Social Communities: How to be Social!

[Jan Fischer Wade]

Okay, so my last post was on where to go if you want to become involved with social communities geared towards authors and books.  Maybe you join a few.  So now what??

 

JOIN GROUPS, JOIN GROUPS!!!  Yes, I said that twice!  There are some wonderful groups out there!  Search for relevance, interests, and ongoing activity.  Join as many as you want!

 

START YOUR OWN GROUP:  If you don't see a group related to you strong interest, start your own!  I started "Marketing Tidbits for Authors" and it is gaining new members at a steady pace!

 

MAKE FRIENDS:  Of course, invite your friends from your contacts lists first, that is pretty easy.  Then, make friends via your groups.  Also, you can usually pull up a list of new members under the "members" link and can easily friend them by introducing yourself, letting them know you are new too, and tell them something about yourself, like "I write YA fiction".  When you see an interesting discussion, comment or blog post, you can also add that person as a friend and let them know you saw their comment, post, etc.  If you have a blog, you can friend people who have left a comment and thank them for stopping by your blog.

 

CHECK EVENTS:  See if there is anything that is related to you or your writing!

 

READ POSTS AND CHECK OUT THE MAIN PAGE:  Join in discussions and leave comments on other peoples' blogs. 

 

START YOUR OWN BLOG:  What can you write about in your blog that will be useful to others?  When you do blog make sure to let your groups know about it my starting a discussion or adding a comment to the group page.

 

CHAT WITH OTHERS:  I admit I don't do this, but I have known others who love this aspect of social communities.

 

What else am I forgetting?  What have you had success with in social communities like Book Blogs??

[Jan Fischer Wade]

I definitely agree with you - and working together makes us all stronger too!

[E. S. Lark]

Even more great tips. I think one thing folks forget is that social networking works both ways. While you might get a few readers to drop by, interacting with visitors and followers may get them to visit later on down the line.

[Jan Fischer Wade]

Thanks for stopping by Mary!

[Mary Merrell]

Wow, and I thought I was busy. My boys are grown, so when I get home from work, I get to do what I want. Mostly.

[Jan Fischer Wade]

I know!! I have two grade schoolers and work a full time job too! I try to pop in when I have some extra time and keep up on my blog posts, but it is hard!!!

[Mary Merrell]

I'm in a few groups, but it gets overwhelming with all the emails and opportunties. Not to mention time comsuming. How do you all do it? I work full time, play soccer and all the usual family obligations going on right now. And keeping my blog going.

[Jan Fischer Wade]

And it takes time! Thanks for visiting Cindy!

[Cindy C Bennett]

It seems so simple, and I think that's why a lot of people overlook virtual socializing. So simple -  and yet so very important!

 

Thanks for the reminder.

[Jan Fischer Wade]

Thanks Cambria!  That's funny, we were posting a comment at the same time!  ; )

[Jan Fischer Wade]

Make sure to share, tweet and like items of interest you find!  Jan