The Secret to Building Any Social Media Platform

Photo credit: HealthGauge on Flickr

Any of you who follow me on any of my many social media channels know that I’ve sort of embraced the whole social media thing to an extreme.

What I mean isn’t so much that what I post is extreme in any way (it’s not, at least, I don’t think so), but that now, in 2015, I am everywhere. Maybe not literally, but as far as the internet is concerned, I am in all the places.

Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, this blog, if it’s been moderately popular, I’ve at least looked at it. The only two I haven’t really connected with are Pinterest and Google + (though Google + seems to have made an account for me, in a creepy, mandatory I see you have gmail way, but that’s another matter entirely…).

I’ve been running this blog and Twitter the longest, so naturally my biggest followings come from those two sources. But over the course of a few years, my tumblr and Facebook have grown, and while my YouTube and Instagram accounts are both new (especially the latter), things seem to be chugging along pretty nicely there, too.

The thing is, every social media platform requires different ways of interacting with people. Every strategy that’ll get you Twitter followers, for example, won’t really work on YouTube, or the strategies you use to get more hits on your blog won’t really apply to Instagram.

There is, however, one thing you need across all platforms if you’re trying to build a following: consistency.

Whenever I start a new social media venture, I try to set out right at the beginning how often I intend to post and when. To give you an example, this is what I generally aim for:

• Blog: post on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, check comments daily (when possible).
• Twitter: check daily (mostly because I’m addicted…)
• Tumblr: check daily (usually only a few minutes at a time), re-post blog posts and vlogs here, reblog anything interesting I see.
• Facebook: re-post blog posts and vlogs, and browse through FB feed for a few minutes afterward
• YouTube: upload on Tuesdays, answer comments as they come in (when possible).
• Instagram: still working out a schedule. Try to check daily and post at least once a week.

I don’t spend equal amounts of time on each platform every day (or even overall). But what I do try to aim for is some sort of consistent presence.

For YouTube, that consistency means a vlog a week and checking comments. For Twitter, it means something entirely different—somewhat unending retweeting, tweeting and feedstalking (but again, that’s mostly because Twitter is my favorite, so…). So on and so forth.

Consistency doesn’t mean that you can’t ever take a break, or that if you fall behind one day it’s the end of the world. What it does mean, however, is that you give your viewers/followers/whatever a sense of when they should expect to see content from you. Because, after all, the more you show up, the more they will.

What tips do you have for building a social media presence? 

Twitter-sized bites:

Trying to build your social media platform? @Ava_Jae shares one key tip to growing your online presence. (Click to tweet)  

"One thing you need across all platforms if you're trying to build a following: consistency." (Click to tweet)

How to Build an Online Platform: Blogging

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So way back in July I started this how to build an online platform series (focusing on Twitter) then sort of left you guys hanging? My bad. The series is back!

Today’s focus is the blog! Because I just hit a special milestone (*EHEM* so maybe check out Writability next week? JUST SAYING). So yay!

Blogger birthday: May 2011 (3.5 years, as of this writing). 

Followers/subscribers: Roughly 1.1k (according to feedburner, as of this writing). 

Total pageviews: +1,000,000!!! *squee* 

Time spent weekly: Roughly 3-4 hours ish.

Tips: 

• Post consistently. So in three and a half years, I’ve yet to miss a post. I’m not saying this to be braggy, I’m saying this because posting consistently? It’s important if you want to build a blog following.
  
  I’ve already written a whole post about why posting consistently is so important, so I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty again. But the main benefit to bloggers is by posting consistently, you’re allowing your readers to get into the habit of checking/visiting your blog on a regular basis. Whether that’s weekly, bi-weekly, several times a week or monthly is up to you, but no matter what, consistency is key. 


• Figure out what you want your blog to be about early on and stay within that realm. While having a blog where you post about anything and everything under the sun can be fun, it's much harder to find an audience if you don't pinpoint a particular interest to target. 


• Ask a question after your posts to encourage discussion. Case in point: 95% of my blog posts. :) 


• Answer your comments. You won’t always get comments. In fact, there will often be long stretches where you barely get any comments at all. (FWIW, this is something that STILL happens to me, three and a half years later). But when you do get comments, I think it’s really important for bloggers to make a point of answering them. Yes, all of them. (Or nearly all of them, at least).
  
