Before I divulge my plans for 2012 let me share a few things I’ve learned as a full time freelancer. These are practical things that helped me survive the year, from family life, to work ethics, and social life which I hope will help you too.

1. It’s a family business

I’ve learned that working as a freelancer is not a “you mentality” but it is and should be a family business. You are just working as the main character but in essence, your wife, your son or daughter has a big part to your success as supporting roles. They need to understand what you are doing in order to support you in little ways. My 2 kids know that when I put on my headset, they have to keep quiet because “George” is on the line. My wife knows that when I am slumping on my chair, I badly need a back massage.

2. Full time doesn’t apply to job only but to family as well.

It was a challenge for me to get over being an overtime father and switch to full time family man. But when you get hold of the balance you will surely be more satisfied with your work, be more happy with your family and live a healthier life. My usual line when my wife tells me that I no longer have time for them is to say that all that i’m doing is for them (which is true). But of course it’s not all about the money. Spending a few hours with the kids, teaching them their alphabet, putting them to bed and playing with them have become my goal to keep me sane and family oriented.

3. It pays to socialize

Social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as blogs are essential parts of freelancing. The first few jobs that I took were courtesy of my defunct blog “pinoyfusion”. My current work as a research person was because of comment I made to a blog. So you can see how this little things can mean really big in making yourself visible in the radar. Let the world know that you exist and that you have a special service that you can offer. Word of mouth can do wonders for your career. But as a word of caution, make sure that you know what reputation management is as well.

4. Be In the Know

I’ve learned that in order to thrive in this fast paced environment, you need to be able to cope with the influx of information, explore new things and enhance what you already possess. What I like the most about this is discovering new tools so that I can work more efficiently and more productively. It’s almost futile to reason out and say that we don’t know, because with just a simple click on Google search almost everything is at your fingertips.

5. Spend Your Money Wisely

Work can sometimes be so unpredictable and so is the income. As a freelancer, i’ve learned that our focus should not just be on the earning but also on managing those finances. It didn’t become freelancer’s top concern for no reason. If we like to master our craft, budgeting will be the one of the most important lesson we should master next to time management.

6. No is sometimes yes.

This is the best freelance lesson that I’ve learned this year. Freelancing thought me that an opportunity to work with a prospect doesn’t end when you fail an interview or your proposal was rejected. It actually ends when you think that business is only “TODAY” and there is no point in exerting effort to communicate with someone who rejected you. It thought me that business starts the very moment you decided to apply. Whether your prospect accepts or rejects at the first meeting, tomorrow is business as usual because you’ll never know when the need arises that you will become the perfect peg for the hole.

I hope you’ve learned something from what I’ve learned. I’d be glad to hear your thoughts too!

There’s really a lot of factors that can affect a page’s popularity and numbers. I’ve been managing quite a few myself and I’ve noticed that there are “naturally popular” Facebook pages who already have built a strong following even in traditional media while there are also those that really need some extra effort to promote before it picks up the numbers simply because they are the unknowns.

So what do you have to do if your page lags in fans and interactions? How do you create a Likable fan page? Here’s some points for you to check.

Activity and Content

Regular updates and relevant content works hand in hand to make a page successful in attracting and keeping those fans/friends to your page.  It’s a charm that attracts like a magnet and makes them stick like a glue. One big mistake most marketers make is that they are only good at attracting but not in keeping. The secret is, keep your audience at the center of your activities and make this a resounding message in your posts. Well, I know ROI is always at the forefront of your goals but take it slow and sure. You wouldn’t want to lose them before you actually get your ROI.

Build a good recollection factor for you brand that can be easily seen or felt. If they don’t see you or couldn’t find you (easily) then you’re out. It’s not a silver bullet but it’s close to that. I suggest you update your pages at least 2-3 times daily. Try to anticipate your busy days. You can use some scheduled posting through Hootsuite to ensure that you don’t go empty. This is something I’m sure is very possible considering that there are so many apps and tools that you could actually use to make sure you can post something (worthwhile) for your audience to read, watch or follow. Whether it’s tips, news, quote, or a question, as long as it is something that has an impact to your audience then you are in the right track.

Design and Functionality

As they say; “You don’t get a second chance with first impression” so make sure that your design is something that will make a mark on your visitor’s visual experience. If you are still polishing a few rough edges, then it would be best to hold off that tab until you get it right. If you are installing an email subscriber form for you mailing list, be sure to test it, (specially the thank you page) and redirect URL once they have completed filling out the form.

If you are not well versed with the coding but still want to take your page to a different level of experience for your visitors, there are freelancers and sites that offer Fan Page customization that you can do even without knowledge of FBML or html.

I’ve tested out Lujure and the test was great so you may want to check them yourself. They offer a free version and a paid plan suitable for social media marketers who are not too inclined with coding.

Freebies and Discounts

Site visitors are practical. They don’t just visit a site for the sake of it. Visitors are now more inclined on frequenting pages where they can get freebies and discounts.

