5 Ways to Use Video for Promotion

Most writers are shy. They prefer to be behind the computer screen, not on it. (Full disclosure: I am not one of those people.)

Video is, however, one of the best ways to promote yourself as a writer ... or really as any business professional. You know how important it is to have a picture of yourself on your website so your audience get a sense of who you are? That connection strengthens manifold when that picture comes to life.

Filming is also relatively easy, since most people have a camera - in their mobile phone - at an arm's reach at all times.

Here are 5 simple things you can create on video to promote yourself. And, yes, you can be off-screen for some of them. Even if you are uncomfortable on camera, you can still use videos to stand out in the social media news feed.

1. Create a Book Trailer. There are wonderful online tools, such as Adobe Spark and Animoto, where you can use images and audio to create a video to promote your book. The best thing about these tools is they have templates, so you can upload pics, add text and music, preview, and publish. Then share your trailer on your website or blog, add it to your LinkedIn profile and Amazon author page, and more.

2. Do a Quick Live-Video Stream. Between Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, and Live Streaming on Instagram, you can broadcast whenever and wherever you want on a variety of social networks. Feeling inspired? Jump on-air, share something, and jump off. (I recently recorded a quick live video to promote the fact that my event host planned to live-stream my entire workshop. See tip #4.)

3. Plan a Live Video Event. Create a virtual event, such as a book launch. Then, invite your friends and fans to watch, and interact with them. Ask questions, hold little contests, make it fun. Maybe even read an excerpt from your book. Since live-streaming is no longer solely mobile, you can easily set up your camera, watch for comments, and respond in real-time.

4. Record a Workshop. In January I gave a goal-setting workshop at the LAX Coworking Space. When I arrived, they asked if it was okay to live stream. I was thrilled. Not only could those unable to attend watch live, I now have a great example of my workshop embedded on my speaking page for potential future gigs.

5. Give a Quick Tip or Several. Set an appointment with yourself every week or so to record a few short videos. Offer quick insights or easy tips that showcase your expertise either in your genre or field. If you prefer not to be on camera, showcase images and record voice-over with your tips. This enables you to show people you know your area of expertise through content you create for your blog and social media channels. 

Video may seem scary, but - like writing - it gets easier the more you do it. Plus, it helps you to better connect with your current and potential audience, which is a great thing for any business.

What do you think? Have you promoted yourself via video? What sort of videos did you create? How did it go? Please share your experience in the comments. 

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Debra Eckerling is a writer, editor and project catalyst, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. 

She is author of Write On Blogging: 51 Tips to Create, Write & Promote Your Blog and Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages and host of the Guided Goals Podcast.

Debra is an editor at Social Media Examiner and a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting, and social media.

Advice from Writers at the Glendale Chocolate Affair

Last weekend was the annual Chocolate Affair in Glendale, Arizona. As part of the celebration, romance writers sign books and give classes about various aspects of the craft and business of writing.

I attend the writer's classes whenever I can, and this year I've compiled my favorite tips from the various sessions I attended.

From Mona Hodgson:

Use description only when it serves a purpose in the story. It must advance the plot or make the characters and scene more vivid. If it's distracting from the character and what he or she is doing, cut it.     

From Pamela Tracy:

Be a literal storyteller. Tell people about your novels. When you're telling them the story you're currently working on, watch to see if their eyes light up. If they don't, you might need to change something. If they ask questions, pay attention.

From K.T. Roberts:

If you're writing a crime/police drama, don't be afraid to call your local police station, explain that you're a writer, and ask if there's someone you can talk to. More than likely, you'll find someone happy to tell you about themselves and their job. Don't think you aren't important enough to make the first call.

From Vijaja Schartz:

Don't write linking scenes just to write them. If you do, they'll be boring. Skip all the boring scenes.

Melinda Brasher's next book comes out soon!  Cruising Alaska on a Budget is a guide for people who think cruising is only for the rich and famous, for those who dream of experiencing the majesty of Alaska for the first time, and for confirmed Alaska lovers who want to save money on their next trip.  If this is you, sign up for the mailing list here.  Visit Melinda online at http://www.melindabrasher.com.

