Social Media – Does It Live Up To The Name?

I won! Yes, I did! A few weeks ago I entered a contest on  Anita Stafford’s The Family Dance  – a blog about Memoirs, observations, and a sprinkling of her experience on children and family life stages. I didn’t have any hope of winning – well, maybe a teensy, weensy,  bit of hope – and then I forgot about it. I was surprised to receive an email and see it on my Facebook page and couldn’t believe I had won. The prize was a trio of books – two of which I had never read and one a children’s book I had read to my children and grandchildren often. As you all know I am a reader and am waiting for my prize in the mail so I can add them to my summer reading pile! Anita has two blogs – the other is Aunt Nubby’s Kitchen – a blog about recipes, organizational tips, crafts, and kid-friendly cooking to help make your house a home. She post recipes and pictures that I drool over. It will worth your while to get over there and check these blogs out!

I wonder  sometimes if anyone reads my posts on my blog site or pays attention to what I write on Facebook or even knows I am out there! I get plenty of like, shares, and followers from people I don’t know – thank you, thank you for your interest!  I am pretty sure my kids and family read them, but the comments are slow to come – even when I run a contest.

I’m having a contest right now and to be honest with you, I am not having a lot of luck with it so far. All you have to do is read’ Crossing The Line’ and add a  comment on Where Oh Where Does The Storyline Go From Here? Comments Please!  I’m giving away signed copies of the sequel ‘What Line’  to the best three comments when it is published. There’s only nine days left to post your comment on www.knowleselle.wordpress.com. Get your comment in and see if you can be one of the lucky winners.

Also on my Crossing The Line Facebook page, I am going to give away a signed copy of Crossing The Line when I get 100 likes. Check it out and keep up with ‘Crossing The Line’ and the progress on the sequel ‘What Line!’

I had a friend respond to me on something I posted on my personal facebook page the other day about Andrew’s laundry – so she must read my blog posts! Thanks! And I don’t really mind doing his laundry – especially when he helps me out with projects when he is home! 🙂

I did finally get a twitter account-  @knowleselle –  and every time I get a new follower it is exciting. Most of the people who follow me are not anyone I know personally. I follow a lot of people I don’t know personally, but have interesting things to say on subjects I am interested in.

I do notice that when I publish a new post or post an update on twitter or Facebook, my stats go up and I sell a few more books and obtain a few more likes, shares, and followers, on various social media I am connected to. I’ve even had some new followers on LinkedIn. This is one form of social media I am not too familiar with, but am trying to figure out.

So…this is really about social media. Does it live up to its name –  will it get my name out there –  is the time and effort I put into it worth it – is it the correct path to take – will one day my efforts go viral? I hope so and I think its worth it. I do know my writing improves a little every time I write another post or update another page. I also know that I have acquired many new friends along the way and gotten back in touch with old ones if nothing else. You have to have a lot of patience because the going is slow at first.  Just keep on plugging! Little bit by little bit!

Elle

 

It Is What It Is…It Was What It Was – Comment, Share, and Like! That’s What Keeps The Blog Rolling, People!

Bored….frustrated…keyed up…need to vent? I think I may have the answer to all of your problems! Write a blog. Yep, that’s what I said and that’s what I did. You can vent about your husband, boyfriend, lover, children, friends, boss, all of your pet peeves, or just life in general. And here’s a little secret – you could probably do it anonymously and no one would ever know it was you! Now there’s a good one! You may even find you enjoy it and you are good at this blogging thing. There goes the boredom right there. Hahaha! Remember – It is what it is…It was what it was. You can write about anything! It’s not all about how you would hang so-and-so by the neck if you could, (sorry I can’t paint more of a picture-its just not me) or how to take out your frustrations on your worst enemy. It can be about your passion, your projects, what makes you tick.

Actually, I started my blog for an entirely different reason – for social media and to promote my book – and hopefully soon it will be books! From all the research I did, blogging was the number 1 way to promote ‘Crossing The Line’ and get my name out there. It was very, very, hard for me to imagine what in the world I was going to write about. Writing a book was one thing – you only needed one subject per book. Writing a blog was an entirely different process. For one thing you had to post three or four times a week to make an impression and you had to be consistent about it. That meant three or four different topics every week! Was I up to that? Sure, I can do this I thought – and I jumped right in and put forth the effort!

After that first post, I was hooked – hook-line-and-sinker! Oh…My…Gosh…! This was fun, way more fun than writing my book. Sometimes I have to discipline myself to concentrate on ‘What Line’. I check my stats once – no that’s not right, I’ll be honest with you – three, four, even five times a day! It’s so exciting to see the number of my followers continuing to rise daily. It’s good to see when someone shared with Facebook, Linked In, Pinterest, or even Liked you latest entry. And the comments -and I mean comments under your post, right on your blog where others will see them – that’s the best part! When you hear from others – especially from strangers – that they enjoyed you post or learned something from it, it’s an inspiration to keep that blog going no matter what.

I’ve had links in my blog clicked on to find out about ‘Crossing the Line’, ‘What Line’, Crossing the Line Facebook page, even Phi Boota Roota, my son’s percussion fraternity! That was a shocker to me, but hey…maybe someone saw that and was inspired by it. The list goes on. You can embed a link for just about anything if it has a website.

Your blog site is your own and you can do with it what you want. I started out kinda slow and as I learned more about the process I began to experiment by changing things around and adding details and info. It’s an ever-changing process and more fun than Facebook!  I haven’t added pictures yet except for the cover, but that’s what I’m working on now. As for my profile picture – well, let’s just say, I’m working on it! It will come.

Get you a blog if you want some fun and excitement! Get your mind off those troubles and worries! Put your projects and passion out there for others to see! Use your imagination.You don’t have to be promoting anything. Write that story, add pictures, links, interesting facts, and do it all anonymously or let the world know who you are. That can’t be all bad and you may find an inner strength you never knew was there! Think of it this way – It is kinda/sorta  the same thing you do on Facebook – only you can elaborate, be more vocal, and make it grow.

What’s next for me? Well I’m going to continue to promote my writing through blogging, learn how to twitter, find a good profile picture to compliment all my social media, and get to work on finishing up and publishing What Line!

Elle

!!!!!!ENTER THE CONTEST TO WIN A SIGNED COPY OF What Line!!!!!!

Three copies will be given out! Yes, I said 3!

Please remember to add your comment under Where Oh Where Is This Storyline Going Now? – Comments Please! You must add a comment to be eligible to win.

I want to thank everyone for their interest because since I posted that essay I have had many new followers and likes on my blog – just not many comments – except from family – which I appreciate very much, but you do know that family can’t win. Right? Sorry! 😦  Keep those comments coming though because its great to have family behind me!

I am also going to extend the deadline to May 24, 2013. That will give you two extra weeks to get your copy of Crossing The Line to read so you can form an opinion and make your comment. Yay!