At the recent UK Meet I was a member of a panel which addressed the topic of social media for authors and judging by the quality of comments and questions from our audience it was clear just how important a topic this is and yet how intimidating it can feel to some users. Which ever platform you choose to use, once you are armed with all the basic tools to get going, you need to think about what you’re going to post. This will depend first and foremost on your social media strategy – what do you want to use it for? You can of course use it solely as a kind of online diary system by Tweeting, Instagramming or FaceBook posting about your everyday life, or you can simply follow the antics of others without ever sending your own posts.

Each of these sites, however, is much more than just a broadcasting platform. They are true communications tools which, and at their best, can be used to create and develop real communities. Too many authors sign up thinking that they can use traditional sales methods to market themselves and their books. 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.

At its core, social media 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. Social media 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 business user 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 reposting others in order to build your confidence. Use hashtags (#) to start Trends, but be wary of the ‘Trending’ themes featured prominently on some sites. 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!

In my early days using Twitter I developed my own filter acronym to test what I posted online. It applies well enough to other platforms and so I will share it with you here. Remember FIRE. Does your post qualify as one or more of the following? Is it:

Funny

Interesting

Relevant

Expert

Go social, and have fun!

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