Doing the Linky Link

I teach Mass Communications at my local community college, so I regularly try out new developments in social media. Students are wonderful about showing me things even after they realize that no, I don’t always know what I’m talking about!

So when another instructor asked for my help because her agent told her she needed a social media presence, I gave her my standard disclaimer and the following tips:

Social media is still developing, so it doesn’t have standard practices like advertising and PR. Even in advertising and PR, success isn’t a formula, but a unique combination of message, medium, and audience, derived at through careful trial and error. Experimenting is the order of the day! Try it and see what works, and yes, I’m say this in full acknowledgement of the screaming meltdown I had over the recent changes in Google+.

As writers, our messages are our books and our audience is our readers. Simple, right? Well no, because everyone else has a book and wants readers too. What makes you special? How will you explain that? Here’s a great article on determining your positioning.

There are dozens of social media sites. Which ones are best for you? – The ones you’re comfortable with! Here’s a great video on some of the more popular. Getting your message out is more about saying something on a regular basis than being in the right place at the right time.

Terms like ‘authentic content‘ or ‘value-added content’ imply that you need to talk. Actually, social media is more like conversation than speech. Just like at a cocktail party, the best guest isn’t the one in the lampshade, but the person who checks in with everyone else in the room. Check out this backlash against posting and retweet, reply, post comments, like pages, and interact as much as you post. Just make sure you limit your time online. It’s easy to get distracted from your writing.

The most important thing to share? – The link! Look for the share buttons to easily post that great article or review to your Twitter, Facebook, or whatever. If you can’t find a share button, cut and paste the URL into the post. Readers love it when you hand them the story instead of directions. And, according to the computer professor who guest lectures at this point in class, Google algorithms will love you too!

Now, I don’t have bestseller numbers yet, but I have a decent Twitter following. So I know you can build an audience if you’re persistent and patient. What I’d like to know is what is everyone else is doing? What have you seen that you really like and want to try?