Showing posts with label #bizitalk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #bizitalk. Show all posts

Monday 25 November 2013

The Importance of #Hashtags for Social Media Networking

Following on from my previous post, Explorations in Social Media, I would like to explain my perception of the importance of using hashtags, and I will suggest some networking groups that I have found as a result of my studies. It has taken me a good few years to even begin to comprehend how to use social media in a professional and useful manner. I joined Facebook when it became the Next Big Thing, and I subsequently joined Twitter when I began to explore the possibility of becoming a 'serious career writer.' The other networks sort of followed on naturally as I was introduced to them, and now I have settled on those that seem most suitable. My current regular platforms are Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Facebook.

All four of these social media websites now offer the use of hashtags to correlate information and bring people together. To my knowledge it was Twitter that first started this trend (although please correct me if I am wrong). Somebody, somewhere, came up with the idea to put a hashtag in front of a word and voilĂ ! Other people picked it up, liked the idea, and began sharing it around the internet. Personally I think hashtags are great, especially on Twitter. My news feed tends to be clogged up with tweets that mainly tell me to buy one person's book or another (I know, I am one of them!). Now I can narrow down my searches more easily by asking Twitter to show me the tweets I want to see. Then I can interact with different people about different things, and I don't need to open several different Twitter accounts and confuse myself even more.

On Twitter I am only just beginning to explore a lot of hashtag groups that I recently discovered. It seems that one leads on to another, and while this all very exciting, it can also become very time consuming. I have to be interactive as much as possible, but I fit it around my family life, and my children will always come first. Anyway, a couple of hashtag groups that I am active in are #bizitalk and #PurpleBiz. In fact, just recently I was a #PurpleBiz Business of the Day, which gave me a huge confidence boost, not to mention a lot of new followers that will eventually translate into more book sales. I just have to keep up the good work.

My next task is to explore some other hashtag Twitter groups. These include #TwitterSisters, #ConnectFriday and #PinHitsHour among others. I love meeting all of the diverse small businesses and fabulous people that meet in these groups, and now I am also finding myself added to various Twitter lists (something I am still learning about so more to follow on that later). If you are exploring Twitter for the first time, or you are unsure about hashtags and what they can do for your business, just try them out. Put them in your Twitter search or click on them in messages on your news feed, and you never know where they might take you...


My novels are adult paranormal with equal amounts of dark romance and contemporary English Gothic. Sign up now for special offers and book release news.

Friday 22 November 2013

Explorations in Social Media #bizitalk

I am currently experimenting with social media networks as a method to sell books and build my author platform. Truthfully I wish I had spent more time researching how the industry works before I went ahead and got my books published. The common knowledge is that anyone can publish a book these days, but only a select few (or rather a lucky few) gain the fame and fortune that we all seek. Yes, I know, there are lots of authors who say they only write for the pleasure and joy of creativity. This is true for me, but I also want to earn a living from my writing, and after a very long moral battle, I accept that there is no shame in this desire.

Now, I am a working mother who spends 90% of my time being the 'housewife and mother' and the remainder is spent trying to write more books and promote the ones I currently have in the marketplace. I have no money to put into an advertising campaign, but I do now have the support of a publisher as a result of my fourth novel The Darkness of Love. This is very exciting, because Chances Press have organized a Christmas blog tour for me, and they are planning another one in 2014. It makes me feel very special as an author, actually, that someone else is prepared to put in the work for me without demanding immediate repayment. They have great faith in my work, and they clearly appreciate my writing. This is a huge compliment.


Part of my networking experiment has been to explore the use of hashtags, mainly on Twitter, but also on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest. These are all my main platforms of choice, and I am spending some time on each in turn trying to speak directly with a variety of people, and reading articles and infographics that might explain how best to use these fabulous resources. Therein lies part of the problem. These networks are so vast, so complicated, and so busy, that I need to spend every spare minute of my time working on them with no guarantee that I will actually sell my books as a result of my efforts. The other issue is that they can become addictive, and I need to allocate time for writing and freelance projects alongside my self marketing.

Anyway, it is a long, slow process. I know that with social media we have become a 24/7 culture. We expect results immediately because we can send out tweets, messages, photos and web links at the touch of a button, and we all have portable media devices in the form of smart phones, tablets etc. Even if we do not have such sophisticated personal technology, we can usually find a library with free computers, or find a friend or relative with the media technology on which to work. I now have to accept that I need to become a recognised name in publishing. People need to know who I am and what the titles of my books are, and maybe then they will begin to read them, possibly review them, and better still recommend them to friends and family. Ultimately it seems word of mouth is still the best marketing tool for an author. I am just taking it global with social media... See you out there!


My novels are adult paranormal with equal amounts of dark romance and contemporary English Gothic. Sign up now for special offers and book release news.

