A Freelance Writer’s Guide to Twitter

Twitter is an essential resource for freelance writers. At first considered a fun little social networking site, Twitter now reaches far beyond your average social networking forum. In fact, next to the blog, many feel Twitter to be the most important social networking/social media tool for freelance writers.

Knowing how to use Twitter to your benefit can mean more awareness of your brand, more traffic to your blog or website, and more interaction with other freelancer writers and potential clients.

Let’s explore some of the ways freelance writers can take advantage of Twitter’s potential.

There are hundreds of freelance writers on Twitter

If you ever wanted to join a writer’s group but didn’t have the time, money or inclination, Twitter is like one giant network for freelance writers. On a given day we:

• Share links to informative blog posts and articles: Every blogger shares links to blog posts and most understand the rule about not being spammy. It’s how we’re turned on to new writing blogs and how other freelancers and writers learn about FWJ. Before you start sending out links, build up relationships with your followers. Once you’re enjoying each other’s company, send out periodic links to your blog posts. If your followers find the topic interesting they’ll be inclined to stop in for a visit.
• Share job leads: Lots of folks share links to job lists and job leads. Keep in mind, many of these leads are for freelance bidding sites.There are also plenty of leads for decent non-bidding site opportunities. I keep my Seesmic (see “Twitter Tools” below) open to several search terms at once, many of them having to do with freelance writing jobs. Your favorite job search sites no doubt also have Twitter accounts and following them will enable you to see their job Tweets. You can also do a Twitter Search and Twitter Job Search to find freelance writing jobs.
• Talk with potential clients: It’s funny how many potential clients are following you on Twitter and you may not even know about it. In fact, some of the people who I know on Twitter have contacted me to discuss  freelance writing opportunities after our online chats. They may originally follow you because they find you interesting and may end up hiring you after getting to know you.
• Build relationships: I have many good friend thanks to Twitter. Using social networks to meet and share with others led to some mutually beneficial relationships. Some of those relationships led to jobs, some led to joint projects, and some led to some wonderful, long-term friendships. Many of these relationships continue to grow offline as well.
• Discuss issues pertaining to freelance writers: Do you have questions regarding freelance writing? Is there something sticking in your craw? Are you looking for information on a particular content site or client? Use Twitter for a lively discussion, an intelligent debate or to ask questions of your fellow freelance writers.

Twitter Search

Use Twitter Search to find other freelance writers, freelance writing work, check out upcoming events, meet folks in your genre, talk to interview subjects, gain a new perspective, learn the top stories and anything else you can think of.

Twitter Groups

TwittGroups and Twibes are two ways to find groups of Twitterers who share your same interests. These don’t have to be related to your niche, either. There are Twitter groups for your favorite television shows, movies, current events, recipes and everything else under the sun. If you’re writing about a particular topic, using a Twitter group can help to find people to talk to and interview.

Twitter Job Search

Twitter Job Search aggregates all the job listings on Twitter enabling you to search for specifics. Even if you’re not looking for a freelance writing or social media job, Twitter search has all the bases covered. Mr. Ng has even used it to look for available accounting opportunities. It’s not precise though, so if you plug in “freelance writing jobs” you might receive results with that phrase in the title but not actually linking to any gigs.

Twitter Lists

Twitter lists are a new feature enabling Twitterers to pull together lists of their favorite Tweeters in various topics. For example, yesterday I put together a list of folks who are always worth a ReTweet. I found out yesterday I’m listed on about 85 lists mostly having to do with freelance writing, blogging and social media. What I like about Twitter Lists is the ability to check out new Twitterers who are isolated in these groups, which I may not have been able to do otherwise. If I like what I see I might follow them and read their stuff. They might also follow me in return and read my stuff. Some folks feel it might be a little exclusionary, and while I can see that happening, I also feel social networks on a whole are exclusionary.

Twitter Tools

There are a variety of Twitter Tools of use to freelance writers, far too many for me to list here. My favorite tool is my Seesmic application which enables me to have one window open showing Tweets from the people I follow, @replies directed at me, my direct messages, and a few search terms that interest me. Seesmic is similar to TweetDeck but I find it to be a better option, I especially like how I can view and respond to my FaceBook news feed.

Some other cool Twitter tools for freelance writers (and others!):

• Twittonary - The Twitter dictionary.
• Is Twitter Down? - OK, maybe this isn’t for freelance writers really but if you’re an addict like me and you get the Fail Whale,  Is Twitter Down will let you know if it’s you or if it’s Twitter.
• Twilert - Type in your search word and tomorrow you’ll have a note in your in box listing all the Tweets on that topic from the day before.
• TweetMeme – Allow others to retweet your blog posts.
• TweetBurner: Allows you to track links  posted to Twitter.
• TwitterLocal – Allows you to find Twitters in your area. This is especially helpful if you want to learn more about local businesses who might want to hire your services.

Twitter Feed

Use Twitter Feed to automaticall post your blog posts to Twitter.  Set it and forget it.

Twitter Hashtags

Want to learn what other freelance writers are talking about? Try using the #freelance or #writer hashtags to follow the conversation. Use the Twitter search function in your Seesmic, TweetDeck or your Twitter web page or use the Twitter search page to follow your favorite hashtags.

As you can see, Twitter is very useful to freelance writers. From searching to networking to landing actual clients it’s a must have tool for your arsenal. How are you using Twitter.