Writing and Stuff by Anthony Chatfield

The Censor Fail-Whale

I think the title says it all…and the answer is nothing. This is an issue that goes way beyond freelancing, as millions are finding themselves in the dog house for saying the wrong thing about their boss, their family, or their friends on Twitter (or Facebook). Here’s the thing. Twitter is incredibly easy to follow, and if you’re lucky, your clients will gladly sign up for your feed as soon as they realize you have one.

So, what then would be the goal of putting your personal thoughts, or worse yet complaints, on Twitter where those very clients can see them? In this day and age of hyper-connectivity, it becomes your job to censor what you say and where you say it. Once upon a time, you could vent openly about how hard your day was to anyone, even online. People didn’t have access to your inner thoughts, usually stored in email or a personal site where very few people had access.

Unfortunately, people seem to lose that sense of privacy when they sign up for Facebook or Twitter. They feel like they’re simply sharing with a few friends – getting their ideas out there or shooting the breeze like they would at a bar after work. The problem with that is your mom, your clients, and your colleagues can all see what you’re writing.

It’s why I offer social media cleanup services, to help individuals coming out of college or trying to get a new job to clean out all the 20-something shenanigans that litter their accounts. Describing drunken debauchery or saying borderline offensive things on your page can cost you a job or your friends if you’re not careful. So, what do you think happens when you get online and start rambling on about how your latest client “really gets under your skin”?

There really isn’t much else to say. If you’re striving to be a freelancer and build a brand for yourself online, it’s time you start cutting out the cursing, the open commentary, and pretty much anything about your current clients. You can still personalize your feeds and Pages – clients love to see it – but at the same time, make sure you keep it as professional as possible. This is your livelihood we’re talking about.

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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.

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