Author Topic: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers  (Read 3891 times)

LilyBLily

Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #50 on: August 12, 2023, 12:16:00 AM »
Fame/notoriety and followers aren't necessarily worked up to. They can be instant and not generated by you but by the public. (The talking dog phenomenon, perhaps.) Does that translate into selling your books? Maybe, and maybe not.

If you are naturally gregarious, probably PJ's advice is spot on. If you are naturally an introvert--like many writers--following that advice is not helpful. Like a lot of advice we receive, it asks us to undergo a personality transplant. Even if we fool ourselves into believing we are willing, over time our natural instinct is to pull back. 
 

Bill Hiatt

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Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #51 on: August 12, 2023, 01:49:54 AM »
Naturally gregarious people would probably have an advantage, just as you suggest. But I also think it's easier for introverts to interact on social media than in person.

I think part of what I'm reacting to is that I poured a lot of time into social media in the beginning and got very little out of it. A few people developed into genuine fans. A lot more hung around for a lot of liking, a little sharing, and no buying to speak of. And the only interest in swag was from people who wanted something for free. I was actually tempted to give them what they wanted (like book cover t-shirts), but almost invariably, they were people I would have had to use international shipping for, so that the shipping would have cost more than the cost to manufacture the swag.

Given that experience, I'm cynical about the notion that selling something else would be the magic bullet. If that works well for some people, I'm happy for them. I'm not sure it would work well for everybody, but I'm receptive to any kind of empirical data that would prove me wrong.


Tickling the imagination one book at a time
Bill Hiatt | fiction website | Facebook author page |
 

Post-Crisis D

Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #52 on: August 12, 2023, 02:18:43 AM »
I think part of what I'm reacting to is that I poured a lot of time into social media in the beginning and got very little out of it.

:thumb18:

Yeah, we helped build Facebook/Twitter/etc. and got jack squat.  In my heyday, I didn't have books but I had other things and, well, I never got to the point where I could have even afforded to go to a place where there were yachts and posed in front of one to pretend it was mine.  (I mean, I wouldn't have done that like some others did, but the point is that I couldn't even have afforded that level of deception.)  And, while there were opportunities I'm sure I missed, it took a lot of effort to get to that point.  At one point, I was in a Top 100 or Top 50 list and if that doesn't get you somewhere, I mean, what would?

I think it would be more difficult now and more work and effort for possibly little return.  And, now more so than back then, you'll be walking on eggshells because you never know what's going to set people off.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #53 on: August 12, 2023, 02:23:54 AM »
Subscriptions are the new big thing. Will they pay off?  For a few people, they seem to be doing great! For the average person...like everything else, it probably depends on genre, fan base, effort people are willing to put into it, and maybe plain luck. 

Difficult to say, but the first ones into anything new seem to follow a pattern.  Some make it big, most work out the learning curve, and a few write a book to sell to all the other authors.

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

Post-Crisis D

Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #54 on: August 12, 2023, 03:12:52 AM »
Subscriptions are the new big thing.

But they're not new.  We just pretend they are because . . . Internet.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #55 on: August 12, 2023, 03:54:51 AM »
Subscriptions are the new big thing in author groups and forums.  Along with selling direct.  :angel:

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

PJ Post

Re: Social Media - Let's Increase Our Followers
« Reply #56 on: August 14, 2023, 02:01:34 AM »
The secrets of branding aren't all that secret at this point: do a thing - do it well - do it a lot - let people know.

The celebrity niche strategy is another way of letting people know. A good example is GEICO. They've been using a maximum reach strategy to run feel-good commercials for years, psychologically manipulating us into feeling positive about them, maybe even cheerful - and they're an insurance company!

That's how to use social media. Be positive, be memorable, be interesting - and be it a lot - everywhere. It's the same as any other branding strategy.

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Selling merch isn't anything on it's own, it's just one more revenue stream, one more tool for brand awareness. As for examples, they're are all over the place, you just have to look. YouTube is full of these success stories.

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Viral posts or videos are typically not all that helpful. The problem is that your core demographic - your tribe - may be significantly underrepresented, or worse, absent altogether. It's better to get 1k views from your target audience (which may result in sales) than a million from people who don't care (which won't sell anything).

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Substack and Patreon are modern subscription services for writers. The problem always seem to be discoverability, which Amazon used to be pretty good at. But we don't have to rely on publishers or platforms for that service anymore. We have social media, which gives us control. It also allows us to use these platforms as additional revenue streams, as well as an extension of our brand awareness strategy.

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If we follow the rules (best practices), we don't have to worry about walking on eggshells.

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As for being introverted, the days of the reclusive artist creating their work in private and then having a publisher take it from there are over. Creatives have to sell themselves now. Fortunately, there are a lot of channels to do this through, and few of them require actual face-time, in person or on camera.

Our only limitation is our imagination.