Regardless of whether you are a freelance writer or an entrepreneur, you need to wrap your arms around social media. Your competition is jumping into the social media fray — well, they’ve likely been there for a while now, what are you waiting for?

Social media is a great way to spread the word about who you are, what you do and it gives you a free way to market either books you’ve written or articles you’ve published. If you are an expert in a particular field, let potential readers know what it is you are great at and you will become the go-to person in your field.

As a matter of fact, if you are looking to score a book publishing contract (which by the way are more and more difficult to come by) as part of your book proposal package you will have to let a potential publisher or agent know what you will be doing to promote your book. Gone are the days when authors were published and relied on the publisher to make certain their book had great shelf placement. Authors are expected to build an audience and a following before the book is even released. What can you tell a book publisher that you’re doing toward self promotion?

Here are reasons authors and experts should embrace social media and five ways to jump in:

  • Create a buzz around your brand, business or service you offer
  • Establish yourself as an expert
  • Build a community (and they’ll help spread the word about what you do!)
  • Open the lines of communication between you and your clients.
  • Make your business more searchable
  • Unless you have a unlimited budget for marketing and promotions, you can find many, many platforms for spreading the word about your work

Here are quick and easy ways to jump right in:

  • Sign up for any number of social media sites — for free!
  • Build a blog for your business. Check out Typepad, Blogger or WordPress
  • Make a Facebook fan page for your business and suggest it to your friends and colleagues
  • Begin posting at least daily on your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages
  • Spread the word about what your business does through your social media sites — you have the potential to connect with millions of potential customers

If you aren’t participating and being part of the buzz on the social media sites, your business is missing out on many opportunities for growth!

Robbi Hess is a professional blogger/editor with more than 20 years experience as a writer on assignment. She is a professional writer on assignment who has served on the staff of newspapers, magazines and with book publishers. You can see more about her at http://www.robbihess.com or http://www.lipsticking.com.