Source: http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/build-a-platform-start-blogging/a-writers-guide-to-social-networking

For once, hopping on the bandwagon can actually help you stand out. There have never been more people participating in social networks. While there’s a personal dimension to nearly all such networks (and users can limit access to their profiles to whomever they choose), clever writers can also use them as arms of their platforms. But merely joining isn’t the way to do it.

Social networking to enhance your platform requires a consistent investment of time. The key? Authenticity plus generosity. If you approach these sites simply as places to shill your book or service and never give back to the communities, you’ll find yourself losing “friends” faster than you add them. As with all types of marketing, what you do on social networks depends on what your audience will respond to and what your goals are.

FACEBOOK

Using Facebook (facebook.com), one of the most popular social networks, can be as simple or complex as you like, ranging from simply telling your friends what you’re doing and uploading photos to using thousands of applications (e.g., playing online Scrabble with a Facebook friend). Social media experts generally consider Facebook one of many online outposts for marketing—not something that warrants heavy use, but an important tool for developing a following if you find your audience actively uses the site. To maximize what Facebook can do for you:

NETWORK. Facebook can help you find others interested in the subjects you’re most passionate about, including writing—and your favorite things to write about.

JOIN GROUPS RELATED TO YOUR SUBJECT. If you write horror, join groups that celebrate it. If you write parenting articles, join groups for parents. Befriend other members.

CREATE YOUR OWN GROUP. If you have a book, you can create a group centered on your book. But an even better strategy is to create one around your personal brand/identity or blog, because that can remain relevant even as your writing career progresses. Once you have a group, you can send messages to its members. Limit them in number and be sure to include only content with genuine value.

POST EVENTS. This feature allows you to invite all your friends or all the members of your groups to bookstore appearances, readings, book releases, etc.

UPDATE YOUR STATUS AND PROFILE IMAGE REGULARLY. It may seem silly, but keeping your profile current can make a huge difference in how well people feel they know you—even if you don’t reveal too much about your personal life. Frequent updates will keep you at the top of your friends’ lists—and fresh in their minds. For status updates, mention places you’ve been, articles or books you’re reading and goals you’re setting. Every update has the potential to strengthen a relationship with someone in your network.

AVOID GETTING ADDICTED. You’ll be tempted to spend lots of time making friends and playing around with the applications. Budget how much time you spend on Facebook each day. While it can be a valuable tool, your efforts to write, get published and get visible take precedence.

TWITTER

Twitter (twitter.com) is a micro-blogging platform that allows people to follow one another and post messages of 140 characters or less. “Tweeting” is like updating your Facebook status, minus everything else on Facebook. Some say Twitter is the new Facebook (but Facebook is the new MySpace, which was the new Friendster, and so on). To get the most out of Twitter:

FOLLOW PEOPLE OR COMPANIES THAT CAN OFFER YOU SOMETHING. That can include entertainment, information, promotion advice, inspiration, news, etc. Agents, editors, publishers, authors, publicists, marketing gurus, celebrities and others are tweeting. Google “book trade on Twitter” and you’ll find an ever-growing list of publishing professionals.

FOLLOW OTHERS TO GET FOLLOWERS. It’s unwritten Twitter etiquette that when you follow someone, they generally respond in kind. This is true whether you’re following your sister or the Los Angeles Times. You can’t send a direct (nonpublic) message to a fellow tweeter if you’re not following him.

DEFINE YOUR GOALS AND POST ACCORDINGLY. Are you tweeting for fun, just to engage potential readership? To drive people to your website? To spread the word about a giveaway? Your goal could be one or all of these and more.

USE TINYURL.COM TO ADD LINKS TO YOUR TWEETS. This site turns unwieldy URLs into more manageable ones, helping you fit links into the 140-character limit.

VISIT SEARCH.TWITTER.COM TO TRACK DOWN TWEETING TOPICS. You can search for anything, and the site will pull up recent tweets containing the words you chose.

CHECK YOUR TWITTER SCORE AT TWITTER.GRADER.COM. This site calculates “the reach and authority of a Twitter user” based on the number of her followers, the power of her network, the pace of her updates and the completeness of her profile. Use it to help maximize Twitter.

