Social Media Platform Building
SEO, SMO, Platform, likes, clicks, winks, and links, the crazy world of building a social media platform.
It may seem so overwhelming and daunting to look at all of the sites and trying to comprehend all of the time it takes to not only set them up but to keep them up and running. We are all told that building relationships is the key to creating a great writer platform, but who has time for all of that?
Here are some options and ways to simplify and prioritize what platforms may work best for you.
1. Know what the top sites are. Here are links to the top Social Media sites. The top 5 sites are solid at the moment, but the tide changes fast in the world of technology. http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites https://www.lifewire.com/top-social-networking-sites-people-are-using-3486554
2. Know your audience. I find this to be a true in all walks of life, not just social media. Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin are great for the adult demographic. Instagram and SnapChat are for a younger demographic. Here is a helpful site with the top social media demographic listed. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/
3. Stop thinking of any social media as a place to share your feelings or cute pictures of your children or grandchildren. Think of it like a worldwide interactive television show where we all watch each other and where you as an author, can advertise a little for free. That’s it.
4. Facebook and Twitter are the top two sites, and they are a solid choice for making new connections and building fast support for your platform. Think of those two sites as the pillars to build your social media platform on.
Facebook:
Facebook is about likes, shares, posts, and interactions on posts.
A. Start by creating an author/writer page. If you have ever written two words together and dreamed of being a writer then start a writer’s page today. You can also start a personal page and link the two together. When setting up a profile, use a picture of yourself. People are more receptive and responsive to picture of humans than they are to pictures or cats or flowers. Be human.
B. Don’t be shy or snotty. It doesn’t matter if you barely know a person or hated them in high school, they may click like on your page. Don’t be afraid to ask. Friend everyone and invite everyone to like your page. Don’t be too shy to send out requests to like your page several times. Every like counts!
C. Join every writing group you can and there are several. Some are for helping each other become better writers, and some are for promoting each other by liking each others page. They can all benefit you in one way or another.
D. Interact… everyday. Just for 10-20 minutes. Go and like what people have posted in the groups, like what your friends have posted and what their friends have posted. Share what other writers have shared, and usually, they will share your posts in return. Write nice comments about their books, and they might return the favor.
E. Post… everyday. It can be book related or seasonal or weather related. The rule of thumb is 75% personal or non-advertising and 25% advertising your book or blog. I know a successful romance writer who has a daily theme to make it easy on herself. Mondays is her personal blog, on Tuesdays she posts sexy men in shirts, Wednesdays she promotes a friends book, Thursdays she posts sexy men without shirts, and on Fridays she advertises one of her books. On weekends she shares adventures with her husband or pictures of her characters or daily word counts. She is appealing to her demographic of romance readers. Make the post interactive, ask an open ended question in a post and when you get responses respond back.
I will continue in my next installment with how to start a twitter account and gain followers. Until then, Keep posting!
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