Writers, social media marketing can be overwhelming. I totally understand. I’m a writer, too. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if
you could approach it with enjoyment, like the way you have your morning coffee or tea? Morning than that lovely morning ritual, what if you could approach social media like the way you think about hanging out with your favorite people? Because that’s what your social media activity can be. It’s not about “buy this; buy that,” it’s about connecting with your friends and the people who could be your friends, readers, supporters, biggest fans, and cheerleaders.
In preparation for my chat with Founder and President of the National Association of Memoir Writers, I’d like to share with you some key tips I use with all my authors to help them turn their social media overwhelm into a welcoming conversation.
It all starts with being able to deliver a Clear Message. To share your books with the world, you need to know what you’re really communicating. You need to know your audience, what they get out of your books, and the experience you’d like them to have when they read your books. I explain in depth with examples how to create a one-sentence phrase that can be your guiding light in all your social media activities on my blog, the Writer’s Fun Zone called “Your Clear Message: Get Your Potential Readers Curious Now” here: http://www.
Once you know your Clear Message, I recommend you dive into a few social media channels to see if you like them. For writers, I often recommend Twitter because it’s not so visually overwhelming, like Facebook can be for many people. Also, your messages only need to be up to 140 characters long. I believe that we are inventing these social media tools as we use them; there is no one right way. And you can’t break anything. If you don’t like what you’ve written you can always delete your posts. {Whew!}
To learn how to use Twitter, I say just jump in and play, and learn from others! Like me! I learned from others, as I share in this post: “Dare to Play With Twitter: The Dirty Little Secret” http://www.
Lastly, social media isn’t a replacement for meeting your readers face-to-face, so don’t hide behind your Facebook profile. Once in a while, go out to meet your readers at book signings, conventions, conferences, etc. Even if you’re unpublished, learn how to talk about your book in short bits.
Your job as a marketer for your writing career is to talk up your books! A good post on how to do that is here: “How to Write the Perfect Pitch to Sell Your Novel In Person” http://www.
As you can see, I have lots of resources for you, and look forward to sharing more of them on the call this week.
PS. As a bonus, feel free to download my free report “Confessions of a Reluctant Marketer” here: http://bethbarany.com/
Beth Barany is the author of the award-winning fantasy novel, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer (The Five Kingdoms, Book #1). She’s also the author of the bestselling nonfiction books for writers: The Writer’s Adventure Guide and Overcome Writer’s Block. More at www.bethbarany.com.
Beth, thanks freeing me! I’ve struggled with how to balance the writing and the platform concept. Your informative post is most helpful and I appreciate the copious links included. See you around the media!
Beth, that should have been “thanks for freeing me!” Too excited, I guess. 🙂
Sherrey, You’re so welcome! I’m glad that my informative post is freeing to you! And glad you appreciated the copious links. See you around the media!