Actual photo of Kristen Lamb on the inside.

When I first saw Google + pop up on the social media radar, I tried to ignore it. But, as an expert people tend to believe we know what we’re doing. I have tried to convince you guys that I make this up as I go, but alas I some of you sent me messages like this:

So, what do you think of Google +?

Um is… Crap. Is it too early to drink? a viable answer?

I was just kind of hoping they would stop inventing stuff for a week or two so I could get caught up. Can we ever keep up with it all? Social media is not immune to evolution. Some things work, others don’t. People behind the technology are always asking if there is a way to streamline. Can we make this better? More user-friendly? Can we make it easier for people to interact? To connect? To filter out all the white noise? I can’t blame them. It keeps the programmers off the streets, even if it gives us stress hives.

It seems that Google is taking on this challenge with launching Google +. So, as your Social Media Jedi Master, I am taking this bullet for the team. Thanks to one of my blog followers I scored an invitation to be part of the beta testing for the one social network to rule them all…Google +. So I will be pressing buttons and shouting expletives at my computer so you don’t have to.

It is too early to give a good opinion. I don’t quite understand how THIS will be different, wonderful and fantastical. Maybe it will be, but time will tell.

You guys might find this shocking, but I hate anything new. I am really an 58 year old Jewish woman from Long Island, New York at heart, and all this technology makes me seriously verklempt. The fact that I have written two best-selling technology books is proof God has a sense of humor.

I get set in my ways and, like a lot of people, I don’t care for change. And sometimes, especially when it comes to technology, I want to yell ENOUGH, ALREADY!  I feel like I am caught in a digital riptide and drowning in digital daiquiri mix. I have the schmeltz.

The Downside of New and Improved

It is wonderful that the social networking sites want to always be offering something new and shiny, but sometimes? I wish they would leave things alone. For instance, I LOVE Twitter and TweetDeck, yet it seems that every other day there is a new version that I need to install. Really? I just figured out the buttons on last week’s version, and now I need to install a NEWER version? A faster version? A version that allows me to tweet straight from my brain without having to type?

Facebook is no better. Oh we know you just finally figured out version 37, but version 38 WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!

I think that this was a big reason MySpace collapsed. Yes, I mention MySpace in WANA. Feel free to ignore all 5 of those pages.  Yet, MySpace is a lesson in how “new and improved” can go tragically wrong.

MySpace was a force to be reckoned with a few years ago, but MySpace wasn’t happy with prosperity. They had to new and improve and add more and more gizmos, ads, games, apps, gadgets and flashy thingies. Eventually, people had so much crap on their profile that the page loaded slower than Eeyore on Quaaludes. No one could open a profile without risking a computer crash….which defeated why MySpace was so popular. Originally, it was a simple way to connect, hang out and make friends. MySpace “new and improved” so much that you risked a seizure every time you tried to visit a profile.

MySpace also lost sight of what it did well and kept trying to copy Facebook. The irony of this approach was that people who liked MySpace generally didn’t like Facebook. So here MySpace was copying the very place many of us were trying to avoid. In the end, all this copying of Facebook was the source of the hemorrhage of people to Facebook. If MySpace was going to be Facebook, then um, why not just go hang out on Facebook?

A couple of months ago, Facebook decided to force everyone to change the layout of their profile.Oh, they made it seem like it was optional at first (kind of like the Nazi party). Every day when I logged in, Facebook would have a pop up message touting the “new look” and ask if I was ready to change. Every day I said no. I’d finally figured out where everything was.

Then, one day I logged in and … everything was moved. I know they are trying to be nice, but that’s kind of like surprising Helen Keller with an extreme home makeover while she’s away on vacation. The intention is noble, but the result is not pretty when Helen falls into a wine cellar she didn’t have when she left to visit relatives in Florida.

Not all of us work for Facebook. We have other things to do with our time than try to figure out yet another page layout. Leave it alone. Really.

Cell phones….yeah. Don’t get me started.

Are People Wanting to Move Again?

I know that Google + is promising new and wonderful things, but it kind of reminds me of when I was young and used to move every three months. Sure moving to a new place was fun and exciting when everything I owned could be packed in less than two hours…but now? When my crap would fill two moving vans? I am just not that motivated.

I think that maybe some of the younger generations that are new to social media will probably embrace Google + far quicker.  To put it bluntly, they have less crap to move.

Many people have been building Facebook pages for years. I have 4000 followers on Twitter. Do I really want to start anew? One of the reasons I kept hoping MySpace would pull its digital head out of its digital butt was because I had a lot of hours invested in that network. I didn’t want to start all….over….again.

I am hoping Google + has learned from these issues and can make transitioning easy.

Change Can Be Good

Okay so I have whined now for a few hundred words and you see what I mean about really being an 58 year old Jewish woman from Long Island, New York. I don’t like change. Again, this is why I am proof that God digs irony. Yet, in ways I think that this is an attribute that has made me better at teaching social media to writers.

Many social media people LOVE gadgets and gizmos and the newest way of doing anything shiny. They are lovely people, but a lot of them have the attention span of a ferret with a cocaine habit. Many of them just don’t get that we still have to write books, too.

Yes, we need change. Change can be great. I hated cell phones and e-mail when they first came out, and now I am tethered permanently to both. But, change for the sake of change is a waste of time and energy. I think it is wise for us to pan back and take a minute to think. See if we really need to change, why we need to change and when we need to change.

Google + is promising to make social media a better experience. I am thinking it might be a meta-program (I think that’s a word. If not, now it is). A meta-program to act as a hub to for all other social media sites. But, I had to give a DNA sample and 32 background references to create a profile so I haven’t started digging under the hood yet.

So, I am tying off to a safety line. I have my backpack full of Red Bull and Dr. Phil books. I’ll go whack it with a hammer and see if it screams then report back. Just because there is a hot new social networking fad is no reason to tear down the tents and set off for parts unknown. But, we also want to make sure we aren’t clinging to a sinking ship.

*cough* MySpace.

Google + might be the new evolution of social media. But it could be a giant brain cramp that we can avoid. I will keep you posted. So what do you guys think? Any of you using Google +? If you are, can you come find me? I’m the series of 0s and 1s wandering around crying. I have a balloon on my arm and am wearing an orange jumper. Are you guys tired of the “new and improved”? What’s your opinion? Are you excited? Do you need a Tums? Are you also an 58 year old Jewish woman from Long Island on the inside? Are you verklempt? We can compare bunions.

I love hearing from you! And to prove it and show my love, for the month of July, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

I will pick a winner every week for a critique of your first five pages. At the end of June I will pick a winner for the grand prize. A free critique from me on the first 15 pages of your novel. Good luck!

Note: I am keeping all the names for a final GRAND, GRAND PRIZE of 30 Pages (To be announced) OR a blog diagnostic. I look at your blog and give feedback to improve it. For now, I will draw weekly for 5 page edit, monthly for 15 page edit.

Last Week’s Winner of 5 page critique is Thomas Ross. Please send 1250 word Word document to kristen at kristen lamb dot org.

Mash-Up of Awesomeness

FUNNY Post by Lani Wendt Young Don’t You Dare Breathe on That Baby

The Rules of Social Media Optimization 

Self-Publish–Is It a Dirty Word?

Social Media–Protection from Facial Recognition Software

Failing Doesn’t Make You a Failure by Jen Rothman

60 Tips to Improve Your NF Writing (this is excellent for blogging, too)

Literary Agents: An Endangered Species? by the brilliant and talented Anne R. Allen

Can getting published make you happy? by Michelle Davidson Argyle

Will self-publishing hurt your chances of being traditionally published? by Agent Rachelle Gardner

What’s the difference between plot and story?

Why Understanding Conflict Will Make You a Better Writer by Bubblecow

In the meantime, I hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . Both books are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in th biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left over to write more great books! I am here to change your approach, not your personality.

The post Initial Thoughts on Google + appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Today we are going to talk about platform. Platform, next to the actual writing, is simply THE most valuable asset we possess. Platform and content are the two things we control, and they are the largest determining factors as to whether or not we will have a successful writing career.

So what is a platform? There are two sides to platform. First is the definition of our platform (our author brand). What is unique about us or our writing that can be a determining factor in our content? I happened to teach about social media and was an editor for years. Thus, I used my strengths to dig in and forge relationships. NYT Best-Selling Author Bob Mayer was a Green Beret and leader of an A-Team before he became a writer. Thus, Bob uses his unique perspective as a soldier to give a distinctive quality to his platform.

In Hollywood, the mantra is, “Give me the same…but different.” This should be our mantra in defining our platform. We need SOMETHING that defines us as a writer…but at the same time makes us stand out from all the others. Same but different.

