We all do it. Sit for hours in front of our computers posting on Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Ning, and other social media networks. Face it; it is the best way to keep tabs on all your friends, family, and fans. But do you find yourself playing the tug-a-war game everyday?
I know for me as a writer it is important to have a cyber-face present at all times. Social media is the new way of marketing. I teach this in my workshop, How to Sell Yourself. As a writer, you must have a website, you should join social networks, consider a blog and newsletter. However, finding the time to keep up on it all can be a bit much.
The biggest thing I noticed was when I had a few minutes after putting my two month old down I would do the should I clean or should I hop on the computer just to check this or that. I bet you can guess the answer. I, of course, hopped on the computer to just check email and would end up spending more than a few minutes. Let’s say my couple of minutes normally turned into an hour or two. I wouldn’t even notice until my five year old would come into my office saying, “Mommy, can you make me lunch?” or the baby monitor would go off letting me know my two month old was now awake.
I’m not the only one who experiences this problem. I have a couple of friends who finally closed down their Facebook pages because they spent hours everyday just trying to keep up on all the postings from friends, family, and fans. One friend even told me she had not written in weeks because of the time she was spending on social sites.
So what do I suggest? Well, I’ll be honest . . . I was a social media junkie a few months back. I had profiles on My Space, Facebook, Twitter, Jacketflap, a few different Ning networks, Shout, etc. You name it and I was most likely on it. But I could not keep it up once Sabrina came into the picture. A new baby really makes you stop and relook at your time. Before Sabrina, I would spend hours everyday just trying. It cut into my writing time, my personal time, and most importantly … my kid’s time with me. I had to cut back, make choices, and really look at which internet outlets were performing over the ones that were not. I finally choose the ones I found to work best for my now extremely busy schedule and me.
I have cut my social sites down to Facebook, Twitter, Jacketflap, and two Ning networks (Utah Writing and Kids Stories Online). I still have my author website, my company website, blogs and magazine site. It is still a lot to handle, but it’s manageable. The best part is . . .
Now I have more time to do what I love best . . . raising my children and writing.
Follow Me on my Social Networks:
I’m on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Virginia-S-Grenier/1199014654
Catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/VSGrenier
See what I’m up to on Jacketflap at http://www.jacketflap.com/index.asp
Whether you have lived a rough life or had a silver spoon in your mouth, it is normal to want to write your memoirs. This is especially true if you are getting up into middle age or beyond. Otherwise, it could be a pretty short story. Assuming you are ready to put 40 years or more down on paper, here are some tips for maximizing the effect of your finished work. First of all, give yourself plenty of time for a project like this. You are going to remember things as you work through the memories that are freshest in your mind. For this reason, it makes sense to give yourself lots of time, even as much as a year or more. Hopefully, you have a supply of old photographs you will be going through at the same time. But even if you don't, you can dig out those memories that are buried within. A good place to start is with a general time line of your life. You may find that you need to make more than one draft of this line, because you are likely to remember important ...