community | Social Media Aspirin™

Writing is the heart of your business, but so is developing a community for your readers. Self-promotion is a necessity in today’s modern author world. If you’re tempted to run away, don’t. Hear me out. It takes days, weeks, months, and sometimes years to develop a book. A reading community can’t be built in a day. It takes time and effort.

Do you have ten minutes in your day that you can spare for those who support your work? Of course, you do!

Here are some quick tips to cultivating your readers that take ten minutes or less:

Set up Google Alerts to track where you’re mentioned. You need to know what they’re saying about you! You can set up an alert for your name, book title, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, site URL, and more. When you find people who have mentioned you and your work, stop by and give them a thank you and show your appreciation for their support of your work. It’s an excellent way to connect with new readers.
Use polls to connect with your readers. You don’t have to create book-only polls. If you’re having trouble with Photoshop, or struggling to figure out which font to use in Canva, set up a poll and ask for help. If you do choose to go with a particular person’s (or group’s) choice, make sure you give them credit.
Surround yourself with those you admire. This doesn’t mean you should look down on anyone, but your reputation is important. If you hang around with someone (especially online) who is shady or shifty, their behavior will reflect on you as well. By that same token, if you only associate with national and international bestsellers, you may come off as snobby and unapproachable. Stay true to yourself and only recommend and support those you would in real life.
Update your bios on all platforms. You should have a bio that says who you are, what you write, and list all your important links, titles, and awards. A long bio will also list the books you’ve published. Develop four sizes of bios. One should be a tagline (perfect for Twitter, and for starting your other bios), the next should be two sentences max (great for Instagram, and Facebook’s short bio), the third should be two paragraphs (Facebook long bio, Author pages, summary information for article writing, and more), and the final should be a page long. That page should be a template you pull your other bios from, and it should, at a minimum, be on your website. The page long should list your books, all social media links, and any bonus content you offer for them signing up to your newsletter.
Do you look at pictures of your favorite authors? Chances are you’ve sneaked a peek at one or two behind-the-scenes photos. Whether it’s book- or life-related, showing that extra insight into your world can help bring your readers with you.
Go for interaction! Create a prompt event. Use a theme, image, riddle, or whatever you like to create a place for your readers to connect with you. Ask a single question and use a single call to action to cut down on confusion. It’s a great way to interact with your community, and it doesn’t take very much time. If you’re looking for a great way to host a contest, this is a fantastic place to start. For everyone who leaves a comment (with the correct answer, if you’re asking trivia or riddles), enter their names into a contest for a drawing. That way you reward those who interact while still giving back to your community.
Reply to comments! Thank anyone who has used your free content or downloaded your book during a quick sale. If you spend time being grateful to your readers, they will show their support in ways you won’t expect.

Cultivating a community takes time, but it’s worth it. You want to take potential readers and turn them into loyal fans. Choose one tip to work on at a time. Your book wasn’t written in one day and neither will the development of your reader community. Which of these will you try first?

Having a Facebook page for your business is a given. There are loads of great tips for making Facebook work in terms of online presence and generating work. Did you know that the Facebook Groups feature has a ton of potential as well?

As with any great marketing tool, your group shouldn’t be used strictly as a place to promote yourself. A successful group gives its members a reason to visit, interact and engage with one another. It’s an avenue for building connections and relationships. The ways you make your social media platforms thrive is the same approach you should have with groups:

Post frequently
Use images whenever possible
Engage the audience
Announce upcoming events
Share the work with someone else. Collaboration can be amazing!

With that in mind, here are some additional ways to use utilize Facebook Groups to support your business.

Give It a Purpose

Don’t assume that people will join your group just because your name is attached to it. This might work for successful influencers but even then not having a game plan isn’t the best tactic. Come up with a purpose and a set of goals you want to achieve with the group. As with any new venture, being strategic and developing a plan is the first step to take.

Write these goals in the group description so anyone who visits can see the purpose of the group. This will ensure that those who choose to join are like-minded participants.

Give Them Something Valuable

This could be offering discounts or free items to members. It could also mean saving some of the best content just for the group. Perhaps hold a regular contest.

Or, It could be that members have the opportunity to network with one another, or that it gives them better access to you. Make members feel rewarded and special.

Build a Sense of Community

Remember that a group is only as good as its members. Find ways to introduce them to one another. Get creative in making sure they engage. Give them a regular opportunity to show-off, ask questions, or share content. Regularly ask for group participation, input, and sharing.

Make Members Part of the Team

Often, many of your group members will be invested in you and what you do. Test new ideas or concepts within the group first. Ask for their opinions. Encourage them to test drive new programs.

Once you find the sweet spot you will notice that a lot of the engagement happens organically. You are still the central piece of the puzzle. However, it will mean less work for you and more growth as people start asking YOU if they can join up and participate.

Side note: Facebook Business Pages vs. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups supplement your business fan page. So even if you create a Facebook group, you’ll still want a Facebook page for your business.

Anything you share on your business page shows up in the news feed for fans to see. When fans engage with your content, it increases your visibility to others in their network.

However, updates from Facebook groups only show up in the news feeds of members. When a member engages with the content in a group, it doesn’t show up in their friends’ news feeds.

Once you have a Facebook group and a business page, make sure they work in tandem. Actively promote your group to your fans. This way, you can leverage your group and your page at the same time.

Please meet my guest blogger Beth Johnston.

About Beth

Beth Johnston is a Certified Professional Social Media Manager, and Founder/CEO of Social Bridges.

She and her team are dedicated to providing results-driven social media marketing strategy and services to busy business owners and entrepreneurs, so they can connect their brand to their audience through the proper social network(s).

Additionally, Beth provides classroom and individual instruction, coaching, and strategy consulting services.