| NEWS | NEWSLETTER |
| Join the Social Media Revolution By Leslie A. Engel Our two guest speakers for our April meeting were Cynthia Hartwig and Emily Warn. They have worn many hats in both business and literary communities and now teach business writing through their collaborative venture, Two Pens. Cynthia, with a background in marketing, and Emily, with a background in technology, teach classes that deal with the dynamic arena of social media. Their presentation focused on the role of social media, how to participate in it and why as authors it is important to do so. Join in the conversation “We’ve gone from having a website and now to conversations that are happening everywhere else but the website,” Emily noted. It is important to take notice of the powerful impact that social media is having and the opportunities it offers. To accomplish this, Emily suggested looking for models of successful authors who are tackling social media and emulate them. To start with, look online and find authors both nationally and locally who have built a social media presence that you find compelling. Start following them on different social media outlets: Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and others. Pay attention to not only what they are saying but how they are saying it. You will find the authors that have the biggest amount of followers are also the authors that have one consistent identity or personality. Susan Orlean and Tamara Kaye Sellmen are two great author examples. “Susan Orlean is a national author and a great example of a thought leader who has done a really good job with social media. And on the local literary scene, Tamara Kaye Sellman has done the same thing,”says Cynthia. Both have mastered the art of social media. Can anybody hear me? “There are 500 million Facebook users, 1 billion tweets [on Twitter] each week, 1.3 million blogs, and 70 million LinkedIn users—all of which are growing exponentially.” Cynthia explained that is why we should take the time to learn and engage in social media—the multiplier effect—especially for writers and particularly if they are isolated in their writing life. In the social media arena, you can reach so many more people, build contacts, and sell services if you are freelance writer or your book if you are an author, and it is a great way to stay current and keep track of trends. But she warned with so many users, there is also the risk of getting lost in the masses— don’t forget the goal is to be heard. How do you do this? Emily suggested deciding where you want to be and to truly be there. In other words, participate in the platforms that you decide are right for you and don’t get overwhelmed. To help do this, she suggested a foolproof strategy. “Don’t try and be everywhere at once— the best strategy is to write once and publish everywhere. It [social media] is a revolution … we are really experiencing a revolution— so every week dozens of companies are introducing new tools to make it easier for you to participate, and all of these are free.” Three ways to gain a bigger audience, and don’t forget to say cheese! Start with those closest to you— your family, friends, and colleagues —and then expand your audience with three important steps to becoming more visible. First, identify who are the thought leaders in your community and respond—all of your conversations and interactions will be communicated to their base and then see who responds and who is listening to you. When you do this you will begin to build your own base. This is when things start to get really fun—that’s when you can start to post your own ideas and thoughts and see who responds to you. Second, join a debate that is significant in your community— that is where you want to be. Be thoughtful and take your time to craft a good response, but not too much time—be relevant to the current happenings in your community. And third, start to think about what your brand is. Say one thing and say it over and over. In other words, pick an identity and stick to it. To make this point, Cynthia asked SFL members to think about celebrities and their identities. Whether you see yourself as funny, snappy, or serious, it is important that is what you are it all the time in your social media presence—it is your online personality. Just the way you follow certain celebrities for who they are—people will follow you for who you are (your identity). In addition, transmit this personality in your words, and also in photos and videos. These are essential to a great social media presence. Photos are the number one way to get noticed. Join the revolution today! |
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2010 – 2011 Season
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