Sunday 1 September 2013

Where to Sell Your Books #amwriting

Since the world of Indie publishing became established in recent years, we are seeing a rise in online book sales and a sad demise of independent high street booksellers. I am very upset to find bookshops so few and far between in the UK, although some of my favourite second hand shops still keep on going. I don’t believe they will ever die out because there is a dedicated following of readers like myself who will support them to the bitter end. And so it should be.

There is no denying that Internet sales of books are the way to go when you are an Indie author. If you choose to self publish, whether the reason is because you can’t find an agent or publisher, or you simply want the creative freedom to do it yourself, you have to sell your books online. The remaining chainstore bookshops here in the UK are loath to take on unknown authors. They prefer to accept sponsorship from the big publishers and promote celebrity names that come with their own ready-made audience and fan base. It is a simple fact of economics.

 
That leaves us poor mortals fighting tooth and nail to be seen, heard, and above all, read, by the market that will be the biggest influencers in social circles. Probably the main supporter of Indie authors has been Amazon, closely followed by Smashwords, for Internet sales. Both websites offer the author a chance to upload their work as an eBook, and on Amazon you can include paperback books for sale as well if you have them. Amazon has received a lot of negative media attention recently when it was revealed that the company has been using a legal loophole to avoid paying UK tax. Subsequently there is now a movement trying to boycott the company.

Personally I still like Amazon. No, I don’t agree that they should avoid paying their taxes. If we have to do it then so should they. But as both a seller and a buyer, I like the service and the products that they supply. My books are available on Amazon, and that is where I make the majority of my sales. It is quick, easy and convenient to download a Kindle book. I also order various items from Amazon frequently, although admittedly I am largely a book buyer. I just can’t help myself, and I own a Kindle!

As an Indie author, and in my experience, we must have our books available in as many places as possible. Therefore I chose publishers who would list my books on the central wholesale database from which all UK stores can order my books on request. I also made sure that my books could be sold internationally, although at the moment those outlets are via Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  I am listed on Smashwords, where you can choose from a number of different eBook formats, depending on the device you use for reading.

And, finally, I haven’t given up on the high street stores. I did do several book signing events with Waterstones, but these have since dried up after the company was sold and the business model has changed. It is now more difficult than ever for an Indie author to gain presence in a real, solid bookshop. It is all about networking, building contacts, and gaining the trust and working relationships with people that can get you seen by the right readers at the right time. And for now, the best place to start is on the Internet. Get your social media hat on folks; it is the only way to sell your book brand!

*Book stack image courtesy of Modernish Homemaker 
Kindle image courtesy of Kindle Publishing

Friday 30 August 2013

Expand Your Social Media Network #Bizitalk

As an Indie author in a saturated world of advertising and sales, I find it very difficult to seek out the right platform from which to promote my books and my work as a freelance copywriter. Indeed, I am only just starting out in the business really. My first novel was published in 2011 and that was the same time that I really began to study the use of online advertising to try and get my name recognized. Now, two years later, I have learned a lot but I still have a lot more work to do.

I have the same difficulty that many of my fellow writers experience. We all use Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social media networks to promote our books, but we seem to attract a majority of other writers as followers and friends. There is nothing wrong with this of course. A writer has to be a reader at the end of the day; otherwise we wouldn't know where to start with our stories. The problem is that there are so many authors selling their work that we writers simply cannot support everybody by buying and reading their books. I mean, I have hundreds of books waiting to be read on my Kindle, not to mention an overflowing bookcase in my house that is now spilling out onto the floor. It will take me years to read all of these books, and I keep acquiring new ones!


So what do we do? How do we find actual readers who are willing and happy to buy our books and help build our platform? I do not have any financial backing with which to fund a comprehensive marketing campaign. Everything I do has to be free, or services swapped. I found one of these options quite by accident. I am a member of a Facebook group called Authors Tweeting Authors. We basically get together and retweet messages for each other, thus sending out our work and our promotions to a wider network of people all around the world. Search #JT4a on Twitter for more details.

From this group I found a service called RoundTeam. It is a free network where you can set up alerts to retweet other messages for you based on criteria that you choose. I set up a tweet service for messages containing #Bizitalk and from this I was approached by John at TweetUrBizUK. He offered me one week of free Twitter advertising after I shared a lot of retweet messages from his Twitter feed. Of course I said yes! It came at just the right time as well, when my baby daughter was born and I was unable to get online and do my promotions. Thanks to John, I kept up my media presence and found that since then I have a steady stream of new Twitter followers from all sorts of backgrounds. I am now waiting to see if this boosts my book sales, but it is a little early to tell just yet…


What are your experiences of social media networking to improve sales or attract clients? Please do share any advice or comments you feel could help other people in our situation.

