divides things up into three common sense categories… … Continue Reading