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What are Affiliate Schemes and How Do they Work?

Dear Editor | What are Affiliate Schemes and How Do they Work?

In my previous post on how writers earn money, one of the ways writers (and bloggers, and other online business owners) can earn money is through affiliate schemes.

But what are affiliate schemes? How do they work? Are there any rules around affiliate scheme membership? And how do you sign up?

All great questions, so let’s get started.

What are affiliate schemes? How do they work? Are there any rules around affiliate scheme membership? And how do you sign up? #BloggingTips #AffiliateMarketing Share on X

What are Affiliate Schemes?

An affiliate scheme is a form of advertising, but not traditional advertising.

Traditional advertising is business to consumer:

McDonalds advertise their product on TV, and hope that people show up in store and buy their burgers. If enough people buy their burgers, McDonalds make a profit and get to stay in business.

Affiliate marketing is consumer to consumer:

An affiliate shares their unique link to a product, and hopes that people click on the link and buy the product. For every person who clicks on the link and buys the product, the affiliate earns a commission payment, at no cost to the buyer.

The difference between advertising and affiliate marketing is payment.

An advertiser pays for the advertisement even if no one buys (yes, some advertising is pay per view (PPV) or pay per click (PPC), but the advertiser still pays even if no one buys).

With affiliate marketing, the producer only pays when someone buys the product.

If the buyer subsequently asks for a refund, the affiliate doesn’t receive credit for that sale (which is why most affiliate schemes pay on a 30-day or 60-day lag).

The producer and the affiliate both earn only if the product sells.

The buyer doesn’t pay any more for the product—the commission is paid for by the seller, out of the selling price. You can still buy the product or service for the same price without using the affiliate link. But using the affiliate link is a small way of saying “thank you” to someone who has given you good advice or recommended a product you’re interested in. And it costs you nothing.

Some affiliate schemes offer discounts to people who buy through an affiliate link.

For example, Bluehost charges $7.99/month for basic webhosting. First-time customers can often get basic hosting for $3.95/month if they sign up for three years (that’s my affiliate link). But if you sign up for Bluehost using some affiliate links (like this one, which the WP-BFF.com affiliate link), you can get basic hosting for $2.95/month for three years.

How do Affiliate Schemes Work?

At the high level, affiliate schemes work by giving the seller access to a wider audience. It’s cheaper than advertising, because the seller only pays if the product or service sells.

At the technical level, each affiliate is allocated a unique code. Instead of sharing the straight product link, they share a longer link that includes their affiliate code. The website then knows to credit that affiliate with any purchases made using that tracking link.

For example, here is a standard Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Deep-Waters-Christine-Dillon-ebook/dp/B07V2KRF88/

As you can see, the link shows the title (Grace in Deep Waters), the author name (Christine Dillon), and the ASIN—the Amazon identification number—for the book (B07V2KRF88).

Here is that same link with my Amazon tracking ID:

https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Deep-Waters-Christine-Dillon-ebook/dp/B07V2KRF88/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=iolagoulton-20&linkId=41a7e847aa6cecf305f4c4e647968605&language=en_US

Ugly, isn’t it? But you can see my tracking code hidden in there—iolagoulton-20.

And here is the short version of that link, which includes my embedded Amazon tracking ID:

https://amzn.to/2N51YPL

It’s shorter and cleaner, but there is nothing to show it is an affiliate link … and that’s something we have to disclose.

Most affiliate links use cookies which are valid for anywhere from 24 hours to 180 days. That means that if you visit a site using an affiliate link, the site tracks my link and gives the me affiliate credit for any purchase you make while the tracking link is still valid.

What are affiliate schemes, how do they work, and what are the legalities? #AffiliateMarketing #BlogTips Share on X

Affiliate Disclosure

In the same way that book reviewers are required to disclose they received a free copy of the book for review, the US Federal Trade Commission requires that affiliates disclose their affiliate status. This is because affiliates, influencers, and endorsers are considered advertisers—because we potentially earn a money by promoting that product or service.

This disclosure could be through a disclosure statement on a website, or a #ad, #affiliate, or #AmazonInfluncer tag on social media. Here’s an example disclosure statement:

I am a member of the [company] affiliate programme. This means I earn a commission on any purchases you make using these affiliate links. Note that this does not affect the price you pay.

You even have to include a disclosure statement if you received a free book to review. Here’s the disclosure I use in reviewing:

Thanks to [publisher] and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

How Do I Start Affiliate Marketing?

Many companies offer affiliate schemes. Amazon is probably the biggest and best known, but there are hundreds of others. In fact, managing your affiliate links could easily become a full-time job (but not one that’s guaranteed to pay, as we’ll discuss next week).

I recommend starting with Amazon (if they accept you—they do have requirements). After that, consider what products and services you currently use which you’ve purchased online, and see if any of them have affiliate schemes. check their website: many companies have an affiliate link in the footer.

