Sep 30, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
Scheduling and time management is huge whatever task you undertake, but especially so with social media postings.
Whether it’s a blog, a visual, or a link, the first rule to remember is don’t drown your audience. That is, don’t link post after post after post within a few minutes of each other. Think of social media as a busy street: Traffic flows in several directions and it’s your job to not create gridlock. Let others get on the road, too.
I use several scheduling apps to post for me when I know I’m otherwise unavailable. TinyTorch and Hootsuite are my two favorites. You can easily set up your links for the future, through each of the social media accounts you manage. And, bonus, you can repeat schedule.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Social Media Saturday: Scheduling
Let’s say you write a post about the benefits of berry-infused water. And you just know around New Year’s Eve you’re gonna want to share some health tips with your peeps. But this is only September. Even now you know you prob’ly won’t want to babysit your media posts on a major holiday. Am I right? [Just this time, let’s pretend I am.] Hootsuite to the rescue! Bam! Your post is scheduled for this weekend, New Year’s Eve, and the first day of next summer. Pretty awesome, yes?
But wait! There’s more! What if you want this one post to be on Facebook today, Twitter next month, and Google+ in December. Yup, your scheduling apps can make that happen too.
Super Bonus: Your apps can often suggest when to schedule your posts, and suggest what types of posts to share at a certain time. Schweet, yes?
Now if y’all will excuse me. I have some scheduling of my own to do.
TWEET THIS: How do you schedule your #socialmedia? @RealMojo68
With a smart app and a water bottle,
Happy posting.
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Sep 23, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy
Twitter: @MollyJoRealy
Instagram: @MollyJoRealy
Photos can’t replace words for informational learning, but let’s be real: Visuals are a big part of our world today. Our attention spans are shorter. If you want someone’s attention you need to grab it immediately and a photo can do that ohsomuch quicker than text.
Recognition comes before cognition. This means our brains will say, “Wait a sec. That looks familiar.” And then our eyes read the words that follow for more. It can be a photo of someone we know, food we like, or a place we’ve been researching online. Or we see something completely unexpected. Something beautiful, gross, shocking, lovely . . . you get the, uh, picture.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : NOLA research
This is why logos are so important to brands.
We “know” who a popular company is without thinking about it.
Whether you’re a writer, a painter, a home improvement DIY-er, visual postings will increase your followers.
I mean, I can tell y’all about my Lizzie Cat. But unless you’ve seen her photo, you don’t really know how beautiful she was. Am I right?
Frankly, My Dear . . . Lizzie Cat
Photos are great on a sidebar, as a Tweet, on Instagram, and of course, Pinterest. Look at Facebook: How many posts do you scroll through that don’t have a photo? Not too many any more.
You don’t need to be a pro-photographer, but you do need to know a few basics.
Here’s a few tips I learned through trial and error:
- If you’re posting to your professional or public sites, make sure it’s something your audience cares about
- Take a few photos and post the best one: clear, in focus, good display
- Use photos to enhance your story, not tell it for you
- Don’t drown your viewers in twenty photos of the same scene
- DO share multiple views that capture the enormity of your surroundings
- Before-and-After posts are great for home and yard clean ups, holiday decor, parties, and announcements
- Coffee and foodie photos are always da best.
- And cats. Always, always, always cats.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Berry Sunshine enjoying the last licks
Depending on which media site you’re posting to, hashtags are also useful in describing and enhancing your visuals.
How do you use photos to draw an audience?
TWEET THIS: When Your Photo is Worth a Thousand Words @RealMojo68 #socialmediasaturday
With a smart phone camera and a watchful eye,
Happy seeing!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Sep 18, 2017 |
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
(Originally published on The Write Conversation. Reprinted/updated here with permission.)
Everywhere we turn we’re hit with the message of how great social media is. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media. But I didn’t start out loving it. I began my relationship with this new paradigm by hating it.
