Using Twitter

[wyattsmommy]

Hello,
I read an article about how using social media sites, like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, can help to get you jobs and promote your writing. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how? I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn, even though I don't know much about LinkedIn. And I'm not on Twitter and pretty much know nothing about it, except that celebrities like to write their insights on there. LOL. So if anyone could give me some help, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks

[Del S]

I have a Twitter account and though I'm not very active on it, I have found opportunities there. Be judicious in who you follow. For instance, I mainly follow other writers (but I've had to un-follow one or two who only spammed everyone with constant updates on their Kindle books or whatever -- there's a way to promote yourself but 24/7 tweets isn't it!), writing sites and publishing houses. If you're looking for specific opportunities, use the hashtag (#) in front of what you're looking for. So you may try entering #writers or #writingjobs to find tweets that talk about that. I've discovered writing contests just by following certain sites. I don't have a lot of time to devote to it, and I know some people don't want to get sucked into social media around the clock, but if you can put in about 15-20 minutes per day, interacting with people in the industry, you can get the word out about yourself and find opportunities, too.

[karmicwindows]

I'm not big on the social media thing but I spend a couple of hours once a week hit the social media circle.

As far a twitter is concerned, my websites have an auto-update for twitter and Facebook. Whenever I make changes I click one button and a tweet and Facebook notice go out letting people know I've made changes.

The articles I write for certain websites get promoted by the owners of those sites and I post a link to those articles on the social circle.

I have not picked up any jobs through these outlets yet, but in truth I haven't really been trying to.

[dmcgaw]

I follow everyone on Twitter that could possibly be a client. Real estate people, Internet Marketers, fundraising groups, etc. I have found several jobs that way because I interact with them and then when they need a writer they go - hey, that Danielle chick is a writer. I wonder what she charges. My professional writing site is at the top of my Twitter so it is easy to find.

The key with this whole social media thing is to consistently be around for a bit of time everyday, automate things like blog posts, and interact with people. Oh, and make it obvious what you do. When people trust you and feel like they have a connection to you, they will come to your first.

[WorkingMom227]

I wasn't much of a fan of Twitter but have recently started using it for writing purposes. I'm basically following other writers and possible clients as a means of trying to find some work on the social networking site. Someone said they found most of their private clients on Twitter so I am hoping to have some luck in the future.

[jessiedsa]

Originally Posted by wyattsmommy

Hello,
I read an article about how using social media sites, like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, can help to get you jobs and promote your writing. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how? I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn, even though I don't know much about LinkedIn. And I'm not on Twitter and pretty much know nothing about it, except that celebrities like to write their insights on there. LOL. So if anyone could give me some help, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks

Hi wyattsmommy,

It looks like you're really new to Social Media. Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are really great sites for promoting your writing and getting great leads.

Facebook
You can create a page for yourself as a writer/author. if you have a blog, you can cross syndicate your blog to facebook and easily update your page wall with your blog posts. You can also post relevant links in your niche on your facebook page. You can create short ebooks on variety of topics and sell them via facebook. Also you can ask your fans what are they interested in? You can ask your fans some topics for your next blog posts. There are countless ways to promote your writing on facebook.

Twitter
It's a great tool to promote your writing. You can use hashtags while posting tweets. You can also interact with your followers about your niche topics. That way, you'll know what your prospective clients are looking for. You can also search freelance writing projects on the twitter search bar using hash tags. Most of the time, companies or freelacing companies post their jobs on twitter. The list goes on.....

LinkedIn.

Join the freelance writing/networking groups on LinkedIn and interact with other members. In every group, there will be a job board where they post jobs, you can apply if you're interested. Another great opportunity on linkedin is you can answer questions on your niche/subject and become an expert and the prospective clients will follow you automatically. and the list goes on.....

Hope that info helps you. If you need more help I can assist you. PM me.

[Cee]

I am a grant writer, which means that I never have a shortage of having people call me for help. The main issue is that most people aren't eligible to apply for grants. So I spend a lot of time on providing pro bono education. I get the most inquiries that way from LinkedIn.

On the other hand, I had large non-profits call or email me. Honestly, I have no idea how they find me. My guess is that they Google me, rather than use social media. I have asked them how they find me and they can't remember. As a result, I am paying more attention to SEO and my website at the moment.

Twitter is a great deal of fun and I've been on it for almost 4 years. I've made new friends and acquaintances on it. I don't work Twitter for business and prefer it to promote myself and my personal brand than my services. Although I tailor my tweets to have broader appeal to my potential market.

An anecdote: I tweeted that I hated building a website and maybe wanted to hire someone. I got three DMs offering web design services. I guess people are reading my tweets. And people are marketing their services.

[inkkognito]

I promote my articles and many of my ebooks to my Twitter followers. They follow me for theme park news, so the promotion is appropriate since I plug my theme park-related work. It drives a moderate amount of hits and sometimes lots more if I get good retweets.