My Friends At TCK Publishing Helps Authors Be Amazing Writers With These Tips and Advice . . .

January 30, 2019 Catherine Lyon Author/Writer A Writer's Thoughts, Featured Guest, News Around The Web, Posts, Updates and More, Writing Tips Authors, be a better writer, drafts, featured geust post, outlines, publish, tck publishing, Writers Tips, Writing

Welcome Friends, Writers, and Authors,

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Today I have a featured guest article from my friend Tom Corson-Knowles, CEO of TCK Publishing who shares some amazing advice and tips on becoming a more seasoned writer. I enjoy visiting his helpful website as he shares so much it keeps me coming back often and learning more about writing, authoring, selling my books and I can pass it on book marketing tips to all my author friends and clients.

Authors, make sure you check out his upcoming 2019 “TCK Publishing Readers Choice Awards” and enter your book! There are fabulous prizes and it helps get more exposure to your book! So let’s all learn some tips on becoming Better Writers! …

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“Writing professionally is a full-time job with part-time hours and never-ending responsibilities.”
Most professional writers don’t actually spend 8 hours writing each day, but that doesn’t mean they’re not working.

If you want to become a more productive writer, you have to learn to manage your work, your life, and your mental and physical wellbeing. You can’t sustain high levels of creativity and productivity as a writer without working on yourself.

Here are the 10 things that helped me become a more productive writer, and I hope these tips help you too.

1. Schedule Your Work

You have to make time in your schedule for writing, marketing, and business time.

Don’t let a day go by without writing and working on your career. Even if it’s just 15 minutes here and there it adds up. The work habits you build will determine your success or failure.

Every day you skip your writing work, you bring yourself closer and closer to failure, anxiety, stress, and the really bad habit of procrastination that dooms far too many writers’ promising careers.

2. Study

Learn everything you can about writing, publishing, and marketing. Ignorance is not bliss. It will ruin your dreams.

Check out the best books on writing.

Learn how to improve your readability.

Understand how to do market research for writing and learn more about your customers and readers.

Every day, study so you can learn a little bit more about the incredible art of writing.

3. Make Mistakes

You’ll learn more from your mistakes than just about anything else.

Be bold. Get rejected. Publish crappy articles and books (at first).

You learn as you go and you have to be willing to fail or you’ll never learn what you need to learn to succeed.

The only difference between you and the most successful writers in the world is they’ve made more mistakes than you have. Learn from your mistakes and keep going.

4. Get Rid of Bad Habits

To become a successful writer, I had to get rid of my addiction to video games, binge-watching TV series and complaining. I also had to develop new habits like working out, taking walks, meditating, and asking for help. I had to ask hundreds of people for help along the way. I never could have done it alone.

Bad habits and addictions will destroy your creative output. You need every extra hour you can get to take care of yourself and focus on your writing career.

If you waste that time on bad habits, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot.

5. Build Relationships

Meet other writers and creative people with big ambitions and good work habits. Just being around people who published 1, 2, or more books since you started yours will motivate the heck out of you.

You’ll see that other people are succeeding and you’ll be inspired to work extra hard to make your dreams come true.

6. Ignore the Noise

Don’t waste time with complainers, energy vampires, or depressed people. Their energy will infect you. It’s nearly impossible to create while depressed or stressed.

If you find something or someone in your life is distracting you from being productive, happy, and fulfilled, deal with it now! Putting it off will only make you feel more stressed, anxious, and depressed. And if that’s how you feel day after day after day, chances are you’ll never become a highly productive writer.

7. Manage Your Emotions

Writing is painful as hell. You will feel miserable sometimes. You’ll be scared, angry, hurt, feel emotions you haven’t felt or haven’t wanted to feel for years. It’ll open up parts of yourself you never imagined we’re there. Embrace it. Get help. See a therapist. Talk about your feelings and problems.

8. Take Care of Yourself

You are your biggest obstacle to success. You have to learn to work harder on improving yourself than you do at your writing career.

When you work on improving your life, even if it’s just a little bit, it’ll help you become more creative and productive.

