A few days ago I did a teleseminar for around 400 authors on how to use social media. Prior to the seminar I received around 130 questions. I couldn’t get to all of them on the seminar so I thought I spend a few days and go through them here. There are a lot of questions so if my answers aren’t as in depth as you would like I apologize. Questions that say something like “how can I marketing my novel,” will also not be addressed because a lot of that was covered on the teleseminar. This is part 3.
Let’s get started:
Where to start? If I have limited time funds and know-how…
Funds are not an issue with social media as the tools and platforms are free, the only thing you need is time. As far as know-how goes I’ve always been a firm believe that the best way to learn something is by doing. Go through the ebook I sent out to Arielle (if you don’t have it it will be available to the general public soon) and follow some of those suggestions. Start with something simple like twitter and see what happens.
Should you mix personal with professional posts on Twitter?
I do. I have on account where I talk about business and life. People aren’t connecting with me just because they’re interested in what I do for a living, many people are also interested in what goes on behind the scenes. I say mix it up and give people both, show them you’re human.
How to select the medium relevant to the book’s potential readership and the book itself? How to develop a co-ordinated PR campaign across the various social networking options eg: matching content to book and audience?
If you know your book audience and demographic then cross reference this with the demographic of social networks, this is a start. Chances are you will always be able to find an audience on the major social networks. Use google blog search, google alerts, twitter search, facebook group search, etc. to search for people that are interested in things related to your book. Once you find them connect with them, give them a virtual handshake and a hello.
How do you think social media is going to evolve in the next 3 years?
Next three years are going to be interesting times. I think a few things are going to happen. First of all we are going to see more streaming content coming out of sites like facebook. Instant information and communication is going to become a standard. I also think we are going to see mobile become a central role in social media communication. I’m also thinking we will see more networks and connectivity based on gps on location tracking. But who knows 
What future do you foresee for online marketing as compared to other traditional methods of marketing?
Online marketing will become more pervasive, traditional marketing will start to drop off as less of an ROI is realized.
Which social media site/tool is the most effective for a new author in the area of spiritual / motivational books.
Depends on where your audience is, use platform search and group features to find your audience. I’m sure you will find spiritual people on any platform.
How do you optimize your time spent on social sites?
Check out my post on my social media system
What are tips to turn social marketing into a great experience instead of a time waster?
This depends on how you’re currently using social networking sites and how you want to use social networking sites. Just go after your goals. If you want to connect with businesses then do that.
How can I realize book sales from blogging on social networking sites? Steps please
Unfortunately I can’t give you exact steps because there is a lot that needs to be researched first. However you start by doing a blogger outreach campaign and writing guest posts on other blogs in your niche space. You can also provide sneak peaks and contest on your blog. Point is to connect with people and build relationships, sales come after.
I’m on Facebook, but mainly for fun. What is the best way I can utilize it as an author? Any suggestions?
Depends what your goals are. Try checking out facebook groups to connect with other authors/publishers/etc. You might also want to create a fan page to start communicating with your readers.
How can I do a better job of promoting product/service online?
This depends on what you’re already doing. Stop worrying about promoting and start focusing on building relationships.
Do you suggest getting involved in only one social networking system and learn it first before getting involved in others? If so, which one would you suggest?
Depends what you’re trying to do. Twitter is probably the easiest one to get started with so you might want to give it a shot and then build from there.
Can we use all of the social media platforms to compliment each other or should we be looking at them all separately with different strategies for all of them?
The platforms do different things. For example you can’t have streaming conversations on facebook and you can’t have a fan page on twitter. It should all be part of one strategy but each network is a different component which satisfies a different need.
That’s it for part 3. I will get to more of the questions soon. Have anything you want to add?
check out part 1 of social media for authors
check out part 2 of social media for authors
