Why you should use your real photo in creating Social Media profiles
An important part of building brand awareness is image awareness. Like the golden arches of McDonald’s you want your face to be recognized as an expert. When people see your face, you want them to instantly say, “Yes! I know that person.”
Recognition builds association, which builds greater credibility.
The more your target audience sees you in different places and doing different things, the greater the image of “Oh my, that person is everywhere. They must be much more important than I realized!”
A photo tip is to use a unique personal image for different social applications. This way when your name is searched on Google, the page of images for your name will have more instances of “you” than images of other people with the same name.
When getting professional images taken, come prepared with different outfits and ask the photographer to use different background images. This way you get more mileage out of a single photo shoot. Use one shirt for Twitter, another for Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, etc. Plan the outfit to match the platform you will be using.
When you share images on your blog or on social pages, make sure that you are in a significant number of them. People want to get to know you and the more you share your image the more they begin to link your name with your image. With today’s high face recognition technology you can be picked out of a crowd, but even so, include your name in the saved image format. It will ensure that your image does not get passed over or connected with someone else. Make sure you change the image name slightly such as yourname_athome.jpg or yourname_atwork.jpg so that it will show up uniquely in searches.
A final tip for building brand awareness is to choose photos that match the image you want to portray the most. If you want to be seen as an expert business coach, then wear business clothes in some of the photos. If you want to be known as a parenting expert, connect with images of your children or doing home activities as well as more professional speaking or presentation images. And finally, if you want to promote your latest book – why not get it in the picture?
Consistency is the key to book marketing success
It’s “the little drops of water, little grains of sand” system that creates wonderful writers.
It’s writing one sentence after the other and doing it over and over until you have 10,000 sentences and your book is done.
It’s writing a couple of comments every single day for a whole year until you have left your thumbprint on 100 blogs and over 700 posts.
It’s tweeting a tweet when you don’t feel like it, but you do it anyway and after days and weeks and months your name becomes known, your face becomes known and what you are writing about becomes noticed.
Consistency happens only with conscious, deliberate effort.
It takes an idea that is grand and glorious and breaks it down into steps and actionable moments. Step by step, day by day, in season and out of season you keep at it until the dream is manifested into reality.
Every author needs an author platform. This is the visible, viable proof through which people know you, follow you and buy your books. It is more than just a one day splash on the front page that is read and forgotten. It must be a steady accumulation of showing up and providing content that matters.
The best way to provide consistency is to make a public commitment to something that forces you to stay the course. Make it definite and visible. One person that comes to mind in doing this is the writer, Julie Powell, who made a bold commitment to cook all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in a year. It was a challenge that took her out of the wading pool into deep water and it resulted in a huge following, a book deal and a movie.
Ask yourself what simple, consistent thing can you do every day for a year? One thing. Not ten or twenty. Keep it simple and stay the course.
“Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.”—Bruce Springsteen
Building your 100 book marketing gold list
If you are looking for a magic bullet to speed your book to greater selling success, creating a 100 gold contact list might be just the ammunition you need.
A gold contact list is simply a list of 100 people that would help you to sell more books. This concept comes from John Kremer of Bookmarket.com. Kremer explains that building a list of 100 key media and book marketing contacts will help you to focus your relationship building efforts where they will have the most punch.
The first thing you have to realize when you build your list is that you don’t have to already know and have a relationship with these people. Come up with a list of people in the field that you want to know and then try to build a relationship with each one.
This will take some time. It will mean finding out where this person is on social media and finding ways to slowly (emphasize slowly) build a connection. This may mean leaving comments on their blog, Twitter and Google+. It means reading their books and articles and writing favorable reviews. It may involve taking a workshop from them, going to an event where they will be speaking or better yet signing up for a coaching program where you pay to talk to them. If the contact is important, do whatever it takes.
Building your gold list does not mean you sit down and come up with 100 people immediately. Start with ten to twenty-five people. Make the number small enough that you can concentrate on building the relationship by contacting them in some small way at least once a month. Finding and following one contact will open up pathways to other influential people that you can add to your list.
It’s a good idea to put your list into some type of contact management program or spreadsheet where you can keep track of contacts you make each month. Unless you actively and purposely work on this, it won’t work. But by keeping it as an important part of your “To Do” list, your mind will surprise you by thinking of creative ways to keep in touch and stay on the radar of your new gold friends.
