Social media marketing and networking can be extremely confusing and difficult when you’re first trying to figure it all out. At least it was for me when I first started. I’m no SEO guru. But I’m fortunate to have a friend who is and he’s given me some outstanding advice and tips over the years. He also doesn’t mind if I share those advices with everyone which just makes him all the more awesome.

One of the first things he taught me was to make myself easily accessible to people. Today’s generation and the up and coming generations are tech savvy readers. They understand Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and tons of other sites I probably don’t even know exist being the technological dinosaur that I am. But if you want to be viable in the upcoming years, then you must be easily found.

This is something I notice authors have a hard time with. I do tons of book features each month and sometimes when I go to the author’s websites, finding where they are on Facebook, Twitter, etc is extremely difficult or non existent. Unless it’s a die hard fan they’re not going to take the time to track you down. So it’s important you make your follow options visible and easy to find.

Social Media Marketing Tips:

Automating the Process to Save time

It’s important you have a presence on every social network. I know most people don’t have the time to keep up with Facebook, Twitter, a blog, and all things in between. But if you want to reach the widest possible audience then you must, at the very least, figure out which one you can utilize to reach the largest audience possible and focus on those networks first.

Even if you don’t have a lot of time, there are tons of ways you can automate the process. By having your Facebook automatically tweet your status updates, you can post on Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Or by using something like RSS Graffiti you can update your blog, RSS Graffiti will automatically post it to Facebook, and if you have your Facebook connected to Twitter, it will automatically tweet for you. You’ll be able to knock out three social media networks in just one post.

Things like Hootsuite and TweetDeck allow you to schedule tweets. Meaning you can take fifteen minutes a week, write out your tweets for the week, schedule them, and forget about Twitter. Other than maybe a daily check in to see if anyone’s asked you anything. Also with Hootsuite, it allows you to view multiple accounts at once. And for authors with multiple pen names this would allow you to view all of your accounts in one go.

The above mentioned sites are just a few and ones I’ve personally used. You can do a Google search or ask around to see what your friends use. Find whatever works for you and then set it all up. Initially it may be a bit of work and time, but once you get it set up, it’ll run itself. Allowing you more time to work on writing.

After all, having more time to write is every writer’s goal.

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Ok I’ve become addicted. Now it’s no secret I’m not big on social media. I have a Facebook and twitter presence for my business because in today’s society if you want to succeed, then that’s an absolute must. I’ve never been one to update regularly or interact the way you’re suppose to. I admit it but I’m working on getting better.

If you’re looking into ways of improving your online presence, then I highly recommend checking out this blog, SEO on a Budget. Matt gives lots of tips and suggestions on affordable ways to increase your online presence.

One tip he gave last week was regarding the use of Empire Avenue. And being the ever obedient student that I am I instantly signed up. At first I was a bit lost. I had no idea what I was suppose to be doing, but as the days have passed and I’ve slowly figured things out I began to realize a hidden bonus of this “game”.

It has all of my social media outlets compiled. With one quick glance I can see “oh yea I didn’t do Facebook today or I forgot about Twitter” but besides reminding me of what I need to do (like make a blog post) it also has helped to increase my followers on both Facebook and Twitter with little to no effort on my part.

In the past week alone I’ve gained over 50 new twitter followers alone not to mention new Facebook fans as well. I didn’t have to beg or plead or sacrifice a small goat. All I’ve been doing is playing this extremely addicting game of Empire Avenue.

If you’re an author or small business owner and want a great way to promote yourself, then I highly recommend checking out Empire Avenue. It’s a great place to network and most importantly, it’s free.

Before I get started on my review, today I’m also being featured on another awesome artist’s website. Be sure to head over and check out my interview “Confessions of a Cover Designer” with Tamra.