If you can’t find a link on the website, then ask Google: search for the company or product name plus “affiliate” or “affiliate scheme”. That usually works if the company has an affiliate scheme.

But not all companies offer affiliate schemes.

For example, I use and love Buffer (and the WP to Buffer plugin for WordPress). I recommend them. But neither company have affiliate schemes, so I don’t earn anything by recommending them.

If you do decide to dip your toe in the waters of affiliate marketing by sharing affiliate links, then I recommend you curate the offers you share. Don’t share every product and service you find. Focus on products and services that:

  • You have personally used and recommend (ideally, products you have personally paid for).
  • Represent good value for money.
  • Are a good fit for your audience.

This is partly about the relevance of the offer (you want to share offers that your audience are likely to be interested in), but its also about trust.

If you recommend a product that doesn’t deliver on the promise, then your audience might lose trust in your advice … all your advice.

There are a couple of services or courses I’ve bought or used that have affiliate schemes, but I didn’t find the service or course useful. Consequently, I haven’t signed up for those affiliate schemes and I don’t mention or promote those products. Maybe one day I’ll try the course again and be converted. Until then, you won’t hear about it from me.

This is especially important with more expensive items like courses. The more expensive the product, the more important it is that you only share products and services that serve your audience. That’s how you’ll enhance your brand and maintain trust with your audience.

Administration Details

When you apply to become an affiliate, you will need to provide details such as:

  • Your full name and address
  • Your website address
  • Links to the sites where you expect to display or promote affiliate links

You may also have to provide your tax information.

Big companies like Amazon and Bluehost are required to either have your tax information on record (so they can submit it to your country’s tax authorities) or to withhold tax payments (which is no different to how Amazon treat tax on book sales). Smaller companies or solo businesses are more likely to pay you the full commission, so tax is your responsibility.

Note that if your country has a tax treaty with the US, then you will only need to provide your local tax identification number. New Zealand has a tax treaty, so I only have to provide my GST number. If your country of citizenship or residence doesn’t have a tax treaty, then you may need to get a US tax number. Note that you can then use this same number on all US form.s

Note that affiliate income is taxable in your country of residence, so should be declared in your annual tax return. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and all that.

That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with the big question: will affiliate marketing earn you money?

What are Affiliate Schemes and How Do they Work?

Should I Hire Someone to Build my Social Media Presence?

Dear Editor | Should I Hire Someone to Build my Social Media Presence?

I often see variations on this question: An agent liked my manuscript, but said I needed to build my social media presence. I work full time. Should I hire someone?

Short answer: Maybe. Long answer …

Maybe. It depends on what your agent means by a social media presence, the kind of books you write and plan to write, on your brand, and on what God wants for your writing …

Dear Editor, An agent liked my manuscript, but said I needed to build my social media presence. I work full time. Should I hire someone? #BookMarketing #SocialMedia Share on X

Let me explain.

I don’t have an agent. I’m not seeking representation from an agent. I’ve lurked on a lot of agent blogs over the years, and one thing I’ve found is that agents are all different.

  • Some only accept electronic submissions; some only accept paper.
  • Some want a query letter first, others think a query letter is a waste of time and want a full proposal.
  • Some seem to think numbers are the only important aspect of a writer’s platform, others make no mention of the subject.

That’s an extended way of saying that for every agent who reads this blog post and thinks I’ve got something right, another will think I’ve got it wrong. The right answer to this question depends very much on the agent you’re talking about.

What is a Social Media Presence?

If your potential agent thinks a good social media presence is 100,000 engaged Twitter followers, then it’s possible the agent is out of touch. Absolute numbers are not as important as they once were—it’s all too easy to buy 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 followers on any platform.

It’s not even important how many people Like your posts (as Likes can also be bought).

While there are a lot of readers, writers, and reviewers on Twitter (and I definitely recommend having a Twitter account), you may be better building a following on Instagram or in a Facebook Group (as Facebook have announced they will be placing more emphasis on Groups and Events, as apparently these are their two most popular features). Facebook knows Groups and Events get engagement in a way that Pages don’t.

Engagement is important.

Engagement is how many people read and respond to your posts—whether by sharing an emotional reaction (e.g. a heart or wow reaction on Facebook), by adding a meaningful comment (something more than “great post!”) or by sharing.

Engagement comes from authentic two-way conversations. That means you have to be present on social media to build relationships and engage with those who engage with you—responding to comments, liking and commenting on posts. Being present and real and authentic. You can’t hire that out.

What does this agent expect in terms of building your social media presence?

But this might not be what your dream agent means. So you need to know what the agent means before you invest your time or your money in developing a social media presence. Does the agent mean social media only? Or does the agent mean your author platform—your entire online presence including social media, your website, and your email list?