DIVERSIFY. Tweet on your Web browser, through mobile phones, via blog and website widgets and more. Check out twitter.com/downloads to view the possibilities.

LINKEDIN

LinkedIn (linkedin.com) is a social network of professionals. It can be invaluable when seeking freelance opportunities or industry contacts, but only if you start investing time in it long before you need results. Look at it as part of your professional life and marketing arsenal—not as a back door to an agent or editor.

As with other social networking sites, you have a profile page and a network of connections. You can also join groups, pose questions to your network/groups, post events and add widgets, such as your blog feed, to your profile.

LinkedIn creates visibility for what you do and offer. Your profile will appear in search engines and can be accessed by the public if you allow it to. The site also allows people to publicly recommend your professional work. Used wisely, it’s an effective and dynamic way to network and spur new ideas for promoting your writing. To get off to a good start:

CREATE A COMPELLING PROFILE. Don’t just post your résumé. Rather than describing your experience, show the concrete results you have achieved—fast turnaround, exemplary research or writing, etc.

ASK YOUR PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS TO RECOMMEND YOU. Then display the recommendations on your profile to help confirm the quality and nature of your work.

ADD VALUE TO YOUR NETWORK. Answer questions, post helpful articles or tips, and participate in a way that reflects your personality, energy and expertise. The more you give, the more you get. If you impress people here, it opens doors.

LINK TO YOUR OWN WEBSITES AND BLOGS, AS WELL AS TO OTHER PLACES YOUR WORK CAN BE FOUND ONLINE. Also post information about any upcoming events you’re attending, books or articles you’re reading, etc.

A final word of advice: Don’t substitute any social networking site for in-person or event networking. It might help get the ball rolling with introductions, but nothing can take the place of getting out there and being part of the writing and publishing scene, whether on a local or national level. When those people see you online later, they’ll take notice.

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Bringing Great Authors To the Literary Realm

Guest Author: Amy Lignor

In 2007, as we all know, Amazon came out and launched an ‘e-reader.’ Many thought this was a joke, but I can honestly say that there is no one laughing now.

Digital publishing and branding have become the ultimate ways to get ahead, or even recognized, in the cutthroat recession-wary publishing world as it stands today. Publishers are looking at the bottom line. Are they poor? Are publishing houses becoming dinosaurs? No. Make no mistake, people, not matter what the agencies and publishers tell you total book sales in the United States last year came in at 13.9 billion dollars. Random House, the top rung of the so-called “Big Six Publishers” reported profits of 2.5 billion. However, a large percentage of revenue is now being recorded as digital downloads. And this area is growing bigger every year.

There will always be those out in the world who want that paper copy – that copy that they can hold in their hands. In fact, this writer feels about books as deeply as a hockey player feels about the ‘smell of the ice.’ I love the smell of a new book, and e-readers take that particular enjoyment away. BUT, there are a great deal of authors out there right now who are truly magnificent, yet they are not getting the opportunities to be published. There are barely any agents or publishers out there right now that would’ve told you twenty years ago that YA would ever be a big market. What they didn’t see coming was J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer, and the like who took the world by storm. One of the most ironic issues about new authors who do hit the market full force, is that most of them were taken on by interns or new hires in literary agency; people who just stepped in and felt as if they had to prove themselves to their bosses. Why is that? Because those new interns still knew what it felt like to read a good book. They were, and are, not yet caught up in the muck and mire of the bottom line. They take a chance and they score – simple as that.

In mid-2010, Amazon announced that they were selling MORE e-books than hardcover’s, which caused a division in the literary society. The division and arguments still abound about the digital world becoming ‘King’ one day, but whether or not anyone likes it, the internet IS the ‘King’ of the 21st Century. Many young adults (and some adults, I have to say) are learning their grammar and penmanship through text messaging – “How are you?” has now become “How r u?” Everyone is on the go, and their e-readers, Kindles, etc. make life a whole lot easier than having to trudge to the library, or spend a greater amount of money in the bookstore. Readers can simply call up Amazon, call up the book they want, and ‘boom,’ there it is on the device that they have grown to love as much as their cell phones.

