What social networking websites do you guys use? Are they for personal or marketing use? And who blogs? What's the benefits of blogging? Do these really reach potential clients, or are they just for the web design community? I don't really see clients reading about typography or website critiques.
Social Networking/Blogs
- Thread starter lolkaykay
- Start date
LandisCreations
New Member
With my previous employer we had set up a Facebook page and a blog at our website. I see Facebook for the business side of things as a potentially useful tool, if you can get your friends to "Like" your page. Another possibility is to just occasionally post status updates on your personal page looking for work. You never know which random "friend" you haven't talked to in 3 years will know someone who needs some work.
As for blogging, it can also be quite beneficial, but it takes a lot of work. You really need to keep up with it, writing 2-3 interesting posts per week. It can be a great tool to bring new business in though. A large factor in search engine ranking is links from other websites to yours, so if you're writing meaningful content that people like and link to it can seriously affect your search engine rankings. Again, this requires constant, interesting posting however, which is a lot of work.
Twitter's basically the same concept as the blogs, but again is a lot of work to maintain and you have to be "interesting" in significantly less space.
That said, you can link all of these things up with the right plugins, and do something like any time you post to your blog it will automatically post to Twitter and update your Facebook status.
So basically what it comes down to is: all of these can be useful, but you really need to put in the time and effort to make it work.
A great example of someone who does this, and talks about how to make it work, is Gary Vaynerchuck. Check out some of his videos at http://www.viddler.com/explore/garyvaynerchuk/videos/ He's incredibly passionate about using social media to build a business, and many of his thoughts apply very well to the Freelancing world. NOTE: Not all of his videos are entirely safe for work if I remember correctly.
As for blogging, it can also be quite beneficial, but it takes a lot of work. You really need to keep up with it, writing 2-3 interesting posts per week. It can be a great tool to bring new business in though. A large factor in search engine ranking is links from other websites to yours, so if you're writing meaningful content that people like and link to it can seriously affect your search engine rankings. Again, this requires constant, interesting posting however, which is a lot of work.
Twitter's basically the same concept as the blogs, but again is a lot of work to maintain and you have to be "interesting" in significantly less space.
That said, you can link all of these things up with the right plugins, and do something like any time you post to your blog it will automatically post to Twitter and update your Facebook status.
So basically what it comes down to is: all of these can be useful, but you really need to put in the time and effort to make it work.
A great example of someone who does this, and talks about how to make it work, is Gary Vaynerchuck. Check out some of his videos at http://www.viddler.com/explore/garyvaynerchuk/videos/ He's incredibly passionate about using social media to build a business, and many of his thoughts apply very well to the Freelancing world. NOTE: Not all of his videos are entirely safe for work if I remember correctly.
Thanks :] I have a twitter for marketing myself and a facebook for personal use. I've gotten a lot of good conversations and I guess followers on twitter, but it doesn't really seem to be bringing in any clients. I mean, it's enjoyable, and I keep it up to learn more about web design but I don't see how it's good as a marketing tool.
I also was thinking about blogging because I know many web designers do it, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth the amount of work and time I need to put in for it.
I also was thinking about blogging because I know many web designers do it, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth the amount of work and time I need to put in for it.
littlephoenix
New Member
i only use social networking site for personal use, i find twitter and facebook to be something personal and not for business, i rather concentrate on SEO then build my twitter account for business....
Viewcaster
New Member
I still use Facebook although I was discouraged with some of the features so I created my own based on Elgg platform so I can blog from my social networking account.
I personally use Facebook and Twitter and they're working great for me. The key is not to push too hard with your marketing efforts because people will block and even report you for spamming. Just spend some time building bridges by patiently answering questions without selling anything. Post links to your site every now and then and those who you helped will check it because you've been very helpful.
orangecopper
New Member
i use
twitter
facebook
Technorati
Squidoo
G Buzz
Technorati
Squidoo
G Buzz