Being an active participant in social media is an increasingly vital component to having a successful freelance writing career. There is simply too much information available on the internet for a writer to throw their content out and hope that it reaches interested readers.
Writing and publishing online is all about finding and connecting to a targeted audience that will return again and again. Many different social networking sites have unique ways of giving members the opportunity to establish a market for their work.
Digg is one of those sites. With a little bit of patience and study, freelance writers can help drive their career simply by maintaining a Digg account.
What is Digg?
Digg is a website where members who sign up for a free account (much like Facebook or StumbleUpon) can share any online content with the community. Content can include articles, blog posts, video, audio, links, and more.
Rather than being run by editors, all of the content on Digg is submitted by the members – anyone who holds an account. Once one member submits a piece, it is available for all other members to view and "digg". The more a piece is dugg by others, the better the chance of it being displayed on the front page of Digg, where it will be viewed by millions.
How Freelance Writers Can Use Digg
The worst thing a new writer can do is set up a Digg account and immediately begin "digging" his own articles. Remember, Digg is to share truly interesting content, and Digg members do not look kindly on self-promotion.
Profiting from Digg requires patience, but a few minutes each day will suffice. First, writers should create a Digg account and profile, which allows them to choose the topics that interest them most. Users can then become fans of and "friend" other users with similar interests. Contacting other members is vital to being successful on Digg.
Next, users should take time to browse the most popular articles, and "digg" the ones they like. Digging is easy – for articles viewed on Digg, just click the "Digg" icon, which will change to read "Dugg!", reflecting the vote.
For content viewed outside of Digg, it's easy to submit. Many articles will have a "Digg" icon, like the one below this article. Simply click, and the content is submitted. If there is no icon, just copy the URL into the "submit" section of Digg.
Freelance writers should take the time to friend other members, digg their submissions, and digg other popular articles for awhile. Once their membership is established, writers can begin submitting their own work. Ideally, the members in their network will digg their articles too!
Having an article become successful on Digg won't happen right away. However, once a piece goes viral on Digg, the exposure the writer receives can be well worth the wait.
More About Social Media for Writers
To learn more about other networking sites for freelance writers, check out How StumbleUpon Can Benefit Writers and Why Twitter Can Benefit Freelance Writers.
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