Author: Justin Luke

It is my great pleasure to be able to bring you awesome tools, resources and even books that will help you on your journey to social media and content marketing success. Whether you are new to the whole blogging thing or have been at it awhile and just want to know how to gain more reach with each post and give your readers more of what they want, then I have a book for you.

As someone who works in the social media industry, I have read every book on social media, content, blogging and marketing that I can get my hands on. I am not kidding, either. I have hundreds in my own personal print collection. I have thousands in my digital collection and I will borrow them, too. So it’s safe to say I have read a lot of books on the topic.

I’ve also worked in this field for 14 years (my entire adult life) and while I don’t presume to know everything there is to know (no one can, honestly), I do feel safe saying I have a solid knowledge foundation. And I have read far too many books that claim to contain expert information (some even written by well known names in the industry) but sadly, they fall flat. They tell me what I already know or they tell me I need to do something but they don’t tell me HOW to do it.

This is not that book. This is the ultimate go-to guide for anyone looking to get into blogging or improve their current blogging. I’m talking about The Blogger’s Survival Guide and I’m going to take some time to tell you all the things I like about this book and why you should add it to your collection today.

The book is broken down into 7 days (a chapter dedicated to each one) which are:

Day 1: The Setup
Day 2: The Design
Day 3: The Legal Stuff
Day 4: The Content
Day 5: The Traffic Drivers
Day 6: The Measurement of Traffic
Day 7: The Money Makers

How the Book is Set Up

I really like the bite-sized portions because one problem I have with books like this is finding the time to absorb all of the information. In The Blogger’s Survival Guide, it’s broken down into 7 days of content I can manage. At the beginning of each section we are given a goal and told what we will learn from that day’s information. For example, on Day 1 (the setup) they will:

▪ Provide you with a list of blogging genres.

▪ Help you choose a name for your blog.

▪ Help you write the mission statement that tells your readers what your blog’s ultimate goal is.

▪ Help you create an eye-catching slogan.

▪ Help you craft a page that tells your audience important details about you and your blog.

▪ Introduce a couple of easy-to-use blogging platforms.

This section is packed full of vital information you need to begin blogging like a pro, including how to name your blog and where to find images to use with your posts and so much more. While designed for beginners, you will also find useful nuggets of info in this section if you’re already running a blog as well. You might even find you want to make some tweaks or changes to your existing blog, based on this info.

What I Love

One thing I really love is that they take the time to go deeper than the basics and tell us things like why a tagline/slogan is important and how to create one for your blog. Then even delve into the age-old Blogger vs. WordPress debate and show you (with images and screenshots) how to set your blog up with each.

Each of the 7 day sections goes on to explain in elaborate detail what you need, why you need it and how to do it. And they don’t just show you one way to do it. I HATE when blogging “professionals” try to say their way is the only way. What they usually means is that their way is the only way they know… This book gives you options.

What else I like about it:

We learn how to break down our blog’s design into different elements and determine if we’re making the most from our design and layout. This is a great section because even if you already have a blog set up, you can use this to determine if you need to change.
They tell us in practical, actionable terms how to increase repeat traffic to the blog.
It covers the legal issues you need to know such as copyright laws and how not to break them, how to create disclaimers and disclosures, why you might need a Terms of Service section/page and how to legally host a blog giveaway.

They also have an entire section dedicated to your content that talks about crafting headlines that will lure the reader in, what “above the fold” means, how to create an audience and add personality that makes your blog unique, and how to know what to write about.

In The Blogger’s Survival Guide we also learn about how to time your posts and the importance of that timing to your readership, as well as how often to make new posts. You will find info in here that you can apply to your blog and your schedule. And they even go over common blog commenting etiquette (thank you!).

Are You Ready to Buy It Yet?

Seriously, if I have not enticed you enough, allow me to continue. When talking about blogging activities and how to find more free time to blog, there charts AND graphs. My regular readers know how much I love charts, graphs and statistics. My brain soaks them up. I find it makes it easier to retain the info since I often see things in pictures rather than in words and numbers.

So you’ve just written a new article or a blog post and you’re ready to share it with the world. So you head off to social media to start sharing it. You’re on the right track but there are a few things to know about marketing your content this way.

First, you need to understand what constitutes spam. That could cover a whole series of posts on its own so for the sake of this post, let’s refer to social media spam when marketing a blog post or article.

Here are some things that can be considered spam:

– Sharing the same post repeatedly.
– Sharing the post link without any note or additional info on why someone should click.
– Sharing nothing but your links on your account, never any dialogue or interaction.
– Sharing the link to other people or accounts unsolicited. This means sharing to news site, friends’ walls and fanpage who didn’t request that you share such content.
– Sharing with too many hashtags and/or abusing trending hashtags.

