Well, I’ve been trying some of the tips he dispensed and when I looked at my stats and saw how little time had passed (just two weeks), I was amazed to find that I’d gotten close to 700 new Twitter followers!

 Before I talked to John Paul, my Twitter following was just over 3,300. Right now, it’s almost at 4,000. I’m gonna have to change the “Join the 3,000+ friendly freelance community we’ve developed on Twitter & take your career to the next level” message on InkwellEditorial.com within the next couple of days, because I’ll probably hit the 4,000+ mark.

In the post I did a couple of weeks ago, I promised to “rack my brain” and tell you some of the “simple secrets” John Paul told me about how to get more Twitter followers.

Simple Tips to Building a Huge Twitter Following

And before you go shaking your head as you read through them, remember, I told you it was simple stuff. Most of us are so busy doing and/or looking for more complicated “success secrets” that we don’t do the simple stuff — consistently (remember, this is key).

Ok, here are the Twitter tips he gave me that I can remember. There were quite a few more (I’m gettin’ old y’all; the old brain just doesn’t retain info like it used to).

I. Tweet Times: John Paul advises that you tweet morning, noon and night. And I don’t mean tweet all day. But, he says to make sure you tweet in the early morning to catch the “early bird” crowd; in the afternoon to get later starters; and in the evenings to catch the night owls. 

Where I was missing out was the evening crowd. I’m not a big tweeter (only about 8-15 a day). Around a dozen is the norm for me, maybe even a little less. And, once I logged off at the end of the work day, which could be anywhere from 5 to 8 pm, I almost never tweeted again for that day. And, even if I did log back in (which is normal), I didn’t bother to tweet. So, I was missing that “late evening” traffic; the night owls if you will.

FYI, you can automate this using tools like HootSuite.com.

II. Tweet Your Stuff: Many of us (especially freelance writers and other creative types it seems) are paranoid about promoting ourselves and our products/services. I don’t have this problem, but I am conscious not to over promote on sites like Twitter because social media is about sharing useful tools (and they’re not going to come from you all the time).

If you look at my Twitter stream, you’ll see that the vast majority of my tweets are RTs (I like sharing useful content).

John Paul said about an 80/20 ratio is good. 80% sharing; 20% sending out tweets to your stuff. I was missing the boat on this, in that there would be some days where I wouldn’t tweet any of my stuff. I send out newsletters two to three times a week and I tweet the links to those. But, on days where I didn’t publish a newsletter, sometimes I wasn’t tweeting (promoting) any of my stuff.

Now, I’m conscious to do so at least once a day; sometimes twice depending on how many tweets I send out.

III. Synchronize Your Twitter Background: Mine was a generic one that was provided by Twitter. Now, it contains the same header found here on InkwellEditorial.com. Soon, I’m going to change it again. Every since John Paul told me to do this, I’ve been racking my brain and came up with an idea for one that includes a conglomeration of covers of some of my ebooks.

For now though, this one will do.

We covered a lot of ground in our conversation that day. As I said above, these are just the simple tips I can remember. You can find more in John’s post, How I Got 253 Twitter ReTweets On 5 Posts: 4 Steps To More Twitter Traffic and Re-Tweets.

And of course, John Paul’s ebook, Twitter Dummy tells you a whole lot more. It details how he got over 36,000 followers in just five months. His followers number over 100,000 now, so the guy knows his Twitter stuff.

Hope these tips help you to get more Twitter followers.

Share Your Twitter Tips for Getting More Followers: Know a “get more Twitter followers secret/tip” you want to share? Do so in the comments section below.

Order now: $14.97 (Introductory Price)

Get the Kindle edition of this ebook on Amazon. Please note title change on Amazon; same ebook, just a different title to appeal to a broader audience.

Earn Thousands Extra Per Month by Offering Social Media Marketing to Clients: Who This Ebook Can Help Break into Social Media Consulting

The authors of this ebook are freelance writers who kind of fell into social media marketing. As freelance writers, we know how to do a little bit of everything – from web design to blogging to creating graphics. When you’re a creative professional like a writer, blogger, web designer, translator, etc., you pick up a lot of skill sets.

We point this out to stay, this ebook was initially written with freelance writers in mind, but the advice dispensed within is for any creative professional who wants to start offering social media marketing/consulting.

There is not one thing you have to do differently. So if you are a creative freelancer in any of the niches mentioned, and want to add social media marketing and account management to your list of services, you’ll find everything you need in this ebook to start doing so successfully.

With all of this being said . . .

How Does $55,000 Per Year Sound? Did you know that as of April 2011, the average salary in social media marketing is $55,000?

Earn $200-$300 Per Hour: Did you know that the average rate many freelancers charge to manage social media accounts for clients is $200-$300 per HOUR? Proof?

A report published by ReadWriteWeb.com, showcased an interview with the top Bloggers and social media consultants. . . . NONE of them were making less than $150 per hour for social media consulting and the average rate was around $300.00 per hour. Some commanded fees of $2,000 to $4,000 for 20-40 hours worth of work.

Freelancer Who’s Too Busy Charging “Only $125” Per Hour: Did you know that one freelancer gets way too busy charging “just” $125/hour for monitoring social media accounts and doing social media consulting for her clients?

Offering Social Media Can Land More Freelance Writing Jobs: Did you know that you can land MORE freelancing writing jobs – pretty darn easily — by adding social media marketing to your list of services?