Also, what manuscript did you submit?

  • Fiction or non-fiction?
  • What genre?
  • Was it written for adults, teenagers, or children?

These questions are important. If you’re going to build a social media presence, you need to focus on the platforms your target reader uses. There is little point in building a Facebook Page if your readers are all on Instagram.

I’ve discussed the basics of author platform in previous posts:

I’ve also built the Kick-Start Your Author Platform marketing challenge, an email course to help authors develop a basic platform.

Build Your Brand

How you do this will depend on what you are writing, and who you are writing for. You need to decide who you are, and build your author brand around that persona. Then you need to attract and engage with potential readers.

I believe you should do this yourself.

Why? Because you can’t hire someone to tell you who you are.

Should you hire someone to build your social media presence? I believe you should do this yourself, because you can’t hire someone to tell you who you are. #BookMarketing #SocialMedia Share on X

Once you know who you are and who you want to be online, you can hire someone to help you broadcast that message. But you’re going to have to do some of the hard work up front.

It’s generally agreed that a non-fiction author needs more of an author platform to interest an agent than a fiction author. That’s especially true in the case of true-life stories—for example, I’ve read that agents aren’t interested in cancer stories. They’re all too common.

Once you’ve decided who you are, and once you know what kind of platform your dream agent wants you to build, then you have another decision: is that what you want to do? Is it what God wants you to be doing?

Should you hire someone to build your social media presence?

The answer is going to depend on the answers to other questions:

  • What does this agent mean by “build a social media presence”? This is the most important question.
  • What manuscript is the agent interested in? What’s the genre? Is this the same as the books you’ve previously published, or different?
  • What is your brand? In other words, who are you? How do you want people to see you?
  • What does God want for your writing? Is this closed door a challenge for you to get past, or is it a door God doesn’t want you to open? Is chasing this agent God’s plan for you and your writing?
  • What is more important to you (and to your dream agent)—numbers or engagement?
  • How much is hiring someone going to cost? What results will you get? Is that return on your investment worth it to you?
  • Could you find a way to do this yourself, perhaps by investing in online tools such as Buffer or Hootsuite? Or by signing up to my Kick-Start Your Author Platform marketing challenge?

Once you’ve answered those questions, then you can get back to your original question: should you hire someone?

I suspect the answer is no.

That might change in a couple of weeks or a couple of months, when you find the answers to some of my other questions. By then, I suspect, the answer to your original question will be obvious.

If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer in a future blog post, please email me via www.christianediting.co.nz/contact.

Twitter Automation

How to (Responsibly) Use Twitter Automation

This week I’m going to talk about how to responsibly use Twitter automation to reduce your time on Twitter (and other social media) while still being a good Twitter citizen i.e. how not to be a Twitter spammer. Apps and plugins are your friend!

Yes, this will require a little time to set up, and there is a cost involved.

But it really is set-it-and-forget-it. Mostly. And it will save you time in the long run—and time is money.

Here are the main tools I use:

  • SocialJukebox
  • Buffer
  • WP to Buffer Pro

SocialJukebox (previously TweetJukebox)

You all know what a jukebox is: in the old days, it had a bunch of 45s and you could select which song you wanted from the playlist (for the younger readers: a 45 is a record with only one song on each side). They also had a random play function, and that is the concept behind Social Jukebox.

You load a virtual jukebox up with tweets, and SocialJukebox sends them randomly at predetermined intervals.

So, for example, you could have a jukebox for old blog posts that you tweet each Thursday using the #tbt (Throwback Thursday) hashtag. Yes, you have to load the posts into the relevant jukebox, but it’s a once-and-done thing: once you’ve loaded a post, it will be in that jukebox until you delete it.

SocialJukebox was previously known as TweetJukebox, and it just offered Tweets. The new version also posts to Facebook and LinkedIn, although I don’t use those options. Yet. Mostly because while I don’t mind seeing Tweets repeated, I’m not a fan of seeing the same Facebook post over and over. And if it annoys me, it’s reasonable to assume it will annoy my followers.

Click here to find out more about SocialJukebox.

Buffer

Buffer requires a little more input in my part. It works in a similar way to SocialJukebox in that it automatically posts content for me. The only difference is I have to load the posts in myself, and each will only post once (although there is a multiple post option). I find Buffer is an excellent tool for posting new content or news, whereas SocialJukebox is better suited for evergreen content (content which isn’t going to date—like a book review or Bible verse meme).

Buffer’s Pro plan currently costs USD 15 per month (with a 20% discount if paid annually), and allows users to link up to eight social media accounts including Pinterest and Instagram. Tip: if you subscribe to a paid plan, your price is locked in. I subscribed when it was USD 10 per month for 12 social media accounts, so my annual cost is only a little over $100.

