Samantha Garner, Freelance Web Writer & Editor

I’ve been hearing about Biznik lately and finally checked it out for myself – here’s my profile.

Wow, that sounded like a commercial, didn’t it? Either way, Biznik seems pretty neat so far. It’s social networking amongst other entrepreneurs who are into sharing ideas and information. It sounds like LinkedIn, but it seems more geared towards relationship building rather than getting connections. Here’s an article about it from the Duct Tape Marketing blog.

Anyway, I’ve created my profile and am still getting my bearings, but it seems fun! Let me know if you’re on Biznik too!

This morning I attended a social media workshop and seminar given by my friend and colleague Gail Helmer. It was educational and, because I’m a geek about the web, it was really fun. There are roughly 10 billion more social media outlets than I thought there were. I’ve been active on the web for over 10 years, but I’ll never know everything about it. It’s really part of what makes it great, in my opinion.

I don’t want to poach Gail’s scene and reveal everything she talked about, but I will share one tidbit. Today I was introduced to Samepoint, which is a search engine targeted specifically to social media. You can filter by media type and keywords – it’s really quite fun. I actually had to remind myself to eat lunch because I was getting so carried away!

Anyway, I had a really great time and I walked home with my brain full of ideas – always a good sign!

Chances are good you’ve heard about Twitter, if you’re not on it already. Chances are probably through the roof that you’ve also heard how good of a social networking tool Twitter is. If you’re like me, you know you have to market yourself but don’t want to come across as heavy-handed. Here are some pain-free ways writers can use Twitter to promote themselves.

Follow other writers

Don’t hesitate to follow writers you admire just because you don’t know them personally – this is a great chance to get to know them! Twitter is a very direct way to connect with them, so dialogues you have there can go a long way. You never know what a Twitter connection can lead to!

Find out the latest news and discover job leads

I’ve been privy to job leads, contests, book giveaways and advance notice of literary events simply because I follow the right people on Twitter. And by the right” people, I only mean publishers and writers I’m interested in. A lot of people will fill their Twitter followers in on job leads, news and events before they, for example, send out a news release or post about it on their websites. After all, it’s quicker and the feedback is immediate!

Find story or article ideas

Think about it – Twitter is all about instant gratification. So if you’re stuck on a story idea, head to Twitter! With how few words people have at their disposal, you can often stumble upon some great phrases or conversations that can lead to a story or article idea.

Tweet when good news happens

Though I admit I do struggle with this one, don’t be afraid to tweet when something cool happens in your writing life. If you’ve got other writers following you this is a great chance to network that is so unlike the networking you probably hate. And don’t worry, it’s not over-promotional if you balance it out with more everyday tweets. (Hm. Maybe I struggle with this one because I actually can’t stand the Twitter-lingo phase “tweet”?)

Use Twitter to drive traffic to your website

If you blog or have simply added something to your website, make Twitter your next stop. Ultimately, your website is your biggest marketing tool, so try to make the two work together as much as possible. Newbie Tip: Use a URL shortening website to cut down on the lengh of your characters. I like bit.ly, personally – fewer characters than tinyurl.com.

Oh, and if you wanted to follow me on Twitter, I’m @WordscienceBlog!