Marketing via Pinterest

So many people are on Pinterest. I'm not one of them. I've got so much going on each day, I (and my family) celebrate if I eek out time to shower. I'm not on it, but I do know about it and have been to some writers' Pinterest pages or bulletin boards or whatever they're called.

Pinterest came on scene and rocketed to the number 3 social networking site. A lot of authors signed on, but from what I'm hearing, Pinterest does not like sites to be promotion-oriented. Some authors work around it by having one folder that contains their book covers. Other authors have gone way beyond that. They've created Pinterest boards that are solely devoted to a book. At this point, it would seem to be primarily YA authors who have figured out how to use Pinterest to promote.

Every folder on their Pinterest board is devoted to bringing their book and characters to life. They have a folder with photos from the area where a character lives. If the book is fantasy, they have pictures that bring that fantasy to life. If it involves mountain biking, they have photos of mountains and trails and bikes that the character would ride, etc. They have folders with scenes that help the reader see what the writer saw when he or she wrote a scene.

Readers come to the Pinterest page and immerse themselves into the book and characters and scenes.

Pinterest is now one of the things publishers look to when they are considering taking on an author. They look to see if the author is not just on Pinterest, but are the book and characters there? Are they promoting it? How many fans have pinned their pictures? How many fans have created Pinterest boards devoted to the story?

If you want to read more about this and what's going on, check out an article in the Examiner. Have you already created a Pinterest board for your book? If so, will it go live now or after the book is published? What folders are you creating?

Third Step to Networking

Before we get to the third step in Successful Networking for writers, let’s review steps one and two. The first step was to Listen. I was reminded of this recently while I doing some volunteer work. A writer came up, introduced himself and talked about his book. During the “conversation,” he mentioned what a great listener he was, then proceeded to talk and talk over anyone who tried to get a word in edgewise.

By the time my shift was over and I gathered my stuff to leave, I knew quite a bit about him, his job over the last twenty years, etc. He knew nothing about me. He didn’t ask what I did. I doubt he even remembered my first name. He hadn’t “met” me. He’d failed in that second step of getting to know the other person.

If he’d “met” me and gotten to know me, he might have not only gained a reader, he might have learned something about me that he would need in the future. Maybe I’m knowledgeable in some area he’s researching for another book. Gaining a reader entails not just talking about yourself and your book, but getting to know that other person a little, whether you have two minutes with them or twenty.

But let’s say, you’re not like that guy I met. You listened, you connected. You enticed me to go look at your book. Maybe you even discovered something about me that you found interesting. This brings us to Step Three in Successful Networking:
Keep Track of Your Encounters

The guy in my example didn’t even bother to give me his card or ask for mine. When you’re networking, if possible, get the other person’s card. Make a note on the back of when and where you met and the things you want to remember about that person. If you can’t get a card, then note on a piece of paper or in a notebook his/her name and contact information along with what was said? Clearly, you won’t have time to do this for every person you meet or who stands in line to get your autograph, but you can do it for those you especially want to remember. If your “meet up” is online, and you think this person might help you or you might be able to help them in the future, make a note of that person’s name, URL, email, whatever you want to remember in the future.

Networking is more than just meeting people and listening to them. It's keeping track of all those encounters. All right, I admit, it can be a pain and time-consuming, but it could also pay off big in the future. You meet not only experts, but authors who might provide cover blurbs, other writers looking for critique partners, business people who might give you personal attention when it comes to printing your business cards because they know you, people who can give you the inside scoop on upcoming workshops or up-and-coming agents, and more. All these people are out there. You just have to meet them.

And that's the basic three steps to Successful Networking – Listen, Meet, Keep a Database. In other words, get away from your desk and computer, meet people, listen to them, maintain contact, and keep up with your database list.

Now, get out there and Network. It’s actually fun.

Second Step to Networking

In the last post, I said the number one step in Successful Networking is to Listen.

Networking isn't just trying to sell yourself or your book. A major part of networking is paying attention to others. But to pay attention to others, you have to meet them.

Step Two in Successful Networking:
Get up from your computer and put yourself out there. You have to meet and talk with other people.

