“The work itself will teach you.”
Old Estonian Proverb

No, this isn’t about that movie by Alan Sorkin about Mark Zuckerberg, though it is about Facebook. And Twitter. And social media. Actually it’s about a Write Group session with Stacey Gill, creator of OneFunnyMotha.com, a humorous parenting blog. Stacey also teaches a course on launching a blog for the Writers Circle and her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Good Housekeeping, and BlogHer.  Helpful tips she shared:

Dive in: Returning to her writing career after a break, Stacey was advised to start a blog as a way of building a platform. With literally no social-media experience, she simply jumped in feet first and taught herself — an inspiring, hopeful message for the social media challenged among us.

Play around: Her first blog idea ran out of gas very quickly, but since she enjoyed writing about parenting with a humorous angle, Stacey dreamed up One Funny Motha and she’s built it into an exciting, popular franchise. Her advice: Find a theme that sparks your passion; if you enjoy writing about it, you’ll build momentum and a following.

Craft a persona: Create an image for yourself and use it consistently. Stacey’s card describes her as a “Writer. Huffpost Blogger. Comedic Genius” and her tagline for articles is “Award-winning journalist and comedic genius behind the humor blog
OneFunnyMotha.com.” By carefully crafting her online persona, Stacey’s created a
career-building niche for herself. She advises aspiring bloggers to do the same.

Interact regularly: “The currency of blogging is sharing,” Stacey observed. If you want to create a social-media presence, you need to join groups, make comments, and forge connections. That’s what it’s all about. Stacey has parlayed both her blog and her networking into major media exposure in The Huff Post, The Washington Post, and other national outlets.

Create a Facebook Fan page: Connecting your blog to your personal Facebook page delivers marginal benefits. Instead, create a Facebook Fan Page and keep it dynamic. For inspiration, Stacey has a great page: Facebook.com/OneFunnyMotha.

Bravo, Stacey — write on!