The Social Freelancer: Media, Music, TV & Film

The Creative Quandry is just a fact of life for most who have a bent for creative endeavors. It’s the struggle of keeping bread on the table while making music, writing, painting, acting or any form of “art”.

I’ve been deep in this one lately due to a number of client projects booking my schedule tight (a problem I am happy to have). You may have noticed a reprint of some previous articles on this blog in the past couple of weeks, it’s just my effort to keep content moving, while providing good service to my paying clients. But certainly I would rather have the time needed to produce fresh articles multiple times every week, but that’s not my current REALITY.

What to do? Keep Going. Read more…

Danger is lurking on Facebook.

Actually, no. Facebook is just a thing, a bulletin board we can all post to in a virtual space. The danger is lurking in your head.

We’re all making assumptions about each other and the world around us, everywhere, all the time. Along came Facebook, a breeding ground for bad assumptions. The old joke becomes painfully true:

To assume makes an ass out of you and me. (ass + u + me)

What’s the story?
Recently I was talking with a very good friend and colleague, who I have known for more than 30 years. We live in different cities, but keep in touch via email and Facebook often, less often via phone than we used to. My friend tragically lost his brother several months ago, and he was referring to his brother’s death in a phone conversation, and I had no idea this had happened. I certainly would have sent some condolences, or gone to visit my friend during this time, had I known.

We both made unfortunate Facebook assumptions. Read more…

Seasons Greetings Friends and Kind Blog Readers,
My Social Media Tips related posts will continue next week, I have several articles in the works. Today I have a favor to ask (yes, there is a purpose here)…

Take a look around…
You’ll find little in the way of advertisement on this blog. I make my living in television production and have for the past 23 years, this blog is an outlet for me, and hopefully a valued resource for you.

What do I want?
I have launched this crowd funding campaign to help me continue work on “South Texas Soul” documentary film. Contributors get our CD, or house concerts, or full corporate sponsorship.
CLICK HERE: TRACE RELATIONS MUSIC GIFT SUPPORTS DOCUMENTARY

It’s tough for me to admit, but its been a tough year all the way around – and its hard to get anyone to support indie creative efforts, to cut through the haze of so much distraction in our lives these days.

I need your help.
Would you please click the link here? Contribute or just share on your page, send emails to anyone you think may have an interest… any or all will seriously help me reach this little goal.
>>
Please click this link and check out our Indiegogo campaign in support of the MUSIC and DOCUMENTARY “South Texas Soul”. Contributions as low as 10 bucks help immensely, and you get new music for the holidays. Heck, just clicking this link and checking it out helps.
CLICK HERE: TRACE RELATIONS MUSIC GIFT SUPPORTS DOCUMENTARY

What’s it all about? Here’s a quick video about the projects:

Read more…

I have found when things are working well in my writing process, a catch phrase or sentence will emerge that resonates well with the reader. Generally these are not thoughts that I had when I sat down to write. They come out organically, as I am thinking through and working on the piece at hand.

For me, writing is about reaching a comfortable “stream of conciousness” where my brain is active and flowing with ideas, but not so fast that my typing hands can’t keep up.

This is not easy to attain in my experience, but sometimes, thankfully, it happens. The quotes listed below originated in such moments.

When I see something I wrote shared on Facebook or Twitter, it helps my writer psyche. It gives me insight into the moments when my writing was smooth, not just clunking along as is so often the case. It lets me know that I am connecting with someone. Someone thought enough of what I wrote to share it with their friends. It helps me to trust the feeling that I get when things really start to flow and not quit and walk away as I sometimes do when I am feeling like no one cares.

Quotes from The Social Freelancer ™:

YES, you are invited to share, but please include credit of my @TraceTV or @freelancesocial Twitter profiles.

HOW? On Twitter, use the RT (retweet), Reply and Follow buttons below each quote. On Facebook, copy and paste the quote text into your status update. Thanks!

Which of these quotes resonates with you? Please comment in the section provided at bottom of this post. I appreciate your feedback. ~ Trace

Quit expecting huge results from minimal effort. It never worked with “old media”, it doesn’t work with “new” ~ @tracetv

— Tracy Ready (@TraceTV) November 13, 2012

Related Post: Why Social Media Matters and How Marketing Doesn’t Change (OLD Media v. NEW)
READ ON > more quotes! Read more…

Facebook is becoming tiresome, I feel this way and I’m not the only one. In recent weeks, with all the political posturing in the U.S., many people are ignoring Facebook altogether or spending less time interacting there. This is bad news for small businesses, entrepreneurs and musicians who are there to build client and fan bases. Yes, the election is over so the political furor will fade some on Facebook, but there other factors at play in Facebook frustration amongst users. Topping it off is the fact that casual Facebook users, once they take a break from Facebook, are unlikely to come back with as much interest as before.

Meanwhile, Twitter just keeps getting slowly stronger, with more engagement and a simplified attitude.

I am a Facebook junkie from way back, so you’ll likely always find me there to some degree. But Twitter is fast becoming my social media outlet of choice.

Think Twitter doesn’t matter, check this out and think again: Who Gives a Twit About Twitter? A LOT of Folks
Read more…