Avoid Social Media Time Suck

By Frances Caballo

How You Can Avoid Social Media Time Suck and Still Have Time to Write

Avoid Social Media Time Suck is hands-down a must-have book for every author. In this fast-paced world of social media that is changing daily, authors need a clear guide to navigate this confusing terrain. This is the book! Frances Caballo provides dozens of excellent resources along with sound suggestions on how to use your precious time wisely and productively. This is my bible for social networking! —C. S. Lakin, blogger and writing coach at Live Write Thrive

The question everyone asks is, “Can I really manage my social media in just thirty minutes a day?” My answer is yes, you can. This book explains the four-step process to effective and efficient social media marketing for writers.

-How to curate content.

-What and how to schedule your tweets, posts, updates and shares.

-The importance of scheduling time to be social.

-Analyzing your metrics.

Social media is no longer an option for writers – it is a required element of every author’s marketing platform. And using social media to market your books doesn’t need to be time-consuming.

Whether you consider yourself a seasoned social media user or you are new to the social web, this book will introduce you to posting schedules, timesaving applications and content-rich websites that will help you to economize your time while using social media to market your books. After reading this book, you will learn:

-How to create and perfect your author platform.

-Where the great content exists on the Internet and how you can use it to further your brand within your niche.

-The importance of being social and discover applications that will make this task easy and fun.

-Tools that will enable you to track and measure your success so that you can better understand the return on investment of your valuable time.

-Which tools can prevent you from accessing the Internet when the time comes to sit and write that next book.

-Exercises for introverted writers to help them feel comfortable on the social web.

If you’ve been avoiding social media because you feel that you just don’t have enough time or if you’ve been using it sporadically and missing out on the opportunity to widen your audience of readers, then this is the book for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frances Caballo
• Release date: Mar 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311199669

Book preview

Avoid Social Media Time Suck

A BLUEPRINT FOR WRITERS TO CREATE ONLINE BUZZ FOR THEIR BOOKS AND STILL HAVE TIME TO WRITE

Frances Caballo

Avoid Social Media Time Suck by Frances Caballo

Copyright © 2014 by Frances Caballo

Print Version ISBN-13: 978-0-9855592-2-9

Smashwords Edition

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to ACT Communications, P.O. Box 14354, Santa Rosa, CA 95402.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the author has used her best efforts in preparing this book, she makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fit- ness for a particular purpose. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. The author shall not be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

ACT Communications

P.O. Box 14354

Santa Rosa, CA 95402

www.SocialMediaJustforWriters.com

[e-mail]

Pick up my FREE ebook on Twitter and get monthly updates on what’s new in social media and book marketing strategies. Just click here:

http://eepurl.com/z2btL

Contents

A BLUEPRINT FOR WRITERS TO CREATE ONLINE BUZZ FOR THEIR BOOKS AND STILL HAVE TIME TO WRITE

Acknowledgements

Introduction

[1]

Why Social Media Is Integral to a Writer’s Marketing Platform

Astonishing Social Media Statistics

What Is an Author Platform and How Do I Get One?

The New Normal

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[2]

The Four Step Cure to Social Media Time Suck

The Secret Formula to Efficient Social Media Marketing

Curating Information to Help You Stand Out from the Crowd

You Can Conquer Time Suck with These Schedules

Social Media vs. Broadcast Media

Measure Your Return on Investment (ROI)

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[3]

Strap on Your Boots and Discover Great Content

Become Known within Your Niche

Being Social Means Following the 80/20 Rule

Websites to Help You Find Great Content

Dual-Purpose Tools That Help You Find, Use, and Share Great Content

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[4]

Schedule Your Messages and Walk Away from the Computer

A Word about Automation

But What If You Don’t Know What to Post?

