Jen Stakes Roberts | Resources,Technology
I’m noticing over here on the other side of the Atlantic that the British freelancer community seems less enamoured by Google Plus than their US counterparts. I could speculate for hours why that might be: probably some mix of American enthusiasm for anything new and shiny, British cynicism of bandwagon-leaping, and perhaps just something pessimistic in the water at the moment.
Media darling and social mega-destination Facebook recently rolled out their COO Sheryl Sandberg at the DLD Conference in Munich to wax lyrical about the economic benefits Facebook is bringing to Europe. To entice the UK’s freelancers, contractors and small businesses into the Facebook ecosystem the firm has organised a “Facebook for Business” roadshow.
Although Google+ has been getting a lot of buzz in the tech press and recently announced it has amassed 90 million users, it is still seen by many as a social media also-ran, having been unable to break into the public psyche in the same way Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have.
Smart phones, internet, social media sites, e-mails, tweeting, blogging – we have accepted all of these innovations as part of our working and daily lives – they help us to work more flexibly, stay in touch for longer and respond to each other more quickly. But several surveys and employment tribunal cases this year have shown that employers need to provide clear guidance to staff regarding how they use social networking sites.
Jon Norris | Getting a Job,Technology
Every so often a new invention or technology pops up that fundamentally changes the way people interact. Whether it be the Gutenberg press or Facebook, both have had a profound impact on the way information is shared and how easy it is to access. Along with any new technology also comes a healthy dose of new business opportunities and hype – and the hype comes no bigger than that surrounding social media.
Rachel Soothill | News,Technology
At the beginning of the week Google announced the launch of its Google+ Pages. Specifically designed for companies, the pages allow them to set up profiles for their brands. There are also a host of business related features that they can benefit from.
Jon Norris | Getting a Job,News
As they do every quarter, outsourcing site Freelancer.com has released their latest figures mapping trends in the demand for freelance workers across sectors. Thousands of jobs are posted up on their site every month, so their data can be a good barometer of the direction of freelance work.
While there may be mixed messages surrounding the profitability of commercial activity on Facebook, the social network’s primary source of income – targeted advertising – is still a sound option for those looking to purchase banner ads to promote their business. Facebook is now planning to give away free adverts to small businesses in the US.
A new survey from technology market research specialists Radicati.com says the average corporate email user sends and receives around 105 email messages every day and that nearly 20% of these are spam or ‘greymail’ i.e. unwanted newsletters or notifications.
Rachel Soothill | News,Technology
Hot on the heels of the launch of Google+ Facebook has introduced a Facebook For Business portal in an attempt to encourage businesses to choose their giant social network over the competition.
Rachel Soothill | News,Technology
Google’s new attempt at a social network, Google+, launched three weeks ago and already has over 18 million users. Presumably envious of Twitter’s sea of celebrity users, Google+ has now embarked on a mission to ensnare celebrities to help build on its early success.
Rachel Soothill | News,Technology
Research into online marketing has revealed that two thirds of marketing managers still rely on email to deliver their online campaigns. The survey, which was carried out by eCircle, is part of a larger study on European Social Media and Email Marketing.
Selina Murray | Getting a Job,Technology
The last year has seen a rise in UK companies using social networks to win new business, says a new global survey from workplace provider Regus. In 2010 Regus found that 33% of UK firms were successfully winning new customers through social networking activity. A year later, the proportion has risen eight percentage points to 41%.
Jon Norris | Resources,Technology
As Twitter becomes more and more widely used by businesses both large and small, more time and brainpower is being poured into finding out what makes the social service tick, as marketers everywhere try in vain to find out what it takes to make something “go viral” (hint: you can’t). Of course, the secret to success on Twitter lies in the retweet – users passing your message on to their followers.
Although many businesses both big and small still struggle with shaking the snail mail, a new report has claimed that the great hope of the paperless office, email, is on the way out already. It is surmised that email will be replaced within a few years by private portals which allow users to post messages to a “wall” and tag individuals, essentially giving corporations their own private Facebook.
UK companies have been warned to take control of employee’s social media usage in the workplace or risk facing reputation damage and security breaches. With the recent rapid increase in social media usage, it has been revealed that 51% of employees engage with sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn while at work.
Rachel Soothill | Guides,Technology
Now we have established what a powerful communication tool social media has become, the next step is to learn how to harness that power and use it for getting your business and key messages out there. Social media is rapidly becoming the chosen channel for businesses to communicate and share ideas, and should form a strong part of your online marketing strategy.
Rachel Soothill | Guides,Technology
With around 600 million users worldwide, Facebook is the largest social media platforms that exists. It has pageview rates and engagement metrics that blow away the competition. If you are not using Facebook as part of your marketing strategy you could be seriously missing a trick!
