Do You Connect?
Today I read a wonderful post written by Jody Hedlund. She is the author of The Doctor’s Lady and I always find her blog posts well worth the read with helpful tips and insights for readers and writers alike.
Her post, Putting the “Social” Back in Social Media struck a chord with me so much that as I was writing a comment on her blog, it became a post.
Are you on the fence about chatting with your readers/followers even when they’re basically sitting right next to you? Do you feel it’s too much effort to share or comment or begin a dialogue and instead choose to ignore them? If so, you’re missing out on a tremendous experience!
Ms. Hedlund writes that she’s
“…observed a disturbing trend among the writing community on social media sites–the lack of interaction.” and that “…particularly Twitter–has become one big infomercial.”
She’s talking about spamming, of course. Where writers or wanna-be-writers do nothing but post promotional tweets sometimes as often as a dozen times a day filling their followers Twitter feeds with nothing but spam. There is no interaction. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a personal tweet or even a response tweet to anyone in their feed. They don’t want to share themselves nor do they care about who follows them, as long as they can promote their book. They are all about quantity of followers (Facebook way of life) rather than quality of followers (Twitter way of life). All they want are sales, fame, and fortune, and they want them NOW. 😦
Here’s an Image For You…
When I see these sorts of tweets in my Twitter feed, I imagine someone standing outside their home on their porch waving a bright orange flag with a megaphone yelling, “BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! I’LL JUST DIE IF YOU DON’T BUY MY BOOK!!”
Of course, all of the neighbors are safely tucked away inside their homes hoping this lunatic will simply shut up and leave them alone. I mean, after all, who does he think he is asking us to buy his book when he’s never shown an interest of any kind towards them? Snap goes the blinds. In Twitter’s case, the Unfollow button works just fine.
Now, I don’t think that’s the image this writer realizes he’s conjuring for his followers. In his desperation, assumptions are made (right or wrong). Those assumptions usually include the following: he is a self-published author that hasn’t bothered to invest time in numerous edits and re-writes, nor invest money into professional editing or strong cover art, and certainly hasn’t done his homework on marketing and social media. He’s probably not worth a read. Ouch.
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New writers (or anyone new to social media with a product or service to sell) need to realize you are there to connect *not* to sell. If you do connect, you’ll automatically sell. How much? Well, that depends on many unknown and known factors, plus a good deal of luck. Even the Big Six Publishers realize there is an “unknown” factor involved. You just never know what will truly resonate with the public and motivate them to buy a book (or any product).
Fully Interacting and Being Successful on Twitter
I realize we live in a culture of instant gratification and there are many new writers seeking, nay demanding, instant fame and financial success with their blog or their self-publishing endeavor. They are panicked and desperate for attention and sales. This is very unfortunate. They are missing what social media really is about: a way to globally connect with people, not just ‘follow’ or be ‘followed’. And, in order to connect, you must interact.
Personally, I love Twitter and have carried on many successful discussions and worthwhile chats via this social media platform. And for those who continue to say Twitter isn’t good for such things? I politely say to them, “You’re wrong. That is not my experience. I have lots of valuable, fun, helpful conversations with people on Twitter!”
Once you start a conversation, it’s easy to continue it! Even a simple back-and-forth of “Love your post about…couldn’t agree more!” and/or “Thank you!” establishes a rapport. 🙂
I have chatted with astronomers, gardeners, well-known writers/authors, literary agents, publishers, moms and dads, successful bloggers, HR people (in Australia!), tech people, and many more intelligent, thought-provoking, helpful, successful, and articulate people on Twitter. It’s quite satisfying and a whole lot of fun!
And that is what social media is all about: sharing, helping, having fun, and establishing/creating relationships.
That’s what creates readers, followers, and traffic to your blog, site, or account. Not spamming. Not sending out a dozen tweets all within two minutes in the hope of “trying to keep up blog traffic every day.” That writer will remain anonymous. I tried to discreetly (via DM) tell him what he was doing was considered spam and most people won’t click through to read one of those 12 posts much less ANY of them when you flood their Twitter feed like that. It just doesn’t work that way.
“But, interacting takes time!“
Yes, it does but not as much time as you think it does. Set your timer and spend 15 minutes catching up on your Twitter feed. You can respond to a few people in only 30 seconds. Then, post 2-3 times a day about your day, your pet, your editing, your writing. Once a week, promote your book tactfully. On your Twitter profile page, make sure you have your site or blog url address so people can click through to see who this nice and/or interesting person is and what they write! It’s quite do-able. 🙂
It’s like that adage: Do what you love and the money will follow. Well, write about what you love (and be sincere/authentic), and people will follow. Forget about sales and fame. Begin a blog or Twitter account because you want to connect, because you’re curious, because you see it as a fun adventure!
Don’t do it if your primary reason is to get sales. Even major companies are finding out about that flaw. Build a relationship with your customers and you’ll have customers for life. Don’t…and you won’t. It’s really that simple.
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