Do You Follow for the Sake of Following?

by Deb Ng

It’s no secret I have plenty of followers. It humbles me to know there are so many people interested in what I have to say or that I tell funny little stories about my dog. At least I hope that’s why you follow me, I’d hate to be followed just for the sake of being followed.

Let me explain…

Recently I received several friend requests on Facebook and some follows on Twitter that have me scratching my head. For instance, the person who told me I was a fake and a phony two years ago, and the person who last year told me I was a horrible advice giver and the people who subscribe to this blog “sheep.”

Why would they want to follow me? I mean, if they don’t agree with me or what I do, why the follow? Am I being followed just for the sake of racking up friends and followers, or do these folks really want to reach out and enjoy my company – just as I would theirs??

When you follow someone on Twitter or friend someone on FaceBook, do you give good thought to the reasons behind the follow or is it just to have some cool names on your list?

Discuss…

Can Community Ever Be a Bad Thing?

I received an interesting email a little while ago. With the author’s permission I’m repriting, but not mentioning names.

Dear Deb,

I wanted to participate in your discussion about if FWJ should have a forum but I didn’t want to post my answer in the comments. I’m not a fan of forums because I don’t want to be friends with my competition. I don’t believe in “communities” centered around one’s chosen profession because I don’t want to not apply for a job because I’m feeling the love for another writer. Community holds writers back from getting what they deserve because they’re so worried about upsetting friends. Communities like this also create more competition because we’re all applying for the same jobs. So no. No forum for me.

Just call me Cranky (name withheld by request)

Wow, Cranky. What an interesting point of view. Suffice it to say I respectfully disagree. I feel community creates a helpful atmosphere. We help each other to succeed and that’s a very good thing. I never look at my fellow writers or bloggers as competition because we have so much to offer each other, and if we both apply for the same job? Let the best person win!

I found your note to be a contradiction, however. First you say you don’t like to participate in online communities because being friendly makes it hard for you to apply to the same job as someone else, but then you also say it creates too much competition for the same job. So, it can’t be holding too many people back. Read more

Why Freelance Writers Need Social Media

by Deborah Ng

Social media is the practice of using online tools and resources to share and discuss items of interest.  As a freelance writer you may think this isn’t your problem, but I’d like to play devil’s advocate, if you don’t mind. Freelancers need and should embrace social media if they want to be a success.

Social Media Ensures an Online Presence

You may have noticed more businesses are looking to create an online presence. They’re hiring bloggers, web content writers, community managers and social media strategists. Some of us predicted this trend years ago. You see, the Internet is too big to ignore. Businesses of all sizes are learning they have to have a web presence to succeed. They can do this using social media. You will also need to learn social media if you want to work for one of these businesses, or noticed by them.

Network with Movers and Shakers

If you worked at home without the benefit of an Internet connection you reach a limited circle of people. When you create an online presence for yourself, you have the opportunity to network with people from all over, and many of these people are in a position to advance your career. For example, A couple of years ago I heard Darren Rowse was looking for guest bloggers to fill in while he went on vacation. I sent him an email asking if I could write a guest post and he encouraged me to do so. When the post went live, I mingled with Darren’s community and gained a many new readers and friends in the process. In the real world, if an editor of a large well-known newspaper was looking for someone to fill in for him on vacation, he certainly wouldn’t have chosen an unknown freelancer. Read more

How to Make Twitter Work for You

by Deborah Ng

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past year or so, you probably already know I’m a self-professed Twitter addict. I love Twitter. I Tweet as soon as I wake in the morning, throughout the day, and just before I go to bed. In fact, I check Twitter almost as much as I check my email and stats. Am I obsessed? Not really, it’s my job to use Twitter. Besides, Twitter has done amazing things for my blogs.

Twitter Feed

I’ve been using Twitter Feed for my blogs. What I like about it is how posts are automatically tweeted out everyday, even if I didn’t do it manually, and even if I didn’t write the post myself. Anything on my RSS Feed is sent out over my Twitter Feed.

I hesitated for some time before using Twitter feed because I was worried about the spam factor, so far no one complained. Moreover, traffic from twitter to FWJ is way up.

Network

My favorite reason to use Twitter is to network. I started out with one follower and now have about 1200. I met new people, did some business, swapped ideas and stories, and received breaking news. Because Twitter is 140 characters or less, I’m not committed to some deep conversation. Read more