Take that walk around the block. Eat healthier. Meditate. Get rid of bad relationships. Make your relationships better. Reduce your stress.

Small things may not seem that important but they can make all the difference in the world over your lifetime. Creating is hard enough without adding 10 more problems to your life.

Solve the little problems and becoming a more productive creator will be a lot easier.

9. Add Value Always

Focus on adding value not making money.

Your readers need your help. Your job is to help them, no matter what kind of books you write. Your story and the message could change their life. It’s your job to do the best you can possibly do to help your reader. Nothing else is as important to your career as helping your readers.

When you have a big decision to make about the direction of your work, the title for your book, or any other creative decision, ask yourself:

“What’s best for my reader?”

Whatever the answer is, it’s almost always the right choice. Do what’s best for your reader. Add value to their lives. If you do that well enough, everything else will work out.

10. Experiment

If what you’ve been doing hasn’t been working, it’s up to you to change it. Do something different. Try new things. Experiment. Play like a kid. You are smart enough to figure it out if you really want to become a successful and productive writer.

Believe in yourself, believing in your dreams, and believe in your work.

You can do it if you’re willing to do the right thing day after day after day.

That’s how you build a successful life and a successful writing career.
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If you liked this post, please visit my friends from TCK Publishing as below are some other articles you might love:

All About The HOW’S To Use Book Bub Partner Book Ads. Authors, Are You Listed Yet on Book Bub? Great Place For Readers Too!

January 26, 2019January 26, 2019 Catherine Lyon Author/Writer Book Promotion Tips For Authors, Featured Guest, Marketing and More, News Around The Web, Posts, Updates and More All About Book Bub Ads, Book Ads, Book Bub Author Profile, Budget Advertising, How To, Marketing

Now we know how difficult it is to promote and market our books to the right “niche” of genres and target who our book readership is. I know, as I do it for a job! Lol. One way is to place yourself on as many book sites that have and target readers of all genres as possible. Next, keep a couple book ads running on some different book sites like here on Book Bub For Authors.

Authors can set themselves a nice author profile with photo, bio, and more. Then you can list your books. Now there are two ways you can advertise your books to Book Bub’s large readership. You can apply and submit your book for a “Featured Deal,” but sadly, they only chose 20% out of 100% of new books submitted. But, below, is an article that walks you through the HOW’s on how to use their other book advertising through their Book Bub Partner Ad network from your author dashboard. Now many are not as computer savvy or know how to do or set “Budget Ads.”

So I found this Exceptional Article on Book Bub’s Blog written by Carlyn Robertson who works in product marketing on BookBub’s Partners Team, where she ensures all authors & publishers know how to use all BookBub’s tools to achieve their marketing goals. She writes content for the partners’ blog & website, speaks at conferences, & conducts market research. So make sure you follow her on Twitter at @CarlynAtBookBub.

Here is what she shares about how to effectively use Boob Bub Partner Book Ads!

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How an Author Doubled First-in-Series Sales Using BookBub Ads

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Many partners use BookBub Ads to continuously promote first-in-series books. Because you can run ads on an ongoing basis, you can introduce a consistent stream of new readers to book #1 and drive sales for the whole series.

Eva Pohler doubled daily sales for her $3.99 first-in-series supernatural suspense by running a continuous BookBub Ads campaign. She increased sales across different retailers and regions, and over the past month, her campaign has been ROI positive. Here’s how she did it!

Campaign Goals

Eva’s primary goal for this ad campaign was to drive sales of book #1 in her Mystery House series in the lead-up to the launch of book #3.

My goal for this campaign was increased sales. I began the campaign for Secrets of the Greek Revival a month before the release of the third book in the series, French Quarter Clues, with the hope of prepping new readers for the third book. I immediately saw an increase in sales of book #1 and #2, and I believe my release was positively affected by both the ad campaign for book #1 and a Featured New Release for French Quarter Clues.

Campaign Execution

Creative

Eva designed her ad image using tips she’d seen on our Partners Blog.

