Tag: Social Media

5 Things I Can’t Afford to Try on Social Media in March

Although I have made some good friends via social media and it does provide a way to stay in touch with old friends or relatives who live far away, social media stresses me out. If you’ve followed my blog for very long, you already know that.

I just want to sit at my computer and write, but the publishing world tells me that I have to have a brand and I must keep my brand in front of my potential readers. I’m being told this is important before I even try to get my first novel published. It’s exhausting!

In an effort to simplify social media for myself, I have looked into a number of websites that offer to do just that. There is an old adage that says, “You get what you pay for.” If I were independently wealthy, I could purchase all kinds of services that promise to put my social media life on Easy Street. That is not the case, though. If I had a multi-million dollar business, these services might make sense. They would be business expenses. I don’t make enough money from my writing yet to need big tax write-offs.

Below, I’ve listed what I found out about five social media services that I can’t afford to try. Just because I can’t afford them doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them. I’m not endorsing any of them, but I’m not trying to denigrate any of them either. Each Tweeter and blogger must decide for himself because each person’s situation is unique.

  1. Tweepi

The Ultimate Guide to Generating Leads on Twitter, a downloadable document by Steve Arnold, (steve.arnold@markethub.io) recommends Tweepi to, among other things, keep up with which of your followers are actually looking at your content. This allows you to drop followers that are just boosting your followers count. They aren’t interacting or helping you and you aren’t helping them. Unfortunately, the cheaper of the two plans Tweepi offers is $10.75 per month when paid annually or $12.99 per month when paid monthly. I can’t afford that, even though I recognize it would be somewhat beneficial to subscribe to a service like Tweepi.

My conclusion:  My world does not revolve around Twitter. I’m sure some of my “followers” are no longer “following” me. If they aren’t interested in books, writing, or an occasional political Tweet from me, that’s okay. I understand that literary agents and book publishers may want to have a clear idea of how many interested followers I have on Twitter, but it’s just not important enough to me right now to pay to get that information. It’s something to reconsider when I’m closer to getting a novel published.

  1. MarketHub

Mr. Arnold, of course, recommends that bloggers use MarketHub, since he is the company’s founder. His downloadable referenced above under Tweepi, states, “MarketHub pumps out extremely high value curated tweets on your behalf.” MarketHub offers a 14-day free trial. I hesitate to sign up for free trials because sometimes they’re difficult to cancel before a subscription fee kicks in. I have no idea if that’s the case with MarketHub, and I haven’t been able to find out how much MarketHub charges after the free trial period.

My conclusion:  I don’t really want a computer somewhere writing Tweets for me. I’d rather do my own writing. Period.

  1. Commun.it

With a free account, Commun.it will send out automatic weekly “Thanks for following me” Tweets; however, those Tweets include a flashy advertisement for Commun.it. I learned that the hard way. That was embarrassing! This has continued even though I went to the website and deactivated this feature which I admit I should have been aware of when I signed up. I’m still trying to determine how to best manage social media. I can’t afford a Business Account on Commun.it.

My conclusion:  I don’t know how to get rid of Commun.it. Maybe if I ignore their e-mails long enough, they will stop sending out “Thank you for following me and, by the way, don’t you also want Commun.it to send out Tweets on your behalf without your knowing it?” e-mails.

Chris Andrews, a writer in Australia who reads my blog and I read his, advised me a few days ago to look into using Clicky.com. It’s a free service that should help me with this. I signed up for it, but there’s a glitch somewhere in a code so it’s not up and running for me yet. Stay tuned. Thanks again, Chris.

  1. Moz.com’s Keyword Explorer

I keep reading online that if I’m going to have a successful blog, I must use the trending keywords in my posts and in the posts’ titles. Otherwise, my SEO (Search Engine Optimization) won’t be good. In other words, no one will find my blog.

Moz.com has a service called Keyword Explorer that helps a blogger find keywords that would be most advantageous for him or her to use in order to drive more traffic to their blog. I don’t mean to bad mouth moz.com, but their cheapest plan would cost me $948-a-year, if I chose to pay annually. If I chose to pay monthly, my annual cost would be $1,188. Ouch! That’s more money than I’ll make this year from my writing. A lot more.