You may think it’s “marketing” when you post your link all over every single network you have and to every person you know but this is spam. Real social media marketing is about building relationships with those in your networks so that when you do share something, they are interested in reading it.
Why Is This Spammy?
Ok, so if you’re guilty of doing these things, you might be feeling a little defensive right now. “Why is this spam?” you ask. Well, let’s break them down individually and discuss. There’s a very good chance you’re not meaning to spam and you think what you’re doing is ok. You might even get angry, upset or offended when people are accusing you of spam.

Sharing the same post repeatedly.

There are few cases where you really need to share the same post to the same network more than once. Some exceptions might be an ongoing promotion (like the $100 giveaway my friend is doing that I wrote about), or other time sensitive information. If you do share it more than once, you should always put some time in between the shares (hours or even days) and you should reword it each time you share it. Here are some examples:

“How would you like $100 to do whatever you want with? Enter this contest for a chance to win!”
Sharing the post link without any note or additional info on why someone should click.

It’s so much easier just to hit that automatic “Tweet” button and send the same post again and again. It takes a few seconds to reword your post on Facebook or add a new picture to it when you share it. But if you don’t care enough to tell me a little about why you’re sharing it, why should I care enough to actually click on it and read it? Let’s be fair about it: when you have lazy efforts, you will get lazy results.

Sharing nothing but your links on your account, never any dialogue or interaction.

Your social media account is not an RSS feed. Your fanpage or Google+ stream is not meant to be a continuous flow of everything you ever write and post online. People could go directly to the source if they wanted that. Why even bother to connect with you on a social network?

This is one of the biggest offenses I see among my fellow writing/blogger friends. They hear they need a Facebook fanpage to promote their writing (or Twitter, Google+, etc) so they make an account and then just start posting all of their links there. Even worse, some just set up a feed to do it automatically and then never look at the account again.

Your social networks are not a link exchange program. They are not a syndicated list of everything you ever publish. It’s meant to be a way to connect with like-minded people, build a community, form and build relationships and when relevant, share your work with those who will be interested because they’re already interested in you.

Sharing the link to other people or accounts unsolicited. This means sharing to news site, friends’ walls and fanpage who didn’t request that you share such content.

Unless someone specifically requests that you share new posts on their wall or other social network, it is considered impolite to do so. If you have a good friend you know will want to read it or if you are sharing with the person who inspired you to write it, these are exceptions. But going around placing your link on the accounts of others, in the comments sections or other unsolicited locations (like groups) is considered spam. Linking when it is relevant to the topic and not against the rules of the site or group you are using is another exception. If I’m ever in doubt, I will say “I wrote a post about this” or “I have a blog on this topic” and if they invite me to share, I do. Since I have my links/website/blog all properly filled out in my profile, it’s also very easy for them to find it on their own if they are interested.

hashtag You only need 1-2 hashtags per share. 3 is the absolute max that I recommend and this is only for special situations. Choose the best one or two tags to describe your post. If you’re not sure, take some time to look it up. You do not need to tag your post with everything you can think of. This will NOT increase your reach. In fact, it’s more likely to have you labeled as a spammer and cost you followers or potential eyes on your content. You also don’t have to include every possible variation of your hashtag.

Writing your book is only half the battle. If you plan to self-publish, you’re going to be in for a large task of promoting it as well.  And I will tell you from experience that can be a tough challenge. There may be times you want to just give up but the thing is, if you really care about your book, you have to keep trying. You have to be in it for the long haul.

Now if you’re going to take your online book promotion seriously, there are some common mistakes you want to avoid.

Here are 5 Don’t’s to an Online Book Promotion:

Don’t overhype

Imagine someone was planning a birthday party for you and they spent 2 solid weeks telling you all about it, every last detail. They boost you up with how awesome it’s going to be and how many clowns there will be and the balloons! And cake! No, two cakes! And all-you-can-eat icecream… on and on they go. You’re so excited you can hardly sleep and the big day finally comes and you walk through the doors and you see everything they promised you was going to be there and you feel… deflated. Why isn’t this more exciting? You know you should be happy but somehow all the wonder has been taken out of it. They’ve robbed you of your feelings by spending two weeks leading you up to it.

