It can be overwhelming for authors to manage all that's involved in marketing our books. In this article, Eevi Jones shares five easy ways to make the most of your social media branding so that those accounts are doing some of the work for you.

Promoting and marketing ourselves is quite a challenge for most of us authors.

And although it’s so very important, we often don’t have the time, or we simply don’t want to seem too pushy.

That’s why it’s all the more important to take advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves in our everyday lives, but are so often overlooked by most.

In this article, I will show you 5 simple changes you can make today, that can have such a huge impact for you and is such a quick and amazing win. Everyone here can do this within minutes. This is how so many of my clients have found me, my books, and my programs!

1. Your Profile Picture

Try using the same profile image throughout each media channel. That way, potential readers will recognize you more easily, be it on your Amazon author page, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

BONUS TIP: wear something bright or have a bright background. For example, I wear something red in my profile image, while the woman’s profile image on the right shows a bright and bold background. This will allow others to quickly recognize you, even if it’s just a thumbnail-sized image.

Many authors treat their profile image as an afterthought. From now on, try making more conscious decisions when it comes to color choices and images. And once you’ve decided on an image, try to stick with it.

The same holds true for your displayed author name. Be consistent with it throughout all social media channels.

Make it as easy as you possibly can for your followers to find and recognize you.

2. Brand Your Facebook Profile

Now, you may have heard this before, but this one will add a whole new layer to your online presence.

How often have you hovered over someone’s profile picture within Facebook groups to see who they were or to find out more about them? This provides you with an incredible opportunity to show as much information about yourself as you possibly can.

Here are 5 things you can share about yourself and your work on Facebook’s profile:

1. Profile Image:

As already mentioned, try to be as consistent as you possibly can by using the same name and profile image. That will help readers recognize us more easily.

2. Cover Image:

Facebook’s cover image is prime real estate. Use it to your advantage and display things such as your latest book. Also, pay attention that the main content of your cover image displays properly on mobile devices as well, and doesn’t cut off important parts of your image or message.

And don’t forget to add your website’s url, if you have one. Remember, we want to make it as easy as possible for others to learn more about us.

3. Mini Bio:

This one is amazing as this text will show up even if someone looks at your profile on a mobile device, so be sure to make this short snippet of 101 characters count.

Joanna’s mini-bio, for example, currently reads: Author. Entrepreneur. Speaker.

As a well-known influencer, this is perfectly sufficient. Less known authors, on the other hand, may want to consider adding additional information such as the genre they’re writing in, or the title of their latest book.

My mini-bio currently reads: I help aspiring children's book authors with the entire book creation process.

I also added my website URL, for good measure.

4. Featured Image:

This is the featured image of your profile page.

You can set this up by either clicking the little pencil icon located at the top right of this area to “Edit” your featured photos, or by clicking on OPTIONS for an already existing photo, and then selecting MAKE FEATURED PHOTO.

Facebook displays up to 5 featured images. I chose to just show 1, which makes it big and prominent. That’s how many children’s book authors from various Facebook groups have discovered my book. This is so powerful, as it will show up on desktop screens as well as on mobile devices.

5. Clickable Link:

The clickable link can either be to your website, your Amazon author page, your book page (be sure to use a clean link), or your Linktr.ee address, an amazing free tool for optimizing your traffic, which I will cover next.

BONUS TIP: We rarely self-promote ourselves on our private Facebook page, so you may still have a number of friends and family members that don’t know what you’ve been up to of late. So as you’re making these updates, they will automatically show up in your friends’ feed. You might even win a new fan among those that already know you.

3. Linktr.ee Is Your Friend

This is an incredible and absolutely free tool, that comes in very handy, as social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram only display one clickable link.

Linktr.ee allows your one link to house all the content you want to share with followers everywhere you can share a link. And while it was originally created for Instagram use only, it can be shared and used everywhere.

When clicking on my linktree link, you will see this, giving visitors access to 6 different links that I want to share:

So by clicking on my linktr.ee link, people can access my courses, my most recent article features, and other fun things like my quiz. It’s a great tool and absolutely free.

NOTE how my profile picture and my name are the same on every single platform. That will help readers recognize me more easily.

4. Your Instagram Profile

Just like on Facebook, people can see right away who I am and what I do by looking at my Instagram profile.

Instagram allows for fun emojis, so you can show a bit more personality, and showcase what else is important to you.

Remember that Instagram only allows for one clickable link, so this would be the perfect opportunity to make use of your Linktr.ee link.

I also make use of Instagram’s Highlights, and added red highlight covers below my profile. This is something not many make use of, but that is so very effective.

