The Latest Social Media Tricks: What Works, What’s a Turnoff

Our panel of editors and social media experts will teach you what works and what doesn’t. There’s never enough time in a writer’s life. It can be overwhelming without tips and tricks for efficiency. Don’t waste valuable hours. We’ll cover ways to maximize your efforts with titles, tags, topics, keywords, SEO, naming images and how Google rankings work. Editors will tell you how and what to pitch.
HERE’S HOW TO REGISTER FOR #ASJA2016
Here are my as-of-now confirmed speakers for my Sat, May 21, 2-3:30pm panel at the #ASJA2016 annual conference:

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Okay, so you’re never going to get a text like that from your doctor. If you do, run and find a new doc.

But smart healthcare providers are catching on to interacting with their patients via smartphones (sans emoticons).

Modern medicine is just beginning to catch up to tech and figure out how SMS can be another tool to help patients. While the healthcare industry must adhere to additional electronic privacy rules along with standard anti-spam and proper marketing regulations that everyone else must follow, providers and their staff can still find smart ways to utilize texting.

Examples

• Appointment reminders. Instead of a card in the mail or a courtesy phone call, your provider’s office can send texts confirming an upcoming visit, or an automated text once a year for a check-up. Texts to doctors can also help them remember their own appointments.
• Seeking Advice. As long as the patient’s identity is protected, doctors can seek advice from other peers or specialists. Physician A’s texts can also get right through to Physician B, rather than going through the phone system and leaving a message, or sending an email that may get lost among the hundreds of others that doctors typically receive.
• Better adherence. A British study showed that patients who had regular text reminders from their providers were less likely to forget to take their medication or the wrong quantity. A group of 303 patients being treated for heart or blood pressure problems were divided into groups that received SMS notifications versus another group that didn’t. The texts were sent daily for the first two weeks, then every other day for two weeks, then weekly for five months. The study found that 25 percent of the “non-text” group didn’t complete the prescription, compared to 9 percent of the “text” group. This type of active texting could potentially lead to better prescription management — such as less waste, and better outcomes, i.e., if a patient doesn’t comply with a prescription or a recommended medical plan, they’ll increase the odds of suffering future problems like heart attacks.
• Better interaction with pharmacies. If a pharmacy has “just a little question for the doctor” it might take hours for the provider to receive a phone message but a quick text can lead to quick communication and a fast response.
• Provide accurate information. Doctors often discourage patients from research their problems online research and self diagnosing. So much of the information available on the Internet is questionable, wrong, and even dangerous. A study in the Journal of Medical internet Research showed that patients and doctors are both aware of some of the credibility concerns of certain sites, and suggests that improved communication between patient and provider can reduce anxiety and confusion. An SMS environment may not prove the best place to debate pros and cons of technical studies but a doctor or doctor’s office can text a patient reliable web links to accurate information — including the doctor’s website — and invite the patient to make an appointment for further discussion.
• Quick interactions. Many doctors and nurses would love nothing better than to spend more time with every patient but the reality of the current industry is that giving extra time for one patient means less time or delays for the next patient. Texting is a time-efficient way for a doctor and doctor’s staff to provide quick answers to patients with basic questions that may not necessitate an appointment.

Bottom Line

Texting can be a useful tool for physicians to communicate accurate information, maximize time management and improve patient relations.

Guest post by Sophorn Chhay, an inbound marketer specializing in attracting targeted visitors and generated sales qualified leads. Through Trumpia’s SMS and marketing automation solution he helps businesses and organizations communicate effectively with their customers or members. Trumpia is offering a free Mobile Marketing Success Kit so don’t forget to grab your free copy.

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I just finished editing My ASJA Conference Notes! Now they are legible enough to share with you in a Google Doc. This Google Doc contains my “scribblings” from the panels that I attended at this year’s #ASJA writers conference. I also added a few post-conference bits. Please note, these were written for myself but it would take me too long to go in and delete all of my side comments (Like, “Hahaha” or “Weeeee!”) so those were left in. Please feel free to ignore those side commentaries. I promise you there is a ton of useful info for all writers in this doc.

