It seems like every other day I hear writers talking about building their web presence…
Pontificating on how you’ve got to be on twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Google+, have a website, write a blog, etc., etc., etc.… as the King of Siam would say. And there are all the groups associated with whatever your specialty is. In my case, writer’s websites, forums, and discussions I should join, blogs I should follow, and blogs I should blog on.
Recently, I created a Google+ page and invited a fellow writer to join one of
my“circles,” as Google calls them. This talented woman is on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. She alos keeps up a website and blogs. She is multitalented and has worked hard to create a presence for herself on the web.
Anyway, she received my Google+ invite and immediately wrote back wondering if I had a compelling reason for her to set up an account. As she stated, “It’s time-consuming for me to do Facebook & Twitter & blog etc. etc. So I thought I’d ask why you like this Circles thing & why you think I should join.”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to respond. The truth, it’s a big wild web out there and I’m still learning out to negotiate it. Below are few thoughts and a few questions I thought I’d throw out for your personal pondering. I’d love to hear your thoughts in return. Here goes…
- Like any effort, I accept that starting out, while building my presence, the time and effort will be greater.
- Should I focus on building two or three really good followings–or do I need more?
- Is there a manual out there that can tell me step by step what I need to do to be successful?
- Finally, how much time should I expect to devote to keeping up this social presence as the years go by?
Of course, there are so many other elements that go into this question; such as, what type of return am I looking for: a New York Times bestseller status or something more modest? Let’s keep it simple. What should one person/one artist be doing to develop a reasonably successful web presence / footprint?
What are your thoughts? Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by it all. Are you?
It is a bit overwhelming. Balancing time between writing and promoting said writing.
I just attended a telephone lecture on how writers can benefit from LinkedIn, which I was paying very little attention to. It’s got me convinced that I’m ignoring an important networking resource.
Here is a link to some useful pdfs that Wayne Breitbarth shares from his website. http://www.powerformula.net/free-linkedin-resources.html
And Monday a fellow writer shared this link with me. http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/43339.aspx
I would say Facebook seems more for fans and LinkedIn seems more for colleagues.
Thanks for the links, I will check them out! By the way, I’m on LinkedIn too.
Google+ seems likely to have staying power and I imagine will survive much longer than Twitter. Facebook strikes me as a glorified MySpace. In fact, I prefer to call it SpaceBook. It’s hard for me to be serious about my professional endeavors in an environment someone else’s advertisements are so dominant. Google+ appears to provide a reasonable, professional alternative. We’ll see . . . At least we’re now conscious. http://wp.me/p1ki0r-4v
I agree about Facebook, but then I only use it for personal connections. For that, it’s great.