Linking Your Social Media Accounts and Other Major Blogging and Social Media No-Nos

Successful social media is something of an art form—with lots of gray areas. Building a successful online presence takes a good amount of flexibility and a little bit of experimentation. But even though I encourage people to find their sweet spots, there are a few things you want to avoid. Today I’d to weigh in on linking your social media accounts and other major blogging and social media no-nos.

No-no Number One

Do not link your blog with social media. What I mean by that is you don’t want your blog o send a notification of your newest blog post to Facebook or Twitter or any other social network. On the surface it seems that would be a great shortcut for those (almost all of us) who find ourselves in a constant time crush. But it’s not.

Here’s why:

You run the risk of spamming your friends and followers. Computers make mistakes, and especially if you have Facebook and Twitter linked, you can get repeat messages. This is unintentional spamming.
People today are smart, savvy and cynical. We can tell when something posted on social media is computer generated and we won’t bite. So you’re not getting any traffic this way.
Finally, you need to control the way your social media updates go out and how they’re worded. Different platforms may need slightly different wording. You also want the opportunity to add relevant hashtags and mentions.

What Voices are You Hearing?

You’re very accustomed to hearing voices in your head. In fact, you take pride in having those conversations with imaginary people who only exists in the gray matter between your years.

After all, you are a writer.

But there are other voices in your head. Oh, not the ones who are telling you to murder the protagonist or devise a happily ever after. It’s the little people who constantly tell you how you will fail.

Rachel Hauck

Writing For The Long Haul

No one wants to be a one hit wonder.

You know, write that first book, or first series, and then struggle to find more success.

I was in this boat after the Nashvegas books.

Not that they were a break out… in fact, they weren’t at all.

So I had to decide what to write next that caught my publisher’s eye.

I was blessed to be at a house that believed in giving an author more than a one-contract chance.

But if I didn’t find some success soon, there was no reason for my publisher to continue with me.

I was writing chick lit but it was dying a quick death as a sub romance genre.

At an ACFW conference, I braved a conversation with my publisher. “What can I do to turn things around?”

“Well,” he said, “we’re not quite sure how to brand you.”

This really confused me. I wrote chick lit. Romance. How was it hard to brand me?

Rachel Hauck

Let The Story Tell The Message

Driving down the road the other day, I had a few minutes with Talk Radio.

I tuned in to the middle of a Glenn Beck Show and he was commenting about Disney, and how they’ve left their values and morals.

I think… I’m not sure. But he went on to say.

“The field is wide open for anyone to come in and take their place.”

I’m paraphrasing a bit, but as Glenn went on, he was saying how there is room for creative, talented artist, screenwriters, entrepreneurs to step up and tell interesting stories.

Take the place of Disney?

I don’t know, but when Disney started, there WAS no Disney.

He was completely overshadowed but the muscle studios of Hollywood in his day. RKO. Universal. The might MGM.

But Walt knew who he was, knew what he wanted to do and he did it.