Social media can prove to be a very useful marketing tool for writers. When used correctly, it can help elevate blog views and book sales. However, perfectly balanced social media usage is a very fine line.
I tend to live my life jumping from one side of the line to the other. Some weeks it seems my social media accounts gather cobwebs from disuse. If there was a soundtrack to those weeks it would be the sound of crickets. I wish I had excuses for those weeks but I just forget about the importance of social media sometimes.
Other weeks I am glued to my phone because I use social media too much. Because I use social media for my writing as well as personally, when I get into my social media phase, I tend to tune out the rest of the world.
Some people rock social media. They have the innate ability to juggle Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, Instagram and life without letting anything slip into the realm of the forgotten. I envy those people.
I have tried to balance out social media and life but I always slip into overuse of one or the other.
I’ve even contemplated setting a strict social media schedule in an attempt to strike a balance. A schedule which would include set times for posting to each social media site on a daily or weekly basis. Of course, the procrastinator in me has never allowed me to stick to strict schedules.
What about you? Have you managed to strike a balance between the online and offline worlds? What social media tips would you share with the rest of us?
it is a hard balance, perhaps a flexible schedule would work best…maybe set how long each day you can spend doing social media in general then get back to life and writing? just a suggestion. i know i often spend far too long on my blog and reading others 🙂
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That’s a good idea that I may have to use. Thanks for sharing it. 🙂
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no problem 🙂
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I got so disillusioned and sick of social media that I got rid of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. Probably not the best thing for eventually publicizing/marketing anything I try to write, but right now, social media has caused me more hassle. So I’ll just stick to blogging. 🙂
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I’ve actually thought about deleting my accounts when they gather dust. It would probably solve my social media problem though. And it’s not like you can’t start new accounts when you need them right?
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My advice, as a non-social-media-rocker, is to take it slow. Better to post a few things regularly than set a schedule that’s overly ambitions, so that you start up with a huge torch that quickly fizzles. As you establish your routine, consider adding one or two stops on your e-book tour — but, again, not so many that your life flies out of balance.
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Awesome advice. It’s so easy to set yourself up for failure by being too ambitious.
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