If I could only justify one paying for social media plan, this would be it, because it enables me to post throughout the day even when I’m out of wifi zone (yes, it happens).

One thing I especially love about Buffer is that they appear to work closely with Twitter, and Buffer won’t allow you to bend or break the Twitter rules around spam and posting. If you try to Buffer two similar Tweets in too short a time, Buffer will reject the second Tweet. I like that—I have had my Twitter account suspended for unintentional spamming, and it’s not an experience I wish to repeat.

Click here to find out more about Buffer.

WP to Buffer Pro

I combine Buffer with another WordPress plugin: WP to Buffer.

The WP to Buffer plugin automatically sends all my new blog posts to Buffer, so I don’t have to remember to Tweet and share them in a timely manner. There is a free version and a paid version. The free version (WP to Buffer) is available to all WordPress users, and allows limited posting to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter via the free or paid Buffer plans.

I bought the Pro version ($39/year for a one-year single-site licence, or $199 for a lifetime multi-site licence). The Pro version is only available to self-hosted WordPress users or those on the more expensive WordPress.com plans. I currently use WP to Buffer Pro on my two sites (Christian Editing Services and Iola Goulton, my reviewing site), on Australasian Christian Writers, and on International Christian Fiction Writers.

WP to Buffer Pro allows me to:

  • Post to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.
  • Send multiple posts to each social media network.
  • Send posts to the start or end of my Buffer queue, or post them at a specific time.
  • Customise my posts by social network.
  • Add selected images to my posts.
  • Customise individual posts.

Using WP to Buffer Pro means I can automatically share to each site, whether I have wifi access or not. It also saves me time—it takes five to ten minutes per blog post to share once to each social network, and the plugin shares each post between one and seven times (depending on how I’ve set it up). And I’m sharing from three blogs each weekday, so that’s saving me up to half an hour a day. That’s a win!

The fact I’m able to customise each post also means I’m keeping in Twitter’s good books, because each post is unique.

Other WordPress Plugins

The makers of WP to Buffer have a companion plugin for Hootsuite users, WP to Hootsuite. As far as I can tell, it has all the same features, as well as the paid upgrade.

WordPress users can also use Publicize (part of Jetpack) to automatically share blog posts to social media. However, I’m not sure if this is available on the free plan, or only on the paid plans (paid plans start at $5/month).

No, I’m not on Twitter (or social media in general) 24/7. But tools like this allow me to be “active” even when I’m asleep.

Do you use any free or paid tools to help you manage social media? Which tools do you recommend?

What's Changing at Twitter (Hint: no more spam)

What’s Changing at Twitter? (An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post)

Today’s post is part of the monthly Author Toolbox Blog Hop. The Hop is organised by Raimey Gallant, and has over 40 participating blogs. To find more posts, click here to check out the main page, click here to search #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop on Twitter, or click here to find us on Pinterest.

What’s Changing at Twitter?

I had planned to continue my series on email lists and giveaways this week. But I discovered Twitter have announced changes to their rules and policies around automation, and the changes come into effect on Friday (23 March 2018). These changes affect me directly, and indirectly affect all my fellow #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop participants. That’s why I’m covering it today.

These changes affect:

  • Anyone who manages multiple Twitter accounts.
  • Anyone who posts the same Tweet more than once (i.e. recycles Tweets).

If you don’t fit either of these categories, congratulations! You’re good to go. Otherwise, read on …

The Background

As we all know, social media has become a lot less social. In early 2018, Facebook announced they are changing their algorithm to reduce the number of posts from businesses, brands, and media so we’re better able to use Facebook for the original purpose: to stay connected with the people who matter to us. The subtext to this announcement is that Facebook are going to push businesses, brands, and media to pay to advertise or to boost posts, because that’s how Facebook makes money.

Now Twitter is taking a similar approach.

There are three ways to post a Tweet:

  1. Direct: A direct Tweet posts immediately from Twitter.
  2. Scheduled: A scheduled Tweet posts at a set date and time in the future, and may be scheduled in Twitter, or in an external app.
  3. Automated: An automated Tweet is when someone uses an external app such as Audiense ,Buffer, CrowdFire, Dlvr.it, Hootsuite, MeetEdgar, SocialJukebox, or TweetDeck to tweet on their behalf. Automated tweets are often duplicate Tweets.

Twitter have noticed (haven’t we all!) that a lot of Tweets are automated sales tweets, fake news, or spam. I often come across accounts where the Tweets all appear to be automated sales Tweets, sometimes coming from multiple accounts. I’m sure I’m not alone.

Authors are not innocent in this. I’ve read blog posts teaching me how to upload hundreds of Tweets to a programme like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, so the Twitter account can automatically Tweet sales messages. I’ve seen authors Tweeting these sales messages as often as every ten minutes. One author I know of has over 370,000 Tweets, but less than 5,000 followers … and just 16 Likes. If that’s not spam, what is?