Don’t tell your reader what to think/feel/expect

Similar to the above example, don’t tell you’re reader they’re going to love it. Don’t tell them it’s going to change their life. Don’t tell them it’s going to change the world. This is HYPE and it’s your opinion. Allow them to have their own opinion. Let the book be good all on its own. When you tell people what to feel, that’s just irritating and presumptuous. Let me be pleasantly surprised by my own experience with your book. Let me savor the feelings and appreciate them. Don’t rob me of that by telling me what I am going to feel. If you do, why should I buy the book in the first place?

Don’t apologize

Don’t apologize for what your book is or wasn’t or for how a reader feels about it. Let them own their own feelings. There is a time to apologize and that time is not when it comes to your book. When you do this, it’s like admitting there is something to apologize for. And if there is something to be sorry about, you need to set out to fix that before promoting.

Don’t attack your readers 

Sometimes authors do this without even realizing it. We get so passionate about our books. They are a piece of us, like our babies. We feel angry, frustrated, confused, irritable and any other number of feelings when the readers don’t respond the way we expect. But don’t insult or attack your readers, no matter what you’re feeling.

Don’t give up on yourself

Sometimes writers want to quit and move on to the next book as soon as one doesn’t seem to be as successful as they had hoped. When you throw in the towel, everyone else will, too. When you give up on your book and move on to the next thing that “might take off”, especially after only a short time, you’re telling the reader it really wasn’t that important to you after all. If you care so little, why should we care enough to buy it?

Keep an eye on these mistakes and try to make sure you don’t make them yourself. And if you have questions and concerns about marketing or promoting your book online, seek the help of someone qualified like a book press release company to help you with it. It will benefit you when you when you begin to sell more books.

Do you ever read a Tweet or Facebook status that makes your heart warm?

How about seeing a social share of a new baby or a cartoon that makes you laugh out loud?

Do funny cat pics rank in the highlights of your day?

Social media isn’t all bad. If it were, it wouldn’t be so darn popular!

While it’s easy to talk about the little pet peeves (or even the big peeves) that get to us about social media but no matter how frustrated we might get at times, we have to remember the good things that social media brings us. There are so many things we simply didn’t and couldn’t have experienced before social media. So for the sake of keeping it positive, let’s look at some social media anti-peeves.

Here are some common social media anti-pet peeves:
Social media used for good- No, it’s not all funny cat pics and what people had for lunch. There are so many wonderful cases of social media being used to help people. I just wrote about one case recently: Social Media Helps Send Young Lady with Down Syndrome to Camp. It’s not just big cases of social good either. In recent years alone, I have seen people unite to help a friend with cancer, my daughter when someone stole her savings stash of cash, a family who had their house flooded, a friend who needed a new wheelchair and so much more. I could list these great stories all day and this is what makes me very happy about social media.

Reconnecting with past friends– Have you ever lost someone? Maybe a friend from elementary school or your old college roommate? Maybe that person you worked with years ago and you lost touch but think of them often. Social media is great at reconnecting people. You can find long lost friends and family, connect with that friend from the work conference and even find old childhood friends with ease. These were things we would not have been able to do before social media, or at least not as easily.

Great customer service- What’s better than great customer service via your favorite social media network? When brands listen to our needs and answer our concerns it makes us feel like they truly care about us. This increases brand loyalty and it makes us feel like our voices are being heard. Have you ever have great customer service from a brand via social media?

Motivational pictures and quotes– Honestly, it can really brighten your day to get a little positive motivational picture or quote that hits you right at the perfect moment when you’re browsing through your social media. Even better is when someone shares something with you that they know you will appreciate.

Having someone be there, even if it’s from far away- Sometimes we feel like our day cannot get any worse. And sometimes when it seems like our lives are falling apart, there will be that one person (or several someones) who comes along via a social network to remind us that someone cares, someone has your back and someone is there, even if it’s from a distance.

Remembering birthdays– If you’ve ever gotten a load of Facebook birthday wishes then you know how great it feels to be remembered. Most people will take a moment to leave you a greeting when Facebook reminds them it’s your birthday. For some people, this might be one of the only greetings they get. It’s the little things that make the world a better place.

I bet you can think of many more anti-pet peeves to add to the list. Am I right?

As for me, I love social media (who’s surprised to read that?) and I learn a little more each day about why I love it and the people I connect with through it.

Here are some of my social media anti-pet peeves:
People who come to say hello or share an image/post they think I will enjoy.
People spreading joy and positivity rather than complaints online.
People who respect social media and the cultural power that it holds and choose to use their social abilities for good vs. evil.

I talk with people daily about social media management. Whether it’s helping a friend with their own promotion or working with my clients, I know how stressful social media management can be, especially when you’re not sure what you’re doing. Even one site can be difficult but when you add in more than one, you’re looking at a cumbersome task for the average person.