*Social networks image courtesy of B2B Marketing Insider
Twitter birds image courtesy of Media Novak

Saturday 24 August 2013

Book Review: Media Magnetism by Christina Hamlett #Bizitalk

Here is my book review of Media Magnetism: How to Attract the Favorable Publicity You Want and Deserve by Christina Hamlett:


A useful guide for small business owners seeking media publicity

This book is very informative for people seeking advice about how to market themselves as a brand and a small business. The media world is a confusing place, and it helps if you know where to begin in terms of approaching radio, TV and print media outlets to receive coverage and advertising for your business. As an Indie author I found this book quite helpful with guidance on getting the best use from my social media connections, and also some insight into the industry for future reference. I recommend it to anyone in a similar situation, who wants to expand their customer/client/reader numbers but has little or no experience with the media industry as a tool for wider publicity.

Sunday 30 June 2013

Should an Author become a Twitter Fiend?

This is an interesting question. Technology has advanced to such an extent that our lives now appear to be dominated, and in some cases even ruled, by social networking. There are tales of families who sit in a line on the sofa at home, each person glued to a different device. One might be using Facebook on a tablet computer. Another might be playing social games on an Ipod. A third sibling will be on Twitter or a social messenger app on their mobile phone. Crazy times!

Personally I consider myself fairly well versed in social networks. Yes, I am still only familiar with the most popular ones, namely Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. I haven’t found the time to explore all the other networks, what with raising a young family, writing my novels, and maintaining two blogs alongside any freelance non-fiction work projects I pick up. But as an Indie author, I have been schooled in the necessity for social networking to sell my books. I have no budget for marketing. I cannot currently afford to pay a publicist to do everything for me. It is down to me, all by myself, to tell people about my books and encourage them to buy.


There is the challenge! I spent a lot of time in 2012 studying Twitter, reading a series of helpful blogs written by social media experts, and learning the techniques for using hash tags and keywords effectively. I modified my profile information across all my networks every time I learned something new. I changed my profile photograph and made them all the same, so that my image might better show up in search engines. And then I got into the Hootsuite revolution. I had toyed with Tweetdeck for a while, having had it recommended by some fellow authors. I just don’t get along very well with this application. It doesn’t seem to do what I want, and is often more cumbersome than helpful.

Hootsuite, on the other hand, has become an addiction. I’m not sure that I should be admitting to this, or even if I should perhaps be taking a break. But there we are. I decided to join Hootsuite and try it out as a method for scheduling tweets about my books and those of my fellow Indie authors. According to the advice I have gleaned from my online studies, an author should adopt an 80/20 ratio of promotion. This means that we should use 80% of our social network feeds to promote other authors, books and related activities, and we should use 20% of our feed to promote our own books. The idea is that we join social groups where authors do the work for each other. We share our details across several accounts, therefore giving us the best possible exposure.


But is it too much? I have recently become involved with another author group via Facebook, where we tweet for each other. Some of the authors are very aggressive in their tweeting tactics, and it does seem to work for them. Others are a little more hesitant, and perhaps struggle to fit it all in. I suppose I might better fit the ‘aggressive Tweeter’ label. I’m not sure I am comfortable with that, but there it is. I have found that when I don’t partake in the group tweets for a day or two, my book sales do slump. But I also haven’t yet hit the bestseller lists as a result of my efforts. Perhaps I need to give it more time. Perhaps I need another marketing plan.

What advice can you give to this confused and frustrated author? All comments and personal experiences welcome…

*Images courtesy of Pinterest; Frustrated Author and Social Networker

Friday 21 June 2013

Join Me in Nantwich for Rendezvous Business Networking!

I am jumping onto the business networking wagon again, and this time I am heading over to Nantwich, Cheshire, just up the road from where I live. I will be attending the Rendezvous Business Networking event on Friday 28th June from 4:00pm - 6:00pm. The event is organized by Mhari Oakes in association with Business Update Magazine, and there will be plenty of exciting and interesting people to meet.


My special announcement is that I will use the event to formally showcase all three of my Redcliffe novels now that I have published the trilogy. This is by no means the end of the Redcliffe story, far from it! These novels simply introduced us to Jessica Stone and the Mason brothers, but now their lives have taken on whole new meanings, and they have lots more adventures and experiences to share. I just have to find time to write the books around being a mother with infants!

Anyway, if you would like to come and see me, see my books, and talk about all things writing related, being an author, or even get some advice on publishing and networking, then come along to the event. Or if you are a small business owner in the local area, and you want to reach out to people, we would love to see you there. Aside from the presence of your favourite local author, there will be a jewellery demonstration from the prestigious Stella and Dot brand as showcased by Mhari Oakes.


So don’t forget, Rendezvous Business Networking, on Friday 28th June 2013, from 4:00p - 6:00pm. See you there!

