Freelance writers, you need to get on Google Plus… now! Are you paying attention? Because this is not a sales pitch. OK, actually it is. But it won’t cost you a cent. It will cost you a little of your time but as I explain in this post your investment and engagement on Google Plus could pay off big time for your writing business.

According to Anthony Kosner at Forbes, Google+ has now passed Twitter to become the 2nd largest social network in terms of active users. While they are behind Facebook remember that Google also has their YouTube network at #3 and what really matters is the type of content-sharing and engagement taking place. What matters to me is the relevance to writers.

Google+ is not the same as Facebook and Twitter, so don’t expect it to be the same. Facebook has a strong leaning towards sharing stuff between family and friends. While Twitter is also good for writers there is a limit to how much you can say with 140 characters.

What’s happening at Google+ is different. Check out these ten reasons why I believe freelance writers should be on Google Plus. Whatever you do, make sure you read #9 before you leave this page!

1. Millions of Users

Google Plus has 343 million active monthly users and growing!  How big an audience would you like? Google Plus is going to be much bigger than this. It is still early enough to get in now with a head start.

2. Intelligent Posts, Not Written in “Txtese”

If you are tired of trying to network with people who cannot spell or even string together a sentence, then I think you’ll like Google Plus. Based on my experience so far at Google+ I believe you are more likely to encounter like-minded individuals getting together, sharing intelligent posts and contributing interesting comments.

Some communities on Google Plus are even kicking people out for “link-litter”. They prefer to know why you think something is valuable and worth their time reading it.  This is probably one of the reasons Google Plus is turning out to be a popular social network among writers in particular.

3. Create Circles

If you are like me you have different circles of friends who don’t know each other and have different topic interests. I’ve worked in several countries and different industries. Some of my contacts don’t want to see what the others are talking about. In Google Plus its easy to organize the people you follow into different circles. You can then write appropriate content and send it only to the circles you choose.

4. Engage with Potential Clients

As a freelance writer you can use Google Plus to find potential clients and start engaging with them. There are several useful tools available for finding people on Google Plus.

5. Hangout with Clients and Partners

You can use Google hangouts for your discussions with partners, client meetings and even demonstrations. Hangouts are video chats with a group of people. Chat, share screens or watch a presentation together.

6. Share Helpful Circles

In Google Plus it is possible to share a circle of people with others. It’s a great way to assist other Google Plus users by curating a circle of people around a particular theme.

Here is an example of a circle I recently shared, a selection of indie publishing experts I follow who are all on Google Plus. Once your circle is shared then other people can see who is in the circle.  If they choose they can add people one by one to their own circles or even add the entire circle at once.

7. Visibility of Posts

I have seen reports that when you share something at Facebook only a tiny percentage of your friends even see it in their timeline. It’s even worse for Facebook pages!  At Google Plus followers can actually see your posts in their stream of content.  For new users organising your circles and streams will be one of the key features you need to “get your head around” because you control what you ultimately will see.

8. +1 +1 +1 …

No, that’s not a mathematics equation. That’s people clicking +1 on the content at your web site. How many times you receive a +1 has an effect on your search engine ranking at Google.

When you are engaging with people on Google Plus it makes sense that you will receive more “+1″s. After all, who is more likely to +1 you… someone coming from a post at Google+ or someone coming from another social network?

9. Google Authorship and Author Rank - Don’t miss this!

Google Authorship and Author Rank will have a significant effect on your search engine rankings.

What is Google Authorship? It involves verifying your identity with Google and connecting your Google Plus profile with the content you have written all over the Internet. Writers, did you catch that? You have content all over the web, don’t you?

This is your opportunity to have that content counting towards your expert status and “authority” in certain topic areas. It will also help your original articles to rank higher than sites that have scraped your content.

It also looks cool. When you set up your Google Authorship your profile image shows up beside your results at Google Search. Here is a post I wrote explaining how to set up Google Authorship with your Google+ profile.

