Home » social media marketing

Tag: social media marketing

What does a book marketing strategist do? 

Are you an author who wants to get your book out there? You’ve written your book, and you’re ready to get it out? But where do you start?

The world of book marketing is an exciting one, but it can be overwhelming. 

What kind of marketing tools should you use? How long will it take before people start buying your book? And what if they don’t buy anything at all?

If you’re new to the industry and don’t know where to start, I’ve got some tips for you – from my recent conversation with Becky Robinson of Book Marketing Action Plan

What is my role in working with authors?

It’s evolved and continues to evolve – but the journey typically looks like figuring out these stages – then creating strategy and plans about how to make it happen.

  1. Where are they in their author journey
  2. Where are they in their book journey
  3. What are their goals for book and beyond

Being alongside with the clients and establishing their plans, and their strategy on how they implemented all of these stages, is the way I picture myself working with them. Helping them execute and implement the plan.

When is the best time for someone to work with a marketing strategist?

It’s hard. It’s never too soon, ideally, at least six months before their publication date. 

What are the most important ways an author can prepare to market a book?

I like to think about it as building community – it can be less intimidating.

But getting really clear about what that community looks like – then figuring out how to most effectively and authentically reach them.

And getting support in the areas they aren’t skilled in.

What changes have occured book marketing over the past 10 years?

The spectrum of how to get your book published has grown exponentially!

What most excites you about helping authors with their marketing?

I believe that my interest in assisting others in spreading their messages is what initially prompted me to get involved.

I feel like helping people who have important messages that can change people’s lives is really important. And books still very much do that, as well as the content that they’re putting out into the world that supports that book. I learn new stuff every day from working with experts. So selfishly, I love that. And I think the reason I stayed in this genre or working with authors or being excited about books is the possibilities for what happens after you publish a book. 

Whether you did it as a content strategy, to promote yourself as a thought leader, or to simply tell your experience and perhaps influence someone’s life, I think it’s extremely essential. There is just something about being able to identify as an author that, in my opinion, opens up more doors for them in terms of interviews, appearances on stages, talks, and possibly even inclusion in other works. As a result, I find it fascinating that people who go to all this difficulty to write a book find that it simply opens up a lot of doors. This, in my opinion, should be the reward for all the effort.

Here are some of the most important things to keep in mind when building your author brand to reach more readers with your books. 

  1. Put together a list of people who know, love, and adore you and start sending them an email every now and then (with their permission). If you don’t have a plan for email, then it’s going to be really hard to build a community.
  2. Think about how you’re showing up online and Google yourself to see what you find. Make sure the story the online world is telling is the one you want to be told. 

For the entire conversation with Becky Robinson of Book Marketing Action Plan listen here!

10 Easy Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile

 

This event is over.

But you can still sign up to receive a copy of the recording to stream or download. Enter your details below, and you’ll be instantly redirected to the playback!

 

After learning the steps in this webinar, you’ll go from LinkedIn shame to a polished professional profile + key action steps to reach “all-star” status in less than an hour!

No matter your career level or path, everyone should be on LinkedIn.

With more than 100 million people actively using LinkedIn as the world’s largest business network, you truly can’t afford to ignore it. Making sure your LinkedIn profile is working to represent the best of who you are and what you do is critical.

Join me for this LIVE WEBINAR where you will learn the 10 easy things you can do to become an all-star on LinkedIn.

Date/time: Wednesday, December 13th, 12:30 ET
Donation: $25

(All donation proceeds will go to International Relief Teams to help people affected by disasters nationally and internationally.)

Have a conflict with the date and time? No worries – anyone who registers for the webinar will also get a link to the recording afterward.

 

EVENT OVER

 

Facebook 101 Workshop

Facebook Business Page 101 Workshop

On Friday October 28th, I’m excited to rejoin to The Summit at Workpoint Stamford to present another social media session that will help you learn important Facebook Business Page strategy!

In this hands-on workshop, solo-preneurs and entrepreneurs will learn and apply the following in just a couple of hours:

  • How to set up your Facebook business page
  • Invite people to “like” your page
  • Create posts that will shine through the clutter

You’ll leave with a Facebook page ready to promote your business. I’ll offer practical, easy-to-do steps to help you reach more people on Facebook and feel confident doing it.

Visit this evite page for more details and to register. I hope to see you on October 28th!

