Why You Don't Have Time NOT To Social Network

by Melanie Moore

"I'm just too busy to social network. I simply don't have the time".

I hear this many times from writers, many who come to me to help them with a blog design. They are working hard, trying to build their writing platform, expand their reach, and broaden their audience... but are coming up frustrated.

I am going to share a little secret that I wish someone had told me sooner. I happened upon this truth quite by accident over the last year when I very grudgingly joined Twitter at the urging of a mentor.

You don't have time NOT to social network.

Attending conferences, visiting and commenting on other blogs, and researching ways to build a platform are all very important tasks. I certainly do not want to cast a negative light at all over these vital tasks. However, these tasks also take a great deal of time.

Social media, on the other hand, is a rapidly growing outreach that is a "hit and run" pace. It is also free publicity! You can grow your platform in only 10 minutes a day.

I promise.

10 minutes.

Go ahead.. set a timer. I will wait here.

Here are some tips for growing your platform in 10 minutes a day on a Social Network like Twitter:

1. Sign up for Twitter and follow as many people as possible that have interests common to you. For example, you could search for "Blogger", "Author", "Southern", etc. Most people will follow you back.

2. Jump in on the conversation! Take 10 minutes to respond to every tweet that interests you. Don't be shy! I know at first it feels like you are intruding on a private conversation between two other people, but all tweets are open for everyone to see... and to respond to. This is a great way to make friends!

3. Make Twitter "Lists" -- Lists are an easy way to organize your twitter followers and to get to know others who often reply to your tweets.

4. "Follow" most people back who "follow" you first. This is basic Twitter etiquette, and is a wonderful way to connect with others. However, be sure to check their Twitter profile first to make sure that they are not spammers or trying to sell you something.

I have only been on Twitter for one year, and in only 10 minutes a day, I have seen my Twitter followers grow to almost 3000 followers. My blog pageviews and subscribers have increased, and I am contacted with more amazing opportunities since my subscriber base has grown!

More importantly, I have made some really great friends and found others who share common interests, cheer me up with their funny tweets, and have even won tickets to an awesome conference just by attending Twitter parties!

Go ahead and give 10 minutes of social media a try today! When you do, tweet me and let me know you did! I'm on Twitter at @MelanieAnneTN.
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Melanie is a full-time industrial software developer and mom of two boys. She lives in the beautiful Appalachian mountains with her husband and children and writes at Only A Breath about faith, giveaways, family, budgeting, and resources and encouragement for women.

Platform Now!

by Tom Blubaugh

My publishing story is different, from most. I was busy writing a story for myself. A therapy session since both my grandfathers died before I was born. I was fascinated by the fact that one was a Cossack soldier in Russia. I took the few facts I had and began researching and writing.

I was nearly finished when a friend contacted me to help him with a website for a publishing company he was starting. Long story short, during the process they uncovered the fact that I was writing a story. They read the manuscript and asked if they could publish my story. I had not planned on this. I agreed and we signed the contracts.

“I have a platform”, I told my publisher. I believed I was telling the truth—I really thought I did. After all, I had been on the internet doing business as Grampa Tom’s Timeless Treasures since 1998. Even though I sold the site in 2005, Grampa Tom still shows up in search engine searches on over 85,000 pages. Problem: No one knows my real name.

I did business as a financial planner from 1973 through 1995. I met thousands of people. Problem: I sold the business in 1995 and turned all my client records over to the new owner—no names.

I have been a public speaker for forty years. Problem: where are all those people? How do I get in touch with them? Press releases were a possibility, but when my publisher tried to get one in my hometown newspaper, they did not respond. I did not feel very hopeful.

I have a website that has been online since 2004 to help those who are victims of abuse. Should I advertise my book on this site? I decided I did not want to mix the two.

I had less than 200 friends on Facebook. I knew not all of them would buy my novel. My platform turned out to be less than I had thought.

I think this happens to many writers. They write a great manuscript. They succeed in finding a publisher. Then the big questions, “Do you have a platform?” “How are you going to sell your book if we publish it?”

I have surmised that the time to start building a platform is before beginning to write a story. Work on both the manuscript and the platform as a two-part project. Develop a marketing/business plan up front. I have been working hard at building a platform for nearly ten months. I am just arriving at the point where I have a large following. The book reviews on Amazon.com have pushed Night of theCossack into the top thirty in two fiction categories. This is not sales. Night of the Cossack is still around 250,000 in sales ranking, but it is a start. My monthly sales on Amazon.com are in double digits. I am speaking and doing book signings. I am finally, in some measure, a successful writer.