In his upcoming book, “The New Digital Age“, Google CEO Eric Schmidt spells out where Google is heading:

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

Even content which you have written for clients under your byline will count towards your authority providing that you set it up correctly. You may need to convince your client that it’s in their interests to do this too, but it’s a “win-win” situation because their article is likely to start scoring higher in search engine rankings because of you.

10. Integration with Gmail and More!

Finally you cannot ignore the beautiful way in which Google has integrated their various services: Gmail, Chrome, Photo Albums, YouTube, Google Maps and more. It is easy to use them together and quite seamless to switch between services.
You can probably tell that I am sold on Google Plus. No, they’re not paying me to say this. (Google: hint, hint.) Joking aside, if you are a freelance writer, get on Google Plus now. You can find me here.

About the Author: Gary McLaren

Gary McLaren is the author of 'The Indie Author's Guide to Publishing Ebooks'. He manages several web sites for professional writers including WorldwideFreelance.com and PublishYourOwnEbooks.com.

Image courtesy of Kozzi Inc.

There is a popular expression, “When one door closes, another one opens.” If you are having difficulty securing freelance assignments for magazines then maybe you should consider offering your professional writing services to those who are involved in content marketing. What? You don’t know what content marketing is? It’s time you knew because this a job “tailor-made” for professional writers.

Now I know that the ‘door’ to freelance writing for magazines hasn’t really closed but let’s be honest, over recent years it has been a tough market in which to compete. Many magazines have folded and many more are struggling to generate decent revenue. This is reflected in the rates paid to freelancers. When did you last see a magazine raising the fees they pay to freelancers in line with inflation? It does happen, but it is very rare.

You could blame the digital publishing revolution for this state of affairs. But stay with me because you will discover that the digital publishing is also opening some new doors for freelance writers. One of these opportunities is content marketing.

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) defines content marketing as “the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.”

This type of marketing is not only for businesses and online marketers. How many of you recognized the similarity to what we recommend for authors when building an author platform? The way to become a bestselling author with a strong platform is not to keep messaging “Buy my book”, “Buy my book”. An author needs to engage with his or her readers with conversation and interesting content.

As CMI explains, consumers today are inundated with so many traditional advertising messages that they tend to shut them all out. They record television so they can play it back without the ads; they pay less attention to magazine advertising; and they are experts at reading web pages without even noticing the banners and Google ads.

What does work is delivering content that is interesting and helpful and which engages the audience. And this is where it gets interesting. The content marketing world has one very big problem and it’s hurting them, right from the biggest companies down to the smallest enterprises. Can you guess what the problem is?

Creating good content.

In their B2B Marketing Trends Survey 2012 Report the company Curata identified two major content marketing challenges facing B2B (Business to Business) marketers. The biggest challenge is creating original content, and the second is finding sufficient time to craft copy.

CMI’s own report, B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, reflects the same difficulties explaining that “…producing enough content is now the biggest challenge across B2B marketers, at 64 percent, as compared to producing the kind of content that engages…”

One trend to watch is the percentage of the markets who outsource content creation. In CMI’s survey the percentage who outsource was 44% in 2012, down from 58% in 2011. Although there was decrease that 44% still represents a large number of opportunities for professional writers.

The survey also found that on average B2B marketers spent 33% of their marketing budgets on content marketing, up from 26% the year before. More than half indicated they would increase their spend on content marketing in the next year.

It’s not only B2B content marketers who need help, it’s also B2C (Business to Consumer) marketers.  This November 2012 B2C report from CMI reveals that the main difficulties faced are very similar to those in the B2B sector… but they also have a lack of budget so finding clients may be a little tougher!

How to Get Started in Content Marketing

Do you match what organizations look for in a professional writer? The organizations who hire writers for content marketing need professionals who:

• Are trustworthy and reliable.
• Are able to work to a schedule and meet deadlines every time.
• Seek to understand the client’s social media objectives.
• Can deliver content that matches the client’s voice.
• Understands there are different customer “personas” and writes appropriately for each group.

One of the first steps to working with content marketers is putting together a portfolio of content that you have created. Prospective clients will look closely at your writing ability and style. If you already have a blog of your own, chances are you have some great content to draw from.