At Wheatmark, our work with authors does not stop once their books are published. In fact that is just the beginning. That is why we place an emphasis on educating our authors about book marketing.
Why print newsletters can be more effective in keeping your fans connected
The pendulum is swinging back. For the last five or ten years the push for authors to send out a digital newsletter was encouraged on every front. Turns out that it became so popular everyone did it. So much so that as email newsletters became more and more prolific, readers soon felt overwhelmed. In order to handle the load, people started filtering the emails into sorted files that rarely were opened or simply deleted them after a casual disinterested glance at the subject line.
Even though digital newsletters could be sent in full color, 84% of the browsers that received them had pictures and images turned off to guard against spam and viruses. An email with plain text has to be pretty amazing to be read in this day and age of short attention spans.
As email turned into a chore and a headache, the delete key started being used with greater ferocity. A mediocre headline meant instant banishment to the trash bin and a pitchy sales lead went into the spam folder. An email list of thousands might sound impressive but not with an open rate of less than 3%.
As snail mail was used less and less, readers started paying more attention to print letters that they received. An email letter might be tossed but a handwritten letter from Aunt Joan was tucked lovingly into a drawer for further reading. An animated message of super deals that bombarded the unsuspected reader who opened a digital sales catalog was clicked off without a thought, while a catalog of books and special offers tucked into the lonely mailbox at the end of the driveway was opened and casually perused for a few minutes.
Email is here to stay and it has its place but more and more retailers are finding that sending out quarterly or even monthly printed material is perceived as having more value and credibility. Authors may find that the so-called, old fashion advertising methods of using postcards, printed flyers and newsletters may entice their readers more than ever.
Personal profile picture sizes for major social media sites
While you can’t be everywhere and do everything, you can put your picture almost everywhere. Every social media site has its own perfect sizing for optimum display. Here are six of the major social media sites and the picture size your photo should be for the best display.
Facebook: The final picture that will be displayed is 160 x 160 pixels, but the picture you upload must be 180 x 180 pixels. If you want the most control over how your picture will look, then size it to exactly 180 x 180 before you upload it. Yes, you can upload a rectangular image and crop and resize it within Facebook, but it will not look as sharp as a perfect square picture. Check out this info page on Facebook for perfect dimension tips. Finally, when your image shows up on an update, within a comment or on someone else’s page, your picture will be reduced to 90 x 90 so make sure it looks good at that resolution as well.
Twitter: 73 x 73 pixels is the size that will be displayed when users see your initial page. However, when they click on that tiny image for a closer look, they can see an image up to 500 x 500 pixels. Upload a perfectly square image of 500 x 500 pixels for maximum crispness and exposure. When your picture is shown next to your tweets, it will be resized to 48 x 48 pixels and then to 24 x 24 pixels when you follow someone or retweet something. The best advice is to start with a 500 x 500 image and let Twitter resize the image. Check out this page on editing your Twitter profile.
YouTube: That tiny channel icon may be as small as 90 x 90 pixels on a smart phone and as big as 2560 x 1440 pixels on a large TV screen. Best advice again is to start big and work down. YouTube recommends uploading a square 800 x 800 pixel image as JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG. The maximum file size is 1MB which means you can upload a very high resolution image to show up well on a television screen. Here are two pages from Google to give you more information. YouTube Channel Guidelines and Channel Icon Help.
LinkedIn: The best size for your profile photo is between 200 x 200 pixels and 500 x 500 pixels. You can upload a very high resolution image with a maximum file size of 4MB. If your image is over 4000 pixels of height or width, it will not upload. Here is more information on how to add or change your LinkedIn profile photo.
Google+: Google+ is the new kid on the block and a very important kid to take note of. Put your best face forward and you don’t have to be “square” about it. Recommended size is 1080 x 608 pixels. The smallest image allowed is 480 x 270 pixels and the largest is 2120 x 1192 pixels. Check out this page for further details.
Pinterest: The profile picture will be displayed at 165 x 165 pixels. Once again, it’s better to upload a square image of 600 x 600 pixels for a nice display. If you upload a rectangular image, it will be automatically centered, resized and cropped and it will look weird. Put in the work before you upload so that you know exactly what the end result will look like. When you sign up for Pinterest using another social media site, such as Twitter or Facebook, Pinterest will use the profile image associated with that account. You can leave it that way to start with, but you will get more leverage and exposure if you use a brand new image for each social media account. Here is a site to give you some more help.
