Ever heard the phrase “hiding your light under a bushel”? Maybe you’ve even wondered if you are doing that to your author brand. Some authors are incredibly capable writers and incredibly poor internet marketers. So here are some basics to keep in mind.
Keep your tweets short. Don’t oversell yourself or your books, but be sure to mention something author related at least once a day.
Your best bet is to make sure you post that tweet around 4 pm as that is the most marketing friendly time of the day. Keep your tweets on topic by utilizing a branded Twitter Stream if you tend to play hash-tag games or get caught up in politics.
And of course, always utilize appropriate hash tags to help widen your twitter footprint.
Sometimes Facebook is praised as the perfect marketing tool. But it’s hard to truly make ‘internet time pit’ work for you if you don’t have a lot of money to drop into the Pay Per Click ad scheme. So how to cope?
Make sure you have an author page to link to. This will keep your profile private while allowing you to connect with those searching for you on the internet. Fill out that author page as best you can and touch base with your fans by posting interesting tidbits, photos of yourself at readings and with fans, and generally keeping the page alive.
Cross link to Facebook when you can, and when you are putting a profile together on a new site, be sure to use that fan page link instead of your profile. Most people can’t access a profile due to privacy restrictions, but a fan page is free for all to see.
Google+
Google+ is a great way to connect with fans, toss about news for your newest work, and network with other authors. You can also use their Spark feature to make sure you follow all the latest news for self-publishing or publishing in general.
Plus, if you list yourself as an author or post your blog periodically, you may just find you start getting followed by numerous other folks interested in what you are talking about.
Unlike Facebook, Google+ is turning out to be a much more serious platform. It is incredibly stimulating for professionals and a huge hands-on experience for internet marketing. So don’t approach it the same way you would Facebook. See it as more of a peer to peer network than an author to fan network.
Blogging and Web Sites
If you don’t currently have a web site, you are missing tons of great advertisement and promotional opportunities. Despite having a web site, if you miss having a blog that you update at least once every two weeks, you are losing traffic. See how that works? It’s a cycle that you have to stay on top of to make the best progress.
Getting a website in this day and age is easy. However, to truly get what you need your best bet is to self-host a Wordpress site on a remote serve like BlueHost.com [My personal choice].
So get out there, and get your web presence honed. Make sure you hit all your major facets and get ready to sell not only your books, but yourself!
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Allison also runs a podcast called Blog Allie, offering Blogging and Social Media tips as well as interviews with top Pro Bloggers.
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