Ok – I swear, I really am going to try to get my act together and start posting again!  I’m going to!

But to start things off with something fun, I’m following in Michelle Shaeffer’s footsteps – but what better footsteps could I follow in?  Really, I love this gal.

Anyway, Twitterize is an infographic app that creates an infographic based on your tweets and twitter style.  How fun is that?  Michelle did the solo one so I decided to do the face-off with one of my other good blogging buddies, Melanie Kissell.  As you can see, she royally kicked my butt!

Go and have some fun with it here: http://visual.ly/twitter

If you do one of these, leave a comment and a link!

Weekend Fun: Twitterize Faceoff is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Image via CrunchBase

You know, I started with Twitter a long time ago.  I’m not even sure how long but it’s been quite awhile.  Long enough that I’ve learned a couple of things.

At the end of this post you’re going to find a video about the basics of what you need to know with Twitter.  But first I want to share a couple of things I have learned that you can benefit from right away if you’re just getting started:

1. “I don’t have time for this” – one of the biggest reasons I hear for not using Twitter.  If you had a physical store where you sold widgets, would you have time to go and greet your customers?  Would you have time to tell them how cute their baby is?  Would you have time to say hi to a regular customer when you see them in the coffee shop on the weekend?  Would you have time to have a brief conversation with someone that you’ve been trying to sell something to if you ran into them in the street?  Of course you would! Because that is business.  And if your business is online you need to find time to get on Twitter and start having those conversations because that is where your clients are if you are a freelancer.
2. Find others like you. When you are getting started one of the hardest things to do is to find people to follow and get followers.  Don’t panic.  Just put a little time into it each day and your twitter following will grow naturally.  Start by looking for Twitter buttons on the blogs of the people you read (mine is over to the right!).  If you’re already reading their blog, follow them on Twitter because their blog is just the beginning of the knowledge they are sharing.  Once you have a handful of people that you like reading and you are following them, learn from how they tweet.  Look at their stream.  What are they saying?  What are they sharing?  Who are they RT’ing?  The people they are RT’ing are likely people that you would benefit from following, too.  And then, look at who is RT’ing the people you are following! These are good people to follow because if you are sharing good info they will RT you, too!
3. Auto -stuff. OMG.  Generally, I say don’t.  I’m going to say generally because some auto-stuff can be good (like Triberr.com) but most of it is crap.  It is fine to auto-tweet your blog posts because you are going to do that anyway.  But don’t auto-follow.  There are a lot of useless tweeters out there and if you auto-follow everyone that follows you your Twitter stream is going to get clogged up with crap and it is going to be really hard to find the good stuff.  I don’t like crap.  I don’t auto-follow.  And auto-DM’s?  Don’t get me started.  They are such a pain in the ass!  OMG.  Just stop it people. Auto-DM’s are stupid and if I want to find out more about you I’ll look at your stream.

What else do you want to know about Twitter?

It really isn’t rocket science.  Take 5-10 minutes at the beginning of your day to check things out.  RT what you like.  Share a bit about your day.  Ask someone how thier kid’s concert was or click on some links and bookmark them for your reading time.  Then get to work. Check it later in the day again so you can reply to people if they @messaged you.

And just remember – you aren’t going to see big results immediately. Just like that business owner that is saying hi in the coffee shop and commenting on babies’ cute factor – saying hi once will get him nothing but if he’s consistent people will find out who he is and they will think of him when they need to buy whatever he is selling.

Ok, go watch the video now.  Then comment.  What else do you want to know?  What would you share with Twitter newbies?

Twitter – It’s Just Kissing Babies and Shaking Hands! is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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So, since I’m kind of in the middle of stuff right now and working on a better blog post, I thought I’d bring you some awesome videos from YouTube.  I personally love YouTube but I don’t get over there nearly as often as I should.  There’s a lot of good stuff over there!

So check out some of these videos:

Search Algorithms Blow Chunks

(Elise is a pretty funny gal – follow her on Twitter or check out her blog Elise’s Review – “Out of the Box” Ideas & Colorful Opinions on Smart eMarketing and Trendy Technology)

Make Money Blogging? In Your Dreams…

(Ana Hoffman is hot these days and you see her all over the blogosphere producing great content. Find out what she’s up to by following her on Twitter or visit her blog at Traffic Generation Cafe)

LinkedIn Profile Tips

(You would have missed the webinar that went with this but still relevant info. I always expect good info from Michelle Scism. You can follow her on Twitter or visit her blog, Decisive Minds)

And I can’t leave out my own videos. This is one that you might find helpful…

Finding Images on Google

What are you watching these days?

What I’m Watching On YouTube is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Image by opacity via Flickr

Not so long ago one of my blogging buddies blogged about how you are judged by who you hang out with. I seem to think it was my friend Melanie Kissel of Solo Mompreneur, but do you think I can find that blog post now? I even commented on it! Hopefully, she’ll come by and leave the link for us in the comments.