In the case of book signings, sure, you want readers to buy your book. What you don't want them to do is take your book just to escape from you, then drop it on a table somewhere else in the store. You want them to feel like they have a rapport with you through this personal meeting. They not only buy this book, but look for future books.

When you go to conferences and workshops, you never know who you're going to meet. That nondescript woman sitting next to you at lunch could be the fabulous editor you've been searching for to go over your manuscript before you send it in to an agent. But you'll never know that if you spend the whole meal talking about yourself and don't even bother to exchange business cards or find out about her.

That guy you bump into in the hall at work or sit next to on the plane could be more than just clumsy. He might be an expert in forensics or quilting or beekeeping or that topic in your book that you really need expert advice on. How will you know that if you don’t take the initiative to meet and talk with him?

If you’re ePublishing, put yourself out on the Internet. Join groups where you can meet people and promote (see my post on July 9th).

So, another big part of Successful Networking for the author is talking with other people. That’s different from talking to people. Meet them. Get to know something about them.

First Step to Networking

Networking means getting out of your writer's box and meeting and learning about other people. While most of us might prefer to sit at our computers all day, limiting our public exposure to the clerk behind the post office counter, we need to allow time to network.

Why? Well, it can get lonely talking to yourself and your imaginary characters all day. Plus, every time you meet a new person or put yourself in a different situation, you learn something, about that person, about the world, about yourself. You can exchange both ideas and business cards. And probably most importantly, you meet people who might someday advance your career.

There are three steps or areas to Successful Networking for the writer. Today, we cover the first step.

Step One:

Don't just join organizations then read their newsletters in the safety of your home. Go to meetings, talk to people, find out about them, and -- this is important -- listen. Go to conventions and workshops, introduce yourself to fellow writers, as well as editors and agents, share ideas, and -- this is important -- listen. When you're at a book signing, don't just grab passersby and launch into the spiel about your book. Ask a question, put the book into their hands so they get the feel for it and can peruse it, and -- this is important -- listen.

Okay, this is a test ... what's the first and probably most important part of networking? I know you know the answer, because you were … listening.
Step One to Successful Networking -- Listen

No. 1 on Amazon

John Green’s latest book, The Fault in Our Stars, is number 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. You’re going to have to wait a while to read it though. It’s not due for release until spring of next year.

Huh? you say. According to the Wall Street Journal, he has amassed so many fans that his book has climbed the charts.

He, folks, has mastered the art of promoting via social media. Green “posted the title of his new book on Twitter, Tumblr and the community forum YourPants.org. An hour later, he upped the stakes by promising to sign all pre-orders and the entire first-print run, while also launching a YouTube live show.”

His fans responded by posting “hundreds of potential dust jackets for the book, which doesn't have one yet. They also turned to Twitter and Tumblr to discuss pre-ordering the books.” And thus began the climb of the book to the top of the charts.

You’re probably wondering, how many followers does this guy have?

Check out this chart from the article:
Weaving an Intricate Web: John Green's Digital Toolbox
Name of Web site  Purpose                                           Followers
1.Twitter                   Posts daily, often in response to         1.1 million
                                   readers
2.YouTube                Has made nearly 900 videos with      526,000
                                   his brother
3.Facebook              Author updates but prefers other       62,000
                                    social media
4.Nerdfighters.com   Hosts conversations about a variety   60,000
                                   of topics
5.YourPants.org        A forum to discuss the videos            27,000
6.Tumblr                   A fluid conversation in images or       26,000
                                    videos

Yep, yep. I’m probably second in all those places. Or I will be, as soon as I figure out why the NerdFighters are in YourPants. I’d better Tumblr a Twitter on Facebook and see if someone can tell me.

Selling to Communities

Thought I’d share with y’all an article in Publishers Weekly called Communities The Key, Publishers Told. Its focus is on promoting your book, especially through online communities.

Here are some quotes to ponder from that article:

One of Goodreads' best interactive tools are featured author groups, he said, where authors make themselves available to answer readers' questions on the site for a number of days.

Looking to the future, Joel [president of Twist Image] pointed to figures that showed sales of smartphones outpacing PCs in the fourth quarter of 2010. "This is the shift away from fixed locations. This is the shift where we're going to have a society that is much more in tune with using our mobile devices as their primary form of connectivity," he predicted.