This year, I spoke on two panels, which I’ve done for many years. One panel was “Use Social Media to Land Writing Gigs and Make Money” and here’s a link to my social media handout.

My second panel was “Secrets of Interviewing Famous People.”

For any writer who doesn’t already know, ASJA is the American Society of Journalists and Authors. It is a non-profit organization for writers to network with each other and with editors, publishers, agents. This org has been incredibly helpful to me and is a big chunk of what helped me become a full-time freelance writer.

The other great boost to my writing career came after I’d published a few short stories and a couple of articles. I decided to get serious about full-time writing and took Susan Shapiro’s “Instant Gratification Takes Too Long” essay classes. The idea is to write and sell a piece during the class to pay for the class. She’s a phenomenal teacher and I love to tell people about her.

Speakers quoted in my notes include:

Susan Shapiro, author and professor

Daniel Jones, Modern Love editor, NYTimes

Honor Jones, Opinionator editor, NYTimes (no relation to Daniel)

Rob Spillman, editor at Tin House literary magazine

and many more…

Laura Shin, Catherine Dold, Linda Konner, John Hanc, Susan Lennon, Beena Kamlani, Kirby Kim, Renee Zuckerbrot, Victoria Moy, Katia Bachko, Whitney Frick, Molly Langmuir, David Lidsky, Jessica Winter, Royal Young, Kate Walter, Gabrielle Selz, Kevin Scott Hall, Sharon Goldman, Alicianne Rand, Clare McDermott, Laura Lorber, Allison Mezzafonte, Jack El-Hai, Tina Traster, Laurie Chittenden, Tracy Bernstein, Shaun Dolan, Kathleen Napolitano, Sherri Amatenstein

Tutorials

Please contact me if you’d like to learn social media tips and tricks that can land you writing gigs and sell your books. I give classes in person or via Skype or telephone. If you email me with the subject line #ASJA2010 or #BEA15 and let me know that you are contacting me to set up a lesson, I will give you the discounted price of $80 per hour. My normal fee is $100/hour.

We will discuss your specific business goals and who your target audience is. Then I will provide you with instruction tailored to your unique needs.

In addition to social media, I teach branding, marketing and SEO (search engine optimization).

Click here for my Google Doc of ASJA Conference Notes

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This all-day workshop will help you develop the connections, skills and strategies you need to build a successful freelance career. Hear from other freelancers about how they’ve made it work. Meet top editors from the New York Times, Working Mother, Vogue, Quartz, Fortune and more and learn about the pitches they like to receive.

• Where: City University of New York, 219 W 40th St New York, NY 10018
• When: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Course Outline

• Session 1: Marketing 101 for the Independent Journalist: As an independent journalist, it’s up to you to pitch and market yourself. Get tips on pitching, negotiating and marketing yourself through social media and an online portfolio of your work.
• Session 2: The Major Leagues of Print: Editors from the New York Times and Working Mother dissect the best stories they’ve published from freelancers. Learn the do’s and don’ts of pitching these major publications.
• Networking Lunch Join us for a networking lunch. Here’s your chance to connect with fellow freelancers as we break up into small groups by interests and specialties. Share tips, contacts and ideas. Finish up with dessert and maybe even a lead on a new gig.
• Session 3: Pursuing Digital Fame: Media companies are rolling out new online publications and increasingly seeking more online-only stories. Hear from online editors about the stories they’re looking for, how they’re  different from traditional print pieces and how to come up with that story that gets shared across Facebook and Twitter.
• Session 4: Your Business Model: Get to the next level of freelance writing. Develop revenue and business goals, hone your niche and adopt other strategies that can help boost your career.

Speakers and Trainers

Pradnya (P.J.) Joshi
News Editor/DealBook, The New York Times
Pradnya (P.J.) Joshi is news editor for DealBook, a section devoted to the coverage of finance and markets at The New York Times. She joined The Times as a staff editor on the metro copy desk in 2006 after working more than 13 years as a business reporter at various publications including Newsday and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She has covered various business and metro beats including corporate fraud, economic development and telecommunications.

