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  • Amy Shannon

Social Media: Connections


Any one who uses social media, especially for marketing and self promotion (and you don't need to be an author to do this) can find posting on several sites to be time consuming and exasperating. Well, there are different tools and even some social media sites that link to other social media sites. This can help you write one status, and it will be posted on several sites.

Buffer.com Personally, I only post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (when I feel like it) and Google Plus. I use the tool at buffer.com. It has two types of accounts, a free one and a paid one. The FREE one allows to store up to 10 posts, and I could post these to each connected social media account. (There are limits of post length if you're posting to Twitter, so the post can be short, or you can pick and choose which site you wish to post to).

Social Media Connection

There are also a lot of tools and apps out there that will link to another or even several accounts, but some social media sites already have a built in feature.Facebook allows the user to connect a Facebook account to Twitter. Instagram allows users to connect to other social media sites (up to seven sites, including Facebook and Twitter). YouTube has the sharing option to share videos to different websites, including Facebook and Twitter.

At the bottom of my blog posts, I have social media icons so readers (and myself) can easily share individual posts.

Amazon & GoodReads It may not seem like social media, but I have seen a lot of authors who have books for sale on amazon.com and don't have an amazon author page. You do not have to be an amazon/kindle publishing author to have an author page. Look for amazon central and you can create an author page. (Amazon Central).

If you have a blog, you can connect your blog to your amazon author page. Also, if you're an amazon author, create a Goodreads account. Not everyone likes Goodreads. I find it has good points and not-so-good points, but it does allow for an author profile, and there are simple ways to add your book to the author profile. Goodreads also allows the author to have a Goodreads blog or link their blog posts to their account.

Blogging: If you have something to say, write a blog. Use a personal blog for promotion, build up a mailing list, and just write whatever you want others to know. I have two blogs. One for reviews, and one for promotion. Promotion of myself and other Indie authors.

Websites: Part of social media and self promotion is to have your own website. If you have the money or capability, having your own domain name helps. I personally use wix.com as it has great templates and I can easily edit my websites and blogs, and all my blogs and websites are linked to one wix account. Wix also has a paid feature. I use the free features, which work for me. I have it set up that all of my posts get posted to my facebook page.

Questions: If anyone has any questions or needs help with anything that I've discussed in this post, just send me a note (writeramyshannon@gmail.com). I'd be happy to share tips or give information on how to use different features.

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