I think we writers need to accept the fact that social media and digital marketing is here to stay. What was once considered a fad is now the "be all" when it comes to marketing. And I think writers hate marketing in general and that's ok, but to truly capitalize on the numerous opportunities available to us, writers need to be even more proactive on the various social media platforms. So unfortunately, Kate might have to suffer through the link posting if social media is her chosen vehicle of marketing.

Having said that, I'm not a fan of link posting either. I'm always on the lookout for other ways to market so I sign up for any marketing newsletter I find that may offer more creative ways to get the word out. Then once a week, I sift through the clutter and find the very best advice and try to apply it to my writing business.

One site in particular is a fitness trainer turned fitness marketing guru named Bedros Keuilian. (I tend to think personal fitness training is very similar to freelance writing in a very basic sense so I lean towards his client gathering/retention strategies)I do admit some of his techniques are extreme but fundamentally, they are very applicable to a writer looking for different ways to market their services.

Here's a link to his website: http://ptpower.com

Poke around his site. He has a plethora of marketing ideas that can be applied immediately without the constant link posting.

Hopefully this helps.
Cheers!
Michael

Kim, exactly. I use it probably as often as you do (not much), but when I do, it's usually after I've interacted quite a bit first.

Great point, Mridu! I'm sure there are studies telling us when the best time to tweet is, but I'd rather just carry on the conversation at different time intervals.

I don't schedule marketing, but I do try to keep it at the beginning or end of the work day so it doesn't interfere with the research, interviews, writing and editing. But when a good idea presents itself, I'll jump.

That happened Friday. I was reading a knitting blog and decided to send a quick LOI via e-mail, asking if they use outside writers, too.

I don't market much at all on social media. I know some writers find it to be an effective means of regularly generating leads (I've gotten some work here and there from Twitter and LinkedIn), but you really have to be careful about how you use it, as you mentioned in your post. Every update can't all about you and what you're selling. Like Devon said, it's about interacting, sharing valuable information with others and making genuine connections.

The exception is promoting the books — I find if I set aside a few hours to really focus on that every week, it's more useful than the business writing marketing, which works better in shorter spurts.

I think we have to remember that social media is a form of conversation, not monologue. Once we start INTER-acting, rather than acting and re-acting, it benefits everyone.