Marketing – Try It! You Might Like It! :)

Try It! You Might Like It! 🙂

So I guess I’ll show my age here. Who remembers this fella?

This little guy was Mickey and he hated EVERYTHING. Until he tried Life cereal. Then his friends wants some too.

But aren’t we like that? Not sure if we will like something. It’s new. It’s different. Do we really, really, REALLY want to do something else? Then we try it. We find others who are doing the same thing. And then we find more people we know. People we have something in common with. And you know what? It ain’t so bad.

Social media is like that. There seems to be something new coming out all the time. Not to mention the fact that what we already have changes and updates at random. It’s quite easy to become over whelmed and just shy away from it all.

Let’s take a peek at the different social media outlets out there:

BLOGS

Blogs are a great way to convey your thoughts to other people. There are so many blogs out there, that you can easily spend all your time reading and researching. So, how do you make yours… yours? Think of what you want to say and how you want to say it. You have your own story to tell. And who else would be better to tell it than you?

Facebook

Facebook is where you can network with friends and family. You can also create pro pages to promote your business. They do offer the ability to run ads. A lot of people are on Facebook. So that’s a plus. I’ve found friends from New York, other writers and illustrators, other fiber artists, and more. There are also group pages, which is a great way to create a community and share information with other people with like minds.

Twitter

Twitter posts are 280 characters or less. This give a short blast of information to your newsfeed. They have incorporated it now to have a thread. Your thread builds on the previous post, creating an elongated post of several smaller posts connected. There are also Twitter chats and parties. These allow groups of people to come together and post under a hashtag to keep the flow of content together.

Reddit

Reddit is filled with subreddits for just about anything you can think of. There should be a warning of severe rabbit holes ahead. *LOL* You can post under a subreddit. Most will allow you to post a picture too. Then there are up and down votes, where you can help mini-promote or demote posts.

Instagram

Instagram is photo/video driven. When you upload a picture there are various filter you can use to enhance your photo. Hashtags are heavily used on this social media. Hashtags are a great way to be included in a community or to create your own community.

Skype

Skype is a great outlet to speak to others via video. Nothing beats a face to face convo. It’s also great for office meetings, especially if you have business clear across the country.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great site for professionals. It is one place where most know to go look at resumes. There are businesses and professionals in all areas. There are forums for Q&As, and you can post blog posts too.

Tumblr

Tumblr is a microblog where you can find various subjects. Posts can become threads as others comment.

Snapchat

Snapchat can be personal or world wide. Posts are picture driven. You can also create videos, swipes to add links, and more.

Pinterest

Pinterest is visual boards that you create and build upon with your own choices. Many people also sell from Pinterest. Boards vary from crafts to books to cooking to adventures to… the sky is the limit.

YouTube

YouTube is it’s own web browser filled with videos. Movies, tutorials, reviews, singing, anything you can dream of.

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Like I said, a lot of different social media outlets out there. Look around and see what you like. Try them out. See what fits. I definitely am not on all of these. I have tried them all though. HA! I would suggest to take one on at a time. Give it a real shot too. I talking about a week or two.

Don’t forget to learn small things… are there groups to join? Chats to jump in on? Hashtags to post? I have a feeling you’ll be a pro before you know it!

Until next time…

Happy Marketing!
~t

FIND ME: 
www.traceymcox.com
www.lefthookcrochet.com
www.youravon.com/traceymcox

Marketing… In the Beginning

Before you begin marketing, you have to know what you are up against. Or who you are up against.

STEP 1: GOOGLE

Google is your friend, folks. Not only did I google myself when I started marketing, I continue to google myself from time to time. This allows me to see progress and also lets me know if anything else unrelated to me is encroaching on my name.

So what should you Google? Whatever it is you want to be known by. As an author / illustrator is wanted to be known by my name. There are others out there who go by a business name. As I have been marketing, and expanding, I decided to do just that and go under an umbrella name that covers all that I do collectively. Google. Google. Google!

Once you have done your search, you will see what and who you are up against. You can also see their strengths and how you can differentiate yourself from them.

STEP 2: CHECK SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS

Now that you know what you want to go by, check the internet and see what is taken. Search high and low…

• website
• facebook
• twitter
• tumbler
• instagram
• snapchat
• any other outlet you want to be known on

Is your name available across everything that you want to do? If it is AWESOME. I am virtually high-fiving you!!! If not, can you alter your name, even a little, to be consistent?

