First Word

I see Linked-In posts in the writer's and editor's groups, and sometimes the discussions inspire this blog. Today, one group asked whether or not you should read your own reviews. Let me start this by saying that I've never met a single author who doesn't read his/her reviews. Call it vanity, self-interest, or pure curiosity, but let's not act like we don't want to know what people are saying about our books. I'm certainly not going to act "above it all" here and say, "Nooooo, of course not!" LOL Okay, BUT here's the rub. When you read your reviews be prepared for whatever it says. Here's the even bigger piece of advice: whether good or bad, don't take it personally !!! Now, one problem with Amazon reviews are those reviewers who do take a run for the jugular and personally say nasty things about the author. In my "book" we don't call those folks reviewers! We call them HATERS!  When I released my first fic...

What is social media etiquette when it comes to marketing your business in this growing area of community connection? We don't have a rule book on what is appropriate, but we do have common sense and a pretty good idea of what we don't like to see done. Here are some basic "rules" when it comes to using your social media "ecosystem" to promote business and not lose "friends": Marketing Promo Shared or Tagged on My Wall -- Big No, No ! I call this "hijacking" another person's social media connections. When you hijack another person's wall for your promotional purposes and post what is essentially a billboard on his or her wall you run the risk of being "de-friended". I find it very offensive when someone posts what is nothing more than an advertisement on my wall. Now... there are exceptions: The person is someone I really do know and talk to either in-person or on social media . This real friend hijacks my wall for h...

In giving my marketing presentation (especially in front of older audiences), a theme has developed. A contingent of the audience has what I'll call the folded-arm social media "disgust" attitude. The demographic here usually consists of those whose hair (how shall we say) has grayed. They don't accept social media, and most of these folks don't even know what to post or more importantly "why" they should post at all. Social media has become a lynchpin to my marketing mix. For me not to post on social media I would be missing a tremendous and valuable percentage of the market segment. Now the gray-haired naysayers who typically look at me almost with an incredulous disdain when I say it's mission critical to have a social media presence don't seem to understand social media in general nor do they even want to deal with it. The next contingent of naysayers will look at me with their eyes glazed over and push back by saying, "Who has time?...

Tip 2: Leverage social media to the extreme.  Social media is free. Any tool you can leverage free-of-charge to market your book should be used. Create on Facebook an author page for your personal outreach to other authors, agents and "fans". Next create a fan page for your individual title. A secret trick: use Rocket Likes to invite hundreds of fans to your page. Make sure you create a Twitter account and a Linked-In profile. Focus your energy on the social media outlet that provides the most opportunities. Post on that outlet at least once or twice a day. Keep it up. The more you post, the more exposure for your book. Just make your posts a part of your daily routine, but do not get sucked into spending too much time on it. Remember, social media is a marketing tool not a toy. If you want to use it for social purposes, create a separate personal page for family and friends.

Now with social media taking over the networking landscape, here are three things NOT to do on social media: Logos as your face on a professional page and not a fan page – never place a logo in place of a face. People don’t interact with brand names and swirly letters. They like to know they are talking to (e-gads) an actual warm-blooded human being. Fan pages are different. Liking a logo works in this case. I can think of a handful of “logos” I interact with and wonder, “Is this a guy or girl?” Mug shots are scary – don’t use your iPhone to snap what appears to be nothing more than another Lindsay Lohan mug shot. If you’re genuinely using your social media to market and network, try a nice and professional head shot that is appealing. I’m not saying you need to look like a super model or GQ guy just keep it nice and “in focus.” What ya got in your hands there Fred ? What are you doing in your profile picture or background shot? Drinking? Table dancing? Wearing a biki...