Then [Joel] described a SnapTell app's ability to recognize a photo of a book and provide the user with information about the book, including the nearest bookstores and how many copies are in stock.

Joel … said many companies that consult his digital agency now blog and tweet and have Facebook pages, but that is not enough.

Okay, setting aside, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads Author Sites, what are you doing that you can see is affecting your sales? I think blogging could be added to the list.

Don’t Touch My Book

That’s what Facebook seems to be saying to the rest of the world. Facebook is suing a social networking site for teachers because it uses the word “book” in their name: Teachbook.

According to Chris Crum of WebProNews, here’s part of the beginning of the suit filed by Facebook:

Defendant Teachbook.com LLC rides on the coattails of the fame and enormous goodwill of the FACEBOOK trademark. Misappropriating the distinctive BOOK portion of Facebook's trademark…

The Teachbook site is more than just socializing, though. According to WebProNews,

It lets teachers create lesson plans, instructional videos, and other teaching resources. It lets users manage their classroom communications with secure parent-teacher communication tools….It lets teachers communicate with colleagues through discussion, chat, blogs, etc. It lets them create and manage online courses and instructional modules. It lets teachers manage student grades by recording, calculating, and sharing them within the Gradebook.

Crum also points out:

It's also worth noting that Facebook just launched a product called "Facebook Places," even though Google (their direct competitor) already had a product called "Google Places".

What do you think? Will Facebook win the lawsuit?

Twitterific

I’m on Twitter. You’re most likely on Twitter. Celebrities, politicians, news anchors are on Twitter. Seems like there are only a few people on the planet who are not on Twitter.

Most authors would agree that it’s a great way to build your social platform, get the word out about your book and/or blog, and meet people.

Now, contrary to what you may be thinking, I’m not here today to tell you to join Twitter, if you haven’t, and to start tweeting. I am writing to suggest (not order, since it’s totally up to you) that you might want to watch this latest video by the Twitter crew.

I think it’s cute. I’ve watched it multiple times. My son walked by my office last night and said, “You’re watching that again?” There’s a reason, though. My daughter’s in it, twice. A reason for you to watch it, other than it’s cute and my beautiful daughter is in it, is that it appears Twitter is hiring. That’s good news in this economy.

Facebook Dilemma

I joined Facebook. I even created a Facebook Networked Blogs widget. See it there, in the sidebar? Some of you showed me how to do it and quite a few of you have networked me back.

I’ve got another question for you experts.

What do I do with all the invitations I’ve gotten?

I’ve got:

1 event invitation

8 group invitations

17 page suggestions

2 farmville gift requests

2 farmville building requests

1 café world neighbor request

1 frontier neighbor request

5 networkedblogs invitations

1 vviissiioonnss invitation

1 lifescapes invitation

1 author stacy juba invitation

1 goodreads invitation

2 cause invitations

1 diabetes awareness r invitation

I’m thinking I should follow the 5 networkedblogs invitations and ignore the Farmville requests. I might want to follow the author stacy juba invitation and the lifescapes invitation since I know those two authors. The rest I’m clueless about.

How do y’all respond to all the invites and requests? And how do you keep from going crazy? Okay, a couple of you can skip answering that last question. You know who you are and why it’s too late.

Networking News

During my search around the news world, I came across an article in the National Post that I thought I’d share with you. It’s called: “Amber Mac: Social Media for Authors – The Rules.” Amber Mac, or more accurately, Amber MacArthur, has a book out called Power Friending.

She wrote: “In 2010 and beyond, authors are responsible for leveraging personal and professional networks to ensure books get bought.” I agree with her. It is almost imperative that you have a platform and a network built before your book is published and, in reality, before you approach an agent.

Here are her tips:
1. Act Authentically
By this, she means be yourself on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t hit people over the head to get them to buy your book.

2. Be Brave
Here, she’s saying do something original to make yourself stand out. She posted her own trailer as an example.

3. Be consistent
Once you start blogging, tweeting and networking, keep it up. She says to set aside a few minutes every few hours to check in with online friends.

