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FABULOUS post. So true – I’ve completely tuned out people for some of the points you’ve mentioned.
Thanks for continuing to be the voice of reason on social media.
eden
ReplyEden, you are a bright light and a shining example of what authors need to do. Your dedication to helping other authors is truly stunning. I’ve met so many incredible supporters through you, and your campaign for #IndiesUnite4Joshua to help @MaxwellCynn’s son Joshua (who’s struggling w/ leukemia) is admirable. Part of why we are all involved, besides adoring Max and wanting to help Joshua, is because of who YOU are.
Anyone who reads this needs to follow Eden’s example. I’ve learned so much from her. AND she’s an amazing writer. Buy her book!
ReplyI’ve often wondered how many book sales actually happen from all of those “buy my book” tweets. I’ve adopted the idea that if I’m funny or interesting, people will check out my profile or my website to see if I’ve written anything. Thanks for spelling it out for us in plain English!
ReplyYea, I’m not sure, but there is definitely a backlash happening against this one-way model. Nobody wants to be hammered. Even the folks doing it don’t want to be hammered so I’m not sure why they are doing it. I hope at least A FEW read this article (or ones like mine) and reexamine their selling strategies. That survey is sobering to say the least.
Thanks for your support and comments, sweet.
ReplyYou hit the nail on the head. I’ve noticed that when I blog about something we do for others, we get more hits than when I am just encouraging people to check us out. We have to bring value or the traffic just simply won’t come.
I haven’t had the chance to have a product to promote. I hope to have some in the future, so I’ll definitely take posts like this to heart. By doing a bunch of things, most of which help others as well as me, should hopefully keep my feed (Twitter, blog, Facebook, whatever) from being all about me or about a single product.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, in other words.
ReplyThank you, Mark. Yes, another good analogy. The problem with only helping yourself out is it’s disingenuous. Doing my own thing here on BRHM allows me to offer help and advice because I see a need and I want to help people succeed. There’s no catch. Take this free advice and RUN, BABY, RUN. If you want to tell others, great. If you want to keep it to yourself, that’s fine, too. We all help people in our own little ways. Sure, I have a biz to run and books to sell, but my main goal is and has always been to help authors succeed and learn from my mistakes. Some won’t listen. That’s cool, too.
There’s one author I know who has created multiple dummy accounts and he auto tweets hundreds of links each day to his books on Amazon. He’s making a lot of money. He’s also constantly being shut down by Twitter and simply opens up more accounts. Now he’s teaching other authors to do the same. If that’s how he wants to become known, rock on.
Not me.
ReplyI hear you. I want to be the type of author that readers seek out because of my message. The idea of multiple accounts to bombard people is such a turn off. If I’m going to “bombard people,” it will be with content and conversation that makes a difference.
ReplyThere you go, Emelia. Some of the people I admire most on social media are out there unearthing and digging up the most relevant data they can find to share with others, to help make us more successful. In fact, many of their streams are link-filled however, they’re not asking me to join their pyramid schemes or sell vitamins for them. (And if they are, I certainly can’t tell.) Becoming the go-to person in a given area, or initiating conversation about a genre or topic is a terrific way to get in the game. Just sayin.
ReplyIt is a fact that selling yourself and the relationship works far better than just selling your product. I am a voracious reader but -in all honesty- your books aren’t my typical fare. I’m mainly into biographys, history, the classics and, of course, poetry. I was cruising the internet, saw you and decided to hang around for a while. A bit later I decided to find out why you’re so snarky by reading Mancode. Surprise, I really enjoyed it. I then decided to make it a double. I have also read a few similar books by other writers. You have opened up a new genre for me.
ReplyWes, I’m overwhelmed by your comment. You’ve made my day. My week! (you can tell my use of the dreaded and rare exclamation mark.) Like you, I tended to stick to a certain genre for a long time. Never much of a reader of biographies, reading The Glass Castle and any/all of David Sedaris’ books was life changing for me. A tweep I met IRL told me I’m much nicer IRL than she expected. Then we had lunch and I let my snark flag fly. Being authentic is critical to our success.
