I Like Round Numbers and I Cannot Lie

I knew this was coming–my blog hit 1,000 followers! (blank stare) I should be happier about this, but I hit a happy equilibrium / burn out between me and my social media a month ago, so I wonder what all those numbers I collect actually mean.

I started this blog back last summer as a way to build a community and get people interested in my books. As I remind myself, I have sold more books than I ever have before I started reaching out on social media. However, I have to remind myself of that multiple times a month, because the number is still not very high.

Now that is my own fault–promoting yourself does not come easily or naturally–I’ve had many people comment on this blog that “I didn’t know you wrote books!” So that means I’ve either designed my website wrong that you can’t see the “Books” tab, or I need to curate the mobile function that it’s a lot more obvious that I’d like you to read my books. I also don’t plug my books with every post; because I’d like to think I would lose my readers than I would gain if I did that.

So I have to ask myself–what do I gain from building my social media community? For the record, I’m close to my 5,000 follower limit on Facebook, over 4,300 on Twitter, approaching 7,000 on LinkedIn, and around 550 on GoodReads. I think I’ve actually gotten more sales from Twitter than my blog, but I put daily love into my blog, and little elsewhere. So what I’ve realized is:

Twitter: people want bite-sized morsels of fun… they don’t want to read a blog. However, you’re more likely to grab their attention with a blurb about your book, that will attract them to go read it.

Facebook: people want slightly larger morsels, but this is the home of the meme, and occasionally seeing what your friend’s kids are doing. I’m finding it less effective in getting the word out.

LinkedIn: Mostly an online resume, but there’s a significant number of folk who actually use the social media function. I’ve gotten a lot of interest and some traffic to my blog, but whether that actually translates into purchases is beyond me.

GoodReads: Here’s actually book readers who are excited about reading books! My exact audience! However, it is the hardest to attract new followers, and hardest to get traction.

So what does the future hold for my online presence? Well, if you’ve read my whiny post up to this point, don’t worry–I’m still going to write my blog. I get great personal satisfaction from writing 300-500 words a day, I have a dedicated group of 100-150 readers who actually care enough to look at my daily extreme moderate rants. I’ve also found some great readers who have excellent comments. I treasure you all.

For the rest, I’m planning on cutting off most of my Facebook friends (or the ones that I don’t have a shred of connection with), and just using that as a repeater for the blog. Continue plugging away at GoodReads, tread water with my LinkedIn, but plug my book more on Twitter. But what do you think? Am I whining too much? Should I get on Instagram? What possibilities have I not explored? Let me know in the comments below!