What’s Happened?

I’m sure we all agree that Twitter would be a lot more social if there were fewer automated Tweets … especially automated sales tweets. So Twitter have updated their rules. Twitter now explicitly prohibits certain actions, and these changes come into affect this week, on 23 March 2018.

Twitter says:

  • Do not (and do not allow your users to) simultaneously post identical or substantially similar content to multiple accounts.
  • Do not (and do not allow your users to) simultaneously perform actions such as Likes, Retweets, or follows from multiple accounts.
  • The use of any form of automation (including scheduling) to post identical or substantially similar content, or to perform actions such as Likes or Retweets, across many accounts that have authorized your app (whether or not you created or directly control those accounts) is not permitted.

Twitter will police these changes, and suspend or terminate accounts which break the rules.

The first two points only apply to people who operate more than one Twitter account, so the easy solution is to stick to one account!

People who do operate more than one account now have to be sure they are not duplicating content across the accounts.

This is easy when the accounts have a different focus (e.g. an author who also sells homemade cards on Etsy may have two accounts, but they are unlikely to be posting the same content). It’s a little harder when the two accounts have a different but overlapping focus (e.g. an author account, and an account for a group blog).

I have access to three Twitter accounts: my personal account, and two accounts related to group blogs where I’m part of the administration team. I don’t simultaneously post identical or substantially similar content across all three accounts, but I’ll make sure my team members know not to do this as well. We will also be careful about retweeting between accounts, as that could attract Twitters attention in a negative way.

Posting Multiple Updates

The third point is the one that has many authors worried: posting identical content.

The use of any form of automation (including scheduling) to post identical or substantially similar content, or to perform actions such as Likes or Retweets, across many accounts that have authorized your app (whether or not you created or directly control those accounts) is not permitted.

This is a change of wording, but not a change of official policy. When I wrote my previous blog post on the Twitter rules, this was one of the rules:

[Do not] post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account

Twitter says they do not permit multiple duplicate updates (i.e. recycled content) on one account. But they have historically permitted recycled content as long as the posts were at least twelve hours apart (according to dlvr.it). Dlvr.it say:

Twitter is now poised to enforce this policy much more aggressively by restricting all duplicate content posting, even if it the posts are made even days or weeks apart.

Most Twitter apps and Twitter experts are saying this means the end of recycled content. For example, MeetEdgar says:

Moving forward, it means you should expect scheduling tools that have allowed for automated content recycling to no longer offer that service for Twitter accounts.

MeetEdgar is planning an upgrade that will enable users to upload multiple variations on the same Tweet at the same time. Tweets will be marked as sent, and won’t be resent. They are also considering a spinnable text option.

Twitter have also updated their rules to specifically prohibit users from creating additional accounts to get around the “no duplicate Tweets”rule. The updated rule is:

[Do not] post duplicative or substantially similar content, replies, or mentions over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account, or create duplicate or substantially similar accounts

Under this updated rule, “duplicate content” has become “duplicative or substantially similar content, replies, or mentions”. Users are also now expressly forbidden from “creating duplicate or substantially similar accounts.”

So recycling Tweets is against the Twitter rules, and has been for some time. The difference is Twitter will now be policing this more strongly. This will directly affect me, and may indirectly affect all my fellow #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop participants. Why?

Because I currently recycle Tweets.

I recycle Tweets using two different apps:

Buffer

I use Buffer’s Power Scheduler feature to Tweet all my new blog posts seven times over the next year. I currently alternate between two tweets for these, so each individual Tweet gets sent three or four times.

Buffer does allow me to create a unique Tweet for each share, so I will utilise that feature going forward—the only problem will be getting creative enough so each Tweet is not “substantially similar”. This is the approach recommended by Digital Decluttered. Problem solved.

SocialJukebox

I use SocialJukebox to share my blog posts, #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop posts, and posts from the two group blogs I administer (Australasian Christian Writers and International Christian Fiction Writers).

This is more of a problem, as SocialJukebox (like MeetEdgar) is a once-and-done solution for recycling Tweets, which means repeat Tweets are duplicate Tweets. However, I can control how often the posts repeat, and I have now set this to 90 days. At most, any individual post will be seen no more than three or four times a year.

I hope this will be enough to escape the attention of the Twitter suspension team. But my Twitter account was briefly suspended last year, so I need to be careful. If I get suspended, I’ll pause all my SocialJukebox streams and hope that solves the problem.

I’m not sure what this will mean for SocialJukebox. It’s a paid service, and my renewal is coming up soon. The only reason I use SocialJukebox is to recycle Tweets. SocialJukebox have not made an official announcement about changes to their service relating to this update.