You Can Make Even More Money by Outsourcing the Work: Did you know that you can easily hire outsourcers (other freelancers) to do the actual work for you while you focus on landing the high-paying clients?

Businesses are Begging for This Service – Literally! Did you know that businesses are clamoring – literally begging – for social media experts to show them how to get going on this whole “social media” thing?

You Can Quickly Become a High-Paid, Go-to Expert: Did you know that YOU can become their “go to” social media consultant, especially if they’re already a client and trust you?

You Can Easily Make Thousands of Dollars More Every Month: Did you know that you can seamlessly add thousands of dollars to your bottom line month in and month out JUST from social media?

All of This is True and So Much More!

Learn How to Market for High-Paying Social Media Accounts: We discuss it in the hot new, one-of-a-kind ebook, The Social Media Marketing Bible for Freelance Writers: How to Earn Thousands in Additional Income by Offering Social Media Marketing to Existing Clients.

What’s Included in This Ebook

We discuss:

How we actually landed clients;

How to price your services;

Give you a sample marketing letter to send out;

A step-by-step marketing plan so you can start landing accounts quickly;

Tell you what to expect when you land clients;

Explain the most often requested social media service;

How to handle difficult clients;

How to upsell clients seamlessly; and

Sooooo much more!

Following is  a complete Table of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: Page 2

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Page 3

OVERVIEW: WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS EBOOK: Page 12

NINA’S ACCOUNT: Page 13

CHAPTER 1: THEY DON’T WANT WRITING SERVICES THEY WANT HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: Page 13

Being Able to Identify Trends Pays Off: Page 13

Why Giving People What They Want Will Help You Create a Profitable Business: Page 14

CHAPTER 2: PARDON ME, DO YOU KNOW FACEBOOK? Page 16

Blogging: Why It’s Critical to Internet Marketing and Social Media Success: Page 16

Freelance Writers: How to Make More Money by Helping Your Clients with a Blogging Strategy: Page 17

How to Easily Turn a Social Media Client into a Blogging Client: Page 17

CHAPTER 3: HOW MUCH WILL CLIENTS PAY FOR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: Page 18

How I Determined How Much to Charge for My Social Media Services: Page 18

What’s Social Media Really About?: Page 19

Why and How to Hone Your Skills, Raise Your Rates and Adapt to the Market: Page 19

When There’s Social Media Sticker Shock; Offer the Next Best Thing: Page 20

Calculate the Value of Your Time to Make Sure You Don’t Suffer from Burnout: Page 20

Why to Consider Charging Low in the Beginning & Then Raise Your Rates Immediately: Page 21

How to Make More Money with Your Social Media Marketing Expertise by Giving Workshops: It’s Not Hard!: Page 21

How My Peers are Making Money & Having Fun Giving Workshops on Social Media Marketing: Page 22

CHAPTER 4: WHAT TO DO WHEN PROMOTING SOCIAL MEDIA: Page 23

Why Educating Your Clients about Social Media Marketing Can be Your Golden Ticket to Financial Freedom: Page 23

Why It’s Important to be Your First Social Media Client: Page 24

How I Almost Lost an Account with a Well-Connected Social Media Expert Because I Didn’t Have “Pretty Graphics”: Page 25

Why You Can Land Clients Even If You Aren’t Very Active on Social Media Sites: Page 26

How to Easily Increase Your Social Media Marketing Income: Page 26

How to Sell Your Freelance Writing Skills and Increase Your Income from Social Media: Page 27

The First Rule of Marketing for Social Media Work: Page 28

Measuring Social Media Success: Why You Shouldn’t Talk about Social Media Metrics: Page 29

How to Increase Your Social Media Marketing Income by Outsourcing: Page 30

Build a Team, but Still Learn the Basics If You Want to Succeed with Social Media: Page 30

Again, Remember to Use Your Writing Skills to Land More Social Media Gigs: Page 31

Why More than 9 Out of Ten Businesses Looking for Social Media Also Need Content Writing: Page 31

Why It’s Critical to Charge a Set-up Fee: Page 31

Why It’s Important to Make Your Clients Commit — to You as a Social Media Expert and to the Social Media Marketing Process: Page 32

CHAPTER 5: WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN OFFERING SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES: Page 34

DON’T Mention Your Social Media Rates Right Away: Page 34

Why You Should Always Ask Questions before Stating Social Media Rates: Page 34

DON’T Focus Only on Facebook: Page 35

Other Social Media Sites It’s Helpful to Know About besides Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn: Page 35

Social Gaming Sites: What They Are and Why You Should Know about Them: Page 36

Get Social Media Marketing Results for Your Clients the Easy Way: Why Forums Are a Goldmine: Page 36

Why and When to Pass on Low-Paying/Low-Balling Clients: Page 37

Burnout and an Empty Bank Account: What You Get When You Lower Your Rate: Page 38

Why You Should Never Be Afraid to Lose a Client Who Wants Social Media Services: Page 38

Social Media Is Mercurial: Don’t Stop Learning: Page 39

Avoid the Fraudsters: Who to Follow to Learn How to Become a Social Media Expert: Page 39

Be Selective: Don’t Accept Just Any Client Who Wants Social Media Marketing: Page 40

DON’T Act Like Your Clients When It Comes to Social Media: Page 41

A Common Objection Clients Have to Investing in Social Media & How to Overcome It: Page 41

2 Options for Handling Clients Who Don’t Want to Interact on Social Media in Any Way & Want You to Do It All: Page 42

DON’T Offer the Lowest Rates in Social Media Marketing! Here’s Why: Page 42

Freelance Writers: What It Takes to Earn $60,000 a Year from Offering Social Media Services Alone: Page 43

