Does Social Media Confuse You?

Social media can make you crazy, especially Facebook.

It’s one of those sites that gives you, I’m guessing, more than 50 ways to connect with your friends and fans.

Because it’s one of five social media sites where I suggest your be fairly active, there are days when you simply can’t figure it out. You sit there and stare and stare and wonder……..

You’re not alone.

Several weeks ago, client and mentor, Joan Stewart and I, co-hosted a webinar to teach about 150 romance authors how to use social media to sell more books. I taught Facebook.

Many of my tips were way above the heads of dozens of authors on the call. I knew that as soon as the questions started flowing in:

“What’s the difference between a Facebook friend and a fan?”

“Where do I click to create a Twitter profile?”

“Can I use my book cover as my avatar on my Facebook profile?”

That’s when this fact hit home: Many people are doing some of the most basic tasks on sites like Facebook and Twitter all wrong.

They’re confused about how to create an account. They’re baffled by the many privacy options in the settings. Authors still don’t know if they can use a pen name.

If you’re confused, too, don’t be embarrassed. Don’t apologize. And don’t give up!

Help is on the way.

Starting this week, I am hosting a series of webinars for social media newbies. It’s call “Social Media KISS for Authors: Keep it Simple & Serene.” It will feature a short presentation on just the basics, with plenty of time for Q&A.

Pick and choose from any of the 10 webinars on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Amazon.com and Blogging. Or grab the entire series at a deep discount. I kicks it off this Thursday, Feb. 28, with the first of three webinars I’m presenting on Facebook.

Read about the training and how you can participate, even if you’re not an author.

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week—On Site SEO: An Absolute Necessity

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these,  follow me on Twitter.

Best places to use calls to action on LinkedIn + cheat sheet of 103 calls to action.  
LinkedIn just keeps improving and that’s great news for you–but only if you know about ALL the new features 

and the really SMART ways to use them. 

On Site SEO: An Absolute Necessity! 
If you want to get your site ranked fast, the best place to start is by making changes to your own site.

4 Common Blog Writing Stumbling Blocks
Blog writing doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. Keep these tips in mind if you find yourself stumped on what to write.

These 58 Social Media Tips will Explode your Content Marketing [see tip 6] 
Here are the tips listed out with some examples for each social network.The slideshow itself is embedded at the bottom of this post. 

The success of self-publishing has transformed the publishing world.
The revolution of self-publishing is like any hard-fought battle.

Real Talk: Does Anyone Care About FollowFriday Anymore?
As a large proponent of Twitter marketing for businesses, I say this with a slight bit of shame: I hate
#FollowFriday. Not because I don’t like the concept or the positive nature (I love both), I feel like it’s become a
painful chore that actually does nothing for the people I want to shine a light on.

How to Use YouTube To Combat a Negative Online Reputation
By creating a video with compelling, informational content — you’ll be building trust in the eyes of anyone who sees it. And building actual trust with real people will lead to real sales and conversions, which should be your ultimate goal in the first place. 

Developing Calls-to-Action and Landing Pages
Creating calls-to-action and landing pages will help attract and engage with your website visitors. CTAs and landing pages promote and guide visitors to specific content on your website. 

How to Optimize Facebook For Business: Variety, Engagement & Tools
In order to successfully navigate Facebook’s quickly changing landscape you need to understand how users interact with your page and how feeds work.

5 Just-for-Fun Apps Your Fans Will Love
Keeping your fans’ best interests at heart will ultimately bring value to your business. 

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week–6 Steps to Writing Awesome Fresh Content

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these,  follow me on Twitter.

6 Steps to Writing Awesome Fresh Content
Tip #1: Seek inspiration, find it, and start writing directly into WordPress blog platform. 

How to write blog posts that rank well.
Here are some tips to title a blog post for maximum visibility.

5 Social Media Habits to Make This Year.
Start out 2013 with a new lease on your social networking life. Get more out of Facebook, Twitter, and more with these tips.

Social Media Strategy in 8 Steps (Summary).
Companies should focus more on how to BE social, and less on how to DO social media

Keys to Business Failure Part 2 [VIDEO] 
Watch this 10 minute video to make sure you avoid the things which guarantee failure…

Let Me Tell You a Story.
Do you know people who can masterfully tell the right story at the right time? 

Why We Need One Trick Ponies — As always Danny Brown says it so succinctly. 

What Every Blogger Should Know. 
WordPress has to be my favorite CMS for carrying out search engine optimization within.

11 Things A Business Could Do With the New Vine App.
But how will a business use it? That’s where it can get fun.

14 Google+ communities for PR and marketing pros.
1. Public Relations – This is the best PR G+ community I’ve seen so far. There’s limited spam and self-promotion, and a bunch of smart PR people sharing ideas and notes.

How to Format a Simple Text Email to Send Out to Your Database

I get asked this question time and time again.

How do I format a simple text message to send out to my list or database. 

Many list management software utilities put certain character limitations in the body of an email, this is the easiest way to do it.

Take said document (word or text) and copy it to your clipboard:

Paste into TextPad (for windows or for a mac)

Then, on the toolbar

  1. Click “View”
  2. Click on “Document Properties” (a new box will open)
  3. Click on the “Preferences” tab
  4. Check boxes “Word Wrap Long Lines”
  5. And the Radial “Save with hard breaks”
  6. Under all of that click on the box “Word break at column number:” 
  7. Type in “65”
  8. Click OK

Now you have just created the text to the way it will be saved. I just go to the top and “save as”. This will be saved as a text document.

Now, TextPad has so many other functions, but this is primarily what I use it for.