Write on.
ReplyYour posts are always so entertaining and educational (a tough combo to pull off). While I do tend to share a number of links on my Twitter and Facebook, I hope I don’t end up one of those spammers who can’t talk about anything beside what they’re selling. Though I have a feeling if I do, you’ll yell at me for it 🙂
ReplyThank you, Will. I’m not a yeller IRL (surprisingly, given the red hair and all ;). I go for more of a word lashing, if you will, but I think you already know that from following me. Sharing interesting content is one thing — even if they’re links — it’s the self-promo that people find objectionable. There’s a clear difference.
After all, you wouldn’t be here reading this if you hadn’t clicked on a link….
ReplyGreat info Rachel. When I released my first book last summer, I had no platform and really had no idea how to promote it. I felt like I was just spinning my wheels, so I quit promoting. Not because I was giving up, but because I realized there was so much I needed to learn. I started reading blogs, interacting and promoting others, blogging, and building a network. It has really paid off. Wish I had researched more before publishing. Better late than never 🙂
ReplyThank you, M.E. I applaud you, actually, for taking a step back. That’s one of the biggest mistakes I see authors make — putting the horse before the proverbial cart. It takes intelligence to figure out that’s not going to work. Many writers just plow through, spamming links on Twitter, maybe selling a book here or there. I’d love to showcase your success sometime — @JustinBog has shared some of your story with me so I know that establishing your platform has been key to your success. Let’s chat!
ReplyOnce again, I can’t agree more. I’ve just started sharing #writetips on Twitter as a way to bolster my content, and there’s been an amazing response. An amazing amount of RTs and interactions, and when I talk to those people, they’re telling me how great the tips are. So you’re right, content over self-promo links goes a long way.
The survey result doesn’t surprise me at all though. So many self-published authors go on about better royalties than traditionally published, and that’s true, but for the vast majority of self-pubbed authors, 70% of nothing = not much!
ReplyYour #writetips are terrific, too BTW, Ciara. So helpful!
I’m not entirely against self-promo — let me be clear. We all need to get our work out there. But there are other ways — a tweet here or there, links on our bios, interviews, guest blogs, reviews, blog tours, advertising…the list is almost limitless how many options there are. I just did an interview w/ @ChrisBellNZ discussing the many options (and the end of the world, but that’s beside the point :)…
And yes, the royalties for SP authors is great — 70% for books above $2.99 — if people can find out about you. That’s where engagement is crucial.
ReplyAlways pushing ahead and trying to not let statistics build me up, they’re so fleeting, or knock me down either since the writing life is a curvy road of ups and downs. Love what you have to say . . . calm guidance. That voice in my head saying: be impeccable with your word.
ReplyIt’s true, Justin — The stats are ARE fleeting. It’s important to keep striving to be your best (as you do), and provide even more great stuff to read while still interacting for your current book.
Balance, above all things.
ReplyOkay I’m going to ask a stupid question, but if I don’t ask, I don’t learn. So there.
What exactly is rich, interesting content? Is it posting a link to something I read and liked? Or it is composing a tweet with good info? Can you do that in 140 characters?
I’ve learned a lot from you, Rachel, but I’m still stumped on that one. Thanks!
ReplyNot stupid at all. I think this stumps a lot of people, which is why they end up spamming links constantly. Picking your keywords and knowing your branding is crucial.
Think about tweeps you like: does their content only include links to their own stuff? Doubtful. The tweeps I follow & RT the most provide interesting content that’s branded around who they are: if you are looking for charity info, follow a charity blogger who tweets about causes you’re interested in. As for what I do personally, I provide facts, information, resources etc on @BadRedheadMedia. Same with my blog. My goal is to help people understand branding and social media better to sell more books! Yes, I link to my own stuff but I know it’s not entirely self-serving.
As for my author account, @RachelintheOC, I’ve chosen words that reflect my style: men, women, relationships, snark, social media, books, fellow authors. All topics that interest me and I know interest others!
