I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of The Art of Social Media, and would recommend it for newbies and social media junkies alike, though for different reasons. For newbies, this book breaks breaks things down into small, manageable pieces, so even a topic as broad (and potentially overwhelming) a social media can feel totally doable. For more seasoned social media users, I would recommend this book for its overarching ideas: like how to generate good content on a consistent basis, and how to create an integrated social media strategy. As someone who spends a lot of time on social media myself, I found some great actionable tips and ideas that I’ve already implemented into my own social media plan.
In this interview, the authors share some of their best tips about social media. From big picture ideas about content marketing, to the nuts-and-bolts and how-to stuff. But first, if you don’t know who Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick are, let me bring you up to speed.
Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, an online design service, and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple and special advisor to the CEO of the Motorola business unit of Google. His many acclaimed books include The Art of the Start and Enchantment. My personal favorite of his books is APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, which I believe every writer should have on their reference shelf (especially if you plan to self-publish any time in your career).
Peg Fitzpatrick is a social media strategist and popular blogger writing on her own website and across the web. Peg has spearheaded successful social-media campaigns for Motorola, Audi, Google, and Virgin as well as having been a brand ambassador for Kimpton Hotels. The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users is her first book.
Guy and Peg approach social media both from the perspective of experts, who have worked in this industry for a long time, and as authors themselves. They have so many great insights and I’m so glad to share this interview with you.
In today’s podcast we discuss social media for writers, with actionable advice for social media newbies and veterans alike. Here are a few of the highlights.
Social Media for Writers:
- The hard part about being an author is the marketing, not the writing.
- If you want to be an author today you have to build up your social media platform. Traditional publishers can supplement your platform to enhance your marketing, but the foundation you provide for yourself is where you will get most of your sales.
- Different social media platforms are good for different authors. Choose what works for you and become an expert at it.
- Social media is a marketing platform. Don’t bombard people. Don’t be boring, either. Provide great content, curated or created. You earn your right to promote yourself to your audience. Make sure to bring them things they value. Only promote yourself in 1 out of every 20 post.
- Find the platform your people are on, the people who are interested in engaging with you.
Nuts and Bolts Tips:
- Make sure to keep your profiles professional and up-to-date.
- Think like NPR: How are your posts making people’s lives better?
- Use images to get more engagement.
- Always be who you are when you share.
- Don’t engage with the haters. If you must engage, go 3 rounds maximum. After that, let it go.
- You can’t take it back, so be careful what you say.
- If you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. Delete it and move on.
- If succeeding as an author were easy, everyone would do it. There’s no magic bullet, but if you put in the time you will see results.
- People are talking about you and the conversation is happening on social media whether or not you’re there. So be present and be part of the conversation.
“The hard part of being an author is not the writing, it’s the marketing.”
–Guy Kawasaki
Plus, Guy’s and Peg’s #1 reading recommendation for writers:
At the end of the episode, both Peg and Guy share their #1 reading picks for writers. These are great suggestions that I heartily second.
Peg recommends reading APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur – How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch.
Guy suggests If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland.
And of course, check out their book, The Art of Social Media for lots of great tips and techniques.
The Art of Social Media
Learn more about The Art of Social Media on the book’s website. And if you’re interested in connecting with Guy and Peg on social media, here are just a few of the ways you can reach them!
The Art of Social Media website :https://artof.social/
Twitter: @GuyKawasaki & @PegFitzpatrick & #ArtofSocial
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guy & https://www.facebook.com/pegfitzpatrick.author
Instagram: https://instagram.com/guykawasaki & https://instagram.com/pegfitzpatrick
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GuyKawasaki/posts & https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PegFitzpatrick/posts
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/guykawasaki/ & https://www.pinterest.com/pegfitzpatrick/pins/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guykawasaki & https://www.linkedin.com/in/pegfitzpatrick
Blogs: https://holykaw.alltop.com/ & https://pegfitzpatrick.com/
Link to Episode 27
(Right-click to download.)
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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.