Identify and build a list of potential companies and online businesses to approach. If you have never tried to sell your professional writing services outside of magazines before, I recommend that you check out the bestselling book The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman. Apply his techniques to your prospective content marketing clients, keeping in mind that the book was written a decade or so ago before digital and social media exploded around us.

Further Reading on Content Marketing

Content Marketing Research
What Type of Content Can I Create?
Inbound Marketing Articles at HubSpot
Content Marketing: Think Like a Publisher (book at Amazon)

Have you tried writing for content marketers? Do you have some experiences to share, either good or bad? Any tips for other writers? I welcome your comments and insights on this topic.

About the Author: Gary McLaren

Gary McLaren is the author of 'The Indie Author's Guide to Publishing Ebooks'. He manages several web sites for professional writers including WorldwideFreelance.com and PublishYourOwnEbooks.com.

Eager to see your byline in magazines like Smithsonian, National Geographic, Parade or Outside? Here are 10 tips on getting past the threshold of “Maybe” to “Yes” at top magazines.

1. Put timing on your side. You can change a perennial story, where there’s no special reason to do it now rather than next year, to one that prompts an immediate assignment by adding a connection to some upcoming season or event. For instance, “the disposable versus cloth diaper debate” lacks any time element. But you can peg it to Earth Day, coming up in April, or specific future environmental powwows. You can get the same effect by tying a perennial topic to recent front-page news. If devastating floods are lingering in North Carolina, use that to make a piece on adequately insuring a business sound timely.

2. Freshen up perennial topics. Some magazines revisit the same topics again and again because relationships, or toilet training, or camping in national parks lie at the core of the magazine’s mission. Hunt back about four or five years in the magazine’s archives for these central topics and update them.

3. Create cover-worthy article titles. Editors sweat over the blurbs that go on the magazine cover. If you study the kinds of blurbs they favor, and give a similar title to your proposed article, you may score an assignment from a title that is exactly on target.

4. Be brief and detailed. This combination of skills has great value in the magazine world, and a query offers a perfect setting to demonstrate your mastery of rich compression. Let every sentence sparkle with detail, but say just enough to get the idea across.

5. Stay ahead of the pack. I once heard someone say that if you’ve read about an issue in Time or Newsweek, you’re too late to query other top magazines on it. Spend energy pursuing stories that seem both trendy and unexplored.

6. Get your details right. Nothing kills confidence faster than factual errors! Recheck all information in your query before sending it.

7. Be truthful. Don’t exaggerate the facts of a story, don’t present fiction as real and don’t inflate your credentials. This should go without saying, but not long ago a freelance writer sold an article in which she had presented a story she heard from a fellow airline passenger as something that had happened to her. She claimed she didn’t realize that that was unethical.

8. Don’t have a hidden agenda. Forget about any kind of revenge story, or about hyping a company in which you have some sort of covert financial interest.

9. Show enthusiasm. Make sure your writing feels alive and flavorful, not parched and pinched. I’ve heard a number of editors say they like to work with writers who show enthusiasm for their work.

10. Flatter an editor. A good number of editors write on the side for other publications, and if you happen to spot his or her freelance work and mention it in your query, you win points. Mentioning that you liked a particular issue of the magazine, or a certain cover story, helps build rapport, too. Make sure that any praise is specific and sincerely enthusiastic.

Veteran magazine writing coach Marcia Yudkin is the author of Freelance Writing for Magazines & Newspapers from HarperCollins, a Book of the Month Club Selection, and 10 other books. Her articles have appeared in Ms., Psychology Today, the New York Times Magazine, Yoga Journal, Business 2.0 and elsewhere. Learn more about her home-study courses on writing for magazines.

This latest edition of our popular In-Flight Magazines Quick Reference PDF lists more than 200 in-flight magazines from airlines around the world.

We have designed this report primarily for freelance writers and photographers who are seeking to work in a freelance capacity with in-flight publications.

The purpose of this report is to help you to quickly identify the airlines and their publications, along with links to their web site and publisher’s web site where applicable.

