I know from the emails and blog comments I get that many of you have taken the jump into social networking. Today I’d like to share some thoughts about how social media can help with your brick-and-morter events, like a book launch or book signing.

Often times we revert to traditional channels to advertise these events and miss some of the advantages social networking can give us. Don’t give up the traditional avenues, but add some of these ideas to increase your next event’s visibility.

One of the benefits to social media is that you can identify people with similar interests. You can do this several ways.

• Hashtags on Twitter. A hashtag is a number sign (#) in front of a word or groups of letters. This makes the tweet searchable throughout the Twitter universe.
  For example, if I want to see what’s happening on Twitter with writing I can search for #write or #amwriting. Both of these are popular Twitter hashtags. If you’re still not certain what I’m talking about, here’s a post to help you get started.

You can do a Google search of popular hashtags for different industries of topics to find those relevant to your subject.

• Facebook groups. Many areas have Facebook groups or pages that pertain to geographic area. This is a great place to post local happenings and events.

• LinkedIn events. You can also post industry news to your LinkedIn profile.

You can also find local people on Twitter and Facebook and ask them to help publicize your event. In addition, you can announce your event on your Twitter and Facebook accounts and even though some of your friends and followers aren’t local, they often have friends who are.

Edie Melson is a freelance writer and editor with years of experience in the publishing industry. She’s a prolific writer, and has a popular writing blog, The Write Conversation. In keeping up with the leading edge of all things digital Edie has become known as one of the go-to experts on Twitter, Facebook, and social media for writers wanting to learn how to plug in. Her bestselling eBook on this subject, Social Media Marketing for Writers, is available on Kindle and Nook.

Fighting Fear, Winning the War at Home, is Edie’s latest project. This devotional book for those with family members in the military debuted on Veterans Day, 2011. www.winningthewarathome.com

Married 30 years to her high school sweetheart, Kirk, they have raised three sons. Media Marketing for Writers, is available on Kindle and Nook.