Do you really understand social media?

Social media is shrinking the world. We can communicate with as many people as we have time for domestically and internationally. You might be surprised at the number of social media platforms available. Here is a link to a list I found on Wikipedia.

Does this list give you a headache? How do you choose the best social media platform for your marketing? Research!

The Wikipedia link, I referenced above, has a live link to information on every site on the list. There may be a platform that contains members your book is perfect for. Think outside the box.

I don’t know if I know any author/writers who aren’t on Facebook. Why? Because it’s the largest platform and, overall, has garnered the most publicity.

Here are the most recent facts (3/19/16) about Facebook from the company website.

• 1.04 billion daily active users on average for December 2015
• 934 million mobile daily active users on average for December 2015
• 1.59 billion monthly active users as of December 31, 2015
• 1.44 billion mobile monthly active users as of December 31, 2015
• Approximately 83.6% of our daily active users are outside the US and Canada

Here are a couple of questions:

1. Is Facebook the greatest place to build your author’s platform?
2. Especially if you are a new author trying to establish a readership?

It may be if you are trying to connect with all of your family and friends.

This is what most authors do and is probably the reason most authors sell less than 250 copies of their book. They don’t get out of their comfort zone. This is definitely one place where size doesn’t matter.

So if you are wondering where to get started, Facebook may be where you want to get your feet wet, but don’t be a sheeple (one who follows the herd and does what everyone else is doing without checking to see if what they are doing actually works.)

Tip: I would make sure I have a website/blog to point my followers to first. Your site is your place in the universe where you can share yourself and your books without competition.

Here are some practical steps to get you started:

1. Spy out the land – Take note of what other authors are doing on Facebook, particularly those in your genre.
2. If you are challenged when it comes to graphic design, hire someone else to do it. There are tons of economic resources out there like Fiverr where you can have a professional create a banner or logo for a book page.
3. Join authors groups on Facebook. Establish a dialog with your fellow members and create valuable reciprocal relationships.
4. Start a group of your own for your friends who purchase your book/s. Get them involved in what you’re doing so you can leverage their friends.
5. Make sure that your message is consistent: from your Facebook page to your website, to your book, to your support collateral. This fortifies your brand and makes you and your message recognizable in the marketplace.
6. Engage your followers. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” Readers want to get to know you. Showing them that you care in the process is an additional bonus.
7. Be creative. Use some of that creative power to woo your readership on Facebook with new ideas beyond your writing table.
8. Be consistent. You don’t have to post content every day, but when you do make sure you alert your followers and do it consistently so that they can expect to share that time with you.

Remember, after you write the book, you must establish a platform so that you can get it into the hands of those you want to entertain, inspire or educate.

I hope you learn solid principles to help you on your journey of success—whatever success means to you.

Change something today to make your tomorrow better.

Tom Blubaugh
Literary Strategist, LLC
TomBlubaugh.net
tom@tomblubaugh.net
417-812-6110

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