It seems to me that most freelancers either love blogging and social media or they think it's a big fat time suck. I happen to fall somewhere in between, so I've chosen not to participate in the two freelance-driven social media movements/experiments that are now running simultaneously.
First there's Michelle Rafter's 2nd Annual Blogathon, where participating bloggers post every day for the month of May to rev up their blogging efforts. Then there's David Hochman's UPOD Challenge, which challenges participants to forsake Twitter, Facebook, and one other online addiction for a full week to see if it impacts productivity.Now, I have a ton of respect for Michelle and David, and I admit that both projects sounded intriguing, but I think the key to success here is moderation. Sure, there are bloggers who succeed by spending every minute of every day tethered to their keyboard and iPhone. But I don't want to be a blogging success at the expense of having a real life.That's not what Michelle is advocating, but still. I know I could post every day, but my readers don't necessarily need fresh content every single day (correct me if I'm totally off-base here). In fact, I think there's some value to leaving up a great post for a few days and giving people a chance to absorb it and share it via social media before the next post overshadows it. Frequent posts can be overwhelming to both the blogger and the reader. I made the decision to post less often so that I can focus on my paying projects, and blog traffic has stayed roughly the same.The Blogathon and the UPOD Challenge don't have to be mutually exclusive, but it would be difficult to do both, because many bloggers promote themselves via social media. I thought about giving up Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader (my other addiction) for a week to join David and co. in the UPOD Challenge, and I realized that I'd be incredibly lonely. Who would cheer me on when I finish an article or land a new client? How would I unwind and clear my head in between projects?It's not that my social life is based completely in social media, but when you work from home and live alone, those sites become your virtual cubemates during the workday (and the best part is that unlike real cubemates, I can shut them off at will). Yes, I might be more productive if I limited my Twitter and RSS time to certain periods of the day, but I don't think going cold turkey would help me. If anything, I'd be too cranky to get actual work done. Maybe that means I'm addicted, but I do manage to get work done and pay my bills each month.Obviously, the right amount of blogging and social media time varies depending on your personality and your professional goals. But how do you find the right balance? And if you're part of either project, I'd love to hear your insights!Flickr photo courtesy of Daniel Conway