Social Media

How to Use Facebook Groups to Build Your Brand

Starting a Facebook group was one of the best decisions I made in my efforts to grow See Jane Write — both the blog and the business.

Since 2011, I’ve grown See Jane Write from a BlogSpot blog and small local women’s writing group into an award-winning website and profitable business with members and clients around the world. And one of the keys to my success was the See Jane Write Network Facebook group.

(more…)

How to Create Content Consistently

Does this sound familiar?

You’ve finally launched your blog and you’re SO EXCITED. You’ve posted announcements about your new site on every social media channel and sent emails about it to everyone on your contact list. You even had business cards made and maybe even designed a blog branded T-shirt. Perhaps you even had a blog launch party!

Six months later your blog has been abandoned. You had plans to publish new content once a week, but you felt lucky if you updated your site once a month. So eventually, you gave up — not because you’re lazy, but simply because life got in the way.

I’ve been blogging consistently for over a decade. Through the years I’ve changed jobs and even time zones but my commitment to blogging has remained. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way…

(more…)

Redefining What It Means to Be an Influencer

What does it mean to be an influencer?

Honestly, it depends on who you ask. 

While some people dream of being six-figure earning Instagram influencers others are wishing the word “influencer” could be banned. 

Tom Godwin,  the head of innovation for ZenithMedia, told AdWeek at the end of 2018 that he hopes influencer marketing will die out in 2019. Though he acknowledges it’s a good tactic for some industries, Godwin says influencer marketing has quickly descended into “hot people holding things.”

To be honest, this is how I had come to define the word influencer, too. So when I was invited last month to attend a luncheon for local influencers I wasn’t quite sure what to think. First of all, I don’t have a gazillion Instagram followers, which I often feel is a requirement to bear that title. And secondly, if you scroll through my feed you’ll see that “hot people holding things” is hardly my theme. 

My BFF Jacqui Jones of One Degree MMM and I at the #UnSelfie2019 Influencer Luncheon
(photo by Eric Gray Photography)

But the title of this event caught my attention — #UnSelfie2019 Influencer Luncheon. Presented by United Way of Central Alabama and hosted by social media and public relations pro Maree Jones, this event was all about how to use your social media influence for good, for positive change in your community and beyond. So my BBF marketing guru Jacqui Jones of One Degree MMM and I headed to the event.

(more…)

Could Instagram Make You a Better Writer?

I remember posting a graphic on Instagram once that simply said, “Stop scrolling. Start writing.”

As with every admonishment I post on my blog or on social media, it was meant more for myself than my IG followers. So often, I open Instagram, telling myself I’m just going to scroll for five minutes and then get captivated by compelling captions and interesting images or get lost in a loop of IG stories and find myself still in the app 30 minutes later!

But what if we went to Instagram not just as an escape, but also for inspiration? What if we started using images, quotes, captions, and even videos as writing prompts?

(more…)