Guest Tim Lewis, Self Publishing Expert: Why You Need the Long Game in Social Media

 

Time travel author and podcast host Timothy Michael Lewis joined our webinar on Saturday, March 4, to share his insights about social media marketing.

Tim hosts Begin Self Publishing Podcast and has built up 90 episodes about every conceivable aspect of self publishing in 2017.

“After my wife died in 2011 (she had a stroke in 2009 and became severely disabled) I continued working for a few years but decided life was too short for doing a job I no longer found interesting,” Tim reports.

“I put my notice in 2013 and originally intended to look for contract work in IT.  However in my notice period I read the book Write, Publish, Repeat (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success) (The Smarter Artist Book 1) (by the creators of the self-publishing podcast) and I decided instead to write and self-publish fiction instead.

“In the three years that have followed I have self-published three time travel novellas (the Timeshock series) and two fantasy novels in the Magpies and Magic series.

“The final part of the Magpies and Magic series is coming out this summer and I will be switching into full marketing mode before its release.  It will be hard as the previous books in that series have never really sold well (unlike the first series that did sell well for a while) – I know the marketing struggle of authors all too well.

“Since summer 2015 I’ve recorded 90 episodes weekly of the Begin Self-Publishing Podcast, including interviews with Jay Baer, Mark Schaefer and Joanna Penn and a host of other people in marketing and self-publishing.

Some of Tim’s top advice about assembling a social media strategy:

1. Adopt a long game. Don’t expect to just throw up a few posts on Facebook and Twitter and expect to get anywhere.
2. Everybody needs to be in community.
3. Twitter is fantastic for making connections. Create lists in Twitter of people you want to follow.
4. Get over the idea in the beginning that nobody is listening to your podcast or reading your blog. You have to start building your content to become well known.
5. Read the book Known: The Handbook for Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age by Mark W. Schaefer. 
6. Be consistent with your blogging. Try to blog at least once a week.
7. Tim typically takes three great quotes from his show and makes audio clips that he posts throughout his social network.
8. He then goes to Canva.com and creates images from the quotes that he shares throughout his social network to build his audience.
9. Analyze everything. Look at what you are doing in social media. Figure out what works and what doesn’t work and give your audience more of what succeeds.
10. Live broadcasts on Facebook, Periscope and Instagram are becoming increasingly popular. “Live video is the way to go at the moment,” Tim observes.
11. Get over your insecurity about putting yourself in front of a camera.
12. In the old days, you would have had to go out drinking or learn how to play golf to make quality business connections. Now we can just connect to folks through social media.
13. Don’t just use automated tools to broadcast your messages. Connect with people as much as possible.
14. If you have a podcast, create a Youtube version of it to increase your audience.
15. Tim gets the greatest number of listeners from his Facebook page which you can like at this link, however his favorite social media channel is Twitter.
16. Follow Tim on Twitter at this link. While you are there, follow his Twitter lists. That way you can follow people who are influential in helping you build your career as a self published author.
17. If he had to do it all over again, Tim would build his reputation as a blogger before launching his podcast, as he feels it’s easier to build your audience through blogging.

“In the beginning you kind of feel like you have walked out into the wildernesses and the sun is beating down on you and you don’t know how long you will spend wandering around,” Tim observes. “Keep going.”

You can listen to Begin Self Publishing podcast at this link. 

Cooperate with us and win even bigger. 

Putting all this together takes time and is part of creating a successful social media strategy.

We’ve got four ways for you to learn:

• Weekly webinars that you can join LIVE or listen to at your convenience
• One on one coaching
• Peer competition
• A forum with resources where all your questions can get answered

Join Catherine Carrigan and Ramajon Cogan at www.whatissocialmediatoday.com and we will show you how! Call Catherine Carrigan today at 678-612-8816 or email catherine@catherinecarrigan.com or contact Ramajon Cogan at (928) 821-4553 or email wheresramajon@gmail.com.

The post Guest Tim Lewis, Self Publishing Expert: Why You Need the Long Game in Social Media appeared first on What is Social Media Today.

source http://whatissocialmediatoday.com/guest-tim-lewis-self-publishing-expert-need-long-game-social-media/