Not bad advice at all. Link over if you’d like to read her explanation of each tip.

The Giant Head

Late Tuesday night I added a widget to Straight From Hel – a Networked Blogs widget. You can see it in the sidebar. It wasn’t hard to add. You can google “Networked Blogs” to find where to go to get the code (or click the link above), then add it to your own, if you’re on Facebook. I’m pretty new to Facebook, but thought I’d give it a try.

I’m happy to report it’s working.

When I signed up for it, I also signed up to follow about three or four blogs that I recognized. Being the neophyte that I am, I thought my new widget would show the blogs I’m following. It doesn’t. It shows the blogs following me.

When I went back to my blog to see the pics of the blogs I had followed, all I saw was my “giant head,” as I call my avatar picture. Just me. I kept coming back to look at it ‘cause it made me laugh. It was like I was stalking myself.

I sent an email to the BBTCafe and told them about my giant head stalking myself and about five of them went right over and followed me. So my giant head is not alone now.

I thought I’d post about this because it shows how wonderful cyber friends are. They may not live close enough to stop by for coffee, but they offer advice, cheer you on when you’re stuck on problem, and step in when a giant head is stalking you.

I’m trying to remember to check each blog I visit to see if they have a Networked Blogs widget so I can follow them and to watch my widget so if someone follows me I can follow them back.

Hopefully, if I keep doing that, eventually the giant head will disappear from sight.

Lisa Brackmann

 On her website, Lisa Brackmann says she began writing at age five. By junior high, she’d decided to be Secretary of State. She didn’t reach that goal, but she did work “as an executive at a major motion picture studio, an issues researcher in a presidential campaign, and the singer/songwriter/bassist in an LA rock band." Now things seem to have come full circle. Her book, Rock Paper Tiger, is a huge hit, with blurbs by other well-known authors and a starred review by Publishers Weekly.

She’s here today to tell us three things we can do to get our books out to readers. Whether you’re looking for an agent or already have a publisher, you can begin working on her ideas.

Welcome Lisa!

Tilt the Odds in Your Favor

As an author, there are a lot of aspects of the publishing business that you aren’t likely to be able to control – the resources that your publisher has or is willing to commit to your book, the amount of review coverage that you’re likely to get, the mysterious alchemy whereby one book becomes a hit and another disappears without much trace. But you can make informed decisions, and you can certainly help tilt the odds in your favor.

Here are a few things I’ve learned as I’ve gone through the publication process and recent release of my debut novel, Rock Paper Tiger -- things that you can control…

Write the best book you can write

Well, duh, right? But I feel with all the push to market and promote, the whole notion of quality sometimes gets short shrift. It seems like we’re all in such a hurry to succeed that we forget what success is really about. I’m not one of these believers in “the Muse,” in waiting for inspiration before I’ll sit down and write – I’d never finish a book if I did. But I also think it’s a real mistake to rush something as complicated as a novel just to get it out there.

Take the time you need to get it right.

Set up a professional, easily findable author website.

The publicity person at my (totally awesome) publisher, Soho Press, told me this was the single most useful thing an author can do. It seems obvious, but there are still authors who resist this. Or they resist the necessity of making it look good. Here’s the thing: if you don’t have web design skills, you should bite the bullet and get some help. There are great designers who will work for not a lot of money, or skilled hobbyists who will work for free. Find one.

This is not a place to skimp or cut corners. You’re a pro—present yourself like one.

Build your network.

Building a network isn’t about following a kajillion people on Twitter and spamming them with constant ME, ME, ME!-grams. It’s about finding/creating a community of common interests, providing value to that community and also, interaction.  The salient characteristic of social networking is its interactivity – communication goes both ways, and audiences are no longer passive spectators.

I started with two basic “communities” – other writers, and China bloggers. My involvement with these groups preceded my novel’s release, and in some cases, my novel’s composition. To the extent that you can genuinely participate and not just be a carpet-bagger showing up to promote, this is only going to help your efforts when it comes time to market. Why? Because you’re going to be among real friends and fellow travelers who are more likely to support you and want you to do well.

Get out there, and have fun!

