Does it pay to be "SOCIAL" (social media/forum/community)

[gina_riley2]

My last thread of the day. Does it pay to be social and what exactly is Social Media?

I’m in the process of ordering several writing gigs. There are are a few that posted in the forum that has great potential to do an excellent job and most of them only charge $5 to do it.

The problem is they are new!

Because they are new not necessarily to the platform, but to the forum - they know nothing about me. If I were to hire one of the frequent posters of the forum, they know me very well. I do not need to spend a lot of time telling them all about me.

They can easily write up a bio, or anything else I need, with minimal discussion. It saves me valuable time and headache. Granted, they charge more but sometimes the extra $10 or $20 is worth it for me not to give a long written description of my needs.

I find myself being lazy and decided to go with the ones I know.

Anyone that has spent even a little time on 5r forum knows that I am a freelance indie, fictional writer, starting my own writing community, etc.

So does it pay to be social? I don’t know - but for me, sometimes I’d rather pay more to save more time. I’ve found many great sellers, some I never have thought about hiring - had they not been social.

Makes me wonder how many other buyers have bought from someone they socialize with on the various forum, communities and other media outlet – simply because some of us are just plain darn too lazy to hire someone that doesn’t know us?

[paulmaplesden]

For me, there’s a difference between “being social” and “using social media.” for example I enjoy spending time on the forum, interacting with others, sharing information, and getting involved in discussions. I don’t do any of that with the expectation of getting hired. For me it’s a way to relax between jobs and not feel as isolated as being a freelancer can be!

I’m not sure if any of that has made someone more likely to hire me - and honestly, I don’t mind either way. Fortunately, if anyone wants to find out about me it’s trivially easy to find out my professional background and information - let’s just say my username isn’t exactly cryptic!

On the other hand, I suck at social media for work. aside from a (rarely updated) LinkedIn profile, I never use it. I have tried in the past, but Facebook is just for friends and family, Pinterest doesn’t lend itself well to writing, and I am entirely too verbose for 140 characters.

Now, what I have done is to refer buyers to other sellers who I have seen post on the forum as I have gotten to know them. Hopefully that might have made a difference and passed some business someone else’s way. I know the favour has been returned as well, which may not have happened had I not been a regular poster.

[eoinfinnegan]

My last thread of the day. Does it pay to be social and what exactly is Social Media?

I’m in the process of ordering several writing gigs. There are are a few that posted in the forum that has great potential to do an excellent job and most of them only charge $5 to do it.

The problem is they are new!

Because they are new not necessarily to the platform, but to the forum - they know nothing about me. If I were to hire one of the frequent posters of the forum, they know me very well. I do not need to spend a lot of time telling them all about me.

They can easily write up a bio, or anything else I need, with minimal discussion. It saves me valuable time and headache. Granted, they charge more but sometimes the extra $10 or $20 is worth it for me not to give a long written description of my needs.

I find myself being lazy and decided to go with the ones I know.

Anyone that has spent even a little time on 5r forum knows that I am a freelance indie, fictional writer, starting my own writing community, etc.

So does it pay to be social? I don’t know - but for me, sometimes I’d rather pay more to save more time. I’ve found many great sellers, some I never have thought about hiring - had they not been social.

Makes me wonder how many other buyers have bought from someone they socialize with on the various forum, communities and other media outlet – simply because some of us are just plain darn too lazy to hire someone that doesn’t know us?

Makes me wonder how many other buyers have bought from someone they socialize with on the various forum,

I would say at least half of my purchases are from Forum people and if I see someone who seems intelligent, funny, interesting etc then I check their gigs and favorite any I think I might use in the future. Knowing someone from the forum is a great start usually but I know some sellers/buyers don’t like doing it in case there is a problem.

I think it is important to separate the two though. If something goes wrong with an order, it shouldn’t affect the forum relationship and vice-versa.

[miiila]

I counted, exactly half of my purchases are from forum people (from people who post regularly and meaningful things and whom I contacted, not from people who saw me post on the forum and spammed me! Don´t even think about it! I. do. not. buy. from. spammers.). I´d never recommend anyone I don´t ‘know’ from the forum to a customer when they ask. I´ve been pleased with all results.
The most interesting thing perhaps is that I most probably would not have bought the gigs I bought without the forum at all. So, in that sense, I guess ‘it pays’, but it´s not as if I´d spent a fortune, neither do I think the gros of buyers even reads the forum, and I don´t believe it makes too much sense for anyone to ‘be social’ here because of the relative few who do and who might need one´s service some day, it´s a nice side-effect maybe, but probably not the best marketing plan/ROI of time.

[thecreativeguys]

Makes me wonder how many other buyers have bought from someone they socialize with on the various forum,

I would say at least half of my purchases are from Forum people and if I see someone who seems intelligent, funny, interesting etc then I check their gigs and favorite any I think I might use in the future. Knowing someone from the forum is a great start usually but I know some sellers/buyers don’t like doing it in case there is a problem.

I think it is important to separate the two though. If something goes wrong with an order, it shouldn’t affect the forum relationship and vice-versa.

I have purchased services from several people on the Forum.

I feel confident when making those purchases but I completely agree with Eoin:

I think it is important to separate the two though. If something goes wrong with an order, it shouldn’t affect the forum relationship and vice-versa.

I’m on the forum to relax and hopefully help someone. I don’t come here with the intention of making a sale or any other reason.

The amount of joy some of you have given me with your ‘epic’ posts, humorous tales and scripted adventures have given and continue to give me the reason to visit the forum. (Including your stories, Gina!)

[damooch916]

I use the forum to review clients for my entertainment lawyer, Swifty Barrowitz. We agreed on the business “feeder system” due to retroactive representation pay.

Apparently, it’s frowned upon to perform Yankee march music, on stage, in the rural parts of King, North Carolina. I may- or may not have - been present during a fully escalated riot at this venue… where supposed audience members saw a man -fitting my description- stand from his piano, slip on a black tshirt with a white skull imprint , leap from the stage- attacking a crew of inebriated, flannel wearing, cowpoke types and yelling “it’s clobbering time!”

Onlookers were mortified by the man’s behavior including his mismatching of marvel characters to their catch phrases. Needless to say, once I was accused of this strange activity, the only man to call was Swifty Barrowitz. Swifty arrived at 3 a.m. - eastern standard time- wreaking of cheap fruit and tanning oils.

“This will only be a few minutes,” he assured me. Moments later all the guards on scene were “relieved” for the evening and I was free to go.

I’ve been on the forum (and social) ever since.