Our platform definition is basically our image, and affects the way we will approach others. Think of it like how we dress. Do we approach people as the three-piece suit Power Point guy? All business and professional? Are we the D&D T-shirt video game guy, and we quote Blazing Saddles far more than is socially acceptable? Are we the seductive yet snarky diva who teaches about bringing out the inner muse? Defining platform goes a lot to adding to voice.

Just go read Bob Mayer’s blog…then pop over the Chuck Wendig. Both have amazing blogs, but very different voices and presentation. Both authors use their strong suits, and their personalities come screaming off the screen (in a good way).

I liken myself to Erma Bombeck meets technology. I strive to add a heavy dose of humor and common sense to all of my social media endeavors. I am using something unique to me; the ability to be funny…honed over 18 schools and countless Mean Girls whose sole mission in life was to make my life hell. Years of always being the new target…um, kid developed in me a strong defense mechanism. I learned to be funny. Kind of like peeing on yourself so no one eats you.

Writing out your tags (discussed in Blogging Part 3) will give you a good clue as to HOW to define your author image (platform).

Once we have defined our platform, then we go about building our platform. This can be a simple presence in a blog or on FB…or, if you read my book WANA, it is a complex layering of all the major sites worked into an intricate lattice that is designed to grow with your career and withstand upsets in the industry or on social media. The WANA Method maximizes time on social media.

Building a platform is comprised of content and exposure. How much content are you putting out there? One blog every quarter and tweets about the weather is not a lot of useful content. Content makes up the beams to construct the platform. If we are putting out 2-5 quality blogs a week, that is like laying down solid beams of hardwood. If we don’t blog and only play with farm animals on FB, think of that like building our platform with leftover Popsicle sticks. Yeah, there is something “wooden-ish” there, but it sure as heck ain’t load-bearing.

This is the point of all that we are doing when on social media. We are creating a load-bearing structure using content and relationships. This is the platform that will hold our reputations, our public images and our futures. Do we want that made out of beams of African Teak or cheap particle board? The better a platform is constructed, the better chance it can withstand a major change.

MySpace is hemorrhaging right now. In my book, I recommended it as an alternative for a website (a lot of writers are broke), NOT as a place to really build a presence. If you can afford the optimized website, go for it. The point is that I already had a HUGE presence on MySpace. But, because I had built my platform the way I teach you guys, I was able to keep most of my followers as tastes changed in favor of FB.

There are still people who love MySpace. But as this major shift ripped apart social media…my platform remained intact. Members of my MySpace platform could easily find me on FB as they transitioned. And, the even better part was that I made enough of an impression that they WANTED to find me. That is awesome no matter how you look at it :D.

I teach you guys how to do the same.

Platform gives us a number of advantages.

The Six Degrees of Separation

As society advances, we have more and more choices and are inundated with information. People tend to pull in to what and who they know. Actively participating on social media is like rolling dice. The more times you roll, the greater chances you have for being successful and opening that ONE door that changes your career forever.

Friday’s blog got a ton of comments. One of my regular followers, Kait Nolan, offered a lot of useful advice for self-publishing and shared how she had been very successful (based in part on her using WANA). An agent I met at a conference happened by MY blog, saw HER comments, then clicked and checked out her platform…and offered her representation.

My circle of connections overlapped with Kait and her enthusiastic participation. Because she had a very nice platform (complete with a mini-bar, BBQ grill and hot tub) she was able to impress an agent. No query required. Kait met someone who knew someone, and we wish her the best as she takes her career to a whole new level.

The more you participate and offer quality content, the better your odds of opening that door that changes everything. I am the headliner for a social media forum at the RT Booklovers Convention in LA. Know how I got the offer? Romance Author DeeDee Scott , who I talk to on FB all the time, recommended me. She knew the head of publicity for the RT Booklovers Convention, and, when Carol mentioned needing a social media expert, DeeDee jumped in and sang my praises.

But how would she have ever even KNOWN me had I not been active on social media?

Platform Gives Us Options

Too many writers are out there betting on that ONE thing to come through…an agent will represent them then NY will offer them a deal. Nothing wrong with that, but it can make us crazy in the meantime. To be blunt, an author with no social media presence and only a manuscript has limited options.

Yet, if we have a large platform, our options improve. We can indie publish or self-publish other works until an agent bites. Even still. I have an agent and she is shopping a proposal. This hasn’t stopped me from publishing WANA. I also have “Are You There, Blog? It’s Me Writer” coming out soon. AND I have a THIRD book in the pipeline with WDW Pub. Thus, I am being productive and prolific in my meantime.

I could not do this unless I had a large platform. While I am waiting on the big houses, I am making money with an indie press…and building my reputation (platform), which will increase my odds of 1) a better deal from NY and 2) a better chance of being successful when my books do finally hit the shelves. A lot of people KNOW me and support me (You Guys ROCK, btw). Heck I could get so successful at indie, I wouldn’t need NY at all. Best news is, I have OPTIONS.

I also have the luxury of being picky. Platform makes us the pretty girl that every guy wants to marry. We can stay single and break all their hearts if we want to, or we can settle down. But the best news is that we don’t have to settle for the first offer that comes our way.

What are some tactics you guys use to grow your platform? Any suggestions? Thoughts? What are your biggest challenges? Share! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

And, to prove it and show my love, for the month of February, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention WANA in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. A free critique from me on the first 15 pages of your novel.

Also, I hope you guys check out my guest post at Writer Unboxed. Bring Back that Lovin’ Feeling–What to Do When You Feel Burned Out.

Happy writing!

Until next time…

In the meantime, if you don’t already own a copy, my best-selling book We Are Not Alone–The Writers Guide to Social Media is recommended by literary agents and endorsed by NY Times best-selling authors. My method is free, fast, simple and leaves time to write more books.

Also, I highly recommend the Write It Forward Workshops. Learn all about plotting, how to write great characters, and even how to self-publish successfully…all from the best in the industry. I will be teaching on social media and building a brand in March. For $20 a workshop, you can change your destiny….all from the comfort of home.

This Week’s Mash-Up of Awesomeness

Oh! No! Melodrama–Avoiding the Reader Eye Roll by Roni Loren

E-Publishing & Pricing–How Much is a Book Worth? by NYTBSA Bob Mayer

Great writing series (How We Write Wednesdays) by Jenni Holbrook-Talty and Anna DeStefano

Exploring Romantic Suspense–The Hero  some interesting thoughts by Author Jamie DeBree

How to Avoid Becoming Another Boring Writer’s Blog by my fave Jody Hedlund

Across the Twitterverse by Author Piper Bayard

5 Tips to Avoid Being a Media Moron by the ruthlessly funny Tawna Fenske

Are Romance Heroes Good Role Models? by Paranormal Author Jami Gold

Why Your Self-Published Book Might Suck a Big Bad of Dicks by the hilarious genius word pirate Chuck Wendig

The post Let's Talk Platform–Why We Need One appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Welcome to WANA Wednesday, chock full of tips to rock your social media experience and based off my best selling book We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. One of the biggest complaints I hear about social media is that writers believe they have no time. I am going to share a little secret. We have plenty of time if we do it properly. The problem is that too many writers are approaching social media like traditional marketing instead of social marketing. When we try to apply traditional marketing tactics, we will be spread too thinly to be effective and, truthfully, can do more harm than good. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading last week’s blog for a clear explanation of the key difference between traditional marketing (market norms) and social marketing (social norms).

Social marketing capitalizes on networking. Embrace the great news. We don’t have to do everything alone!!! Traditional marketing will tempt you to be on every last social media site and make a bazillion “friends,” yet all those “friends” will likely not be too vested in your success. So please trust me. A smaller network of effective influencers is far more powerful than a thousand followers who add little social media value.

What is social media value?

Well, these are the members of your social grid who participate actively and add good content to the Internet community. We are going to talk about the different kinds of influencers in a moment. Find these key individuals, and there are no limits to your digital reach. These influencers are platform-building GOLD and your most valuable asset.

So how do you find the key influencers?

There are a number of ways to pinpoint your major influencers, but it is tricky. Why? Because unlike direct marketing or old-fashioned PR, the goal of social media is to influence entire groups of people. We aren’t just targeting one individual, but rather the individual and his/her surrounding community. That is one of the reasons that, unlike direct marketing, the overall effectiveness of social media is not as easy to measure. There are some SIM (Social Influence Marketing) metrics that one can run, and companies that can help you locate your referent influencers, but I don’t know that they are all that helpful for authors wanting to build a platform.

Yeah, you are going to have to do some work. Sorry. But I help you make it fun.

Writers are different than companies doing social media. That was the impetus behind me writing a book for authors. Not all tools that work well in the corporate world cross over.

Unlike Honda or Victoria’s Secret, most of us are a one-man operation. We don’t have a marketing department, and we also have a different kind of product. The CEO of Honda is not responsible for making every car that comes off the assembly line. Yet, until we become brand names and too big to handle all our own writing, we are responsible for the material that hits the bookstore shelves.