Content planning tips

Time for a Plan! What, Why and How of Content Planning

Do you find yourself scrambling every day, week, or month, trying to figure out content planning (i.e., what you are going to blog, post or email to your fans and customers)?

How would it feel if you had a schedule and system, where your content was all planned out – so that every day you and your team would know what was posting when? Awesome, right?

Say goodbye to stress and feeling guilty about neglected social media platforms and blogs. Say hello to organization for you and your audience in providing consistent valuable and engaging content that will leave your fans wanting and expecting more.

Let’s dig in to the WHAT, WHY and HOW of content planning:

WHAT is content planning?

Content planning – sometimes known as editorial planning or editorial calendar – is the system of planning out all of the your content (blog posts, promotions, campaigns, newsletters and social media posts) ideally in calendar format (or spreadsheet, or Word docs) so that you are constantly and consistently delivering valuable, timely information to your peeps.

For example, I try to blog at least once a month about something I’ve been working on with clients or something that I think needs explaining to my followers who are interested in learning more about online marketing and social media.

I then create a monthly newsletter to share the most recent blog post(s) and any other recent online marketing and social media news and trends as well as upcoming events. And for my “secret sauce” – try to include a playlist!

Typically, I plan this for the middle of the month, because I’m usually busy at the beginning of the month working on client work (their newsletters, etc.). Then, I share the blog/newsletter on all of my social media posts, for people who might not be on my email list.

Example of my typical content planning:

Example of content planning and scheduling for my blog

 

REPEAT!

That’s a very simplified version of my content planning and scheduling for my blog, newsletter and related promotional social media!

WHY should you plan your content?

The main reasons you should plan your content marketing are:

First, you will eliminate the stress of always feeling like you should be more to communicate with your ideal audience. Once you set up some sort of system, you can rest easy that you have a plan to make it happen.

Second, planning makes it easier for your team (admin, designer, web person) to support you. If you have your content planned out, then you can enlist the support of your team to potentially help with research, images, posts and scheduling, etc.  Heck, you may even be able to delegate the whole process. Many hands will make light work, especially when they are working with your new schedule.

Lastly, your audience will love, expect and come to rely on your regularly shared insights and expertise with your blog and newsletter delivery. With consistent content, you’ll become the teacher, adviser and coach constantly engaging and delighting your clients with valuable information that further establishes you as an expert in your field. 

HOW do you create your content plan?

First, decide what kind of content will you be creating, curating and sharing? – For some, it’s easier to think about what they want to say, share, teach, or promote. For example, you might have a series of “how-to” videos, timely tips blog posts, a project portfolio or seasonal promotion or campaign with a countdown. If you are stuck, I often tell clients to think about the top 10 questions that they get asked by their clients.

Related Reading: Blogging When You Hate to Write

Second, establish when will you be posting and sharing your content – While it’s important to consider how frequent your audience wants to hear from you, it’s equally if not more important to answer the question – how often can you/your team reliably and consistently deliver?

While many “experts” advise that weekly is the ideal frequency to stay in touch with your tribe, I advise starting with what feels like a manageable schedule. You are much better off to commit to a monthly schedule and consistently deliver for a year, than to dive into a weekly commitment and peter out after 2 months.

NINJA TIP – Batch your content if you can

Instead of writing a new blog every time you have one scheduled, consider writing them in batches. Why not bang out 3-4 blog posts then you would be done for the month or the quarter depending on your frequency.

The same can be said for social media content. You should consider posting at least a week’s worth of your social media in advance. This is particularly good for evergreen and/or promotional posts that aren’t tied to news and trending ideas. If you can schedule the bulk of your

SUPER NINJA TIP – Schedule your content

Most of your online marketing platforms like WordPress, MailChimp, Facebook and/or third party apps, like Hootsuite, Buffer, SproutSocial, and CoSchedule all have super helpful scheduling features so you don’t feel tied to your computer when you need to post.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Plan & schedule your online content to be part of your biz activities vs something that won’t happen” quote=”If you can plan and schedule your online content, it will become part of your business activities, instead of an afterthought that never happens.” theme=”style2″]

 

Sign up below to get your own free Content Calendar from me:


 

Please share in the comments below what your favorite tips, tricks and tools are for optimum blog and social media content planning. Or connect with me if you need some help planning your content calendar. Now get planning!