The Social Freelancer: Media, Music, TV & Film

What to do with Social Media? Be careful, but have fun… Here are four quick tips for surviving social media, hope you find it helpful.

1. Use common sense. Simple. Don’t put your home address anywhere on your websites, blogs, profiles, anywhere. I keep a business mailing address that is posted on my sites, but it’s no one’s business where I live.

2. Avoid personal attacks. Follow the age old advice “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” This is sometimes hard to do in life, and on the Internet, but it is vital to your social networking efforts. Having conversations online about things that you are passionate about is great for building your reputation, but watch your words! If you take issue with something someone has posted, respond with fact and supportable opinion, do not attack the person who posted it. Likewise, as soon as someone launches a personal attack against you, restate your qualified opinion on the subject, then let it go – disengage from the conversation. I have seen many instances of people getting involved in a “tit-for-tat” argument online that quickly dissolves into juvenile name-calling antics, resulting in all parties looking like fools.
Read this -> Social Media Smart Move: Be an Aggregator, Not an Aggravator

3. Remember, the Internet is full of kooks, but plenty of sensible people too. Sometimes its hard to tell who the kooks are at first, but watch what people write about on a regular basis, and soon their true colors come through.
READ ON, Post comments at bottom of this page, I love the feedback. What do you think of this post?>> Read more…

Here’s what’s cool about Twitter: It doesn’t matter if you’ve never used it or if you have slacked off for awhile. You are where you are. Take steps to move the ball forward. That’s it.

4 Steps for Growth:
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“It’s all about the moments.” is a phrase I like to use frequently. It reminds me to settle in to the moment, appreciate good times when they happen, and stop worrying about the things that didn’t work out as I had planned (that list is endless!).
A couple of weeks ago, I had a moment to remember, the result of seemingly random actions online and in real life.

I don’t really “know” Mark Schaefer, but I have been a reader and fan of his excellent work at BusinessesGrow.com for a few years now. He has also kindly shared some of my posts from this blog on Twitter. For Christmas, my wife gave me a copy of Mark’s book on influence marketing “ROI – Return on Influence” which I read and enjoyed immensely.

Social media is all about sharing things that you find interesting with others, and giving support to people whose work you appreciate, so I did that a few times. I posted links to Mark’s book and commented on the content. I did this because I liked the book, not because I wanted to meet the author, but that’s what happened.
A tune for this post! Listen in, turn it up> “I Live the Life I Love”
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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
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