Since our previous edition several airlines and their magazines have closed and these have been removed. We have also added around 55 in-flight publications and there are now an additional 20 countries represented in this report.

These publications are organized by airline and region.

For each publication we provide:

• a direct web link to the airline, and where possible:
• a link to the magazine online
• a link to the publisher’s web site
• a link to the writer guidelines (if we could find these online), and
• a link to contact information.

107 Countries
193 Airlines
212 Publications!

If You Would Like To Do Freelance Work For In-Flight Publications Then This Is A Great Resource For You. You’ll Save Weeks Of Time Tracking Down All This Information

To order this report at a special discount during our Earlybird Special please go to Inflight Magazines.

We are also running an Earlybird Promotion from now until Tuesday 28th August 2012.

Wikipanion

This app makes it easy to conduct research from Wikipedia. it uses a direct connection with the Wikipedia servers to bring you super fast search results.


 

Evernote

This note-taking app makes it very easy to write notes, organize them, and synchronize your notes between your computer and phone.

SpringPad

Another good note-taking app. With Springpad you can also collaborate with other writers and even create public notebooks to share.

Writing Prompts

This app from Writing.Com offers creative inspiration with prompt generators featuring current events, scene elements, words, sketches, colors, genres and writing types.

Idea Generator

Stumped for an idea? This app generates three random words which might jumpstart your writing and creativity.

Outliner

CarbonFin Outliner is a great app for organizing your ideas. Create hierarchies such as sections, chapters, and paragraphs. Drag and drop to rearrange your content.

iBlueSky

This is a mindmapping app that makes it a breeze to mind-map on your iPhone.

Dragon Dictation

This is a voice recognition application that allows you to turn voice into text as you speak. It’s up to five times faster than typing on the keyboard.

TextExpander

This is an app that allows you to program commonly-used snippets of text with shortcodes. For example you could use a snippet like “addr” to automatically expand to your entire address.

 

WriteChain

This is a fun word count app for writers to keep you on track and productive.

Don’t forget that another useful tool on your phone is the camera. You can use it to capture images that either inspire you or contain details that you might need later.

There are many more iPhone apps for writers, of course, and this article only listed ten of them. Did I miss one of your favorites? Please leave a comment below.

About the Author: Gary McLaren

Gary McLaren is the author of 'The Indie Author's Guide to Publishing Ebooks'. He manages several web sites for professional writers including WorldwideFreelance.com and PublishYourOwnEbooks.com.

An effective, professionally written resume lands more interviews, shortens the time it takes to get a good job, and often attracts a higher salary. It gives your client an edge in an increasingly competitive job market.

Some job-seekers are not happy with their resume when they write it themselves. They might have strong skills and career experience in many areas, but perhaps writing resumes is not one of those skills! People who decide to hire a writer to professionally write their resume know that it will pay dividends in advancing their career prospects.

Resumes must get the key information across quickly. Employers receive hundreds of applications for each opportunity. Sometimes they spend only a few seconds reviewing each resume as they decide whether to keep it in the running or reject it.

How Much Can You Earn?

Resume writing firms typically charge $200 to $1000 to prepare a resume. A typical resume is prepared over a week or so. It doesn’t take a whole 40-hour week to write it, but it is often written over a week because there is downtime while bouncing questions and answers back and forth with the candidate. According to Terry Vaught of AWAI’s resume business course, resume writers can make $150 per hour.

Where Do You Find Clients?

You can find clients for resume writing by:

• placing an advertisement for your resume writing service in local newspapers or magazines.
• identifying candidates at online job sites who need a better resume.

The Process of Writing a Resume

To write a resume you will need to:

1. Collect all the relevant information: that includes details about the candidate’s education, job experience, skills, and sometimes extra-curricular activities and hobbies.

2. Match the experience and skills with prospective employers’ requirements.

3. Highlight details that demonstrate the candidate’s capabilities, i.e. what will he/she do for the company? Why does the company need this candidate?

4. Organize the resume using the format that is most effective.

Resume Formats

Resume formats tend to fall into two main styles:
Chronological Resumes and Functional Resumes.

