Have you picked up some new lingo recently?

Retweet. Blog. Hashtag. Friend. Like. New words, and old words with new meanings.

Freelance writers should pay close attention to these changes. Because words are powerful.

New words signal a shift in our culture. The way we communicate is changing — and I believe it’s going to transform how writers earn a living in the future.

What’s happening now reminds me a bit eerily of the old Twilight Zone TV series’ episode, “The Parallel,” in which an astronaut returns to find Earth is similar to — but not exactly like — the planet he left.

One notable change: He can’t read anymore, because the language has evolved in a different direction. His child has to teach him how to read again.

Otherwise, he’ll be left behind in a bewildering, familiar-yet-strange society.

This is where freelance writers who don’t know social media are right now.

There’s a new language that’s emerged, and a new way of connecting. If you don’t understand it, I believe you will soon find yourself in a parallel world — one where you will struggle to earn well.

Eventually, you may find yourself with a limited potential client pool, as social media spreads into every corner of media and business life.

A couple comments I’ve heard recently:

“What’s a hashtag, anyway?”

“My editor told me to send the related links with my story…what does that mean?”

When I see a blog-post headline like, “Another Day,” I know that blogger doesn’t understand Internet search and how important headlines are now.

What’s happening here?

Writers are getting left behind

These writers are slowly making themselves obsolete, because they don’t know how to communicate online.

I don’t tell you this because I want to scare you.

I want you to see this coming and get ahead of it.

Why you should learn about social media

Writers who aren’t on social media often tell me they don’t do it because they don’t get it. Where’s the payoff?

So here’s what social media has done for me lately:

• One editor I found on Twitter last year assigned me ten $2,000 online articles.
• I routinely locate hard-to-find sources I need by asking my network on LinkedIn and Twitter.
• I connected with the founder of a major corporation (unreachable through ordinary corporate-PR channels) whom I urgently needed to speak to for a book gig by commenting on his blog.
• I discovered business-finance sources I needed for one story no longer check email, and can only be contacted on Twitter.
• A top blogger contacted me for a guest post after seeing one of my posts linked on Twitter, which led to several awesome writing opportunities.
• I make $100 an hour training small business owners on how to socialize their blog posts.
• I got lucrative blogging gigs for both magazines and businesses based on my social-media audience and knowledge of social-media promotion.

It’s already an advantage if you’re social-media savvy

But a year or two from now, you may be unable to develop queries and get the interviews you need for today’s online markets. Which are growing bigger and more lucrative all the time.

So if you haven’t already taken the plunge, get started and learn it. There’s plenty on this blog about Twitter and LinkedIn (even more here), and more all over the Internet.

Yes, it can seem intimidating when others have thousands of followers.

But I can promise you, it won’t be easier to start next year.

Are you active in social media? Leave a comment and tell us about how you use social media as a writer.

I just have to say — there’s been some tasty articles about freelancing out there this month! Most of these folks I’ve been reading quite a while, but some of them haven’t popped up on my monthly best-of lists until now. There are a few fresh new faces, too.

I’m seeing themes here of blogging best practices, and marketing tips. Enjoy!