Why You Can You Double or Triple Your Fees as a Social Media Consultant & Still Get Clients: Page 44

Where to Find Affordable Outsourcers to Do the Actual Social Media Account Management for You: Page 44

Freelance Writers: Struggling to Bring in Writing Business? Why Social Media Can Be a Boon to Your Bottom Line: Page 45

Are You Ready to Be a Social Media Expert and Cash in On the Demand? Page 45

Social Media Salary Sources: Page 45

YUWANDA’S STORY: Page 46

ABOUT ME AND SOCIAL MEDIA: Page 46

Why I Decided to Offer Social Media to My Clients: Page 46

My Social Media Accounts: Sites I Belong To, When I Joined, Those I Actively Use: Page 46

AN OVERVIEW OF THE PHENOMENON THAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA: Page 48

What Is Social Media? Page 48

How Social Media Differs from Traditional Media & Why You Need to Know: Page 48

Why Companies are Investing in Social Media Now: Page 49

The Rapid Growth of Social Media: Statistics on the Three Biggest Players: Page 50

Who Uses Social Media: The Demographics of Social Media’s 3 Largest Players: Page 50

Freelance Writers — How Knowing the Demographics of Social Media Sites Helps You Sell More of This Service: Page 54

The Changing Face of Social Media: Page 54

The Future of Social Media & the Wealth of Opportunity It Provides for Freelance Writers: Page 55

HOW TO MARKET FOR AND GET SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: Page 56

How to Put Together an Effective Marketing Plan to Bring in Clients: Page 56

Query Email to Send to Prospects for Social Media Account Management: Page 59

HOW TO PRICE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES TO SELL: Page 60

Factors to Consider When Pricing Your Social Media Services: Page 60

Setting Your Social Media Marketing Rates: Conclusion: Page 61

SOCIAL MEDIA AUTOMATION TOOLS FOR FACEBOOK, TWITTER & LINKEDIN: Page 63

Twitter Productivity & Automation Tools: Page 63

Facebook Productivity & Automation Tools: Page 63

LinkedIn Productivity Tools: Page 64

SOCIAL MEDIA DO’S AND DONT’S: Page 65

14 Social Media Do’s and Dont’s That Increase Your Following: Page 65

Other Creative Professionals Who Can Earn Money by Offering Social Media Services: Page 67

CONCLUSION: Page 68

VISIT THE AUTHORS ONLINE: Page 69

Interact With Us via Social Media about the Info You Read Here: Page 69

BEAT OUT THE COMPETITION FOR WRITING JOBS AND SOCIAL MEDIA JOBS

With the info in this book, you’ll be on the cutting edge of offering this highly in-demand service. And, beat out your competition every time.

An inside secret: More and more companies are looking for freelance writers to not only produce content, but to integrate into their social media platforms as well. If you don’t offer social media marketing, and your competition does, who do you think has a better chance of landing clients.

WILL YOU LOSE OUT TO FELLOW FREELANCE WRITERS: A LOOK BACK AT SEO

This is similar to where SEO writing was a few years ago. Clients flocked to writers who knew how to do this type of writing. And, as the testimonials on this SEO writing ebook page highlights, those freelancers who were forward-thinking enough to take the bull by the horns and jump in, they’re busier than ever (me included).

Now, social media marketing has reached/is reaching this point. As a freelance writer, to remain competitive, integrating social media marketing into your list of services is not only smart, it’s almost necessary.

This ebook gives you all the tools you need to get started – today.

Here’s to your success!

Yuwanda Black and Nina Lewis

Order now: $14.97 (Introductory Price); Regular price will be $29.97.

This week, continuing in this vein, we gain some insight about one of the largest social media sites — Twitter. I was able to tap the brain of Mary Anne Hahn of WriteSuccess.com, a site devoted to helping freelance writers succeed. FYI, Mary Anne is also the founder of the International Association of Professional Ghost Writers.

Mary Anne uses Twitter to successfully drive traffic to her sites, and has taught workshops on how writers can use Twitter to attract clients; a workshop she says she hopes to offer again soon. 

I sent her a few questions asking how freelance writers could not just get a Twitter account, but actively “use” this social media site to get clients. Following is what she had to say.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR FREELANCE WRITERS: HOW TO USE TWITTER TO LAND CLIENTS

1. From the buzz I get, most freelance writers know what Twitter is, but don’t know how to use it to land clients directly (I know I have this problem). What are two of the biggest mistakes you see Twitter users make?

The two biggest mistakes (well, three really) I see many Twitter users making are:

i) Not being selective about who you choose to follow (e.g., using auto follow tools); 

ii) Success on Twitter depends on following the kinds of people you would like to have follow you back.  Many, many Twitter accounts are just automated spam bots (not real people) that are useless in building a good Twitter network; and

iii) Posting only tweets marketing your business. 

Like Facebook, Twitter is first and foremost a social network. People don’t like to be just sold to there — they enjoy exchanging information, encouragement, news, quotes, etc.  Once you relate to people on Twitter as a human being, they will more likely be interested in checking out what services you have to offer.

2. Piggybacking on the last question, you mentioned to me that you use Twitter to drive traffic to your sites. What are two things you do that are the most effective?

i) Over time I have built up a Twitter following of the kinds of people I believe would be most interested in the information on my sites.

ii) I don’t use Twitter just to market to people — I use it to exchange ideas, help others get more followers, offer positive and encouraging words, share the occasional laugh and sometimes just to say hello. 

