Source: Social Media Marketing Girl blog
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Infographic by MDG Advertising
As you may know, your website is your hub. All your social media pages should be accessible from your website. This might mean that you provide links to your social media pages on your website or this might mean that you embed the social media content onto your website. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, but remember that having dynamic content on your website (such as the ever-changing content of your blog, Facebook page, Twitter stream, YouTube channel, or podcast) gives you better SEO.
Link: You can put a logo on your website with the Facebook logo and have it link to your fan page’s URL (i.e. http://fb.com/plainketchup/). You can also create a badge. After customizing your badge, you will be given some HTML code, which you can simply paste onto your website in the area that you want the badge to appear.
Embed: Facebook allows you to create an “Activity Feed,” which is a little box that you can put on your website and it will automatically update with the most recent things that you posted on your Facebook page. Just like with a badge, you can customize the feed and then paste the HTML code that it gives you on your website wherever you would like the feed to appear.
Link: You can put a logo on your website with the Twitter logo and have it link to your twitter URL (i.e. http://twitter.com/plainketchup/). Do note that Twitter has a policy against using any kind of Twitter logo except for the official one, which is the one you can see displayed to the left.
Embed: Just like with Facebook, you can customize a widget that will allow you to post a box on your website where it will display your most recent tweets. Again, copy-paste the HTML code onto your website.
YouTube
Link: You can put a logo on your website with the YouTube logo and have it link to your YouTube channel (i.e. http://youtube.com/user/plainketchup/). It is better you have the “/user” in there because it will give you better SEO. However, the link will still work without it (i.e. http://youtube.com/plainketchup/).
Embed: Just like with FB and Twitter, you can embed a little box on your website that shows your most recent video posts to your channel. Again, copy-paste the HTML code onto your website. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, who have widget-makers right on their sites, you will have to go to another source, such as WidgetBox, to create your widget for YouTube. It’s the same premise: customize your widget and copy-paste the HTML code onto your webpage.
Podcast
Link: You can put a logo on your website that links to your podcast. The thing about podcasts is there are many ways to listen to them and you should let your audience choose their preferences. I like to link to all the ways my podcast is available: iTunes, libsyn, Facebook, MP3 download, and Stitcher.
Embed: Both Libsyn and Podomatic have widgets to embed into your website. Podomatic has a small audio-only one for individual episodes and also a large audio-with-photo one that allows you to scroll through different episodes and listen to them one after the other. Libsyn has only large audio-with-photo ones, but you can still get both the ones that just play the episode of your choice and the ones that will play all the episodes one after the other. The latter can be found on your dashboard by clicking on the widget icon (fourth from the left). The individual episode widgets can be found by going to the list of your episodes and clicking “embed” underneath the episode you want. Just like the other widgets, it’s just a matter of copy-and-pasting the HTML code onto your website. Do note that I don’t think there is a way to embed this widget in free WordPress blogs.
Blog
Link: You can put the logo of your blogging host (such as Blogger or WordPress) on your website and link to your blog.
Embed: This could be tricky unless your blogging host has a built-in widget maker. If it doesn’t, you can go to Feedburner. This is a Google-powered site that allows you to turn your blog or podcast into a feed. So, type in your blog’s URL into this first box and then follow all the other prompts until you are done. Eventually, you will get to a dashboard where it will give you tons of options on how to customize your feed by adding all sorts of buttons and features. I like to use the BuzzBoost feed under the Publicize tab. Just customize the feed and copy-paste that HTML code onto your website. You can also use the XML code that you see under the Optimize tab. If you want to know what this looks like, you can visit my Guests website, and look underneath all the guests to where the announcements are. Those are all fed from my blog. They show up on my website automatically whenever I make a new blog post.
Why should I have a podcast?
You want to be searchable on iTunes.
How do I set up a podcast?
Technically, you can host your podcast on your own FTP site, the one your website is on, but that means you’ll have to learn RSS language, and if you don’t want to do that, it’s best just to sacrifice a monthly fee to a host that will do all the RSS stuff for you. I like LibSyn, but you can use Podomatic or whatever you like best.
Let’s say you choose LibSyn. Go to libsyn.com and sign up for an account. Choose a pricing plan. I pay $15/month for about 2 1/2 hours of new audio content each month. After your content has been up 30 days, it gets “archived.” This doesn’t mean that listeners can’t get at it anymore. It simply means that it no longer counts against your allotted megabytes of media per month.
Next, Create a Show. I believe you can have more than one podcast under your account without paying more, as long as you don’t go over your allotted megabytes. I have never tried to have more than one podcast on the same account, though. When you create your show, you can choose things like title, keywords, description, etc. These are very important in the searchability of your episodes, so be accurate and thoughtful in what you put here.