My conclusion:  Keep looking.

  1. Google Keyword Planner

I looked into using Google Keyword Planner, another service that would find the best keywords for me to use in my blog post titles. Surely, it would be cheaper than Keyword Explorer. If I understood the adwords.google.com website correctly, they will “help” me for free as long as I spend at least $10-a-day on ads. No thanks! I don’t have a published novel to advertise yet.

My conclusion:  As of November 21, 2016 – just four months ago today – my blog had 220 followers and had been visited by people from 32 countries. As of 11:30 last night, I had. . . drumroll, please. . . 1,000 followers and my blog has been visited by individuals from 42 countries. I must be doing something right, and I’m not spending an arm and a leg to generate traffic.

Proof of my 1,000th blog follower on March 20, 2017!

My general conclusions today about social media

I keep a daily check on my blog and my accounts with Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. As long as my follower numbers steadily increase, I’m happy. And I must admit that I love seeing the flags appear on my blog’s sidebar as people in different countries visit the site. (See, I’m not completely against social media, and I’ve always loved geography!)

Social media should be fun. It should bring people together – even people who don’t agree with each other on the topic being discussed. I will continue to blog and use Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. I might continue to use Google+. Two weeks ago, I created an account with Instagram. I might even use it someday.

Until my next blog post

Rest assured that I do my own writing. That’s what writers do. They write.

It upsets me when someone takes my words and claims them as their own.

It upsets me when someone writes words and claim that they are mine.

For the time being, except for those pesky Tweets commun.it keeps sending out, I plan to write my own Tweets, figure out my own keywords for my blog post titles, and refuse to stress out over who is following me on Twitter. Life is too short!

I take Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, as my example. She didn’t play by any of the rules dictated by the publishing industry in her lifetime. I’ll play by the rules as necessary, but I’m not going to let social media control my life.

This blog post makes me sound angry. I’m not angry. Just venting some frustration. Not ready to draw a line in the sand.

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

Janet

P.S.  Relax. My next blog post will be a sample of my writing. With any luck, it won’t be controversial and won’t contain any rants or venting.

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My 2017 Writing Plan of Action

Here it is the end of the third week in January and I’m just now articulating my 2017 writing plan of action. The name itself sounds arrogant, but that isn’t my intention. As an aspiring author, I need a plan and I need to act. I call it a “plan of action” for my own encouragement and not to impress anyone.

My 2016 Plan of Action was short and to the point. In this year’s plan I’ve tried to get into specifics and goals for various social media. Here’s my 2017 plan:

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

In real estate, the maxim is “Location, Location, Location.” If I am to establish my “brand” as a writer, my maxim must be, “Consistency, Consistency, Consistency.” Just as a character in a work of fiction has a distinguishable voice or way of speaking, my voice on social media needs to be consistent. My style of writing needs to be authentic and not all over the place. Likewise, I need to be consistent in my presence on social media. If I just blog on a whim, my audience will fall by the wayside. If I Tweet with no regularity, I’ll lose my followers. My challenge in 2017 will be to use social media on a consistent basis while making time to write. Being a relative newbie in the world of social media and not being technologically savvy, most days I feel overwhelmed by how much I have to learn. My actual writing has been taking a back seat lately. I must strike a healthy and productive balance in 2017 as I work toward getting my novel manuscript published. If I don’t, all the years I’ve spent writing the book and all the months I’ve spent sharpening my social media skills are all for naught.

My ideal reader

Writers are instructed to identify an ideal reader. This isn’t a real person. This is an imaginary person you write for. Some writers give this ideal reader a name and they have a visual concept of what that person looks like. I’ve concluded that my ideal reader is complex. Ultimately, my ideal reader is someone who enjoys southern historical fiction, has an interest in history but also keeps up with current events. My ideal reader is a well-informed citizen and not just a spectator. My ideal reader is not offended if I occasionally reveal my beliefs or civic concerns on social media. My ideal reader is not only willing to have his or her assumptions questioned but actually seeks out such literature. Does such a person exist? I’m counting on it!