One of the biggest moments for digital publishing, in my mind, was when the New York Times suddenly realized this growing phenomenon and – whether they liked it or not, and most did not – they began a digital bestseller list; an e-book ‘Top Ten.’ Not only that, although the New York Times Book Review is still a monolith in the publishing world, they are quickly being set aside for the ultimate reviewers – the actual fans and readers who are constantly on Facebook and Twitter.

With the world of social networking, an author can reach millions of people with their synopsis, book trailers on YouTube, announcements, events, downloadable book sites, reviews, interviews, and more. Whereas authors once had to depend on marketing giants, agents, and the publishing company to do the work for them, they now can take matters into their own hands and get the exposure they need for their title. And, let’s face it, the one person who has the most passion for a book – the optimal salesperson for their title – is themselves. With publishers and agents, the author is one of many being served. Exposure is the key element to selling a book right now. Yes, the old names such as King, Koontz, Rowling, etc. will sell no matter what – simply because their name is on the cover and they have spent years gathering millions of fans. But the new authors who are truly writing fantastic fiction but being completely overlooked by agencies and publishers who don’t wish to take a chance on a new name, are building their fan list through social networking; branding themselves through radio programs, websites, the constant Twittering, reaching all their readers out there who simply don’t have time, inclination, or the energy to go to the library or spend hard-earned money at the bookstore. Even well-known authors are now reporting that 20%-to sometimes 40% of their sales are coming from Kindle and e-reader downloads. With the odd part being that if things keep progressing this way, the ‘Big Six’ is going to drop down to the ‘Big Three’ one of these days.

Another issue? Literary agencies. People are stunned at times that agencies are replying with rejection letters that don’t match up with the book the author even sent in the first place. Giving you a personal example, I was sent a rejection letter once saying that my character, Susan, was outstanding but the locations were a little too eerie for them. My main character’s name was Leah – not even a close resemblance to Susan. When I replied to said agent, there was a nice answer of ‘whoops,’ and I was actually told that sometimes they are so busy, they don’t read what is sent.

I put this in so that I can stop one thing from happening. Writers can NOT give up on their books or their dreams because of rejection letters. Sometimes, trust me, they’re not even being read. The rejection letter is mostly now just a ‘form response;’ it is automatic and is simply sent because A) they’re too busy, or B), they want to make sure they don’t make a mistake in their reply causing the author to realize that their query wasn’t even looked at. I shudder to think that if Rowling hadn’t had the courage to continue after receiving rejection letter after rejection letter – and she had placed our beloved ‘Harry’ in a drawer – the entire generation would’ve been the poorer for it.

Is writing skill and talent? Yes. However, it is also 99.9% pure and utter luck. As we all know, there are titles that come out every year (many) where the author received an advance (big) and the plots of these stories are the most depressing things on the face of the planet. AND, they don’t sell. All of this has to do with taste, yet most publishing companies have been proving, as of the last decade, that they need to move their eyes toward more ‘commercial’ fiction – action adventure, GOOD romances, historicals – genres that DO, and have proven, to bring in the big bucks.

The upside for the authors out there is this digital world. The comments and sales the author receives come directly from the readers. THEY are the ones who make the ultimate decision on a book, bypassing a great many people who may have lost that spark of pure enthusiasm when it comes to fiction. Branding is the key, and the billions of people who reside on the internet every single day are finding their favorite new authors who don’t have an agent – don’t have a mainstream publisher – but still have the courage, determination, and passion to achieve greatness by using what the world of technology has provided.

Yes, the dream will always be there.  The call from a huge agent that says, “I’ll take it.”  The call coming in the next day saying, “Here’s the $250,000 contract from Random House,” etc.  But that dream, in the 21^st Century, can be realized elsewhere.  There’s just a whole heck of a lot more work involved.  Keep in mind that Kindle sales are projected to reach 1.6 billion by 2012.  This number is startling.  Facebook has 750 million active users and grows by the minute.  Twitter now has 105,779,710 registered users (2010), with new users signing up at the rate of 300,000 per day.  Nielsen published stats that the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites. This equates to 22% of ‘all time’ being spent online.  For the first time ever, social network and/or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers.  MySpace:  57 million U.S. unique users and growing.  LinkedIn: 60 million users, “As of last December, the network had 55 million members, so its grown by 5 million in less than two months.  And the list goes on…

Agencies and publishers are necessary but, in the end, the author putting it out and the reader buying it and bringing in the revenues are the two most important people in the publishing world. That is one fact that has stayed the same since the beginning of time.  And all authors are now becoming quite aware that those readers are out there in full-force on the internet – not in the library or the bookstore.