  Why? To me, it’s common courtesy—your readers have taken the time to read your post and respond in some way, and by answering their comments, you’re telling them you appreciate their time and reciprocated with their own. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that on the posts where I answer comments quickly, I tend to get more comments—readers like to see that the blogger is taking the time to interact with the community.
  
  As an added bonus, I’ve had some really awesome discussions happen in the comments of my posts—and those would’nt have happened if I hadn’t answered the comments to begin with. 


• Share your posts elsewhere. I habitually share every one of my blog posts on Twitter, tumblr and Facebook, because that’s where I’m most active. Pinterest is another good one, but I’m not very consistent with Pinterest so I tend to let other awesome people pin my stuff for me. (People are nice).
  
  But basically, if you’re on a social media site that allows for link or text sharing, then I highly recommend you take the time to share your posts. Just don’t get spammy about it (as in, posting about it twelve times in the same day). 


• Make it easy for others to share. As in those lovely Twitter-sized bites below (directions on how to create those here). Or the sharing buttons below that. But the point is, the easier you make it for people to share, the more likely they are to do it. 


• Comment on other people’s blogs (especially at first). This is something, that sadly, I haven’t had very much time for as of late. But at the beginning, one of the number one ways I found new blogs, connected with other bloggers, and found new readers was by commenting on blogs with topics similar to mine. This is especially helpful at first when you don’t have a lot of readers and you want to find people with similar interests, but one caveat: do NOT include a link to your blog at the bottom of your comment. That’s considered spammy and kind of rude. Instead, people will find your blog by clicking your name (because you usually have to include a link to your website (aka: your blog) in order to leave a comment). 


• It’s okay to stop. Thankfully, this isn’t something I’ve had to (or wanted to) do. I love running Writability, and even though it’s time consuming, it’s something that I intend to continue to do for as long as I can.
  
  But that being said, if you’re a blogger and you find that you’re no longer enjoying it, or it’s taking way too much time and becoming a burden, then it’s okay to stop. Really. The last thing you want is to dread writing your posts, because then it’ll become an emotional drain and quite frankly, your readers will likely notice. 

Do you run a blog? What tips do you have for new (or even established!) bloggers? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Looking to build a blogging platform? @Ava_Jae shares her experience and a few tips. (Click to tweet) 

"Consistency is key," and other blogger platform building tips from @Ava_Jae. (Click to tweet)

How to Write Effective Endings

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Throughout the course of writing several manuscripts, my methods, skills and tools have changed pretty dramatically. But there’s one thing that has remained constant in my first drafting process, regardless of the genre, word count, method or experience: the ending always intimidates me.

When I played around with pantsing, the reason for this intimidation was pretty obvious: I was writing a book and I had no idea how it was going to end. It terrified me to think that I was eventually going to reach what I knew had to be the conclusion, and I would sit and wonder how I could possibly conclude this book.

Outlining, however, didn’t solve my ending anxiety. Sure, it helped that I actually knew what would happen (it helped a lot, actually), but the thought of it still terrified me. What if it’s not epic enough? What if I end too soon (a common problem of mine)? What if there are too many questions at the end? What if my readers are disappointed? What if what if what if?

I am the master of book-ending angst.

Thankfully, after writing several pretty terrible endings (and a couple good ones, I hope), and reading an abundance of endings that have completely blown me away, I’ve learned a couple important elements necessary in every good ending.

• Address the main problem/antagonist. When I first wrote this bullet, I said “solve the main problem,” but that’s not entirely true. You see, your protagonist doesn’t necessarily have to win every time, but you must address the problem one way or the other. If your character defeats the antagonist and saves the world, great, you can check off this bullet. But maybe your character doesn’t win, at least not entirely, and the antagonist is wounded but gets away. That’s acceptable, too—the key is that the main problem is addressed in some way, usually with a big victory, or a major loss on your protagonist’s part. At the end of the day, your protagonist should have tried his or her darndest to fix the main problem that’s been comprising the plot of your novel, and whether they win or lose is up to you. 


• Tie up loose ends and provide closure. It’s important to note, that even if you’re writing the first book of a series, you still must tie up loose ends. Naturally, you can still leave some series-wide questions open and hint at possibilities of future plots and problems. But as for the main plot itself, the big problem must be addressed and your readers should not be left still wondering about several subplots or questions by the end of the book. For a series, the endings are about balance: leaving enough questions that the reader will want to move on to the next book, but still answering enough that it stands alone and creates a complete arc.
  
