My PR Insider “Go To Girl!” – Another Helpful Article By, Marsha Friedman Owner of EMSI Public Relations.

How Can I Supercharge My Social Media Efforts?

Now that is a great question author’s ask me all the time. And it is why I have a page here on my blog for author’s to use to know where to be on social media to promote your books effectively. But Marsha is an expert in this area and so I wanted to have her give us all that advice from a more PR perspective. So let’s get right to it!

Why You Should Use Social Media to Build Your Opt-In Email List!

By now, everyone knows that social media is a key component to any marketing campaign. At least if you’ve been reading these newsletters you do. But aside from the obvious benefits of outreach and awareness, there is something else you can be doing with your social networking campaign that can supercharge all of your efforts: build an opt-in email list.

I know from my own experience that social media marketing has enabled me to increase my email list by thousands, with those on the list continuously receiving my newsletters that carry my advice, my tips, and my message.

My newsletter helps my social media contacts remember me and what I do, not because I am actively selling and promoting myself. Like my social media strategy, I use these pieces to add value to the lives of the people on my list. My formula is simple – if some of you like what you read, when you have the need and the resources and are considering using a PR firm, you might consider my company. And that’s it. What’s more, I know it works, because I’ve used this formula to build a thriving 27-year-old business.

Adding value for my clients is the real reward I have enjoyed by combining my email and social media marketing efforts. So how can you do this? Let me share a few actions that we find are successful.

• Join Targeted Discussions and Post Valuable Content. Within your social networks, stay abreast of trending topics and discussions that your target audience will find relevant. Become part of these discussions using valuable content, making use of trending hashtags when possible to demonstrate your professional expertise and drive people to your website. Take care to make your posts short and interesting. Making the headline a question can encourage responses, or use words that contain phrases like “tips for” or “strategies for.” If your content links back to your website, tease the information that will be available once they click through to encourage better click-through rates.
• Make Sure Your Website is “Opt-in” Friendly. Make sure your opt-in form is prominent throughout your website, with a message telling visitors that when they sign up for your list, they will receive helpful information as opposed to junk mail. You can also include incentives to help encourage people to opt-in. E-books or whitepapers work nicely.

  

• Invite Everyone – But Don’t Pester! On some networks – like Twitter and LinkedIn – you can directly message new followers or connections and invite them to become part of your newsletter. Make these messages short, but friendly and try to maintain a tone that doesn’t seem one-size-fits-all. This can help increase your signup rate significantly. On networks that don’t offer the same level of access, weave signup call-to-actions in your content calendar. Try to limit this activity, and be sure to avoid being overly promotional. Again, ensuring your site is opt-in friendly will allow you to encourage signups just by sending followers to content on your site.
• Be Consistent in Your Social Networking! The key to making points 1 – 3 above really work is to stay active in your networks. If you are only an occasional visitor, you might as well “stay home.” In order to reap the rewards of these strategies, post often and wisely, and pay attention to your group members.

That’s how it all fits together. Social media is not the next big “thing.” It’s now part of the foundation of a good marketing campaign, as intractable as advertising and public relations.

Hope this helps!
Marsha

P.S. If you’d like professional help getting interviews with the media, we’ve been arranging interviews for our clients on radio and TV, and obtaining editorial coverage in newspapers and magazines for more than 26 years. We also offer a comprehensive social media marketing program for select clients, where we do it all for you. If you’re interested in our help, please call us at 727-443-7115 Ext. 231 or  (800) 881-7342 or send me an Email: info@emsincorporated.com We’d love to hear from you!

Please take a visit to my friends and see how they can supercharge your Public Image at EMSI Public Relations Firm!

Author, Catherine Townsend-Lyon

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Guest Article Share~’Beware of These 5 Social Media Mistakes.

Hello and Welcome Readers, Authors, and Writers,

“I always enjoy sharing helpful articles I come across about book promoting and social media. And my dear friend Marsha Friedman from The PR Insider of  EMSI Public Relations always has fantastic tips and advice on how to use social media to our advantage.

I also teach my authors I book promote for just how important social media is to promote their books through. It is about engagement when using social media.
Building a following also builds your readership. Here is what Marsha suggests to us about social media.”

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Don’t Make This 5 Social Media Mistakes

Social media sites have become a powerful way to market your brand, but anyone who follows the news is aware they present pitfalls as well.

Companies end up apologizing over ill-advised tweets. Individuals create controversy with Facebook posts they thought were innocuous – or perhaps knew would be controversial but didn’t anticipate just how controversial.

If you’re like me, you probably have more than enough headaches without adding a social media blunder to the list! So to help you avoid some of the more common mistakes that businesses and individuals make, I asked EMSI’s social media team to chime in.

Here’s how they say many people go astray:

• Treating every platform the same. Social media sites are different and you need to approach them differently. Facebook, for example, is the most consumer-friendly and the first place most people go, whether they want to share photos of their grandchildren or learn what others have to say about their experiences with a business. LinkedIn is better for business and professional purposes. Twitter, with its character limit on messages, is the high-speed, information-now site. It’s a great place to check news updates. You also can get away with posting more often here than you can on other sites.

