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Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Building a Relationship Online

In my non-writer life, I have a small handknit business. (Shameless plug. Here's the link to it.) Recently, I got new book on social media marketing.

 Online Marketing for your Craft Business

As I read, I realized that many of the outlined strategies would work for marketing an author and/or a book. The basic ideas are the same, really. Anyone can go on Twitter and constantly tweet, "Buy my book." But that's not going to get us anywhere.

Once you've targeted potential readers, you want to convert them into fans. And this is a process. It takes time.

It does not involve frequent "buy my book" posts.

The key is engagement. Answer questions posed by other posters. "Like" things. Comment on others' posts. "Retweet." Share.

Be interested. Participate.

Be yourself, but a professional version. It's fine to offer a glimpse of you, in fact, it's what will connect more people to you.

Share things you find interesting. Remember your reader profile? Share things that person might find interesting.

And the "buy my book" posts? They can happen. Just not frequently.

3 comments:

Sherry Ellis said...

Building relationships is important - not just cramming stuff about your books or whatever you're trying to market.

Cathy Kennedy said...

Liz, I agree it's all about building a relationship with your readers. This is what makes newbie authors successful, especially those who self publish, I think. The reader wants to connect and if you're a good blog author then you will want that, too. I'm amazed to find established authors who actively engage with their audience and that's what makes things really special. Good advice!

Liz A. said...

@Sherry--Yes. It is all about the relationships.

@Cathy--I think you're right about self publishers who know how to work it.