The Social Media Marketing Smorgasborg

 

How to Navigate It

By Karen Cioffi

I read a great article by Jeff Bullas and it made me realize that those just entering the online marketing arena, specifically the social media marketing arena, can feel like they’ve been hit by a bulldozer.

There are lots and lots of social networks available for your use whether you’re a marketer, author, or writer. The most popular ones include:

•    Facebook
•    LinkedIn
•   Twitter
•    Pinterest
•    Instagram
•   YouTube
•   Snapchat


This is not a complete list and keep in mind that you don’t’ have to use them all. In fact, that would be a mistake.

So, how do you navigate the social network smorgasbord?

1. The first step, and most important, is to decide which networks you should work.

You’ll need to know who your target market is for this one. Research the various networks and determine which sites your audience frequents.

I’ve written about this before, pick around five or six networks to broaden your visibility reach, but choose one or two of those to actually work.

Working a network means to focus on that network. Post to it every day (you should post multiple times a day) and engage with other users.

2. Determine what type of content to use.

In particular, determine what type of information your audience needs to help them move forward in their endeavors.

This step encompasses being helpful to your audience.  Become the person who creates and shares useable content and engaging content.

This will help create trust and conversion (getting the person to take a desired action, say signing up for your mailing list).

3. Put it into action.

Start sharing your content to your chosen networks. And, become active on the one or two networks you will be working.

To be active or work a network, you will:

- Share your own content
- Share the content of others
- Engage with others (reply to messages or shares from others; share the content of other users; start a discussion; post relevant video; and so on)
- Monitor your efforts

4. To ease the social media marketing time element, look into automation.

Automation allows you to preschedule posts and it allows you to have your new blog posts shared automatically, among other features.

The service / tool I use is Buffer.com.

An article over at RazorSocial.com, lists the top tools and their features. It’s worth the read: Social Media Automation.

Choose one that will work for you and that fits your budget – some tools are free.

These four tips should help you ease into social media marketing. 

To read Jeff Bullas’ article on this topic, go to:
5 Key Steps to Mastering the SMM Landscape

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor. 

You can check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! Women on Writing:  https://thewritingworld.com/your-author-platform/

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Two Ways to Format your Manuscript

Properly formatting my MG mystery book loomed in the background during editing. The reckoning day arrived. Thanks to children's author Margot Finke I knew who to call upon: the formatting service at Golden Box Books Publishing Services. Margot sang the praises of Golden Box author Erika M. Szabo, who did the formatting for her young teen fantasy, Daisy and Bartholomew Q. She said, "I couldn't be happier with the results. [Erika] also educated me in the ways of correct formatting." Among Erika's many talents: a multi-genre author, Publishing Coach and illustrator.


I fully intended to contact Erika to help me with my formatting needs but decided to Google the subject: "How to format a fiction book," to see what would happen. I clicked on a tutorial by Jill Williamson, an author for adults, teens, kids, and some for the whole family, which she uploaded onto YouTube. I decided to try it.


By splitting my screen with Jill's tutorial and my ms, I went through the steps she explained by pausing, executing, pausing. It took several views to fully understand how to do it all. The biggest
glitch was doing the page numbering right, which Jill warned is tricky. At the end of the video, she invited viewers to visit her website for a more in-depth description. I found the information under, "for writers: jill's writing and publishing tutorials," and after some trial and error, solved the problem. I am proud of how my ms looks now and feel confident it is correct.


It's been an inspiration to discover both of these terrific authors and their websites, chock full of helpful information for writers.

• Golden Box Books offers help in every aspect of self-publishing. Check it out!
• Check out Jill Williamson's video, "How to Format a Fiction Manuscript," on YouTube, and  Jill's website. You'll be glad you did.

I will call on both of these resources again. The information offered is far-reaching and relevant in today's market. You will find many areas of expertise. My challenge to you? Go for it!
Illustration: https://openclipart.org/detail/121249/puzzle

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, has published over 100 articles for adults and children, and six short stories for children. Recently, she completed Joyce Sweeney's online fiction courses, picture book course and mystery and suspense course. She has currently finished her first book, a mystery/ghost story for 7-11 year-olds, and is in the process of publishing it and moving on to new writing projects. Follow Linda on Facebook.

