What Social Media Has To Do with Writing

Recently my friend Jesse Seaver asked to interview me for a class he is taking through UMass’s University Without Walls program. We talked about what being a writer has to do with social media. Good question.

When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I am an internet writer or a business writer. Sometimes I just say “writer,” but then I usually have to qualify it to answer the follow-up questions. No, I am not a journalist (that would require getting dressed and making phone calls); I am not a novelist (I wish I had the creative cojones); I am not a creative writer—although all writing is creative, and so are a lot of other things we do for money-making reasons.

IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT

I specifically write for clients who need help with their online marketing. Often, this means that I write web site copy, or ghostwrite blog posts, or pen white papers, or craft press releases—or that I edit any and all of the above. My clients tend to be small businesses, single entities and startups: people who know they need to wrap their minds around their internet marketing and social media, but don’t have the bandwidth, the interest or the skillset. In other words, most entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are good at the things they are good at—making beautiful products that smell delicious, selling technical widgets to other businesses, throwing huge conferences about big data (just a few of my recent clients). Internet marketing is a skill, and not one that necessarily goes hand in hand with other talents.

A lot of my clients are resistant to having to manage Facebook fan pages in order to promote their businesses, and say things to me like “I hate Twitter; I’m not doing it.” And I usually say back: “You might hate Twitter, but your audience doesn’t.” And then they’ll say, “Can’t I just hire you to keep my social media sites updated?”

You can, yes, but in most cases I don’t advise it. In most cases—I hate to say it— social media really only works if you work it yourself. Unless you’re willing to pay a big fancy social media marketing company a fat retainer to come up with a social media campaign for you—and we’re talking thousands of dollars a month—outsourcing your social media is never going to be nearly as effective as taking care of it yourself. So, often, my job is to coax my clients into getting more confident about using social media. But when they are truly resistant, sometimes I will take on a regular updating job where I make posts for them. If I’m already doing other content work for them—like ghostwriting and posting blog posts—this is easy because it’s a natural extension of the writing part.

IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING MANDATORY?

Yup. I’m afraid it is. I remember not that long ago when web sites became something everyone had to have. A lot of small businesses felt like it was just one more thing they were expected to do but didn’t have the budget for. Web sites are expensive to build and a hassle to maintain. I understand why small business owners would feel resentful that they suddenly needed to take on this extra expense.

But now everyone has a website, and social media has become the new “Do I have really have to do it?” thing. I try to encourage my clients to think of it not as something they have to do but as an extra marketing tool they can use to help promote their stuff. A free tool—unlike building a web site. (Sidebar—you can actually build a website yourself virtually for free. Do I advise it? Sadly, no.)

Here is my advice for how to make social media work for you: Use it. Use it all. Use it all the time. Seriously—just use it. The more you use it, the more you get used to it and get savvy to it. Put it on your iPhone. First, get an iPhone! Seriously, just man up and get one.

These are my social media links.

BE YOURSELF

Unless you’re a serial killer, chances are, you’re most likeable when you are being yourself. The best way to use social media is to let your personality really show through. Personally, I post about things I find interesting, like articles and stuff, and I also post snippets of things from my own life. For example, I like to share creative ideas. I’m really into crafting, so whenever I make something new, I’ll post pics of it and perhaps even a recipe or instructions. This might not seem like a relevant way to sell myself as a professional writer, but I people seem to find it interesting, and when they click over to my blog, they get a taste of how I write. I’ve actually gotten quite a few clients who read my blog and contacted me to say they thought I seemed like someone they’d want to work with.

Then, of course, I have to be able to back it up with real solid examples of my professional work. Social media doesn’t work if it’s all just smoke and mirrors. Like all marketing, without the quality product behind it, it’s worthless. But even with the best product in the world (like my new client, Red Whale Coffee, whose coffee is the best I’ve ever tasted so far), without marketing, no one will ever hear of you. That’s where social media can be priceless.

I like when other people’s posts give me insight into their personalities. What I don’t like is hearing people try to sell to me or, worse, preach to me. The preaching element of social media is insidious. Don’t be that person.

BUT NOT TOO YOURSELF

There is really an art to using social media wisely. I am one of the most defeatist, depressed people I know. But I am pretty confident that people who know me primarily through Facebook think I have my shit absolutely 100 percent together and that I’m happy and love my life. It’s the law of attraction, in a weird way. And yes, I did say that. What most people don’t get about the law of attraction, though, is that it takes actual work.

ONE LAST TIP

Cute cat videos. Keep ’em coming. I watch every single one. If you showed me a cute cat video and then tried to sell me something, I would probably buy it.