Everyone knows we have to have a web presence in today’s world to have an impact on our audience and to gain the visibility we must have as an author. The confusion and discord comes from not knowing all the tricks and sites which are important to keep up with and which ones are a waste of your time. Frankly, you could spend every waking moment on the Internet and you would still not be able to achieve your ultimate level of exposure.
I launched my first website in August of 1995. I participated on bulletin boards long before my first website because it gave me a method of engaging with others who shared my interests in being a speaker and an author. We were able to share information, tips and tricks to get our desired results faster and less expensively.
Today, the choices are so vast it makes your head spin. Most people recognize Facebook as the number one Social Media site to have a presence. You must have your personal page, a fan page and a group page for each area you are promoting.
Since I am an author and have ten books published, I have ten Fan Pages and four group pages. It is a lot to keep up with for sure, but without it, I would miss great opportunities to connect with others in my genre.
Then of course there is LinkedIn, which I was the 78th member to sign up in 2003. But it wasn’t until three years ago when a client explained the power of the groups on LinkedIn that I became a real fan of what they are doing. Granted they have 25% fewer members than Facebook, but the quality of people outranks the one billion plus members on Facebook.
I felt Twitter was a complete waste of time until another client explained to me how I could send out a message to the entire group of followers I had accumulated. Now I have seven Twitter accounts and post tweets to each of the accounts about once a week.
I found Hootsuite through a client service who specializes in Social Media and it is a great time saver. I can post my tweets to Twitter, Facebook, my Fan Page on Facebook, as well as my Group and on Linked in with one click! It is a phenomenal time saver.
When Pinterest was launched, I honestly felt as though it was just another way to consume more of my time and energy. I rarely, once a week or so, get to Pinterest. I love the pictures, captions and generally interesting listings, but I still have not seen direct results in keeping up with the site.
Foursqure popped up about a year ago and it’s fun to let your friends know what you are and what you would like to share with them when you’ve found a great place to hang out, but I have not found a redeeming value there for my business.
Every indication points to Google Plus as being the next go to site. Even Guy Kawasaki swears it will eclipse Facebook in a very short time. What I enjoy about Google Plus is the level of individuals I can connect with there who are not available on Facebook. I get to follow Richard Branson and the Dali Lama, two of my most favored people on the planet.
But what if you also have to write every day or have a job? It takes about an hour a day to keep up with the Social Media sites I’ve mentioned so far and the list goes on. But barely keeping up with these sites will not build your business adequately. That will take a great deal more time.
Once you have a presence and a following of several thousand individuals, you will then want to generate teleseminars and webinars to engage your following and give them a reason to keep in touch with you. It takes about seven to ten times of engagement before they are willing to do business with you.
One of the best decisions I made when it comes to Social Media is to engage a Virtual Assistant to manage the details. They are able to keep up with the latest and greatest fads in Social Media and do it much more effectively than I do because they don’t get distracted by answering posts or responding to messages!
Regardless, being in business as an author today, you have to establish your expertise through Social Media, have a website which is a blog (it has a much higher engagement availability than a website) and be able to engage with colleagues on a regular basis.
It’s just a matter of discipline and focus. And the results you acquire will be worth the effort.
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