My mistake in past graphics was trying to fit a one-line synopsis, which cluttered the visual. I learned from a Partners Blog post that I could help readers know what the book was about with images rather than cluttered text. I also used to make the book cover the most prominent part of the ad — taking up at least half of the graphic. After viewing images in the blog post, I learned that the book cover could be made smaller so that a line of text could fit along the top or bottom of the ad, making the ad look more cohesive.

Targeting

Eva ran a number of tests before settling on an ad that targeted her own fans on BookBub plus the fans of 20 similar authors. She included links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, and Google Play in all worldwide regions where each retailer is available.

I tried targeting just genres, just authors, and both genres and authors. I found the ads that targeted only authors performed the best. I’ve also found that my ads don’t always start off with a bang. They take time to perform well. I think this may be because the ad needs to be seen once or twice before a person will finally click on it.

BookBub makes it easier than Facebook to target specific authors, because many of the authors I use are not available as targets on Facebook. I chose the authors by looking at the top sellers (on Amazon) in the genre of whatever book I’m marketing.

Budget and Bid

Eva set up a continuous campaign with a daily budget of $10. She chose CPC bidding and set her bid above the average range we display to ensure that her ad would be competitive in the auction.

When deciding on a budget, I consider things like the length of the series, the sell-through rate, the price of the first book, the effect on rank, my overall marketing budget, and my return on investment. The third book in the series just released, and as the length of the series increases, I hope to increase the ad spend depending on the sell-through of the later books.

I chose to pay per click rather than per thousand impressions because the former gives me valuable feedback about which readers are responding to my ad. For example, most of the people clicking on Secrets of the Greek Revival are Barnes and Noble readers or readers from Canada (at both Amazon and Kobo), whereas most of the people clicking on my ad for another book, a YA paranormal, are US Kobo readers.

I chose a $2 CPC bid because I want to win the best bids, and I rarely end up actually spending that much per click. My average cost per click is more like $0.66. While that may seem high to authors used to paying less per click on Facebook ads, BookBub leads are much ‘warmer’ because your targets are already wanting to find books. I think it’s reasonable to have to pay more per click for warmer leads. And, ultimately, the ROI is what matters more than anything. I make more on the ad per day than I spend. As long as that continues, I will keep running the ad.

Campaign Results

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When analyzing her results, Eva was primarily focused on comparing the cost of the ad to the sales she could credit to it. Since she wants to drive sales for the whole series, she has links to purchase book #2 in the back matter of book #1 and calculates her ad’s profitability based on the total series sales (not just book #1 sales!). Eva estimated her series sell-through by dividing book #2 sales by book #1 sales within a given time frame and multiplying by 100 — 22% of the readers who purchase book #1 in the Mystery House series go on to buy book #2.

BookBub Ads increased the sales of Secrets of The Greek Revival from two or three a day to five or six a day (sometimes more). Although the CTR is important, I’m mostly concerned with this: how much am I spending per day versus how much am I making per day (on sales that can be attributed to a given ad).

I’m able to measure the effects of my BookBub Ads on my sales because they are the only marketing I do for readers who use retailers other than Amazon. I’m investing more time and money in BookBub Ads because I feel that the people seeing these ads are looking for books, which isn’t always true with Amazon and Facebook. I use Amazon ads and Facebook ads to target Kindle users, but I’ve found BookBub Ads to be better than Facebook at targeting Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and Google Play readers. I can also see an increase in Kindle sales with my BookBub Ads, but it’s just more difficult to measure.

Tip: Use our bidding calculator to determine your own series sell-through and calculate how much you can afford to spend on ads for the first book in your series!

I’m investing more time and money in BookBub Ads because I feel that the people seeing these ads are looking for books, which isn’t always true with Amazon and Facebook.” @EvaPohler #pubtip CLICK TO TWEET

Takeaways

Eva has also run ads for her first-in-series books in other genres and has gleaned some interesting insights about the impact of genre, price, and platform on her ad performance by comparing the results of her campaigns:

B&N sales have increased the most with this ad for Secrets of The Greek Revival. When I compare the results to an ad I have for a YA paranormal novel called Vampire Addiction, also priced at $3.99, I find that Kobo readers are responding really well to that one. The CTR at Kobo for that book has been close to 5%.