Each highlight holds relevant information to me as both an author and as a publishing strategist. My program highlights, for example, hold information regarding my programs, and the shoutouts highlights showcase a number of testimonials. This would be the perfect place to display some amazing reviews your book has already received.

5. Your Good Old Hashtags

The power of Instagram is in the hashtags. Now, we can go over similar authors’ feeds and see what hashtags they are using, or we can let free online tools do the work for us.

Best-Hashtags.com’s algorithm, for example, calculates the best hashtags for us based on historical data.

Entering #childrensbooks in the search bar, for example, generates these two separate sets, each holding 30 hashtags, the maximum number of hashtags allowed by Instagram.

We can now simply click the copy button, paste the entire set of hashtags into Instagram, and see your engagement rise.

Using the correct hashtags, your posts will get more likes and more views. Just be sure to update your lists every so often by searching for topics and terms relevant to your writings.

Conclusion

You can apply many of these simple changes to other social media platforms that you’re planning to use in your marketing strategy.

Make the most of the virtual real estate you’ve been provided with and make it as easy as possible for people to:

1. See what you do; and
2. See where they can get what you have to offer

Now, of course, you don’t have to be present on every single social media platform out there. But it is my hope that after having read this article, you’re more conscious about your choices and realize that there are so many daily opportunities where we can share our work.

I would love to hear any other little ninja hacks you may know of to make the most out of your social media presence. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Happy optimizing!

Do your social media accounts reflect a consistent author brand? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Eevi Jones is the author of the multi-award winning and bestselling book How To Self-Publish A Children’s Book, and the founder of Children’s Book University, where she teaches loving moms, dads, grandparents, and teachers how to write and publish their own magical story.

She’s been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, Scary Mommy, EOFire, Kindlepreneur, Your First 10K Readers, and many more. She can be found online at EeviJones.com.

(All images in the body of the post are owned by Eevi Jones and can be used for this article.)

Online marketing is a big part of every author's focus, but we shouldn't forget about the value of meeting readers in person. In this article, C. Penticoff offers four types of giveaways for conferences and other in-person events that will expand your reader base and connect you with those in the book industry.

One of the first things every entrepreneur does after launching their business is to order business cards.

This seems logical, especially since it’s an affordable and professional way to distribute a physical piece of content providing all the ways to find and contact you.

You may have already done this, or you may be thinking about ordering some business cards. But, let me ask you this…

What’s one of the first things you do when you’re handed a business card?

It’s probably thrown away, stuck in a wallet, or tossed into the bottomless pit you call your purse… never to be seen again.

Even though business cards are a very affordable option, what’s the point in spending even a penny for something that is hardly ever effective?

If you’re an author, it seems business cards are even less effective if you’re handing these out to readers. Readers aren’t as interested in contacting you as they are in simply doing what they love to do–read your books!

There’s no doubt having something physical to hand out to readers and other professionals in your industry is beneficial, but let’s make sure every dime spent on your business drives your brand further up the ladder.

So, what can you hand out that will drive your business forward, instead of something that will end up in the trash?

1. Books

One great idea for an author is to hand out a book rather than a business card. Books will cost quite a bit more to hand out, but there is no doubt this can be an effective strategy.

The reader will read your book, and because they’ve met you in person, they are more likely to spread the word about your book and become a serial reader.

Be sure your back or front book matter lists ways they can subscribe to your mailing list. Inserting a separate sheet of paper into the book with that information is a great way to engage your reader, and including a bookmark with that information is ideal!

It’s important to note when you hand out a book to someone you make sure they know right away what is in it for them. When you hand a book to someone and you say something like, “Here is my book you can have for free” — that statement makes the free copy about the writer.

When you say something along the lines of, “Do you want to learn how to double your income as an author?” it makes the statement about the reader.

For my genre, I would say something like, “Do you want to get lost in a magical and enchanting world?” You can come up with a phrase that would best fit your book.

2. Bookmarks

If handing out a book is out of your budget, then handing out bookmarks is a fantastic alternative! What’s great about handing out bookmarks is it will have the useful information a business card would, but it’s something the reader can actually use!

You might be wondering where you can go to get a bookmark design. A Novel Connection creates custom bookmark designs for only $25. After you get your design, head to a website, such as 48 Hour Print or Vista Print to purchase your bookmarks. You can easily get 500 bookmarks printed for less than $80.

Psst…Bookmarks are also great for giveaways on social media or your website!

