Happy Tuesday, everyone! This is going to be a drive-by Daily Joe. I'm going to talk about Marketing. Readers, if you're not an author, don't worry. This is for you, too. I tried to bullet point out a bunch to make this easier to read. Also, if you just want the daily update, scroll down to "Today, July 23, 2019".
(If you'd rather listen to this post, there's audio at the bottom of the page.)
As a rule, we authors like to reach our readers through Facebook. It's both a good and a bad plan. The good thing is, that's where a lot of readers are. I can't speak for other writers, but I really enjoy interacting with readers. In fact, some--quite a few, actually--I consider to be friends at this point. We don't talk books; we talk life. I like that.
But, if we (writers) don't talk books, then nobody knows they're around. And Facebook hates when we talk about our book releases. Frankly, I kind of think Facebook hates small businesses, but that's another story. THIS IS NOT A RANT. I PROMISE.
So here's are the problems:
Facebook says authors (or small businesses) cannot share their product on their timelines. You may notice that it's very rare for me to share my own books on my personal timeline. Instead, they're always in groups or on my business page.
As of August 1st, many words we use will also cause posts to be hidden or deleted.
Facebook suppresses business page posts (and to a smaller part, group posts). You can even be put in a version of the infamous Facebook Jail and not even know it.
Why am I telling you this?
For my loyal readers: so you know how to get information about book releases and understand why you may not be seeing posts about them. Or why your own posts may be suppressed and you don't even know it.
For other authors: so I can give you some insights on how to reach people.
First things first, I have close to 1300 people who have liked/followed my business page. That's great, right? Well...
On average, 30-50 people see what I post on my page. I'll do the math for you (thank you Google, lol -- hey! I was up until 1 AM writing. Math and I are not friends today). So if I have 1300 people on my page and 30 people see a post I've made, that's about 2% of my followers. And that's on a good day.
This is why I often post the same thing on my business page and on my group, Brynn's Place.
Now, let's talk about Brynn's Place for a sec.
I have 139 people on my group. I post a lot of fun stuff in there. That's where I interact the most. On average 40-70 people see each post. Interestingly, if it's a post with a link (like say for a book or for a blog post), that number drops down to about 30 people. Math? Let's do the math. That means about 21% of people see the book/blog posts. 32-50% of people see my other posts.
There's a lot of stuff on Facebook. I can understand that not everyone will see everything. I have a point to all this (if you've made it this far, thank you):
Readers:
I love you.
If you want to know what's going on with me, the easiest way is through this blog or my website. You can even subscribe to the blog so it's emailed right to you.
Speaking of email, I have a newsletter, but it's not as frequent as the blog.
If you want to interact with me, of course you can post a comment here. I would love that.
You can follow me on other social medias. For the record, MeWe, a newer social media, doesn't suppress posts, and I have a profile and a group over there. I post there every single day. Plus the groups have a public chat option that can be fun. If you're wondering where to find me outside of Facebook, that bar of buttons across the top of the page will take you there.
OR you can join my Facebook group, Brynn's Place. I'm there a lot.
Authors:
I have less for you.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You can't rely on one place or one way to reach people. You certainly can't count on your business page. Keep that in mind.
Look at the numbers I've cited above and think about your action plan. You have to have an action plan.
That's enough of that. I guess this wasn't as much of a drive-by post as I thought it would be. I hope you've found this helpful.
Today, July 23, 2019
Guys, I have like...2 or 3 pages to write, and I will be finished with my current book! I'm so excited about that. That's got top billing on my schedule today. After that, I'm going to head out to my sunny, beautiful deck and work on plotting. I've pushed pretty hard on this project, even through the weekend, so I'm looking at a more laid-back writing day.
Which means I'll be doing several freelance jobs, LOL.
No rest for the wicked.
Or for me, either. (I'm actually pretty nice, just so you know).
Don't forget Billionaire's Christmas Cruise releases in 6 DAYS!!! You can pre-order it ahead of time, if you feel inclined. Dakota and I would love it if you would. For a full look at my upcoming books and pre-orders, you can go to my Coming Attractions blog from yesterday.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!!
~~ Brynn
