Don’t Get Lost in Internet Abyss: How to stand out online
POSTED BY mrenart ON August 24, 2011
Image from: www.progressivereadingseries.org
by Marika Flatt
First, you decided to jump on board with online marketing and create your own website. You kept it simple, offering a bit of personal information and an e-mail address where you could be contacted, maybe even a nice photo. You thought that was enough. But now, just a few years later, the landscape of online promotion and social media has completely changed, leaving your little website in the dust.
Today, it is not enough to simply have an online presence, a website to prove you exist. With constantly changing social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and an uncountable array of blogging sites– personal websites without the glitz of status updates and glam of Twitter feeds have become outdated and unappealing. If you want to promote yourself online, you can no longer rely on an unchanging website to do the job, or even a monthly blog post or an occasional tweet. You have to stand your ground online, maintaining your presence with regular updates and new information to keep readers interested, coming back to your blog and/or reading your tweets.
To help you get an idea of how to stand out on social media sites, we have developed a list of tips.
- Act fast. The first thing you should know in cultivating an online presence is that this is something you can and should do immediately, regardless of whether you have an upcoming book release or have only written your first chapter. You have to build a following of dedicated readers, and you have to begin interacting online with similar bloggers and Twitter users. Social media is a combination of charisma, interactivity, and trust. Starting your whole social media machine just to promote your book won’t earn you that trust from your followers. You have to get them interested in you before you get them interested in your book.
- Create an Online Persona. To get followers and fans interested in you, you need to become an online personality. Of course you are a writer, but are you a foodie? A mother? Are you witty or crafty or poetic? You need to hone in on an online personality and stick to that persona. The reason for this is simple: people are looking to follow people they are interested in, people with whom they share interests. Thus, you should aim to be consistent in your online persona to develop a following of devoted readers. Remember, you might not be able to interest every Facebook friend/ fan or Twitter user, but if you stay true to your online personality, the readers or followers you do interest will stick around and retweet your tweets or comment on your blog. For good examples of constancy and personality, look at food critic and author Ruth Reichl (@RuthReichl), a master of poetic, highly punctuated tweets admired by writers and chefs alike. Or perhaps for something more helpful, follow Advice to Writers (@advicetowriters) and receive quotes on writing from authors, writing tips, and links to literary websites and blogs.
- Thoughtful Following. After you’ve developed an online personality, you need to get that following of devoted readers. Create your Twitter account and follow people that interest you and could benefit you. Follow publishers, publicists, and authors whom you admire so that you can communicate by tweeting to them. Also, by following more people in a specific field of interest, you will illuminate your presence on the web, giving you more Twitter traffic which will lead to more followers. This idea goes for blogs as well. You should follow other blogs and try to connect with similar bloggers. Leaving thoughtful comments with your blog information on other blogger’s posts will lead other blog readers to your own blog and, voila, you’re widening your readership.
- Be original. This last tip is crucial, and perhaps the most difficult. With the massive amount of information available via the Internet, it is hard to think of anything more daunting than having original online content. However, you will not get the same level of reader interest if you’re sending out tweets with the latest viral Youtube clip or just posting pictures of cute animals on your blog. You need to write your own original tweets and blog posts, take your own pictures and post them, and be uniquely interesting. It may feel a bit conceited to focus on yourself like this, acting as if your opinion is worthy of worldwide attention, but keep in mind that solipsism is what these websites are all about.
I know that this can sound scary, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone of simple websites and into the world of online social media where you’re only as good as your latest blog post and a Twitpic is worth 140 characters. But the constant changes in the social media landscape mean that you have to stay updated and maintain your online presence if you want to stand out online. And you want to stand out online!
Tags: author, blog, book, generating interest, online, online marketing, publicity, Twitter, website
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