  As for standalone novels, or the last book of a series, all loose ends must be tied up and accounted for. You readers should have a sense of closure and all subplots and mystery questions should be answered.


• Complete the character arcs. This is an element that I’ve often struggled with because character arcs, at least for me, often happen organically. Unless your protagonist is a static character, he or she will likely be changed by whatever they experience throughout the course of your book—and your ending should reflect that change, whether it’s maturity, a new outlook or worldview, etc. 


• Bonus: echo the beginning. This isn’t a requirement, but some of my favorite endings echo images or lines from the beginning of the book. It really gives the book a full-circle feel and helps to create closure. I go into detail about this wonderful effect in my great final sentences post so I won’t go into it again, but if you can manage it, I definitely recommend it. 

What tips do you have for writing effective endings? 

Twitter-sized bites:

Having trouble with your WIP's ending? Here are some tips to writing effective endings. (Click to tweet)  

Does writing "the end" intimidate you? Writer @Ava_Jae shares some tips for effective endings. (Click to tweet) 

Urgency to Keep Reading: Does Your Novel Have It?

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A couple months ago, I entered the Pitch+250 contest over at Adventures in YA Publishing (a great contest by the way, that I recommend to all who have a query-ready MS). At the end of the contest, I received a scorecard ranking my entry by category, and one of the categories, I noticed, was “Urgency to Keep Reading.” 

I’d had a general sense for this aspect of writing before, but I’d never really put a name to it. Ever since I noted that category on the scorecard, however, I began to pay much more attention to it while reading. 

So what is the urgency to keep reading?

Whenever you see statements in reviews or blurbs like, “I couldn’t put the book down!” or “I was on the edge of my seat!” the reviewers are talking about the urgency to keep reading. It’s the element that has readers saying, “Just one more chapter” three chapters after they should have stopped, and it makes people stay up all hours of the night to finish your book. 

And I truly believe that it’s essential to the success of any novel in any genre. 

In order to create the urgency to keep reading in your novel, there are a few things you can do: 

• Leave unanswered questions (until the end). Unanswered questions are a great way to keep readers interested. While you don’t necessarily need to string along the same question throughout the entire book, answering one question in a way that opens up several other questions is a great way to develop the plot, while still leaving readers to wonder how these new questions will be answered.


• Put your protagonist in danger. Now, when I say “danger” I don’t necessarily mean risking your protagonist’s life (although it could be). Your protagonist could be in danger of losing a job, or a friend, or a dream—whatever it is, make sure it’s something that is dear to them. In some genres, this might mean your protagonist is in danger of losing his life, but in others, it could be a relationship or opportunity that’s at risk. The point is to raise the stakes so that the readers are not only cheering your protagonist on, but afraid that they may fail to save whatever it is that they are trying to keep.


• Keep your protagonist from reaching his/her goal (until the resolution). This is a big one. Regardless of your genre, every novel must have a protagonist trying to accomplish or reach some kind of goal. The plot itself is then the character’s journey to try to reach said goal. In some novels, that goal may evolve along the way, but the important thing is that whatever the goal is, it is out of reach throughout the large majority of the novel. By making your characters fail, often repeatedly, to reach that goal, you keep your readers hooked because they’ll want to find out how your character will manage to succeed. 

If you incorporate these elements into your novel, you’ll be well on your way hooking your readers, and keeping them interested throughout your book. 

What books can you think of that successfully utilized the urgency to keep reading? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Want to keep your readers glued to your book? Here's the secret to writing a novel they can't put down. (Click to tweet) 

Is your book gripping? Writer @Ava_Jae shares the secret to writing a book your readers won't be able to put down. (Click to tweet)

Three Important Critique Tips

Photo credit: Bunches and Bits {Karina} on Flickr

While we’ve discussed the importance of being critiqued and critiquing others, and we’ve talked about how to be a fabulous critique partner (both seriously and sarcastically), it occurred to me that I haven’t really written in depth about the hardest part of critiquing: that is, reading your critique. 

Asking for a critique is a funny thing: we are, in essence, asking people to read our work with the intention of finding faults. Of pointing out every gaping plot hole and embarrassing word choice that you accidentally repeated six times on the same page. 

And let’s face it—as helpful as it is to have those mistakes pointed out to us, it can sometimes be hard to swallow. No one likes to have their mistakes circled and underlined in blaring red marker, even if it is an important part of developing our craft and improving our stories. 

