“I’m not
getting any traction with social media,” is one of the complaints I hear a lot
as I travel and teach writers how to connect.
There are a lot
of reasons people feel this way, a few are legit, but most are just
unreasonable expectations. Today I’m going to address the unrealistic exception for social media that many have.
Unrealistic
Expectations
The more time
I spend on Facebook and Twitter, the more friends and followers I’ll have. I’ve addressed this one several
times, but I still hear it the most. Truthfully, after you’ve come up to speed
on social media, spending more than thirty minutes a day on social media will
trap you in the law of diminishing returns. This is a case of work smarter, not
harder.
I’m spending
time talking about my book, but my sales aren’t reflecting that. If you’re spending the most of your
social media updates on yourself or your product, you’ve missed the point of
social media. Social media is about building one-on-one relationships, it’s NOT
an advertising platform. Building relationships will increase your reach and
more people will hear about your book. THAT is where your increase in sales
will come. Making your social media updates all about (or even one half about)
you will drive people away and you may see a decrease.
Social Media
is a fast way to increase my reach. Well…not so much. Like anything worth while it takes time—and
consistency—to build a following. It took me about nine months to go from about
seventy-five Twitter followers to one thousand. Then about a year to go from
that to ten thousand followers.
I need to stay
current with all the new social media platforms. Again, not really. The thinner you spread yourself, the shallower your
reach. To get to the majority of your audience who’s on social media, you need
to be on Twitter and Facebook. And you need to have a place where you are
blogging regularly—that can be a personal blog or a group blog. If you find
another platform you love (like Pinterest) find a way to work it into your
thirty minutes a day.
I need to
balance my time equally between Facebook, Twitter and Blogging. You do need to have a presence on all
three, but you’ll find your own sweet spot. That’s where you need to
concentrate your efforts. Do you have five thousand Facebook fans and only
seven hundred Twitter followers? Then Facebook is your sweet spot. Spend the
majority of your time there. Maintain an audience with the other two, but go
with your passion. That strategy will always get you further. Beyond that,
you’ll enjoy it more.
A social
media platform is more important than anything to sell your book to a
publisher. It is
important, but without an excellent product (a well-written manuscript) it’s
practically worthless. That’s another reason it’s so important not to spend
more than thirty minutes a day on social media.
Social media
isn’t a fast pass to a super Internet presence. As I’ve said before, anything
worth having takes…well…work.
What expectations have you found that are unrealistic when it comes to social media? Do you struggle in a specific area—if so, share your thoughts in the comments section and we'll see if we can come up with a solution.
Don't forget to join the conversation
Blessings,
Edie