It’s easy to sit here and wax poetic about my plans, but now comes the hard part. From what I’ve read, I need to determine on which social media platform(s) my ideal reader hangs out and then concentrate my efforts there.

http://www.janetswritingblog.com

Study my end-of-year 2016 reports, stats, etc. & determine what worked & what didn’t work & what I need to do differently in 2017. (I considered blogging three times a week; however, I concluded that’s too much for me. Instead, in addition to my regular Tuesday and Friday blog posts, I will occasionally blog on other days with no set schedule for these random posts.)

Plan blog topics for the year. (By that I mean, my first blog each month will be about what I read the previous month. My second blog each month will be a line I like from a book. My third blog each month will be a list of things I’ve learned about a particular topic. In other words, there will be a            pattern to my blog posts every month. If the plan doesn’t produce results, I need to make adjustments.)

Try to use my blog to increase my exposure as a writer & establish my brand. Set goals for number of followers & number of bloggers following my blog.

Make a list of blogs I’d like to guest blog on.

Figure out how to make necessary changes to my blog’s set up to improve its Search Engine Optimization.

By the way, if you have trouble reading my blog on your cell phone or tablet, please let me know so I can take actions to rectify the situation. Please let me know if you have difficulty seeing or downloading photos I include in some of my blog posts. I need feedback about any issues you’re having.

Twitter @janetmorrisonbk

Study my end-of-year 2016 reports, stats, etc. & determine what worked & what didn’t work & what I need to do differently in 2017.

Try to use Twitter to increase my exposure as a writer & establish my brand. In order to establish my brand, I need to create more original content as opposed to primarily retweeting content generated by others.

Set goals for number of Tweets and number of followers.

Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/janet5049

Study my end-of-year 2016 reports, stats, etc. & determine what worked & what didn’t work & what I need to do differently in 2017.

Try to use Pinterest to increase my exposure as a writer & establish my brand. As with Twitter, I need to create more original Pins. Janet’s Writing Blog is my only Pinterest board that is 100% original content.

Evaluate my boards and the order in which I display them.

Set goals for number of followers for these boards: The Writing Life; Novel in Progress: The Spanish Coin; Blue Ridge Mountains; Great Smoky Mountains; I Need the Light; Sequel to The Spanish Coin; Janet’s Writing Blog; and Blog Odds & Ends.

Facebook:  Janet Morrison, Writer

Try to use Facebook to increase my exposure as a writer & establish my brand. My personal page is just what it sounds like. My “Janet Morrison, Writer” page is where people who are interested in my writing can “Like” me.

Set goal for number of “Likes” by Dec. 31, 2017.

Goodreads.com

Goodreads.com is a website I enjoy as a writer and as a reader. It’s free to create an account and then to participate as much or as little as you wish. You can search for books or authors and create a list of books you’ve read, are currently reading, or want to read. Book reviews and book ratings on a one- to five-star system are encouraged but not mandatory. I have been lax in writing reviews, and I don’t always rate books I’ve read. I need to increase my activity in 2017 in order to get the most benefit from this completely free website. Oh – and there are a multitude of book giveaway contests for account holders.

LinkedIn

Learn about the potential LinkedIn holds for a writer. (To say I rarely use LinkedIn now would be a huge  understatement.)

Try to use LinkedIn to increase my exposure as a writer & establish my brand.

Google+

Learn about the potential Google+ holds for a writer. (As with LinkedIn, I rarely use Google+.)

Try to use Google+ to increase my exposure as a writer & establish my brand.

Website:  www.JanetMorrisonBooks.com

Review analysis for end of 2016.

Figure out which changes I can make and how to accomplish them.

The Spanish Coin southern historical mystery novel manuscript

Get 2 beta readers to give me feedback.

Hire a professional editor to do a developmental edit.

Pursue getting a literary agent or self-publishing.

Only time will tell how successful I am in carrying out this grandiose plan. All these social media activities are touted as being necessary for authors. Truth be told, I’d rather just write!

If you took the time to read this entire blog post, you deserve a prize. I don’t have any to offer, but you do have my sincere appreciation.