Once you’re done, you will get your own podcast webpage on LibSyn that you can customize (though Libsyn doesn’t give you a whole lot of options of templates unless you really know your HTML and go in and play with the code manually). Here is an example of one of my podcast webpages on Libsyn. Notice the embedded widget that allows you to play the episode right on the page? You can also embed that onto your website. It’s just a matter of copy-and-pasting the code that you see when you click on the widget icon (next to the feed icon) on your LibSyn dashboard.
Getting your podcast on iTunes
First, make sure that you have filled out all the information about your podcast in LibSyn, including the title, description, logo, and keywords. This is very important because you want this information to translate over to the iTunes Store. When you’re logged into your LibSyn account, click on the feed icon (third from the left) that shows the URL of your Classic Libsyn Feed. Copy this URL. Then open up iTunes. Go to the iTunes Store. Click “Podcasts.” In the sidebar, click “Submit a podcast.” The first step is to paste that Classic Libsyn Feed that you copied earlier. Continue with the prompts until you’re done. It might take a couple days for iTunes to review your information and post your podcast on iTunes. That doesn’t mean you can’t keep posting episodes on LibSyn in the meantime. iTunes will post all the episodes once it gets the okay from Apple.
Uploading an episode
Just click “Publish,” and it will allow you to name your episode, write a description, keywords, add a photo, and upload your MP3 file of your podcast. Once you “publish” this page, it will be added to your podcast’s webpage. It won’t take too long before it shows up on iTunes either.
Useful Links
How to Start a Podcast
Libsyn’s blog not only spotlights podcasters, but offers great advice on both content creation and the technical side of podcasting.
Why should I have a YouTube channel?
Second to Google, YouTube is the most-used search engine. You want to be searchable here: You want to be found.
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How do I create a YouTube channel?
When you sign up for YouTube, you automatically get your own channel. Go to youtube.com and click sign up. Fill in your information.
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Name: This name will show up at the top of your channel’s page
Username: This name will show up in the URL
For example, visit youtube.com/no1getzs0da. You see that the Username was no1getzs0da because it’s in the URL, but the Name of the channel is Ladled Theory Productions. It is recommended to have them match, like if you visit youtube.com/musicproguides, you can see that musicproguides was the Username, while Music Pro Guides was the Name.
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After creating your account, you can customize the look of your channel a little by adding a background and decide if you want to have a featured video that always shows up first (and if you want it to play automatically, like at musicproguides).
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Upload a video
Click “upload” and click on the arrow to select the file. While it’s uploading, enter in a title, description, and keywords. These are extremely important to being searchable. The more specific keywords (which can be full phrases), the better.
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If you have an important link, post it in the first three lines of your description so that it’s above the fold. Include the http:// to make it clickable.
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Also, note there are three settings: private, unlisted, and public. Private means only you can see it when you are logged in, unlisted means people with the URL can see it but it’s not searchable, and public means people can stumble across it and share it.
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What to upload
YouTube can support most video file types like .mov, .avi, .wmv, etc. You cannot upload anything you don’t own because it could get flagged and taken down. They could even suspend your account. Unless it’s a lesson or seminar, try to keep it under 3 or 4 minutes because attention spans are short. If it’s a book trailer, 1 minute is best.
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More of my advice on driving traffic to your book and what to create for your channel found in my other video posts on this blog.
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Make a plan
What are your goals? There are multiple ways to use a YouTube channel. One is just so that you have a place to host your video content online for free. I do this on my no1getzs0da YouTube channel. I make no attempt to get subscribers. It’s just a place to host my videos so that I can embed them on my Journal Snaps blog. However, you may want to make your channel like a TV show or even a TV channel (except, of course, not on TV). If the latter, then create a plan: how often do you want to post new content? How do you want to spread the word? How do you want to get viewers to interact with you and with each other? And WHAT DO YOU WANT TO POST? Do you want to make it a fictional drama (that reflects your book)? A series of interviews? Documentary? Vlog?
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Did you just ask, “What’s a vlog?” If so, a vlog is a video blog. It’s a video journal for the public to watch and engage with. Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day have two of the most popular YouTube blogs. Some people share a channel, like the VlogBrothers, and there are even fictional vlogs (in the way that you can have a mockumentary, you can have a mock-vlog). Vlogs are the most-subscribed-to channels on YouTube because they are consistent in timing, style, character, and content.
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Useful Links
Why should I blog?
Blogging allows you to provide your readers with additional content, which is pretty much expected of you in the modern world. It also gives your website good SEO because you are linking back to it and (if you embed the blog onto your website) you are creating dynamic (changing) content for your website.
How do I set up a blog?
Find a blogging platform you like, such as Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad. I recommend WordPress because although Blogger is the most user-friendly blogging platform, WordPress is the most robust. But find what works for you.