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week–SEO for WordPress – What Every Blogger Should Know

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these,  follow me on Twitter.

The Cheapest, Fastest Way To Build A List Of Subscribers. http://bitly.com/WkXOyI

What You Need to Know About Facebook Graph Search. http://bitly.com/WkXTSU

What To Do If Your Brand Gets Slammed. http://bitly.com/WkXYpN

9 Reasons QR Codes are Bad for Your Brand. http://bitly.com/WkY00W

5 Ideas for New Business Blog Topics for a New Year. http://bitly.com/WkY6FO

Do you know these five keys to business failure? Watch this short video to find out. http://bitly.com/WkY8O6

30 Ways to Build the “Know, Like, and Trust” Factor that Grows an Audience. http://bitly.com/WkYapc

Facebook Page Checklist. http://ow.ly/gOJwj

SEO for WordPress – What Every Blogger Should Know. http://bit.ly/SonYn3

The Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest SEO. http://bitly.com/WkYhku

How to Choose WordPress Plugins for Front End Development [VIDEO] http://bitly.com/WkYiVG

Why I Don’t Like LinkedIn Endorsements

I have been sitting on the sidelines on this subject for quite some time.

LinkedIn Endorsements. I don’t like them, I think they are stupid. There, I said it.  

I don’t like them. Period. Every time I receive an endorsement, and I get notification via email, I cringe. It’s bothersome and quite frankly, just plain stupid.

Here’s the kicker for me. I don’t know most of the people that are endorsing me. I mean, really. I have gotten repeated endorsements from the same people over and over again. So, now, I report them and disconnect with them. Is that the point of LinkedIn endorsements? I hope not.

I have received endorsements from people that I do know and I return the favor (only if it’s relevant) and I guess that was the point when LinkedIn created this feature. Let’s just keep it simple, if you know me and know my work, by all means, endorse me. If you don’t, leave me alone!

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week—How to get your Twitter profile found

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these,  follow me on Twitter.

Does your Facebook Fan Page comply with the new rules? Details: http://bit.ly/FBtext

Claim Google Authorship for Your WordPress Web site in 3 Easy Steps http://www.copyblogger.com/wordpress-google-authorship/

How to Use Photoshop: The Ultimate Guide for the Design-Impaired Marketer http://bitly.com/10xdpT6

How Your Business & Personal Facebook Pages Differ, & Why It’s Important http://divahound.com/fbbizpage

The best days to post to Facebook, based on industry http://bitly.com/10xdk1U

The 17 Best WordPress Plugins for Social Media, SEO, and Better Visitor Engagement in 2013 http://soc.li/SJAoPPg

How to get your Twitter profile found! http://ow.ly/gC1Sz

2013 is The Year of the Video! Free webinar on Jan 24th http://bitly.com/WYffox

How to Create Top-Notch Visual #Content in PowerPoint [Tutorial]. http://bitly.com/10xdcPO

Join Mari Smith for her landmark free webinar on Jan 24th all about VIDEO MARKETING. You don’t want to miss this! http://bitly.com/WYffox

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week—Top 10 Online Marketing Articles in 2012

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these,  follow me on Twitter.

Top 10 Online Marketing Articles in 2012. http://goo.gl/h8a5Y

SEO and Google: 4 Successful Tips for Brand Visibility in the New Year. http://bit.ly/Ttgkqz

30 Inspiring Ideas To Develop Content For Your Blog. http://po.st/CYHkpE

10 January story ideas for publicity, blogging, videos. http://p.ost.im/p/dfCdV8

LinkedIn’s Endorsements Have Become Meaningless. http://on.mash.to/Zr9Isd

Report: Google Has 105 Million Unique Monthly Visitors. http://on.mash.to/Zr9Zvh

How To Be A Power Pinterest User great Infographic. http://bit.ly/pinfograph

Twitter Now Valued at $11 Billion, Analyst Says http://on.mash.to/Zr9Asu

The Beginner’s Guide to Blog Analytics. http://bitly.com/Zr9qRS

How to Pick the Perfect CTA for Every Blog Post. http://bitly.com/Zr9SzC

How to Deliver the Perfect Pitch to Journalists, Broadcasters & Bloggers and Hit It Out of the Park

Joan Stewart

If you want publicity, don’t even think about using the “spray and pray” technique of pitching a one-size-fits all idea to several dozen journalists and bloggers, most of whom have very different audiences. Doing just 15 minutes of research BEFORE you pitch, and targeting only two or three of them, will often get you the coverage you’re seeking.

Publicity expert Joan Stewart, a former newspaper editor who has accepted and rejected thousands of story ideas for her newspapers and her blog, knows EXACTLY what makes a great pitch. She’ll explain her five-part formula for pitching. And she’ll give you 10 story ideas you can pitch tomorrow—great for when the idea well is dry.

You will learn:

  • how to research journalists and bloggers.
  • how to find personal information—like the names of their pets—in 30 seconds or less, and weave that information into your pitch.
  • the one thing to look for in your research…if you find it, it’s like striking gold.
  • an incredibly easy way to find out how to get in front of a journalist or blogger (most people NEVER think of this—this one tip is worth the price of the teleseminar!)
  • how to let them know who you are, long before you pitch them.
  • what to do when you get the story so they’re more inclined to interview you again.

Details:

  • Date: Wednesday, January 9
  • Time: 7:00 pm Eastern, 6 pm Central, 5 pm Mountain, 4 pm Pacific
    (Enter your location here to get your local time)
  • Length: 60 minutes
  • Cost: $25

Register or pre-order the recording.

Note: Everyone who registers for the teleseminar will get the MP3 recording of the session for free.