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Tom Blubaugh is a freelance writer living in Southwest Missouri with Barbara, his wife. They have six children and fourteen grandchildren. Tom has written non-fiction most of his adult life, but has recently written a historical fiction titled Night of the Cossack, published by Bound by Faith Publishers. This is Tom’s first novel. He co-wrote a devotional journal in 2009 for Barbour Publishing titled The Great Adventure. His other writings include articles for a denominational magazine and an insurance publication. He also self-published a book, Behind the Scenes of the Bus Ministry in 1974.

Tom started writing poetry at the age of fourteen. His vision of turning them into lyrics for rock and roll songs for popular artists didn’t develop. He considers writing to be a God-given talent and feels led to develop it. His first novel was published at his age of 69. Tom says it’s never too late. He is now writing a sequel.

Tom spent twelve years as an insurance agent and eleven years as a financial planner. He is the past president of Jericho Commission, Inc., and still serves on the board of directors. 

Trick or Treat?

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

With four children still living at home, our house is lively every October 31st. We load up on ghoulish fare such as Swamp Soup and Boneyard Breadsticks before the kids gather truckloads of sugary wonder from our neighbors. They may yell, "Trick or Treat" but are presented with treats not tricks.


Have you ever seen a Twitter account with a gravatar that could shock Lady Godiva?


Have you ever visited a blog with a sweet name but sour posts?


Have you ever graced a Facebook page with a "like" only to be appalled by lack of tolerance and snap judgments by the page owner?


Social media is filled with plenty of tricks who claim to be treats. 


This week as we add another brick to our platforms, let's make it a true treat. No tricks up our sleeves.

What Will You Get to Do Today?

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

My kindergartner crept downstairs at precisely 5 am Wednesday morning. Wearing her pajamas and a Cheshire worthy grin, excitement danced on her face. "Mommy, today is the day. I get to do so many things I've never done before. I get to ride on a school bus for the first time. I get to go on my first field trip."

Like a grenade aimed at bullet proof glass, her energy infiltrated my groggy heart. My immediate reaction was to ponder how my efforts to build a platform would revolutionize if I eradicated "I have to" and adopted "I get to".

What if today's mantra was....

• I get to write a new blog post
• I get to schedule tweets
• I get to connect with someone new on LinkedIn

By flipping the switch in my brain from "I have to" to "I get to" tasks that once seemed like drudgery become delight. Okay maybe delight is a stretch but would you settle for doable? I know I would.

Make a list of three things you want to do today to build your platform as an author. Powered by the "get to" you'll get to build a more effective platform.

Speak to Me

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

It is safe here behind the computer screen. Its' invisible shield guards me from taking a bigger risk. I can edit at length and often and linger as I pen prose to shape the sands around me.

Does this echo in your heart? I'd like to challenge you to step away from the computer screen and take center stage. Writing is the benefactor of speaking.

Think Fast

I used to belabor every verb selection and cringe over each -ly or -ing word. I meandered on the path to publication. Somedays I spent hours composing a single blog post. The world behind the microphone has trained my mind to think fast and not turn every moment of prose into a museum of anti-progress.

Think Big

The patch of ground under your La-Z-Boy is malnourished. Super size your thinking by blending speaking with writing. When you speak, you write in real time. You interpret the expressions and reactions of your audience as the words flow out. You make adjustments. You fill the stage. Your thoughts expand with the size of your platform.

Think Clear

Do you work from an orderly outline or allow words to flow from your heart at their own pace? An effective speaker is one who knows where they are going next. One illustration or anecdote flows into the next and weaves a tapestry of a story told one sentence at a time.

The same is true of an article, essay or novel. Speaking practices your mind in the art of knowing what comes next. A clear path prevents wasted thinking time and redeems it as writing time. Your clear thoughts lead to a early completion.

Think speaking isn't for you? Start small. Volunteer to read during story time at your local library. Raise your hand to introduce the speaker at your next function. Then dare to take center stage and have your thinking and writing transformed through speaking.

Your fast, big, clear thoughts translate to extra articles accepted for publication and additional book sales. You might even make a few extra dollars in speaking fees to fund your writing. So come on...and speak to me.

One Day Starts Today

by Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief

David J. Schwartz, PhD said, “The person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that “progress is made one step at a time.”

We would all love to wake up this morning and be a successful bestselling, sought after author with people clamoring for our books, so much so the publisher can’t get them printed fast enough. Movie studios are knocking at our door with contracts.

The truth is that normally doesn’t happen to anyone…and if it should, there is a strong possibility that it will be just for that one book because they haven’t built their foundation. Long-term writing success requires a foundation and as Dr. Schwartz said, “foundations are built one brick at a time. Football games won a play at a time.” When you see someone hit it big, look close, you will see that person used the one-step at a time approach. One-step upon another until stardom was attained.