The Gatekeeper’s Sons, the first in my longest YA series based on Greek mythology, has given me the most grief. I’ve been experimenting with pricing after it was permafree for five years. Because Secrets of the Greek Revival did so well at $3.99 with BookBub Ads, I tried to do the same with The Gatekeeper’s Sons. However, it did not sell well at $3.99. I recently changed it back to free, and now that ad is doing really well, especially at Kobo. Even though The Gatekeeper’s Sons is free, I spend $15 per day for that book on BookBub Ads because it’s part of a long series, and I make money on the sell-through to the other books, which is at a rate of 33%.

Want to boost sales for your own series? Create a new ad for book one now!

Want to share this post? Here are some ready-made tweets:
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Click to tweet: See how one author DOUBLED her first-in-series book sales! #writetip #pubtip http://bit.ly/2TjI4Bl

Click to tweet: Fascinating case study for how an author doubled sales for the first book in her series! #publishing #amwriting http://bit.ly/2TjI4Bl

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FREE: The Ultimate Guide to Promoting a Book Launch

Subscribe to the BookBub Partners Blog to get your free flipbook right away. You’ll also get BookBub’s latest book marketing tips and insights delivered to your inbox each week.

Stop By the article page here “Guide to Promoting a Book Ad and Launch.” Just scroll down to the end of the article and download your FREE COPY TODAY and get selling MORE BOOKS!!

CAT

Now Happening …Announcing “Kim Carter Mysteries Book Club Tour” and Openings Abound For Kim To Visit Your Book Clubs In Georgia, New Orleans, and other States Too.

January 24, 2019 Catherine Lyon Author/Writer Author News, Featured Guest, News Around The Web, Posts, Updates and More author showing, book reading, free fun gifts, host this mystery writer, kim carter book club tour, Kim Carter Mysteries, lyon media services, raven south publishing

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Hello, Book Clubs,

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Does your book club enjoy award-winning mysteries?

Would you enjoy a free appearance and reading by a favorite thriller author?

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If you answered yes to either of these questions, then don’t miss out on the opportunity to host Author, Kim Carter when she’s in town. Ms. Carter shows up with lots of fun free gifts, does a special reading from one of her upcoming books, and will sign books upon request.

Kim Carter Mysteries Book Club Tour has begun January 15, 2019, and will be scheduled as bookings come in. Appearances will be booked on a first come, first serve basis. She will do a special Sneak Peek reading of her new working title of “Murder On The Bayou” to release in a few months.

To learn more about Ms. Carter and all six published titles, visit on her Official Author website today! So, don’t miss out because Kim’s calendar is filling up quickly for Georgia and New Orleans areas!

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Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing and outdoor

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR ~ KIM CARTER

Kim Carter is an Atlanta, GA, award-winning author of suspense, mystery and thriller novels.

She was a finalist for the 2018 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award and a recipient of the 2017 TCK Publishers’ Readers’ Choice Award for her book Murder Among The Tombstones. This is the first book in her Clara and Iris Mystery series. The characters in this series are a couple of overly curious widows who become private investigators. These funny women were inspired by Kim’s mother and her mom’s best friend.

Her other titles include Sweet Dreams, Baby Belle, When Dawn Never Comes, Deadly Odds, No Second Chances, and her latest, And The Forecast Called For Rain.

Kim’s writing career started after she suffered an illness that made her housebound for a couple of years. An avid reader of mystery novels herself, she embarked on writing as a means of filling her time. She began to share those early writings with friends and family who encouraged her to pursue writing professionally. Her health struggles and successes have been chronicled on The Lifetime Television in early 2000, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Women’s Day Magazine, and Guidepost.

Prior to her illness, Kim worked in many different capacities in county government as her “Day Job,” but ultimately, it was her job as a correctional officer that provided her the opportunities to talk and interact with a diverse group of people. Her experiences ran the gamete of inspiring success stories to tragic endings, much like her mysteries.