Chronological Resumes: list job experience beginning with the most recent position. This format is ideal for candidates with strong, relevant job experience.

Functional Resumes: categorize experience under headings that highlight skills: e.g. leadership, sales, computers, languages, etc. This format is ideal when a candidate does not have much job experience.

Resume Writing Tips

1. Replace weak titles with strong, skill-related phrases.

2. Check Spelling & Grammar: With freelance article writing, an editor may reject a query because of a spelling mistake. With resume writing, your client could lose the interview because of one.

3. Keep a variety of resume templates ready to use.
Resume Mistakes

Here are a couple of common mistakes people make when writing a resume:

• Focusing on duties and responsibilities instead of achievements and successes.
• Writing too much. Resumes should ideally be just one to two pages. Keep in mind that this might differ from country to country. This may also vary for candidates with extensive or senior experience.“A professional resume should be long on facts but short on words!” Additional Resources University of Minnesota’s Resume Tutor: Tutorial on Writing a Resume: www1.umn.edu/ohr/careerdev/resources/resume/Asher’s Bible of Executive Resumes and How to Write Themby Donald AsherResume Magic by Susan Britton Whitcomb

   

About the Author

David Goldsmith is the author of “25 Ways to Write for Money“. Check it out at his web site at www.WriterIncome.com

So why all the recent interest in ebooks? After all, haven’t ebooks been around for years already?

Although ebooks have been available for more than ten years the momentum wasn’t really there. It was difficult to read ebooks on inadequate screens and only a small percentage of readers were purchasing ebooks on a regular basis. In general, readers were not convinced that reading an ebook was as good as reading a “real” print book.

There was a glimpse of what was possible, however, and research and development teams were hard at work coming up with new designs that would match what readers were looking for.

As new ebook readers were introduced and more suitable ebook formats emerged, reading ebooks started to become a more enjoyable experience.

Quarter by quarter ebook sales climbed. Even when the economy was sluggish and sales of print books were flat, ebooks continued their upward push. The recent flood of interest in ebooks has been driven by the general acceptance in 2010 that ebook sales were seriously competing with, and even threatening, sales of print books.

The tipping point came in early 2011 when, according to the Association of American Publishers, ebook sales overtook paperbacks for the first time. Since then ebook sales have continued to grow with a 117% increase from 2010 to 2011.

As you can probably imagine publishers have been in a flurry. With the comparative ease of publishing an ebook online, a large number of authors have been bypassing agents and publishers and “going it alone”.  The average price of ebooks has been lowered but the writers are still earning more because the agents and publishers are not taking a cut.

The way the ebook industry is evolving reflects this. In the major ebook stores you will find traditionally published books which have been converted to ebooks alongside the works of self-published
emerging authors.

They are all trying to get YOUR attention. There is a bit of a mad scramble on right now as everyone involved tries to establish their place in this dynamic new publishing world.

As readers we have been changing too. Twenty years ago very few people owned a computer so there was no need to have ebooks. Nowadays it’s unusual for someone NOT to own several different
devices capable of reading ebooks – from PCs to laptops to mobile phones and more.

We are changing the way we read.

It’s an exciting time for readers. It’s so easy now to go online, browse the latest books at your favorite ebook store, then download and be reading a new book within five minutes.

Instead of paying more than twenty dollars for a hardcover book or paperback the average ebook costs only a few dollars and often less!

About this Article

This article is an excerpt from “The Beginner’s Guide to Ebooks” by Gary McLaren. To find out more about buying, reading, and enjoying ebooks, download your copy at www.EbookIntroduction.com

You don’t need an ebook reader to read this!

About the Author: Gary McLaren

Gary McLaren is the author of 'The Indie Author's Guide to Publishing Ebooks'. He manages several web sites for professional writers including WorldwideFreelance.com and PublishYourOwnEbooks.com.

Literary magazines first appeared in the early 19th century. The Edinburgh Review was established in 1802. In the United States two publications Philadelphia Literary Magazine and Monthly Anthology – which later became the North American Review – were established in 1803. Since the late 1990s many online literary journals have emerged.

