This or that?
I recently read a timely blog post, authored by Rob Eager, President of Wildfire Marketing, on the hidden costs of social networking.
I found his take on the subject extremely interesting. To be quite honest, I’m feeling more than a bit overwhelmed by the time involved in the promotion of my work when, quite frankly, what I’d really like to do is write. I currently have three works in progress and they need attending to! I find that I’m invited on a fairly regular basis to participate in chats and I’m asked to join more and more chat loops. Don’t misunderstand, I appreciate the invitations, I’m so grateful when you think of me, and I’ll stop by if I can, but please don’t take offense if I decline. There are only so many hours in the day and they have to be allocated to work, writing, website, pet care, household tasks, cooking, errands, hubby-related stuff and blah…blah…blah…I’m pretty sure you all live it so you get the picture.
Here’s the link to his post, but I’ll discuss a few of his salient points. http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2010/05/the-hidden-costs-of-social-networking.html
I recently posted my concerns about Facebook. Although I don’t check my Facebook site often, it’s still time invested in something other than writing. My question was, and still is, is it worth it? My answer was, and still is, I don’t know. Maybe. Information about my books is on my Facebook site. Other than an occasional check and some maintenance, I rarely use Facebook as a social network.
Mr. Eager says, “There’s a basic economic principle that affects us everyday called “opportunity cost,” which is the cost of passing up another choice when making a decision. Put another way, it’s the benefits you could have received by choosing a different action. What does this have to do with selling books via social networks?
“I’ve watched a lot of authors and publishers become avid social networkers who spend considerable amounts of time reading and maintaining their blogs, FaceBook pages, Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, etc. When you conservatively add up the hours that these people spend surfing and contributing to social sites, the total amount of time can easily reach over 10 hours a week! That’s over one-fourth of an author’s weekly time devoted to social networking activities. (Some people claim they spend only 15 minutes a day. But, they’re shocked when they actually track their hours.) My point is that if you’re going to spend 25% of a 40-hour work week on a specific marketing activity, then that activity ought to contribute at least 25% of your total book sales. Yet, I don’t see that happening.”
According to Mr. Eager, social networking results in very few additional sales. He then goes on to say something I am convinced of:
“If you’re going to sell more books, you can’t preach to the choir. You’ve got to actively go out and make new converts.”
He gives ten significant suggestions as to how we can invest our time to improve sales. Not every one of his suggestions applies to my work as a romance writer, but I also write nonfiction and these are pretty useful.
1. Write and send a newsletter to influential leaders. (My interpretation - have a function on your website that allows fans to sign up for a newsletter, even if you only put out three a year.)
2. Develop a new keynote speech or workshop based on a book. (My interpretation - offer to teach a class or give a lecture at your local RWA chapter.)
3. Contact and follow up with 3 trade associations for speaking opportunities. (My interpretation - if you plan to attend a conference, sign up to participate in a workshop.)
4. Send out a press release that connects your book’s material to current events. (My interpretation - pertains more to literary fiction and non-fiction.)
5. Contact 3 - 5 organizations who could purchase bulk quantities of your book. (My interpretation - I do this with my nonfiction work, accompanied by an offer to do a reading and a book-signing.)
6. Create 3 free resources for your author website. (Your thoughts?)
7. Write 1 - 2 chapters for your next book. (My interpretation - Yesssssss!)
8. Contact 3 - 5 well-known people who could endorse your books. (My interpretation - keep reviewers and book bloggers you admire and respect updated on your new releases and your upcoming releases.)
9. Update your specific book pages on Amazon with tour dates, RSS blog feeds, videos, etc. (My interpretation - pretty self-evident.)
10. Attend a regional or national conference to build relationships with key leaders. (My interpretation - I haven’t done this yet, but I do plan to attend RT next year and I know many of you attend conferences.)
If you’re spending your Sunday reading this - I’d love to hear your thoughts! julia
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June 6th, 2010 at 3:40 am
I have the same issue with chat loops. I appreciate the offers and I try to make appearances to the ones I’m on, but I don’t have all day to chat. I have a day job that isn’t my writing. I have kids, grandkids, dogs and hubby who all want and need attention.
I have to cherish the little time I have for writing or I’d have nothing to promote. I need a clone!
June 6th, 2010 at 11:33 am
I do one 2-hour chat per month. Ahead of time I choose either a series or a couple books to showcase with excerpts. AND over the last few months I’ve seen the evidence in increased sales for the specific books I showcased. Not a LOT of books, you understand, but enough to stand out.
As for all those other things, Facebook, etc. is something I do literally in my “spare time” (while eating breakfast or right before I go to bed).
The only thing I do extra during the day is my blog. Sometimes it is related to my writing. Mostly it isn’t.
I have an arbitrary writing goal each day. It’s sort of a two-parter. Either six hours OR 1500 words. Whichever comes first. Anything additional is… well, additional.
Everything else such as research or reading blogs or keeping up with what’s new on the market is done on the weekends.
Those are my thoughts.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Anny, so you have a plan and a schedule that you keep to. It seems to work for you.
Amber - I know - when I decline an invite, it’s so not personal. I wish there were enough hours in the day to give every single author all the support they deserve!
June 6th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I am discovering that in order for your e-books to survive beyond that first couple of weeks on the front page of your publisher’s sales page where it is highlighted as a new release, you MUST do some amount of back-list promo. I send backlist books to reviewers. I make cover videos of all my books and upload them to You Tube (which automatically uploads them to Facebook, Twitter, etc), and I have a whole passel of blogs that are out there, with every one of my books on them. Every cover out there in blog-land has a buy page embedded under it.
I created a blog for every one of my new releases, with covers of all my books (with buy links embedded), a blurb and an excerpt, and a large cover shot. Sort of like they do at St. Martin’s Press. I do not go back constantly to update. These are only there IN CASE someone trips over them…but they lead any accidental tourist where they need to go. I have two shared blogs that I do every Saturday (when I remember), plus two large group blogs that I do once a month (when I remember). I have five real blogs, but it only takes me about ten minutes a week to update these(when I remember).
Actually, the only stuff I really do on FB is play the games. I feel that, the more places your book and name shows up, the more chances you have to sell one more book…but spending tons of time on those social networks does very little to keep you sane.
June 6th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Fran, I view what you do as promo, which is worthwhile. I don’t think you spend all day chatting. I know a few people - not anyone in our group - who I think chat as a way of avoiding their WIP. Do you know what I mean?