A few days ago I did a teleseminar for around 400 authors on how to use social media. Prior to the seminar I received around 130 questions. I couldn’t get to all of them on the seminar so I thought I spend a few days and go through them here. There are a lot of questions so if my answers aren’t as in depth as you would like I apologize. Questions that say something like “how can I marketing my novel,” will also not be addressed because a lot of that was covered on the teleseminar.
Let’s get started:
What is a single advice you could give a first time author in reference to getting her/his book out, marketing and making it a best seller?
Start building and engaging your community BEFORE the book even comes out. Get involved in social media and reach out to people.
Because there are only so many hours in a day and days in a week, it is important to prioritize when your book is about to be published. What do you recommend as the most effect ways to use social, broadcast, and print media to publicize yourself, your book, and your message? Thanks!
You might find my post on my social media system to be a good starting point for that. Also, I wouldn’t recommend “broadcasting” anything, the approach to take here is to build relationships and a community. Broadcasting = spam, and nobody likes spam. As far as print media, well I don’t really have a background in that area, however I would recommend integrating your online and offline media together.
What is the easiest way to create a marketing buzz and demand through email?
Again, I don’t specialize in email marketing, however, you might want to check out Jason Baer over at Convince and Convert, he knows a lot more about email marketing than I do.
Is there a weekly plan or regular schedule you set up for each social media outlet?
Read this post on my social media system, it should be a great starting point for you.
What exatly is social networking?
This one of those terms that has 100000 different definitions. I define social networking as the ability to learn and share information with other people online. It’s all about interaction.
How do you connect with a LARGE enough group of people on Facebook to make a difference in your sales?
I think this is the wrong question to ask. It’s not about how large the group is but how relevant they are to what you’re doing. Would you rather connect with 10,000 construction workers or 100 publishers?
Some believe in uploading the same blog content to all their social media sites. Do you believe content should be different or is it ok to post the same material to all?
I’m all about unique content. My content can ONLY be found on my blog, however I do share it through various social media channels and I am syndicated by a few places. I’d probably need to hear a bit more about what you’re doing.
Jacob, how do you keep people from straying off the issues you want to discuss on Facebook?
In the social media space there is only so much you can control. You can recommend and request but you can never control the content that other people are putting out.
How would you get recorded music exposed and marketed with this?
By “this” I’m assuming you mean social media? I would probably start the way I would anything else, research your audience and find out where they are online, then connect with them.
Recently, Charlie Rose interviewed Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe of MySpace, who described their focus on being a social media portal moreso than a network. How do you see the differences between MySpace and Facebook in particular, and what personal or business goals would be incline toward one choice over the other?
Great question. I’ll admit that I didn’t see the interview by calling something a portal, network, etc. is all just semantics. Bottom line is that people see myspace and facebook as a social network, so what tom and chris choose to call is is irrelevant. Personally, I prefer facebook because myspace became a spam haven. However, myspace is the place to be for music. I think the best approach to answer your question would be to look at what the goals are and the decide on which platform makes the most sense. It all depends on where your audience is.
That’s it for part 1. I will get to more of the questions soon. Have anything you want to add?
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