Adventures in social media

Wearing ALL the hats can cause a headache sometimes...

But that's part of the adventure of being a freelance writer. The keyword here is "freelance." After all, it stands to reason that a woman who's always marched to the beat of her own drum would go this route.

Being my own boss means exactly what it sounds like. From invoicing to time management to project prioritization to tech support, I have to figure out a way to well, figure it all out.

After three years of research, bootstrapping and building, I hit a brick wall with social media. I wanted what every one else in my position wants - scintillating, frequent blog posts sent out via professional (yet not ostentatious) social media pages that would make the right people and organizations go, "Wow! She'd be perfect for this project! Let's shower her with money because she's so savvy!"

Except for one thing. Facebook thwarted me at every turn. 

See, here's the thing. There are tons of great books, blogs and organizations that tell you how to accomplish the goal of becoming a freelancer. Sure, just go on (insert popular blog site here), create a blog and VOILA!

Well, there's marketing. And creating a Facebook business page. And a supporting Twitter page. And reaching a wider audience. And showing prowess with social media by having it all be tied together with a nice. big. bow.

Wearing all the hats means sometimes holding one out for help. The more I tried to do with my business page on Facebook, the more I realized how utterly lost I was. I tried a general search for my page, I tested receiving messages, I tried tagging businesses with relevant or shared professional interests. Nada. So I conducted a search online for help on forums. And fell into rabbit hole after rabbit hole until I was dizzy.

Some time ago, I was lucky enough to meet Emily Taffell, social media guru and owner of Mugsy PR in the best way we could have met - by jointly collaborating on a fund raiser event. Having not yet met in person, we quickly realized we worked very well together. I wrote press releases, Emily showed me how to use social media and public relations to make the event a success. And it was.

It was through Emily's knowledge of social media that I was finally able to get answers to all my unresolved Facebook social media questions. Social media consulting is one of the many awesome, business-saving services she offers. 

Thanks to her, I now have a searchable Facebook business page, know how to tag people and businesses, and know to what limits I can use my Facebook Business page. My hat goes off to you, Miss Taffell. Thank you.