What should be in your digital toolkit for the business of being an author? Google Suite for your email. Do you wonder why your emails don’t get a reply? It may be they were never delivered. If your account is with AOL, Hotmail, or Yahoo, there is a strong likelihood if you send someone you don’t already have a connection with they will never receive it. And while it is neat to have an email address tied to your website domain, if your webhosting company is one of the bigger ones, it’s likely they also host spammers and scammers which means your address may be blacklisted without you knowing it. In this era when email security is the order of the day, the account of your recipient may filter your email straight to the spam folder. Even with a free Gmail account there is a good chance it won’t be delivered. For professional and business email, I recommend the Google Suite which is $5/month. WordPress for your website and blog. I strongly recommend WordPress.org because it is open source code, can be installed easily with one click on most webhosting platforms, and works best for blogging if you want your work to get found. It is not to be confused with WordPress.com, a site that gives you free webhosting, but you’re renting and don’t own your real estate on the internet and they can place their ads on your site. WordPress is used by professional website designers for its versatility…
Facebook is important to your marketing strategy, but don’t use Facebook to sell books. Facebook is an online site that extends your social networks beyond face-to-face interaction. Despite the IPO (initial public offering) of Facebook and many attempts to monetize the site, most users ignore commercial advertising on the site. Don’t think of Facebook as a megaphone to try to sell your books or you’ll… [Read More]
Filed Under: engagement with readers, Facebook, marketing strategy
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Once upon a time, you could make sweeping changes to your privacy settings with a single click of the mouse. Those times are now history – but by knowing all the different aspects of privacy on FB, you can better control who has access to your information on this platform. General Facebook Privacy Settings On the top right-hand corner, past the Open Graph search bar… [Read More]
There was no warning for the average writer when their WordPress Twitter widgets went silent on June 11th, 2013. Suddenly, all their posts and retweets disappeared from their website. Their engagement went haywire as tweets no longer seamlessly streamed into sidebars, and footers, and landing pages. The developers knew what was coming – Twitter was updating their API (Application Programming Interface) from v1 to v1.1…. [Read More]
Facebook is a social media tool that many authors find helpful for connecting with their readers. Having a strategy and an understanding of how Facebook can work for an author is important to seeing any return on your investment of time. Who should use Facebook? You need to consider using Facebook if your target audience uses Facebook. There are 1.11 billion users of Facebook, so… [Read More]
Ithaca, New York is more than just “Gorges.” Luminosity recently released a study deeming Ithaca the smartest city in America based on cognitive training exercises. A thriving, progressive college town, Ithaca is certainly a center for learning and growth. But what else makes it such a hotspot for brain power? Ithaca boasts a community of writers, readers, and researchers; one that makes our small city… [Read More]