She self-published her first book No Second Chances. One of the guest speakers at the launch party she had at the Performing Arts Center in Newnan, Georgia included her close friend retired Atlanta Police Chief Eldrin Bell. This connection would become helpful as she started doing more research for other books, this time working with a small publishing house.

Kim began networking and made connections with numerous homicide detectives, medical examiners, and prison officials. Her research has taken her many places including morgues, death row, and the occasional midnight visit to cemeteries.

Kim is a college graduate of Saint Leo University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She and her husband have three successful grown children and reside just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

Kim’s books can be purchased online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM, and Indie Bound.

If your book club is interested, please contact her publicist, Catherine Lyon at lyonmedia@aol.com or call Catherine at (602-795-6345).

We Sure Hope We Hear from you soon!

Respectfully yours,

Kelly Keylon

President of Raven South Publishing

Lyon Media Services ~ Catherine Lyon

Author, Kim Carter of Kim Carter Mysteries

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HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU – Brand Yourself For 2019! Should Our Brand Be All The Same? Guest Jason From Strong Social Tells Us.

December 31, 2018 Catherine Lyon Author/Writer A Writer's Thoughts, Author News, Featured Guest, Marketing and More, News Around The Web, Posts, Updates and More Authors, Branding and Market Yourself, Business, Featured Guest and Article, Marketing, Meet Jason Strong Social, PR, Tips and Advice, Writers

Happy New Year’s Eve and Welcome All! Brand Yourself in 2019!

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Brand Voice – Should It Remain the Same Across All Social Networks

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How is your brand personality determined?

It is largely determined by the words you use in communication, as well as the kind of sentences you write. Your brand voice reveals whether your brand is corporate, academic, deadpan, grave, serious, witty, funny, clever, and so on.

When defining a company’s brand voice, the problem is that rigid guidelines can stifle you. Your brand’s personality has to appeal to different people in different locations, so like a human personality, it has to retain some elasticity. Like, a central character that can convey a message in different tones. For example, your blog posts may appear enthusiastic and professional, while the promotional copy for your social media shares should probably be less enthusiastic.

Here’s what you should know about ways of using your brand voice across different social networks.

1. Instagram

Instagram is the place for B2B and B2C companies. On this platform, you can drive brand engagement and awareness with positive visuals and copy. Thus, on Instagram, you can use the classic marketing tone.

On Instagram, the line that divides branded content and UGC (user-generated content) is quite blurry. Also, it is more challenging to spot Ads, especially from influencers with undisclosed relationships with brands. When it comes to hashtags, Instagram is quite friendly towards the use of hashtags. According to SproutSocial, about 80% of all users follow at least one brand, while 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram are branded. It means that you should be as clear as possible about what you want your followers to do – click the link in Bio, tag a friend, or swipe up for a free trial if you are running ads.

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2. Facebook

Facebook is an exciting opportunity for any brand being that it’s the most extensive social media network in the world. With 2.27 billion monthly active users, it’s very challenging to stand out and maximize your reach. You need a distinct brand voice and identity.

What makes an effective Facebook copy? It should be accessible, familiar, and slightly informal. Unlike Twitter or Instagram, Facebook’s user group is more intergenerational. That’s why the emotion that dominates the platform is nostalgia. The content that can recall the “golden years” of your readers resonates best, whether you want to reach out to Millennials recalling the 1990s or Baby Boomers.

On the other hand, if you can’t appeal to nostalgic content, you can use particular calls to action, such as – join the debate, develop an opinion, and inform yourself. Have the copy tell your audience that there’s a larger conversation happening without them. Facebook audiences want to be entertained, so hit them with your most potent and most human content.

4. Twitter

Active Twitter copy is quick and witty. There is so much conversation happening so fast that brands often can’t move quickly enough to keep up. It is the platform of instant information, and people there want to know what’s going on this very second. Twitter is no place for old news. That’s why you should use it to experiment with your brand voice because Twitter users appreciate a more daring and experimental voice. If you have any humorous and funny content where you’re trying out some jokes, you should use Twitter as your experimental ground.

