Cross-Pollinate Your Social Media with Your Blogging
One of the things most authors don’t realize about their blogs is how social media can be leveraged to work with their blog, and how their blog can be leveraged to work with social media. The goal is to drive attention to your writing, sure, but also to create networking opportunities. Social media is not just a means of locating strangers around the world and get into arguments with them, after all. If you’re taking a positive, constructive approach to social media, you’ll be able to use it to make your social media more useful, while your social media drives traffic to your blog. It’s the perfect cross-pollination.
“Networking is a lot like nutrition and fitness: we know what to do, the hard part is making it a top priority.” – Herminia Ibarra
To truly get your blogs and your social media working together, however, there are some basic guidelines you need to follow. In between looking at cat videos and learning the latest TikTok dance, it’s a good idea to memorize and follow these basic rules. They’ll serve you well and, more importantly, make sure your blogs and your social media help promote each other without detracting from each other.
Don’t get into arguments. There is an old joke floating around the Internet that goes something like, “What fact would amaze someone from the past?” The answer is along the lines of, “I carry in my pocket a device that can access the sum total of humanity’s art, music, entertainment, and knowledge. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get into arguments with strangers.”
The reality is that there is a LOT of arguing on the Internet. Thanks to the modern era of communication it is possible to make people all around the world angry at you. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from this (and a lot of potential negatives). Whatever you do, avoid engaging with people when they get nasty and do not provoke or antagonize others.
This is as simple as thinking about what you post before you post it, never “going after” anyone personally, and developing a thick skin. If you express any opinion, sooner or later, someone is going to get mad at you for it. That’s human nature. How you react to their anger, however, makes all the difference. Resist the urge to get into a back and forth with someone. If somebody “calls you out” or gets mad at you, either on your blog or on social media, just let it go and don’t engage with it. If you need to block persistent antagonists, do so, but don’t comment on it. Stay out of conflict whenever possible.
Never get “in your feelings.” Avoid the urge to use your blog or your social media (or both) as a way to vent when you’re upset or sad. This is a natural impulse and lots of people do it… but it’s a mistake every time. Do NOT start whining, complaining, crying, or expressing sadness on the Internet. It will only give people ammunition to attack you or make you look less professional. We all get sad, but that should be dealt with inside your support system, not publicly on the Internet. Nothing good comes of venting your unhappy feelings online.
Include relevant links both ways. To promote your social media, include links on your blog. That way, blog readers will know how to find you and follow you. Here’s the thing, though: Establish the connection between your blog and social media going the other direction, too. Include the link to your blog on your social media profiles, and always post your latest blog content to social media. This will help encourage interactivity and traffic. Some people are much more likely to comment on social media compared to the comment section of a blog.
Stay topical. If you want both your social media and blog to get good engagement, stay topical. Talk about the things that other people are most interested in. What’s hot right now? What’s got the attention of the online communities in which you travel? Sure, you can always indulge in topics that are a little off the beaten path, but make sure you engage with what is most of interest at that moment. That’s going to change from day to day, so you need to stay fluid and engaged.
Don’t forget to have fun. Blogging and social media are supposed to be fun and interactive. Don’t lose site of that. Make sure that whatever you are doing on both, you are having a good time. We don’t want you to be unhappy, because your readers won’t engage with unhappy content. A happy, enthusiastic author, however, will draw other happy, enthusiastic readers and followers. If what you’re doing isn’t fun, you need to rethink it and figure out what you want to do differently so you are enjoying yourself.
Follow these general guidelines and your blog will support your social media presence, while your social media presence supports your blog. The two will not only grow together, but will maintain a positive and professional image that will serve you in your writing career. That’s what we’re here to accomplish, after all… and it’s as simple as blogging, linking to your blogging, and maintaining a few professional guidelines. These could be seen as common sense, but common sense is remarkably uncommon (as the old joke goes).
Good luck and have fun.
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*This blog was written 100% by a human and contains no AI-generated written content.