Twitter is really no different than using a blog or newsletter to build a following of potential clients–it’s just a different vehicle.

3. I know there are quite a few Twitter automation tools out there? I signed up with SocialOomph.com in 2009, but to be honest, I rarely (very rarely) use it. Are there any particular (free) Twitter automation tools you’d recommend?

Social Oomph is awesome for scheduling tweets in advance and seeing who has mentioned you in their tweets, but I do NOT recommend using any auto add or auto follow tools.  I think the key to Twitter success for freelancers and entrepreneurs is spending a few minutes a day or even 30 minutes a week building a list of real, relevant followers.  Again, see #2 above!  I am also a BIG fan of HootSuite for tracking tweets, mentions, etc.

4. In your opinion, how often many times a day should a freelance writer tweet — about what and to whom – if they’re trying to land clients.

There’s no hard and fast rule on this, although I’ve read a variety of opinions…when I have time, I tend to post 6-10 tweets a day.

The Best Time to Tweet

Generally, I tweet between the hours of 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern, which demographics indicate are the hours when most people are on Twitter (although I occasionally mix that up a bit to reach different people). 

Popular Kinds of Tweets to Send Out

Popular kinds of tweets are motivational quotes (although stay away from the most famous ones–most of those have already been tweeted ad nauseum!);

Links to articles, videos and blog posts (including your own, of course) that might be of interest to your followers; and

Retweets of things your followers have posted that you think others would enjoy or appreciate.

5. Any other advice you’d like to share on how to use Twitter effectively?

I don’t advocate spending a lot of time on Twitter in real time, but I do suggest doing so for a few minutes each day on a regular basis so that you can retweet or respond directly to someone else once in a while. 

These interactions make you look more real, and help you build up the kinds of relationships with people who may turn out to be: i) potential clients; or ii) people who will happily refer you to others. 

Twitter is filled with friendly, sociable, helpful people . . . your job is to find and hook up with them.

About Mary Anne Hahn: A longtime advocate for writers of all genres, Mary Anne Hahn launched the e-zine “WriteSuccess” back in August 2000, and later developed the accompanying Web site at http://writesuccess.com. Over the years, she has written numerous articles on writing and the writing life, shared hundreds of resources for writers and posted market information, contest announcements and writing job opportunities in order to help writers develop successful writing careers.

She is also founder of the International Association of Professional Ghost Writers (http://iapgw.org) and has taught a Twitter bootcamp for freelancers in the past, something she plans to do a few times in 2011.

P.S.: Ebook on Social Media for Freelance Writers

Nina Lewis and I will be co-authoring an ebook on how to successfully add social media marketing to your list of services. We’ve completed the outline and the book will be available from both of our sites, and on Amazon, on April 1^st. Of course, I’ll inform you when it’s available.

4/1/2011: Update The social media marketing ebook is here! Learn how to make $100-$300 per hour as a social media expert.

P.P.S.: Living in Jamaica Series – New Post: A new post (with video, lots of video!) was added to the series.

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BUT, I went one better. I reached out to Nina Lewis over at Nina Online! You may remember her from last week’s SEO Writing Jobs newsletter. Her firm was the one hiring SEO writers.  

Featured Interview: Nina Lewis from Nina Online! On Social Media

Nina manages social media for her clients. So I asked her a few questions and she generously shared her knowledge. Here’s what she had to say about how to successfully offer this type of service to those looking for it.

Why did you decide to add social media marketing to your service offerings?

Well, to be honest, I really never wanted to offer social media services. However, when I started marketing my writing services, everyone started asking me if I knew about social media and if I could help them with it. 

I knew how to do it.  I saw the demand and after a friendly argument with my mentor, I had to learn to embrace social media. After all, it’s my primary source of income. Plus, I had 20 Marketing Consultations in January with every type of professional – from a Civil Engineer to an Insurance Agent and beyond.

And, every single one of them wanted Social Media; Facebook marketing to be exact. 

What social media services do clients request the most?

The clients I deal with are local small business owners (Real Estate Investors, Professional Organizers, Intimacy & Life Coaches, Pre-Paid Legal marketers, and even an up-and-coming pop music singer).  And, all of them request Facebook help and Facebook management. 

They tell me 3 things:

1.  They want to get more targeted followers to their Facebook Fan Page;

2.   They don’t know how to start; and  

3.   They don’t have time to learn and they want me to do it for them.

What social media services would you advise freelancers to start with?

That’s really hard to answer because some businesses target audience(s) may not be on Facebook and the other sites. However, I do recommend to start with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter because they are the most well known, and the most in demand. 

Also, video marketing is huge and if you know how to integrate YouTube promotional videos with the Facebook and Twitter platforms, you will be a star in your clients’ eyes.

How did you decide how to price your social media marketing services?

To be honest, this is something that I’m still struggling with. 

When I first started I was charging only $97 a month for managing 3 social networks. However, I soon discovered burn out!   

I presented rates from $197-$497 and discovered my local market was willing to pay $ 197 for the management of 3 social networks.  With the rate increase, I was able to hire a local part-time employee to help me with the tedious details that goes into getting clients “targeted” followers.  But, with anything, you have to determine a price that you are comfortable with. 

I have had talks with fellow social media experts and they charge anywhere from $750-$3,500 for the same level of service.