A new door has been opened for the author who KNOWS they have a great book, but can’t seem to find an ‘in’ with the names that count (or, used to).  Branding is key!

(statistics taken from)
www.web-strategist.com/
www.huffingtonpost.com/
www.facebook.com/

Amy is the author of historical fiction. Presently, her adventure series – Tallent & Lowery – is the newest ‘hot’ book climbing the charts. She’s also working on a YA series, The Angel Chronicles. An avid traveler, Amy considers herself fortunate to have journeyed across the USA, where she’s met the most amazing people who truly bring life and soul to her stories. She is the Owner/Operator of The Write Companion, and Precious Gems Publishing, as well as a contributor to many literary magazines and websites.

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Source: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/free-book-marketing-tips/the-7-deadly-sins-of-online-networking-.html

by Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer

Online networking is a wonderful way to meet people who share your interests, develop relationships with peers and potential customers, and ultimately increase book sales.

But there’s sometimes a fine line between letting your contacts know about your book and being overly promotional. If you’re too passive, you may not get much benefit from networking, but if you’re too aggressive you may turn people off.

Here are seven common mistakes that authors make in online networking, along with tips on how to avoid them:

1. No book information or website links on social network profiles.

I’m amazed at how many authors don’t even mention their books on their social profiles, or make it easy for people to find information about the book.

On your Facebook profile and fan page, include information about your book and a link to your book sales page and websites on the Info section. You can also list yourself as an author in the current employer section of your personal profile, which will make your author status show up at the very top of your profile.

On Twitter, be sure to mention your book in the description on your profile page. You only have 160 characters to work with, so if you have several books you could say something like “author of four romantic suspense novels.”

On LinkedIn, take full advantage of the Title field.  This space is designed for job titles, but you can use it to showcase your expertise and status as an author. For example: “Parenting expert and author of “Raising Happy Kids in a Crazy World.” Your title will appear along with your photo any place that you interact on LinkedIn. Be sure to include a link to your book’s sales page and your website in the Websites section of your profile, and also list your books in the Publications section.

2. Not mentioning your book in your status updates.

It’s fine to talk about your book in the status updates that you post on social networks, as long as that’s not your main focus and you’re not too pushy. Be sure to intersperse your book messages with other types of messages (personal notes, tips, links to helpful resources, thoughts on a new book you just read, etc.)

I recommend that no more than 10% to 20% of your status updates be promotional or self-serving. No one wants to read a constant stream of “buy my book” messages.

One way to talk about your book without seeming too promotional is to discuss your marketing activities. Here are some examples:

• I just received the preliminary cover designs for my new book – what do you think of these?

• Today I’m contacting bookstores about setting up signings for my new novel, BOOKTITLE. It’s available at www.booktitle.com.

• I’m so excited! Just received word that my book, BOOKTITLE, has received an award . . .

• I just scheduled a radio interview on KWTX to discuss tips from my book, BOOKTITLE. www.booktitle.com

• Today I launched the redesign of my website for BOOKTITLE – what do you think? www.booktitle.com

And you can always mention events and special promotions:

• If you’re in the Seattle area, please join me at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday at . . . for a free presentation based on my book, BOOKTITLE. www.booktitle.com

• The Kindle version of BOOKTITLE has just been released! You can find it at www.booktitle.com. If you don’t have a Kindle, remember you can download the Kindle app and read ebooks right from your computer.

• Monday Madness Sale! Spread the word — today only, all of my parenting books are on sale for 30% off. Go to www.booktitle.com to order.

3. Sending blank friend requests on social networks.

More than 90% of the network friend requests that I receive have no introduction at all, and most of the others have generic notes like “let’s be friends.” The trouble is, I don’t know who most of these people are.

