What Are the Benefits of Social Media?
June 4, 2015
Every writer dreams of the day when their books become best sellers. That’s fine so what does this have to do with social media?
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| Don’t have a blog- build one. |
Enter the blog. Your blog will do, and you will be fine. It’s after all a blog post right? Not quite, a blog is a type of social media, and the benefit to social media is that you are out there in the great wide Internet. What some people refer to Twitter and other types of these ‘media’ they mean the same thing. Twitter is best described as a social networking site.
With Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the like dominating the whole social media or networking world, it’s hard to even consider a blog to be a part of this structure. It is. It’s also one of the best to reach your readers.
Blogs, and their writers and readers are very forgiving. They know each other, and reader want to read what they have to say. They come from other places and go and read the blog (or the blog on a website.) They can also, over time, learn to be ‘leaders’ in their chosen field of writing.To become a better leader, you need to focus on what works for you. A blog works, but it takes time without the help of other ways to get some readers to your blog quickly, and effectively.
In short, a writer is being social with their readers. Social media can both help and harness the ability to be a leader in the Internet.
Again, what does a best selling book have to do with social media?
If you are an author you need to be ‘seen’ on the Internet. The challenge is to have a strong group of readers who will read your blogs, and then buy your books. For some authors, the ones who have been writing a long while, the need for a blog, or a Twitter account isn’t as beneficial to them as it is for a new author or a self-published one. An important book to read is, The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users
. This goes through the basics of social media and why it’s important to lead in this area.
. This goes through the basics of social media and why it’s important to lead in this area.
The benefits of social media are:
1) You will be seen:
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| Blogging quote by Darren Rowse |
Everyone is on Twitter, many on Google Plus, or LinkedIn, or something. The point is having a blog, and another outlet is a way to find more readers. Find a way to be unique and be seen, even if it is just by one person.
A blog is a good start you will be seen eventually. The benefit to a blog is that updating often keeps you ‘seen’ in the online world.
2) People get to know you:
Any form of social media is good. You’ll find followers, and you’ll find fans, and the more people you know the more likely you will reach your goals.
3) You’ll have fun:
Part of a benefit of this type of media is that you can have fun. You’ve created a blog post, and you have the opportunity to share it.
4) You get the word out:
Not seen as in number one, but rather a blog, or a tweet or anything allows you to communicate faster with the people who matter to your writing. Your readers. Some one, somewhere needs to know a new book is about to be published. Leaders create buzz only because they are passionate about the people and products they create and support.
If you write a post, or have something on Facebook, you will be seen. You might not see as many books as you want, but you will have a chance to sell more books. There needs to be a strong effort.
Getting the word out means you will spend a good deal of time on one or more social media sites, blogs are a good foundation, but they are only the start. Working with the other networking sites will help.
