With or without the new Facebook timeline

The unexpected took place: the new Facebook timeline is here, for everyone. I am using it since the launch and I must say that it offers a couple of advantages if your social media presence has a purpose: if you want, for example, to outline a certain aspect of your life or if you want to outline a special post. If you are a company, you have more chances of a coherent corporate communication, as it is explained in this article.

Happy timelining everyone! 

Why I do not like paid posts

As marketing assistant for various trendy companies, looking for fancy bloggers, I am very often faced with the following answer: I would be more than happy to advertise your products, but my costs are the following:$$$. In such cases, I do not like to reply back.

I am blogging for a couple of years already and I am still at the beginning of the learning process of how to successfully promote myself. More specifically, how to use the weapon of my words to win more customers, money, products. Till now, with only one exception, I relied exclusively on my power of using the words and felt the freedom of being free to share my knowledge with the other as often as I had time. Probably my latest marketing experiences taught me something about how to better promote my non-for-profit blogging business.

But, what I do not like when I receive the corporate answers is the idea of accepting to trade your freedom of writing. In many places in the world, journalists will be extremely happy to be free to write without being forced to ponder each of their word for not offending corrupt politicians or businessmen. Some are paying with their lives. Blogging is an honest option to use the Internet for freely sharing your thoughts. As long as your web host allows, you are free to post as often as you want about what do you want. You can exercise your critical thinking. 

In the case of a paid post, obviously, you will praise the values of a product, even it is ugly or harmful or completely unworth the money. Some people ask $70 the post, plus the free delivery of the product. I am completely against this attitude and I wish that many people will realize they and how they are wrong. And this is also the responsibility of the companies that went used to pay the media - online including - for reading what they want to read about themselves. Call it the dangerous denial of the consuming age.

Unless further notice, the posts on this blog are free as spring birds.

Clean your Google history with only a couple of clicks

Google will soon change its privacy policies and will show us a new look.
The move is already creating discussion at the European level and there were formulated several calls for investigating seriously the implications.
For those keen to get ready with a relatively clean Google history, this tutorial may help.
What really makes me sad is that for various commercial aims - which I understand and sometimes I am also using on a daily working basis - Internet is becoming more a business than a way to enjoy expanded possibilities for knowledge.
I just was reminded this morning how lame are Google's policies in terms of promotion and development of its products. Take, for example, Google+ which was joined rapidly by millions, shortly after launch only because it was a brand made by Google, but whose development was neglected. The development strategies of this company are very slow and relatively reluctant in my opinion. When you have such a brand, you are bold to engage your customers.
Anyway, from tomorrow on, get ready for changes.

How to avoid scams?

As a dedicated freelancer, curious to try very projects and professional challenges, I encountered lately a very unpleasant aspect of the "free" work. It means, literally, that after your virtual employer push you with 10+ mails each day regarding the progress of your work, sooner after you deliver the products in due time and expressing your full availability for corrections, the story is over. No money, honey!

In a way, I was lucky enough to lost small amounts of money - the whole lost is around $30 and hope that it is enough - but on the other hand, given the efforts spent with writing and documentation it is a loss.  

The best ways to avoid such situations are:

- ask carefully about the payment methods. 

- eventually, do not send your articles before part of the sum is released.

- report the theft to the administrators of the website and leave them a bad review. Some people may be as naive as you and trust that intellectual work is always paid work.

The unhappy true about web content authors

As part of my various professional experiences, writing web-content articles, as a professional and at a professional level was part of the menu. I've found a couple of companies, many of them located in India, happy to hire me for covering their high demands for articles. Generally speaking, in the last three weeks I've covered an impressive amount of topics and issues: technical reviews, real estate, history, entertainment, TV sets and so like.

My acceptance rate increased significantly, the companies are happy. But what about me? After a moderate enthusiasm at the beginning, for a couple of days I am struggling with a deep feeling of sadness. Not because I am wasting my time and words writing about things that usually I never read. But because the prices are lower than the average. For example, what do you think of being paid, for one hour of writing and documentation with the perfect offer of $0.60? The highest level of gain is $2 for 1,000 words that I should write in maximum four hours. Usually, this kind of article is very sophisticated and require an impressive amount of time for reading, organizing the materials and writing as I should deliver THE BEST, as I am told on a very capitalist tone for the success fee I am offered.

Despite the need to be involved somehow in profit-oriented projects, I decided today that it is better to stop this collaboration. For the sake of the words I am asked to polish every day.

Freelancing is interesting, but not always rewarding.

The modest lessons of a marketing assistant

A new year and new professional challenges. 

For the next four weeks I will do exactly what I fully enjoy - was it ever something different? Anyway, this time I am the full master of the show and I am more than happy to learn every day some new tricks and tips.

Even though I am not a human resources coach - and will never be in the next 100 years, probably - I dare to give one simple advice: if you really need to expand your professional horizons, try at least once the year to do for a little while something completely out of the previous professional menu. Do a short internship in a new domain, if you hate doing administrative work - as I fully do - try to do it for one week for being able to better understand the secrets of a well organized office etc.

In my case, I decided to play the role of the marketing assistant. My main tasks are to find a number of bloggers interested in presenting a product. Most part of my work consist in doing web research for identifying the target group of my client. It is not well paid and it is mostly a maintenance work, as I am practically sending daily around 16-17 standard mails. 

I don't know how the previous assistants did this job, but I am more than happy with the feedback received in the last three weeks: nice and interesting bloggers, various interests and serious writers. I discovered a fascinating world of young women writing and sharing their ideas. 

Out of my cold and serious world, I am learning new things every day about how to improve your writing and pitch of subjects daily and about introducing better visuals on your blogs. As a photographer myself - I introduced this professional activity on my CV last year, when the process of professional redefinition was started - I am amazed to find every time new inspiration.

As for the lessons learned, there are a couple of insights I would like to share right now:

- Are you looking for targets: find the dedicated national and international networks. For fashion, for example, there are predominant blogging communities gathering interesting individuals writing about fashion.

- Explore the blogrolls: you will easier find people sharing the same style and preoccupations.

- Be as friendly as possible: Try to introduce a personal note in your pre-written, cold e-mails. For example, if you send the mail before the holiday season, be so kind and introduce some special wishes - better a neutral one, as "happy holiday season" as long as you don't know the religious affiliation of the person you are writing to.

- If you have a blog, do at least twice the year an overall checking of your blogroll as it is annoying to keep an updated list of people who didn't write for years.

- Also, unless you don't want to be a super secret person, introduce a address of contact for your avid readers that would like to talk to you. Honestly, I don't think that it is such a big danger as long as you keep it as neutral as possible - for example, an address of your blog, without a direct mention of your name or address or any other very personal details.

- Be very careful with what you write. Check once more before pushing the 'send' button.

- At the beginning, it may be annoying to keep the track of your payments and of your hours and to report every week your evaluation, mostly if you are used with somebody else's doing it for you. But, you know what, being fully independent is a blessing and you need to know all the small details of a work in order to understand the energy and value of any minute.

There are also other lessons, but for the moment I keep learning hard.

Are you looking for an advice?

Are you looking to find out more about Social Media, Internet, PR and communications and how to use them at the highest capacity? Are you curious to find out more about Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn blogging and everything in between? Do you have a small business and what to think in big 2.0 ideas?

I am offering consultancy at good prices for all those hungry to upgrade their knowledge and efficiency and Internet literacy. The first consultation session is free.

I am offering tailored classes and seminaries and special consultancy.

Interested? Contact me: findthewordblog@googlemail.com