I don’t have a background in computers or marketing or anything that might make social media look interesting. Add to that fact that I’m a natural introvert, and you have a recipe for a disaster. Truthfully, that was how my relationship with social media began—as a disaster. Here are, from my own experience, the top 10 ways to make yourself miserable with social media.
Frankly, My Dear . . . Miserable with Social Media
- Sign up for Twitter, and keep your tweets protected. This means you have to approve anyone who follows you. This make absolutely no sense at all. You’re on Twitter to get your name out there. Having to approve followers means no one (okay, almost no one) will follow you.
- Never add to the social conversation. This means you never comment on Facebook, or tweet on Twitter or take part in any of the dialogue. You just follow what’s being said and wonder why social media isn’t working. For social media to work, you have to wade in and join the fun.
- Refuse to upload a picture of yourself as your Twitter avatar. If you just keep the default Egg Avatar on Twitter you’re telling the world one of two things. You’re a Twitter newbie and don’t know what you’re doing, or you’re a spammer.
- Join every new social media platform that comes out. As of this moment, there are well over 150 individual social media platforms, and that number changes by the hour. There’s no way anyone can reasonably interact on that many. Join Twitter and Facebook, but beyond that, pick one or two more you like best and concentrate on those.
- Use Facebook as a platform to air all grievances. There’s a saying that what happens on the Internet STAYS on the Internet. It’s true. No matter how much you later regret an outburst or ill-considered post, it’s there to stay. It’s almost impossible to erase all traces of something written on the Internet and that’s especially true with social media. My rule is to NEVER post anything negative on social media.
- Spend the bulk of your writing time doing social media. Yes, social media can help you get a contract (whether it’s for an article or book). But it won’t help if you can’t write. Writers need to be spending the majority of time writing and learning to write, NOT on social media. I recommend writers spend no more than 30 minutes a day on social media.
- Post all your social media updates at once, in a short window of time. This will insure you get noticed—but not in the way you want. Hogging the stream will cause your friends and followers to stop interacting with you and even delete you from their streams faster than almost anything.
- Just do social media when the mood hits. Posting when you feel like it, instead of working at it consistently is a guaranteed way to fail. Small, consistent steps are a guaranteed route to success.
- Don’t use an ancillary program to keep track of social media. I recommend Hootsuite, but Buffer and Tweetdeck are also viable alternatives. Not sure what I’m talking about? Then read this post on Hootsuite Basics to see what you’re missing.
- The best way to make yourself miserable with social media is to NOT do it. If you don’t give it a try you’ll always be wondering what you’re missing, and feeling guilty because you know it’s something you should do.
Now it’s your turn, what part of social media has made you miserable and how have you overcome it?
Don’t forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie
TWEET THIS: Top 10 Ways to Make Yourself Miserable with Social Media @RealMojo68 @EdieMelson #socialmedia
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Edie Melson
Find your voice, live your story…is the foundation of Edie Melson’s message, no matter if she’s addressing parents, military families or writers. As an author, blogger, and speaker she’s encouraged and challenged audiences across the country and around the world. Connect with her on her blog and through Twitter and Facebook.You can also connect with Edie through Twitter and Facebook.
Sep 16, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
It’s one of those “notice me” thingies. It says, “Yo, I’m over here!” It leaves breadcrumbs and helps you pay attention.
No, it’s not a selfie, Rocky Balboa or your Aunt Edna’s rendition of Hansel and Gretel.
It’s the hashtag.
Now, in your parents’ days, they might-a called it “the pound sign” or “the number symbol”.
But technology has changed and brought a vocabulary all its own.
This isn’t your mother’s shorthand any more.
When you’re a creative trying to attract other creatives, it’s almost like a not-so-secret handshake. And once you learn the lingo, it can definitely draw others in.
