You don’t have to gather 1,000 Twitter followers in one day you know.

Just in case you did not know that.

Sometimes, in one day I only get one Twitter follower. <shock>

And I refuse to let that make me feel bad about myself. There’s no reason. I look at it from another perspective. I just got one more pair of eyeballs on my content than I had yesterday, which is kinda the point. Little victories, little launches, little movements forward.

So here’s how to be fabulous:

1. Do one thing today that you’ve never done before. Comment on a blog, retweet a publishing/writing factoid (@realbrilliant has lots of factoids you can retweet, if you’re not sure where to find such factoids), friend an author on Facebook. That’s it. That’s social media. But don’t get comfortable there. That’s the death of fabulous.

2. Say something outrageous. Like, “if I don’t get cupcakes today, I may not make it.” Or “The Journey medley from Glee’s finale makes my life 150% better.” That’s personality. And if you’re an author, you need some of that. If you just really don’t want to be THAT person saying such things in public, quote some of your best stuff from your book. But if you’re going to play safe, perhaps you’re in the wrong career?

3. Be really nice to your artist. Don’t feel like you’ve just sold your soul to the devil because . . . gasp, you just marketed yourself as a writer. You just did a really fabulous thing. You were just creative. It is part of writing, the creativity of marketing and promotion and branding. Don’t believe me? How do you think writers make money? Go to any bookstore and find your favorite author or a new book you’re dying to read. Stand there and realize that the author of that book was where you are right now at some point. She/he didn’t want to promote either, but they did and as a result, YOU get to read what they created. Think about that.

Any more ideas on how to be fabulous as a writer? And I don’t mean scandalous stuff. We’re almost family-friendly around here. So no naked pictures or drunk book signings. Let’s take this seriously. Comment away.

It’s no longer private any longer: there’s a very cool month-long bootcamp coming soon from Writer’s Digest University and yours truly! If you sign up for my eZine, you’ll get the advance scoop as soon as I can release it to the public, so go to your right, follow the big green arrows and flood my inbox with signups. Go ahead! I dare ya!

How did I get this deal? For one thing, I have a great agent. For another thing, social media is so very cool. And it works. I’m living proof. You just have to believe it and apply it to YOUR writing career or biz.

Oh sure! (I can hear the protests already!) Easy as pie. It’s how to APPLY social media to my career or biz that is the problem!

Here are some quick and dirty tips: (just a smidgen of what I’ll be sharing in my bootcamp; if you want more, sign up!)

First of all, join in. If you’re still on the fence and not on Twitter or blogging or on Facebook or doing anything online, please do one thing. Just one. That’s it. Give it a whole-hearted effort too. Even if you’re just trying to keep up with me, just give it a good, solid shot. (This means doing it for three months at least!)

Second, have a plan. Are you going to post twice a day on Twitter? Then post twice a day on Twitter every single stinking day for three solid months. Only then can you say you’ve actually tried social media.

Third, be prepared to tweak. Traffic runs the online world. If you are getting the eyeballs to your content right off the bat, GREAT! If not, figure out what else you can try (it doesn’t have to be rocket science, just whatever you can try) and go for it (but do someting for three months).

You will learn more from actually being a part of social media than you will ever learn by just reading ABOUT social media.

And then one day you meet someone online (via Twitter or whatever) that loves what you love and they ask, “Hey, do you have a book about this?” and you say (because you ALWAYS SAY YES) “Yes.”

And you then finish well. You get them the book proposal, you follow up. You reply to all your emails (yes, while you are on Twitter twice a day and blogging once a day and updating Facebook several times a day and answering questions on LinkedIn multiple times a day).

Promotion is how the world works. It’s frustrating, I know, but it is necessary. It has to happen. You will not be discovered sitting like a vision at your desk in your house. You will not be found to be a literary genius without sending your work out and letting the world know what you are capable of. To think you CAN do NOTHING and still make it as a writer in 2010 is not in the mind of someone who understands what it takes to be a real writer.

I was told by a wonderful mentor that most of the writing life is being rejected. We’ve got to get used to it. But as soon as we do–as soon as we get over the fact that some people just won’t ever like us, so we’ll promote ourselves to people who just might love what we love as much as we do–we will find our way.

All it took for me? I just got on social media, determined to keep up with everyone else and it worked. I played the game. I took it seriously. I never EVER let myself think “I don’t want to do all this work. It’s too hard.” I kept on. I dug deeper. I refused to listen to the voice of Resistance (which is the one telling you it’s too hard and the one responsible for all your whining about having to actually work). And I’ve got a deal. Hm, maybe all that “hard work” and “wasted promotion” time wasn’t actually anything of the sort. I kept on, I finished well. Duke Ellington said it best: “I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.”

So, what will YOU do today to move your dreams forward? Will you tackle the hard thing you’ve been putting off? Will you face down Resistance with a powerful deterrent: forward action and determination to never give up?

(hint: businesses and brand builders, pay attention)

Twitter can be used for you to communicate with your followers. Did you know it can also be a chance for you to find out what your followers (or anyone else for that matter) are saying about you

Enter TweetBeep. It’s like a Google Alert for your Twitter (and it is effective).

Want to know if people are discussing you? Enter your name, your business name, your product name, your book title, industry key words, your television program, your podcast title, your favorite iPhone app, anything, and you will get notices when folks on Twitter are mentioning those things on an hourly or daily basis. How easy is that?

