PWG Writers Archive: social networking

Showing posts with label social networking. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

PWG: Writers Groups, Cronyism and Playing Favorites

A few years ago, I was invited to join a "Buddies" writers group on Facebook by a FB friend who was the admin. I joined and posted a few links and clicked on a few links. It was similar to the other reciprocal groups which I usually shy away from. What happened next cemented my idea that these groups usually fall into cronyism and favoritism.

After seeing others sharing info about a variety of writing sites, I shared some info on one where I was starting to have some success. This was in my early days writing for Seekyt.com, so I shared the link to the site -- it wasn't even my referral link, but the next thing I knew the admin said, "My friend Suzy Q has already posted about it, and I am sure she would love to have any referrals."It was obviously time to back off from that group.

About a year later, I started writing for another site which was a sister site to Seekyt. The Seekyt admin was trying a fresh approach and asked us to invite friends to try it out. I had learned my lesson and knew better than to share it in a writers group, so I sent a private group email to about 15 of my writer friends including the gal who was admin for the other writers group inviting them to check out the new site. Imagine my surprise when my "friend" replied to all MY friends via the Facebook message that her friend Suzy Q had already told her about the new site, and that Suzy Q would love the referrals!

A year passed and out of the blue I received an invitation to join the Preferred Writers Group. I am not even sure who invited me, and I will never know what made me check it out, because by then I had sworn off writers groups for good! But I decided to just take a quick look... and I was impressed by the vision, by the idea of a co-op of writers that goes past the reciprocal link and "I'll like yours if you like mine" philosophy of other writers groups. The idea of real networking, sharing ideas, reading the posts that look interesting and Tweeting here, commenting there, G+ another, etc. was appealing beyond just the same group of friends liking and commenting on each other's posts all the time. And the idea of sharing in the profits was a definite plus!

As the quality has improved here, I have grown more excited about what we are building. I got a little fired up. My confidence in writers groups and networking as a whole returned, so I paid a visit to the old writers group. I knew several of them write occasionally for Seekyt, and I wanted to share my VigLink article with them. Really, the idea besides getting some page views was to HELP them understand how sign up and use VigLink! Wouldn't you know, as soon as I posted the link to my Seekyt VigLink article, the admin posted: "Have you talked to Suzy Q? She writes there," and she obligingly hyperlinked to Suzy Q.

I called her on it in a private message and asked her to remove me from the group. I could have removed myself, but I wanted to make a point. There really is no place for cronyism and favoritism in a professional writers group. If you are going to invite people to join, you should treat them ALL fairly: one, because it's the right thing to do and two, because it has been proven that repeated reciprocal linking, liking and commenting among the same small group of people is doomed to fail. Google catches on. Their bots notice patterns. You really do have to network outside of any writers group or circle of friends to succeed.

There is always room for friendships, and some people are going to hit it off more than others, but I have been impressed with how Laurie and Eden have handled the early days of this group. In fact, I don't think I knew ANY of you before joining this group, and I get the idea a lot of you have known each other for some time, yet everyone has made me feel like a part of the network right off the bat. Thank you for that. I hope we will all work together to keep a professional approach to networking and not just support and promote our special friends.

Related:

Thank you for reading and thank you for sharing the link to this article with others. This article is © Kathryn Darden, all rights reserved, and is not available to repost on websites, blogs, discussion boards, Facebook, or to translate and post elsewhere without written permission.

Post ID KD214

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Other Ways for Writers to Make Money in their Extra Time

Government image in public domain

So you're a writer! If I was a betting woman, I would bet most writers do other things to earn money, from eBay to promotions to other jobs. A few years ago I realized that the days of making BIG bucks writing were pretty much over for me. My best month writing across all my sites together has only netted me a little over $1,000--hardly an income I can thrive on.

I LOVE to write and will keep looking at new things like PWG hoping to find that magic mixture of work, writing, promotion, networking and sites that do a lot of the work, too. But in 2010, I started looking into other avenues, including franchises and business partnerships.

Franchises: With hard work and determination, owning a franchise can bring in a LOT of money, so this idea had a lot of appeal. However, franchises cost a great deal of money, with the LOWEST ones in the $20,000 range and average buying prices in the hundreds of thousands.

Schemes: Then there are the "make big money quick doing nothing" ads all over the internet that usually don't pan out and don't live up to their promises.

Direct Marketing: That's why many people end up turning to direct marketing which can have all the advantages of a franchise, or all the disappointments of a "get rich quick" scheme. So how do you find the right direct marketing business?

