SOCIAL MEDIA - WHERE DO I START OR SHOULD I?

Okay, I have a website, I am writing a blog, my younger friends and family are now trying to convince me I need to be on Facebook before my next book so I have a "following"...Where do I begin and how do I still maintain a semblance of privacy?....I'm not quite sold on the idea......

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Permalink Reply by Liz Gwyn on October 1, 2012 at 2:15pm

Well, I have had FB for a few years and have learned a thing or 2.

1. Avoid games, responding to B-Day sign ups, etc...

2. Only put minimal information on FB.

3. Keep posts vague, but interesting. Don't put any personal info. in messages or posts.

4. I don't put my actual residence on social media, nor do I put my actual B-Day.

Permalink Reply by Jill Celeste on October 1, 2012 at 2:20pm

Thanks Liz! I need all the pointers I can get. I have heard you can set up a personal account and a business account and just keep the personal low profile while working mostly from the business account......I guess you cant have a business account unless you also have a personal one.

Permalink Reply by Liz Gwyn on October 2, 2012 at 8:48am

You can. I only have the one account right now.

I enjoy FB. I'm trying to get used to twitter.

Permalink Reply by Kathryn Jones on October 1, 2012 at 2:21pm

I'm glad you have a blog. Have you considered a website/blog? I have one and it covers most of the bases. I write on my blog almost every day and as for my website, I have a place for readers to purchase my books. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest are just a few of the social media sites I am involved in.

Privacy? You can keep private about anything you want to, but I find that readers and future readers want to know what I write as well as what causes me to write the things I do. They want to know me. It's not all about selling books but about connecting with others and seeing what they do, too.

Good luck.

Kathryn

http://www.ariverofstones.com

Permalink Reply by Jan Lazo-Davis on October 1, 2012 at 4:21pm

Kathryn, I agree with you. Your audience wants to know some of the Real you. So be real. Have something to say. Trust me, I believe the advise about "Write what you know" is give so it will have Truth and be Real.

Your audience will spot a fake, and they will know good sound content from fluff.

As to FB - People will want to find you. You can have a business page, a good thing. I have a personal page, an author page and two business pages. But wait to announce your page until you are ready to invite people. That means you like the look and you are going to post there.

Also, don't post the same think to each page you have. If you do some people will get it multiple times and this angers people. Just a thought.

I agree to stay away from the games, unless you want to learn how FB makes money and they make a lot of money on those games. People love to play them. I played while I learned and now I do not. It can be compulsive.

As to birthdays or anniversaries - well - you are putting yourself out there. People like to give if it does not take too much time and saying Happy Birthday is a way to give.

As to Pinterest - soft, soft, even softer sell. Have someone else tout your books, not you - other than listing them in your book list.

Just some of my thoughts

Permalink Reply by Jill Celeste on October 1, 2012 at 7:58pm

Thanks Jan,

Having been out of town for a month and sick for 3 weeks following that, I am just now getting ready to go back to my blog and change the format to something more personal....It has been more of a "daily lesson " kind of thing than my personal story. So I think I will start by revising my blog and then collect some more data before I go on FB.

Permalink Reply by Megge Fitz-Randolph on March 10, 2013 at 6:50pm

Hi Jan,

I, too, struggle a bit in redefining myself as a writing person within this private/public space. Writing has always been the place I could feel most safe, most able to be entirely myself but also within my own time frame and holding to my own parameters of what I chose to disclose. This writing(blogging) and letting it immediately fly out to the four corners of the universe unnerves me which I suspect is more about the generation in which I grew into my writing persona than it is about the degree of privacy I may have or may not have ever enjoyed. So, over time I've grown more comfortable in these private/public waters but it is an issue I still must struggle with. I have put up five blogs and then taken them down one at a time. I am waiting to put up my authors website/blog and then commit to it. Much to say here but here's where I'm currently at. Thanks for reading.

Permalink Reply by Jan Lazo-Davis on March 10, 2013 at 7:17pm

Just a quick tip - blogs are for fun and to state an opinion. They should be perfect in all ways - but never are. Don't over edit yourself. Something I tend to do. GRIN

Give yourself permission to have a mistake or two and your audience will love you for it. It shows that no one is perfect. Just a thought.

What is more important that picture perfect grammar, spelling, and punctuation is Good Content!!! People respond to good content. They also want a blog to appear when you say it will. If that is daily - well then by all means daily, with an apology when you miss a day. I am shooting for blogging weekly. Once you get a following they will look forward to their brain being filled with your thoughts and if it is every Wednesday - that is fine.

As long as when you post you realize your are basically standing on top of a Semi-Tractor Trailer in the middle of a grid-locked Los Angeles Freeway with a mega-phone...SHOUTING to the world what you are saying.

And, tongue-in-cheek, I hope that is what happens because it will mean your audience is listening.

Permalink Reply by Liz Gwyn on October 2, 2012 at 8:49am

I have a website also, but can't get the blog going. Any pointers?

www.amazingstories2012.com/

Permalink Reply by Kathryn Jones on October 2, 2012 at 10:23am

Get your readership involved in sharing their experiences. If they haven't personally had an experience with life after death, they probably know someone who has.

Let your readers in about why you've written the book you have. What prompted you to write the book and what have you learned from others who have shared their experiences with you? I am assuming the book is loaded with experiences from those who have experienced life after death.

I've learned to ask questions on my blog to draw out answers. And because I think people are naturally interested about what happens after death, I think you'll draw in some answers.

Kathryn

http://www.ariverofstones.com

Permalink Reply by Liz Gwyn on October 17, 2012 at 9:13am

Will you take a look @ my blog? www.amazingstories2012.com/ It is on Liz's Corner. Any suggestions? I just can't get it off the ground.

Permalink Reply by jeff herman on October 1, 2012 at 3:43pm

You should be visible where ever opportunity knocks, and then follow wherever the most heat is coming from. Don't give our your home address, etc., but if someone is determined to find you they will until you leave the grid.