Tag Archives: social media for freelancers

social networking

Using Social Media to Increase Your Value

By Amanda Smyth Connorwinecomputer

Are you offering your clients a full suite of services, or are you waiting for them to hand you the assignment?

Don’t miss an opportunity for an upsell!

For every assignment that you undertake, whether it be writing copy, or creating blog strategies, or working on an SEO and linking plan, you should always be thinking of ways to upsell yourself and your services, and the number one upsell to consider is “how can I tie this project into social media?”

A well thought out social media strategy is money in the bank, kids. And it is the first thing you should address with your client:

“What is your social media presence and how can we use it as leverage to make this project more successful?”

For any blogs you write, you should be cross-promoting them on your client’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

For any SEO strategy you undertake, it can only help to cross-link through social media channels in order to direct eyeballs to your projects.

For any content development, you should be engaging readers on social media to entice them to WANT to learn more about your client’s project.

If content is king, social media is its free-wheelin’ cousin who can always be counted on to bring a respectable bottle of wine to any family holiday.*

Translation: Content is the most important thing, but social media supports your goals.

And don’t be afraid to charge for these social media services. You will spend the time crafting professional status updates, engaging influencers on Twitter and monitoring conversation across all channels. This takes time and skill, and these skills equate to billable hours.

Never miss an opportunity to offer another layer of value to your suite of services.

*Social media should not be counted on to bring wine to any family event.

**I would strongly recommend that you not use social media after drinking any amount of wine.

***The author of this post is not actually drunk right now, despite her poor sentence structure.

Do you have questions about social media or how to set social media pricing? I’m always happy to answer questions (via the comments field.)

Amanda Smyth Connor is a social media manager for a major publishing company 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.