But it doesn’t have to be that way if you take some time to plan what you’re doing and also to find the fun in your social media. Here are some strategies to save you time and stress:

Build a Social Media Cheat Sheet

This will be your guidebook through the world of social networking. Here you will determine what sites you will post to, how often you want to post, who your target audience is and what your goals are. There will be short term and long term goals in your social media plan.

You will need to play around with this a bit. You can experiment with your audience to see what they respond to the most. Get a system down of where you post to and what you post and it will go faster and faster with each time you do it.

Prioritize Your Postings

Determine which sites are most beneficial to you and your niche and devote at least a half hour each day learning more about these sites, posting on these sites and replying to your audience. There are many sites out there but you don’t have to submit to them all. In fact, it can hurt your efforts more than it helps them if you try to spread yourself too thin. Instead, narrow your focus and focus your efforts.

Find Some Fun

Things are always easier to do when they are fun. Can you find your fun in social media? Try to find a positive way to look at what you’re doing so it’s more enjoyable. If you are not a person who naturally enjoys social media, look at it in terms of taking charge of your business and doing something productive that will benefit the business and bring you results.

Maybe there is a way you can turn it into a game or find an angle that you enjoy so posting is more fun. Each person has to find what works for him or her but anything worth doing is worth enjoying.

Track Your Progress

Social media tips You won’t get far in social networking if you do not track your progress. There are tools to help you do this – some are built right into the sites that you are already using. Some are free and when you want more than just the basic features, there are paid tracking and analytics as well.

Tracking your progress is key to knowing how your efforts are paying off and what is beneficial to continue and what is a waste of time. You will shave hours off of your social media efforts when you track your progress and adjust your methods accordingly.

Get Ahead of Schedule

One of the most common complaints I hear is “I’m just so far behind” or “I don’t know how to catch up!” The thing is, you can’t ever really catch up on your social postings. It’s like saying you’re going to catch up on sleep. It never really happens. We can’t go back in time and recapture what has passed. Instead, you need to get ahead of the schedule by planning posts, scheduling them at the times you want them to go and creating a social media calendar so you always know what is coming up next. You’ll be ahead of the game instead of playing catch-up.

It’s easy to get burned out managing the social side of you r business but with these tips, you can keep pace and avoid stress. Social media marketing does not have to cause you to lose your mind.

What techniques do you have to make managing your social media more pleasant?

I invite fan questions to my Facebook fanpage. So if you have a question, head on over and post it. It just might get featured here on the blog, too!

How often should we post to our author pages so that we’re connected with our subscribers and fans but not overdoing it? If there’s no “news” to post, what’s a good way to stay current?

This was a great question that came to me via my fanpage. Since I’ve been a writer for 12 years, many of my online friends are also writers and authors. They often ask me for advice with their fanpages. This was a great question for writers but the same answers can be applied to other industries.

So how often to post?

In general, I say 2-5 times per day is the sweet spot and be sure to spread it out, rather than make 5 posts in succession in a big rush. If it’s an author page, you can share updates about what you’re currently working on, teasers for upcoming writing or posts on what fellow authors are doing.

A good rule of thumb for posting is:

1 post about yourself,
1 post from/about someone else but in your niche and
1 post meant to increase engagement (like a question or poll to your readers).
I see too many writers/authors who just spam their feeds with everything they publish and nothing else. People can get that from an RSS feed. They want real engagement from you, not a broadcast of everything you publish.

So what do I mean by “real engagement”? Well, here’s the thing; you need to do more than just self-promotional posts all the time. You need to ask your fans questions- invite conversation. You might ask questions about what they like to read, if they are writers themselves, how they organize and manage their time or get inspired.

Post a poll, share pictures and writing prompts or anything else that you think would interest your fans. Every post you make should not be your promotional info and when you do share things like blog posts or book snippets, find creative ways to do it- such as with a creative image and an intriguing sentence or two about what you’re sharing and why they should care.

So why do we publish this many times per day? Is it too much?

Just think about how fast things scroll through your newsfeed. Posting at least once or twice a day makes sure people remember you’re there.

More active pages can get away with posting more. You have to kind of play it by ear. The other rule to fanpages is “Don’t post just for the sake of posting” so I would say if you’re just making a post to meet a quota, then skip it.

But if you know something would be valuable to your readers, then go for it! Creating content for your fanpage should be a deliberate process; not something you just do on the spur of the moment at random. This is why it is very helpful to have a content creation plan.

Are you an author with a fanpage? Drop your link in the comments so we can show your pages some love and tell us how you keep your fans engaged!