We cannot outsource our social media content (blogs, articles, excerpts, commentary, group activity, etc.) like, say, Bud Light or Geiko.

The plain fact of the matter is that the more you participate in social media, the better the results. And when I say participate, that means strategized participation (mixed with fun) with clear end goals. I talk about how to do this in my book, and I am working on a new one. Thinking of calling it, Stop Sending Me Farm Animals and Go Build Your Platform before I Send You a Digital Kick in the Butt.

But basically, you do need to have a plan. In order to have a plan, you must understand the players if you hope to identify those who can maximize your influence, thereby minimizing the time you spend on social media. Not all users are created equally. They are divided into categories that correspond with the influence they exact of their surrounding networks.

Expert Influencer—is just what it says. These are the authorities in a certain subject, and people look to these experts for information, advice, and guidance. The experts are heavyweights when it comes to influencing the decisions of those in their networks. Expert influencers usually have a picture of themselves as their icon. They also generally have huge following that number in the thousands or tens of thousands, depending on the platform. Also, a quick glance to their website (which is usually denoted in the bio) will give you a clear picture that this person is an expert in her field. Oprah. Enough said.

Referent Influencer—is in the person’s social network and exercises influence. Referent influencers are a little trickier to figure out. They generally have a fairly large following, but not always. Quality and quantity are not the same thing.

So how do you figure out the referent influencers? You have to participate so you can pay attention. For the most part the referent influencers are highly active on social media and thus usually have a larger following than the casual user, but maybe not as large as the expert. Yet, it is their level of meaningful activity that makes them essential to have in your network. They post a lot of times a day and are well-known, liked, and respected for good content. People around them trust them for good stuff. These are the people you miss when they take a day off.

In my opinion, the referent influencer is the most valuable. Why? First, it is easier to get close to them and befriend them and gain their support. If you write a blog about parenting (as part of your NF book platform), what are the odds of becoming part of Oprah’s inner circle? Referent influencers are far more approachable.

Secondly, referent influencers are genuine and personal and thus exercise tremendous authority. I think that people tend to trust these types influencers almost as much the experts, if not more. Why? Well, human nature. We like things from the proverbial mouth of the horse. We can’t really be sure Oprah picks her Books of the Month for herself. Likely she has gatekeepers who narrow the field. But, Suzy Lit-Girl, freelance writer and respected book reviewer who posts every week and has 3000 over people in her immediate network (including big authors and publishing houses) is easier to win to your side. It is a much easier feat to get Suzy Lit-Girl to repost your blog or your book’s review than it is to make it on to Oprah’s radar (let alone get a plug). Additionally, those who follow Suzy view her as an authority and listen to her much like an expert, even though, by strict definition, she isn’t.

Thirdly, there are far more referent influencers than expert influencers. A lot more. There are a lot more Suzy Lit-Girls to befriend than Oprahs.

*** Many referent influencers are considered experts in certain subject areas. Pay attention.

Positional Influencer—is often in the person’s inner circle. Friends, family, spouses are all examples of positional influencers. Yes, whether most of us admit it or not, our mothers’ opinions still influence us.

Virtually everyone on social media is a positional influencer to someone else. Positional influencers can be very valuable to a writer, especially in certain genres. For instance, I imagine that most 4-year-olds don’t drive down to Barnes & Noble, slap down a credit card and buy a stack of kid’s books. But moms do. If you happen to write for children, middle grade, teens, or any group that typically would not be the purchaser of the book, then you must target the positional influencers or risk losing a huge percentage of your potential consumers.

This goes back to what I discussed a couple months ago about profiling the reader as part of your social media campaign. One would also be wise to profile the purchaser.

Ideally, you will recruit the referent and expert influencers who hold sway over the positional influencers. Recruit SuperCarpool_Mom (referent influencer) and @ParentingMagazine to your side and the moms will listen.

*** The key to doing social media well, resides in recruiting and mobilizing the all types of influencers, particularly the referent and expert influencers.

At the end of the day, be good to anyone who is being good to you. Networks are hard to build, and we need as much help as we can get from our social community. So if others help “raise your barn,” (repost your posts) make sure you pitch in with theirs. It is just good manners.

I might qualify, I advise being kind and reciprocating because it is the right thing to do. But, we do have to deal with
reality. We only have so much time. Yes, we need to be good to as many as we can, but we need to be mindful to pay attention to those with greater reach and influence if we hope to have time left over to write great books.

Happy writing! Until next time…

Keep Scrolling for the Mash-Up of Awesomeness. My collection of the best of the best materials for writers.

But first the shameless self-promo. If you love this blog and just want MORE? My book, We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media  is available in all formats. Buy one today and take charge of your writing career! My book is designed specifically for writers. I want to change your habits, not your personality. Harness that same creative energy used for writing and use it to build your platform.

Now the Mash-Up of Awesomeness

Best Article on Writing….Possibly EVER

Author Chuck Wendig and the Dos and Don’ts of NaNoWriMo

Best Workshops

For more ways to grow from writer to published author, I highly recommend Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer Book and Workshops, the inspiration behind this Warrior Writer blog series. Sign up today. Bob teaches all over the country, and he also runs Warrior Writer classes on-line, so don’t wait. Take charge of your destiny today. And if Bob happens to be running a novel workshop near you, take advantage. It will be the best career decision you ever make.

Author Candy Havens has a free on-line workshop. Candy brings in all the best to teach you how to be the best writer you can be. Right now I am participating in her Fast Draft Workshop where she guides you through writing a book in 16 Days.

Blogs all Writers Must Subscribe to and Read

Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward. Stay on top of industry changes and learn from a NYT best-selling author.

Genreality. The best in the business gather here three times a week to help you be even MORE awesome.

Writer Unboxed. Essential for every writer.

Book Talk LOADS of great information for writers.

Paranormal Author Jami Gold has been running an excellent series on character development.

Other fantastic author blogs and my personal faves…

Hilarious Blogging Goddess Tawna Fenske

For wonderful writing tips, Jody Hedlund

The post Maximize Your Social Media Impact–Understanding Influence appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Welcome to the 100th post on the Warrior Writers blog! For over a year and a half, I have devoted this blog to the sole mission of making all of you amazingly successful authors. Monday is craft, but today is WANA Wednesday, the day I dedicate to helping you guys rock it hard with social media and based off my best-selling book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. Today we are going to discuss marketing, because there is a lot of confusion going on out there. In fairness, writers are writers and most of us don’t work on Madison Avenue by day so there is a certain degree of confusion to be expected.

Today we are going to discuss two HUGE ways to totally transform your marketing impact. So let’s get started.

1. Understand the difference between traditional and social marketing.

In traditional marketing, a brand was passively received, thus the brand had to be controlled and one-dimensional to keep from confusing the masses receiving the image plastered on billboards, placards, magazines and broadcast on radios and TV. A brand had to be static and fixed because any deviation could confuse the consumer and dilute the message.

Just Do It.

Nowadays, branding is highly organic and always in flux, namely because we are in the Information Age. We are constantly being fed real-time images and impressions via YouTube, Twitter, FB, blogs. Not only are we being fed these impressions, but then we often take them in, filter them then recycle/repackage them when we resend them out to our community in the form of our opinions. And this is why our marketing approach must be fluid and dynamic. We want people to take in our message, like it and deliver it to their communities in a positive way.

To accomplish this, our approach must be modified.

Marketing is now in the hands of the audience. Thus, now it becomes critical what the audience thinks of us, because that will affect how they handle our message.

For instance, 20 years ago, it was far less important whether an author was a nice person or not. Who cared? Could she write? An author could have been the biggest jerk on the planet and it didn’t matter so long as she didn’t do anything that made national headlines. She could hand in her books, and then the marketing/PR people controlled what impression went out to the masses, if any. Writers could live quiet lives of obscurity, and it really didn’t affect their book sales.

Now? What a writer’s fans think of her as a person influences her marketing. She needs to get in the mix. The more an author interacts with her fan base in a positive way, the more likely those fans will pass on her messages in a positive light. By continual personal and positive interaction, an author can influence groups of people to extend her marketing influence. How? She has recruited her fans and followers to be part of her team. Book sales and promotion have now become a collective endeavor.

With the shift into the Information Age, authors are no longer permitted the luxury of obscurity. Long absences between books might have been standard before the 21^st century, but now the modern fan expects more interaction. We consumers are plugged in and want to hear from you. If we don’t, we will gravitate to an author who is connecting with us.

As you can see social marketing is very different from traditional marketing and yet there are many writers who treat social marketing like traditional marketing. The down side of that is this writer will find himself perceived as little better than spam. I have heard many book fans complain about Goodreads. They want to be on there for the common social experience with booklovers…if only they could escape the self-published or newly published authors who blitz them non-stop with self-promotion. We are wise to appreciate that people are gravitating to social media by the millions in part to escape the constant barrage of traditional marketing.

