Web writing and networking: join social networks

« « Make a fast buck with Web writing | Silly Web writing gigs: what are they smoking? » »

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

You may have heard the buzzword: “Web 2.0″. The idea of Web 2.0 is that the Web is now social, and interactive. Part of the interactivity includes the social networking sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, Ryze, etc.

The benefit of the social networking sites to your Web writing career include:

* Links. If you have a brand new Web site, that site won’t start showing for searches for a while, up to a year in some cases. You can kick this process along, and gain acceptance, so to speak, from Google and the other search engines if you get links.

However, it’s important that these links are relevant. As a Web writer, a link from a site which sells furniture may be useful (if you wrote content for the site, for example), but if you have too many of these “unrelated” (to the search engines) links, you can be penalized for them. Links from your pals on a social network however, have credibility. Warning: your mileage may vary, so don’t go overboard with this or any other linking strategy.

* Referrals. I’m too busy to take full advantage of all the benefits of the social networking sites, but I often get emails from people I’ve worked with, just because I’ve joined a site. Writers who are very active in social networking get referrals, simply because they’re part of a group on one of the networking sites - people do business with people they know, even if that acquaintance is at second or third hand.

So if you haven’t investigated the social network sites, put it on your calendar. It’s another way of getting known, and getting Web writing gigs.

Big, important tip: Your writing skills are valuable!

Most writers have no idea how valuable their skills are. If you do copywriting and work with businesses, you’ll find that your skills are highly respected, and that the ability to write well is unusual. So you’re an asset to circles of friends on the social networking sites, precisely because of that skill.
Get out there and network.
[tags]Web writer, writing, social networks, networking, Web 2.0, interactivity[/tags]