From the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop - Blogging, Branding, and Social Media, Part 2

As promised last Monday, here are more tips gathered at the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop.  Last week we focused on blogging, this week is on branding and using social media.

I'm going to admit up front that I'm not social media savvy.  I don't Tweet, I'm only slighted LinkedIn, and I started my Facebook page because that's where my kids kept putting the grandkid pictures. Right now, maintaining my blog and visiting/commenting on yours is as far as I go.  So what you're getting here is what I heard from people in the know, passed along to you without any testing or endorsement. 

Of course, if you can add to what's here from your own knowledge and experience, please do.  Including disagreements, if you have any.  We all benefit from a good exchange of ideas.

That said, here are:

14 tips on branding and using social media.

Branding:

Voice lives on the page, brand takes the voice beyond the page.

The most critical part of voice and brand is consistency. Make is easy for people to "get" you.

Keep the same voice from your blog to Facebook to Twitter to whatever.

 

Coin a word or phrase that becomes your verbal logo and use it everywhere you post (this was also mentioned in Part 1).

Using Social Media:

Define your brand, community, objectives, and goals

Build a list.
• Gather contact info (e-mails and such), get sign-ups for a newsletter and/or RSS
• Use this list (judiciously) to ask for help in promoting an event or new release

Survey your community on their social media preferences
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. 

• Ask about schedule – when/how often would they like to hear from you

 

Plan your updates to fit their schedule and likes.

 • Keep these sort of updates conversational (small talk), not promotional.

 • Toss out ideas and see what attracts interest

Schedule your updates in advance and use auto-post features

Use tweets to drive people to your blog and Facebook page. Promote the same blog multiple times with different tweets.

Link everything together - Blog to LinkedIn to Facebook, etc.

When you're re-posting those graphics with your watermarked  link (see Part 1), add a text link as well.  Watermarked links aren't "clickable' and you want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you.  

Add the buttons – Facebook Like, Tweet It, etc. – to all your posts.

SHARE every blog post, guest post, whatever you do

Okay, what do you think?  Do you do any or all of these?  How do they work for you?

Groaner of the Day:  (a little something from Confucius)  Man who runs in front of car gets tired, man who runs behind car gets exhausted.