As an ardent social media user, I have learned trial by fire how to maximize its use to attract business. I have roughly 3,500 connections on Facebook, about 500 and 500 respectively on Linked-In and Twitter. I've not built up Linked-In and Twitter to the same degree as Facebook for my personal-use reasons. I do get weekly queries and questions about my company 3L Publishing via social media and specifically Facebook. Since I am now an expert by learning hands-on, I want to impart some advice for other prospective social media users who desire to build up business vs. socialize. How did I get 3,500 connections on Facebook . Am I famous? No. Did I create a sort of fame? Yes. Here is how I got that many connections over a three-year period. Public Relations -- in the beginning I did a lot of promotion for my company 3L Publishing . I still try to do a lot of promotion, but these days my time is more crunched in project work. One key exposure, though, will roll in interest and c...

I know there are many other social media experts out there who have better information on the subject. But the tips I am going to provide come from hands-on experience and a marketing background. You might argue that my approaches and philosophies about it are not the best or the latest intelligence, but these techniques are learned from real-world experience. My Facebook page has over 3,000 connections all organically made without any effort on my part (well, no direct effort). You might wonder how those organic connections were made with only 200 "friends" to start. Well, this is where the real-world marketing and public relations experience comes into play. If you would like to build up your social media, follow my tips. If you don't like my tips ... don't follow them LOL. It's sort'a simple that way. General marketing and public relations = increased visibility and awareness How do you create a personal or business brand unless people know you exist. Y...

With social media, your website or blog, and your newsletter, your own image often becomes a part of your brand. One thing I swore when I left corporate America is that I would never wear a  suit ever again. I also wanted to do things my way. And I consider myself a lot of fun to work with and be around. So, when it came time to do the perfunctory head shots for social media, in particular, I was mindful of what exactly I wanted to convey about my image. (P.S., companies that put logos on social media instead of individual images, I think are missing the boat. I hate it when I'm talking back and forth with a logo ... it's impersonal and I don't know if you're a man or woman.) You will never see a boring head shot on any of my marketing materials. I am not a staid corporate executive. I will never be a vanilla girl who will bore you to work with me. And as you can see, I have played up in my image what I want the world to see -- fun, easygoing, not conservative, and ab...

When it comes to social media, it can't be ignored as an effective marketing and promotion mechanism. I run into people who still eschew its value. They look at social media like Facebook and mistakenly believe that it's only good for reconnecting with old high school flames or playing Farmville. The real value of social media works likes this (and if you're not participating you are missing out on a huge opportunity): Replacing the community newsletter or bulletin . In many ways social media like Twitter or Facebook have replaced the town crier. The news feed give equal access and lack censorship. I've often learned the headline news of the day on Facebook vs. the news. I don't like watching the news anyway, because it's so negative. On social media, you can read about the events as people react. You can also hear what is truly going on with your neighbors (if you're connected to them). While loaded with minutia, social media often provokes great discussi...

Did you know some marketing tools exist that cost either very little or nothing at all. Most small business owners in particular will whine they don't have a marketing budget (which I think is fool hearty no matter how much whining about lack of funds you insert into that conversation). What some of these folks don't know or don't take advantage of are the services that either don't cost much money or cost nothing at all. If you own a small business, at a minimum there is absolutely no reason you should use what is sometimes free to market or promote your business. Here are some of those inexpensive tools you should be using. Now your time is not free, but that is a whole other discussion. Blogger.com -- this blog is customized to blogger. It doesn't cost me a dime to have a blogspot . Other blog services such as Typepad cost a little extra and do have more bells and whistles such as built-in analytics; however, if you tie your blogspot site to google/analytics, ...

Here is a conundrum for you. Why do people ask you for recommendations and referrals when you have never worked with them? In the last few weeks, I've had several people ask me to refer them; however, I have never worked with or even know these people. I am scratching my head. Aren't you supposed to put your good name behind someone or something you had a positive experience with? How can I give a reference to someone I don't know ... or better yet barely recognize their face? I would imagine if I splatter my name all over the place and provide references for people I've never even met it might dilute the effectiveness of my recommendation. Am I right? So next time you ask someone to put their name behind your own name, maybe you ought to actually know the person. I'm just sayin'.