If you want to do consulting/training, you can command fees of $125-$10,000 and get it.  My consulting fee is $125 an hour.  However, that will be going up very soon.

Any other advice you’d  like to add about how to successfully add social media to your service offerings?   

Goodness, there are a lot of different strategies that go into adding social media services, but the first thing I would say is get educated. Social Media is much more than getting a lot of “Fans and Followers.”

You need to know how to strategize with a client, come up with a content marketing plan and execute it. 

I follow www.facebook.com/marismith (she’s the guru of Social Media) and socialmediaexaminer.com has a lot of invaluable tips on how to make social media work for you.   

Another thing I learned when I’m talking to clients is that they don’t understand that social media is about building a relationship, rapport and connecting with your clients.  So if you decide to offer social media services, you need to understand how to explain it to prospects so that they will understand the bigger picture.

Yes, you can get a lot of followers to your clients’ Facebook account, but what are they going to do with those followers?  Engage with them, connect with them, build relationships with them; and that’s where freelancers come in. It’s your job to create content that resonates with your clients’ target audience.

If you are already writing content, just add social media to the mix. For example, I have a client in California who I write articles for and she said, “Nina, can you put all of these articles on my Social Media sites?”

FYI, there’s a way you can do this automatically, but I won’t go into detail here. 

Any content you write online, you can ask your client if they would like the content to be distributed on their social media networks as well.  If they don’t have a social network, this is the perfect opportunity to educate and upsell them on how they can benefit from being on social networks.  And if they agree, you can just tack on an additional fee.

As an aside, become your own first social media client. You can’t say you are a Social Media Expert or offer Social Media if you don’t have your own presence, unless you have a track record of satisfied clients with proven results.

Offering Social Media Services to Your Freelance Writing Clients

To sum up, Nina wrote:

Yuwanda, I didn’t realize I can write a whole book about what to do about how to add Social Media services to your current freelance business.  I guess this is what I have for now, but if you need more information or clarification, please shoot me an email.  I’ll be more than happy to help!

Ebook on Social Media for Freelance Writers

Nina and I will be co-authoring an ebook on how to successfully add social media marketing to your list of services. We’re in the coordinating stages now, and hope to have it done before very long. Of course, I’ll inform you when it’s complete.

Be sure to check out Nina’s site to learn more about social media, as well as SEO writing and a host of other resources.

And, thanks Nina!

4/1/2011: Update The social media marketing ebook is here! Learn how to make $100-$300 per hour as a social media expert.

Seeking Video Marketing Expert (eg, YouTube) to Interview

Note: I’m actively seeking to interview video marketing (ie, YouTube) experts. Your interview will be featured on the front page of this site for at least 3 days, as well as in our newsletter. If you’re interested, send an email to info**at**InkwellEditorial.com. Put “Video Marketing Expert” in the subject line. I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Living in Jamaica Series – New Post

A new post (back dated for this past Friday) was added to the series.

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Two of them were, Twitter doesn’t make money so it isn’t a viable business and You can’t make money on Twitter. I admit, sometimes I wonder why I even bother with social media. I have Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.

I use Facebook for friends and family only. I haven’t logged in or updated by LinkedIn account in months. Twitter is the only social media outlet I use on a regular basis, but I can’t even name one account I’ve gotten because of it. So, why do I use it?

Why I, as a Freelance Writer, Use Social Media

Because it keeps me visible. I know I’ve gotten ebook sales because of it, because some buyers have written in and told me that that’s how they first heard about me.

My point in telling you all of this is that social media is not going anywhere. Remember when I talked about SEO content writing and how companies are starting to realize its value and are pouring money into it? Well, same thing with social media. It’s maturing. And when companies start to take heed and spend money on/for a service, then that’s an opportunity waiting to be pounced on for you as a freelance writer.

Note: Get three ebooks for almost 50% Off.

The Popularity of Social Media: Stats of the 3 Biggies

Just how popular is social media? Following are some quick stats about three of the largest and most popular social media sites. Learn more about the demographics of each at Quantcast.com

Facebook.com: Facebook has over 600 million users worldwide. Of those, 50% log on every day and the average user has 130 friends. Source: Facebook and CheckFacebook.com.

Twitter.com: This popular microblogging site has over 190 million visitors – per month. And they’re an active bunch, sending out 95 million tweets – per day. Source: TechCrunch.com and Twitter.com.

LinkedIn: This popular business social media site hit 100 million users this year and adds a new member every second. Source: LinkHumans.com.

Now that you know how popular social media is – with no slowdown in sight – let’s take a look at four more reasons (number one being its growing popularity) to add it to your list of freelance writing services.

I. Social Media Keeps You as a Freelance Writer on Your Game

As a freelance writer, you have to know how to do a little bit of everything. When I got my first website, I had to learn some HTML. A couple of years ago when I went from an HTML-coded site to Wordpress, I had to learn how to navigate in that.

When I started writing ebooks, I had to learn how to do simple graphics and ebook covers in various softwares.

The same concept applies with social media. You have to learn it in order to stay up to date and on top of your game in this online world we inhabit. In fact, that’s the reason I signed up in the first place. Many subscribers to my newsletters kept asking me, “Yuwanda, are you on Twitter?” Or, “What’s your Twitter account; I want to follow you.”

When I’d say I wasn’t on Twitter (or Facebook or LinkedIn), I could hear the dumbfounded silence across the network waves.

And then, when my CLIENTS started asking me about managing their social media accounts, I knew I had to get going on it, which brings me to the next reason for adding social media to your service listings as a freelance writer . . .