 

 

For Success, Every Writer Needs to Develop Habits

By W. Terry Whalin

As a writer, do you have habits?  I'm a creature of a series of habits which I've developed over my years in this business. For example, I begin each day spending time reading the Bible. It's a pattern that I've done for many years.

Each year I select a different version of the Bible to read throughout the year. This year I'm reading Eugene Peterson's The Daily Message. It's part of my spiritual habit that feeds into my life as a writer and editor.  Your habit for meditation may be different but I encourage you to have some sort of meditation to begin your day.

Besides spiritual habits, I have habits with Twitter. In past entries, I've detailed how each day I'm using tools (mostly free) to grow my presence in the market and community—and also increase my presence on social media. These habits do not take much time but have consistently grown my presence—so they will be something I will continue in the days ahead.

I have a number of other habits in my life—consistent practices and actions. During the last year, I've stepped up my consumption of books by listening to more audio books through Overdrive. Recently I completed listening to the audio book of The Power of Habit by Charles Dihigg. The book explains the science and practical nature of habits including how we form new habits and replace old ones. I found the stories fascinating and informative. Until listening to this book, I didn't know about the history of the creation of toothpaste and how brushing teeth became a habit. If you want to learn about this important aspect of life, I recommend you track down this book through your library (Overdrive like I did) or purchase a copy and read it, then apply it to your own life.

Another resource on habits that I recently read is Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi. I enjoyed the book and learned a great deal from it. Apart from the book Graziosi has created The Better Life Challenge where in 30 days you can transform your life in as little as three minutes. This resources is FREE and you don't have to read the book—but simply take action every day for 30 days. Just use this link to learn more details and sign up to learn through this tool.

The writing life is much more of a marathon than a sprint.  I often meet writers who believe that one book or one action will propel them to bestseller status. Sadly this belief is a publishing myth.  Repeatedly I hear about writers who are called an “overnight” success because they've suddenly sold a lot of books. Yet when you look into the details, you will normally discover this author has been in the trenches faithfully working for years to achieve such a position.

What skills or habits do you want to develop in the months ahead? Are you taking consistent action to gain the knowledge and insights you need to get there? Tell me about your plans in the comment below and if I can help you, let me know.

Tweetable:

Are you developing writer habits? Check out these resources. (ClickToTweet)
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W. Terry Whalin is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He is the author of more than 60 books including Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets to Speed Your Success. Terry has almost 200,000 twitter followers and lives in Colorado.
 

Think Your Way to Writing Success with Daily Affirmations

"What you think, you become" is attributed to Buddha.

Then there's Mahatma Gandhi's saying:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

Whichever you choose, bottom line is we have control over what we become or accomplish through our thoughts.

Below Jack Canfield shows how to use daily affirmations to change your thought process and achieve success, including writing success.

The Reason You Need to Practice Daily Affirmations

By Jack Canfield

Successful people, from top salespeople and entrepreneurs to bestselling authors and Olympic athletes, have figured out that using willpower to power their success isn’t enough.

You need to let go of any and all negative thoughts and images and bombard your subconscious mind with new thoughts and images that are positive and stated in the present tense.

How do you do this?

The technique you use to do this is called daily affirmations, which is simply a statement that describes a goal in its already completed state.

Two examples of affirmations would be:

I am joyfully walking across the stage as I receive my MBA degree from Wharton.
I am so happy and grateful that I am now crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

In addition to all of the feedback I have received from hundreds of thousands of students from around the world about the effectiveness of their using daily affirmations, there’s now new academic research that shows in high-stress level environments those who do daily affirmations have lower stress levels and more success than those who don’t.

Discover how you can use affirmations to re-create your self-image, replace your limiting beliefs, and achieve success in my Daily Affirmations for Success Guide.

What are Daily Affirmations?

Daily affirmations are to the mind what exercise is to the body.

Repeating daily affirmations helps to reprogram the unconscious mind for success.

It helps eliminate negative and limiting beliefs and transforms your comfort zone from a limited one keeping you trapped in mediocrity to a more expanded one where anything is possible. It helps to replace your “I cant’s” with “I cans,” and your fears and doubts with confidence and certainty.

How Daily Affirmations Keep You Focused

- Daily affirmations are reminders to your unconscious mind to stay focused on your goals and to come up with solutions to challenges and obstacles that might get in the way.