Most effective on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, a hashtag is simply the internet’s way of highlighting. Let’s say you want people to know you like coffee. So, you type the hashtag symbol and your word or phrase. But there’s one caveat, and it’s very important. You can’t have any spaces or other punctuation. So if you want to highlight coffee, it would read #coffee. But if, for some example, you don’t like coffee (I know, crazy example, but I hear tell there are actually a few of you out there), then you could write #dontlikecoffee.
On the flip side, using a hashtag helps you find what you’re looking for. Now, most search engines will automatically pull up links and files based on the words you type. “Red ruby shoes” is bound to get quite a bit of action. But what if you’re looking for something a little more personal, or relating to a book?
For instance, when the faux bro and I are challenging each other to keep writing, we might add #gameongansky to our tweets. Or when Honeyvibe releases another song, they tag me and add #goodvibes.
Frankly, My Dear . . .: #Hashtag
You can add the word “am” and whatever you’re doing, and search other like-minded people. #amwriting #amediting #amblogging #amsinging #amdrinkingcoffee #ambaking . . . You get the picture.
Here’s another bit o’ honey from the Social Media Bee Zebra: Don’t use too many at once. Twitter is limited to 140 characters total so tell your message and highlight/hashtag one or two points. On Instagram, write your message first, tag your people second, then add all the hashtags you want.
Finally, don’t go crazy making things up too much. Of course you can have fun now and then, but the object is to be found and recognized, yes? For example, here’s a screenshot of one of my favorite IG (Instagram) posts from last week:
Frankly, My Dear . . . #hashtag
#NOLA and #CitySeries are the title of my novel and my series, of course. Everything else helps direct traffic for and from people searching New Orleans and the like. [And also, just for fun, if you click on the IG photo above, you can read the blog post it references!]
What are some of your favorite hashtags?
TWEET THIS: What are some of your favorite #Hashtags? @RealMojo68 #socialmediasaturday #socialmedia
With a keystroke and attention,
Happy highlighting!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Sep 9, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
What’s your social media identity? Are you popular on Instagram but not Twitter? Does your Facebook feed look a little hungry?
One way to keep your numbers up across the board is to maintain consistency.
WHO you are is as important as WHERE you are, and these are both as important HOW OFTEN you make your presence known.
I’ve seen people have a different user name for each platform they use. That’s not a good idea, unless you’re creating multiple personalities. You want your followers to be able to find you easily, like the neon Denny’s signs for late-night travelers.
Now, I’m not advocating cookie-cutter posts. You don’t want your feeds to be a Xerox copy of each other all the time. But you do want to share your same message through different venues.
You are the cake, and your media is the icing. The icing doesn’t change the cake, it makes it more appealing.
Frankly, My Dear . . . Icing on the cake!
Some sites may want a small piece, others require something bigger. A third requests a chunk of frosting the size of your fist. You’re the chef. This is your restaurant, your bakery, your tail gate party. You know what you’re good at, so don’t be afraid to serve it up with a smile.
And be sure to include the whole meal. Your followers will, well, follow you more if the breadcrumbs you leave are flavorful, lead to better foods, and invite others to the table. By that I mean, well, now I mean I’m hungry. But in the social media world, I mean give your peeps a buffet to choose from. There are nine gajillion ways to cook foods. Surely you know more than just one meal’s worth.
Your garden, your fridge, your pantry all work together to make a great meal. Your media sites should do the same. Add a little of this, a side of that. My, that’s a lovely four-course plate you’re serving up.
Bring your people back to the table with a variety that will garner their taste buds. And if you experiment with the recipe now and then, great. How else will you know what you can add to your plate?
Just make sure your meals are going out three times a day, every day. Don’t leave ’em hungry and eating elsewhere. Like picky eaters, your audience will let you know what works and what doesn’t.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some cupcakes I need to bake. And eat. Share. I mean, share.
TWEET THIS: #SocialMedia Saturday: What Are You Feeding Your Followers? @RealMojo68 #cake
With a cool apron in a hot kitchen,
Bake those posts!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