So how can you tell if you are employing traditional marketing tactics?

If you are an unpublished or even new author, avoid:

• Auto-tweets that post about you, you, you. Auto-tweets are just a bad idea. They can create a lot of resentment (um, cuz it’s basically cheating and being lazy) and it can get you banned from Twitter and your account deleted.
• Auto-DMs. Just interact. Be genuine. Auto-DMs are annoying and viewed as basically spam. I have people DM me and in the DM apologize for the auto-DM, which shows me they know on some level they are making a social media faux pas.
• Form-letters of any kind on Facebook. We really don’t need a 1,000 word form-letter with all the links to everything you have ever written and free downloads of your e-book. Seriously.

One day we might be able to rely on some of these time-saving features, but we are going to have to do some work first. Just like Brittany Spears and Angelina Jolie don’t need reservations…ever. They can even boot people from their tables. Us mere mortals? We’d get beaten up and banned from the restaurant.

Traditional marketing is dangerous for writers to use until they are well-known authors.  Why? Well, that leads in to my next point.

2. Understand the difference between market norms and social norms.

Why can Nora Roberts send out a form-letter when we can’t? It has to do with market norms and social norms.

Market norms are the rules and social guidelines dictated by the world of business.

Social norms, by contrast, are the rules and social guidelines dictated by relationships.

For instance, if a moving company moves your stuff, they have a list of rates. They can charge by the item or even charge by the hour and they even take major credit cards for you convenience.

You don’t get offended.

But what if your brother gave you the same list? You’d be ticked. And if he told you he’d even accept major credit cards, you’d probably threaten him with bodily harm.

Wives don’t charge for washing the laundry and husbands generally don’t charge for mowing the lawn. Social norms.

There are companies who like to dance this edge between social norms and market norms. Like a great neighbor, State Farm is there. Companies, in an effort to seem more personable and concerned about customers as individuals often will tug on the ol’ social norms strings. But these companies know that while there can be a distinct advantage to being a customer’s friend, there can be a dark side, too. Screw up once, and the anger will be personal. Some businesses are finding themselves in hot water over this. You can’t just dance on the side of the fence that is convenient for the moment.

For instance, I went to a doctor’s office that openly displayed how they charged $40 for being late to an appointment. But when they left me sitting for almost three hours I was supposed to be understanding of a very overworked doctor. Uh, no. Can’t call market norms and charge me $40 for being late, but then expect me to extend the courtesy of social norms when you are the one in need of grace.

Back to writers. I have gotten many form-letters from writers hawking their book on Facebook (market norms) but then wanting me to share their link with all my friends (social norms). Uh…no. You can’t reap the benefit of social marketing by sending form-letters. Bad juju.

Nora Roberts, Stephen King, Stephenie Meyers and all the other big names can get away with sending form-letters and impersonal ads and links because they are equated to a business in our minds. I don’t think many of us are expecting a personal note from Lee Child. We know these writers are mega-huge and thus we look at the form-letters much the same way as the form-letters we get from our insurance company. We don’t attach a social norm value to it. So they are like “friending” Starbucks on Facebook.

Everyone else? Sorry. We have to make an effort and socialize and get involved. We can’t send form-letters and auto-DMs and expect people to react favorably. If Nora Roberts sends out a link for a free download of her stuff, there is a market value attached to her content. Followers actually feel as if they are being given something of value, because they are. A free download for an unpubbed unknown author? Um. Spam. Sorry. This is where the social component becomes vital. Our work may not yet have a market value, so we have to work extra hard to make sure it at least has social value…which after time and a lot of hard work and peer approval will eventually earn a market value.

So my advice. Until we are J.K. Rowling or Dan Brown, we have to get in and socialize. But, hey, that’s a lot of fun and some of the best people I know I know via social media. Come be my friend and I’ll introduce you ;).

Make sure you keep scrolling down for This Week’s Mash-Up of Awesomeness, which is a collection of some of the best industry blogs out there. I am here to save you time by guiding you to the best of the best.

Happy writing!

Until next time…

But first, the shameless self-promo. We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media is designed to be fun and effective. I am here to change your habits, not your personality. My method will help you grow your network in a way that will translate into sales. And the coolest part? My approach leaves time to write more books. Build a platform guaranteed to impress an agent. How do I know this? My book is recommended by agents.

This Week’s Mash-Up of Awesomeness

My favorite blogs to follow:

Jody Hedlund can always be counted on for some of the best writing advice around. She also gives great tips about social media marketing. Hey, sounds like someone you might already know :D.

Make a mentor out of a NY Times Best-Selling Author. Hey, I did, why not? Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward is chock full of priceless industry advice.

New blogger Terrell Mims is an amazing writing teacher. I know this because he is my right-hand man and helps me run my Warrior Writer Boot Camp. Subscribe today and shorten your learning curve by YEARS.

Best New Find? Jami Gold is one of my Tweeple, but she rocks it hard with her craft blog, so check it out and be amazed.

Writers tend to take life waaaay too seriously. Hey, this is a tough job that can be even tougher on the morale. This is why you need steady doses of Blogging Goddess Tawna Fenske mixed with some spicy apocalyptic nose-thumbing at the establishment using the dark humor of a gun-owning belly dancing author. Yeah, that was a mouthful, but Author Piper Bayard is irreverently funny.

More…

12 Cool Secrets to Writing Dialogue

Tips on Agents & Querying from NYT Best-Selling Author Allison Brennan

The post Two Ways to Transform Your Book Marketing appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Welcome to WANA Wednesday, based off my best-selling book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. This is the day I dedicate to help you make the most out of your social media experience. I teach, specifically, social media for writers. Writers are unique. Our social media presence is different than a business or even a casual user. We straddle both worlds, and often we feel as if we are in social limbo. We have to make sure to be friendly and personable and interact, but we also must remember that we are a business and have an image to build and a reputation to protect.

In my book We Are Not Alone, content is my primary focus. For me, walking a reader through signing up for a Twitter profile isn’t nearly as important as coaching that individual on what to do once she begins to “tweet.” What should she say? Last week I wrote a guest post for Genreality and I introduced the concept of T.H.I.N.K.ing before we post anything. Before our hot little fingers can dash across the keyboard, we need to engage our brain and T.H.I.N.K.

Ask:

Is it TRUE?

Is it HELPFUL?

Is it INFORMATIVE?

Is it NECESSARY?

Is it KIND?

Social media is, above all else, social. Yet, it is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when we are sitting in the privacy of our homes. Our main goal as writers is to use social media in order to build a platform of individuals who know us, like us and support us. To do this, we must be personable, kind and genuinely interested in others. We must also be cognizant that everything we do is a calculated business decision. We are free to do anything we want on social media. We can gripe about other authors, agents, and publishing houses. We can grouse and get into Twitter fights. We can tweet dirty jokes and rant about the economy, the war, the state of public education. We are free to do all of these things. No Writer Police will show at our door and haul us away. But, even though we are free to do all these things, we must ask ourselves if it is wise from a business perspective.

In my book and in last week’s Genreality blog, The Power of Positive Tweeting, I recommended that writers stay away from subjects that are polarizing. Sex, politics and religion are topics guaranteed to quickly divide people and create ill will. So, unless these subjects are part of our platform, it is just a good idea to steer clear.

Gasp. Why, Kristen, we have beliefs and a faith and a viewpoint!

Okay, fair enough. So do I. But I imagine most of you are a lot like me. I like being friends with all kinds of people, not just those folk who believe the same as I do. I want all kinds of people in my corner, buying my books and wishing for my success, not just those people who believe the same things I do. As writers trying to build a platform, we are wise to think of social media like one giant social gathering, and that means we need to be great hosts. Others are a guest on our blog or in our space, so we should show them kindness by making them as comfortable as possible.

Few people are logical. We operate on emotions. Recently I had a writer ask me to evaluate his blog. It was a 1200 word ranting about a politically volatile topic. I felt sick to my stomach by the third sentence and I literally felt bludgeoned by the third paragraph. Do I believe the writer intended that response? Of course not. He was being bold and passionate and blogging about something he believed fiercely was right. But I would wager that, for at least 50% of his audience, reading that blog would likely rank up with dental surgery as in not an experience we care to repeat.

If he is a fiction author, then what did that blog just do to his platform? It split it clean down the middle by alienating half of his following. Any comments on the blog would also be split. One side would think he was a grand ideologue, and the other half would want his head…and would likely tell everyone they knew to steer clear of him and anything he wrote.

Remember our little acronym, T.H.I.N.K.? Was it true? For him, yes. Was it helpful? He certainly thought so. Was it informative? Oh, indeed! Ah, but was it necessary? For a fiction author, probably not. Thus, this author could fracture his following needlessly by blogging on a divisive subject that did nothing to support his fiction platform. For a political writer, this is great blogging. For a novelist, this is a needless travesty.