Literary magazines are also known as “lit mags” and “little magazines”, terms which reflect the limited circulation of these journals when compared to mainstream popular magazines.

Literary writing is very much about the quality of the writing. It is about how the words are crafted together. It is about the sound and the flow. It is about descriptive and emotive qualities in the writing.

Literary journals are always looking for something extraordinary, for example an amazing work by a new writer, or a lesser-known work by an established author.

When targeting literary journals read the submission guidelines for writers very carefully and consider the style of other stories published in recent issues.

Why Write for Literary Magazines?

You might not write for the money. Some literary journals pay very well. Others pay nothing. It depends upon the circulation and how the journal is financed. In addition to subscriptions and advertising sales some literary journals receive financial support from universities or government grants.

Aside from the income you may or may not receive, the two primary benefits of writing for literary magazines are validation and marketing. Having your work published in a literary magazine is an achievement that you can be proud of and is worth including on your writing resume. You are also getting your name out there. Readers are becoming more familiar with you and this is an important part of building your author platform.

Here are several examples of literary journals.

North American Review, USA
The oldest literary magazine in America, published at the University of Northern Iowa. Interested in high-quality poetry, fiction, and nonfiction on any subject; especially interested in work that addresses contemporary North American concerns and issues, particularly with the environment, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and class.

Tin House, USA
American quarterly literary magazine publishing fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Artlink, Australia
A themed magazine which tries to make art relevant across society. Open to a very wide range of writers throughout Australia and encourages writers to make contact if they are interested in contributing.

Asia Literary Review, Hong Kong
A literary review publishing fiction, non-fiction, reportage, memoir, travel writing, literary essays, humour, documentary and themed photographic essays, photography, art and poetry from and about Asia. Non-paying market.

Poetry Salzburg Review, Austria
Poetry magazine published twice a year by Poetry Salzburg at the University of Salzburg. Publishes poems, interviews, essays and reviews of recent collections of poetry. Non-paying market.

In the free section of our Markets Database there are 85 publications in the Literary category. There are 250 markets under Literary in the Markets Plus section.

About the Author: Gary McLaren

Gary McLaren is the author of 'The Indie Author's Guide to Publishing Ebooks'. He manages several web sites for professional writers including WorldwideFreelance.com and PublishYourOwnEbooks.com.

Only a few years ago people were saying that ebooks would come and go. Many people believed they were a short-term fad that would never replace books. Now with ebook sales overtaking print books it is becoming clear that ebooks are not only here to stay but they are the main format for reading as we move into the future.

The way we read is changing. The way we publish is changing too!

Until recently the best way to publish your ebooks was to convert your documents into PDF format and sell them from your own web sites. Now ebook formats have evolved into more user-friendly files and you should now be making your ebooks available at the major ebook stores that have emerged in recent years such as Amazon’s Kindle Store and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Books.

For years that was my attitude towards Twitter. I’m only now beginning to realize how misguided I was.

For those of you not familiar with Twitter here is a quick overview of Twitter. It is a web site that provides a social networking and microblogging service. It basically enables users to send and read small messages called “tweets”.  A tweet is a small text message of up to 140 characters. In your “What’s Happening?” timeline on Twitter you can easily see the latest tweets of the people you have chosen to follow. And of course if they have followed you then they will be able to see your tweets in their timeline.

That’s the mechanics of it but the power of Twitter as a business tool lies in how you use it. You see, when I finally looked into what was happening inside Twitter, I received a huge shock. I discovered other people there that I knew – and not just anyone, but well-known and respected experts from the world of writing. Some of the writers I saw there have incredible rates of output and productivity. I found plenty of best-selling authors were there too. So what the heck were these people doing there? I decided I had to find out.

You can imagine my surprise when I found that there was a world of writing activity and communication going on that I had been totally missing out on.

