Whether you are an independent author, a blogger, content writer or seeking a publishing agent and deal, this mistake could hinder your progress.
Marketing is a huge part of marketing a business.
Writing is a business and even if you get offered your dream contract, you will still need to sell yourself and your books or content. No, your agent or publisher won’t do it all for you. You have to build a presence somewhere.
The easiest and cheapest place to do that is on social media. You could miss out on opportunities if you are ‘invisible’ online.
While we love to say it’s quality over quantity in your community, numbers count. Sorry, they just do. The bigger the better, but, and it’s a big but, it’s important for them to be the right followers. You need to build a community of future clients and readers. People who will engage, support and ultimately buy your books or products.
Stop!
Do not buy followers, ever, on any platform. Just don’t. They are not worth it. They won’t be your fans, or even genuine accounts. Use those valuable pennies for something truly useful.
Engagement
You need engaged fans. You build the engagement rating by interacting with people. Post when you know you have half an hour, or even just ten minutes to respond, comment, chat with those who see your post.
That Big Mistake?
Stop asking writers to follow you. Ask your readers, put links in your work. Invite them, make it easy for them to find and help you. You want readers, future buyers, fans. A few writers may buy your books. At the very beginning, you can help each other kick-start your account, but finding hundreds of authors will not sell more books. It will also tell the algorithms that you want writers, not readers, confusing it. They won’t show your posts to those you truly want to attract.
Bio
This is the real gem area, it can draw your fans in. It’s the bait and the hook. Have a user name that means something. Include those niche or genre keywords in your bio, name, posts.
Pin posts, especially on Twitter, so they can retweet or check out your work.
(That is where other writers can help. They can RT to their crowd.)
Have a link to where they can find out more. Make it easy for them. If you don’t they will soon scroll on.
Hashtags
Create some lists of the ones you need to hit. Stay on niche and brand and authentic. Mix them up, swop them in and out. Search for them and interact with others. It’s not all a one-way street. It’s called SOCIAL media for a reason.
Clear Out
Once a month or more frequently, if you are growing quickly, clear out your feed. Delete or archive older posts that aren’t on brand. Remove spam followers. I know it’s hard to see your numbers go backwards, but it helps in the long run. Smaller engaged audiences are much better for business. Don’t end up with a huge following of people who don’t actually exist.
Stop following those you clicked on who aren’t in your niche. Friends? Set up a separate non-business account if you need that connection. Keep business accounts in the niche and on brand. Remember, you are there to attract sales, fans and buyers, not your competition.
TikTok Tip – Right now, they are regularly removing users. You can easily identify those inactive accounts in your lists by the greyed out profile and identity as ‘TikTok user.’
How to Avoid The Mistake?
Stop interacting with writers. Think like a reader. Give your readers what they want. Think of how they will search. Keywords they will use. Spend time looking for them online. Comment, feedback, build a relationship.
If you write boy wizard stories, I bet you can guess whose fans you could interact with. Don’t do it in a creepy stalker vibes way! Maybe like or share a post where they’ve shared a photo of their bookcase. Tell them how great it is. They might just check out your bio.
Keep those DMs for later in the relationship, if at all. Give them the content they want and they will reach out to you. Better still, direct them all to your lead magnet and get them on your email list. That is the only list you ‘own.’ You can’t lose it at the whim of a moody algorithm.
Don’t forget I do 1-2-1 coaching. In 2022 you get a two hour Zoom call for the price of one.
Check out my Toolkit to help you write that book and build your business.