STEP 3: BE CONSISTENT!

Consistency matters!

Being consistent will get people to recognize you and your content quicker. You need not only to be consistent with your name, but your identifying picture needs to be the same or similar across everything. This can be a profile picture, an icon, or your logo.

But consistency doesn’t stop there. Decide when, where, and what time you will be posting. People will not only recognize you from your name and pictures, but they will also begin to look for your content at certain times.

Now the fun begins!

Now that you’ve done some research, you’ve gotten a game plan, and laid down some foundation… You are ready to begin your marketing journey.

One thing I have stress and will continue to stress is this is not an overnight thing. If you don’t have any major competition, give it at least 3 months to see results. If you are like me and had not only someone else with a lot of content, but is also a well-known author, give yourself a minimum of 6 to 9 months. Remember on either accounts you are moving a mountain of information, whether it’s by dump truck load or at a teaspoon at a time.

The main thing to remember is to give yourself time and don’t give up.

Until next time…

Happy Marketing!
~t

FIND ME: 
www.traceymcox.com
www.lefthookcrochet.com
www.youravon.com/traceymcox

Marketing 101 by: #TMCProductions

MARKETING 101

Class is in session!

I am in the process of creating an intensive course for how to market. In the process, I will be sharing tidbits to help those of you along your journey to be able to market yourself and your products (business) better.

Do you need to market?

Well, do you own your own business? If you answer yes, then you do! Even if you have big businesses backing you or your products, the marketing that is done in your favor has gone down in recent years.

What do you need to do?

How to get started?

Have you looked around the internet lately? I know I see ads all over the place. So how to compete with what’s already out there? Keep coming back to read my Marketing Monday posts. I will start with the basics and gradually help guide you through cross-posting, branding, and more.

And yes, I know I started talking about this earlier, but things change… constantly. I will be offering the most up to date information I have

Leave me a comment:

Are you interested in what I have to say?
Do you have something you would like to see me touch on?
What is your favorite social media outlet?

Until next time…
Have fun reading!

~t

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#ThinkingThursday – How to Get Your Name Out There

How To Get Your Name Out There

Marketing 101.1

The first thing I ask any client of mine is WHO are you? WHAT do you want to be known for? Some people know right off the bat. Others are still searching. Either way, it’s fine. Branding yourself or your products can evolve over time. But you need to have some direction.

Marketing 101.2

The second step is to google yourself or the name you want to be known as. A simple search will show you who your competition is with your name. You may be surprised as to what is out there. Sometimes it’s good, other times it can be something you definitely want to distance yourself from. Ultimately you need to see how you can create a unique image for you.

My third step is to search hashtags.

• What can be unique to you?
  You’ll want something that is rarely used or hasn’t been used at all. Something that people will begin to associate with you. It can be your name. It can be a product you offer. Or, if you are like me, it can be a company you are under.
• What can you incorporate that has a following?
  There are TONS of hashtags out there. Whatever industry you are in there are hashtags. By looking at others in your industry, you’ll see what they use. Really take notice of the hashtags that reappear over and over. THOSE are the ones you need to use. By using the repetitive ones, you’ll be included in a social media community circle.

Marketing 101.3

Once you know what you want to be known for and what you can use to be known as you can figure out HOW you want to begin marketing.

Social media outlets are great for this. You don’t have to buy ads to market. Although buying ads will ensure a broader range of people who see your post. The thing I don’t like about this is how many of those who see it really click through??? If you don’t know me from a hill of beans, WHY would you click on my ad? If you do buy ads, make sure to do some research and really know how to punch them up. You’ll need to stand apart from all the other ads out there.

I’ve chosen to go the ad-less route so far. Most of the people who see my posts know me, they know what I’m going through, what I’m doing, what I’m trying to accomplish. Most root me on. 😀 I try to be organic (even with my schedule posts) and be transparent. You can post on social media for free. Which is a big check mark for me. The problem with freebies is you will have to build your audience. Do not expect a tick up on your website or people buying your products left and right overnight. It takes time to build an audience. You have to show them you know your stuff. You have to let them know you. If you come across as an arrogant, crappy person, you won’t have very many people who are loyal. BUT if you are nice, try to help, pay it forward when you can, and be honest with people, people will want to associate themselves with you.

And trust me, you cannot fake that last line!
Over time, people will see you for what you truly are!