I mentioned yesterday about how I transferred my wordpress blog from my old server to my new one. The reason i decided to move hosting servers was my old hosting was slow. It often timed out and that  is something Google does not like. When I first purchased my domain, my only criteria for hosting was cheap. I had no clue what was the differences between one company or another. This time however I did my homework. Spoke to others, found out what hosting they used and in the end, the clear winner was Host Gator (yes that is my affiliate link so if you like them and click it I’ll get a few pennies)

The first thing that I liked about them was the speed of their server. And after switching I instantly could tell a difference in how fast my site loaded especially my blog. With my old server, whenever I tried to create a new post, it would often time out due to the slow server response. Now after three days of being on Host Gator, I haven’t had that happen once. I also haven’t had any complaints from people saying it won’t load for them.

Second thing and for me this is the biggest, the customer service. I am truly technologically stupid when it comes to a lot of the website stuff. I can design but the behind scenes things of making it run are just something I know very little about. Mostly enough just to mess things up. Host Gator’s customer service not only helped me but every single ticket I created (and there were many) was answered within 15-20 mins of me making it. The issue (in most cases) was resolved within the hour. Now I did have the database issue which didn’t get sorted, but I also didn’t really give them the opportunity to solve it because I wanted to get my site up. So instead of trying to solve it I just imported my XML file of my blog, but I’m certain if I had given them the opportunity they would have solved the issue for me.

And the last thing is they’re extremely affordable. They offer several different packages to fit your specific needs. So I’m very glad I ended up switching. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. (And no I’m not a paid spokesperson for host gator. I just really have been impressed with the service, but if any host gator’s peeps see this and want to throw a few my way I shall not refuse lol)

Previously I’ve posted various website and Facebook pages that allow authors to “get your brand out there” for free.

Another site is fiverr.com. (and yes that’s my profile page and yes I do offer a few things through there in case you were interested) Fiverr isn’t free but each “gig” is only $5. You can pretty much find people willing to do anything from promoting your site on their website, Facebook, and twitter to dancing the hula. If you’re in the UK, there is also fivequid.com where you can get anything for £5. I’ve never used them so I can’t say anything good or bad about them. I have used fiverr and can vouch for it.

Here is a post from IT sherpa guru Matt with some great tips on how to use fiverr and what to look for in a good seller. When using a site like fiverr, you need to know how to tell the “good” from the “bad” providers, but that being said just because someone is new doesn’t mean they are “bad” and if they fail to deliver or deliver an unsatisfactory product then you do have ways to recoup your money or at least give feedback telling what service you received.

I like fiverr because it provides a good safeguard for both seller and buyer (and no I’m not being paid to say that although if anyone from fiverr is reading I am not opposed to payment lol). Have you used fiverr? Do you use a different site? If so what sites have you used instead?

I’m going to try to start this Friday Feature where I share writing tips, how to’s etc that I find through out the week. And this one seemed like the perfect post to start with.

Lizzy Ford shares some amazing tips for up and coming YA Paranormal and Fantasy authors. She posted 10 of her top writing tips. I’m sharing 5 here today if you’d like to read them all then check out the full post.

1 . Don’t write about vampires.

There are thousands of writers trying to be the next Stephanie Myers. Vampires are in every other book, on the television, in movies. Rather than hopping on this bandwagon, write something different. There is less competition with the thousands of authors writing vampire books and second, your book is more likely to be remembered by the readers. Readers of Twilight and Harry Potter want to find the next great thing. Show them through original ideas and characters.

2. Write a series.

The hottest selling YA books are series. The series model gives you, the author, more time to find and connect with your YA audience while giving readers a reason to reach out to you about your next fantasy fiction book.

3. Go to your readers.

No matter how good your book is, if your target audience can’t find it, you’re out of luck. Unlike more niche genres, the market for YA fantasy is identifiable – and hungry. But that doesn’t mean your YA audience will come to you as soon as you release a book. You must go to them.

This means your book must be everywhere. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple are the essential places. Use an aggregator like Smashwords to upload to other stores (Kobo, Sony, etc.) Visit places like Goodreads, Wattpad, and Fictionpress and upload sample chapters. Join Pinterest and upload your Young Adult fantasy fiction book covers … find anywhere your readers are likely to be and establish a presence.

