This week I thought I'd brag a little... kind of, I hope you don't mind.
I've had problems with keeping up with my social media accounts since day one of this "author brand" thing. I almost never kept up with regular posts, and even when I did manage to make weekly posts, I didn't really know what I was doing. Week after week I'd try to drag some random idea from my tired brain, to post wherever I was supposed to post to next.
BUT... I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this! And I would like to tell you how, in the hopes that it can help you somehow. First, I would like to admit that regular posting is still hard, and honestly, I often feel it's pointless, as I know my posts have very little reach, but the process itself does not need to be too painful.
First up, I prepared a social media calendar, prepared by the month, rather than a full year at a time, to save energy, and help me keep my posts more up-to-date. I also have a (very) general outline of what I want to post each week for social media posts, broken down by week number, and social media profile, to help me plan out my month's posting.
I know I've mentioned this next point several times, but I can not possibly explain how much this simple change has helped me. Once upon a time, when I started making author posts, I tried to write all my posts for the week on Monday. Admittedly, this did work for a while, but whenever I couldn't fully prep my week's posts, for whatever reason, I was left scrambling to catch up, and I rarely succeeded. Nowadays I still try to prep (and schedule whenever possible) a full week's posts in one day, but now, I post one week ahead of time, so I never need to worry if I'm a few days behind for whatever reason. I will readily admit that having to prep two weeks' posts to get ahead of my posts when I started this, was not fun, but I only needed to do that once, and I shouldn't need to do it again, short of something stopping me posting for a full week.
Now, the last point I struggled with didn't have an easy answer for me, unfortunately. Finding the right way to use my various author profiles has been an adventure, and I'm certain it will continue to evolve through the years, so all I can suggest is that you dig in! Look around online for suggestions and examples on how to use social media accounts well and try out things that you think would work for you. You will figure it out... you just need to get there.
That's it for this week from me; did you have problems getting this whole "author brand" thing figured out? Or are you still trying to get the hang of it yourself? (Don't worry, I am too! But I'm finally at a point where I don't feel like I'm drowning in chaos every week!)
Have a great day, and keep writing!
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