Friday 10 May 2013

The Business of Professional Writing


Looking through the window I can see a dark, overcast day in May. Typical British weather! You can barely see through the glass because it is obscured with fat, glistening raindrops. Every so often the sun will appear as if by magic, temporarily transforming the raindrops into brilliant kaleidoscopes of colour. Just as suddenly, it disappears, to be replaced by black clouds that proceed to pour forth more heavy moisture onto the soaking pavements and sodden gardens in our town.

My attention returns to the room in which I sit. I am an observer. The people in this room are far too important to notice me, perched high up on the wall. I found a comfortable seat on top of a picture. It is a standard office decoration, a framed certificate for some obscure qualification received by the company. What do they do again? Ah, yes, they offer professional writing services to the UK and beyond. From this office building the bosses spin a web all around the world, via the Internet, gathering together a top team of freelance writers to provide high quality content for their clients. The energy is fast paced, making the most of an emerging market primed for development.

“Alright then, people,” announces a man dressed in black suit trousers and a grey pinstripe dress shirt with no tie. He looks fairly young, maybe around 35, and he has black hair and dark eyes, with a complexion that is tanned, suggesting that he has been either on a tropical holiday recently, or he enjoys tanning salons in his spare time.



“Let’s get down to business,” says the man, sitting down at the head of a highly polished wooden table. He sets down a white mug of coffee just collected from the pot on a side table near the door. The rich aroma wafts around the boardroom, warm and comforting. There are three other people in the room with him; two women and one man. They all look of a similar age, mid to late thirties, all dressed in a kind of contemporary office uniform: not quite formal but still smart and well presented. The table is strewn with notepads, Ipads, mobile phones and a couple of folders containing documents necessary for the meeting.

“We need a tagline,” the boss informs his staff members, “Something edgy, sharp, and effective that will tell people exactly what we are about here at Wait.”

Everyone nods and murmurs their agreement. Apparently they already have some ideas to present. One of the women clears her throat and begins the discussion.

“How about this?” she says, “We offer quick, concise and top quality content writing for your website, business documents and professional portfolio.”

The man pulls a face while the other occupants of the room nod and wait for his reaction. He nods his head very slightly, not quite ready to offer praise, but not totally disappointed with the woman’s efforts.

“Good,” he says, “But I’m sure we can do better. What do we stand for as a company? What is it that we present to our clients? Quality, yes. Professionalism. Swift, reliable and efficient return on projects. Close attention to detail, and a deep knowledge of SEO, web content writing and copy editing for all business needs. Now, what else have you got?”

They all begin talking together, throwing around random phrases and trying out words that might sound sharp when read out from a computer. I grow bored of listening. I am hungry. Spreading my wings, I leap off the picture frame and move toward the plate of pastries sitting beside the coffee pot. I impact with a clear glass dome, rebound backwards with a start, and sit for a moment on the table, stunned. Then I shakily take flight, seeking an exit from this now oppressive room. I leave the business executives to their meeting. I have other priorities to attend to.

*Image courtesy of Pinterest

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Business Networking is Good for Book Sales!


I recently attended a couple of business networking events in order to begin the process of physically meeting people that I can develop working relationships with. Up until recently I have focused on social networking and Internet based work, which is brilliant, but I admit I was beginning to feel a little lonely. So, I stepped out of my comfort zone, found some networking events advertised in my local newspaper and on Linked In, and got myself out there.

Initially I was planning to attend the events in the capacity of freelance writer and copy editor. This is the business I am developing in order to raise an income while I do the domestic chores of mothering and housework. I had sort of planned to keep my novels separate, since they do not generate anything like a business income at the moment. I need to build up my reader base and get on the bestseller lists before I see any sort of decent financial return.



Well, there was a huge lesson straight away! I am a writer. That is what I do. Feeling a little self conscious, I tripped along to the first networking event back in February, and told a group of strangers why I was there. It was actually not particularly nerve wracking. I was more concerned about getting my message across and giving the correct ‘elevator pitch’ to quote a technical term. I gave out some business cards, received some in return, and made some contacts that I am currently in the process of developing into business clients.

The second networking event was the one that gave me a lesson in book sales. Lexus of Stoke-on-Trent hosted this event. Their intention was to showcase their new models of cars as designed for the executive buyer. I was very impressed, and they certainly are in the back of my mind for future reference. The main point of this event for me was the speed-networking element. The idea was that we all got to speak to each other, share contacts, and develop our working relationships.


I had decided to take all three of my novels with me to the networking event. While I was there, I showed them to interested people, and discovered at least two or three keen readers who said they would look me up online to stock up their Kindles and e-readers. Then, totally by surprise, I sold a paperback right there at the event! Brilliant! So, in the future, my books will go everywhere with me. Fellow authors, take note. Here is some advice for an alternative sales outlet for your books. Spread the word!