Do you administer more than one account? Or post identical updates to one account? How will this change affect you?

Best of the Blogs

Best of the Blogs | 9 September 2017

Best of the Blogs: the best posts of the week on writing, editing, publishing, and marketing.

Writing

Point of View

One of my personal bugbears when reading (and editing) is novels which headhop. In this excellent post, Most Common Writing Mistakes: Head-Hopping POV KM Weiland explains why headhopping is a bad idea … and how it’s often a symptom of a bigger problem:

it’s also a sign the entire narrative—all the way down to the structural foundation of the plot—lacks focus.

Publishing

Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses Rip Van Winkle Syndrome among writers—a summary of how the business of publishing has changed in the last decade. Anyone who hasn’t kept up might feel like Rip Van Winkle did after waking from his twenty-year sleep.

Marketing

Cover Design

Emilie Hendryx visits Novel Rocket to share 3 Ways Your Cover Sells Your Novel. I have to agree: people do judge books by their cover. There is a new release I keep seeing promoted on blogs and social media. I know from the title and blurb it’s supposed to be historical fiction with a romantic element. Maybe I’m the only one, but the cover image reminds me of Cruella de Vil … not my idea of a romantic heroine. No, I’m not going to share the name or author.

Amazon Ads

David Gaughran shares 9 Ways to Improve AMS – Amazon Ads for Authors. It’s a combination of instruction on how to use Amazon ads, and how Amazon could make their advertising more user-friendly i.e. encourage advertisers to spend more money by providing clearer information on how to get a positive ROI.

I don’t have any books for sale on Amazon, so my experience of Amazon ads is solely as a potential Kindle book buyer. Almost all the books I check out are Christian fiction, so I’d expect the advertised books to be Christian fiction—or at the most edgy, fiction written by Christian authors for the general market. But that’s not the case, and I guess we can thank EL James and Christian Grey for that. I wonder if these authors realise they are wasting their time and money?

Sharing to Social Media

Buffer have an excellent post on What to Post to Each Social Media Platform (Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter). You can post to five of these six using a free Buffer account, or to all six using a basic paid Awesome account (my choice). Anyway, check out the post. Or click here to find out more about how I use Buffer.

Website Maintenance

If you have a WordPress website (and you should), you need to keep it maintained (voice of experience here). Shannon Mattern explains how in How to Maintain Your Website.

If you want to set up your own WordPress website and don’t know where to start, I recommend Shannon’s free Five Day Website Challenge. It’s how I developed this site, and www.iolagoulton.com. Click here to find out more.

What’s the best blog post you’ve read this week?

Introducing Buffer

Introducing Buffer

What Is Buffer?

Buffer (www.Buffer.com) is one of many programmes that allows users to manage their social media posting. Other popular options include Hootsuite and MeetEdgar. I like and recommend Buffer because I think it has a better user interface than Hootsuite, and it’s not as expensive as MeetEdgar.

Buffer Plans

Buffer’s free plan allows users to post to:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+
  • Instagram

The free plan allows up to five accounts—one from each network—and allows you to share up to 10 posts per network. This could mean one post a day for ten days, or ten posts every day (although then you’ll have to reload your Buffer each day. If you’re sharing this often, you might benefit from a paid plan).

The Pro Plan

I subscribe to Buffer’s Pro plan, which costs USD 15 per month and is awesome (Buffer don’t have an affiliate scheme, so I’m not being paid for saying that). The Pro plan gives subscribers access to eight social accounts across six social networks—the five networks available on the free plan, plus Pinterest.

The Awesome plan allows users to queue up to 100 posts in each social media buffer (so that’s 1,000 posts in all). They’ve obviously changed the rules a little, because my personal limit is 12 accounts, and up to 200 posts. Moral of the story: subscribe early, to get the maximum benefit for the minimum cost.

The Pro plan is designed for individuals—there are also a range of business plans starting at USD 99 per month (with a 50% discount for registered not-for-profit organisations). For more information on these plans, see their Pricing page.

How do I use Buffer?

Buffer is one of the tools I use to enable me to post to social media when I’m not actually on social media. I use a tool called Freedom to lock me out of social media for most of the working day. Buffer posts during the day instead of me, posting content I’ve added ahead of time. There are two types of content I share through Buffer:

  • My own content (e.g. blog posts)
  • Curated content (quality blog posts from other people)

Curated Content

I subscribe to more blogs than I care to admit through Feedly. Each weekday, I scan my Feedly feed and check out the titles of all the posts that have come through. I’ll read those which interest me, and pick a few to share. (This is why it’s important to have a catchy blog post title.)

But I don’t want to clog my social media feeds by sharing everything at once. Instead, I click on the downloadable Buffer extension. From here, I can choose which of my linked social media accounts I want to share to, and can write an individual message for each network.