Emerson once said that good manners are made up of petty sacrifices. Am I asking writers to give up who they are and what they believe in? Not at all. But I do firmly believe in your talent as writers. Surely those of you gifted enough to create entirely new worlds are talented enough to be yourself in a way that always makes others feel welcome and included.  Yes, it takes more work and takes self-discipline. And, yes, sometimes it will be maddening to not bait to some other party’s on-line rant. But think of the goodwill we will be spreading to others! Our tweets and blogs and status updates will be a welcome refuge, a safe-haven from a world blighted with pessimism.

Humans crave positive feelings. We can’t get enough of them. Blogs that educate, encourage and inspire? Those are the blogs that gain our subscriptions our loyalty and our referrals. I recommend Tawna Fenske & Jody Hedlund every chance I get. Why? Because I KNOW their blogs are guaranteed to make me laugh, to make me think and best of all….to make me a better person.

Ben Franklin once said, “If you argue and rankle and contradict you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you never get your opponent’s good will.”

When it comes to how we will use social media, we all must make one key decision. Would we like to have an academic victory or a follower’s good will? I would endorse good will any day of the week.

So here is to making the world a brighter place one post, one blog and one tweet at a time, :D.

Happy writing!

Until next time….

The Mash-Up of Awesomeness

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner’s In It for the Long Haul for those who want a CAREER as a writer.

Need some inspiration? What do the most highly paid authors have in common? brought to us by The Creative Penn

Mary Carroll Moore has a fantastic blog about Creating a Page-Turner

Editor of Writer’s Digest Jane Friedman, as always, has an wonderful blog, “The Future of Publishing: You Get to Decide” about all the different avenues of publication.

10 Simple ways to Become a Powerhouse Blogger, brought to us by the fountain of excellence @4KidLit on Twitter.

Want to know more about how to win friends and influence people on social media? I recommend a tried and true classic. Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People should be a staple in every writer’s library.

The post Social Media Savvy–The Art of Making Others Feel Welcome appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Welcome to WANA Wednesday, the day I dedicate to giving you guys tools and tips to make your social media experience more enjoyable, efficient and productive…and now SAFE. Most of these blogs are based off my book, We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. Today we are going to discuss a very important topic. Operational security. What is operational security? In a nutshell…understand your enemy and deny him access.

When it comes to social media, I see a lot of writers on both extremes of the spectrum. On one side of the spectrum is the writer who creates an entirely new identity. Let’s call her Paranoid Peggy. She doesn’t want her friends or family to know about her writing, so she generally does one of two things.

One approach is that Paranoid Peggy creates fan pages and Twitter accounts using cutesy monikers and an avatar. She feels that once she gets published then she can let people know she is a writer. This approach very often is driven by fear of failure and will destroy a platform. To understand my point better, read The Single Best Way for Writers to Become a Brand.

But Paranoid Peggy also is known to take a second approach. She uses a picture (maybe) but she builds all her social media pages completely separate from her personal life and under a pen name. This is an entirely acceptable approach, but not a wise one. This approach will cost Peggy a lot of duplicated effort that will cut into her writing time. To expound on this point, I recommend reading two of my earlier blogs, It’s a Pen Name, Not Witness Protection and Three Steps to Fan Page Awesomeness.

Paranoid Peggy also frequently has another behavior that can be harmful to building her platform. This type of writer often doesn’t divulge anything personal and social media is all about business. The problem with this approach is that social media is, above all else…social. Take this approach and a writer risks being perceived as little better than a spam bot.

Tweeting or posting about mundane things like, “My dog ate my shoes” is important. Now if that is all you tweet about then you have a problem. But, posting about mundane occurrences is like mentioning the weather. It makes it easy for people to approach you and strike up a conversation. Conversations are the foundation of relationships, and relationships lead to relationship sales, which is why we writers are here in the first place. 

My nature, believe it or not, is to be a Paranoid Peggy. I even hate those little stickers on the back of mini-vans. You know what I am talking about. The stick figures? Mom, Dad, three kids and a dog. So a robber knows exactly how many people he has to subdue when he breaks into the house. Oh, and hamburger full of sleeping pills for the dog. See? I told you I could be dark.

Anyway…

Today we are going to look at the other side of the spectrum…the Loosey-Goosey Lucy. On social media it is very easy to get a false sense of security. I see information all the time posted on Facebook and Twitter that predators would looooove to get their grubby too-good-to-work-like-the-rest-of-us-hands on. So, some tips to keep you social, yet safe.

1. Just because there is a box, does not mean you are obligated to fill it out.

Facebook in particular collects a lot of personal information with the intent of making social media more enjoyable. Okay, fair enough. But we have to be prudent what we put out there and cannot blindly trust that Facebook is above being hacked or phished. Facebook recently found itself in hot water for selling private information to retailers for the purposes of direct marketing. So, let’s just say Facebook is fallible.

Oh, but Kristen, we can set the security protocols. Yep, and you are fallible too. All it takes is one mistake and suddenly your cell number and address are out to God only knows who. I know Facebook means well when it provides you little boxes for all your e-mail addresses and home address and cell number. But, just leave them blank. The Facebook police will not show up and make you do detention because you didn’t finish your social media homework. If someone really needs your cell number they can message you and ask like a normal person.

2. NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE PUT YOUR BIRTHDAY….EVER!!!!

Yes, I get really picky about this one. My first job as a writer was to write manuals for a lab that did Questioned Document Analysis. Basically they analyzed handwriting and used all kinds of gadgets to detect forgery. It is shocking how easy it is for someone to steal an identity. What is even more shocking is how easy it is for us to prevent them from stealing our identity. Thieves love to get a hold of birthdays. And I know it is kind of a bummer because now you might not get as much digital birthday cake on your Wall, but tough tookies. If people are really your friend they will know your birthday. It stuns me how many Facebook pages I see with the person’s full name and the day, month, and year right up under the picture.

Please understand; these are easy mistakes to make. Most of us are not evil identity thieves and so it isn’t natural for us to think like one. So don’t feel dumb if you have to minimize this blog to go take down your birthday. I have made all the mistakes, too :).

3. Avoid specific information.

On all of my sites, you will see that I live in Dallas, TX or in DFW. I actually live in one of the satellite communities, but DFW is close enough for government work. Never post pictures of your home with identifiable landmarks or addresses. I have posted pictures of my garden, but I make sure that there is nothing in the image that could help some weirdo locate my actual home.

4. Have a separate page for personal stuff.

Do you have to do this? No, but it does make life easier. Sometimes you just want to talk politics and about the kids and your time at church or synagogue or Wicca Camp without it adversely affecting your platform. Facebook is not going to mind you having more than one page so long as they are active and you are using them. Facebook just frowns on having lots and lots of pages that people are squatting on the name/domain without interacting in the community. I have a separate page under my married name and if people want to see family pictures, they have to know me. This is the page where I talk to all of my friends from grade school and third cousins and writers who are my personal friends. All the security protocols are set to default to the strictest setting so I don’t have to worry that pictures of my family Christmas are being looked at by everyone on the Internet.

5. Never tweet or post a status update announcing you or your home is vulnerable.

Now, if you followed the above rules, this becomes less critical, but it still is just a bad idea to feed predators real-time intel. I see friends announce things all the time like, “Yay! We are finally leaving for Florida for a week. So glad to be on the way to the airport!” Um, they just told every potential burglar that they will be gone, how long they will be gone, and that their house is potentially unattended. I tend to get paranoid on this point. I will announce activities…but only retrospectively. For example, don’t post, “Off to the gym.” Rather, post something like, “Whew! Just got home from the gym. I feel so much better.” This way, you can get the benefit of the personal interactions without opening your home to potential threats.

Now that I have you all scared to death to use social media, calm down. These rules are just common sense. Paranoid Peggy and Loosey-Goosey Lucy are two extremes that we want to avoid so we can make our social media time effective for building our platform. Social media is a friendly place and it can be easy to let our guard down. It is imperative that we be social and friendly, but by employing a few checks, we can do so in a way that is prudent and safe.

Happy writing!

Until next time….

*************************************************************************************************************

Promo and the Mash-Up of Great Blogs Collected Just for YOU!

Writers! The sooner you begin building your platform, the BETTER! Some agencies now will not sign any writer who does not have a solid social media platform. That trend is sweeping publishing. Time to get prepared the right way.

Plan for success. If you don’t have a slick team of NY marketing people at your disposal, my book is perfect!

We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media is designed to be fun and effective. I am here to change your habits, not your personality. My method will help you grow your network in a way that will translate into sales. And the coolest part? My approach leaves time to write more books. Build a platform guaranteed to impress an agent. How do I know this? My book is recommended by agents.

You don’t have all day to market. You have best-selling books to write! So pick up a copy today.

Need a great workshop?