You will have to decide for yourself which social media outlets work for you. Not everyone likes Twitter or Facebook or Pinterest or LinkedIn or whatever else you look into. I would suggest, however, to try them. TRULY try them. Give yourself a time limit and an honest try on the outlet to see if you like it. To be honest, I hated Twitter when I first started out on it. But after using it, and participating in chats and contests, I actually like it now. Go figure! *HA!*

Marketing 101.4

Make sure you post regularly. Transparency is great, but people need to hear from you often. Also, the more you post, the higher your SEO (search engine optimization) will be when people look for you on the interweebs. The search engines LOVE new content. They also love meta tags. If you blog and your server offers categories and/or tags, USE THEM!!! If you upload videos to YouTube… USE THE TAGS!!! Pinterest… ADD DESCRIPTION WITH COMMAS!!! Each of these creates Meta Tags which run in the background. The public doesn’t see them, but the search engines do!

By posting regularly, people will begin to notice your posts. They will also notice when you don’t post. Trust me on this. Posting regularly gives you accountability on whatever you are trying to be known for.

You’re busy, right. Posting throughout the day is too demanding. I get that. I get that a lot! I schedule my posts. There are plenty of companies out there who you can use to schedule. Some are free and some charge. Then you can take one afternoon and create enough posts to look busy on your chosen outlets for the week or two weeks or longer.

The main thing I want to stress about getting your name out there is to do it, do it as honest as you can, and do it consistently.

How do you get your name out there?
What are your favorite social media outlets to post on?

Until next time…
Happy writing!
~t

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#MarketingMonday – Reciprocity

Marketing can be daunting to say the least. I mean who wants to sit there and feel like they are bashing others over the head saying things like: “Buy my (insert product)!” “Watch this video!” “Have you seen this?” and yadda yadda on and on. No one, that’s who! It’s the down side of putting your products and yourself out there.

People ain’t got time for all that stuff!

So what can you do? One thing I have found more beneficial than anything else is RECIPROCITY! Or promoting others.

Reciprocity:   a social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind action

Yes, talk about other people in your field. Let them know what they say matters. Let them know that you find their post intriguing. Let them know that you think they are important in your field.

HOW can you do this?

• LIKE what they say.
• COMMENT on their posts. Ya know, be interactive on social media. ***cough, cough. SOCIAL-IZE! cough, cough***
• REBLOG, RETWEET, SHARE what they have to say. Spread the word! Give them some link-y love!!!

As you do this you will accomplish several things:

• Getting great content out into the world.
• Getting your name noticed by the poster. They notice who does this… trust me!
• Having your followers trust you for great content.
• Building your brand.

And guess what happens when you do this regularly??? People will start LIKING your posts. They will start COMMENTING on your posts. They will start SHARING, REBLOGGING, and RETWEETING what you have to say. You will see it come full-circle. Ya know, the whole “what goes around, comes around” kind of thing.  😉   Will it happen over night? No. Building trust and loyalty takes time. You will have to work at it. But it will happen!

There are several ways to find great content too…

1. READ. Do a search and see what you can find.
2. FOLLOW others on the interweebs. See what they have to say!
3. SIGN UP for blog post notifications. This way you will be able to read posts and easily share what you will.
4. LOOK at what is trending. See what is popular in your area.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to begin to market yourself (and others).

Until next time…
Have fun writing!
~t

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#MarketingMonday – Get started!

Welcome to my Freebie Marketing Tips! As a marketer, I know the importance of having a presence

Are you just getting started with your career? Or needing to reboot your current one? Don’t worry. It’s never too late to begin or start over. So how do you get started? I will take you step-by-step with some simple steps to help you along your way.

Here’s a video of what I strongly believe should be your first step to creating your brand:

I hope this helps you begin your journey of creating a brand that you love and can be trusted. Remember to make you YOU-nique!  😀

Until next time…
Happy Writing!
~t

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Southern Breeze Writers

Today I’m featured on SCBWI’s Southern Breeze blog. I am hosting a workshop during the #WIK15 conference

http://southernbreezewriters.blogspot.com/2015/08/something-for-everyone-30-days-of-wik15_29.html?m=1

Marketing Monday – Social Media Time Suck

Social Media – Time Suck

I know I’ve gone in depth on the different social media outlets on this board. After all, this is something I use almost daily and part of my business. It is something I believe everyone who owns their own business should use.