I can write different messages for different social networks.

This is important when it comes to post length and hashtags. Twitter limits posts to 280 characters, while the limit (!) on Facebook is 63,206 characters. Two hashtags are ideal on Twitter. Instagram allows up to thirty, and Facebook … well, Facebook allows hashtags but they haven’t really caught on. #AndMostPeopleDontKnowHowToUseThemAnyway

However, if I share to a Facebook profile, a page, and a group, each one will show the same message. I can share the same post to two different Facebook pages with two different messages, but I’d have to share the post twice—first to one page, then to the other. This isn’t hard—it takes about 30 seconds per post.

If the post is time-sensitive (e.g. a book giveaway), then I’ll ask Buffer to “Share Next”. This means my queue is rearranged so this is the next post shared on each network. Otherwise I’ll “Add to Buffer”, which means the post is added to the end of my queue, and will be shared at different times to different social networks depending on what other posts are in my queue.

My Own Content

I use Buffer to share my own blog posts to my social media profiles. With my own content, I usually elect to “Share Next”.

Buffer also has a Power Scheduler tool so you can share the same post multiple times. Note that Power Scheduler can’t be used to post to Pinterest and Twitter

The premise of the Power Scheduler is related to a time management principle: Don’t Trust Your Future Self

Your future self won’t remember to promote your old blog posts on a regular basis, but you can act now and set the Power Scheduler do it for you.

You can achieve a similar result through a WordPress Tweet Old Posts plugin, or using another app, MissingLettr. I’ve tried both, and found Buffer’s Power Scheduler is quicker and easier to use than MissingLettr, and easier to customise than a plugin.

What about reposting in perpetuity, not just for a year? I use Social Jukebox for that, and I’ll talk about that next week.

Being Social on Social Media

Using Buffer means that when I visit a social media network, I’m visiting to check notifications, respond to comments, thank people for mentions, and generally interact. I’m not there looking for something shareable—I’ve done that already, and I know my social media tools will deliver that for me.

Instead, I can use social media for the purpose for which it was originally intended—to be social.

Do you use Buffer or other social sharing software? Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

Best Book Marketing Websites

#AuthorToolBoxBloghop: 9 Best Book Marketing Websites

This post is part of the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop, the brainchild of  Raimey Gallant. There are over thirty authors participating in the blog hop this month, each sharing on a topic related to writing, publishing or marketing. There are three great ways to follow the blog hop:

  1. Check out the list of participating websites on the main blog hop page
  2. Follow the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop hashtag on Twitter and other social media sites
  3. Visit the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop board on Pinterest

So … on to my 9 favourite book marketing websites.

I’m not yet published. Well, not in a book sense. I’ve got thousands of words published online in the form of hundreds of book reviews and blog posts–my book review blog will hit 1,000 posts in a couple of months, and at least 80% of those posts are reviews.

Even though I’m not yet published, I’ve been studying the art and science of writing, editing, publishing, and marketing for several years. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on the road to publication, it’s this:

Marketing starts a long time before you publish.

Which means everyone who wants to publish should have at least a passing awareness of current marketing trends. And there is a lot of marketing advice out there—some excellent, some good, and some downright misleading.

(I think the worst was the one which advised readers to add everyone they knew to their “opt-in email list”. Had she heard of the CAN-SPAM Act? Did she understand the meaning of the words, “opt in”? I can only assume not.)

Anyway, today I’m sharing the nine websites I find most useful when it comes to identifying book marketing trends.

1. BookBub

BookBub is the gorilla in the room of book marketing. They charge authors hundreds of dollars to advertise in one of their genre-specific daily emails, and turn down more potential advertisers than they accept. I’ve only heard of one author who didn’t make her money back on a BookBub ad (the book was middle grade fiction, so it doesn’t altogether surprise me. My kids are on their devices 24/7, but still prefer paper books).

But the power of BookBub’s featured advertisements isn’t why they are on my list. BookBub analyses their sales and other data to provide detailed articles on what sells, and what doesn’t. And that’s worth reading.

Chris Syme

Chris Syme is the owner of Smart Marketing for Authors, and the author of Sell More Books With Less Social Media, and the soon-to-be-published Sell More Books With Less Marketing. She also co-hosts a book marketing podcast with her daughter, bestselling romance author Becca Syme.

Reading Sell More Books with Less Social Media was a lightbulb moment for me, one of those times when someone says something that seems obvious, yet I’d never seen it before:

Not all authors are at the same level when it comes to writing and publishing, and our marketing needs to take that into account.

