Whether an online presence is worth the effort

An online presence can help clients find a writer and sustain professional relationships. Its value depends on what it achieves, the effort it requires and whether a simple point of contact is enough.

Reasons for being findable

One medical writer with hiring experience reported losing interest in writers who lacked a website with writing samples. ¹ An informed contribution to an online discussion can also attract an approach from someone whose needs match the writer's work. ²

Social media can extend a writer's reach, provide contact with like-minded people, support learning and business development, and relieve the isolation of a home office through conversation with distant colleagues. ³ A practitioner in 2021 considered an online presence inevitable for small-business owners, freelances and jobseekers. ^{4, 5} In 2019, more than half of European companies used at least one type of social media in marketing. ⁵

There are costs as well as benefits: security concerns include hijacked accounts and unauthorised use of photographs, while time on social media can interfere with productivity. ^{4, 5}

A presence that fits the practice

In 2011, a freelance medical editor reported good business from word-of-mouth referrals despite having no website, blog, Twitter account or Facebook page and only an outdated LinkedIn profile. ⁶ Paid work had left little time for online marketing, and referrals tended to bring well-matched clients. ⁶ Nevertheless, a prospective client who found the editor's name in journal acknowledgements had to locate it again in a chapter newsletter and contact a former chapter committee member for an email address. ⁶ The difficulty prompted the editor to reconsider how easily new business could make contact. ^{6, 7}

Maintaining several active channels competed for attention already occupied by family, paid work and creative writing; the editor concluded that a static webpage was probably the best fit. ^{7, 8} Another freelance, after learning some web development, chose not to create a website early in the business and instead applied search optimisation, content development and target-market knowledge to LinkedIn. ⁹

For a hypothetical freelance with more than 20 years’ experience whose long-standing clients’ work was drying up, two advisers recommended two routes: create a simple website and LinkedIn profile, or hire a marketing and social-media consultant to develop a brand, website, detailed LinkedIn page and professional Twitter account. ¹⁰ A different recommendation for new writers combined a current LinkedIn profile used for professional connections with a website conveying expertise and experience for those freelancing. ¹¹

A recruitment and CV adviser considered a well-written, properly structured LinkedIn profile effective even if it simply remained online without further activity; additional promotion was optional. ¹² In 2020, the adviser regarded premium subscriptions as potentially helpful, but not necessary, for capabilities such as deeper searches. ^{12, 13}

Degrees of engagement

Four levels describe increasing involvement, from avoidance to a marketing strategy. ¹⁴

1. Ignoring social media through fear, lack of knowledge or disinterest, considering it a waste of time.
2. Experimenting with random use to see what it offers.
3. Using it regularly to engage colleagues and customers and build a network, without a strategic approach.
4. Following a strategy tied to marketing goals, such as spending an hour a day on a particular niche.

^{15, 16, 17, 18}

A social-media comfort zone is the level of activity that feels familiar and minimises stress or anxiety. ¹⁴ Regular use of one network can still support a business: a freelance medical communicator used LinkedIn job-change and anniversary notifications to renew contacts. ¹⁸ Reconnecting with a former colleague led to a replacement contract that became a major income source for a couple of years; when that project ended, another renewed contact brought ongoing work. ¹⁸ A third contact was planning a book on the subject of that contract, creating a possible collaboration. ^{18, 19}

Measures of return

A 2010 recruiting survey found that 83% of companies used or planned to use social networks to find employees, rising to 92% among companies actively hiring; the platform figures were 78% for LinkedIn, 55% for Facebook and 45% for Twitter. ²⁰

Counts can show growth or stagnation in an online presence: ²⁰

• Website traffic.
• Blog comments.
• LinkedIn connections.
• Twitter followers.
• Facebook fans.

²⁰

Counts alone may give an incomplete picture of conversations, relationships and goodwill: 400 interested contacts can be more valuable than 4,000 uninterested ones. ²⁰ More useful questions follow the counts through to opportunities: ^{20, 21}

• Did LinkedIn connections lead to potential clients or employers?
• Did a tweet lead to an invitation to speak at a professional conference?
• Did a recruiter make contact after viewing a profile?
• Did an online connection hire the writer for a freelance project?

^{20, 21}

Goals and a baseline should be established before monitoring return, so that progress can be judged against what the writer wanted to gain and the starting position. ²¹

One writer saw a marked rise in LinkedIn profile visits after a September 2011 AMWA Journal article, which was listed on the profile, posted in relevant groups and sent as a PDF to industry colleagues. ²² The writer could not identify which activity directly increased the views, and reported that a market-research trade-magazine article earlier that year had attracted much less response. ²²

A study of 130 consultants, discussed in 2016, grouped visibility into five levels, from experts known mainly to clients and colleagues to globally recognised experts. ²³ Those in the highest group charged 14 times as much as those in the lowest. ²³