Proactive Writer: Building An Online Presence

Filed under Proactive Writer.

webThe world of modern publishing has changed. Gone are the days when writers can write a book, submit a manuscript and sit back and wait for the cash. Today, changes in technology and publishing ethos mean that writers need to be proactive in their approach to writing, publishing and promoting. I have already written about the idea of a Proactive Writer here. In essence I suggested that a successful modern writer demonstrates four traits:

  • They produce remarkable work,
  • They have an active and persistent online presence,
  • They embrace technology,
  • They participate.

So what do I mean by an active and persistent online presence?

This is the idea that a writer must build an online platform. The concept is now well established and involves a web or hub approach.

The first step is to build a central point to which traffic is ultimately directed. My recommendation is to use an advanced blogging platform such as WordPress. This will allow you to not only run a decent blog, but also create static web pages to give details of you as a writer and also your work.

The second step is to create spokes to your web. This is a process of creating a presence on a number of social media channels. The theory is that as potential readers come across you at these outlying sites and, because they like what you are saying/doing, they will find their way back to your hub site. Here they will discover your writing and hopefully, since you are producing remarkable work, become a fan.

Examples of spokes to your web include twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Stumble Upon, Delicious, Friend Feed, LinkedIn, but the list is almost endless.

The key is that at each of these spokes you do three things:

  • You add value: Only by offering value to a reader will they have the inclination to seek out further information about you as a writer. How this value is given can vary greatly. It could be as simple as a link to a great site or as complex as a free chapter of your book.
  • You are active: It is important you pick channels on which you can contribute. It is far better to have a strong active presence on say facebook and twitter, than it is to have a weak presence on five or six channels.
  • You are persistent: It can take months or even years to build a large enough presence to make your efforts worthwhile. It is essential that you pick channels on which you can flourish and remain persistent in your efforts.

The ultimate goal is to create a wide internet web that will capture and channel potential readers to your central hub. Here, your remarkable content will be recognised and, overtime, a fan created.

Thoughts?

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  • http://grahamstorrs.cantalibre.com/ Graham Storrs

    You’re probably right about this – and I like the hub and spoke metaphor – but you need to choose a better word than ‘presistent’ to describe one’s online presence. Persistent things are annoying. Imagine if you’d said we need an ‘active and persistent offline presence’. It makes you think of telemarketers and people at parties who won’t stop telling you about their damned book.

    Just saying.

    • Gary Smailes

      Graham,

      Thanks for the feedback. You are correct that persistence can be annoying…Let me give you an example. I have spent one hour a day, every work day for the last 12 months finding and tweeting out good links via twitter. I see this as part of may job and is a ‘must do’ part of my routine. Whenever I describe this to people I always use persistent. I am stuck for an better word…any ideas?

  • http://fionajoseph.com Fiona Joseph

    Perhaps a less loaded term would be ‘consistent’ rather than ‘persistent’, but what you say Gary really speaks to me (as someone who’s a business owner as well as a writer).

    The approach you describe is a form of ‘magnetic marketing’, which is the antithesis of the traditionally pushy, sales-focused marketing that turns everyone off. As you say if you can offer value, or even just arouse curiosity through your online presence, then you WILL attract attention!

    Thanks for this post and all the others. I get a lot of value from them.

    Fiona

    • Gary Smailes

      Fiona,

      May way of adding value is via this blog and twitter. On the blog I try and float in that area between a writer’s perception of publishing and the reality. Having worked behind the scenes and as a writer I have a unique insight. I add value on twitter by tweeting links to great stuff. Like you say the aim is to build a following with low level marketing, almost branding.

      Consistent is good but I always imagine an online presence to be like dripping water. I try and win one follower at a time. the key is for it to be never ending. Consistent might work.

  • http://www.jlmartin.ca Janet

    Thanks Gary. I can barely keep up with a blog and twitter so your advice about focusing on a few networks (as opposed to spreading yourself thin) makes sense to me. While networks can be great for marketing I find they can be a huge distraction, especially when you’re a writer looking for another way to procrastinate!

    • Gary Smailes

      Janet – My advice is to be remarkable on one or two channels. Find the one that works for you and stick with it. It is important to make it work in real life and finding time can be tough. Personally facebook is not part of my network. I don’t really ‘get it’ and therefore feel it better to have no presence than a weak presence. One other bit of advice is to see your network as ‘work’.

  • http://UndeerConstruction Kristina McBride

    I agree with Fiona; “Consistent” seems to fit in this case. More importantly, you make a great point here. And I love the spider web. Though I’m a writer, I’m a visual person and I know this image will stick with me as I continue to be both persistent (but hopefully not in an annoying way) and consistent in this whole writing venture.

    Thanks for all your links! I love to see that cow and always check out what you have to say!

    Kristina

    • Gary Smailes

      Kristina – The web sums it all up. Though it does suggest you are a hungry writer waiting in the centre to consume your readers! I am glad you find the tweets useful.

  • http://www.blakefriedmann.co.uk Carole Blake

    Very much agree with previous comment. ‘Magnetic marketing’ is an attractive term, accurately picturing what I think is vital: create an alluring presence that people will want to return to, encourage curiosity, perhaps a little envy, and constantly (and consistently!) ‘refresh’ your image so that people will return for updates. Add humour where possible too. And try to make sales messages informative + interesting, rather than simply ‘buy this’. Added value for the recipient makes your message an attractive proposition.

    • Gary Smailes

      Carole – wow great advice. Magnetic marketing is indeed a great term and I think I need to weave it into the thinking. One thing you touch upon is humour. This works very well in blog posts and is a real winner. I would suggest that caution is needed when being ‘funny’ in twitter. It is very easy to have a tweet mis-understood.

  • http://www.helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com Nicola Morgan

    I also like the term Magnetic Marketing, especially as I come out in a rash every time I think I’m being marketed TO or networked with. I’m an advocate of both networking and marketing (partlye because I enjoy it because it feels like communication and I love what I learn from other people, too) but, as you say, it has to be mutual and giving.

    Carole mentions humour – I agree, but lots of people find humour difficult to pull off. I’d say maybe warmth and personality, because even if you can’t make people laugh out loud, making them smile is all that’s necessary.

    • Gary Smailes

      Nicola – wise words…

      • http://www.freewebs.com/davejamesbooks Dave James

        Interesting stuff on webbing, networking, hubbing and spoking. How we love metaphors! Last year we were building platforms, but that isn’t so subtle as spinning webs. Extending the image of the spider at the centre of the web, we must also see the reader as the fly, moth or mosquito who gets caught and ultimately consumed. Perhaps that’s what we all seek: being consumed ultimately by another.

        • Gary Smailes

          Dave,

          The spider/fly image did occur to me and perhaps it is not the greatest of metaphors. I think I need to develop the spoke/hub idea for marketing your brand (you and your book) and the development of network for building your audience. The concept of a platform is too ‘flat’ and and rigid for me. One of the most important aspects of the writer’s marketing is that you are not developing a network of people to which you will sell directly, this means platforms like twitter come in very handy. However, it does mean that a lot of the ideas developed for business (e.g. email marketing) are just too ‘strong’ for a writer.

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  • Klawrence

    Storiad.com would be a good hub site; it links your wordpress/blog, twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc. all in one place + allows you to showcase your work.