Tips on Social Media: Your Name, Your Brand

by Auburn Rutledge Fox

I have a very simple theory in my approach to social media, social networking, and the online approach in general. That theory can be summed up in one word: unification. One of the key reasons for utilizing social media is to be easily discoverable in a variety of mediums: a blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any number of more specialized platforms. And what is the easiest way to link between your various online personas?

Your name, of course.

I cannot emphasize how essential it is, especially as a writer, to make use of your name whenever possible. Your name is your brand. It is how people know you. Being mysterious (TheDarkOne) or cute (PurpleFlowerGirl86) or paranoid (Anon) with your digital presence simply does not work in a more sophisticated online environment. The days of total privacy and anonymity on the Internet are over, at least if you plan on truly interacting with your audience.

Here are some ways to unify, using the fictional writer Alex Wright as an example:

* Park your domain name for a website and blog: AlexWright.com, alexwright.blogspot.com.

* Create an e-mail that uses your name: alexwright@gmail.com.

* Better yet, create a website using your name and have an e-mail matched to that domain name: AlexWright.com, e-mail alex@alexwright.com.

* Sign up with your name for your top five or so social media platforms to establish your user profile.

* If a medium makes use of usernames, make yours intuitive: Alex Wright becomes alex.wright.

* Comment and post on other social media sites, and be sure to include a signature line with your name: Alex Wright, The Wright Brothers, AlexWright.com.

It’s acceptable if your brand is not necessarily your name, or your entire name—such as a penname or business. What’s important is that it is the name people will associate with you. The same steps would apply. If Alex’s business is The Wright Brothers, than wright.brother, etc., is the way to go. The key is to make sure you use the same identifier everywhere to establish recognition and familiarity. Without it, your social media strategy will be completely disorganized. And your results? Even less promising.

Comments (0) 03.06.2010. 11:33

Author Websites in the Age of Social Media

by Auburn Rutledge Fox

Social media is a multi-faceted system of online interaction between people. Web 2.0. Give and take. Exchanges. Technologies. Shiny. It’s become pretty much a given that, as a writer, you will be somehow involved in the conversation. Websites, however, are often inherently considered not to be “social.” That's because they’re customarily static sources of information. Case in point: the traditional author website. Here I am, here’s what I write, here’s some links. Dull. Stagnant. Probably losing most of its traffic to the author’s Wikipedia page.

This does not mean that author websites are dead. Rather, this means that author websites must be innovative. They must become interactive. They must say something and allow readers to say something back.

Your audience (both current and potential) is interested in you, as well as your books/writing/publications. They are looking for the chance to interact with you, to know what your life is like and what your thoughts on writing are and how to follow in your footsteps or get your advice. What they don’t want is to go to your website and not get a sense of who you are.

Authors have approached this not as a problem, but as a challenge—how to make my space on the web a place where my readers want to go? Ideas have included:

* tying your site into your blog (or make your site a blog)

* offer downloads—for example, notes about your book(s) and writing process

* create a forum for comments

* link your website with your social networking or bookmarking sites

* sponsor reader contests

* add videos and connect to YouTube

* add pictures and connect to Flickr or Photobucket

* get involved in link exchanges with other authors, bloggers, organizations, etc.

Note: This doesn’t mean your website has to be ultra-tech or complicated, just that it has to in some way break out of the box of being just a website.

What other ways can help your author website say something?

Auburn Rutledge Fox is currently an online marketer by trade. She’s a former film-TV major-turned-social media lover, book nerd, blog reader and geek following the latest trends in non-traditional advertising, publishing, social networking and digital media by day. She spends her nights writing, watching movies, surfing her favorite sites for news, and flipping through comic books. Sometimes all at once.

Comments (0) 26.05.2010. 13:28

Introducing Guest Blogger Auburn Rutledge Fox!

Because I haven't exactly been practicing what I preach when it comes to (ahem) blogging consistency, I've enlisted the help of seasoned online marketer Auburn Rutledge Fox. I've turned to Auburn for her input on social media campaigns and completely trust that her guest blog for Legacy will be both useful and enjoyable! Stay tuned for her first post. And if there's anything writing-, editing-, or marketing-related you'd like us to cover, drop me a line at katie@legacyeditorialconsulting.com!

Comments (0) 26.05.2010. 13:20