Dan Blank

Dan Blank is the owner of WeGrow Media, who help authors connect with readers. He has recently published Be The Gateway, where he shows authors how to research and understand their target audience, then work out how best to connect with those people. It’s about playing the long game in an industry where many people are looking for quick wins.
Be the Gateway
I like Dan’s philosophy of marketing—it’s similar to Tim Grahl, and is one I can embrace as someone who hates asking for the sale (something I’m working on). I enjoy reading his blog posts and newsletters—like his recent post reinforcing the importance of word-of-mouth marketing.

David Gaughran

David Gaughran is the author of Let’s Get Digital (why authors should consider digital self-publishing), and Let’s Get Visible. He was the first author to show me the importance of understanding and using Amazon algorithms to drive sales. The books are a few years old (and I read them both as new releases), so the information may have dated a little.

The other reason I like and follow David is because of his personal war against the vanity publishing, and the valuable information he provides on their various schemes. You might not think so, but this is marketing as well: it’s part of Product, one of the four Ps of marketing strategy.

Joel Friedlander

Joel Friedlander is The Book Designer. He hosts the monthly Cover Design Awards, where he critiques author-submitted covers. He also hosts a monthly Carnival of the Indies, a round-up of what’s new in indie publishing (and writing, and marketing). He also attracts guest posts from some of the top names in digital publishing.

Rachel Thompson

Rachel Thompson of BadRedHeadMedia is the mind behind #MondayBlogs and the weekly #BookMarketingChat on Twitter.

She’s also the author of The 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge, which was the inspiration behind my own KickStart Your Author Platform challenge. Rachel doesn’t pull her punches, and brings twenty-plus years of pharmaceutical sales experience to her marketing advice.

Seth Godin

Seth Godin invented the idea of permission-based marketing, that we should work to grow a tribe of people who support us and our work. He posts a short blog post each day, and all are worth reading.

The Buffer Blog

I love Buffer. I loved their free version, and I love the Awesome plan even more. Buffer enables me to manage my social media sharing without going mad. Hootsuite has similar functionality, but I find the Buffer interface much more user friendly.

But that’s not the reason Buffer is on this list. They’re on my list because of their blog. They share millions of social media posts, and collect information on the performance of those posts. That enables them to write meaty blog posts that answer a lot of social media questions: when is the best time to post? How many times a day should you post? Do you need to use hashtags? Images? Which social media networks perform best?

Buffer knows, and Buffer tells us.

Tim Grahl

Tim is the owner of Outthink Group. He is the author of Your First 1,000 Copies (which preaches the importance of building an email list and using those connections to market your book), and The Book Launch Blueprint (which reinforces the importance of building an email list, and using those connections to launch your book).

He’s not about sell-sell-sell. He’s about building meaningful connections, about getting permission to contact people (through the email list), delivering relevant content, and outreaching from there.

It’s been several years since I read Your First 1,000 Copies. I’ve recently realised that while I’m doing Permission and Content reasonably well, I need to work on Outreach.

That’s my list of the best book marketing websites. What are yours?

 

Best of the Blogs: 11 February 2017

My roundup of the best blog posts in the week ending 10 February, on writing, reading, publishing and marketing.

Writing

Free Writing Books

In case you hadn’t heard yet, I’m one of 18 writers involved in this Instafreebie promotion. Click here to find free non-fiction books on writing, publishing and marketing. But get in quick, because the promotion ends on Sunday 12 February.

(Over)writing

Christina Delay visits Jami Gold’s blog to share her 5 Steps to Avoid Overwriting (broadly defined as the lines we love the most. No, not really).

What do Readers (and Authors) Want?

Carrie at Reading is My Superpower (is that a cool blog name or what?) shares five things she wishes she saw more of in Christian fiction … and five things readers can do more of.

Publishing

Self-Publishing Tips

Pam McCutcheon visits Funds for Writers to ask: Should I Hire Someone to Upload by eBook or Do it Myself? I thought DIY was a no-brainer, but Pam points out as a PC user and non-US resident, I can’t upload to Apple or Nook myself. Paying someone like Pam to do it for me would mean I didn’t have to share my royalties with a distributor like Draft2Digital or Smashwords.

Marketing

Social Media

Do you use a social media scheduling app? The two main choices are Hootsuite and Buffer, and this post by Meenakshi Krishnan from Jeff Bullas’s blog takes you through the pros and cons of each.

I use Buffer, because I find the interface easier to use. While the analytics might not be as good as Hootsuite, they are more than sufficient for my needs. And Buffer supports Pinterest, which Hootsuite doesn’t.

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2017/02/07/buffer-vs-hootsuite-one-really-wins-social-scheduling-game

Book Promotion

Jennifer Brown Banks visits Nina Amir at How to Blog a Book to offer some handy tips on creating a social media marketing plan for your book. I’ll certainly be applying some of these ideas to my own marketing plan. My favourite is to make sure your posts do double duty, by cross-posting to social media.

 

That’s all for this week. What’s the most useful blog post you’ve read this week?