Odds are you won’t enjoy or be equally talented at every angle of the self-promotion business. But I’m surprised at how much fun I’ve had with parts of it. Though my blogging has dropped off (when I’m deep into a MS, I just don’t have the energy), I really enjoy keeping the website up to date and a fresh stream of relevant Twitter content flowing from my Facebook author page. My online writing circles have been invaluable, for feedback, support and general moral boosting – and I hope I’ve been as good a resource for them as they’ve been for me.

And I love going to bookstores for events! It surprises me how much I’ve enjoyed this, because I’m not always comfortable in public situations. But being with book people feels like being home.

Thank you Lisa!

 Sometimes we think having big sales numbers or tons of readers is based on luck or magic. It’s not. Lisa’s telling us that we can make it happen. It’s not magic, but rather hard, steady work.

You can find out more about Lisa Brackmann and Rock Paper Tiger on her website.

In the Comments section, say “hi” to Lisa, ask a question, or give us your own idea or experience in “tilting the odds in your favor.”

Facebook Woes

There’s been quite a bit in the news lately about Facebook and privacy. Facebook has 400 million active users. Yep, you read that right - four hundred million active users.

Bit by bit, as Facebook works to monetize (make money) off those users, it’s stripping away users’ privacy, exposing more and more of their information.

Some Facebook users are up in arms and pledging to leave Facebook. Recently on the site QuitFacebookDay.com, 11,000 people committed to quit Facebook. Clearly, 11,000 out of 400 million is a drop in an ocean, but the unrest seems to be growing.

Some people join Facebook to connect with family and friends. Some, like a lot of authors, join to promote themselves and their books. I’ve only been on a short time and am still trying to get the hang of it. Frankly, if I’d heard all the controversy about privacy, I might not have signed up. But it is another tool for writers to market themselves and their writing.

If you are one of the people unhappy with what you thought were your private information and pictures being used by Facebook to make money and you want to quit…how do you do that?
 
Here’s an article on CNN Tech that tells you exactly how to remove yourself from Facebook. The article by Elinor Mills is called “How to delete, deactivate your Facebook account.” It also explains the difference between deleting and deactivating an account and gives lots of links to find more information on the goings-on at Facebook.

Any of you upset with Facebook’s use of your private info?

A Publisher Weighs In

A Business Insider article on HarperCollins’ Debbie Stier caught my eye. She weighs in on Publishing in 2010. She was an Associate Publisher for HarperStudio, then the plug got pulled on that operation. Now she’s an Editor-At-Large, yet still enthusiastic about the future. She sees a place for both e-books and print books. She’s also a believer in authors knowing how to promote themselves. Like other publishers, she’s embracing social media.

She gets a lot of her own information through social networking and bloggers.

In the future, some authors will tweet, blog, and make video, but Stier is quick to point out that you can’t make authors into someone they’re not.

“Gary [Vanderchuk]would be the first to tell you, you know, 'Use what medium is most native and comfortable for you.' So if you're not comfortable on video, don't do video if you're comfortable with words,” she said.

“I do believe that the internet is the ultimate engine behind 'the cream will rise,' because, you know, we were talking about word of mouth before. If something's not great, then it's not gonna rise. The people will speak.”

For most of us, “word of mouth” has always been the way to sell. We’re just using different and more mouths now.

Writing’s Not Enough

Yesterday, I read a post where the author said she did not tweet or promote because she’s too scared. She hates doing it and she has nothing to say ‘cause she never leaves the house. She writes. That’s it.

My first thought was man, that’s sad. Hardly anyone is likely to read her words. She may build up an audience through blogging, but in today’s world that’s not enough. In today’s world you have to put yourself out there.

Recently, writer Matt Baume did a wrap up of a talk by literary agent Ted Weinstein, who definitely agrees that you have to do more than write the great book.

Here are some nuggets from Baume’s post on the talk:

The facts are simple: “As a percentage of the population,” he summed up, “a much smaller percentage is going to be able to make a living.”

“The people who are going to succeed,” he says, “are the people who treat their careers as a profession and are businesslike and aggressive.” His clients aren’t just writers; they’re successful brands.

The point is that being a writer means more than just writing.