Mitra Kalita
Ideas Editor, Quartz
Mitra Kalita is the ideas editor at Quartz, an online global business publication launched in 2012 by Atlantic Media. She worked previously at The Wall Street Journal, where she edited coverage of the Great Recession, launched a local news section for New York City and, most recently, reported on the housing crisis. She also launched Mint, a business paper in New Delhi, and has previously worked for The Washington Post, Newsday and the Associated Press. She is the author of three books.

Thessaly La Force
Culture Editor for Vogue.com
Thessaly La Force is the culture editor for Vogue.com. She is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was Meta Rosenberg Fellow and the recipient of the Friedman Prize for Excellence in Fiction. Prior to Iowa, she worked at The Paris Review, The New Yorker, and The New York Public Library. She now lives in New York City.

Katherine Reynolds Lewis

Independent Journalist
Katherine Lewis is a Harvard-educated journalist with nearly 20 years’ experience writing for magazines, newspapers and online. A regular contributor to About.com and Fortune magazine online, her expertise is money, work and family. Her freelance articles have appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, Money, The New York Times, Parade, MSN Money, Slate, USA Today’s magazines, Washington Post Magazine and Working Mother. Previously she was a national correspondent for Newhouse News Service.

Dorri Olds
Writer, Social Media Consultant and Web Designer
Dorri Olds is an award-winning writer, social media consultant, and web designer. As an online marketing expert, she
teaches clients how to stand out online. Olds writes A-List celebrity interviews, movie and book reviews, and all things dog. Her YouTube channel boasts 168,000 views. Her work has appeared in book anthologies and many publications including The New York Times. Visit her at DorriOlds.com or on Twitter @DorriOlds and Facebook.

Scott Olster
Editor, Fortune.com
Scott is an editor at Fortune.com, where he oversees the leadership, management, and careers coverage. He holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. @ScottOlster

Bao Ong
Food and Travel Writer

Jennifer Owens
Editorial Director, Working Mother Media
Jennifer Owens is editorial director of Working Mother magazine & director of the Working Mother Research Institute. As editorial director, Jennifer leads the editorial mission of Working Mother Media’s three brands — Working Mother, the National Association for Female Executives and Diversity Best Practices — through their print, online, social and digital channels, reaching more than 2 million readers nationwide.

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Author
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan is a New York-based journalist and author of “A Tiger In The Kitchen: A Memoir of Food & Family” (Hyperion, 2011). She is the editor of the fiction anthology “Singapore Noir,” which Akashic Books will publish in April 2014, and is currently working on her first novel. She was a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, In Style magazine and the Baltimore Sun. Her stories have also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Food & Wine, Marie Claire, Bloomberg Businessweek, Martha Stewart Weddings, Chicago Tribune, The (Portland) Oregonian, The (Topeka) Capital-Journal and The (Singapore) Straits Times among other places.

Shane Snow
Co-founder, Contently
Shane Snow is a New York City-based technology writer, infographicker, and co-founder of Contently.com, a new media company that empowers journalists and brand publishers. Shane has written for Wired, Fast Company, Mashable, Poynter, Gizmodo, and many others.

Scott Veale
Newsroom Editor for the Sunday Review section and former Arts and Leisure Editor, The New York Times

More speakers coming soon.

• What attendees will take away: Attendees will connect with fellow freelancers and editors. They will fine tune their story ideas and hone their pitches. They will learn about new opportunities and places to find gigs, and receive tips on how to market themselves and stand out online with a digital portfolio. They will improve their negotiating skills and develop a set of revenue and business goals that will focus their freelance practice.
• What attendees should bring: Story ideas and pitches for editors, portfolio, notebook, business cards and lots of questions.
• See the latest panel news at aajafreelancewriting.tumblr.com

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The article refers to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and claims that the top 2 tiers of hierarchy explain why people share: “People want the respect of others, and they want to feel a sense of belonging.”

Here is a very interesting study from the New York Times’ Consumer Insight Group if you’d like to read more.

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