Granted, some people tweet about stuff I am not really interested, such as what they are cooking for dinner or the movie they watched last night. But here’s the crux of the matter if you decide to use Twitter… YOU are the one who decides who you “follow” and whose tweets you are going to spend time reading. If you decide to use Twitter as a business tool and use Twitter for business-related
communication then you will have a fairly powerful resource at your fingertips.

Writers are tweeting about their latest projects and discussing their manuscripts. Authors are using Twitter to interact with their fans regarding their favourite characters and the next book in the
series. Freelancers are hunting for assignments and new markets. Editors are discussing their pet peeves and what they would really like to see from writers.

One of the most valuable things I have found – especially considering the typical solitude of working in a freelance capacity – is that writers are giving and receiving feedback, encouraging one another, and sparking new friendships with other writers. They are interacting with other people online, people who are facing similar issues every day.

For certain, Twitter will not suit everyone. And surely, you shouldn’t stay on Twitter all day. But the very nature of this resource makes it easy to pop in, read and write a few tweets, and pop out again. Now that’s easier said than done, and that’s where the self-discipline needs to kick in.

Here is a quick list of ten ways that writers can use Twitter.

1. Write a Professional Profile. Your profile on Twitter should contain a brief description of who you are and what you do. You should also provide a link to your business blog or site. Use a
professional photo of yourself or your company logo. You may be surprised at how many people visit your site after clicking the link in your profile on Twitter.

2. Join the Conversation.  Search for tweets about the topic you are currently working on. Find out what people are saying. Join the conversation. Tip: you should choose a short Twitter ID,
because you want to make it as easy as possible for people to “retweet” your messages and your Twitter ID will eat into the 140 characters allowed for the retweeted message.

3. Research a Topic.  See what questions people frequently ask about your topic and the answers provided. Ask some questions of your own. Discover some related resources that others are
recommending.

4. Build Your Reputation. Start tweeting about your niche or industry and start to build up your reputation as an expert.

5. Use HashTags.  When you tweet about a topic add relevant “hashtags”. Hashtags are keywords starting with the # character, placed in tweets, which make it easy to find and follow threads on
particular topics. This will help people searching on those topics to find your tweets, e.g. #gardening or #sportswriting or #bookreviews

6. Find Experts.  Use Twitter to find subject-matter experts who are regularly tweeting on your topic. Contact them privately for an interview or for a quotation you could use in your next article.

7. Job Hunting.   Search at Twitter for relevant phrases such as “writing jobs” or “writer needed”. Another good technique is to search for hashtags, for example #writingjob or #writingjobs. If
you find a Twitter account that regularly posts writing opportunities remember to “follow” them.

8. Interact with Other Writers. Search for tweets with writing-related hashtags such as #writing, #writetip and #amwriting. You will quickly find yourself in the middle of an active community of writers, with tons of good advice and writing tips.

9. Tweet Quality. If you are decide to use Twitter for business then make certain your tweets contain valuable and useful information. It is okay to tweet about your dinner or the movies occasionally – and in fact it can be beneficial to reveal glimpses of your life – however I recommend keeping these tweets to a low percentage.

10. Follow Potential Clients. Is there a particular client you would like to work for? Are they on Twitter? Find them and follow them. It is not a good idea to use Twitter to publicly ask someone
to hire you. But it is ok to follow them. Try to get to know them and to discover what they are looking for. Get involved in the conversation. If you then pitch to them outside of Twitter later they will probably remember you or know who you are already.

There you go. That was a quick list and I admit some of those points would require an article in themselves to cover them properly.

However I hope that this has given you some new ideas. There are some smart writers out there who are making use of Twitter to grow their businesses. Perhaps you can too.

P.S. You can follow us on Twitter if you would like to see our tweets with freelance writing news and writing markets. We only post several tweets a day so you won’t be overwhelmed, I promise. You’ll find us at www.Twitter.com/WWFreelance and Gary’s Twitter account at www.Twitter.com/GaryJMcLaren

 

About the Author: Gary McLaren

Gary McLaren is the author of 'The Indie Author's Guide to Publishing Ebooks'. He manages several web sites for professional writers including WorldwideFreelance.com and PublishYourOwnEbooks.com.