Yesterday I talked about adding a favicon to your blog and that brought to mind another topic...branding. No, not the calf type of branding, establishing YOUR brand.
I'm not going to re-invent the wheel here, there are many articles on this topic written by more knowledgeable people than I. Here's a few of my favorites:
One of the best articles on the topic is from Jeff Goins, "5 Important Tips for Building a Strong Brand Joanna Penn's "How To Discover and Build Your Author Brand" Michael Hyatt's "7 Ways to Build Your Author Brand Online" AuthorMedia and "Build Your Author Brand in 5 Easy Steps"Okay, I think I've made a good start. I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Goodreads and Amazon. I have my blog and my website. I comment on blogs, I write in various Facebook writing groups, I try to contribute useful information when I can. I think the one thing left to do is start some type of mailing list, maybe a small newsletter. Gulp!
One good thing, I was lucky that the photo I initially used has worked out well. Joanna Penn touched on this, "Try using the same photo across multiple social networks so people recognize you." So, whenever you see this picture, you know it's me!
How do you think you're doing in branding yourself as an author? Got any tips to pass along? Likes or dislikes in what you've seen with other authors?
I think I have all of that... It is these small thinks that send you into a panic and you start reading everything you can find and realise you are already there. xx
ReplyDeleteBranding sounds painful! I've just joined Twitter, that's enough for this year :-)
ReplyDeleteBranding is something I've been working at for years. One of my publishers tried using the rose petals graphic to brand my romantic suspense books (the rose petals at a distance appear to be drops of blood) and they shared the artwork with me. I use that plus my bio picture that is now 5 years old.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing much the same, except I can't carve out the time to be active on so many social networks. I found just having an account and pumping articles I've read into them doesn't mean I'm being "Social". I agree with the photo-consistency. For us, our face (or logo if we dare not use our face) is the equivalent of the Golden Arches for Ford's blue oval. Keep it consistent.
ReplyDeleteWhere I have the biggest problem is that as a non-fic author, I tend to write about a variety of topics; My latest book is on publishing, I have two in the works on gardening and one on woodworking. The target audience for each book is different, therefore my marketing approach needs be different. Essentially I start all over with each new book. (Sigh)
I think you're doing a great job, hang in there, Rosalind.
ReplyDeleteGot some real good articles about Twitter coming up soone!
ReplyDeleteMy photo was a casual one taken over 3 years ago...I'll restage it when it needs updating. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI think commenting on like blogs is one of the best ways to promote yourself. Just include a link to your blog/website/Amazon/whatever page in all your comments. (create a little text file so you can copy paste the HTML each time).
ReplyDeleteIt is tough when you write on a variety of topics...
Excellent tips! And links! I like your author photo. It makes me want to sit down and chat over tea.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing different things as I go along to establish what I write and a consistent image definitely helps. Thanks for the links.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. Sounds good to me...iced or hot tea? LOL!
ReplyDeleteGlad to help a little. It's hard knowing what to do when you're starting out.
ReplyDelete