Don’t make this mistake when you send friend invitations. Be sure to introduce yourself—tell the other person who you are and why you want to connect. What interests do you share in common? If you know something specific about the person, say so. On Facebook and many other networks, you can click the “add a personal message” button in the “add as a friend” box, and type in a personalized greeting.

4. Posting promotional messages on other people’s profiles or pages.

It’s just bad manners to post promotional messages on other people’s social network profiles or pages, especially those of your competitors. I delete any such posts from my own pages.

You usually have more leeway in posting messages on group pages. You can get a feel for the group’s etiquette by observing that others are doing, but usually it’s acceptable to make a wall post introducing yourself and your book, and also to share good news or resources with the group occasionally (see #2 above for ideas).

5. Getting too personal.

It’s great to tell your online friends something about your interests, but if you’re using social networks for business, you probably shouldn’t be discussing your health issues, your mother-in-law, or your kid’s problems. (Too much information!) It’s also a good idea to be cautious about posting things like the dates you are gone on vacation.

If you actively use your Facebook profile to network with family and friends, you might want to reserve your profile for personal use and use your fan page for business.

6. Sending sales pitches to new people that you meet.

It’s nice to do a wall post or send a message to new friends with a greeting (great to meet you, have a wonderful day), a compliment (your website is really terrific) or a note about something that you have in common. You can even invite them to visit your website, if you’re subtle about it and include other things in the message. Just be careful that your message doesn’t come across as a sales pitch – that’s not the way to make a good impression on a new contact.

7. Abusing direct messages.

Many social networks let you send messages to your contacts or members of groups that you belong to. Unfortunately, some people abuse this feature.

On Facebook, the use of direct messages to send promotional pitches has become so prevalent that many people simply tune out their messages. On LinkedIn, someone in a group that I belong to sent me several sales pitches for her products by direct message. I’ve never heard of this woman and she’s not even on my list of connections.

If you use direct messages, do so sparingly and be cautious about annoying people – remember that they can “unfriend” you if they get tired of hearing from you. One way to use direct messages is to send a newsletter type of message that contains some helpful tips or resources, along with a link to your book at the end. You can also use direct messages occasionally to announce “news” such as your book launch.

Remember the golden rule of networking: treat others as you would like to be treated.

About the Author

Learn more about promoting through social networks in The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Successful Social Marketing by Dana Lynn Smith. For more tips, follow @BookMarketer on Twitter, visit Dana’s blog at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com, and get a copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips ebook when you sign up for her free newsletter at www.BookMarketingNewsletter.com.

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source: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/everything-you-do-online-reflects-on-your-book/

Everything You Do Online Reflects on Your Book: Make Sure That Reflection Is Professional
Guest Expert: Phyllis Zimbler Miller

This month’s guest post is a natural extension of last month’s guest post “Do Your Offline and Online Book Promotion Activities Support Each Other?”

In that post I talked about how your book author website should present consistent information about your offline and online book promotion activities.

In addition, all your online book promotion activities should present you as a professional book author, regardless of whether your book was traditionally published or self-published.

Recently a book marketing consulting client asked me why he could not build a website himself for his nonfiction book the same as he had built for his business. I asked if he wanted my honest response.

When he said yes, I told him that his business site did not look professional. (And he agreed.) Then I added, as everything related to a book reflects on that book, he should have a book site that does appear professional.

And this advice about professionalism extends to everything you do online to promote your book.

For example, I’ve noticed typos in the Twitter profile bios of many people. Now this bio has a maximum of 160 characters. Do take the brief time to make sure you have spelled all the words in the bio correctly.

I always proofread my tweets and the comments I leave on blog posts before hitting “submit.” Now I know I may still occasionally miss an error, but I do try to ensure that whatever I write online is professional.

And this same advice goes for tweetchats or forum discussions or whatever.

Why is this so important?

You do not want to appear unprofessional and risk this reflecting negatively on your book.

And as you have spent a great deal of time writing your book, you should take the time to make sure you are not hindering your own book promotion efforts.

Bonus tip for customizing your Facebook and LinkedIn URLs rather than having those long URLs:

Facebook: Sign into your account. Then go to www.facebook.com/usernameand get your customized URL for your Facebook personal profile.