I’m not promising that these three tips will make all your future critiques feel like butterflies and cotton candy, but if you keep these things in mind, it will (hopefully) make it a little easier. Starting with...

1. Read it, then PUT IT AWAY. Seriously. I know I’ve mentioned this briefly before, but it’s worth repeating because it helps so much. When you first read a critique, most of us tend to start to feel things. Sometimes is horror, other times it’s embarrassment or anger and sometimes it’s straight-out despair.
   
   In order to edit in the right frame of mind (or even read your critique in the right frame of mind, for that matter), those emotions need to be put aside, and that can be difficult to do when you first get a critique. So put it aside, eat something delicious or watch your favorite TV show or read a book. Take your mind off the critique and those initial emotions, then come back to it later with the mindset of making your work better.
   
   It really can make all the difference.


2. Don’t get defensive. This is a danger that we sometimes see in public critiques or reviews. And it’s understandable—your writing is very personal. It is, in essence, an extension of you, so when people point out the flaws or say it needs work, it can feel like a personal attack.
   
   The thing to remember is that it’s not a personal attack, and you did ask for this critique. But if you get defensive, there’s no way you’ll be able to switch into the right mindset and learn from the experience of being critiqued—which really is the whole point of this exercise.
   
   So when you feel the defensive monster raging inside you, tell it to shut up and keep reading.


3. Not everyone is right. This is important, particularly in public critiques or when dealing with new critique partners and beta readers. The thing is, sometimes well-intentioned people will make bad suggestions, or sometimes people will completely misunderstand your work and make a suggestion that is contrary to your vision. The thing to remember is that not everything that everyone says is right, and in the end you know your work best. 

What tips do you have for receiving critiques? 

How (Not) to Be Awesome on Social Media

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Whether it’s Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, Google + or some other form of social media I didn’t mention, there are certain unspoken rules of conduct, that when adhered to make you a courteous, likeable online person and when not adhered to make you…well…not. These rules can very well be the difference between a popular account and an ignored (or worse—blocked) account. It doesn’t seem fair, really, because not everyone is aware of the Rules of Social Media Awesomeness (as I like to call them) that can define your social media presence.

Until now.

For all to see, I have laid out the Rules of Social Media Awesomeness that are guaranteed to make you fantastic (online, anyway).*

How (Not) to Be Awesome on Social Media:

1. Ignore comments/@ mentions. Why spend time answering those pesky comments and Twitter mentions when you could be using that energy to promote your online presence? Honestly.


2. Gratitude is overrated. Did someone retweet your link or share your Facebook post? That’s nice. Your gratitude is implied, anyway. No use in spending precious time and energy to thank people.


3. Spam ALLLLL the people. Now here, here is a worthy thing to spend time on. Send everyone you can a link to your blog or Twitter or Facebook page (etc.). In fact, if you do bother to answer those pesky comments, this is how you want to do it. Speaking of which…


4. Use Direct or Personal Messages to send links (to your blog/Twitter/Facebook etc.). They’re not useful for anything else and you’ll really make someone feel special by gracing them with a personal link to your incredible pages.


5. Constantly remind people to like/follow/add you. If you don’t post on your Facebook and Twitter and tumblr about your other Social Media pages that people should follow at least three times a day, then you’re wasting your time. People forget that you have other pages out there that they should be subscribing to. They’ll thank you for the constant reminders.


6. Be Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer all the time. Because like gratitude, optimism and smiley faces are overrated.


7. ALWAYS TYPE LOUDLY. HOW IS ANYONE GOING TO NOTICE YOUR MESSAGE IF YOU WHISPER IT ON THE INTERWEBS? TYPE LOUDLY OR RISK BEING OVERLOOKED. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.


8. Leave all of your links on other people’s blogs/pages. I mean all of your links—your Twitter, blog, Facebook, tumblr, Google +, Pinterest, Klout, LinkedIn and Myspace (you never know…they might still use Myspace!)—every time you comment on someone else’s blog or page. On another note, if you don’t have a page on each of those sites, then you haven’t diversified your social media presence nearly enough.


9. Be rude. Hey, it works for celebrities and it’ll make you memorable!


10. Never share other people’s content. Social media isn’t about sharing, it’s about YOU! Never forget that.

So there you have it. Now go out there and be awesome.

*And by “these rules will make you awesome on Social Media” I mean, “please, please, please don’t do these things or risk being very un-awesome on Social Media.”

What would you add to the Rules of Social Media Awesomeness?