Social media for freelancers EFA teleconference

Some exciting news: I'm one of two guest panelists for an Editorial Freelancers Association teleconference on June 8 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The topic is using popular social media platforms (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) to increase professional visibility and make connections with clients and colleagues. My co-guest will be social media strategist Greg Pincus of TheHappyAccident.net. You have to be an EFA member to attend (and if you're an editorial freelancer, you should definitely look into joining!), but I'll be sure to share applicable insights here as well as at my Dr. Freelance blog.

Mommy-Blogging Bait

I'm not a mommy blogger and don't consume beauty products other than soap and toothpaste, but as a former denizen of the custom-publishing world, this story in Ad Age caught my eye... "P&G to Launch Custom Beauty Magazine Rouge in U.S.: Package Goods Giant Plans to Build Database by Relying on Mommy Bloggers to Spread the Word." The scale of the project is pretty astounding for a mailed piece:

Procter & Gamble Co. is enlisting help from mommy bloggers as it makes over its Canadian custom-published quarterly Rouge for a full-scale U.S. launch expected to reach 11 million households in both countries by next year....

...The appeal driving mentions of Rouge among bloggers is pretty simple: It's available at the internet's favorite price (free) and comes loaded with coupons, which happen to drive much of the routine chatter regarding package-goods brands in social media.

I do wonder if the mommy bloggers will get behind the cause without a quid pro quo; maybe the bad economy is what makes coupons an attractive ploy. Even without knowing the cost per unit, I'm inclined to think that P&G will eventually kill the physical magazine and focus on the web site after a few issues (i.e., once they've captured the names). Then again, a custom publication isn't at the mercy of the horrific ad sales environment, and with publications going out of business, it may be a buyer's market in the print biz.

Anyway, they got their links and couple of minutes of free press out of me, so I guess I'm an honorary mommy blogger after all...

Follow FAIL

I read somewhere that the average person gives up on Twitter after a month. I didn't even make it that far. There are tons of people who've torched Twitter badly enough that there's no need for me to pile on--I'm simply stating that I'm dumping my bookmark and not going back in the foreseeable future. Maybe Apple will turn it into something I like.

ad contrarian has executed the best surgical strikes, here, here and here, among others. And the comments are priceless.

OK, I lied: On May 12, I went on to Twitter to make a final post, because it occurred to me there were probably some people there who knew about the Freelance Forecast and might be interested in the results. So, if you're one of those people--welcome to the blog. But you're not likely to see me on Twitter after this. I welcome anyone to make the case that I rethink my decision...