4. YA readers are tech savvy.

The YA audience is slightly different than say, the mystery crowd, because so much of the YA audience appears to be using technology – rather than traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores – to find and choose their books. They read their books on their ereaders, their phones, their computers. Make sure your book’s formatting will still read well no matter what device is used to read it.

5. Exploit under-served markets.

Right now, Apple is a somewhat neglected store. A lot of authors ditched Apple and BN to participate in Amazon’s Select program. In general, Apple’s reading demographic is younger than that of Amazon and BN. My sales quadrupled at Apple after everyone left, because there was less competition in the YA market. People will argue that Amazon is the monster on the block, and this is true, but there’s nothing preventing you from building a following at every store you can. My Amazon royalties make up about 60% of my writing income.

I normally do a formatting post on Wednesday, but I tend to get hives whenever I get near schedules so my “schedules” are always subject to change. That’s why today I thought I’d share with you a couple of great sites where you can promote your book. Promotion and marketing are always the hardest things for authors to figure out how to do. There are lots of sites out there who will gladly take your money and not do much else for you so knowing where to advertise is important. Here’s a couple sites that will definitely help your book sales.

Ebook Deal of the Day – features ebook deals of the day for both Kindle and Nook. This is the US half of the site and its readers and ebooks all are marketed towards the US.

Ebook Deal of the Day UK – mainly features ebook deals of the day for Kindle. This site however markets towards UK visitors. If you’re an indie author, then you know how difficult it can be to break into the UK market. This site is one easy and inexpensive way for authors to get their books into the hands of readers.

Each site also has its own Facebook page  and offers advertising for as little as $5. For more info visit their fiverr gig.

One of the hardest parts of being an indie author has to be the promotional marketing side. There’s editors and cover designers if you need them. There’s amazon or epub for self publishing, but promoting and marketing really all comes down to the author. There are tons of people out there who promise you quick fixes and who declare for only $19.99 they’ll teach you all the secrets of how they earned millions.

Well I’m going to tell you their secret and I’m going to do it totally for FREE. How did they earn millions? By convincing a lot of people there is some quick easy way to earn money. Everyone wants to find that quick easy way of getting your book out there and getting people to buy it. These people know that and they prey on that. In reality, there is no quick or easy way. It takes a lot of hard work, time, and patience to build a good strong fan base.

There are however several things as an author you can do to help improve your chances of being seen. Now these are things I’ve learned while trying to build up my own little business and building a fan base is pretty similar. The concepts are the same. You’ll just have to tweak them to suit your specific needs. I’m going to try to make this into a series of weekly posts. I say try because time isn’t always on my side. At the very least a bi-weekly segment where I’ll go into a lot of different things authors can do in order to increase their sales. Almost everything I’ll talk about will be free or something authors can do themselves with little to no cost.

First thing you need to do is have a website that is easy to navigate. One that has an “about page” with info on who you are and what you write and a “contact page” with info on how your readers can contact you. Now I know lots of people don’t want to mix their personal info with their writer info and that’s fine. I have a personal account. It is totally unrelated to my business. I don’t give it out to people who are clients. It is for my personal life and that’s totally fine to separate the two, but your fans need a way of contacting you. Unless you’re Stephen King, then it’s ok to be a little odd and mysterious, but even Stephen King has a way to send fan mail.

Second, research before buying advertising. This is probably the biggest thing you can do. People think “if I pay for advertising, then I’ve hit the jackpot”. Not if it’s on a site that is totally unrelated to your genre. Think of it like having your ad for historical fiction in the middle of Playboy. Do you really think anyone will notice it? Just because something worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you. Make sure the ads you’re buying are going to be seen by people who are interested in buying what you’re selling or writing. By using targeted advertising, you’ll not only save your money, but you’ll see an increase in your profits as well. Because you’re advertising to people who are already interested so half the work has been done for you.

I’ve been wanting to talk more on this because I see so many authors struggling with it. It’s not that I’m an expert, but I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of help along the way and just want to share what I’ve learned. Do you have problems with marketing yourself? Has there been any tips or tricks you’ve learned that were most helpful?