According to an allfacebook.com article, a study by Digital Agency Beyond which analyzed more than 14,000 posts on the corporate Facebook fan pages of the world’s 100 most valuable brands showed that 42 percent of people friend a brand to get a discount or offer. If you are serious on making this move, here’s a good read on the  4 Things You Must Do To Build Your Brand on Facebook

Multi-Channeling

If you want to aggressively use your Facebook fan page for business purposes you must use other channels to funnel visitors to your Facebook page. Your blog, Twitter profile, Linkedin, can all point to your Facebook page.  One thing to keep in mind however, is to avoid making your page or other social platforms spammy because of multiple posts with the same content. A quick solution, recreate and rephrase before you post on different channels.

Monitoring

The ability to monitor your campaign’s effectiveness is as important as the campaign itself. Before you make any changes, improvements, or customizations, be sure to get the current statistics. Before and after stats works best if you want to show a client what result you have produced through the campaign efforts you’ve made. You can use the built in Facebook Insights or you may also use Google Analytics for a more specific tracking.  You can check a step by step tutorial by social media examiner to learn how to do it. Here’s also some Top 25 Facebook pages you can check out for inspiration.

Share your thoughts on how you are effectively managing your Facebook pages.

Drop those links to your Facebook pages and let’s see how we can help each other out to make our pages more effective and appealing to our audience.

Here are 10 sites that I’ve listed and personally use which I believe you will also find useful.

1. Facebook
Who could have ever thought that from a simple hobby project of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, would evolve the most influential social media platform of our time.  And with half a billion users, from almost all countries around the globe, all the languages represented, and all the user generated contents from this social media giant, you’ll surely miss a lot if you are not on it. Whether it’s a personal profile that you’re maintaining, a Fan page, or a group, Facebook is next to everything. From technology to business, career, or just about anything, Facebook is surely a must have to keep you abreast on what’s in or out.

2. Google
Google is certainly the ultimate finder of everything and anything. With its plethora of services that encompasses almost every aspect of our online activity from email, videos, to search engine, advertising, and many other tools, Google has established itself as one of the foundations of the internet. I don’t think I even passed a single day without using any of Google’s vast service offerings and I’m sure the same thing with you. A few things I’ve been using on a regular if not daily basis include Gmail, Google Search, Google Docs, Adsense, Google Analytics, and Youtube.

3. Mashable
This is the haven of the techie generations, X and Y. Founded in 2005 by Pete Cashmore, Mashable stands as one of the preferred destination when it comes to social and digital media, technology and web culture news and updates. The site is regularly updated and when I say regular, it’s almost every couple of hours, new posts, updates are popping up. A couple of things I keep an eye on at Mashable are social media and tech updates.

4. CNET
If you are looking for software and electronic gadget reviews, downloads and first hand sneak peak on what’s upcoming, CNET provides an extensive resource to pour your eyes on. I’ve downloaded almost every software I’m using right now through CNET. And a good add on is CNET’s TechTracker app. This shows you the software that is out of date and helps you decide which updates you need.

5. Forrester
Research and studies help people understand things better. And that is what Forrester is known for. If you want some facts and hard truths that’s well thought and well documented, Forrester Research is the way to go. This independent research company has been in the industry for over 27 years now and has a vast repository of information that has helped marketing executives, business strategists, and IT professionals to create a unified technology plan that gains business advantage.

6. LinkedIn
If you want to establish a network of like-minded professionals in your field, LinkedIn is the place to be. This is the hangout of the modern job seeker, recruiter, business people and marketers. And it is a good place to start building your professional profile online. Make sure to complete your profile and participate in the discussions. You’ll surely learn a lot from other LinkedIn users. There are also various groups that you can join and of course, if you really want to have a wide reach, try getting some LIONS (LinkedIn Open Networkers) into your list of contacts.

7. Apple iTunes
Music, videos, podcasts, vidcast, ebooks, radio, you name it, iTunes has it. You’ll surely get the select and the best in its class. One thing that I keep my eyes and ears on are social media and freelancing podcasts which are very helpful resources. And when stress strikes out, I go for classical music. It simply is a very good way to relax and ease all those burdensome thoughts. My favorite station, CBC Classical. That’s 24/7 of sound genius.

8. Sourceforge
Developing a software on your own may not get you too far, or it may take you too long to complete. That’s where Sourceforge comes into the picture. Sourceforge is the ideal destination for developing software in a public, collaborative manner. Being up to date with technology, software or gadget need not be a pain in the pocket.

9. Wall Street Journal
Freelancers need not just be aware of what’s the latest on gadgets, technology or social media. For things pertaining to personal finance, investing, local and global economy, career, business, Wall Street Journal will give you the best resources available, whether it’s an article, commentary, podcast, WSJ can deliver. A good place to start, Personal Finance

10. Twitter
What can you do with 140 characters? Not much actually, but Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, founders of Twitter has shown how powerful those 140 characters can be. This revolutionary micro blogging tool is something that can keep you in the loop, real time. Its power and influence has been tried and tested in many different occasions like the Iran elections, the different tragedies that was witnessed and relayed through twitter and the very recent Philippine elections.

