Plan and Purpose

Part of a series for getting
the most reach out of your Twitter

“On twitter we get excited if someone follows us. In real life we get really scared and run away.” ~Unknown

By Columnist Reneé Groskreutz
December 2012

There is one question that you should ask yourself before opening a twitter account. Can you guess? It’s “Why am I here?”

Some people are on twitter just to have fun. That’s great for them but if you have decided your book, poem, series or artwork needs more exposure, it may be helpful to start following your favorite authors. Inspiration from your creative tribe is always helpful. No (wo)man is an island.

“Plan, plan, plan. Just like with other marketing campaigns, think about what your goals are before starting out.”
- @FunCityAwesome, DFWSocialMediaNews.com

Develop a plan:

The first thing that we recommend clients do as part of their plan development is to brainstorm five to eight topics that they would like to discuss or share. So if you are an author, you may believe that you only have one item to discuss (your book) but that is not true. As an author, the world is your palette.

#1 You

You are your brand. What’s your view on life? Are you the job? Share your outlook, your environment, your personality, your goals and dreams. You’ll find people who can relate. Check out @AnneLamott and @TheBloggess for good examples of varied tweets that reflect on their lives, politics, struggles, humor, writing process and family, and not just selling their books.

#2 Genre

You are an expert in your genre even if you just invented the genre. Discuss and share on blogs, articles and other books in the genre. What are you reading? What titles/blogs can you recommend? Discuss.

#3 Craft

Writing is a craft and the process is interesting. Share your process with your readers and remember that other creatives love this, and need to know they are not alone. Writers read and buy books too, so discussing your craft is a great way to stay interesting to a large audience.

#4 Inspiration

What inspires you? Renee’ is inspired by patterns in the brick of an old house and conversations with people in line. Andi ponders word origins while she’s driving. Share your inspiration -- you never know, you may inspire someone else along the way.

#5 Questions

Ask questions. This is a great way to start a conversation, and as people get to know you, they’ll want to get to know your writing. Plus, most people love to talk about themselves -- reach out and stroke an ego or two. Being interested makes you interesting.

#6 Tools

This is Renee’s favorite category. Discuss what you use to get through your day. What will your categories be? Go ahead and jot them down. Once you have your topics/categories, open up a spreadsheet and create enough tabs for each category. Make sure you label the tabs. Now write 10 tweets for each category. Just write - you will edit for length later. You now know what you are going to talk about and share with your followers, you now have a purpose.

#7 Frequency and timing

Frequency of tweeting is nearly as important as timing. Consistently and regularly post 5-10 tweets with valuable content, well-spaced throughout the day to achieve maximum impact. Setting up automatic tweets help with this, but interacting with your twitter is crucial.

“It’s crucial that you understand that there will always be someone ...who will try to kill your dream. They might not even be conscious they’re doing it. Brush those events away and be not deterred. Never give up!” - Minnie Lahongrais

As co-owner of FunCitySocialMedia, she often speaks on the topic: “The 90-Day Social Media Marketing Plan for Small Business.” Contact Reneé at Renee@FunCitySocialMedia.com for more information.