Let’s say you choose WordPress. Go to wordpress.com, click sign up, and enter your information. Once you are signed up, you can create a blog. You will want to both customize the look of the blog by choosing themes and widgets for your sidebar and start posting content. (Don’t forget to come up with a plan before you start posting!). After you have about six or seven posts up there, you should start telling people about the blog (If you do so too early, they will visit your blog, see that there’s not much there, and leave).
How should I populate my blog with content?
A good rule of thumb is about 300 words. Don’t forget, use photos, videos, and links to make your posts more engaging. Ask the readers questions, encouraging them to leave comments. Here’s a post on brainstorming ideas. How often you blog is up to you. The trick is to BE CONSISTENT. Look at other people’s blogs, of any topic. This will help you get ideas.
Related links
Tips for using YouTube to sell your book.
1. You can now list as many links as you like on your channel page, including direct links to wherever your book is being sold. Give them the option of from the publisher, Amazon, B&N, and indibound.
2. Use self-branded overlays with YouTube’s promotion opportunities. Read more at Social Media Examiner.
3. Include a link to your book at the beginning of the video’s description so that it doesn’t fall below the fold.
4. Add an end screen to the video. Although you won’t be able to link to a non-Youtube page within the video itself, you can still use text to tell people where they can buy the book.
Tips for getting the word out about your YouTube channel:
1. Consider writing articles related to your videos and plug your channel in your bio. More information on eHow.
2. Be fun. Create something that people will look forward to. Here are some great examples of promotions other YouTubers have done.
Tips for getting your YouTube channel and videos found by search engines:
1. Use metadata: Search engines will use your title, descriptive text, and keywords to rank your channel/videos.
2. Link to youtube.com/user/username, not youtube.com/username.
3. Create playlists that also have carefully chosen titles, keywords, and descriptions. These are searchable on search engines, too. The more links that point to your video, the better the SEO. Playlists are essentially links. It’s also an opportunity for your playlist to show up on the “related playlist” bar. And playlists are ranked highly in search engines, according to this article.
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First of all, book bloggers who review books on blogs are just as legit as book reviewers in magazines, so treat them with the same respect (yes, I know they don’t have to go through the same gatekeepers that magazine and newspaper writers do, but they should be treated professionally).
1. Contact relevant bloggers only. If your book is about shopping, don’t pitch your book to the blog that clearly only ever reviews books on heavy metal. You don’t have to be a subscriber necessarily (though if you are, it’s nice to say that you’re one of their readers), but do have enough of a look at the blog to know whether contacting them is a waste of your time.
The key to finding a reviewer is finding the perfect match. It’s a lot like landing a book deal. You don’t want necessarily just the only publisher who will take your book (tempting as it may be). You want the right publisher. So don’t go pitching to every book blog in existance–they don’t all review your kind of stuff. Pitch the ones that are right for your topic.
Remember also that you’re not just looking for book blogs, but blogs on your topic that might be interested in reviewing your book or even interviewing you or running an excerpt. One way to find blogs by topic other than the typical google search (or searching on Technorati.com) is looking at who’s talking about your topic on Twitter. If they seem to know what they’re talking about regarding your subject, look at their profile and see if they have a website or blog. They may be interested in reviewing your book or posting content from it on their site.
How do you know if these blogs have any readers? Sometimes they will tell you in the sidebar how many people have subscribed to this blog. Other times, comments are enabled, so if there are a lot of comments under each post, there are a lot of readers. A lot of times it works the other way too: no comments means few readers.
2. Unlike some larger book reviewing publications, sending unsolicited copies is a bad idea. Unless you’re using a database, you may not find their mailing addresses anyway. It’s best to send them an email. A personal touch is always nice and increases your chances, but copying-and-pasting your press release is fine if you’re tight on time. If they are interested in the book, either way, they’ll email you back and ask for a review copy. Some blogs even do Q&A, exclusive excerpt, or get original content from the writer.
3. Send the cover image, whether they ask for it or not. Do not send this out in your pitch because often people will not open emails from people they don’t know if it has an attachment. But if they’ve asked for a copy sent to them, feel free to email them a hi-res jepg they can use, because if you don’t, they won’t use a picture, or they’ll copy a low-res one from the internet, or they’ll try to take a picture or scan themselves which don’t always come out looking good. You may also want to include your author photo. Only include an interior image if you have permission to use images from the book as part of the publicity efforts. Don’t forget to include a credit line for author and interior photos.