Look for one with a track record of success. Companies like Amway, Mary Kay and even Avon have been around for a long time. These companies have proven they are not a scheme that will take your money and leave you standing on the street corner selling pencils.
Look for companies that belong to the Direct Selling Association. This organization insists on the highest ethics and training in its member businesses.
Look for a great product line. Is it something you and your friends would use? Would you use it in ten years?
Look for companies that are already solvent. A new business, no matter how great the idea sounds, has a high chance of bankruptcy.
Look for a company in a booming industry, that is ahead of the trends, that will meet a need no matter how good or bad the economy gets.

Did I find a business I like that has earned me a more-than-decent monthly income working part-time hours from home? Yes, yes I did. In 2010, I chose an anti-aging skin care business because as the baby-boomer generation continues to age, as well as younger generations, our skin will continue to age with us. We all want to look our best. We all want healthy skin. I would use it now and in 10 years.

The dermatologists company I chose owns and created Proactive for acne, so they are WAY beyond solvent as well as award-winning members of the Direct Selling Association. They use social media and social networking much like we do for our articles to sell and promote the products, so it is a format I am very comfortable with. It is almost all done on the computer -- no products to carry or return. And it costs a small fraction of the lowest franchise fees to start my business.

If you want to know more, just ask me! I love to talk about skin care as much as I love to talk about writing now! And here are some links if you want to read more:

My skin care business
My skin care products
Exclusive: Dermatologists Changing the Face of Beauty with New Technology
A company overview
My Facebook page

Also see: How to Earn Money Writing for Examiner.com

Thank you for reading and sharing the link to this article. This article is NOT available for copying to websites, blogs, Facebook, discussion boards or elsewhere. If you want to share this info, please share the link.

Post ID KD214

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Earning Money Writing for Examiner.com

US Gov. image in public domain

Although I write for 10 or so different websites, the one where I earn the most money is Examiner.com. so I thought the other members of the Preferred Writer Group would want to know about it.

Back when print was king, I earned $400 - $450 per article writing for magazines, but those days appear to be over. Now I write for less than a penny per page view, but the place that penny goes the furthest for me is Examiner.

Not only does Examiner pay a higher percentage of a penny than the other sites I write for, but it attracts many viewers so I don't have to do all the work of promoting my articles.

Examiner's minimum word count requirement is only 150 words per article, so it isn't difficult to come up with ideas and articles. If you know a little basic SEO and have some social networking skills, it helps pull in readers, page views and earnings more quickly.

Earn an Easy $25

Right now Examiner is also offering a "signing bonus" of $25 if new writers contribute two articles of 150 words or more for their first two months. This helps cover the first two normally low-paying months while a writer starts to build a library of articles and begins to get the word out.

If you type my name (Kathryn Darden) or my user ID (375341) in the application, as the person who referred you, I earn whatever bonus they are doing at the time -- usually $25.

If you have not tried Examiner, you should check it out. It is not "get rich quick," but for any writer who can steadily generate articles of 150 words or more each month, it is a good way to earn several hundred dollars a month once you have a library of content up. That is definitely money I can put to good use!

Examiner is currently in the US and Canada. I am not sure what other countries it might be in now or expanding into.

What I Examine:

Is Facebook Making Us Less Social?

Facebook has hundreds of millions of members, but how often do the members actually socialize? I'm not talking about liking a friend's post or adding a comment here or there. I'm talking about going out together, having an in-depth conversation or doing pretty much anything outside of Facebook together.

For many, Facebook and other social networks have become a replacement for social interaction. It's easier to take to your computer, smartphone or tablet to connect with friends than spending any real time building true friendships. Take a good look at your friend list. How many of those people are you actually friends with? Do you really know much about them outside what they post?

I think the site's great for connecting with people from your past or keeping up with friends and family that live hours away. It shouldn't be something that drives a wedge between others. For instance, I've watched people in restaurants sitting together who believe they're socializing, but they never speak. They have their smartphones out, checking updates on Facebook and updating their own status. Their digital lives have overtaken their real life.

It's gotten so bad that people are actually being diagnosed with Facebook related depression and fatigue. I love connecting with new people, but I also enjoy cultivating relationships with the people around me as well. Honestly, I don't use Facebook as much as I used to. It's become a place for drama, bragging and the desperate need to have the biggest friend list.

If you find yourself feeling down after using the site, you might be dealing with Facebook misery. To me, it's just not worth it. Especially now that the site makes it difficult to see what you want and pushes ads on you left and right.

What do you think?