So, I’ve been trying, to little avail, to use Twitter in recent months to do some basic networking and marketing. I know it can work because I’ve written about it a few times in the last year or so and seen the results of dedicated marketing only through Twitter. It’s pretty awesome when it does work – but I haven’t hit the magic formula yet.

Here’s the problem – I can’t get myself to post 20 times a day. I see people doing it and I’m sure they’re getting a lot out of those posts, but wow – really? Who has Twitter open all the time and who has something valuable to say that often. I’m probably just opening myself to a slew of responses about how many ways there are to use Twitter, and don’t get me wrong – I love it. I find all sorts of cool stuff on there when I’m reading other tweets and I’ve gotten some good answers at times when I need quick help. But, enticing people to click on links is harder and harder these days with all the marketing being done out there.

My bread and butter seems to be article marketing – that stuff is gold and I’ve been racking them up of late. In August I had one article that I posted on the 22nd get 1000 views and 545 clicks. That was only 10 days. Anyways, I’m realizing that this post has minimal value other than me complaining about Twitter and bragging about my articles. It’s getting to that time of the day again – time to go find some dinner. Maybe tomorrow I’ll work on analyzing exactly why I can’t do well on Twitter and then maybe…you know, fix it.

As always, any Twitter experts are welcome…no, encouraged, to leave their comments and suggestions. I enjoy tweeting a little too much to give up just yet.

It’s no secret that there are seemingly unlimited ways to promote yourself on the Internet these days. Yet, it still manages to surprise me when someone does not use them all to their fullest potential. There are just too many options not to actively seek out and take advantage of them.

Starting with the most basic methods of blog promotion, I frequently tell people that they need to start and operate a blog – it doesn’t matter if it is the simplest, least detailed project you have worked on, you need to have a blog. Start one on Blogger if necessary and start posting every day (I know, I’m one to talk, but it’s a good habit to start). Once you have started your blog, you have unlimited options to reach people. You can start memes, contact other bloggers, start conversations with your commenters, and much more.

Another necessary promotional method is to start and maintain social networking profiles with all of the major sites – Facebook, MySpace (unfortunately), Friendster, etc. These sites offer you something no other option does – a built in audience of millions that you can reach with a single click. You can be sly or you can be explicit, but always remember to present yourself as a well polished person. On these sites, you are not selling things, you are selling yourself.

Which of course brings up the matter of salesmanship. I have had this conversation with a dozen other writers and many of them do not enjoy the idea of “selling” themselves to their clients. But, it is a necessary task and when you think about how things break down, it makes good sense. The Internet is full of people who sell themselves before their services. In fact, the Internet is just a bit too impersonal not to do so. If you try to go faceless and tell people that they can trust you when they don’t know who you are, they will often ignore your suggestions. If you tell them who you are, provide ample opinions and open conversation, and draw them into the fold, they will begin to trust you more outright and you will be much more successful in reaching them.

I won’t go into the details of everything you can do to promote yourself just yet. I may continue with a series of future posts about self-promotion, but there isn’t enough room for them all right now. However, keep one thing in mind: you are your best product. Your mind and your ability to write, design, or program are the things that you are selling. If you can sell yourself, you can pick up any project you find and that’s the key to true success as a freelancer.