II. Your Clients Will Spend Money on This Service

Businesses are loosening the purse strings when it comes to all kinds of internet marketing – and social media services are no exception.

According to Forrester, a leading research firm:

Between 2010-2014, social media marketing is expected to grow at an annual rate of 34% — double the average growth rate of 17% for all other forms of online marketing. . . . By 2014, social media is expected to be a larger marketing medium than either email or mobile. Source: Soshable.com.

III. Freelance Writers: Early Adopters Get the Work

Just like in SEO writing. Although SEO content writing has been around for a few years, when I first started in 2007, it wasn’t mainstream. Because I specialized in the medium, I was able to land clients fairly easily. I would send out 20 queries and could practically count on landing 1-2 jobs – and sometimes more.

These days, many freelance writers and business still aren’t investing in SEO content. But, they’re starting to, as evidenced by the first link at the beginning of this article.  And freelance writers who are just starting to offer SEO content are still finding it a lucrative medium.

As I discussed in the post SEO Copywriting Services: Is This Niche Becoming Too Crowded?, you don’t have to be an early adopter to be successful. But if you are, boy, what a difference it can make to your bottom line.

IV. The Competition: If You Don’t Offer It, Others Will & Where Will That Leave You?

Although I’m not a big fan of doing what everyone else does, there are some cases where it pays to. And this is one of them. Just like I said about in the post 3 Reasons It’s Important for all Freelance Writers to Learn SEO:

You’re either going to have to learn it as a freelance writer, or be prepared to lose out. Which road will you take?

Freelance Writers: How to Successfully Add Social Media Services to Your Business

In next week’s newsletter, I’ll give some pointers about how to successfully add social media marketing to your freelance writing services – and hopefully have you landing clients in no time.

4/1/2011 Update: The social media marketing ebook is here! Learn how to make $100-$300 per hour as a social media expert.

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Following is a two-part post. As I haven’t posted since Tuesday (have been working on getting two new websites up), I had two more posts left in the Freelance Writer’s Technology Month series. I have to wrap it up because tomorrow is December 1^st (where has the time gone!).

FYI, this post is almost 3,000 words long and took almost four hours to write. It’s jam-packed with what I sincerely hope you find useful information (had to end with a bang!). Here goes:

Part I: Social Bookmarking Software

Social bookmarking is THE thing right now. Like blogging a few years ago, it has taken off like wildfire. It’s here to stay, hence, something that should be integrated into your marketing strategy.

For anyone who’s been under a cave lately, following are some particulars you should know about social bookmarking.

What is social bookmarking? Social bookmarking has been around for about five years now. According to a post on SiteProNews.com, it seems to have been originated by Del.icio.us back in 2003.

The ability to save and categorize a personal collection of bookmarks and share them with others. Users may also take bookmarks saved by others and add them to their own collection, as well as to subscribe to the lists of others. [Source: TVB.org]

Why every freelance writer should integrate social bookmarking into their marketing strategy (especially if they are just starting out)? Because it generates traffic. I use the social bookmarking site Digg primarily. There are hundreds of social bookmarking sites though – many more than I knew about until I started to research this topic. 

One SEO marketer I spoke with told me that Propeller was one of the best social bookmarking sites to use. He currently managed 150 blogs for different clients and used it because it is indexed by Google several times a day. This means you could potentially get more traffic sooner if you post here.

Read more about social bookmarking here, and how it can help you in your marketing efforts.

Social bookmarking stats: For how effective social bookmarking can be, consider this: It is quite common, unfortunately, for a dug website to receive so much traffic that it brings down the server. [Source: SiteProNews.com]

To read a real case example of how social bookmarking can increase site traffic, click here.

For some in-depth stats on Feeds and Social Bookmarking, click here. This can help you determine which social bookmarking site(s) you may want to start using.

How freelance writers can make money off the social bookmarking phenomenon: Besides driving traffic to your site/blog, new freelance writing opportunities have opened up around this phenomenon.

IE, blog posting and forum posting. Many SEO companies are hired by website owners to do regular posting to other blogs, in relevant forums and then list those posts on social bookmarking sites.

The pay is not that great – I’ve seen rates as low as 15 cents/per; they usually top out at about $5/post. However, the posts tend to be short (350 words or less), and if you build up a stable of 10 or 15 clients, it can garner you a pretty decent part-time income (depending on your financial needs).

One SEO company owner I spoke with told me that he paid bloggers $100 month for daily posting and $150/month if they linked to post to a couple of social bookmarking sites (eg, Propeller). He said the posts usually only took 10-15 minutes each and that they could be done in bulk and be pre-scheduled (there’s that use of technology).

So, ostensibly, you could sit down and do a week’s worth of posts in a couple of hours and have made $25-$40 for your time. Not too shabby.

Social Bookmarking Software

Create Your Own Social Bookmark: http://www.viralsocializer.com. This software allows you to create your own social bookmarking and tagging service in any niche or market you want.

I wish I had the time to do this for the freelance writing niche, as I find many sites don’t really cater to it.

If I have a grievance with most new technologies, it’s that they are heavily slanted toward tech users, gamers and/or what I term “college boy humor.” Look at many of the videos on YouTube. Many cater to sophomoric humor promoted for entertainment purposes.

Disclaimer: I know nothing about this software, so I don’t promote/endorse it. It is used here only for illustrative purposes.