Best-Selling Author Candace Havens’s on-line workshop teaches everything from plotting to editing. She also brings some of the industry’s best and brightest to make you guys the best writers you can be. I will be teaching about social media the first week of October beginning 10/4.

Great blog on writing for children by Ingrid Hedlund. LOVED this post.

Wordpreneur had a page of great links for authors to help you guys improve in all areas of your craft.

Author Terrell Mims has a really fascinating blog about the possible origins of the Vampire Myth.

Michael Hyatt has an interesting blog on why agents may be opposed to self-publishing.

Chuck Sambuchino’s blog has geat advice for getting permission for copyrighted material.

Here is the Formula for Great Writing…literally. All fiction authors MUST READ!

The post 5 Ways to Stay Safe on Social Media appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Welcome to another WANA Wednesday, the day I dedicate to making your social media experience the best it can be by offering additional tools and insights on topics from my new book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media.

One of the biggest reasons I decided to write a book about social media is that it seemed that there was a lacking of common sense. And much of that is birthed from our own insecurity or lack of knowledge. When faced with something new or overwhelming, often we make life harder than it really needs to be. Hey, I’ve been guilty :D.

Social media is just that…socialization. I hear all kinds of bad advice when it comes to social media for authors, and much of that bad advice I believe stems from a lack of understanding about a writer’s unique plight. Until we are huge like Stephenie Meyer or Stephen King, we are people, not corporations. What this means it that what works for corporations can actually hurt us as individual writers trying to build a platform. We need to act like people and socialize like people. If social media is, um, socialization, then doesn’t it stand to reason that a lot of the same rules would apply?

How many of you love talking to someone who only talks about herself? She never gives back or asks about your day or wants to know about your opinion? Just on and on and on about her, her, her.

Have you ever had a stranger be really nice to you, maybe even offer a compliment or even seem genuinely interested in you, but the second you let your guard down they tried to sell you something?

How many of you like door-to-door salesman? Nothing makes your day like a knock at the door and some guy with a big smile and a freezer full of meat.

No one? No takers?

It seems as society becomes more technologically advanced, the more isolated we have become. We talk to computers more than people. Checking out at a grocery store? Computer. Want your bank balance? Computer. Pay a bill? Computer. It also appears that this lack of face time has done something whacky to our human sensibilities. People talk less to each other and normal “rules of engagement” have gone by the wayside as we try to carve out new social rules for new forms of socialization.

But does it need to be that difficult? Today I am just going to point out some common sense manners when it comes to social media. Here are Three Social Rules to Social Media Success:

1. Be Low-Maintenance

How many of you just looooove high-maintenance people? No one? Then make sure you aren’t being one on-line. I have been on MySpace or Facebook where authors have used pictures of their BOOK COVERS as icons, yet I had to solve a string of CAPTCHAs, know their real last name and their e-mail address to make them a friend. Are they on MySpace or in Witness Protection? These authors made it where only people with the secret handshake could be their friend. I guess those are the only people they want to buy their book, too.

True story. I actually tried to follow an author/speaker on Facebook who claimed that she teaches social media for writers. Awesome! I figured I might learn something from her. Problem was, I had to answer a string of questions to be her friend. Seriously? Sorry. Not that motivated. Next.

Make it easy for people to befriend you. It is not that difficult to log in once a day and delete SPAM.

Making people on Twitter click on a website to verify they are human is being high-maintenance. Maybe it is a personal pet peeve, but I dislike anyone who makes me have to click on an outside link and go through a bunch of steps just to follow them. I will just move on to people who don’t make me run a gauntlet to be their friend. My opinion is that, if you are that high-maintenance before I even know you, that does not bode well for our future.

How many of you like shopping at a store where they have security guards at the door, cameras everywhere so you can see yourself shopping, convex mirrors on every corner of every aisle, anti-theft tags on everything, and a burly guy to search your bags before you leave? Most of us really don’t like being treated like thieves. Guess what? We don’t like being treated like spammers and phishers either.

Again, it is not that difficult to unfollow someone on Twitter if they misbehave. One click. Two if you choose to report them to Twitter.

2. Be Friendly

Treat Internet friends like friends.

How many of you looooove SPAM and junk mail? How many of you feel really special when you get an auto-follow message? Hey, thanks for following me. Check out my blog. Auto-follow messages are junk mail. If you really appreciate someone following you, say it publicly. It serves reciprocity and it is genuine. It takes all of ten seconds to click on a Twitter bio or a Facebook page, scan, then write something personal. Don’t have time for that? Fair enough. Most of us are not so insecure that if we don’t get a personal message from every person we follow, we’ll end up in therapy.

Yes, businesses send auto-follow messages, but businesses want to be perceived as personal. When actual people send automated messages, it has exactly the opposite effect. We become no better than a bot, which is counter-productive to building a platform.

3. Be Genuine

Only send genuine & personal messages. Limit group messages and form letters.

Social media is a direct reaction to the continual media bombardment that made us love our DVRs and spam filters. Facebook faced millions of ticked off users when they were busted for sharing personal information of Facebook users with companies for the purposes of soliciting. Why? Because many of us are on social media to escape being spammed all the time.

We are on social media because we long for community. We are not on social media to provide spammers a new way to slither into our personal lives. There are few things I find more frustrating that befriending a writer, only to soon be blitzed with form letters and links so I can buy their book, read their blog, download free e-samples, etc. I have yet to buy a single book from any of these uncouth writers who vested nothing in our “relationship” before they wanted my money or time. Provide community and people will reward you.

I know that as authors there are times to send out group invitations, and that is fine for once in a while. Yet, it is my opinion that this is something that should be relegated to a fan page. We expect form letters and group invitations from Starbucks, not from a friend. We risk being perceived in a negative light if straight out of the gate we are blitzing people with marketing. Fan pages, unlike a regular Facebook page, are perceived to be our “corporate side” which is one reason they are beneficial for writers. They give us a way to take care of business without wrecking how people perceive us.

As a general rule, just remember that social media is social. Think of Facebook and Twitter like one big social event. A great big cocktail party.

Is it okay to do business at a social event? Sure! It’s why I always at least keep a couple of books stashed in my car. Most of the time, in conversation, it comes up that I am an author and I have a new book out. Being a prudent businesswoman, I make sure I can get them a book if they ask to buy one.

But don’t you think I might offend more than a few people if I walked into the party, unfolded a card table, set out stacks of books and a credit card machine and then started pitching to everyone in the room?

In the end, this is just good old-fashioned common sense. Follow these Three Rules of Engagement and you will have a far better social media experience. If we are low-maintenance, friendly and genuine, we really won’t have to work that hard. People will want to connect.

Did I miss any social media faux pas? Post them here and share. We might have spinach in our teeth and not know it :D. Help us out!

Happy writing!

Until next time…

The post Manners Count–3 Rules of Social Media Success appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Welcome once again to WANA Wednesday, a day that I dedicate to help you guys make the most of your social media experience. Every Wednesday, I take tips, advice and other stuff I just couldn’t cram into my new book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media if I hoped to keep it under 300, 000 words.

Social media is huge. No denying it. In fact, all of you reading this blog are participating in the new paradigm of human interaction and communication. Welcome to the future! Ugh…yeah, I feel you. Sometimes social media reminds me of standing in line for the Mr. Freeze rollercoaster. I feel excited, hopeful, sick and terrified simultaneously. I know I’m headed for a screaming good time… mixed with whiplash. Social media changes so fast it’s amazing and overwhelming all in the span of the same moment. It gets easier. Kind of.

So I am you’re trusty-dusty guide to help you navigate the world wide web of widgets.

As publishing changes, writers too are being forced to evolve or go extinct. It’s nothing personal. Just reality. Arguing with it is about as pointless as arguing with a Category 5 hurricane that is about to make landfall. Writers are deluged with two words, platform and brand until they just plain want to bang their heads against the wall.

What? No, no, no, no, Kristen. You mean we have to market!??? We became writers so someone else would do this crap…..ugh.

I feel ya. Remember, I am a writer first. But hopefully I will give you ways to make building your platform a fun and enriching experience. Remember, attitude counts for a lot.

Social media is one of the best ways an author, even the not-yet-published can build a platform and become a brand. The problem is that—until my book :D–there wasn’t a lot of instruction how to do it. Thus, most writers were left to bungle on to Facebook or MySpace and stumble along and rely on dumb luck to do it correctly. That was what propelled me to write We Are Not Alone.

There is a lot of misinformation out there that I believe can 1) frustrate a writer 2) yield little quantifiable results (in the end the small term for that is “book sales”) 3) can do more to harm a writer’s image than good.

How does that happen? Well, sometimes it is that writers gut through social media and rely on a lot of hit and miss. They join the sites their friends or their kids are on. Probably not the most efficient approach. Also, the most popular books teaching social media are teaching tools and techniques that work well in Corporate America, but have questionable value to an author. To make things worse, my experience has taught me that some approaches and applications that work well in traditional business, actually are ineffective and harmful when used in the world of writing/publishing.