(Note that this profile must be in your own name and NOT your business name or you are in violation of Facebook terms. See my blog post )

Also, if you have a Facebook Page for business – formerly called a Fan Page – Facebook currently requires that you have at least 25 people who have “liked” your page before you can go to www.facebook.com/username and get a customized URL for your Facebook Page. But when you have at least 25 people, also get a customized URL for this page.

LinkedIn: Sign into your account. Then click on PROFILE (in navigation bar) and click on EDIT PROFILE.

On the right-hand side of the next screen click on CHANGE PUBLIC PROFILE SETTINGS.

Then you’ll see at the top of the next screen YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE URL and click on EDIT.

And, yes, having a customized URL instead of a long, awkward URL can reflect positively on your image as a professional book author.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing. The company is committed to taking the mystery out of social media so that individuals and companies can utilize the power of social media marketing. Check out the company program Quick Start Social Media Track.

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Source: http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2010/08/relevance-and-credibility-key-selling-points-in-promoting-your-book.html

Relevance and credibility are two key points in any form of advertising or promotion which includes social networking. I have yet to see book marketing experts address these topics when they tell us social networking, building our list, creating groups on Facebook, or a whole gamut of other marketing ways is of utmost importance if we want to sell our book. In reality, doing all these things isn’t go to get us anywhere if we don’t have relevance and credibility to what we say or do.

Relevance: You must prove to your potential reader how pertinent, connected, or applicable your book is to them , current times/ social issues, or currently popular.

Credibility: You must prove to your potential reader you are trustworthy and an expert on the subject. This also includes your personal code of ethics, integrity and reasonable grounds to be believed.

Relevance without credibility is just hype and without substance. Credibility without relevance is boring. But combining the two together you get power.  You get the potential reader’s attention, you get respect, and you create interest in your book.

Are you frowning right now and wondering how you can do both?  It’s easy:

source: http://www.millermosaicllc.com/book-author-profile-pages/

If you find this article informative, check out WeTeachWebMarketing.com.

If you are a book author who wants potential readers to find you on the internet, you want to be as visible as possible in places that those readers might be.

And in almost every social media place that you sign up for – such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – you are given the opportunity to write a profile about yourself.

What should these profiles say to effectively attract potential readers?

Twitter Has Only 160 Characters for Your Bio Info

Let’s start with Twitter with 160 characters max for your bio. Obviously you are going to put that you are a book author (perhaps fiction or nonfiction) and presumably you will have a book website URL for the “more info URL” field in your profile. What else are you going to say in those 160 characters? That depends.

Do you have a business besides being a book author? If so, you may want to put info about that business in your bio. Or is there a particular hook about your book that you want to get across in your bio? Perhaps your book is a novel based on a true story.

Your goal in the brief Twitter bio is to make yourself interesting enough (although all true) that people can find “connections” to you and want to follow you.

This means that you must not leave this bio blank. If you want people to follow you on Twitter, you have to be willing to share about yourself.

And remember that you can change this info easily. For example, if your book wins an award, you should consider changing your Twitter bio to reflect that award. Revisit your bio every couple of months to ensure that it presents the most up-to-date version of yourself.

Facebook Has Much More Space for Bio Info

Now let’s move on to Facebook, which has a longer bio section under info on your profile page with the ability to include as many of your own website URLs as you want.

Now here’s the often-overlooked extra of Facebook:

You can have a very brief bio section under your photo that people can see when visiting your wall page as well as your info page. This is a golden opportunity to get the most important points across in a very short space. Because, honestly, how many people are going to read all those long entries on your info page? (And for the long entries, do use lists instead of long, dense paragraphs.)

Take advantage of this brief, easy-to-read bio with the info you most want to share with your Facebook friends. Note that this may not necessarily be the same as the info you choose to share with your Twitter followers, even though in both cases you want to emphasize that you are a book author. And, again, update this brief Facebook bio every couple of months.

LinkedIn Has Its Own Peculiarities

Now for the third social networking site – LinkedIn. This site gives you a very brief space to put a few words under your photo along with the opportunity to provide a brief summary of your business. Book authors should take advantage of both places to convey their most important information. Then the rest of the profile info on LinkedIn is more job and career-oriented.

