Tag: blog

Case Study: One Year on Social Media with George Troy

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

George Troy contacted me after he finished writing his book, The Five Laws of Retail. He said, “I want to build my social media presence and begin blogging. I am overwhelmed and need help.”

This past year George Troy’s followers on Twitter increased 1,234%, on Facebook 178%, on Instagram 242%, and on LinkedIn 237%!

How Did We Do It?

We put together a plan to make sure his blog was updated regularly, establish a solid social media presence, and expand his online network. Together we created goals and discussed and adjusted these monthly as needed. Within just a few months we saw substantial increase in his followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Here’s what George had to say:

Sue and her team have made invaluable daily contributions to my work. I worked in business for decades and  recently completed a book on the subject, The Five Laws of Retail. I quickly learned that building a social media platform to support the book was a full time job and needed a professional. We created targets  for each channel for each month, measure against them and ultimately met and exceeded each goal. I can’t imagine achieving my goals without her help and support.

George’s editor, Candace Johnson, assists him in updating his book proposal and makes sure we get updated book promotion information included. Candace recently wrote a guest post for us about what social media information publishers are looking for in a book proposal. “Publishers want to see that your audience is growing. You might have recently begun blogging and don’t yet have impressive numbers to report, so show them the rates of growth over a period of time.”

We’ve been working together with George for over a year now. He just updated his book proposal again and this time we included the percentage of increase for each network over the past year as noted above.

Case Study: George Troy
Example of image we created for us on George’s social media networks.

Why You Should Avoid Digital Sharecropping

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

In the bad old days, some folks were trapped in a poverty-inducing cycle, farming land they could never own. Rich landowners allowed (“allowed” !) tenant farmers to work the land in exchange for a share of the crop. The rich landowner, simply because he owned the land, received a share of the crops as well.

The sharecropper could never make enough to buy the land. The system was designed to keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

Eleven times a week I hear questions about “the best blogging platform.” And I read recommendations of, not only various free blogging tools, but even folks who consider their Facebook page or other social media presence to be their online marketing.

If you don’t own the land, you’re sharecropping, building someone else’s empire.

… more … “Why You Should Avoid Digital Sharecropping”

Do One Thing

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Water wears away stone by constancy, not power, not volume.

Marketing with a long vision will serve you better than looking for short-term sales.

Every day, do one thing to market yourself as an author, or to learn more about successful marketing. Here are 20 ideas to get you started:

… more … “Do One Thing”

Your Business Needs a Blog

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

In The Commonsense Virtual Assistant we wrote about the four fundamental customer needs:

  1. Get it right
  2. Get it out there
  3. Give ’em advice
  4. Give ’em a voice

A blog fills the last two needs, with proactive advice, and room for feedback, not just from your existing clientele, but from two groups we call prospects (people who are considering doing business with you) and suspects (people who should be doing business with you but don’t know it yet.) Never underestimate the power of fortuitous discovery. When someone stumbles upon your blog, they may discover you’re exactly what they need—but didn’t realize it.

It’s astonishing how many small businesses don’t blog regularly. (We all realize that as nonfiction authors, we’re in the book business, don’t we?)

… more … “Your Business Needs a Blog”

Build Your Audience With Your Blog

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

Build your audience with your blogTo effectively build a strong audience for your blog, you need to clearly define the purpose of your blog. Who are you trying to reach? What message are you trying to convey? Your content needs to be of value to your audience. You may find it helpful to read other blogs with similar content to get ideas for yours.

Your audience will abandon you if you don’t blog regularly. Be consistent. I can tell you from personal experience that when I’ve slacked off and use the hit-or-miss method of blogging, my readership dwindles. When I post regularly, my audience grows. If possible, post at least weekly. It’s very helpful to create a reserve of blogs and schedule them ahead of time for times when you don’t have time to write. Some choose to spend a block of time monthly to create all their posts at once and then schedule them out over the month.

Your posts will catch your audience’s eye if they have good titles. For more information on how to create attention-grabbing titles, read this guest post by my friend Deb Lamb. Another way to grab attention is to include a photo or image.

Invite your audience to comment on your blog. Yes, this does mean you’ll need to moderate comments. Use a tool like Askismet to catch most spam comments and you won’t spend too much time moderating junk comments. Allowing comments allows a way for your audience to interact with you and each other.

Please share your thoughts below.