Tag: facebook

Social Media and What the Experts Had to Say

I’ve worked in marketing for the last seven years. I’ve appreciated how that experience is going to help when it comes to my writing career. Yesterday, as part of my job, I attended a Network of Executive Women event and had the opportunity to listen to some amazing speakers on utilizing social media to advance your career. A lot of this applies to building a personal brand, so I took copious notes to share with all of you, of course. Please note: I’ve paraphrased a lot of what is said and applied it to publishing. The original thinking is property of the speakers.

Topic: Building Your Individual Social Media Strategy

Keynote: Steve Knox (CEO, Tremor)

Panelists:

Katja Presnal (Community Manager, Collective Bias)

Kristen Rovai (Inside Sales Manager, Advertising Sales, Facebook)

Michaela Prescott (Head of Search Marketing, Google Inc.)

Nate Johnson (Director of Consumer Marketing, LinkedIn)

What they had to say about Social Media Strategy:

• Your Social Media Strategy isn’t restricted to Online. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google are great tools, but you need to build a presence offline, too.
• P.I.E. Theory of Leadership applies. PIE stands for Performance, Image, and Exposure. All three are required for people to take notice of you.
  • Performance is expected – it’s the bare minimum of what readers, agents, and editors expect of you. If you rely on performance to get the word out, it will be a long time coming.
  • Image is how people perceive you – how are you presenting yourself on Twitter, forums, Facebook, and your blog? Are you negative and lingering on your failures? Are you focusing on ways to help other writers? What do you want people to take away about you?
  • Exposure is where the rewards lie – this is where a strong network can do wonders. Are you getting your name out there? Do agents and editors know who you are based on what people are saying about you or the content you are posting?
• Know Your Foundational Truth. If you want people to trust you/your brand, you need to know what you stand for. If you want others to advocate for you (like readers spreading the word about you), they need to know they can trust you. For example, if you sell yourself as a family-friendly author and you suddenly deliver a book filled with sex and drugs, you may destroy a trust readers have developed. Know what you are about.
• Disrupt schemas.
  • People develop “schemas” about the world – it’s the way we expect to see the world. If your message fits within the schema a person has developed about the world, people won’t spread the word about you. Your message needs to disrupt their schema.
  • A disruption should be mild, not wild – or it may violate your Foundational Truth.
  • Apply this to Twitter – do you retweet conversations that say what you expect to hear, or things that vary from the norm and surprise you?
• Word-of-mouth buzz is worthless without advocacy. Buzz marketing doesn’t work if people can’t remember the brand/individual. Your marketing efforts should be relevant to you and drive recall of your brand.
• Google yourself often. Aside from feeding your ego, you need to know what people are saying about you. If…ahem… inappropriate pictures are showing up on Facebook, you should know about it and be ready to deal with the repercussions (i.e. untagging yourself or changing your privacy settings).Before you search, try logging out of Facebook so you can test what the world is seeing.
• Facebook can help you get the word out. With over 400 Million users (over 50% of which log in every day), Facebook has a lot of potential to help you build awareness.
• LinkedIn works hard to help you network with other professionals.
• Google Tools to tap into. Google Alerts will help you keep track of what’s being said about you online. Set up your Google Profile – this tool will rank high in a Google search, and will help you to control what people read about you first.
• Don’t drunk tweet.
• What to do about the negative – If you google yourself and discover negative content, get more of your own positive content out there. Do interviews for other blogs. Interview other popular people on your own blog. The more positive content with popular rankings, the lower the negative content will rank in a search. You can also contact the poster of the negative content and politely ask them to remove it.

I hope this tips help you! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me (corrinelj at gmail dot com) or leave a comment.

Tweet, Tweet: A Writer’s Love Affair with Social Media

I work in marketing. Day in and day out, I live and breathe advertising, promotions, and social media. Many companies are weighing in on the benefit of using Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other online methods to spread the love about the products/services. I believe in the power of social media as a marketer. As a consumer, though, I didn’t want to be a lemming jumping on the latest bandwagon. Personally, I like to feel superior to the lemmings because I would never (gasp!) be on trend. That’s right. I’m original. (I say this in between talking on my totally unique, one-of-a-kind iphone in my leggings and boots. Nope. Nobody else in the world is doing that. And if you are, stop copying me.)

I have been known to mock people who spend their free time on forums (get some friends, losers). I blacklist anyone who seeds me a hug or Easter Egg Hunt via Facebook. And don’t get me started on those self-important people who tweet about getting a Diet Coke from McDonalds (we know you also got a large fries and a Big Mac. You’re not fooling anyone!).

And then, I finished my novel and twiddled my thumbs not knowing what to do next. Thankfully, I found a virtual community to help provide guidance. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the online masses converted me from an original I-turn-my-nose-up-at-following-trends to hi-my-name-is-Cory-can-I-join-your-club?. Insert mockery here.

1. I’m on Facebook – I still ferociously hate people who send me apps (you know who you are). Do not even think about asking me to play Farmville or Mafia Wars. I’m also not sure it’s the best idea in the world to reconnect with those who knew me as a cheerleader in high school. Still, it’s a great way to spread the news about your writing and befriend anyone who is willing to listen to find out Cory is: (a) sick, (b) tired, or (c) sick and tired of being asked to take a quiz because 6 of my other friends did.
2. I blog – What’s not to love? Insta-feedback on my writing via Teaser Tuesdays. Sharing what I’ve learned about craft with other writers through red marks my professors leave on my pages. WordPress stats that feed my obsessive need to know how many people are visiting me on a daily basis (love me, love me, love me!).
3. I read blogs – Reading the Teaser Tuesdays of other writers and their writing tips can only help my writing to grow. See? I’m at least a millimeter taller.
4. I chat on forums – Really, I abuse the other AWers with my version of humor. Amongst all the LOLs and Twilight jokes, we sometimes manage to offer each other encouragement and loving criticism.
5. I tweet – This one wasn’t even on my radar. Only needy, narcissistic people tweet. Lesson #87 of the week: I’m needy and narcissistic. Who knew? Personality disorders aside, I’ve also learned that agents, editors, and writers galore are out there offering invaluable tips on the world of publishing. Plus it’s another way to spread the abuse to my fellow AWers.

Please excuse me now while I update my FB status, check my blog stats, read the AWer blogs, wreak havoc in the forums, and then stalk my friends on Twitter.

*Runs off to make a tee emblazoned with “I’m an original @Lemming. Follow me.”*

BTW: If you just looked up that address on Twitter and it exists, it’s not me and you are probably one of those people who send me Facebook apps. Stop it. Seriously.