To become a bestselling author, many steps come into play. We have to write every day to finish our manuscript. Then we need to find an agent who will find the publisher or we need to find a self-publisher. Our work doesn’t stop there. Then comes the marketing phase of this foundation. Every day we have to make efforts to market our book. We have to Facebook, Twitter, and then we need to blog. There are many bricks needed to build our foundation. Remember in anything we undertake, to succeed we need to take one-step, one brick, and one day at a time.

When we have a project to work on, we should never look at the entire scope of the project, just the part that can be achieved that day. We have all heard the expression ‘One day at a time’. That is all we have. Take today; write what you can, market what you can; your one day starts today!

What a Twit?

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

When asked if I was on Twitter, I wondered if the inquiry was a veiled insult.  Was I just called a twit?  Did my so-called friends think the world would better served if I limited my thoughts to 150 characters?  Most importantly, why would writing shorter thoughts benefit me?

I eventually dipped the tip of one wing into Twitter.  My first 450 characters felt like a twanxiety or twanic attack but I persevered.  Eventually the little blue bird taught me some valuable reasons Twitter should be a part of every writer's platform.

Twitter Teaches You to Be Yourself

The more I tried to be cute, pithy or engaging, the less interested the tworld was in my thoughts.  When I engaged the real Shannon, I was twinteresting.  Know who you are and tweet authentically.

Twitter Rewards You for Being Considerate

If you make Twitter all about you, few followers will engage on more than a surface level.  Make your tweets about them and be amazed as good things come your way.  Celebrate your friend's successes.  Boast about other's informative articles.  As mama might say, "To have a twiend, you have to be a twiend."

Twitter Encourages You to Be Open-Minded

Has this happened to you?  You write a blog you feel like only your aunt and her bridge club read.  You have a Facebook club liked only by people you're already "friends" with.  Blogs and Facebook are based primarily on circles of relationship.  You get the highest response from your closest friends, lesser responses from casual friends and little reponse from acquaintances and strangers. 

Twitter expands your circle of influence to the size of the equator as quickly as you're willing to grow.  However, you have to be willing to actually engage the world.  Traditional relationships are based on alignment of interests, belief and standard of living. 

Are you willing to follow an urban rapper or a country bumpkin?  Are you willing to learn about sky diving or couponing?  Are you confident enough about your own beliefs to entertain different political or religious points of view? 

Open your mind and expand your twinfluence exponentially. 

Is Twitter for you?  It is if you want to reach multitudes in an abbreviated time frame with your message.  I'll be your twit, if you'll be mine!

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Shannon can be found tweeting as herself and Southern Writers Magazine.

Even Bozo Gets a Red Nose...Occasionally

by Shannon Milholland, Social Media Director

The day I started my blog, I could barely spell the word. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even have the sense to read up on the proper way to start one. I subscribed the Nike theory and just did it.

About six months in someone who found out about my speaking and writing ministry asked me if I was similar to a well-known national speaker. "No," I replied, "She's an example of how to do things right, whereas, I am an example of how to not do things wrong."

My journey into blogging was no different. I made many blunders. Today you are the beneficiary. Here's what NOT to do when starting your blog:

Don't Comment Back

I felt weird when someone commented on my blog. It seemed like if I replied to their praise, I was being egotistical or egocentric. I didn't reply and they stopped commenting.

Don't Read Trade Articles

Despite my attempt at humility through lack of comments, I displayed a rare streak of egotism by not bothering to learn anything about blogging. When I finally started reading articles, like the ones found in Southern Writers Magazine (shameless self-promotion warning), I learned more in a few hours than I had in months of blogging.

Don't Partner with Others

Why in the world would I need to feature other people's work on my blog? How would I ever get read if I was busy highlighting someone else's work? I did all the blogging myself and quickly exhausted my sphere of influence. I had few documented readers I didn't have a personal relationship with.  When I began to network and partner with author bloggers, my readership grew exponentially.

Don't Read and Comment on Other Blogs

I barely had enough time to write my own blog. Why would I spend the precious moments I had browsing someone else's site?  I didn't read anyone else's blog and they didn't read mine. When I started reading other blogs, I got an excellent idea about once a week. It may be a layout enhancement or a social media utilization but ideas rapidly morphed into improvements.  Improvements led to more readers.

When I started blogging, I was a real Bozo. I fell on my face several times.  The result is several bloody noses. With each crash, I learned a lesson. Eventually this Bozo found a nose - a "read" one.