Authors, particularly fiction authors, would be wise to begin thinking of their content as a product. That, I feel will be a HUGE step to authors beginning to connect to readers (which is code for customer :D). Blogging about writing and networking with writers has its place, but it is not how an author builds a platform and creates a brand…unless one is writing about writing and for writers.

Today we will discuss some of the best ways a writer can build a platform.

Understand that your SMI (Social Media Influence) Campaign is About the Customer (Reader)

1)      Content for the Customer—I often hear “Well, so long as you are having fun and it is a platform that you enjoy.” Um…a friendly reminder. This isn’t about you. Remember, we as writers must serve the reader. If we don’t, readers will gravitate to authors who do. This is true in fiction just as much as non-fiction. 

Fiction authors provide entertainment and escape. Readers like you for your content, and that isn’t just a finished book (although ultimately it hopefully will be). If you write mysteries set in the 1800s and you blog regularly about that time period and mystery-information-factoids or whatever regularly, you will be in a great position to already possess a following of mystery fans who respect your authority and talent to write on this subject. You will move from an unknown quantity to a known quantity much quicker than if you blog about writing or don’t blog at all.

2)      Location, Location, Location—Yes, it is important for you to enjoy the social media platform you choose, but a wise author sets his preferences aside and goes where the readership is most likely to congregate. You may looooove Twitter, but if you write Young Adult, it is simply the wrong platform to spend a lot of time with expectations of finding readers. Is it a great place to network with professionals in the publishing industry? YES! But doing your homework and finding where your demographic (readership) is likely to spend a lot of time, will save you a lot of frustration.

One of the things I have learned over the years is that it is often our own ignorance that makes us dislike a certain platform. If you have a hard time on Twitter, MySpace or Facebook, buy my book and I will walk you step-by-step through the process. Ask your kids or grandkids, or even a friend in the know. Sometimes we just avoid what we don’t understand. That aversion can cost us countless man-hours building a platform on the wrong site. And if we are building in the wrong place, we are less likely to succeed and more likely to get frustrated and give up.

Think ice cream stand in Alaska, hot coffee in Tuscon, mountain bikes in Wichita, KS. A tough sell and a very limited customer base. Just because everyone is saying Facebook is hot and MySpace is passé in no way means you should listen to them. If you have to choose between going with your friends and going with your fans, I advise that you choose the fans if you desire to build a platform.

 3)      Quality Beats Quantity Even When It Comes to Friends—The number of friends one has, whether MySpace, Facebook or Twitter is really irrelevant when it comes to the world of social media. In social media you aren’t just trying to influence an individual, your goal is to influence that reader’s community as well. Your goal is to identify and then connect with the expert influencers, then convince them to mobilize their networks to support you and your agenda.

Think of high school. There was always that group of girls and guys who seemed to control the opinions of the entire school. Most often they were the cheerleaders and jocks. If you became friends with one of them, then popularity naturally followed suit.

Social media is the same way. You can spend your time one of two ways. Follow so many people that you eventually have influence. Or you identify those in your social network whose opinions hold the greatest sway. A person with 3,000 regular followers cannot accomplish what one person with a handful of expert influencers can. In my book—yes, more shameless self-promo :D—I teach you how to locate these types of individuals.

In the end, remember:

1)      Give the Customer (Reader) the Content She Will Most Enjoy

2)      Go Where the Customers Are—Ski shops do far better business in Colorado than they do in Galveston, TX.

3)      Surround Yourself with Experts in Your Field—That is just good advice no matter who you are.

And at the end of the day, social media aside… write a darn great book.

Happy writing! Until next time…

The post WANA Wednesday–Social Media & 3 More Ways to Enjoy the Ride appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

WANA Wednesday is the day I am dedicating to blogging about social media tips I give in my new book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and even some tips I didn’t include so that the book wasn’t 170,000 words. Also, as I stated in last week’s post, social media will change so quickly it will give your brain whiplash. There is nothing like writing a book that is trying to beat obsolescence to keep you on your toes.

Today’s tip? Think about why you want a pen name.

There are a lot of good reasons to have a pen name.

1. You have an embarrassing last name. Won’t mention any so I don’t hurt any feelings, but we have all met them and went, Seriously? No, really. What’s your real name? If you have a name that really should have been changed when your ancestors stumbled off on to Ellis Island, then pen names ROCK.
2. You have a last name that is difficult to spell, remember or pronounce. All my Polish, Czechoslovakian, and Russian readers…yeah. That probably includes you guys. If when we read your name, we need a phonetic pronunciation guide or have to ask if it is possible to buy a vowel, then a pen name might be a good idea.
3. You have the fortunate (or unfortunate) luck of having a name that is exactly the same as a mega-author. Gonna go all Highlander here on you… “There can only be one.” So if you write horror and your name is Steve King, you might want to change it. In fact, it is likely that an agent will encourage this. Could people pick up your book thinking they bought a book from Stephen King? Yes, but that kind of bait and switch is just likely to tick people off. So for all the Dan Browns…Daniel Browne might fare better…or not. Do you really want to be the Rotex author, Guchi writer, or Prawda storyteller? Just saying. Best to become your own great brand than a perceived knock-off.
4. If you write more than one genre, pen names are a good idea. Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb. Two different types of books and two separate audiences (which eventually merged).
5. You have a name that is very vanilla and similar to too many other names. I really feel sorry for the real John Smiths trying to check in to a hotel.

What’s your name?

John Smith.

*wink, wink* Suuuure it is.

There are all kinds of good reasons to have a pen name, and these are just a few. The problem that I have seen in my career helping writers become authors, is that there are quite a few writers who have a very bad reason for using a pen name.

FEAR.

We will use a non-writer example. My sister-in-law is a brilliant interior designer. She wants to start her own business next year so she is taking a class in entrepreneurship. As an assignment, she had to turn in an executive summary of her business. Instead of using Designs by Kimberly (which I have been suggesting for YEARS, because she is THAT brilliant) she chose Second Nature, which to me sounded like a brand name for eco-friendly toilet paper, wireless bras, or absorbent diapers…not high-end interior design.

When I took a look at the name of the business, I asked, “What happened to Designs by Kimberly?”

She waffled a bit, so I interrupted (shocking, I know, :D).

I said, “If tomorrow, a wealthy benefactor stepped in and said, ‘I am going to funnel ten million dollars in to you designing your own brand. Not only that, but I will pull some strings and guarantee that you get a layout in Texas Monthly, Fort Worth Magazine, and Architectural Digest, and, heck, throw in Better Homes and Gardens.’ Would you, after all of that, call your business Second Nature, or would you call it Designs by Kimberly?

I am guessing all of you have figured out her answer.

See, Kimberly was doing the exact same thing I see happen to so many aspiring writers. The pen name becomes more about a cushion in case of failure. The problem with that type of thinking is two-fold. First, you have essentially planned to fail. Secondly, you will double all of your social media efforts by using a pen name at the expense of your own.

How?

These days, a lot of writers are already on social media. Many have Facebook pages or MySpace pages that they’ve built for years under their real name—friends, colleagues, business connections, people they knew in high school and college, etc. Sometimes, they even have hundreds of followers.

Then they decide they want to be writers…

And then half their life becomes State’s secret.

When I talk about building a social media platform, I can almost see the panic flicker in their eyes because they are staring down the barrel of building from scratch…new pages under a new name and totally new connections. Why? They are terrified of failure. It’s the idea of I’m gonna try out this writer thing and if it’s successful, then I will tell my friends, family and close connections. What is flawed about this thinking is that it is very defeating. You will do better as a writer if your family is part of your team. Building a platform of fans if far easier when you activate those close circles in your network.

My great aunt who is 96 years old was so proud of herself for reading my book, and she brags about me to everyone she knows. This is a woman who began life in a horse-drawn carriage reading a book about Twitter. But she loves me and wants to support me and she bought her own copy of We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media even though she is not a writer, has never used a computer, and has severe macular degeneration and can barely see. The point of this story? There are probably some unlikely friends and family who will be there to help you succeed. Don’t so quickly count them out. 

And as a quick note, if you want to use a pen name simply because you are using family members or close connections as character templates, and you are worried they will find out and sue….here’s some good news. Most of them will not recognize themselves in your work. People don’t see their flaws the way others do. Why do you think we spend years in therapy? Some of us need to spend $150 per hour for half a decade to see that we might actually have something to do with our own problems. Duh. So relax. These individuals will likely read your book and say, “Boy that Suzy character was an awful and difficult woman. What a manipulator. She reminds me of such-and-such,”

…and you can just smile.

In order for someone to sue you for libel, there is a tremendous burden of proof on their part. They must prove that anyone reading your work, without a doubt, would know your character was based off of them, and that, as a result, their reputations have suffered irreparably. Tough to prove. So if you are adopting a pen name because you are worried the evil secretary at work whom you are using as your villain will sue? Just change up the character enough to squash any court argument…and go ahead and use your real name.