“How much time should a writer be devoting to writing versus marketing themselves?” I asked Ted. “It’s always been 50/50,” he answered.

“Stop thinking of yourself as an artist,” he emphasized as our fast-paced conversation wound down, small birds encircling my head. “You’re a businessperson. And the business is you.”

You can link over to read Baume’s full post called “Lit Agent Ted Weinstein: Successful Authors do More Than Just Write."

What about you? What are you doing to set up or treat your writing as a business? How much time do you spend promoting your books or yourself?

Twitter Discussions

For those of you who think Twitter is trivial or only for selling stuff or self-promotion, you might want to think again. Twitterers are doing more active back-and-forth discussions. One such discussion took place this past Sunday.

The discussion primarily involved independent booksellers, who talked about ideas like making it possible for customers, through in-store kiosks, to access a database of bookseller reviews, view digital content, and browse inventory.

You can go read Breathe Books’ manager Jenn Northington’s summary of the discussion on her blog. You can also go on Twitter and read the posts by the participants and others by searching for #indiekiosk. Keep in mind that when there’s an online discussion about a subject that interests you, you can participate. That # sign means it’s a discussion. If it were a private discussion, the participants would be DMing each other without the # sign.

Never Pee in the Water, Agents Might be Surfing

All of us, bloggers, tweeters, facebook frienders, goodreads reviewers, linkedin connectors, tend to think we’re talking only to a small group of friends or interested bypassers. We forget that our tweets and comments are out there for the world to see and read, forever, even if you delete your website or blog. That can be a bad thing.

It can also be a good thing. GalleyCat recently reported on a good example.

In two weeks and 314 tweets, the Fake AP Stylebook Twitter feed has earned more than 43,000 followers. Now, the creators have signed with an unnamed agent.

The website pays homage, in a funny way, to “The AP Stylebook.” The two founders, Mark Hale and Ken Lowery queried a book proposal to three agents and ended up choosing Kate McKean of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. McKean is no stranger to the Internet.

McKean is the agent for several bloggers with print aspirations, including the authors of TheLongThread.com, UnecessaryQuotes.com, and the I Can Has Cheezburger crew.

So remember this little tale and Never Pee in the Water, Agents Might be Surfing.

Learn Without Leaving Home

This seems to be the month of blogging about writing conferences. I’ve done a whole series and author Joe O’Connell ended it with his great post about getting all the benefits of a conference without paying the bucks to register.

Or at least I thought that was the end of the talk about conferences.

Then, along comes a new-to-me thing of virtual conferences. You can attend without ever leaving your computer desk. The one I heard about first (last year actually) is The Muse Online Writers Conference. This multi-day event takes place in October, but the deadline to sign up is August 1. It seems to have an extensive line-up of online workshops and chats. And this year they’re adding publishers who will be available for pitches. This conference is free. I know someone who has been to this conference and is “going” again. She gives it very high ratings.

A new one this year is the Poisoned Pen Webcon. It’s geared toward mystery/suspense writers. It’s a one-day event with audio and text presentations by mystery and crime authors around the world, live chats, and goodie bags. The Guest of Honor is Dana Stabenow and the International Guest of Honor is Lee Child. It takes place on October 24 and costs $25 USD to sign up. Since this is its first year, I have no recommendations for it.

I’ve signed up for the Poisoned Pen Webcon. I really considered The Muse conference, but decided I could probably only handle a one-day conference so close to the Texas Book Festival. This year, the Texas Book Festival is October 31-Nov 1 and, by the latter half of October, I and all the other Chairs are in high gear getting ready.

Both of these events are up on the Events page on my website. I update that page every week with new conferences, workshops and events for writers.

Is anyone else signed up for either of these? If you’re attending The Muse conference or the Poisoned Pen Webcon, I’d love it if you’d do a report on it here on Straight From Hel to let us know what you thought of it and how beneficial it was to you. What do you think about online conferences? Even if you’ve never been to one, do you think it’s a good idea?

There’s More to Schmoozing than Schmooze

We’re continuing today with our discussion of conferences. We began with Why Conferences Cost So Much, then moved to Learn Without Going, then, yesterday, talked about How To Choose A Conference. Today, we’re talking schmoozing - or Networking.