1. The #1 Reason You Aren’t Earning at Least $100/Hour by Ruth Zive on The Freelance Writing Blog. Ruth has only been freelancing a few years, but she’s a longtime writing pro who’s already giving back and helping folks out with some inspirational posts.
2. 5 Social Media Myths Disproved by Dan Zarella on FixCourse. This site is new to me, but Dan Zarella isn’t — watch for his interesting, data-backed advice to pop up all over the Interwebs.
3. 12 of the Best About Pages on the Internet by The Blog Tyrant on Blog Tyrant. If you haven’t discovered the mysterious, 25-year-old Australian Blog Tyrant, I’ve been reading him for quite a while and he has some solid information, so happy to find a chance to include one of his rants here.
4. Attention Writers: These 3 Simple Tricks Will Help You Make More Money with Less Effort by Sean Platt on GhostwriterDad. Sean is one of the hardest-working helpers of freelance writers out there. He’s actually madly busy writing his serialized apocalyptic novel Yesterday’s Gone with David Wright, but still takes time to help you make more money. I think that’s awfully nice of him.
5. How to Battle Scope Creep in a Writing Assignment by Linda Formichelli on The Renegade Writer. Now that I’ve brought Linda on as the Other Den Mother in Freelance Writer’s Den, I have a bit more free time…to read her great posts! This one’s got practical help for coping with one of the biggest problems in the freelancing game.
6. How to Write What People Actually Want to Read by Mary Jaksch on Write to Done. I think this is Mary’s first appearance on my monthly best-of lists, which is really weird, since I always devour everything she posts. Just a reminder to stop guessing what to write about, and go find out what people actually want to know. Seems simple, yet so many bloggers don’t do it.
7. Make Your Blog the Event of the Year (and Have People Clamor to Attend) by Tea the Word Chef on Problogger. Tea sets up a tasty analogy here on how blogging is like a dinner party, and makes it really work all the way through. Memorable post.
8. Moving Beyond Job Boards by Jenn Mattern on All Freelance Writing. Jenn has responded to the crash in available assignments at Demand Studios with a whole series of articles on how to move on from mills. We’re of a mind about online ads — stop wasting so much time on those and work on more productive types of marketing, folks.
9. The Ultimate Guide to Getting More Referrals and Increasing Word of Mouth by James Clear of Passive Panda. I discovered James at International Freelancers Day back in September. This is a long post that’s packed with great tips. Hoping to have James come guest on a Den Meeting call before the end of the year, but until then, you can read this for some sound advice on how to  get the clients coming your way without having to market your ass off.
10. What a Painted-On Bikini Can Teach You About Writing Words That Sell by Danny Iny on DIYThemes. Danny writes a good headline, hmm? The article is just as good. Great tips for writing persuasive sales copy here.

Read any good articles online lately? Feel free to add to my list.

Ariella rides one all the way to shore

On my vacation last week, I got some freelance-writing inspiration from a fun activity I haven’t gotten a chance to do since I was a teen: I went bodysurfing and boogie-boarding with my kids, in southern California.

Those waves keep coming, and they can be fun to ride — or they can pick you up and pile-drive your head into the sand. (I got to experience some of each.)

The ocean is ever-changing…just like the freelance-writing scene today.

We’re seeing waves of change that seem to come faster and faster. The recession. New media. Social media. Content mills. Bidding sites. Magazines folding. New online sites.

As in surfing, there are a limited number of responses you can make to the approach of the oncoming change-waves in our industry:

1. Get out of the water. If you can’t cope with learning social media and writing online content, you might want to go into another line of work. These changes are here to stay. I think many writers have simply moved on in recent years.
2. Stay where you are and take a pounding. If you’re halfway into the water, you’re going to just keep getting smashed into by a terrific force. It won’t be easy to hold your ground as it will be sucked out from under your feet and drawn toward the wave. You can keep doing what you’re doing, but you’re basically fighting the tide.
3. Swim as fast as you can toward the wave. This option gives you a chance to get on top of a wave before it gets any bigger or crashes down on you. It carries the risk that you will fail and be mauled by a wave that breaks right over you and rips your boogie-board out from under you…but also holds the promise that you could rocket past the wave into calmer waters.
4. Move sideways across the wave. This is what boarders do when they shoot the curl — instead of fighting the wave, they ride across it and let its energy carry them along parallel to shore. In freelance writing, I’d compare this to learning a new specialty niche such as technical writing or white papers.
5. Dive under the wave. If you swim along the bottom of the ocean just as the wave approaches, the wave’s force will pass right over you and you can come up on the other side. It might not be pleasant, and seawater could go up your nose. I’d liken this to getting a day job for now, in hopes that the freelance markets will improve later.
6. Get out past the waves. It’s not easy to do, but once you’re past the breakers, life is fine. You can float along, enjoy the sun, and then pick which wave you want to surf back to shore. It’s like being a fully-booked freelancer — you’re in control and pick and choose your clients.