4. Give them time. If you don’t hear from the blogger a month after you’ve sent the book, email them and say that you’re just checking to make sure they received the book, and if they did not, you can send a replacement. A month is a good time because if you write too soon, the mail might not have delivered it yet. It’s also a long enough time where they may have set it aside, meaning to get to it later, and put it out of mind for a while. A month after shipping, this might be a good reminder and spark a new interest in them to pick up the book. Remember, book bloggers have lots of other books to read, but they also don’t like to be hounded: “Have you read my book yet, are you going to do a review, how about now, or now?” If they say that the have received your book and plan to review it, it might be another three to six months before they do. This is normal and to be expected.
If you have a YouTube channel, you will want a high number of video views. But you also may want people to subscribe to your “channel.” This means that when they log onto YouTube, any new video you’ve posted that they have not watched yet will show up on their main screen.
1. Content, as always, is king. If you don’t have high quality video and high quality content, then all else is futile.
2. Post your videos to social bookmarking sites like Delicious, Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, etc. Put your videos on Facebook, Twitter, and wherever you think your potential viewers hang out.
3. Invite your YouTube friends to subscribe to your video if they haven’t already. And don’t be ashamed to invite your favorite YouTubers to subscribe to you if you’ve subscribed to them.
4. Title your video with something not only relevant to the video’s content but also interesting, shocking, mysterious, or controversial. Also use Title Case and don’t make it a long sentence–get to the point.
5. Use keywords not only in your title, but in that handy keyword box YouTube has you fill in. Be specific, often using multiple words or even short sentences as keywords if you think people will be searching for that exact phrase or sentence. If you have a video on how to play the harmonic underwater, if you just put “harmonica” and “underwater” your video will appear on all searches for “harmonic” or “underwater” but because they are popular phrases, your video could be at the very bottom. If your keywords are “harmonica underwater” and “playing harmonica under water” your video is more likely to be number one on the list for when people search those. You may also want to include things like “strange talents” and “weird instrument.” Also use keywords in the description, but avoid key word stuffing.
6. Don’t make the description too short (or too long for that matter). Include any relevant links, the most important “above the fold”. Ask them to subscribe.
7. You can even embed a little “subscribe” or “click to subscribe” button into your video once you’ve uploaded it, so it will actually show up on your screen. Some people like to pick out something that is talked about and focus on that to get people to either subscribe or thumbs-up their video. (The thumbs up gives the video a better rating and gives it a chance at being featured on YouTube’s front page or at least being higher on the searches, so you might want to ask your viewers to do this if they are not ready to commit to subscribing.) For example, if in part of the video you talk about zombie caribou, you might embed a little thing that says “Click thumbs up if you like zombie caribou!”
8. Be part of the YouTube community (communities). Subscribe, comment, and friend. People often will look at your channel if you are talking to them on YouTube or have requested to be their friends. But don’t be a spammer!
9. Be consistent. Let people know what to expect from you. Doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind later on if you want to have a new feature that posts every day for a month and then goes back to posting just once a week on the old feature, but let your viewers know this is going on. Don’t disappear off the face of the Earth for four months and then come back to YouTube expecting everyone to remember you.
10. Be a YouTube partner. You get to pick your thumbnail, which is important for when people are scrolling through videos (otherwise, try to put your select thumbnail at the halfway point of your video). You also get a nice banner on your channel and lots of other fun stuff that lets you stand out.
11. Don’t use copyrighted material. If you’re using a song, for example, owned by someone else, YouTube could prevent you from having a high-ranking, delete the audio track to your video, or delete your video all together.
12. Some people disable the comments and rating ability, which is maybe because they don’t want to have to answer questions and delete spam, etc., but if you don’t want to answer questions, then don’t answer questions. It doesn’t mean you can’t let your fans post comments and talk among themselves. Allow them to build a community around being your fan. However, the more you are involved and respond to your viewers, the more affection toward you they will have.
13. Instead of leaving comments, you can leave a video comment. Try leaving a video comment to similar videos or creating videos in direct response to someone else’s video.
14. Best face forward. On your channel, the default will show your most recent video in the player. But you can change this. Pick the best video (you can use free YouTube insights to see which video has the most interest or you can just look at number of views) and put that on the front. Or maybe you have an introductory video. You can also choose to have the video automatically start playing. Personally I find this annoying but it probably has its advantages too.
15. Fill out your profile (be sure to include your website) and customize the appearance of your channel for branding purposes.
A lot of people will buy software that will generate comments and views on your YouTube videos. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But either way, I personally find this to be a dishonest way of gaining interest. If your videos are good and you know how to market yourself well enough using the tips above, you shouldn’t have to stoop that low. But you will need patience. It usually doesn’t happen over night. Don’t expect to be a viral hit. Just aim for having loyal followers.
Useful Links:
Top Tips to Get More YouTube Subscribers (Squidoo)
Create a YouTube Traffic Jam (KissMetrics)
Optimising your YouTube Channel for SEO (SEOptimise)
Social Media for Authors 