If all you’re sharing are dull press releases, people most likely won’t follow you. Better have something funny or something valuable to add to a conversation.

5. LinkedIn

According to Pew Research Center, LinkedIn is mostly used by people in the 30-49 age range. Most of them are college graduates in urban areas. The number of LinkedIn users increased to 500 million between the years 2016 and 2017. Being a professionally-oriented social network, people go there to look for jobs or to offer them, as well as share valuable content. That means that your LinkedIn copy should take the readers straight to the point, without beating around the bush. The competition is a lot less fierce than on Facebook, but you’ll still need to give a fresh and unique angle to your material to attract your audience.

To conclude, your brand voice does have to stay coherent across all social media channels. However, every social network is specific and attracts different people. The best brand voice strategy is to have an inner brand voice, but deliver your messages and engage in slightly different tones that resonate the best on each social network.

So in the coming in NEW YEAR, make sure you Brand Yourself effectively throughout Media and Social Media TOO!

Please visit my friend Jason of StrongSocial for more amazing tips and articles all of 2019! Cat

New Book Launch and Sale From Pacific NW Author, Diane Olsen Titled; RISING WIND: The Thunder Beings

December 20, 2018 Catherine Lyon Author/Writer Author News, Book Award News, Featured Guest, New Book & Author Press Release, News Around The Web, Posts Action Adventure, Award Winning Author, diane olsen launch, Fantasy Suspense, New Book Launch, rising wind

Happy Holidays Readers, Friends, and Visitors,

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Diane Olsen’s second book has now released and Cat is so excited to debut right here on “Cat Lyon’s Reading Den!” I know readers are going to ENJOY this one and as a Celebration of the Release? Diane has put the E-Book on sale for us at just .99 cents for a short time! So grab yourself a copy and Happy Reading!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

“Ancient Ways now Bronze Medal Winner by Illumination Book Awards”

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Author, Diane Olsen, is the prolific writer and award-winning author of her debut book titled; “Ancient Ways: The Roots of Religion.”

Her Ancient Ways is thought-provoking and an informative look at the development and evolution of religion throughout time and a well-considered concept – the idea of a connective thread of monotheistic faith throughout the history from the birth of human creation.

Now comes her new release titled; “RISING WIND: The Thunder Beings” (Book One a Series.) Adapted from an original screenplay Diane wrote several years ago, she has now written it for all her readers to enjoy as an amazing Fiction, Action Adventure, with Super Natural and Mystery elements.

Diane was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado and she now lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the State of Washington. Diane was an Undergrad at Colorado State University Ft. Collins: Pre-vet med, Anthropology, then attended and received her BA and MA at the University of Montana, Missoula: Anthropology, Archaeology, and Paleontology. She was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for two years.

Diane enjoys writing, reading good books, spending time with her grandkids, and loves cooking.

A few of her favorite books are ‘The Book of Certitude (Kitab-i-Iqan), The Upanishads, and The Great Initiates.’

Rising Wind: The Thunder Beings (The Rising Wind Series Book 1)

by Diane Olsen

$0.99 Kindle Edition

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,,, THE NEW BOOK:

An American businessman is assailed by dreams of a Thunderbird who needs his help, despite his strong denial of his native Lakota Heritage.

To make things worse, he is told to find a woman he doesn’t know in a South American jungle to help him solve problems initiated by his former business partner, and aid the Thunder Being in the process.

With help from several Indigenous healers, Secora James and Gideon Yellow Thunder face hardship, sorrow, and death on their path to find out what the Thunderbird needs from them, and what she can give them in return.

Together they find a giant sloth and the source of imminent slavery, abduction, and death on a volcano.

Together they face death to save Wakinyan Tanka, the great Thunderbird and bring greedy assassins to their justice …

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Book Details on Amazon:

Print Length: 247 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publication Date: December 17, 2018
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English ASIN: B07LFXC4R7

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Again, Diane is celebrating her brand new release with E-readers everywhere and has priced her new book for just .99 CENTS through the Holidays! Makes a great last minute gift idea and FREE for Kindle Unlimited readers! Don’t miss this amazing read!

