Almost exactly 5 years ago I first used the acronym FIRE when talking about social media. I had been working on a checklist to qualify what I was posting on Twitter and Facebook. FIRE was a measure of quality for content which I felt should match up to one or more of the following criteria: Funny, Interesting, Relevant and/or Expert.

As with all Social Media, you need to think about what you’re going to post. This will depend first and foremost on your Facebook strategy – what do you want to use Facebook for? As a writer it is an important part of your personal brand. You can of course use it solely as a kind of online diary system by posting about your everyday life, or you can simply follow the antics of others without ever posting your own content. If you want Facebook to work for you then you must learn to work with it.

Facebook is much more than just a broadcasting site. It is a true communications tool which, and at its best, it can be used to create and develop real communities. Too many writers role up thinking that they can use traditional sales methods to market themselves on Facebook. Alas, it does not work like that. I would argue that anyone approaching Social media with that kind of transactional thinking is doomed to failure. We need to develop a different mindset where we listen to others, add value to what they have to say, and then engage fully with them. We use social media to build a profile of ourselves hoping that lots of people will like us. Those followers become our advocates who spread the word and then they will buy our books because they like us.

At its core, Facebook is about developing relationships. It is about creating followers, not customers, and it is about presenting yourself in such a way that your followers will become advocates. In order to achieve this you will need to be open, variable and supportive. Mostly you will have to be consistent and persistent, since none of this will happen overnight. Facebook success means a long-term commitment – not necessarily a commitment to hours of work, but rather to a little time every day. Your aim as a friend or a writer is to become memorable to your followers/advocates as a go-to person, both for your knowledge and for your willingness to share it.

We belong to a global community. More and more of our interactions take place on the internet. To be a part of this revolution you need to be out there engaging and sharing. You need to ‘go social’!

If your aim is to grow your business, you need to grow your social network and start gathering Social Capital through your online presence. Consider the kind of people you want to interact with and tailor your posts accordingly. Be Funny, be Interesting, be Relevant and be an Expert in your own knowledge.

Start by ‘liking’ and  ‘sharing’ others posts in order to build your confidence. Use images whenever you can. Use hashtags (#) to start trends and discussions, but be wary of the ‘trending’ themes featured prominently to the right of your Timeline. They are often flippant, offensive (the worst of the internet tends to be represented in some of them!) and generally a waste of time. Also remember to never be drawn into internet arguments. There is no way to ‘win’ these, and they drain your credibility no matter what the outcome. Above all, write something every day – the internet has a short attention span!

Remember FIRE:

Funny

Interesting

Relevant

Expert

Go social, and have fun!

My Facebook: Personal – https://www.facebook.com/tim.orahilly

Author page: https://www.facebook.com/tjmasterswriter/