Anyone who reads this blog knows I believe it’s possible to build a strong platform through social media. I should, I did it. Beyond that, I’ve helped hundreds of other writers do the same things.
But with all the posts I’ve shared over the years, I haven’t lately laid out all the basic building blocks, at one time—in one place. Today I’m going to do just that.
Read the RestMany authors I talk to are frustrated by trying to grow and maintain a solo blog. My suggestion for a lot of them is to either find an established group blog to join or to start a group blog. Today I’m going to share my tips to create and maintain a successful group blog.
There are several advantages to a group situation
Shared responsibilities.
Reduced time commitment.
Flexibility.
There are also some disadvantages
Shared responsibilities. Yes, I know it’s in the list above. But sharing isn’t always easy. None of us is perfect and trust me, people will let you down. If you have serious control issues a group situation may not be the best answer for you.
Reduced visibility. With a reduced time commitment also comes less time you’re in the public eye. It’s a trade off. The more popular the site though, the less this becomes an issue.
Hashtags can be a confusing concept, so today I’m sharing Hashtags 101 for writers. I’ll give you a list of popular hashtags and teach you how to use them effectively.
First, lets back up and evaluate the reason we’re all working at building an online presence. We are looking to deepen existing relationships and build new ones. But building new ones can be difficult if the only people we interact with are those we already know, either online or in person.
We can get a little bit of exposure to new folks by our existing connections introducing us, but that’s a time consuming way to go about it.
What if there was a way for someone to search a given social media network by topic and find new, interesting people to interact with? That would be a great way to grow our connections.
Read the Rest
Collectively speaking, I’ve seen a lot of improvement in how authors interact online. That said, there are still some common mistakes. These things are affecting your blog, making readers click away before they finish a post and even unsubscribe altogether. The funny thing is that most of them are minor and easily correctable. So take a look at the list, and see if you can improve your interactions with just a small change!
Read the Rest