Social Bookmarking Buttons & Gadgets: SocialNetworkingArticles.com has an extensive list of buttons and gadgets for your website/blog. It’s the most complete list I’ve run across.

I have one DIGG button on my blog. When I ran across this list, I was plum embarrassed. I have close to 300 hundred pages on my website. Another thing I’ve added to my list of things to do in the New Year is to go through every page and add a social bookmarking button. And yes, this will be an outsourced project (you’ll get the meaning of this when you read #7 in Part II of this article).

Note: The cool bookmarking gadget I added to this page is at AddThis.com. It’s free.

I hope I’ve made you realize the value of social bookmarking. Now, choose a button and start bookmarking/tagging away!

Part II: 9 Money-Making Conclusions Drawn from Freelance Writer’s Technology Month

1. Choose how you’re going to make money. This whole series started because I was looking for a way to make more passive money online. Read the full story here.

You may be thinking, “I’ll make my money by writing.” Well, of course. But, how. For example, one thing I decided on during the course of this series was that I wanted to start a Virtual Real Estate Empire (VRE).

What is this? It’s when a webpreneur sets up minisites to create passive streams of income. I’m not talking about those sites with one article and 50 ads either. I’m talking about valuable minisites focused on a tight, tight niche with quality content.

Quality, relevant, fresh, unique content is what separates a bad minisite from a good one. Low-quality minisites throw up a few generic articles, slap some ads on and expect it to generate money. Many buy pre-existing sites that are sold hundreds of times and never add new content. Hence, there’s are hundreds, perhaps thousands of the same site – all competing against each other. 

While it may be cost-effective to buy a pre-existing site, how you maintain it is what will make it profitable. Adding new, in-depth content, quality photos, interesting discussions, etc. will separate your site from others.

Many are just too lazy to do this. AND, this is why this could be a good income stream for freelance writers. I plan to use my writing ability on my minisites.

This is what I mean by planning “how” you’re going to make your money as a freelance writer. Read more about how to make money with minisites here.
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Last year I made $3,489.07 from a simple 1-page website.
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2. Look for Technology: As in, look for technology to integrate into your marketing strategy. It will make your life so much easier.

This series has opened my eyes wider than a barn owl to the amount of technology available out there – much of it for free.

If you can imagine it, or have ever whispered to yourself, “I wish there was a way to …”, then believe me, the technology probably exists for it.

When a new marketing phenomenon comes along, (eg, blogging), pretty much simultaneously there is going to be technology to make it easier, faster, quicker, cheaper, etc. to promote that strategy.

So, whatever you do, just because you don’t know of a technology that exists, spend a few hours on the web researching it. Nine times out of 10, the software is there, and if enough time has passed, it’s probably even free.

3. Don’t Be Ruled by Technology: While this may seem contrary to the previous post, it isn’t. Don’t be so quick to try every new piece of technology/marketing strategy that comes along.

Select two or three you can really sink your teeth into and stick with those. Otherwise, you’ll be using a lot, but not really seeing results from any of them.

I’ve learned that you can’t do everything. For example, I set up a MySpace page and a Squidoo lens. Have I used any of them? After initially setting them up, no.

Between blogging, client projects, producing a newsletter, updating my website, setting up my affiliate program (which took forever) and sticking to my existing marketing plan, I simply don’t have time to try out every new “it” phenomenon.

I only started blogging in 2005 – a few years after it was the “in” thing to do. But, you know what, if a marketing technique/new technology is the real deal, it’ll be there when you’re ready to integrate it into your existing marketing plan.

4. Embrace Change: Piggybacking on the last point, don’t be afraid to let go of, or fine tune, what isn’t working.

For example, I’ve recently started to blog only 2-3 times a week. It runs contrary to what most industry experts advise. But, if you read the initial post in this series, then you know my research revealed that this is not necessarily the case.

5. Stop Giving Away Good Content: Now, with free article marketing being touted as the number one way to drive traffic to a site, you may be frowning at this. But, I don’t mean don’t give away any content, I mean don’t give away all of your good, in-depth content.

For example, right now, my permissions statement on my blog reads:

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. Freelance success stories, e-courses, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Get the e-report, How to Make $100/Day as a Freelance Writer — free! Log on to http://www.freelancewritingwebsite.com/ for details.

As of this post, this has been changed to:

Copyright © 2007 InkwellEditorial.com: Freelance success stories, e-courses, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Get the e-report, How to Make $100/Day as a Freelance Writer — free! Log on to http://www.freelancewritingwebsite.com/ for details. Except where noted, no part of this site may be reproduced in any manner without the express, written consent of the publisher. Violators will be prosecuted.

Why the change?

Because good, unique, relevant content is what drives traffic to a site. Oftentimes I see my content posted on sites that rank much higher than mine. Search engines are really starting to crack down on duplicate content.

What exactly does this mean? It means that it will only give “credit to (ie, list in search results)” the first three or four sites where the content appears. The other sites (eg, my site) won’t show up at all. 

By not allowing my content to be freely posted any and everywhere, I, in essence, force sites to ink to the full content (eg, drive visitors to my site).

While I still believe there’s a place for article marketing – after all, I write the book on it – it has evolved to a point where it must be balanced with the full value you receive from it. So, write a great article and submit it to the free article directories, but, save the nitty-gritty details (ie, the really valuable, in-depth content) for your site/blog.

While some may find this controversial, this is just my experience. As the web changes, so must your marketing strategy.

