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I teach a class through WOW! Women On Writing about social networking for writers–but it could actually be for any small business owner or blogger. As I said last Wednesday, I know many of you, who read my blog to get ideas for the classroom, library, and home school, are also writers and bloggers. Here’s an interview that I did with WOW! Women On Writing executive editor, Angela, about social networking. (Reprinted from The Muffin, February 2010)

Angela: This was the first year WOW! branched out into social networking by creating Twitter and Facebook profiles, and it’s already done so much for our site. We get to interact with our readers, really get to know them, and obtain feedback instantly. Our traffic has increased from links coming from the networks as well, and it’s also a lot of fun!

At the head of our social media campaign is WOW! contributing editor, columnist, and instructor Margo L. Dill, who launched our campaign from scratch. She knows a great deal about using these sites to your advantage, so I caught up with her to ask her a few questions about her upcoming e-course “Social Networking for Authors: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more!” If you want to learn how to effectively use social networking platforms for self-promotion, there’s still time to sign up for her course, which starts next Monday (August 23).

Welcome, Margo! Who should take your social networking class? Is it only for authors?

Margo: My social networking class can help anyone who has something to promote–a blog, a website, a book, a magazine, or a newsletter. The class will give tips on how to find other writers on social networks; find clients, customers, or readers; and how to interact on these sites so people get to know the “real” you. This means, you are a real person with a personality sending out tweets or promoting your Facebook profile or fan page–not a marketer or a spambot!

Angela: That’s great to know. It sounds like it would be useful for freelance writers and small businesses as well. You teach your students how to use Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Why is it important to use all three platforms? What are the major differences?

Margo: In my opinion, each social networking site offers writers, or anyone really, a different audience, format, and way to connect with others. On Twitter, you can follow almost anyone who has similar interests as you, provides useful information, or makes you smile and laugh. In turn, anyone can follow you. People expect you to share information on Twitter about yourself and your work as well as share other useful tidbits you come across on the Internet and on Twitter itself.

On Facebook, you can connect with people whom you once knew, that you met at a conference, or through an online group as well as your family and friends. You can belong to writing groups on Facebook that provide information and allow you to network with other writers such as on the WOW! Women On Writing Facebook Fan Page. On your Facebook wall, you can promote your latest blog post or book just like you can on Twitter, but you do it with posts on your wall or status updates or fan pages. I get a lot of response from my family and friends on my blog from my Facebook page. These people wouldn’t know what I was up to if I didn’t have Facebook to tell them. I am reaching a different audience here and on an even more personal level than on Twitter.

LinkedIn is a completely different network all together. It is for professional connections more than personal ones. You can connect with others and find free

I know that many of you are not only parents, teachers, and librarians, but you are also writers in all stages of your career. If you are looking to increase your freelance income or work as a children’s writer, then I want to tell you about my friend Suzanne Lieurance. I met Suzanne about eight years ago at a retreat in the mountains of North Carolina even though we both lived in Missouri at the time! Since then, we’ve kept in touch and currently both belong to the Missouri Writers’ Guild. She is doing amazing things and helping writers all over the world with her Writing Coaching Program and The Morning Nudge.

Here’s a really short video (about 1 min. 30 sec.) about the coaching program and The Morning Nudge (which is $99.99 for one year):

What is The Morning Nudge?
Every weekday morning, Suzanne sends you The Morning Nudge, a short email, with tips to help you:

# Gain confidence as a writer
# Learn where and how to find freelance work
# Improve your overall writing so you land choice assignments
# Move your writing career ahead to the next level

If this sounds like something you’ve been looking for–something to really get your freelancing or writing career going when the kids go back to school, just click here and sign up! If you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments; and I will find the answers for you or ask Suzanne to come on over to Read These Books and Use Them and answer them. If you want her to answer some more private questions, just leave your email address, so she can contact you personally. Take it from me, I have attended one of Suzanne’s workshops at a writing conference, and she is a motivator!

One more exciting thing, I teach teleclasses for Suzanne. What this means is that each month, I teach over the phone on a certain topic for about 50 minutes. If you want to attend the class and are part of the coaching program, it comes with the program; but you can also buy just the class, and they are SUCH A BARGAIN! You can also buy the class in the archives once it’s been taught if you can’t attend the class at the given time and date. (The way a teleclass works is you call a number and have a code to enter at the time the class starts. Then you are connected with the instructor and other people in the class. You can ask questions at the end of the lesson.) I have two upcoming classes with Suzanne.

• Introduction to Social Networking for Writers (August 18, 7:00 p.m. CST): Find ou
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If you are a teacher, librarian, parent, or anyone really, you might be interested in taking some online classes about writing and social networking this spring and summer. I am teaching three classes through WOW! Women on Writing’s classroom and workshop program, and I am super excited!

The first class I am teaching starts on Wednesday, April 21 and is called: Writing For Children: Short Stories, Articles, and Fillers. This is for anyone who has ever thought–hey, I’d like to write for children, but you’re not sure where to start or how to get some publishing credits. Here’s an interview I did with Angela from WOW! about writing for children in these areas and about my class. This class meets for seven weeks–online using a Google group. We do not meet at a certain time online–it’s all done at each student’s own schedule. I am running a special this spring–it usually costs $200, but I’m offering it for $175. Click here to view the syllabus and to sign up for the class. (This is the third time I’m offering this course.)

The next class I am teaching was really popular this winter. It’s called: SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR AUTHORS: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN AND MORE! This course is actually for anyone who wants to learn how to use these social networks–for personal and business reasons, although we focus mostly on businesses such as freelance writing, authors who want to promote a book, freelance editors, writing coaches, etc. The class starts on Monday, May 24 and lasts for four weeks for $100. We use a Google group, and students don’t have to be online at a certain time–we work around all schedules. I also did an interview with Angela for this class and tips for using social networking as a writer. For more information on the syllabus and how to sign up for the class, click here.

The last class is brand new, and I am super excited to teach it–especially since I love blogging so much. The class is all about blogging and is called: BLOGGING 101 AND MORE: Start a Blog, Make it Unique, and Keep it Going. This course will help new and experienced bloggers start and/or improve a blog in either Wordpress or Blogger. We will use a Google group as our virtual classroom. It starts on Monday, July 12, runs for five weeks, and is $125. We’ll discuss keeping up with your blog, making it unique, driving traffic to it, and even monetizing it. Go here for more information on the syllabus and to sign up. This class can be for anyone who wants to start a blog about anything. Also, please feel free to leave any comments or questions below and pass on the information to your friends and family with the SHARE THIS button.

Thanks for your support as always! If you are interested in all the cl