Being a successful writer is hard, and becoming a career author is getting harder by the day. Why make it any harder? Your close networks are going to be your first fans. Your family will be lined up for a copy of your first published book, regardless of whether they know postmodern literature from a comic book. They likely will also tell all their friends, family and coworkers about your book.

You really cannot “hide” in a pen name anyway. With the Internet and so much free information flying around, if someone is truly motivated to figure out the person behind the pen name…they likely can. So you really cannot disappear if that’s the motivation.

Am I against pen names? NO! But I do advise that you take a moment and ask some important questions first. If I the magic genie could wave a wand and GUARANTEE that in three years you would be an international success, would you still want the pen name? If the answer is yes, then go for it and make sure you get a copy of my book so you know how to tackle building a platform for your pen name without making yourself crazier than necessary.

Most of us will fare best by sticking with our real names. Sigh. Yes, Kristen Lamb is not exactly a glamorous name, but it is easy for me and others to remember. In the end, the name is about what can SELL the most books, and less about whether we always wished our mothers named us something cooler, like Anastasia or Isabella.

Happy writing!

Until next time….

Noteworthy social media links for authors:

Jaime Harrington’s Let’s Talk About Your On-Line Platform–Get a Gravatar

Writer’s Digest Editor Jane Friedman’s Recommendation On-Line Marketing for Authors-Interactions are Personal Not Business

Author Jody Hedlund’s Why an On-Line Presence Can Help Every Kind of Writer  (yes, even those who write for children!)

And finally, a short yet interesting blog on the pros and cons of using a pen name.

The post WANA Wednesday—It’s a Pen Name, Not Witness Protection appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

 My book We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media will be in production as of tomorrow. In the meantime, I am going to address some behaviors I am seeing on social media that can actually do more harm than good. These are tactics that work for traditional marketing, but will make you a pariah with a quickness on social media. We are going to address the Top Three Bad Habits today:

1. Form letters and auto-replies
2. Reposting your own content over and over and over
3. Failing to reciprocate and engage with others

I am not writing this to embarrass anyone. If you have been guilty of any of these, there is good reason. These are tactics employed in traditional marketing. They do not translate well into the realm of social media. Thus, before venturing any further, let’s look at the old ways of marketing versus the new so you will be able to see more clearly why our approach must be different for social media.

I think one huge mistake all of us make is we risk falling back into that old way of thinking about marketing. We believe we must do it all on our own, so we feel propelled to go make hundreds and thousands of friends and blitz out our information over and over to be “good, responsible little marketers.” That is a major fallacy when it comes to social media. That is conventional marketing.

In traditional marketing, a brand was passively received, thus the brand had to be controlled and one-dimensional to keep from confusing the masses receiving the image plastered on billboards, placards, magazines and broadcast on radios and TV. A brand had to be static and fixed because any deviation could confuse the consumer and dilute the message.

Just Do It.

Nowadays, branding is highly organic and always in flux, namely because we are in the Information Age. We are constantly being fed real-time images and impressions via YouTube, Twitter, FB, blogs. Not only are we being fed these impressions, but then we often take them in, filter them then recycle/repackage them when we resend them out to our community in the form of our opinions. And this is why our marketing approach must be fluid and dynamic. We want people to take in our message, like it and deliver it to their communities in a positive way.

To accomplish this, our approach must be modified.

Marketing is now in the hands of the audience. Thus, now it becomes critical what the audience thinks of us, because that will affect how they handle our message.

For instance, 20 years ago, it was far less important whether an author was a nice person or not. Who cared? Could she write? An author could have been the biggest jerk on the planet and it didn’t matter so long as she didn’t do anything that made national headlines. She could hand in her books, and then the marketing/PR people controlled what impression went out to the masses, if any. Writers could live quiet lives of obscurity, and it really didn’t affect their book sales.

Now? What a writer’s fans think of her as a person influences her marketing. Now, this author can choose to do nothing, and the PR people will keep sending out her crafted image. But what if she wants more? She needs to get in the mix. The more an author interacts with her fan base in a positive way, the more likely those fans will pass on her messages in a positive light. By continual personal and positive interaction, an author can influence groups of people to extend her marketing influence. How? She has recruited her fans and followers to be part of her team. Book sales and promotion have now become a collective endeavor.

Traditional marketing was a demographic-numbers game. We threw enough stuff (content, mailers, coupons) at a particular wall (demographic) and then hoped something stuck that generated word of mouth or “buzz” that would translate into readers and then into fans. This tactic works in traditional marketing, but often breaks down on social media. The companies who do the best on social media have a different approach for social media that appreciates the consumer’s participation and need for community.

Same with writers.

We do better focusing on authentic, positive relationships and then enlisting others to carry our message. We don’t have to have 6000 friends to reach 6000 people. We must have a good amount of authentic interactions with others who will then carry our message to their networks. Do this correctly, and eventually their network will become our network and our influence will spread exponentially. In social media, it works better to employ relationships to spread our message, not fancy software that can target customers and SPAM them.

But, trust me. This method is way more fun anyway.

This is why the three offenders I noted at the beginning are, well…so offensive. Remember, what others on social media think of you as a person will affect the end results of your marketing. So:

1.   Beware the Form Letter/Auto-Reply

Traditional marketing sought to add a quick personal touch to a static agenda. That’s why when you get form letters in the mail, a company will often insert your name. We know the people at Best Buy didn’t sit and type individual little us a letter, but the personal touch does create a tad bit of rapport. But this is a static message from a faceless company. When Best Buy sends me coupons and sales, they are not counting on me liking them, taking the mailer and copying it and then mailing it to my network of friends and family. On social media? You are definitely depending on the recipients of your message to become bearers of your message. Form letters do not work. Auto replies are impersonal and most people find them annoying. Writers are not Starbucks. For more on this, refer to my earlier blog The Most Effective Author Marketing Tool—Kindness. Even major corporations who use social media well will employ a personal approach. Comp USA and Starbucks resemble a chat with customer service. Even the big guys know that spamming people is risky and annoying.

2.    Repost Redundancy

We all get excited about our blogs that we work hard to write, but reposting over and over and over can be very counterproductive. There is a self-published writer on Twitter who constantly posts his blogs with every writer hashtag imaginable…over and over and over. His blogs are actually pretty good, but after the tenth time in one day of him tooting his own horn, I want to scream. His constant self-promotion hogs up most of the #writegoal column which I actually like to follow. So instead of me seeing other writers and their goals so I can congratulate them or interact…all I see is this guy…over….and over…and…seriously?…yeah, over again. This is the wrong way to be top of mind. And what is this making me (and others) think of him as a person? I think he genuinely wants to help and share, but that is certainly NOT what he is portraying.

3.    Attention Hogs Don’t Get the Right Attention

Platforms are tough to build, and on social media we need to help each other. This point actually is a natural segue from my previous point. We always need to be mindful to post and repost the work of others. If we don’t, others will rapidly resent us and that doesn’t help anyone. Other people have valuable information to contribute. Let them. In traditional marketing, it is all about you. In social media marketing? It is about you and your network. The more you share, the greater the reward.

In my book, I give a formula for effective interaction on social media. 1/3 Information—blogs, articles, etc. 1/3 Reciprocation—edify others. Repost their links, blogs, book signings. You want your stuff reposted? Gotta give to receive. And finally 1/3 Conversation. People are on social media for community, so interact. Congratulate people who make their deadlines. Comment of their posts. Engage. Form letters and SPAM are not effective like they can be in traditional marketing and can actually just alienate the very people we are desiring to reach.

In the end, social media should be fun. There are a lot of wonderful people out there, so go make some friends. Happy writing!

Until next time…

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The Kristen Lamb Mash-Up

By the way! If you loved this blog and just want MORE? My book, “We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media” is now available. Buy one today and take charge of your writing career! My book is designed specifically for writers. I want to change your habits, not your personality. Harness that same creative energy used for writing and use it to build your platform.

For author training, as always, I recommend NY Times Best-Selling author Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer Workshops.

Author Jody Hedlund has an excellent blog on how to find plot ideas.

For those interested in the vampire mythos, I highly recommend guest blog The Changing Face of the Vampire by Sean Wallace on the Feckless Goblin. 

And if you are looking for a darn good book, I highly, highly recommend Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo. I have been an editor for going on 10 years and it is always refreshing to find a story that grabs and doesn’t let go. So if you want to read about a serial killer cutting a swath of terror through Amish country, and you don’t mind being up until 2 in the morning, this is your book. Linda also employs an interesting use of POV–a mixture of first and third limited, so worth studying. Great, great book.

The post Are You Sending the Right Message? 3 Bad Habits that Can KILL Your Social Media Marketing appeared first on Kristen Lamb.