There is one important “trick”:

LinkedIn only allows three website links. But don’t click on “My Company” or “My Website” or “My Blog” before putting in the links. Click on “Other” in each case. Then to the right of “Other” put descriptive words such as “Book Blog” or “Book Site.” You want potential readers to know they can find out about your book(s) at your sites.

As with your other social media profiles, revisit your LinkedIn profile info every so often to ensure that the info is up to date.

In conclusion, don’t make the mistake of thinking that these profiles are unimportant and thus you dash off writing the info. These profiles provide the information that helps make you interesting to potential readers.

Spend as much time writing and revising these social media profiles as you would spend writing and revising any paragraph or page in your novel or nonfiction book. – P.Z.M.

___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://www.InternetBizBlogger.com as well as a book author, and her power marketing company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

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by: Tony Eldridge

source: http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2010/07/importance-of-social-networking-to.html

With a title like The Importance Of Social Networking To Authors And Professionals, you could expect to have a book, or volumes written to cover all the ways social media has become an indispensable tool for marketing your business. Well, I am not going to write a book here, but I am going to share one unexpected benefit of having a presence on social media sites that I learned over the last few weeks.

As many of you know, this is the first post for me in a few weeks. I had a string of illnesses hit the family and the death of my uncle in Indiana. Every now and then, circumstances arise that cause you to put all nonessential activities on hold so you can devote full attention to those circumstances.

That’s what I did for the last few weeks. Yet because I had a presence grounded in social networking, I was able to take care of some important personal needs without falling off the face of the earth. I received warm wishes on a number of sites and followers were able to know I would be away from blogging for a while.

While I was “away”, things happened that I expected. My traffic slowed down considerably. When you pause your posts, then this is a logical expectation. In fact, one thing you can do to grow your traffic and presence over the long haul is to continue to give good content.

But some unexpected things happened as well:

1. I continued to get followers on Facebook, Twitter, and on my blog which are the three main areas of internet presence that I personally focus on. These followers came at a steady clip. I believe that if the time I was away continued, the frequency of new followers would go down. But still, I was surprised at the robust activity of followers for me being away as long as I was away.
2. Not only that, comments on past blog posts continued to come. With hundreds of posts that give advice to people about marketing their book, my blog is starting to become a searchable resource that has rich relevant content for people. The search engines are also constantly delivering results with my past blog posts for people looking for the content I have.
3. My mailing lists continue to grow. People are still signing up for my free mailing lists, even though I have not sent out an update in a few weeks. Because I have built in some automated interaction, my absence has not hurt me for the few weeks I have been away. In my free Conducting Twitter Contest mailing lists, I have set it up to deliver a series of 10 lessons to people who want to learn how to conduct a twitter contest. In my free Video Tips Newsletter, I instantly give away 7 free video tips when people sign up for the list. This means that they have content to go through for a while as a reward for signing up even before the next video gets to them.

In the last few weeks, I learned the importance of cultivating a great social networking presence while I was able. I also realized the value in consistently creating good content over time. In doing so, it has rewarded me when I needed to step away and focus on personal issues. And the great thing about it is that it was all waiting for me when I was ready to return.

If you are just starting to build your social networking presence, take heart. What you are doing now is investing for the long term. That’s something that buying an ad can never do for you. If you are not seeing the results that you want immediately, don’t worry, they’ll be there soon. You just need to be committed to building your presence for the long haul.

—-

I have one request of you. I have entered a video contest that honors our men and women in the military. Regardless of how you feel about our wars, I know that most of you separate that issue with the people who serve. Take a look at my video entitled, “Compassionate Strength.” It’s a video that shows our soldiers interacting with Iraqi children.

The videos do not have a link directly to them, so you may have to do a little searching to find mine. Also, you will quickly see that someone has gone to great lengths to try to rate all videos as a 1 star. Please don’t let that throw you. My guess is that it’s someone who has entered the contest and thinks that this will help his/her video. It seems that if someone starts to get some good ratings, it’s not long before a bunch of 1 stars lowers the rating on the video.

