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by Edie Melson  @EdieMelson I know it's just the beginning of November, but the holiday season is just around the season.  I'm not advocating rushing the season, but if we take time to get ready now, it  can cut down on the stress that can come during the holidays.  So now is the perfect time to get your social media ready for the holidays. Update Images The first thing you want to look at your cover photo on the different platforms. Consider ways you could enhance it to give it a warm, holiday feel.  There are several ways to create cover photos for your social media accounts: Canva, PicMonkey and iPiccy are my favorites. Here�s a screencast I shared,  Step-by-Step Instructions for Adding Text to Images  using PicMonkey. The dimensions for cover images vary from network to network so be sure to do some research.  Beyond changing the look of your platforms by changing your images, you�ll need to plan ahead for social media updates. And yes, I'm wo...

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson I love to blog, and I try to share my love of blogging when I teach at writing conferences. I also know that many of you aren�t such fans. Many  try to love blogging because it�s a good way to connect with readers and build an online presence. Others, don�t even try to love it, but do it out of necessity. The rest are like me, and enjoy the process as well as the connections it brings. No matter where you are with blogging, it�s important to do it well. Whether you blog twice a month on a group blog, or daily on your own site, there are some essential dos and don�ts of blogging that I�d like to share today. Blogging is a great way to build relationships with our audience.  But a lot of people forget that, just like building relationship in person, it�s never a good idea to talk so much that others don�t have a chance to share their thoughts.  I often visit blogs where I want to ask the blogger, �Are you blogging or lecturing?� There  ...

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson Social media. Often just the mention of this subject conjures up hours of time. First there�s the time it takes to hang out online, then the time it takes to figure out what to say, who to LIKE and which updates to comment on, share and even retweet. All for what? The chance that someone out there in cyberspace might actually�either now or sometime in the future�buy a book? Or the fact that some editor and/or agent is going to judge the number of friends, followers and likes I have on my social media network? After all�I signed up to be a writer�not a sales person and/or marketer. I�m sure you�re hoping I can either justify your opinion or make a legitimate case to change your mind and show you how easy and how much fun it is. The truth is this:  Social media is hard work. It takes being intentional and keeping your goal in mind. I think most people approach social media with the wrong goal in mind and that leads to frustration. Social media isn�t adverti...

By Edie Melson @EdieMelson When I teach social media, I encourage people to relax and not take on  too much at once. So today I want to back up and start at the very beginning. Because social media can reach millions, it�s way  too easy to think of it as mass marketing. In reality it�s about one-on-one  relationships. That is the beauty and the dichotomy of the medium. It can be overwhelming�this building relationships with millions�especially when our goal is  writing, not advertising. Now the good news: social media is not as  difficult as it seems. It Begins with Community In many ways, it�s a return to small town thinking. In times past, people patronized merchants because the proprietors were their neighbors or  friends. In this day and time, we also find neighbors and friends on Facebook, Twitter and in  blogging communities. And those communities are where we need to  concentrate our efforts. It's vitally important to realize that, despite ...

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson Social Media�so vital and yet so frustrating. As of this moment, there are 200+ social networking sites out there. If you do a search for the top sites, you�ll get listings of anywhere from 7 to 20. And none of those numbers is manageable when it comes to building a viable online presence. There is just no way anyone can stay actively involved on even as few as seven networks.   So how do we decide where to focus our attention to get the most bang for our buck? It's important for writers to have a presence on both Facebook and Twitter. And to find a place to blog regularly. These three components will get you the highest percentage of exposure to your audience. And I advocate ONLY spending 30 minutes a day, five days a week, on social media. In addition to that, I suggest you set aside one to two hours to write weekly blog posts. But those networks aren't the only options out there.  Pinterest and Instagram, as well as LinkedIn are just a couple of p...

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson For writers today, an online presence can mean the difference between success and failure. But if we�re not doing it right, we may be our own worst enemy.  10 Ways to Wreck Your Social Media Presence  1. You have an inconsistent social media presence �I�m not talking about taking weekends off. I'm referring to the necessity of spending consistent time building your online presence. This includes showing up on Twitter and Facebook with reasonable regularity, and keeping a regular schedule for your blog posts. 2. You over-promote �The promotion I�m talking about is SELF promotion. Use Edie�s 5 to 1 rule�for every 5 social media updates, you�re allowed one additional update about yourself. 3. Your website doesn�t have social share buttons �I don�t know how much time I�ve spent on sites looking for twitter handles or trying to follow them on Facebook. Most people won�t spend more than three seconds. If they can't find additional information, you've ...

by Edie Melson  @EdieMelson We all know it�s important for writers to have a solid presence online.  But many of us struggle with Social Media commitment issues. We have good intentions, but our follow-through may be less than stellar.  So today I�d like to share some tips to help you stay on track. Stay Committed to Social Media 1. Set Reasonable Expectations.   I think this is the most important piece of advice I can give you. When I first started blogging, I wanted to excel at it. So my inclination was to set the bar high, posting at least five times a week. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I might not be able to keep up. So instead I started slow, posting once a week, and only adding more days to my schedule when I knew I could handle it. It has been the smartest thing I�ve ever done. I�ve managed all my social media this way, and I believe it�s the one thing that has contributed the most to my success. 2. Don�t try to do it all at once. ...