Your bookmark design should include on the front:

• Your name/logo
• Your social media handles and website
• Eye-catching colors and graphics that matches your brand (Have your designer help you with this)

Your bookmark on the back should include:

• An easy-to-read link that drives your reader to your mailing list, as email marketing is arguably the best way to reach your readers directly.

Bonus Tip: My mailing list subscription link is ridiculous in length, which is not ideal for a physical item. Therefore, I created a page on my website that includes my mailing list form that is easy to read: cpenticoff.com/subscribe. That is easy to read and easy to type into a computer.

Your goal should always be to get readers to your mailing list. For example, I offer my mailing list subscribers a free fantasy book every Friday that I hunt down on Amazon; in addition, I offer free writing tips to writers who opt into that feature.

Read The Creative Penn’s post on How to Build Your Email List for a better grasp on email marketing.

3. Business Cards

If books and bookmarks are out of your budget, then business cards are a good option if you do it effectively.

When you design your business card, consider ordering double-sided cards, allowing you to get everything you need on the card without it looking jammed into a tiny space.

What to include on the front:

• Your logo (Or just your name if you do not have a logo designed yet)
• Your tagline

Bonus Tip: Your tag line is a one sentence phrase that sums you up as an author.
Examples:

• Western Romance Writer
• New York Times Best-Selling Author
• Award-Winning Fantasy Author
• Teaching Writers How to Build Their Brand

What to include on the back:

• Contact information: email address and/or phone number
• Website
• Social media handles
• Easy-to-read mailing list subscription link

Remember, the mailing list is the money maker, so the best way to use a business card (or any physical item like this) is to include this link and what is in it for them when they subscribe.

4. Ebooks

It is beneficial to have something physical to offer readers and other professionals, but if books, bookmarks, and business cards are out of your financial reach, then you can always give away an ebook, which will be of no cost to you.

This may not be a physical item that readers can hold in their hands, but it sure beats nothing, right?

Make sure you have their explicit permission and then send them the file to your ebook. In the email, be sure to ask them if they want to subscribe to your mailing list, and what’s in it for them when they do, then provide a link where they can easily subscribe.

[Note from Joanna: BookFunnel also offers Instant Book Giving for ebooks as part of their service features.]

What happens if a business professional asks you for your business card?

At this moment, you would offer them whatever physical item you have to give away.

But, do you stop there?

Oh, no! You’re far too savvy of an entrepreneur to leave it at that.

You ask them for their business card and you contact them. There is a very good and strategic reason behind this. When a business professional asks you for your contact information, there is a great chance you will never actually hear from them.

This is especially true if you met them at an event where they also met dozens or even hundreds of other authors or professionals in your industry and/or they are a well-known figure in the industry who is very busy.

After you obtain their business card, give it a few days (I mean, you don’t want to seem desperate), then email (or call) and remind them who you are, what you discussed, and why they were interested in contacting you in the first place. This maximizes your chances of the professional following through in whatever was discussed.

What do you give away at conferences and other in-person events to connect with readers and others in the book industry? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

To find more useful writing and entrepreneur resources from C. Penticoff, head to her website, and be sure to subscribe to her mailing list for a free fantasy book every Friday. For authors, check the “writer” box to receive writing tips.

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We all want to sell more books, and in this episode, Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur gives some actionable tips on how to use keywords for better book marketing.

In the intro, I discuss how audiobooks are becoming the dominant format for reading in Sweden and why the subscription model is on the rise. [The New Publishing Standard.] Plus, why audiobooks will be boosted by Amazon's new Echo Input [The Verge], Echo Auto [The Verge], and the Audible app on the latest Apple watch. [The Digital Reader]

Today's show is sponsored by IngramSpark, who I use to print and distribute my print-on-demand books to 39,000 retailers including independent bookstores, schools and universities, libraries and more. It's your content – do more with it through IngramSpark.com.

Dave Chesson writes books under multiple pen names and is best known in the Indie author community for creating KDP Rocket and also for his useful blog and podcast at Kindlepreneur.com.

You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

• The deeply personal reason Dave created Kindlepreneur

• The differences between finding keywords for fiction and non-fiction

• Steps to take to find words your potential audience will be searching for on Amazon

• The four content areas of fiction to look at to find keywords

• The difference between broad and specific keywords. We discuss Keywords Gone Wild article on The Book Designer.

• How to breathe life back into a book that hasn’t been selling

• Dave’s thoughts on format (ebook, audiobook etc.) and keywords

• Using your 7 keywords to create a list of thousands for AMS ads. Plus, click here for Dave's FREE Amazon Ad Training Course

• Ideas for blog content that will draw in readers and other writers in your genre

You can find Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur.com and on Twitter @DaveChesson

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