Day 1 of the 31 Days Blog Challenge is to come up with an elevator pitch.  I remember doing this one before but I think I missed the point of it.

The point of an elevator pitch is to have a response to people question when they say, “Exactly what do you do?” (and you know if you tell them that you’re a freelance anything that is going to be the first question they ask!) – you need to have something short and sweet to tell them that explains what you do in simple words.

Now, if you look at the title of my blog I guess it isn’t exactly clear.  Text Media?  What’s that?  I guess that text media is my play on text writing and social media.  So Text Media is any type of social media that is based on words – like Facebook, Twitter, or blogging.  It can be other things as well – article marketing, bookmarking (although I’m not really big on that yet), LinkedIn…and some others that I haven’t really gotten into so we’ll leave it at that.

You should have a short version to give to those who are just asking to be polite and likely won’t sit through a 3 minute spiel but you should also have a longer version that you can use when they really do want to know what you do.

So, my short version elevator pitch:

I help people with written social media like blogging, Facebook, and Twitter.

And my longer version:

I help people with written social media like blogging, Facebook, and Twitter.  I write profiles for their social media accounts, I help set up their accounts or their blogs, and I write the content.  It can be as simple as writing a blog post for them a couple times a week or it can go as far as writing the blog post and then spreading it through their social networks.

So, despite the fact that I’m seriously behind on The Ultimate Blog Challenge I’m also starting The 31 Days Blog Challenge tomorrow.  They’ll kind of merge together but the 31 Days Blog Challenge has specific tasks.

It’s based on Darren Rowse’s e-book 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.  I bought this ages ago and while I’ve read over parts of it I’ve never really put it to use so I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to go through it with a bunch of other people for support.

If you missed getting in on the Ultimate Blog Challenge you might want to try this one.    Since I’ve been through this book I know it is going to be a great experience!

When I was teaching the Administrative Professional course at Robertson College we did a customer service module and part of that was reputation management.  One of the assignments that I gave my students was to take a portion of the customer service module and break it down into a more specific subject and give us (the class) more detailed information on it.  One of my students actually chose to research reputation management with SEO.  It was really interesting to see his take on it.

The thing I remember most from his presentation is that people tend to only look at the results on the first page of searches – sometimes the second or third page – so the information that shows up there is really important.  Because people are naturally drawn to the negative you have to make sure that the only thing they see on the first few pages is positive.

What is on the first couple pages when people do a search on your name?  Personally, I love to do searches on my name.

Currently, my Twitter accounts are showing up first and then this website.  When I did a Google search (just now) I also found that I am on Gawkk.com with this video:

Bing and Yahoo get similar results. So, I’m happy with what is showing up.

One of the other things you can do is sign up for Google Alerts. Once you sign up you will be sent an email each time something comes up using your keywords – ie. your name. Yahoo has the same service with Yahoo alerts. Or try using Kurrently to see if your name is turning up on Facebook or Twitter.

So, what are you doing to manage your online reputation?

I’ve been making a more concerted effort to be active on Twitter.  I’m trying to make connections, share information that I have, re-tweet good information, and make sure that people are aware how thankful I am for their efforts.

It’s really amazing what a great community there is out there.  Freelance writers are pretty awesome.  Social media people, too, but I’m going to focus on the freelance writers today.

So, if you’re on Twitter, here’s my recommendation for the Top Ten Freelance Writers you should follow on Twitter:

• @SHurleyHall – if a freelance writer ever had a fan I would be Sharon’s!  LOL – But seriously, I look up to her because she was the first person (other than friends and family) to believe in me as a writer.  She’s a great person and goes out of her way to be helpful.
• @FreelanceWJ – this is really an online writing site but if you want to get jobs with private clients you should be following them.  Not to mention the great info, of course!
• @rjleaman – Rebecca is becoming one of my favorite Twitter peeps because she communicates so well.  She love the conversation!
• @copyblogger – if you don’t know Brian yet it is time for you to get to know him.  He’s full of great insights!
• @suejeff – Sue makes me smile.  And she’s such a busy little bee!
• @DanaPrince – can’t go without out mentioning my fellow Canadian, Dana.  I’ve watched her grow over the years and she’s pretty amazing!
• @MenWithPens – James Chartrand is one of the “guys” behind the MenWithPens site.  I think what “he” has done is absolutely amazing.  And don’t ask me why I’m putting things in quotes.  Go to the twitter and then to the main site and do some reading – you’ll figure it out.
• @AnneWayman – job leads, knowledge, and years of experience – if you’re going to follow someone she’s go to be the one!
• @FreelanceFolder – freelancers of all kinds can benefit from their knowledge!
• @cathymiller – one of my newest freelance writing friends!

There are loads of freelance writers on Twitter and this little list should give you a start.  If that’s not enough, check out some of your favorite writer’s Twitter lists – there are loads of them with some great people to follow!

I’ve only just started making a real effort to track the results that I’m getting from my social media efforts and while it is slow I am finding that it definitely does make a difference.  What have I noticed?

• Traffic on this blog has increased
• Comments on the blog have increased
• I’m developing relationships with people that I consider to be influential
• People are starting to know who I am

I found this nifty little video on YouTube.  Short but sweet:

The last thing he talks about is tools.  I’ve found one that I like called Kurrently and it tracks what people are saying on Twitter and Facebook.  I know there are other tools out there that track keywords but I like this one because I can simply go in there and check out what people are saying at any given time.

Of course, I also use Hootsuite, which allows you to track keywords, too – but it also allows you to see things like how often people are clicking on your links.  And if you click on someone’s name (including your own), it tells you how much “klout” they have.  This is kind of bugging me though.  I mean what exactly do you have to do to have klout?  Something I need to look into a little bit more…

So what are you doing to track your results in social media?  Or do you?  Does it really matter?  Hmmm – food for thought!