Gravatar: A gravatar is your personal picture or image that is displayed when you comment or post on your own blog or someone else’s blog. It will also identify you on web forums and emails. While kids and gamers use avatars such as warriors, fairy princesses and cute kittens, it is best to use your actual photo if you want to build a professional brand image. You can upload any size picture you want. Be aware, though, that it will be resized so if you want the most control over its final size, start with a square image. Here is some basic information.
Need more help? Check out the info and help section on each social media site’s Getting Started pages. This business site has some in-depth information for most business social media sites.
10 image providers that can be used for LinkedIn
If you are an avid LinkedIn user there may be times when you want to post or upgrade while on the go. Here are ten sites that LinkedIn accepts for bringing in tweets, photos and videos.
1. 23hq – Free to add 30 photos a month. $25.00 a year for unlimited. You can send photos to friends by email, post on LinkedIn and other media outlets. Photos can be private or public as you choose.
2. Mead – a photo site in Spanish.
3. Mobypicture – “Directly share your photos, videos and audio with your friends on your favorite social sites: facebook, twitter, flickr, youtube, and more!” This is out of the Netherlands. The terms of agreement allow them to use collected information to market to you.
4. ow.ly – http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url – a part of HootSuite
5. HootSuite – Message management. “Improve productivity by managing all of your social networks within HootSuite.” Free for up five social media accounts. Upgrades start at $8.99 a month for up to fifty social media accounts.
6. Pikchur – “Upload your photos from your mobile device while on the go, we’ll make sure they get to the right place! WE’RE SOCIAL.” Free service – you can sign up with existing Facebook, Twitter, etc., accounts.
7. Tinypic – “A quick, easy, reliable, and safe way to share images for Twitter.”
8. Twitpic – Share photos and images as they happen on twitter. You can sign up with twitter account.
9. TwitrPix http://twitrpix.com/ – “TwitrPix gives you, your friends, family and co-workers the ability to upload and post photos on Twitter using your mobile phone, desktop web browser or by email. Along with a photo of your choice, you can include a message that will get Tweeted with it.”
10. Twitter – “Social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface.”
3 free press release sites
While you will have greater results if you send a targeted news release to a specific journalist, there are times when sending press releases out to the masses is not a bad idea. The chances of getting results are much slimmer, but if your release is timely and powerful, it might get picked up by media that you would never have contacted.
In many instances, it might be smart to do both types of news releases. Make sure that each release is different enough in content and focus so that your ideal targeted journalist will not feel like they are getting a mass letter. After all, if you go to the trouble of finding a journalist, connecting with them and writing the release to fit their coverage, then you want to build an ongoing relationship.
If you are ready to send your release out to the public, here are free press release sites to get started:
1. onlineprnews.com – This is a free and paid release submission service. The free version offers one live URL in the Media Contact area and includes a SEO title and meta tag. The releases are live for ninety days and there is one submission allowed per day. The paid versions range from $22 to $349 and offer many more features. They offer an article, “How to Fix Common Press Release Writing Mistakes,” that is helpful if you are new to writing press releases or want to improve.
2. openpr.com – This site was started in 2004 and is operated out of Germany. At the time of this article, it had published 133,814 releases by 107,118 companies. Since those two numbers are pretty close in range, it tells me that there may not be a lot of repeat business. However, it is a free service and the site does not offer paid news release options.
3. newswiretoday.com – This site has been involved in online advertising since 1998. It offers both free and paid news release campaigns. To sign up, you must have a corporate email and a business-related website. Releases are strictly for business purposes, though if your book is on business topics I am sure that would fit the criteria. The site also maintains http://www.przoom.com/; paid versions start at $99 per release to $249.
To learn about book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.
Christmas Publicity – Don’t knock it!
You may think it’s not ethical to do something “nice” and make money off of it at the same time. But if you had a choice between creating publicity through a nice project and simply creating some publicity, you’d probably choose the nice project every time.
The news is full of media darlings doing anything possible to get a little camera coverage. Instead of yelling and getting drunk or married or divorced in order to get attention, how about doing something nice?
WestJet Airlines created a bit of Christmas cheer with its latest publicity video. The airline asked 100 people on two different flights what they wanted for Christmas as they boarded the plane. Then the WestJet “elves” went into action to buy and wrap the gifts and fliers received them at baggage claim when they landed. The whole video is about six minutes, which is long for an advertisement, but it was more of a “story” than a pitch to buy a ticket on WestJet.