C’est la vie

Tony Eldridge

Forney, TX, United States

Tony Eldridge author of the action/adventure book, The Samson Effect, that Clive Cussler calls a “first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.” He also share his book marketing tips with fellow authors through his blog and through his free weekly video marketing tips for authors. You can follow him on Twitter @TonyEldridge

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By Sue Collier

source: http://www.selfpublishingresources.com/marketing-your-book-before-it%E2%80%99s-published%E2%80%949-tips-for-success/

One of the biggest mistakes I see authors make is waiting until after they have books in hand to start promoting them. Initial sales are often disappointing, and authors end up discouraged. A book marketing plan should be in hand well before the book’s publication date, and there are many steps authors can take to help ensure their books success.

1. Have a website. This might seem like a no-brainer. It’s worth mentioning, though, since I still do get approached by potential authors who seek help self-publishing their book, only to find they have no website. Or authors might have a website but no information on their book—even after it’s been published.

2. Make your website “sticky.” Not only do you want to have a reason for visitors to stick around—and come back—but you want to have a way to capture their email address so you can stay in touch. Offer a free report in return for their email address; then stay in front of them with a regular ezine that provides valuable content and shares your expertise.

3. Start a blog—and update it regularly. I know, I know. Blogging takes time, which is at a premium for most people, and it’s tough to commit to two or three entries per week. But it gives you the opportunity to share your expertise with potential book buyers. Plus search engines love the fresh content, and it will help in your web rankings. You can also share the links on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media sites (more on that later).

Incidentally, make sure your blog is parked at your website and doesn’t have “WordPress” or “Blogspot” in the address. You’ll miss out on valuable search engine optimization if you don’t have your own unique URL.

4. Comment on other relevant, high-traffic blogs. Not only does this give you another opportunity to showcase your expertise, but it’s a great way to get to know people. When you leave good, informative comments in other blogs (not simply “Great post”), you can increase traffic to your own blog. People who read your comments may want to read more of what you have to say and find themselves clicking over to your own blog.

5. Write articles. Informational and how-to articles should be submitted to high-traffic article sites. They will attract visitors back to your website, where you can offer a signup for a free ebook or ezine to share more information.

6. Sign up for Facebook. With more than 300 million users—and growing daily—can you afford not to be there? Because your profile page is all about you—people don’t want to “friend” a book or a business; they want to connect with a person—it’s a nice way to bond with people on a bit more of a personal level and build relationships. Avoid hard selling here.

Join relevant Facebook groups. You can find like-minded people by searching for groups in particular subject areas. This is another great way for you to communicate with others, provide valuable information, and exhibit your expertise.

7. Create a Facebook fan page for your book. Because your profile page is all about you, you’ll want to create a Facebook fan page for your book. Here you can promote your book by adding useful tips and linking to your site.

8. Complete your LinkedIn profile page. If you are a professional, you probably are already on LinkedIn. (If you’re not there, it’s easy to sign up.) Make sure your profile is 100 percent complete. And make sure your profile is public because it allows search engines to find you.

Join relevant LinkedIn groups. These groups are similar to those on Facebook; they also have the added benefit of letting you communicate directly with other members, even if they are not part of your network.

9. Join Twitter. This is the fastest-growing social networking site. A microblog that limits “tweets” to 140 characters, this busy community allows you to connect directly with people better than Facebook or LinkedIn. It offers another opportunity for you to share valuable content and your expertise. When you post a new blog entry, for instance, you can tweet it here—driving traffic to your website or blog. You can “follow” industry experts to keep abreast of the latest news.
You are probably thinking this all sounds like a lot of work. Well, it is. But you can publish the best book in the world—but if people don’t know about it, no one will buy it. These online techniques are simple, free (unless you hire a consultant), and effective. And necessary if you intend to successfully sell books.

About The Author

Sue Collier

As a writing coach and publishing consultant, I have worked with hundreds of authors, helping them write, edit, and publish hundreds of books. My book The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing is slated for publication by Writer’s Digest in March 2010. I currently own Self-Publishing Resources; we provide book writing, book packaging, and book marketing services for self-publishers and small presses.

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