Anyway, I believe that is true. One of the things that have contributed to the growth of my blog has been the people I’ve been “hanging out” with online. They are great. They are knowledgeable and smart and have some great ideas.

The Cool Kid

But there’s always that one person – one blogger – that stands out in your mind. You really want to get their attention. They are the cool kid in school that doesn’t always follow the rules but seems to get along with everyone. Sometimes you’ll find them hanging out with the nerds, sometimes in the band room, and sometimes they are having pizza with the football team and the cheerleaders. And no matter where they are, you want to be with them because where ever they go good things seem to follow.

There is one such blogger that is like that for me. I’m not going to tell you who he is (yes, I’ll admit that the blogger is a he, but that is the only hint you are going to get) but if you’re observant you might figure it out for yourself. But, I want his attention. I want to be mentioned on his blog. I want his comments on my blog. I want his advice – on about a million things. So, I’m on a quest to get all those things.

Why might I want this more personal, one-on-one attention?

There are several reasons that you might want to get the attention of an A-List blogger (or a popular freelance writer or magazine writer or novelist or anyone else that is important to you). The most obvious one is that if they mention you on their blog it can seriously increase your traffic. But that’s pretty easy to figure out. Having personalized attention from a big blogger can also open your eyes up to things that you are not doing that you should be. It can help you get better at what you do. They can introduce to you to other bloggers that might be helpful to your blogging career. And of course, it doesn’t hurt to have friends in high places!

But they are busy so getting their attention can be difficult. So, how do you do that?

So far I have:

• Subscribed to his blog
• Liked his Facebook Page
• Followed him on Twitter
• Made contact with him through his contact page
• Gotten blog advice from him

In the future I am going to:

• Comment on every single blog post
• Comment on Facebook Page posts when I see them in my feed
• Make an active effort to connect with him on Twitter
• Take part in any competition that he has on his blog (he does it about every two months or so and I did get in on the most recent one; the results of it will be on his blog in the next week or so)
• Mention him occasionally here on this blog

Over the next month or so you might figure it out.

Finally, I will report back to you!

So, how do you get the attention of someone that you really look up to? Leave a comment! And feel free to take a guess as to who my high profile, A-list blogger is.

Hey Cool Kid! Look at Me! is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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If you are a freelance writer you’ve likely debated whether or not it is worth your time to get involved with social media like Facebook and Twitter.  And I understand.

It is soooo easy to get carried away and waste time from your day.  It is so easy to become unproductive.  But I have to tell you that it does take time.  You can’t just blast away going on Twitter for an hour or two hours a day for a week at a time and then lay off and expect to get results.  But there is a secret to making it work for you.  Want to know what it is?

Then watch this video:

The Social Media Secret for Freelance Writers is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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If you have a blog you likely know what it is like to run out of ideas.  It happens to everyone at some point in time.  But if you don’t put up new blog posts, you know you are going to lose traffic.  So what do you do?

Try this brainstorming technique:

1. Log in to your Twitter account (I’m assuming you have one by now – don’t make me write a post about why freelance writers need to be on Twitter!).
2. Go into your Twitter Lists (do you have some Lists?  I’m working on mine and it does take some time but they can come in very handy) or someone else’s Twitter Lists on a specific topic.  If you write about SEO look for SEO Lists.  If you write about being a mom look for lists on that topic.
3. Read through tweets and look for questions that you can answer.
4. Jot them down.
5. Break each point you jot down into five more smaller points.

Within a fairly short period of time you can create a list of blog topics that you can write about.

If you are a freelance writer and you are writing for your own blog or writing for someone else’s blog but you are responsible for coming up with topics, Twitter can be a great tool for brainstroming.

Another way to brainstorm with Twitter is to follow hashtags.  Those are words or phrases that are pre-fixed with the # symbol.  Keep your eyes out for hashtags that fit into the niche that you write in.

Hootsuite can be a great tool for following Twitter Lists or hashtags.  You can have a feed of a List or a hashtag in Twitter so that it is easy to access all the tweets that are coming through on a particular topic.  Not only can you follow Twitter Lists and hashtags but you can also follow keywords.  Hootsuite can give you a feed of every tweet that comes through with your keyword or keywords in it.

Twitter can be an endless source of article or blog post ideas for freelance writers.

Are you using Twitter yet for brainstorming or idea generation?  Have you found other ways to use it to brainstorm?  If so, I’d love to hear about it.

Leave a comment!

Brainstorming with Twitter is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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I’m always up for new challenges so when I saw that Michele Scism and Michelle Schaeffer were collaborating on running a blog challenge together I signed up immediately.  I participated in the last part of the 30 day Blog Challenge but didn’t quite get into the groove and felt like I was missing something.  Maybe because I started more than half-way through.