6. Charge Enough to Live – Or Don’t Do It! While this may seem that it has nothing to do with technology, it does.

I’ve recently started to do some SEO writing and am astounded at the low rates many freelancers charge. By my calculations, many are working for $4-$6/hour.

While I believe that its up to every freelancer to determine their own rates because we all have different needs, there comes a point where it’s slave wages. Many freelancers do this with the mistaken belief that it will lead to more work.

Trust me – I’ve been doing this since 1993 – it rarely does. In my opinion, if someone is looking for writers to do 400-600 word articles at $2-$4/pop, they are not looking to give you a raise when they order in bulk. If anything, it will be the opposite (ie, “Since I’m giving you so much work, how about a bulk (read cheaper) rate?”).

Don’t do it. Do something else instead. You might as well spend your time creating a portfolio of samples you can shop to clients who are really to pay you a decent wage. Or, working for a charity that means a lot to you.

So, how does technology play into this point? Many bulk writing buyers operate hundreds of sites – either for themselves or for clients. And, many use software to automate the process (see this post). The most important piece of all of this is the content you provide. Nothing happens on the web without content.

If they can’t afford to pay a decent wage for the most important component of their business, then is it a sustainable business model. That’s why there’s so much junk on the web. Many of these are get-rich-quick schemes where someone has paid bottom-of-the-barrel rates for meaningless content that doesn’t advance the web in any significant way.

The web is most useful when you get targeted, relevant, in-depth results when you type in a search term. Most times, I don’t even look at the first page of Google results any more because it’s filled with generic content that is only meant to get me to that page. Either I click on the sponsored results, or go to the second page to start my reading.

Thankfully, search engines are starting to penalize these types of useless sites. Don’t use your talent to contribute to this. You’re worth more, your talent is worth more.

7. Outsource What You Can’t Do: I recently tried to set up a WordPress Blog. I’m switching because, while I like Blogger, WordPress blogs have more tools for marketing purposes, and new ones are constantly being developed by this team.

I also happen to think they look more professional than Blogger blogs. After spending a few hours trying to set it up, I got it up, but wasn’t satisfied with the look and feel of it. So, I gave up and have put it into my marketing calendar to outsource in February (big client check comes in).

I’ve held myself back so many times by trying to do it myself. I’m a natural DIYer (do it yourselfer) and I tend to be pretty thrifty (years of freelancing have taught me this).

But it has been to my detriment on more than a few occasions. I often wonder how much I can add to my bottom line by outsourcing much more than I do (this is so hard for me because I like to control every aspect of a project).

But, I’m learning that the more successful I (you) become, it is cheaper to pay someone to do what you can’t do, don’t have the time to do – or simply don’t want to take the time to figure out how to do.

8. Stop Shortchanging Yourself: Freelance writers are famous for wanting to share. But, don’t do it at the expense of your business.

I was in a popular freelance writing forum a few weeks ago and the administrator was lamenting how much time it took her to moderate the comments, research and post freelance jobs, and figure out the glitches that had caused some of her forum members problems.

She was saying that she was seriously considering either selling the forum or starting to charge a membership fee because it was so time-consuming to maintain. That resonated with me because there are days when I want to abandon my blog for some of the same reasons.

She polled the readers to see how many would be willing to pay a membership fee. While she got enthusiastic responses, it didn’t appear that there would be many takers.

Now, this is an extremely popular freelance writing forum with a lot of solid, first-rate information. I felt saddened.

As freelance writers, we shortchange ourselves so much. The reason I decided to cut back on my blogging – instead of abandoning it all together – is that relative to the time I put into it, it doesn’t return enough measurable financial results. FYI, I usually spend an hour to an hour and a half on each post, which is a good chunk of my 7-9/hour work day.

Some posts can take two hours or more if I happen to have to do some research (ie, this post/this series).

As blogging is part of my overall marketing strategy – and one I happen to enjoy – I can’t abandon it altogether. But, I can limit it so that it doesn’t take away from more lucrative projects.
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P.S.: Make $250/day writing SEO content: I’m doing it and you can too!
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9. The Web is Maturing; Are You? The web is maturing to a point where quality information is going to be hard to find for free. My sister lamented to me just the other day how she was having a hard time finding statistics on a story she was writing because all the sites with the good information had paid memberships.

She was like, “You’re right about what you said Wanda. It IS hard to find good information on the web for free now.”

This is a good thing for freelance writers because it means more providers will have to post quality information to compete. And, you ain’t going to find quality in a $2 article.

Going into the New Year, my wish is that freelance writers will realize their true value to the most important piece of technology to come along in the last century – perhaps since the industrial revolution – the Internet.

Nothing happens without content. And, you provide it! Charge enough to make a decent living.

Something to think about, no?
Yuwanda
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UPDATE 11/30/07: Following is a link to every post in the Freelance Writer’s Technology Month series.

Intro Post: New Series – Freelance Writer’s Technology Month
Post #1: The 4 Fundamentals of Making Money Online
Post #2: SEO Content Development: How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website
Post #3: Niche Marketing: How to Choose a Profitable Niche
Post #4: Software Tools for Niche Websites
Post #5: Turn $1/Day into an Online Empire: How to Make Money with Minisites
Post #6: 4 Controversial Ways to Get More Traffic for Your Website
Post #7: 5 Ways to Get a Job Writing SEO Articles
Post #8: How to Determine What to Charge as an SEO Article Writer
Post #9: How to Optimize Your Website to Get More Traffic
Post #10: Social Bookmarking Software & 9 Money-Making Conclusions from Freelance Writer’s Technology Month