- Daily affirmations also can create higher vibrations of happiness, joy, appreciation, and gratitude that then, through the law of attraction, magnetize people, resources, and opportunities to come to you to help you achieve your goals.

Whether you know it or not, you are always using affirmations… but usually not ones that will bring you what you want.

These are things like:

•    "Everything I eat goes straight to my hips."
•    "I am never going to meet somebody I can love."
•    "I never catch a break."
•    "No matter what I do, I never seem to get ahead." 

How to Create Daily Affirmations

The use of daily positive affirmations interrupts and eventually totally replaces this barrage of negative thoughts and beliefs. To achieve this, you must continually flood your unconscious with thoughts and images of the new reality you wish to create.

I am going to share with you two sets of guidelines for creating powerful daily affirmations that work—the long form and the short form.

Here are the eight guidelines for creating effective daily affirmations. You may want to write these down.  They are also in my book The Success Principles.

1.    Start with the words "I am." These are the two most powerful words in the English language.
2.    Use the present tense.
3.    State it in the positive. Affirm what you want, not what you don’t want.
4.    Keep it brief.
5.    Make it specific.
6.    Include an action word ending with –ing.
7.    Include at least one dynamic emotion or feeling word.
8.    Make affirmations for yourself, not others.

Daily Affirmations Examples

Here’s an example of an affirmation following these guidelines:

I am joyfully driving my new red Porsche Carrera convertible down the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

Or if you are more ecologically minded, you can make that a new Tesla.

You can use the following simple formula: I am so happy and grateful that I am now ... and then fill in the blank.

Some examples would be:

- I am so happy and grateful that I am now earning $150,000 a year.
- I am so happy and grateful that I am now celebrating having achieved my ideal weight of 140 pounds.

One of my most famous affirmations is:

I am enjoying living in my beautiful beachfront villa on the Ka’anapali coast of Maui or somewhere better.

I started writing that affirmation in 1989 and in 2011 – that’s right, 22 years later, I had something better!

Make sure to take 5 to 10 minutes every day to repeat your affirmations – preferably out loud with high energy and enthusiasm.  The best times are early morning and right before you go to bed.

Create New Daily Positive Affirmations for Yourself

Write down 3 affirmations for yourself that affirm you having already achieved 3 of your goals and dreams. Then, write down the time of day that you will commit to practicing your affirmations. Is it when you wake up in the morning? Before you go to sleep? Or mid-day when you need a pick-me-up?

And to hold yourself accountable, go ahead and leave a comment below with your chosen time of day. I’ll follow up with you to make sure you’re staying on track!

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul® and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

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Finding a Critique Group

It is the first month of the New Year and for writers that usually means new projects, new goals, new and better ideas floating around in your head. It also means evaluating what worked last year and what needs to be changed. A renewal of your commitment to becoming more successful as a writer may include finding a critique group for that second eye at your work.

If you don't currently have a critique group you may be wondering if you need one and if you do decide it might be a benefit, how do you find the right one? Here are some tips for helping you figure out if a critique group is right for you and finding the perfect members to make it work.

A critique group should be a benefit to you and in turn you must be a benefit to the others.

1. keep it simple
2. keep the group small
3. develop a trust within the group so that criticisms are not taken personally 
4. don't let it distract you from your real goal of writing

That being said, how do you find your group or as some writers call it, your tribe?

Start with deciding what kind of group you want, online or in person. If you want to be part of an online group you can find your members from writing sites, online classes you have taken, through your current social media writing friends you already know or by asking and being recommended by other writers you are familiar with. Joining writer associations or other membership sites related to your genre can open up many opportunities to find a critique group in your area of interest online.

If an in person group would benefit you more, check with your local library for any local writers that might also be interested. Local papers might also offer articles on other local authors or even list support/critique groups for writers in your community asking for members. 

Keep in mind that a critique group should offer you critical points that advance your story but should not demean you in a personal way. That's where the trust factor comes in. You must always trust that members are not tearing you down to make their writing feel better but are giving points to improve and lead you to more success. You in return must be the same type of critique partner.

What other tips do you have for those seeking a critique group, and any thoughts on how and why a critique group has helped you  can be shared in the comments. Here is to a successful 2017.