There is no such thing as an aspiring writer. You don’t need a blog, a book deal, or a freelance gig to be a writer. To be a writer all you have to do is write. But if you want to be a writer who makes an impact and an income, you have to do more. You have to think and act like an entrepreneur. You have to think of personal branding.
Yesterday in my private Facebook group for the See Jane Write Members Collective, a member asked “Would love to hear about your strategy to get your name out there. What do you do daily to get in front of the people you want to work with?”
Great question!
In a Facebook Live for members only, which I do every Wednesday, I answered this question and I want to give you a peek at the tips I offered and share with you the one thing I MUST get better about in 2018.
Find your tribe. Building your audience is about building relationships. Find communities of like-minded people, both online and offline, and get involved. You could, for example, be more active in your favorite Facebook groups, which means more than simply posting a link to your latest blog post. Comment on the posts of others and help people out when they have questions that you can answer. Attend networking events in your city. I try to attend at least one networking event a week. You can also join membership organizations (like See Jane Write) to take these relationships to a deeper level. I couldn’t find my tribe so I started my own and I’ve grown the See Jane Write community through in-person events as well as through our free Facebook group.
Offer valuable content, FOR FREE. Before you start selling products or services to your tribe you need to give them valuable content for free. You can do this through a blog, a newsletter, webinars, live events, or a Facebook support group. I built my audience by doing all of these! When you have something of value to offer you have something interesting to promote on social media and even with traditional media. And in the process of promoting your upcoming event or webinar or your latest blog post or your Facebook group, you are getting the word out about who you are and what you do.
Master social media. In a perfect world, you’d be on all social media platforms all the time. And in a perfect world cupcakes would be a vegetable. So let’s talk about the real world. In the real world, the best thing for you to do regarding social media is to pick one platform and focus on being a superstar on that platform. That isn’t to say you’re going to abandon all the other platforms. You’re just going to make one the top priority and you will commit to doing one thing every day on that platform to spread your message and grow your following. This is the one thing I MUST improve in 2018. I’m present on every social media platform, but I’m not consistent on any. I need to do better.
How do you build your audience?
Looking for a tribe to help you build your audience? Enrollment for the See Jane Write Members Collective is reopening soon. To join our VIP list and be notified first when enrollment reopens, simply fill out the membership application here.