Promote Your Content Through Social Networking

A few weeks ago I was out at a dance club near my home. While I was there, a gentleman who I'd never seen before walked over to me and thanked me for coming. Surprised, I just said "you're welcome" and smiled and he moved on. I didn't think anything of it until I was leaving the bar a couple of hours later. As I walked out the exit, I passed the same gentleman standing outside. I smiled and said goodnight as I walked towards my car.

"John, John," the man called out to me as I moved away. I turned around to see him approaching me. "I just wanted to tell you that I see you on Facebook and I really enjoy your stuff." He was talking about the various things I post there from Y!CN, my blog and elsewhere. I was astonished. As it turns out, the guy ran the Facebook page of a promo group that I had on my friend's list and so the things I posted there were visible to him and he often clicked on my links.

Being a freelance writer online is not easy. Good, quality writing, interesting and searchable topics, and publishing are keys to being successful, but in order to capitalize on that success even further, promoting yourself through social networking can be a big help. Simply joining social networks and reposting your writings isn't enough though. In order to really benefit from promoting yourself on social networks, you must participate.

Social networking is a vital aspect of creating an online identity, and there are many places to participate. Hugely popular web networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, are two of the largest social networking sites out there and any freelance writer who publishes online should have profiles on at least one of these sites.

The primary benefit, from a writing perspective, of belonging to social networks is the ability to post your pieces so that others can see them, but simply being a member and posting content doesn't necessarily mean page views. It takes a lot of effort, but using the sites to actually connect with people means building your own social network and thus adding to your page views. Here are some tips that will help you build and grow your own social network:

- Whatever network(s) you choose to join should be ones on which you already know some people. Facebook and Twitter are good places to start. Search for fellow writers, old friends, coworkers, and more. Make friends with them and interact with them.

- Don't just post your pieces to a networking site. Participate as much or as often as you can, and post things other than what you've written. I often post funny things I've seen, comments on the weather or news items, or random quotes that I've been thinking about. Oftentimes, if what I post is interesting enough, people will respond by interacting with you.

- Making comments on what others share is also a good idea. In the same way writers build up relationships on Y!CN and other sites, commenting on what others say sparks interaction that can lead to making more friends or followers. When you interact with people they get to know you, they may just start clicking on those links you post. On Twitter, I often "retweet" things others post that are of interest to me, and it often gets me new followers. Making comments on Facebook posts gets me comments and 'Ëœlikes' back and builds rapport.

Facebook and Twitter are not the only social networking sites on the net, but they are two of the biggest and most popular. There are plenty of other social networking sites, each with their own unique spin and their own methods of networking. Whichever site you choose to participate in, don't just post your content there and forget about it. Building relationships through active participation can only work to get you more page views and more success in your writing career.