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Brought to you by Lyon Media Services and “Cat’s Lyon’s Reading Den”

Happy 2019 PR Message From My Dear Friend Marsha of News & Experts. New Year and a New Branding For Authors!

December 15, 2018 Catherine Lyon Author/Writer A Writer's Thoughts, Author News, Book Promotion Tips For Authors, Featured Guest, Marketing and More, News Around The Web, Posts Guest PR Article, Marsha Friedman, New Year Branding Makeover, News Experts, PR Advice, Tips

2019 Offers A Fresh Start To Re-Ignite Your Personal Brand – BY Marsha Friedman

It’s that exciting time of year when we look with eager anticipation to the future, plotting out how we can make the coming 365 days even better than the previous ones.

Maybe you want to expand your business. Perhaps you hope to add a few percentage points to your sales goals.

As you set all those wonderful goals for 2019, make sure you don’t neglect to include a few resolutions for continuing to build your personal brand. These days, with the ever-changing media landscape, the opportunities to ramp up your publicity are more plentiful than ever, yet I don’t think people are always aware of that – or realize how to take advantage of those opportunities when they are aware.

For example, nearly all print publications have an online presence that helps them reach a potentially larger audience than when they depended on delivering to homes and newsstands within a limited geographic area. And it’s easier than ever for you to share with others any articles you are quoted in, either by posting links on your website or by making use of social media.

Meanwhile, new online publications continue to pop up, so the digital realm is creating additional print real estate – and additional opportunities for you.
So, as you toast the arrival of the New Year and prepare to take advantage of the digital domain’s publicity possibilities in 2019, here are a few things you should be doing:

Maintain a strong social media presence.
One of your best weapons in the quest for publicity is social media, which can help you make connections both with the media and with your target audience. Jay York, our senior digital marketing strategist, says it’s important to know which platforms are best for what you do. For example, let’s say you are a restaurant owner.

Instagram provides a platform for foodies photographing their meals, as well as an avenue to browse hashtags related to new and interesting cuisines. Facebook offers broad appeal and features such as event creation, which provides additional value to restaurants. If you’re a financial professional, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all are good. LinkedIn is a great place to build your network and authority with higher-end clients.

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Facebook’s ad network provides powerful tools for targeting the right audience. Twitter, like LinkedIn, also provides an opportunity to focus on building authority and networking with other industry and business influencers.

Develop a content-rich website.
Your website, among other things, provides you with a chance to be your own publisher. Are you miffed that no one else will publish your thoughtful op-ed article? Don’t pout! Instead, create a blog, providing those who visit your website valuable information based on your insight in your area of expertise. Update the blog at least every week or two so people will keep coming back to read your newest thoughts and advice for them.

Create a digital-media footprint.
Vow that in 2019 you are going to redouble your efforts to pitch story ideas to the media. Reach out to publications and let them know how their readers would benefit from what you have to say. (Remember your blog? You can share that with journalists as well, giving them an even better taste of the topics you can speak about.)

If you find success reaching top-tier media, great! But don’t neglect the seemingly smaller players, including trade publications and your local small daily and weekly newspapers. The articles that small publications write are sometimes picked up by larger publications, and all of it can be linked to on your website, helping to impress clients and potential clients that you are someone the media turn to when they need a voice of authority.

As you do all these things and the months of 2019 fly by, who knows how one great publicity success might lead to another. We once had a social media strategist who was asked to discuss a topic on a local TV station. The appearance worked out so well that for a while he became a regular on the show.

Those opportunities can build and build, and build some more!

Just maybe, 2019 will be your best year for publicity ever!

Let the fireworks begin!

Marsha!

~Please visit Marsha and her team of PR Experts at “Experts & News Today”
I am taking her Rich Website Advice Into the New Year and expanding from not only Literary services but also Social Media and Media Branding and Promoting Events too on my coming soon new website beginning in JAN 2019 here “Lyon Media Services!”

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