Does that help?
ReplyIt gave me something to think about. I’m a romance author so my keywords are focused on love, sex, relationships, trashy books, etc. But I’m not sure how to turn them into content. I’m not really an expert on writing, publishing, and definitely not selling.
Hmmm…must ponder this. Thanks!
ReplyOne more question: have you written anything on branding? That still stumps me too. Thanks!
ReplyJust wrote a BRANDING post and it’s up here on BadRedheadMedia.com — I hope it helps you, Amelia.
ReplyYou’re so awesome! Thanks! (That deserved two exclamation points.) 😉
Reply[…] Please: Do Not Spam Another Link Until You Read This! […]
ReplyHello Rachel,
You’ve made a very good point. Going by your logic, do you think it wise to instead of meeting your audience head on you just focus on building a relationship with the people they most admire or follow? Does this have benefits?
ReplyHi Tony — thank you. There are definitely advantages to following who your followers follow (that sounds so funny). That’s the best way to grow your Twitter account to be honest — check their followers but more importantly, check their lists (who they have listed and who has listed them) which is targeted even further. Lists go very deep. In fact, that will probably be next week’s article! x
ReplyLoved your post you bad redhead you! I’m going to share it on my FB Writer’s Circle. Having worked in Marketing & PR, completely agree, relationships are the way forward x
ReplyPLEASE: DO NOT SPAM ANOTHER LINK UNTIL YOU READ THIS! @ via BadRedheadMedia http://t.co/mRxBIBre via @badredheadmedia
ReplyPLEASE: DO NOT SPAM ANOTHER LINK UNTIL YOU READ THIS! http://t.co/7hx8E6RH via @badredheadmedia
ReplyPLEASE: DO NOT SPAM ANOTHER LINK UNTIL YOU READ THIS! @ via BadRedheadMedia http://t.co/r65fTe5h via @badredheadmedia
ReplyAwesome post, Rachel. If I wore a cap, I’d tip it to you, but I don’t, so a thank-you will have to suffice.
I think one of the problems with Twitter is ignorance. People don’t realise how ineffective constant promo is/how damaging it can be, so they do it anyway. They don’t realise there’s another way, and that’s why I sympathise sometimes.
Then again, there are loads of great resources out there if one is willing to learn. It’s not a quick fix–it’s a marathon. It’s taken me…seven-ish months to build a platform that I’d still describe as in its early stages of growing, but I’ve built it through perseverance.
My personal three Twitter policies? Share useful content your followers will enjoy from other sources, not just for the sake of sharing. Share stuff from your own website a few times per day, but not every five minutes. And most importantly, reply to every tweet. Engage. Make your author ‘brand’ just about you being yourself.
Again, great post. I’ll be sharing.
Ryan
ReplyThanks so much, Ryan!
I’ve been on Twitter since ’09, and I’ve NEVER seen more twitter spam — particularly from authors. One writer today argued with me that thanking everyone and posting the link to his site in the thank you isn’t spam. Please. I directed him to the Twitter HELP section which clearly defines identical messages to different recipients as spam, as well as a link in each tweet.
Whatever. What’s most important is having Twitter policies like yours (which I fully support, BTW). The biggest names in social may not interact with every single tweet, but they do share great content that’s not purely self-promo.
Thank you, again!
ReplyPlease: Do NOT Spam Another Link Until You Read This! @BadRedheadMedia http://t.co/zB5V76QC #authors #bloggers #writing
ReplyPlease: Do NOT Spam Another Link Until You Read This! @BadRedheadMedia http://t.co/dAp4PfbH #authors #bloggers #writing
Reply@LisaDaleNorton Thanks for the mention. Great article on spamming in your shimmering images.http://t.co/CNqECiC5 #writing #amwriting
Reply[…] Interesante reflexión que analiza el uso que hacemos de las redes sociales y la importancia de las relaciones personales que se establecen antes de intentar hablar única y exclusivamente de tu producto. See on badredheadmedia.com […]
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