This is a great way for businesses and brand builders (also platform builders; writers, I’m talking to you!) to keep their ear low to the ground and find out what the buzz is about them. If there is no buzz, get out there and create some! And then use TweetBeep to listen to it.

I just plugged in a few current projects and my goal is to really build some buzz in the next six months. Sure, there’s a trickle of buzz, but I want a whole lot more! Don’t you?

Chris Brogan has a new book out called Trust Agent. I’m working on a book on authenticity. I think the mood of our new media marketing is clear.

If you’re not prepared to be real and to offer your clients an authentic marketing experience, you are crazy.

A book I’ve been reading lately is The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them, which was recommended to me by my sister who is taking a Sandler-certified training class. Incredible stuff.

The premise is that if you’re not authentic from the first contact with your clients (especially if you try to pull one over your prospect), you may as well just stop immediately.

And I love the first six rules, especially:

1. You have to learn to fail, to win.
2. Don’t spill your candy in the lobby.
3. No mutual mystification.
4. A decision not to make a decision is a decision.
5. Never answer an unasked question.
6. Don’t buy back tomorrow the product or service you sold today.

If you are still scratching your head what these six rules exactly are, then go buy the book!

You know it’s all about attitude when you’re creating content, right? If you’re not feeling particularly supported or clear, at ease, organized, dynamic, or confident, I should think your content reflects that.

So, how does one create really authentic content (that reflects who you are rather than how you feel)?

I like to call in the experts for this. A book I’m reading is by Byron Katie and is called Loving What Is. I heard about it from Robert Middleton and his stellar Action Plan Marketing Club (if you’re not a member, why not?). He went through some worksheets he developed from Katie’s book and I must say, I think we entrepreneurs can apply this to just about everything we face on a daily basis.

What am I talking about?

Byron Katie has developed a series of four questions that she says “can change your life.” It sounds hocus-pocus, I know. Bear with me.

It’s Tuesday morning, you spill your coffee, the phone won’t stop ringing and they are either telemarketers or wrong numbers. Just as you get settled into a task and are humming along, something comes along to interrupt you. Sound familiar?

This is me, every single stinking day.

Robert Middleton developed a great audio program (available to Action Plan Marketing Club members) called Getting Unstuck. In it, he discusses marketing (cold calling, networking, speaking) as activities that can get the most intrepid entrepreneur stuck, frozen, and freaked out.

Today, I want you to read Byron Katie’s book and use her principles to help you create better content–for your blog, for your Twitter feed, for your ebooks, for your web copy, articles, books, etc.

1. How do you approach the content creation you do every day? Do you approach it like I do a lot of the time? “I don’t know what to say, I haven’t read enough, my thoughts are so boring, everything’s boring. Life’s boring. I don’t know where to begin. I don’t have time.”

2. Are those feelings you have about it true? Absolutely 100 percent true and you know it? It’s true I don’t know what to say right that second, but if I quiet myself and think a bit, I can find something to say. My thoughts are only boring because my inner critic says so. My inner critic has ADHD, I swear. She’s bored all the time. I don’t have time, true, but I can make time.

3. How do you react when you think that thought? I panic, I think of everyone judging my poor efforts too harshly, and I feel like a failure.

4. Who would you be without the thought? I’d be strong, decisive, sure of my writing, peaceful, receptive to feedback, optimistic that it is good content.

Now you try it.

Top five summer distractions for business owners who must write:

1. Sunshine. This definitely beckons me away from my writing and out of doors. Best way to take advantage of this is to sit outside in the sunshine and write (laptop or Neo or paper and pen). Get yourself another office outside on your back porch.

2. Barbecues. These go on daily during summer in our area. I could sit outside with a fresh coke while hot dogs, burgers, and steak cook on the grill nearby. I can let hours go by provided I have a good spot in the shade and potato chips to munch on.

3. Water (whether in pools or the beach or a meandering stream). Especially up in the mountains where the water runs clear and cool, under the shade of a million trees. Living in the Pacific Northwest, this is easily accomplished. I grew up in Oregon, near several mountain ranges, especially near a specific camp spot where we camped every year. Now, my husband and I enjoy the shadow of Mt. Rainier with its plethora of camping sites.

4. Graham crackers. For me anyway. I can’t resist anything on graham crackers. Cool whip, chocolate frosting, jam, or just plain and dipped in milk. I am on a graham cracker kick this month in July. Can’t resist, can’t stop.

5. Sunrise and sunset. Sure, these happen everyday, but wow are they glorious right now. Hard to resist just watching, let alone getting any writing done. The skies are the most distracting thing during summertime.

What are the most distracting things for you during summer? How do you keep writing in spite of it all?

I’ve got an upcoming trip to Europe for most of May. Thus, this blog has suffered from lack of attention (I’m packing, folks!) and will continue to suffer as I’m traveling through Italy, Albania, the Balkans, Greece.

Right now, I’ve got my book pile down to one: my Kindle. I’m loading up my iPhone and iPod with music and audiobooks and learning to use my new video camera. Plus, I’m packing and repacking.

So, my only tip today? When going on vacation, go on vacation. Leave the blog behind. I’ll be back in a few weeks, and if I’m lucky, I’ll check in with pics and vid to share of my holiday. I won’t be talking blog strategy until June at least.

If you can handle that, please keep checking back!