by Penny Sansevieri
If the idea of self-promotion online seems daunting, not to fear. Self-promotion doesn’t have to be time-consuming or confusing. To help get you started, I’m sharing some of the most effective yet simple ways to start marketing yourself.
Blogging
Regular blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise, promote yourself, and help you rank higher in Google searches. When you have your own blog and produce content regularly, Google will reward you with a higher search ranking, and that puts you ahead of the competition. I recommend that you blog once or twice a week at minimum.
Don’t know where to start? Or have you been blogging for a while and are starting to run out of ideas? The following suggestions should help you get started or overcome that writer’s block:
- Blog about what’s happening in your industry.
- Write reviews for books in your genre or niche.
- Blog as one of your characters and take readers behind the scenes.
- Post short stories or a sneak peek of your next book, or simply ask your readers what they want to read. It’s a fantastic way to get reader feedback.
- Interview people in your industry.
- Use the blog idea generator–it’s free!
Get Social
Now that you’re blogging regularly and sharing your expertise, share it with all of the social networks you use: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, etc. To make sure your posts are effective, tailor the post to the site you’re using. Also make sure to include a photo with your post. Visuals are very effective on social media. For instance, turn the post into a pithy 140-character tweet and include a photo on Twitter. You can post a longer explanation or pose a question on Facebook. But again, make sure to use a photo with your post.
Join the Conversation
An important part of self-promotion online is simply being visible: posting consistently, sharing information, interacting with your followers, and joining discussions on other blogs/social media in your industry. Simple ways of joining the conversation are to share ideas from other bloggers, comment on other members’ posts, answer questions, offer your perspective on an issue, or show support for other members. This will help you gain followers and build credibility.
Guest Blogging
As a result of engaging in conversations online, you’ll begin to form a network. As I mentioned above, make sure to share ideas other than your own. An easy way to do this is to invite other bloggers to guest post on your blog. You get a break from blogging if you’re starting to run into writer’s block, and you get the opportunity to gain exposure from your guest blogger’s followers.
Be Gracious and Stay Informed
Sites like talkwalker.com and mention.net allow you to schedule alerts for your name, book title(s), and industry, so you can monitor what is being said about you online. This is a great way to stay on top of what’s happening in your industry, and allows you to thank those who might have reviewed your book, shared your blog post, etc. Make sure to also share those posts about you or your book on your social media.
There are several different ways to be active online and promote yourself, but it can be daunting at first to know where to start. Stay tuned for more easy-to-do online promotion tips. Remember, consistent, simple, and focused efforts are the best way to ensure success. Try our simple suggestions and find what you are comfortable with online. If you focus on those that seem to work for you consistently, you will see your following grow.
Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.