Both in the surf and in freelance writing, I liked that third option — swim hard, straight into the wave. Often, you can surprise yourself and get over the crest in time.

Sometimes I feel like I’m out past the waves. For example, I haven’t had to do much active marketing in the past year, as my passive marketing strategies — referrals, SEO for my writer website, my LinkedIn profile — have sent me enough business. But then a new challenge tumbles me back to the beach, and it’s time to fight the swells again to get back out there.

When I was having trouble getting past that final set of far-off waves, my teenage son Evan gave me the answer: “Sometimes, you’ve just got to let the waves beat you up, mom. Just keep fighting your way out there.”

What’s your approach to the changing world of freelance writing? Leave a comment and describe how you’re surfing the waves of change.

By Alicia Rittenhouse

You have heard the buzz surrounding Facebook Pages and Facebook custom landing pages, but are you confused with what you should include as a writer? First off, you should have a Facebook fan page. Then, you should have at least the following on your page:

1. Complete About Section – This is often an overlooked area, believe it or not. You can add this in a matter of minutes. You don’t want someone to land on your feed page, click on your About section out of interest to know exactly who you are and what you do, and have it be blank. What does that say about you — especially as a writer!

Your About Section should have:

• Bio or About Summary – The who, what, where, and whatever important information about your company
• Contact information and/or consultation scheduling link
• All of your websites and blogs with links

2. Opt-In Form and Pink Spoon – This is another way to capture email addresses and build your list besides on your website. If your Facebook Page disappears for some strange reason (remember Facebook owns your page), your emails are the only way to contact your peeps to let them know.  If you do not collect email addresses, you have no way to contact them. Those contacts are just gone.

Your “pink spoon” is an incentive that encourages people to sign up and lets visitors sample your writing and style. A pink spoon is generally a FREE ebook, audio or informational product that you give your visitor in exchange for their email signup on the web form. You want to make sure that you include a signup form with a pink spoon on your Facebook page and your website. This is uber important!!

There are applications out there that will help you create a custom landing page.  For DIY apps, my favorite is Wildfire, but here are a couple others that you can check out TabSite, IWIPA,  Hubze, or Lujure. Or you can hire someone to create a customized one for you.

3. Video – Make sure to include any videos you have on your landing page AND the video section of your Facebook Page. Click here to get the YouTube application to pull any videos you have posted on YouTube into Facebook. Your readers love you for your writing, but video gives them a 3-D view of who you are as a person and business owner. Your personality and passion for what you do as a writer will shine through on the videos.

4. RSS Feed – Import your RSS feed into your page via your Notes or NetworkedBlogs. Networked Blogs is an application that will auto post your blogs and give you the ability to create a page with your archives. This is simple and gives your blog posts the added exposure that they need. It is hard to keep consistent with posting your blog posts over to Facebook by hand, so make sure they are receiving maximum exposure.

5. Links to Your Other Social Networks – Have your potential customers feel like they can reach out to you on the various social networks. Make sure to include links to your Twitter Page, LinkedIn Profile, and wherever else you may have profiles at. Remember to only include those you are active on. You do not want someone going to a social network to connect with you when your last post was four months ago!

Another suggestion that will allow for you to send people to one place is to create an About.me page. This is a customized landing page that allows you to connect all of your social hangout spots with a bio and an image.

What have you included on your Facebook Page? Share your Facebook Page below, and we’ll check it out.

Alicia Rittenhouse teaches entrepreneurs to become tech savvy in their business and use social media to grow their online presence.   To receive her easy-peasy social media tips, click here.

In honor of Alicia’s guest post, I’m donating $50 to InvisiblePeople.tv. Learn more about how to guest post for this blog and get paid $50.

Facebook graphic: Flickr – stoneysteiner’s photostream