Until my next blog post . . .

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

In your chosen work, do you make an annual written plan?

Janet

What is an Author’s Brand… and How Do I Get One?

Today’s blog post is for writers who are in the same boat with me. I’ve been working on a novel for years. I hope to get it published in the next several years. I am trying to learn all I can about the craft of writing as well as the craft of being an author. In the 21st century It’s not enough to write a 100,000-word piece of earth-shaking fiction. An author has to have a brand and build a platform.

To tell you how far I’ve come in the last week, a few days ago I didn’t know the difference between brand and platform. I have a hunch I’m not alone in my confusion. I do not claim to be an authority on this subject. In fact, I’m far from it. Today’s post grew out of my need to try to figure out author brand and author platform.

 

What is an author’s brand?

After searching online for explanations of an author’s brand, I have concluded that my brand as an author is who I am, what I choose to share about myself, and what I want readers to think when they see or hear my name.

 

What is an author’s platform?

The best I can tell, an author’s platform is his or her visibility and ability to sell books.

 

How do brand and platform mesh?

An author’s brand underpins his or her platform. It’s part of the foundation. Brand, therefore, must precede the building of a platform.

 

When should I design my brand as an author?

Today, or perhaps yesterday.

 

How do I establish my brand as an author?

  • Set goals and objectives
  • Identify what readers of your genre are looking for
  • Determine how you are different from other writers in your genre
  • Feel comfortable in your own skin as a writer
  • Don’t be shy about telling your own story
  • Find your niche and focus on it
  • Take care to manage how you are perceived
  • Explore ways you can turn readers of your genre into fans of your work

 

How am I perceived?

How potential readers perceive you is created by a variety of ways. Everything from website, logo, social media presence, business cards, any printed materials, to your photo affect how you are perceived. In other words, be consistent in how you project yourself.

 

How can you learn from my mistakes?

Unfortunately, when I had my website set up, it was primarily to showcase the three family genealogies compiled in the 1990s by my sister and me. I knew I wanted to be a novelist, but at that time I really knew next to nothing about writing fiction.

I set up a Facebook account on June 14, 2011 in order to keep up with community events and news. Much later (August 12, 2014) I added a Janet Morrison, Writer Facebook page as a way to publicize my public appearances to promote my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

In 2010, I started half-heartedly writing a blog. I struggled with content and how often to post. It wasn’t until 2014 and the publishing of my vintage postcard book that I got serious about blogging.

Kicking and screaming, I created a Twitter account on April 11, 2016.

I did all these things in piecemeal fashion as I struggled to learn what an aspiring novelist should do in order to get noticed. The operative word is “piecemeal.” There’s nothing wrong with taking a gradual approach, but my mistake was that I did not have an overall plan and, therefore, I was not systematic. I was focusing on the individual trees instead of the entire forest. I did not understand author brand as it relates to author platform. In conclusion, I tried to build my platform without supporting it with a brand. I got the cart before the horse.

 

Where do I go from here?

With my website, blog, and Twitter account already in place, I have no choice but to keep forging ahead. Otherwise, I will lose my momentum and many of the followers I have. (I experienced that this summer while I had shingles in my eye.)

While I forge ahead, though, I know now that I need to design my brand. I have written the manuscript of a historical mystery. Although Arcadia Publishing reminded me during the editing process that my postcard book was not intended to be a history book, I believe it did help people to perceive me as a writer and historian.

My plan for the coming weeks is to hire a professional editor to evaluate my historical mystery manuscript (working title is The Spanish Coin) and to take the steps necessary to design my brand.

I don’t expect this to be easy. Nothing worthwhile is easy. Researching and stating facts and theories about author branding is one thing. Putting that knowledge into practice is altogether something else.

 

Some of the resources I used in writing this post are:

I would be remiss if I did not disclose and provide links to the online sources I used this week in writing this blog post.

 

A call to action

If you find this blog post helpful or if you wish to contradict or correct any of my statements, please leave a comment and give JanetsWritingBlog.com exposure by clicking on the social media icons below.

Until my next blog post, I hope you have a good book to read and, If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

Janet