Facebook Status Updates

Social Media Dashboards to Fit Every Desire (and Budget)

Chrome Extensions for Pinterest Make Pinning Effortless

Tips for Increasing Engagement

The Power of Images

Posting Tips

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[5]

Friends Don’t Let Friends Broadcast Their Message

Self-Reflect Before You Self-Reveal

Now for the Fun: Let's Get Social

Seven Dos and Don'ts

Apps to Help You Be More Social

Applications to Help You Find Newsy Nuggets

WordPress Plugins to Help You Build Community

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[6]

Tools to Track Your Analytics and Measure Your Success

Develop a Marketing Plan

Just Being on Social Media Isn’t a Goal

How to Find Your Online Groove

Apps to Measure Traffic and Conversion

Analytical Tools Just for Your Facebook Pages

Subscription-Based Tools

Analytics Just for Pinterest

How Influential Are You? Use These Apps to Find Out

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[7]

Apps to Help You Stay Focused on Your Writing

Help! I Can’t Get Back onto Facebook

Create an Atmosphere to Be More Efficient

Collaborating with Another Writer? Try These Apps

Writing on the Go? Keep Your Research Ubiquitous

When All You Can Do Is Stare at the Blank Page: How to Beat the Block

When You Need the Perfect Word

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[8]

Don’t Forget to Blog

Your Blog Can Raise Your Platform to New Heights

It’s All about the Content

How to Get Started

Create an Editorial Calendar

Create a Publishing Schedule

Suggested Steps

Conclusion

[9]

I’m an Introvert, Not a salesperson

7 Exercises for Introverted Writers

Glossary

About the Author

Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.

—Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator and author

For Jason Miller, who provides the perfect balance of freedom and support.

Managing your time without setting priorities is like shooting randomly and calling whatever you hit the target.

—Peter Turla, author (with Kathleen L. Hawkins) of Time Management Made Easy

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the assistance of a my meticulous editors Arlene Miller and Susanne Lakin; my talented cover designer, Kit Foster; and the team at Book Design Templates. I extend special thanks as well to Joel Friedlander for his advice and support.

He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.

—Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist, dramatist

Introduction

THE QUESTION everyone asks me is, Can I really manage my social media in just thirty minutes a day? Yes, you can if you select the right applications and are disciplined about how you spend your time.

There are four basic steps to any social media marketing effort.

The first step is curation. Each day you need to search for great content that is relevant to your readers. There are numerous applications that will do this work for you, and there are techniques you can adopt that will enable you to economize your time on this task. In addition, Alltop.com is a valuable resource that lists the top blogs in nearly every imaginable niche.

Scheduling your content is your next step. You will need to re- view the applications listed in this book and find the one that fits your budget and preferences. You can use a tool such as SocialOomph, which will let you schedule blocks of repeating tweets, or you can use the free versions of Hootsuite, Buffer,

Pluggio, or TweetDeck to manage your social accounts. Using one of these applications will free you from your computer and disseminate your curated content at the intervals you select.

To be successful on social media, you will need to allocate time in the day to be social. You can fit this into your schedule in a variety of ways: while waiting for a friend at a café, sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, or browsing your social networks on your smartphone or mobile device while relaxing on the couch at night. Take a few minutes every day to share a friend’s Facebook post, thank another user for retweeting you, or leave a comment in one of your LinkedIn groups.

You can tackle the final step—analyzing your metrics—on a weekly or monthly basis. This step is the crux for how you will continue to develop your social media marketing strategy. Every once in a while you will need to clear a few minutes to check your Insights (Facebook’s free analytics tool) to determine what con- tent resonates the most with your fans. Are you fans sharing your content? Was there a post that didn’t generate a single Like? On Twitter, take a look at your retweets and mentions. Are they dropping or climbing? Compare the content you tweet against the metrics. By taking a few minutes to review the metrics, you’ll know what type of content to post in the future, and your audience of readers will grow. You don’t need to set up Excel spread- sheets to tackle the tedious tracking yourself. There are a number of free and fee-based analytical tools mentioned in this book that will do the work for you.

Let’s return to the original question. Can you really accomplish this in just thirty minutes a day? In the