Rachel Soothill | Lifestyle & Time out,Technology
If we didn’t appreciate the power of social media previously, the latest news headlines have confirmed just how influential platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are. Twitter in particular has hit the headlines recently after making a mockery of England’s privacy laws. While I couldn’t care less about who Ryan Giggs is bonking, the situation has grabbed my attention as it highlights the effectiveness of social media communication.
Jon Norris | Getting a Job,Technology
The explosion in popularity of Facebook over the last few years combined with Mark Zuckerberg suddenly realising he needs a decent revenue model has seen a range of bizarre (and depressingly, often successful) tactics employed to try and leverage money from the social network’s 600million of so subscribers.
Now that the Budget has come and gone, and the ensuing raft of fiscal and legislative changes has passed us by leaving a sea of confused freelancers in their wake, it’s time to ask if the changes the Government made were the right ones.
Jon Norris | Getting a Job,Training
I’m fairly well known in the Freelance Advisor offices as a massive sceptic when it comes to social media “gurus”, or anyone who offers to run your social media for you. This is for a number of reasons.
Much is written about the art of engaging consumers via social media and what constitutes best practice. For freelancers, communication via social media arguably comes more easily than it does for sizeable business entities. Though there are fewer pitfalls for the flexi-worker, who for the most part just needs to bathe in a flattering light in front of current and future clients, for those a little more demanding of their social media results it’s important to understand why people disengage.
As with all new, exciting things, big business has been a bit slow to catch on with social media. Some businesses have “got it”, and have used social media to great effect (See the Facebook Skittles Campaign, or the genuinely helpful Heathrow Twitter feed), and some are still lagging behind – thinking it is enough to simply register an account and leave it unattended.
Although the importance of social media is well established in the UK, we still trail a long way behind the US. However, that is all set to change in 2011 according to a new report by freelance work portal Office Cavalry. In fact, the findings are particularly positive for those freelancers specialising, or hoping to specialise, in social media marketing.
Here’s a breakdown…
As you may or may not have heard, today is Data Privacy Day. While ordinarily I would dismiss this as the same pointless guff as Talk Like a Pirate Day or St. Patrick’s Day, this year it is actually fairly pertinent.
It’s Friday, January 28th, which can only mean one thing: it’s international Data Privacy Day! Cue ticker tape and hastily draped bunting in the town square. Or perhaps not. This is, after all, a private affair.
Many freelancers and contractors have their own website which is either a fun hobby-horse or an online space for promoting their expertise and getting work. In such instances you probably don’t want to spend much time, let alone money, on attracting web traffic. The most effective way of achieving this is to promote it socially. This can be done online and in the physical world – social networking shouldn’t just happen in the online space.
What follows are a few simple tips on utilising key social tools to help increase web hits.
It seems that Yahoo is doing away with ‘Delicious’ the social bookmarking tool. However, there seems to be doubt about whether the service will be picked up by another company or killed off in its entirety. The Delicious blog has published a post which suggests it will live on in some form…
CVs; we all have them, we’ve all read them and we all hate them. If Cthulhu himself had been sitting about on his throne of skulls or whatever thinking about the most horrific punishment to inflict on every working man and woman between the ages of 16 and 65, he would not have gone far wrong with the invention of the Curriculum Vitae. Coming from the Latin expression meaning; “to put ones-self up for ridicule”, curricula vitarum have been the mainstay of HR decisions for nearly two millennia.
Sandy Dempsey | Getting a Job,Training
If you’ve not yet joined the 75 million strong Twitterati, Sandy Dempsey founder of The Dreaming Cafe gives us five great tips on how to get started, why you should use Twitter and other social networking tools, and how to make it work for you and your business.
Sinead Mac Manus | Getting a Job
As a freelancer, getting out from behind the desk (or kitchen table) and out into the real world is crucial for building relationships and winning new business. The pervasive nature of social media means that we are increasingly connected online. We tweet about our day on Twitter post news on Facebook, and share our location on Foursquare.
Social Entrepreneur Sinead Mac Manus shares 4 ways to use digital tools and social media to make the most of networking opportunities.
Andy talks to Web and Social Media Developer John O’Nolan and Darren Fell of Crunch about the power of personal branding. Choosing your brand Using Twitter to create a conversation Facebook, following and fans Social media as customer service Social media strategy and setup Listen to the podcast:
Podcast 24: Personal Branding for Freelancers & Contractors [ 29:46 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Find freelancing advice and support by joining our community of freelancers and contractors on Facebook. By becoming a fan of Freelance Advisor you’ll get all the latest articles and advice, alerts when new content is added to the site, and you can help build the community by connecting with other freelancers and contractors in your [...]
