By Ralene Burke
When people start marketing their business, they often wonder which social media websites they need to be on, and how often they need to post, and what they should do to get more followers. Below, I’ll offer my insights into a few of the most popular websites and how (and if) editors should use them.
First, though, I’d like to say something about the number of social media websites you should be on. Truth is, we can’t be on all of them, because then social media would take up too much of our productive time. My friend and social media consultant for iBloom, Dr. Jennifer Bennett, is always saying it is better to use one effectively than to be ineffective for using too many. She usually recommends starting with two to three.
So, what three should editors be using? (Answers are my own opinion mixed with some statistics.)
With over 1.1 billion users, Facebook is still the biggest social media website out there.
It is a more social website, so your purpose on Facebook is to connect with people. Less selling, more relationships.
Get your own business page! Build following by providing value to your target audience, but do so creatively.
Post at least two to three times a day. These can be scheduled ahead of time if necessary. Use a variety of types of posts (memes, questions, articles, links, etc.) to see what your followers respond best to.
Twitter boasts over 300,000 users. While it has significantly fewer users than Facebook, it has a more defined audience and is best used business-to-business.
Since Twitter is for B2B, it’s a great place to connect with writers, other editors, publishers, and other publishing professionals. Building your network is important for finding new clients, getting referrals, and setting yourself up as an expert in your field.
Share tips, articles, even memes. Most importantly, use hashtags to get your tweets seen by potential followers and clients. Genre tags are useful, as well as more generic tags like #amediting and #amwriting.
Best to post five to ten times a day. Get the Twitter app on your phone, and zing off a tweet when you run across stuff throughout your day. Or use a program like HootSuite or TweetDeck to schedule your tweets ahead of time.
While I tell writers there’s no reason for being on LinkedIn, that’s not true for editors. If you’re looking for a way to broaden your network, keeping an updated resume on LinkedIn is a good way to not only be found by potential clients (mostly businesses) but to refer people to when they ask for your resume history.
If you’ve claimed your spot in these three websites, you’ve got a good starting point for marketing yourself as an editor. Use the target audience information we discussed in the last article to start developing content for all three of them (some will cross over) and get to posting!
Whether she’s wielding a fantasy writer’s pen or a freelance editor’s sword, Ralene Burke always has her head in some dreamer’s world. And her goal is to make it SHINE! She has worked for a variety of groups/companies, including Realm Makers, The Christian PEN, and as an editor for a number of freelance clients. Her first novel, Bellanok, is being published as a 4-part serial.
She is wife to a veteran and homeschooling mama to their three kids. Her Pinterest board would have you believe she is a master chef, excellent seamstress, and all-around crafty diva. If she only had the time . . .
You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, or at her website.
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