New HuffPo Article: This Is How You’re Doing Social Media Wrong… And How to Do It Right

By Rachel Thompson | Blog

May 08

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Looking for more social media tips? Check out my latest Huffington Post article!

When it comes to marketing our work (authors, artists, musicians) on social media, here is what’s interesting: When you suggest to an author, who is doing nothing but spamming (repeatedly sharing the same link to hundreds or thousands) their book links on Twitter, Facebook, etc., to unsuspecting and frankly, uninterested people, that maybe, just maybe, they might want to interact, connect, share, promote others instead or in addition to blasting their own stuff and they YELL AT YOU IN SHOUTY CAPS when you dare suggest that what they’re doing is…

Well, what exactly?

  • Wrong? Maybe. Twitter does have spam guidelines, which these folks are clearly violating (and probably don’t know or care about),
  • Ineffective? Depends on what parameters you define (more below),
  • Annoying? Clearly. No question,
  • Lazy? Yes.

Let’s deconstruct.

Is It Wrong?

Social media is about building relationships — it’s not radio (one-way broadcasting). Twitter does have rules, and if you look at the Help section on what constitutes spam, it’s about a page long. What stands out for authors is this:

  • If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates, you are spamming.
  • If you send large numbers of duplicate @replies or mentions, you are spamming.

What to do? Familiarize yourself with the guidelines of each social media channel before you jump in. Twitter has rules (check their wonderful Help Section for answers to practically any question), and if you are doing nothing but spamming your links, you deserve to be suspended.

For the full article please go over to Huffington Post. To subscribe to my HuffPost Book updates, click here.

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About the Author

Rachel Thompson is the author of newly released BadRedhead Media 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge: How to energize your book sales in a month - created to help authors market their book. She is also the author of Broken Places (one of IndieReader's "Best of 2015" top books and 2015 Honorable Mention Winner in the San Francisco Book Festival), and the multi award-winning Broken Pieces, as well as two additional humor books, A Walk In The Snark and Mancode: Exposed. She owns BadRedhead Media, creating effective social media and book marketing campaigns for authors. Her articles appear regularly in The Huffington Post,  IndieReader.com, The San Francisco Book Review (BadRedhead Says…), 12Most.com, BookPromotion.com, and Self-Publishers Monthly. Not just an advocate for sexual abuse survivors, Rachel is the creator and founder of the hashtag phenomenon #MondayBlogs and two live Twitter chats: #BookMarketingChat (co-hosted with TheRuralVA, Emilie Rabitoy) and #SexAbuseChat, co-hosted with C. Streetlights and Judith Staff. She hates walks in the rain, running out of coffee, and coconut. She lives in California with her family.

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New HuffPo Article: Writing What Scares You - BadRedhead Media June 12, 2014

[…] New HuffPo Article: This Is How You’re Doing Social Media Wrong… And How to Do It Right […]

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The Reason Your Author Platform Matters via @BadRedheadMedia September 22, 2015

[…] I’m very visible: I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram — social media is […]

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[…] Visibility: I’m very visible: I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram — social media is best used for building relationships, not for blasting ‘buy my book!’ links. I blog weekly (on both my author blog and my business blog), I guest blog, I write for Huffington Post, IndieReader.com, FeminineCollective.com, I pay for low-cost ads, I do occasional blog tours and book promos. If you google RachelintheOC, BadRedhead Media, or Author Rachel Thompson, you’ll find me. […]

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How Will an Author Platform Make You a More Successful Author? - BadRedhead Media September 7, 2016

[…] Visibility: I’m very visible: I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram — social media is best used for building relationships, not for blasting ‘buy my book!’ links. I blog weekly (on both my author blog and my business blog), I guest blog, I write for Huffington Post, IndieReader.com, FeminineCollective.com, I pay for low-cost ads, I do occasional blog tours and book promos. If you google RachelintheOC, BadRedhead Media, or Author Rachel Thompson, you’ll find me. […]

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