This is Part Two in the series of posts answering questions from the BK Author Co-Op Book Marketing Event. You can read Part One here.
How do I maximize my blog? I write twice a week now. What else?
It is my belief that if you are going to take time to write a blog post, you need to be willing to invest equal time promoting/sharing the blog post. If you are short on time, you can outsource the promotion part to an assistant if needed. I recommend following a regular routine for sharing your post — our company has a process that includes 6 different steps, sharing content in different ways on different channels. Promoting a blog post is important because you wrote it to be read. And readers won’t just come to you; you need to invite them to read your content.
You can also maximize the time you spent crafting your blog content by repurposing your content; a blog post can become a series of tweets, a group of stunning graphics, a podcast, or videos. Or a series of blog posts can become an e-book. You can also make your content interactive by encouraging people to answer questions in the comments to the post or by reposting questions drawn from your post on a Facebook page or Google+ community.
What is the very best place to host a blog?
I prefer and recommend WordPress as a content management system. If possible, I also recommend that you buy your own domain, and make it memorable, using a .com if it is available since most people will think dot com first. Once you buy your domain (my favorite places to buy: Bluehost and Name.com), you can install WordPress with one click. My quick start guide (always free!) includes easy instructions that can help you start. For more advanced help, you may want to hire a company (mine, for example?) to design and develop a stunning WordPress site.
How do you stay on top of communicating with all the response you get from social media?
The volume of communication through social media can be overwhelming at times. I remember when I first joined Facebook, I tried to keep up with everything my friends were sharing. I often have people ask me how I can read the tweets of everyone I’m following (I can’t.) Decide how much time you can spend engaging on social media, set aside the time, and then respond to/engage with people as you are able. You will need to prioritize. Realize that you can’t keep up and give up your desire to “do it all” perfectly.
Tell me something! How would you answer these questions?
I hope you’ll come back for the next two Mondays. I’ll be sharing more answers to your social media questions.
I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.