Secret #23: Facebook Yourself

Unless you’ve spent the last five years in a crater on the moon, you know that Facebook is the hottest thing to hit the Web since porn.  Well, and of course there’s Twitter, too.  The two sites seem to be joined at the hip in a kind of social networking/marketing pas de deux, but that’s because they work.  You can use social networking sites to grow your writing business and attract work you might not have pursued otherwise.

Very simply, starting a Facebook page is an instant way to connect with hundreds of people and increase your personal contacts.  I was resistant to it because I don’t have the time to cruise around and play Mafia Wars, but when a client finally nagged me (thank you, Jen!) into Facebooking myself, I reconnected with friends as far back as the sixth grade.  By starting a personal Facebook page, you can let the world know you’re a freelance writer.   This is valuable because there is a great deal of prestige associated with being a professional writer.  It’s one of those things most people wish they could do but can’t or won’t.

An even better way to leverage Facebook is to start a page for your writing business.  This lets you baldly promote yourself and invite people to become fans.  You can link to online portfolio samples, use the page as a temporary business website until you get your site launched, and probably find a lot of key contacts in your field of writing who have pages of their own (Facebook has more than 200 million users, not all of them active).  Into this category also falls Twitter, the 140-character micro-blogging annoyance that, despite my best efforts, has become HUGE.  Why don’t I like it?  Well, because I think it’s inane to share every move of your day with strangers.  I’ve long thought of launching my own spinoff: Shitter, a micro-blog where you could only post while on the toilet.  Seems just as useful; at least you could type sitting down.

But Twitter is a big deal because it’s mobile and quick and easy.  Now, writing is not an especially mobile profession, so it’s not as useful for a writer as for, say, a trucker.  But if you’re in the field doing research, a few Tweets here and there can grab some attention.  I still prefer Facebook, but since Twitter is free, why not?

Finally, get on LinkedIn.  It’s a professional networking site more aimed at businesspeople and business.  People come there all the time trying to connect with colleagues and find vendors.  Again, it’s free and there’s zero downside to having a presence on the top social networking sites.  If nothing else, you show the world that you’re a savvy pro who knows what the latest tools are.  Branding, baby, branding.

Hate this?  Love it?  Cool.  Tell me at tim@pacificwhim.com.