{Answer my 3 questions on transferring a blog to WordPress here (no opt in required!): http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BC32RS8}
I’ve said before on this blog that you should start with social media (as an author) with the lowest barrier to entry (easiest entry point). I am now here to say: start a blog.
You may be freaking out. You may be saying, “Hey, she just reversed and contradicted herself!”
Say what you will, but don’t freak out.
A blog is the lowest barrier entry to social media. Seriously. Consider a blog your new content hub. You only have to post information that your audience wants and that you already know. It isn’t rocket science and it shouldn’t take you hours of your day. It should take time only because you want it to be the best it can possibly be, not because you’re sitting there freaking out in front of your computer that this social media/blogging thing is a waste of time and will anyone even read what you write?
Don’t give away your energy.
Remember, how everyone used to say that email was archaic? That it was outdated, old? Recently, it was said that Generation Y doesn’t even use email. That’s all true.
But, as the Internet grows by leaps and bounds (yes, still), the people just now getting online in a serious way are using email and email alone. Less than half of the new Internet users polled in a 2009 study are on social media. Thus, the way to the majority of your buying audience’s heart . . . at least for now . . . is blogs.
Wait a minute. Did you say blogs or email?
I said blogs.
Blogs can be delivered via email using RSS. Blog posts can be emailed. Ezines are emailed, which direct people to posts on your blog.
Folks have been saying that email is out. Well, it’s back and in a major way. And I’ve heard several people in the past week say (out loud) that they are thinking about ditching their blog and going strictly to email. I think that is a great idea . . . for them . . . but for authors and writers and anyone who is trying to sell books, it’s a mistake.
You’re going to gather interested people to yourself by writing. The best way to get that writing seen (aside from writing your book) is still a blog. You can Tweet out your posts. You can post your blog writing on Facebook. You can spread so much content around, it’ll be like spreading jam on a PB&J sandwich.
Because your blog is your content hub. It’s central intelligence. It’s where everything originates, draws from, points back to, and circulates around. You create a blog, you’ve just begun your journey into social media.
Unless you are really, really good at email newsletters. If you can knock out your own email newsletter that gathers thousands of subscribers without a blog, go for it!
But I’ll go down in history as the one who said: a blog is a content hub. It works, if you’re willing to do the work.
Action Tip: So, you’re going to start a blog? Not sure where to start? Sign up for my biweekly social media strategy eZine (sign up box is up toward the top of the page and to the right of this text) and you’ll get tips and tricks on blogging, including a free ebook, “Author’s Guide to Blogging” coming soon from yours truly.
{ 1 trackback }