But this time I am getting in right from the beginning!

One of the things that I’m going to do is utilize my WP Editorial Calendar.  I’ve actually got a pile of posts pre-planned so I’m hoping that will help.

This challenge will be particularly challenging in the first week for me because my family is moving.  Not just across the city but 6 hours away from where we are now.  We’re moving into a house so I know there will be lots to do to get settled.

And not only are we moving but I’ll be making the big transition from part-time writer to full-time writer.  There’s a lot to do there!

But, I’m still really excited about this.  I love challenges.  Why?

• They are motivating
• They introduce you to new people
• They introduce new people to your blog
• They bring forth new ideas
• They help you to develop the discipline of maintaining a blog
• They are just plain fun!

Do you need any more reasons to join me?  How about the big teleseminar launch with Michelle and Michele that is going to happen on July 26th?  I’ve been to one of Michele’s teleseminar’s about how she grew her Facebook Page so I can tell you that she’s a great speaker so I’m sure the launch will be awesome.  There’s another one in the middle and then one at the end as well.

Now, what are you waiting for?  Go and click on the picture and join me!

It’s Time For a New Blog Challenge! is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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Getting re-tweeted is one of the points of Twitter.  Of course, the main point will always be to develop relationships and trust but if you want to get publicity, if you want others to visit your site, your followers need to find value in your tweets and re-tweet it.  But how do you get them to re-tweet?

I find that not as many people re-tweet my links as I’d like so I started doing a little bit of research.  A couple of weeks ago I jotted down some notes and came across them today.  I have no clue where this comes from because I forgot to write down the source.  It could have been an e-mail newsletter or a blog or maybe even an audio that I listened to.  If you know where it came from feel free to speak up in the comments.

Anyway, one of the things I jotted down was that,

Less is more; keep tweets to 1 per hour.  Especially if it is a post you want re-tweeted.

That’s something I’ve been working on.  I tend to go in and tweet several thing at at time because, well, no one I know really has the time to go in and tweet every hour.  But, if you use something like Hootsuite, you can schedule your tweets.

At first I thought that was being kind of manipulative because – well, it isn’t completely genuine.  It makes it look like  you’re always there.  But if you do it carefully, interspersed with your own casual comments as you go on, it can be a lot easier on your followers.  Personally, I hate it when I go into my feed and find that the same person/business has tweeted twenty links in a row.  I’d rather they space them out.  I want to see others’ tweets, too.

I found some more interesting advice today when I stumbled across Dan Zarella’s blog, The Social Media Scientist.  He wrote a great blog post on the 20 words and phrases that will get you the most re-tweets.    I was surprised to see that “please retweet” or “pls rt” were on that list.  But I can imagine if people start to see it all the time they’ll start to over look it.  I think it depends on how often you use it.  I know one guy (that I recently unfollowed) that would post about 10 things in an hour and ever single one of them said, “Please RT” at the end.  Did I?  Maybe the first once or twice – until I realized that he does that all the time.

So, have you noticed anything that helps you get re-tweeted more often?  Would love to hear your successes or your thoughts.  Leave a comment!

How Much Do You Get Re-Tweeted? is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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When I was checking out my Facebook account today I saw that Mari Smith is using a Facebook Follow Friday that is very similar to what you do on Twitter.  On Twitter you put the hashtag #ff or #followfriday in your tweet and then suggest people to follow with the @ sign.

Facebook now has a similar way of highlighting others that your Facebook Page members can Like if they are interested int them.  If you check out the picture above you’ll see mine for today.  It’s pretty easy to do.

Start your Page status with a statement that tells them what you are doing.  ”Here are some Pages I Like that I thought you might like to check out” or something along those lines is fine.  Then use the @symbol and name some of the pages you Like.  When you use the @ and start typing in a page name, Facebook will suggest people and pages that you are friends with.  When the one you are typing in comes up in the list below your status, click on it and it will become a clickable link that others can follow.

Tips:

• Don’t suggest the same Facebook Pages every Friday.  If you’re suggesting the same pages all the time people will start to ignore these updates.
• Stick to 3-5 pages to highlight.
• Be relevant.  If your Page is about Writing then the people who like you won’t be interested in engineering Pages.  But you can put in an interesting topic that the general population might be interested in once in awhile.  For instance, everyone should be interested in health related info so a page like Healthy You should be of interest to everyone.

And do you know what the coolest part of this is?  When you use the @ symbol in your status, not only does it make it a clickable link but it also makes your status show up on their page!  That means that they know you have suggested them and their Page members know that you are related to the page they are following.  And, if they are paying attention they will likely stop by your page and thank you. See the picture where Lizbeth Tanz commented?  She is from Savvy Freelance Writers.

Try it for yourself and let me know in the comments what you think about it.

A Fun Way to Network on Facebook is a post from: The Social Freelance Writer.

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