The 7 Deadly Sins of Online Networking
By Dana Lynn Smith
Online networking is a wonderful way to meet people who share your interests, develop relationships with peers and potential customers, and ultimately increase book sales.
But there's sometimes a fine line between letting your contacts know about your book and being overly promotional. If you're too passive, you may not get much benefit from networking, but if you're too agressive you may turn people off.
Here are seven common mistakes that authors make in online networking, along with tips on how to avoid them:
1. No book information or website links on social network profiles.
I'm amazed at how many authors don't even mention their books on their social profiles, or make it easy for people to find information about the book.
On your Facebook profile, include the name of your book and a link to your book sales page in the little information box located just beneath your photo. You also include a link to your website in the web links section below that, and add more details in the "Bio" section on the "Info" tab of your profile.
On Twitter, be sure to mention your book in the description on your profile page. You only have 160 characters to work with, so if you have several books you could say something like "author of four romantic suspense novels."
On LinkedIn, take full advantage of the "title" field. This space is designed for job titles, but you can use it to showcase your expertise and status as an author. For example: "Parenting expert and author of "Raising Happy Kids in a Crazy World." Your title will appear along with your photo any place that you interact on LinkedIn. Be sure to include a link to your book's sales page and your website in the web links section of your profile.
See this article for tips on choosing the best photo to use on your social networks.
2. Not mentioning your book in your status updates.
It's fine to talk about your book in the status updates that you post on social networks, as long as that's not your main focus and you're not too pushy. Be sure to intersperse your book messages with other types of messages (personal notes, tips, links to helpful resources, thoughts on a new book you just read, etc.)
I recommend that no more than 10% to 20% of your status updates be promotional or self-serving. No one wants to read a constant stream of "buy my book" messages.
One way to talk about your book without seeming too promotional is to discuss your marketing activities. Here are some examples:
• I just received the preliminary cover designs for my new book – what do you think of these?
• Today I'm contacting bookstores about setting up signings for my new novel, BOOKTITLE. It's available at www.booktitle.com.
• I'm so excited! Just received word that my book, BOOKTITLE, has received an award . . .
• I just scheduled a radio interview on KWTX to discuss tips from my book, BOOKTITLE. www.booktitle.com
• Today I launched the redesign of my website for BOOKTITLE – what do you think? www.booktitle.com
And you can always mention events and special promotions:
• If you're in the Seattle area, please join me at 3:0
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