For one, there is now a slide gallery of recent posts that were made, a bar with tabs where you can give a thumbs up, comment, like, pass or flag for a post. Plus a Hootsuite/Facebook like status update console where you can attach a link and provide more detail to your post.

This may not be a major update but I think LinkedIn is slowly evolving and adapting to the style of social media giant Facebook. And I won’t be surprise if one day, one of them will get swallowed by the other. Whether it’s Facebook taking over LinkedIn, that’s something worth tuning in.

So how does it affect LinkedIn members experience?

The new design definitely has it’s great advantages. It makes it a lot easier to interact with fellow group members. And creating a discussion is no longer a hide and seek.

Now it’s your turn. Tell us what you think about this new update. Would you prefer the new interface, or would you opt to stick with the old one? How will it affect your activity in LinkedIn?

There are big contenders for this title and picking the best is definitely a difficult task. But let me share with you my personal pick from among Tweetdeck, Seesmic, SocialOomph and Hootsuite. Afterwards, i’d definitely be interested to read your comments whether we have the same choice.

Hootsuite

I’ve used Seesmic, Tweetdeck, SocialOomph and Hootsuite but from among them, Hootsuite stands as a personal favorite in managing multiple social media profiles. And with the latest release of HootSuite5 this even firmly made me pick this tool as the best of the best in its class. There are good reasons to choose it and i can only say so much. If you are not yet using it, you might want to take a peek at what it can offer you. And whether you are using or will be using it for personal or business purposes, Hootsuite has a lot of surprises to offer you to have a convenient SMM campaign.

1. Geo-Search

If previously, you need to pay enormous amount of money just to get into the location demographics of your prospect, with Hootsuite5, this will be breeze. I believe this is probably most relevant to those who are targeting specific markets in their campaigns. With the Hootsuite geo search, you can now look for tweets by proximity based on geo-location information sent by some (not all)

2. Theme Customization

I’m not really a big fan of the dark backgrounds. My eyes are just too choosy and more inclined to grey and lighter colored themes. With the latest edition we’ll there’s a new pick although it’s not really something that will make much of difference being able to switch from green & blue “Classic,” the sleek & stunning “Blue Steel,” or the darkly cool “Magnum” can freshen up those tired eyes.

3. Analytics

To the statistics conscious Social Media Marketer, the analytics dashboard is surely something you will like. The ability to integrate your Google Analytics account will save you the hassle from switching from one window to another to really putting everything in one neat place. As Hootsuite describes this management breakthrough, “Using OAuth secure login functionality, you can track conversion to sales, lead generation, or other metrics from your Google Analytics, using advanced URL functions.”

4. Multiple Language Support

The latest release of HootSuite offers another new leap into social media by breaking the barrier of language. It now features an  “interface localization in Japanese, allowing more users to enjoy HootSuite in their native language.” And I’m quite certain that Hootsuite is going for the global community by adding more language choices.

5. Speed

When you monitor multiple profiles for your company and personal accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Foursquare plus your FB pages, switching to a different tab smoothly is a little annoying. With the new HootSuite, a good performance improvement to make the web application more responsive — including caching to eliminate reloading when a user switches tabs is a real plus.

Add to the list by sharing your comments and suggestions.

I felt excited to read it closely, elated to know that it’s from a well known family and the current number one in the surveys. But my excitement was doused with disappointment when I read the detail of the job post.

What are your biggest freelancing challenges?

This is the discussion that I started in LinkedIn 20 days ago and the current poll on this blog. And this job ad above is one of the concrete examples of challenges that freelancers are facing. As what I have posted as a response to the thread in LinkedIn:

I’m really overwhelmed by the responses coming in. And I totally agree that some jobs are paying ridiculously. If $5 is already an insult to some, how much more for a job posted that offers $0.50 per hour. There are good and there are bad sides to freelancing and competition is really stiff when it comes to pricing. There are just employers and there are also exploiters. But in the end, it all depends on you, whether to accept or not. But as long as there are still people who are willing to bite this pay rates it will certainly be long before this problem fades. Let’s just hope that oDesk takes further action in ensuring that freelancers in the community are given a certain protection from exploiters.

As I have pointed in my response, I’m sure there will still be freelancers who will take this job. Filipino freelancers who will sacrifice their time to earn P2.50 an hour from their rate of Php 22.50 (considering an exchange rate of $1=Php45) because they will need to pay 20 for their internet fee. They will take this job, first, because they will be voting for Noynoy and second, because the times are tough that they are left on taking it even if its against their will, just to survive.

I admire the resourcefulness of the people who put up this ad. I’m not sure if they are under low budget right now. But as I see it, it’s turning more to be an insult than an opportunity. And instead of gaining an advantage for Noynoy this might even cause him a few slashed votes. What they forgot about their strategy is that, there is more to social media mileage. It’s about getting your message across that will impact on other people. And there is also what they call, Reputation Management.