The main question is how much time can you devote to it? Social media can be a time suck. There. I said it. HA! But it really can. You go online to do a little research and before you know it, it is a few *cough, cough* hours later and you’re looking a funny cat videos. *I know, I know. They ARE cute.  😉  * That black hole can be tough to pull yourself out of. Then all the ‘extra’ time you’ve had to research, get some new writing done, revise, etc is g-o-n-e!  *head meets desk*  So how can we get better results?

• Focus
  Decide what you want to accomplish. It can be to separate yourself from another writer. Or separating your name, like I had to, from someone else who is well known. Or you want to build your online presence more. Any number of things. Decide what YOU want to accomplish.
• Schedule
  Use a calendar and pencil in your agenda. Take it in chunks. 15 min / 30 minute / 1 hour segments are great.
  I began setting a long term goal (what I wanted to accomplish over a year). Then I sat down with my calendar that I made and scheduled what I wanted to accomplish each month. (ex: learn a different social media outlet, use that outlet, become comfortable with that outlet, and decide if I wanted to continue with it.) Then  every Sunday I would pencil in what I was going to do each day that week. I would work on writing/revising a manuscript, blog posts, making videos, updating website, etc. Whatever I needed.
• Timer
  Make it count and keep yourself accountable. Not only do I schedule the days, I give myself a time limit. Use an egg times, or your microwave, or your phone to keep with the time. Even when you are doing something on your calendar, it can be more in depth than you thought to learn, and before you know it, it will creep into your next appointment on your calendar for the day. I will also highlight things when I’ve completed them. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I see everything for the week in green. This I found EXTREMELY helpful when working on my platform, because I knew I was doing something. Platform building takes time to build and those green highlights let me know I was trudging along.

Thanks for reading along today!

:::LEAVE ME A COMMENT:::
Let me know what you do to avoid the Social Media Time Suck.
Do you use a calendar or other method to keep you on track?

DON’T FORGET…

SUMMER SPARKS will be starting this month on June 21st! READ THIS POST and let me know if you will be taking the challenge. Let’s get those ideas sparking!

Until next time…

Happy Writing!
~t

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www. Wednesday – KatieDavis.com

http://www.Wednesday —> www.KatieDavis.com

If you’ve been following me long, then I know you’ve heard me talk about this ^^^ lady!

Katie Davis is an author entrepreneur, video making, marketing guru kind of gal! Her website is full of information. It will encourage you to write, to market, to get your video cameras rolling, to putting yourself out there and have a platform to stand on.

Take some time to fully explore her website and listen to a podcast or two. You won’t regret the time spent.

:::LEAVE ME A COMMENT:::
Let me know what you think about Katie’s website.
Have you used any of her services?
Are there any other website you would like to see featured here?
Let me know!

Until next time…

Happy Writing!
~t

* Don’t miss one post! Email sign-ups are over here —>
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Marketing Monday – 4 Ways to Build “Word of Mouth”

4 Ways to Build ‘Word of Mouth’

On my 12 Ways to Marketing Yourself with Little to No Money, I mentioned “Word of Mouth” as one way to market yourself. This is and isn’t the cheapest form of marketing. I’m confusing, aren’t I.   😉   It’s totally free, because you are not paying someone to talk about you. Or begging them. Or demanding either. It’s NOT free, because of the time you’ve invested to develop yourself into someone who people trust and look to for advice.  *The Ah-Ha moment!*

So HOW can you become someone who is trust worthy?

1. Be consistent  – If you are blogging, have certain days/times you blog.
– Content stays the same. Don’t say or do one thing and not back it up.

2. Do your research – Make sure what you are saying can be backed up.
– Go through and practice what you are talking about to make sure it works.

3. Share generously – Let people know what you have found out. Blog or post or tweet about things.
– You don’t have to charge for everything. Give people tidbits, something to build on.
– You can create loyalty and respect by helping others.

4. Offer services – Once you have built up enough knowledge and trust with your community, you can offer more indepth help.
– Don’t push your offers though. Let it come through naturally.

By building up what you have to offer, it will create trust, because people will notice that you do what you say and it is working. They will begin to talk about you and share what you are saying. And you won’t have to tell them to do it. They will do it because you have proven yourself over time.

:::LEAVE ME A COMMENT:::
What do you do to build up Word of Mouth?
What are some people in our industry that you talk about?
What services have you used because of Word of Mouth?

***As a side note: I do offer services.   🙂   Picture Book Critiques & Platform Building Consultations. Just if you are interested.***

Until next time…

Happy Writing!
~t

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Newsletter sign-up page.