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• Posting too frequently – or not frequently enough. You want a happy balance here. Some people flood their followers with Facebook posts. It becomes too much of a good thing and your followers’ eyes glaze over as they scroll quickly past your latest post – perhaps thinking, “Oh, no! Not him or her again!” On the other hand, out of sight is out of mind. If you rarely post, then your followers forget about you – and that’s not good either.

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• Failing to use hashtags. When you are on Twitter or Instagram, you are trying to become part of the conversation. The hashtag allows more people to see your contributions to that conversation. For example, if you were on Twitter and tweeted something without a hashtag, only your followers would see it. (Unless, of course, they re-tweeted it to their followers.) But if you use a hashtag, any number of people could end up being exposed to what you have to say.

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• Using poor spelling or incorrect grammar. I don’t want to become the Punctuation Police here, but it’s important to project a professional image. Misspelled words and problems with subject/verb agreement create the opposite effect. That means you need to remember what Mrs. Schubert taught you back in your high school English class. If you are unsure about a word’s spelling or the grammar in a particular sentence, look it up. Your computer can help some here, but don’t let those computerized spelling and grammar checks become a crutch. They don’t catch everything. For example, they will skip right past it if you use “their” when you should have used “there.”

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• Posting offensive or inappropriate material. You can ruin years of goodwill in an instant if your social media sites are used to post something that many people find offensive. You would think that’s easy enough to avoid. But not necessarily. Sometimes it might not be clear to you that a particular post or tweet could strike people the wrong way, so be careful out there. Here’s an example where a careless moment resulted in social media backlash. During this year’s Oscars, Total Beauty, an online publication, tweeted how delighted it was to learn that Oprah Winfrey has tattoos. Just one problem. The woman in the Oscar photo accompanying the tweet was Whoopi Goldberg, not Oprah Winfrey. Critics pounced on the publication, and some mocked the mistake by posting their own tweets mixing up white celebrities. Total Beauty apologized.

Ouch! Yes, there are potential downsides if you’re not careful about what you’re doing. But such blunders aside, social media is a powerhouse marketing tool.

That’s why I maintain that the biggest social media mistake – by far – is not to be on social media at all. Go visit The PR Insider Marsha Friedman Today for more tips!

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About Marsha Friedman
Marsha Friedman launched EMS Incorporated in 1990. Her firm represents corporations and experts in a wide array of fields such as business, health, food, lifestyle, politics, finance, law, sports, and entertainment. She consults individuals and businesses on a daily basis and is frequently asked to speak at conferences about how to harness the power of publicity.

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Have You Listed Your Books On BookDaily.com Yet Authors?

Hello and Welcome Authors and Readers,

 

Now it is not very often that I share many articles from some of my “go to book promo sites” I enjoy sharing with authors and writers. But when I got my email newsletter from BookDaily.com today, I read a great post about holiday gift giving of awesome books. And I myself have posted my clients books with a special message about just this fact. So I thought I would share this fantastic article that has tips and advice on how to boost sales from the holiday season. And you need to start NOW! It is a great time to hire someone to help promote your books.

Or even go do a holiday book promotion ad over at BookDaily. I did a one month book blast and it did increase my sales for that month. You can cancel, stop and restart a book promo there anytime. I hope this article share helps many authors with their holiday book promotions.  And make sure you go join free and get your own newsletter of book promoting tips by BookDaily.com . . .

4 Ways To Boost Book Sales For The Holidays | BookDaily #Authortips
By: Myrlande E Sauveur

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Books make excellent gifts for any occasion. They are very affordable, easy to wrap and make great stuffing stuffers for the holidays. As an author you have to learn how to make the best of the holiday season to boost your book sales. Here are four ways to help you:

1. Be visible: Be where your readers are, be a source of information by becoming an expert in your field, and consistently bring value to them. Be active on social media, create a special holiday blog, offer to be a guest blogger on different blogs, be a guest on a local TV and radio show.

2. Make your book accessible: Having your book available in multiple formats and different channels will help boost your sales and you will never miss a selling opportunity, such as having hard copies for speaking engagements and instant sale; eBook format for worldwide distributions, Kindle for Kindle users, Nook for Nook users. EBooks are always great for last-minute gift.

3. Get your community involved: Many local organizations and businesses give out books to different charities and their employees for the holiday season; make your book be their book of choice by doing the followings:
• Find out which organizations/companies fit your book genre
• Creatively link the theme(s) of your book to their motto and engage in partnership
• Offer special holiday discount for buying in bulk
• Offer to be a special guest at their holiday events

4. Give back: The holiday season is all about giving back and make people smile so what’s the best way to do that than supporting a charitable cause with part of your proceeds?

You can create a “holiday buy for a cause” campaign, autographed copies giveaway, offer autographed copies with free shipping on your website. Give out bookmarks, and/or Free copy with the purchase of three or more. And don’t forget to ask them to recommend your book to their friends, family members and social media networks.

Happy selling and happy holidays.

About the Author:
Myrlande E Sauveur is a multiple award-winning, bestselling author of Daily Spiritual Vitamins and Minerals for Your Soul, a devotional/bible study book. She was 2013-2014 Grand prize winner of 50 Great Writers You Should be Reading contest hosted by the Authors Show, was featured on CNN Ireport. She is a marketing consultant and co-founder of Dorcas Foundation.. . .

 

( Books make great Holiday Gifts for your Readers on your list! )