No matter what your reason for going to a conference, be it to find an agent, learn about writing, meet authors, or sell books, you’re going to be meeting people. I certainly hope no one reading this would go to a conference and be a total wallflower.

Step away from the wall, people!

Even if you’re the most shy person in the world, pretend you’re gregarious. Never hide at a conference. Walk right up to someone, stick out your hand (unless your hand holds a margarita, in which case, use the other hand or someone will snatch your drink), and say “Hi, my name is…” Especially do this to the person you see looking uncomfortable and sitting or standing by him or her self. If they look at you like you’re crazy, lean in close and whisper, “Helen Ginger told me you were very interesting and I should introduce myself.” They’ll either smile and offer their name or they’ll run screaming. In which case, move quickly onto the next person.

Each time you meet a new person, give them your card. You have cards, don’t you? If not, order them before you go. They don’t have to be expensive or custom made. Keep them on you in a place easy to reach and hand out. Ask if that person has a card. If they don’t, ask, at some point in the conversation, if they Twitter or blog or have email. Get some kind of contact for them. Write it down in your little notepad you’re keeping handy. Make sure you put their name down, as well. If they have nothing to give you and they don’t tweet, post or have a site, after you leave them, take out your notepad and at least note their name.

If they did give you a card, when you have a quiet moment, on the back make a note of when and where you met and the things you want to remember about that person. You may not have time to do this for every person you meet right after you talk to them, but do it in the evening before you fall into bed.

Networking is more than just meeting people and listening to them. It's keeping track of all those encounters. All right, I admit, it can be a pain and time-consuming, but it could also pay off big in the future. You meet not only experts, but authors who might provide cover blurbs, other writers looking for critique partners, business people who might give you personal attention when it comes to printing your business cards because they know you, people who can give you the inside scoop on upcoming workshops or up-and-coming agents, and more. All these people are out there. You just have to meet them.

Social Networking: Feed It, Ping It, Tweet It

No need to guess where I am today. I’m still in Miami - hey, a girl’s gotta eventually spend more than one night in a city. But, next week, I’m off again.

We’ve talked about spending time building up your core brand and loyal readers. But if you want to expand, and I know you do, you’ve got to reach out to the Internet world.

To do that, you’ve gonna have to Feed, Ping and Tweet.

Put a Feed button on your blog. That’s Feed as in an RSS Feed. A feed sends out notice to the world that you’ve put a new post on your blog. Think of it as syndicating. I use FeedBurner. I also have a way for readers to Follow me or Bookmark me. They can subscribe to me via FeedBlitz. Make it convenient for people to follow you easily.

Even though I have an RSS Feed, I ping myself as well. After my post goes live, I go to Ping-O-Matic and with one keystroke, I make sure a ton of services know I’ve put up something new. Another type of pinging I do is to let my social networks know I’ve got a new post up. For that, I use Ping. I choose the social networking sites I’m on, like Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogger, type in a short message, click and out it goes. But I don’t do that more than once a day.

A great way to get the word out is to Twitter. It’s easy, it’s fast, it’s addictive. You create an identity, find people to follow, people will find you and follow you, then you tweet. Not once a day, not twice a day, but several times a day, over the course of the day. The longer you’re a part of Twitter, the more followers you’ll get. They’re not all online at the same time, so you tweet your blog three, four times a day, spread out. You include the link to your blog. You make your tweet interesting so people will want to click over and read what you have to say. But remember… Twitter is a way of socializing. Interact with others on the board, tweet about other things than just your blog. Don’t become that annoying Twit who is constantly selling and whom people go un-follow. Incidentally, if you’re on Twitter, you can click the little “Tweet This” bird at the end of this blog and tweet this post. It will automatically write the tweet and provide the link - but you can also delete the automatic wording and put in your own, if you want. And if you're new to Twitter or an old hat, but aren't following me, follow me and I'll follow you.

Feed, Ping, Tweet. Do it. It’ll bring readers to your blog.

Whew! A week of talking about Social Networking. I’m pooped. Okay, not totally pooped. I’m gonna go tweet and ping now.