It was a feel-good PR effort that took a lot of money that, as a few Grinches pointed out in the comments, could have been spent on the “real” poor. But it was more than that; tt was fun.
It also related to the audience WestJet wanted to connect with: people who travel.
The Christmas holiday is about gift giving. Although it can become a headache, a hassle and a drain on the pocket book, giving is a high priority in people’s lives this time of year. Non-profit organizations cash in big time on the “giving” spirit. The bell ringers in front of every major shopping outlet are a prime example. Thousands of volunteers sign up for a few hours of bell-ringing in order to make a difference that will last throughout the whole year.
Create a Christmas and holiday promotion that brings joy and happiness to others. If you are going to spend time and money on promoting your book anyway, why not deck it with a little holiday cheer and make a difference.
Setting the proper price point for your book
As an author, you want to receive a fair price for your book. You’ve put in hours of hard work to get to the publication stage, and now that the book is ready, you must figure out the best price point for selling.
There is no hard and fast rule, but a good starting point is to research the prices of similar books on Amazon and in bookstores. Overpricing your book can be disastrous, but underpricing has its downfalls as well. Oftentimes publishers will put a printed price on the book cover, knowing that they plan to offer a discount for most of its selling history.
If you want your book to be sold in bookstores, pricing it too low may discourage bookstores from stocking it. Bookstores are interested in making a profit and if that profit is in pennies and nickels, then they are not going to bother with ordering your book. If your book is priced too high, of course there is the danger of making few sales.
Do you choose fewer sales and more profit or lots of sales and less profit? It’s always a judgment call, but again look at your competition and, unless your book is vastly different, you can use your competition as a benchmark. Look at both highly popular books and moderately successful books.
On Amazon, the lower the book is priced compared to its retail listed price, the better the book will sell. This is because Amazon wants to beat the competition. A book that is listed for the full retail price probably has little or few sales. At the beginning, your book may not have a lot of sales, so you may want to go for the higher price point to bring in more income, if it’s needed. Undercutting a book as a giveaway may not only undervalue its worth but may also create the perception that the book is not worth owning.
If you are working with a publisher, this problem will probably not be a concern of yours. Publishers must know the best price points in order to make a profit, sell a book well and ultimately stay in business. You can rest assured that they are constantly studying the fluctuating book markets and adjusting prices in order to compete wisely.
10 Reasons why I am going to write today
Remember the freelance writer who shared 10 reasons why she didn’t want to write. Well, surprisingly she has had a change of heart after settling down and meeting her latest deadline, and she has shared this list.
10 reasons why I am going to write today:
1. Surprise! I like to write. I really do. Once I get started, everything else fades around me and I lose myself in my writing. Don’t disturb me — I’m writing!
2. My writing is improving. It is not happening overnight, but when I compare how I write today with how I wrote last year, I see a big improvement. In fact, when I use the “Spelling and Grammar” check on Word, it doesn’t find nearly as many mistakes as it used to. Apparently that little checker has been teaching me along the way.
3. I’m staying more connected with my friends. I have a blog and when I write posts, I get comments and feedback that is very positive.
4. Writing gives me an excuse to research topics that I am interested in. I am learning so many things simply because I have to write something new and interesting all the time. It’s like a game. What shall I write about next?
5. The more I write and put it out on the Internet, the more I am building exposure. It is amazing. I search for my name on Google and it shows up!
6. Remember I said I hated deadlines? Truthfully, deadlines are the only way I get things done. I need deadlines. I may not love them when I get behind, but I accomplish so much more with them than without.
7. Writing helps to clarify my thinking. It doesn’t have to be self-reflective journaling. Even writing articles, blog posts and another chapter for my next book is a way to connect with my inner self.
8. Writing is making me an expert; at least it is making me more of an expert. Thinking, researching, reading, sharing and getting feedback work together to expand and enrich what I am doing in my field. In just a year’s time, I am more solid than ever in what I write about.
9. I have greater confidence in my ability to write well. I am no longer afraid to write about subjects that once seemed out of my reach. I may not be the best writer out there, but I’m a far cry from the worst one. And I can improve by writing and writing and writing.
10. My goals seem more attainable than ever. Writing is such a great way to move forward in almost any field I want to excel in. I am glad that I am a writer and I am going to write today and tomorrow and the day after that.
At Wheatmark, we believe in helping authors with every step of the writing and publishing process. Whether your new book is is in the beginning or final stages, tell us about it.