How to Get Free Author Publicity, Brand Equity and Public Speaking Events Through Social Media Networking

Authors are creating web presence using social media networking and free internet publicity and converting this web presence into marketing tools to get public speaking engagements, book sales and consulting contracts. By using internet communities, such as FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube, authors can brand their names and increase their value. 

In addition to the common social media networks being used to develop virtual communities, there are free opportunities to market books on Google and Yahoo through their search engine submission services, communities, book sales and blogs. Keep in mind that all of these marketing avenues require writing with  internet exposure in mind through internet press releases and online articles. There are numerous sources where you can learn these skills. I have written articles on the topic myself. In Press Releases, SEO & Keywords, I talk about internet press releases that use search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords to hook target audiences and attract the attention of the search engines. But always remmber that you are talking to real people through their web browsers You are not talking to machines.

By having your book appear on social media websites, you can build high brand equity, an important quality for an author to possess if he or she intends to seek public speaking engagements. Brand equity is the perceived value assigned to your name, the name of your book and your services in the marketplace. A good example of brand equity is Xerox, a brand that has become synonymous with any activity involving the paper copying process. Paper copying may seem a little old fashioned in today’s discussions of internet technology. However, there are lessons to be learned on every front—new and old. 

In an author’s case, the marketplace is the internet, not the whole internet, but a niche of the marketplace that you can claim for your book. There is such a thing as overkill, though, where an author can turn off his or her potential target audiences on social media networks by appearing to be selling all of the time. I know, in my own experience, I have begun to filter my network contacts that always post nothing but their commercial advertisements of their products and services, and never share anything useful, such as pertinent comments on others’ pages, free advice and helpful links. After all, the target audiences are people, not search engines. No one wants to be written or talked to like they are a search engine. I’d rather be talked to like the family pet. At least, as the family pet, I am being treated like a living breathing being that deserves your attention.

As you build a target audience that has an interest in you, your name, book and editorial services, you derive real commercial value to establish your brand equity, causing your stock to rise, so to speak. Higher stock value, so to speak, allows you to cash in on your name and reputation, in the form of public speaking events, consulting contracts and special interest projects. One of my projects is the book, BREAKING THROUGH  Lighting the Way, in which twelve African American women who made a difference in the history of Long Beach, California, are profiled in an indepth discussion of race relations in America and Southern California.

Pictured (left-right, rear) are Evelyn Knight, Patricia Lofland, Bobbie Smith, Alta Cooke, Carrie Bryant, Vera Mulkey, Wilma Powell, and Doris Topsy-Elvord; (seated left-right) Autrilla Scott, Maycie Herrington, Dale Clinton and Lillie Mae Wesley (not present).

Using a larger group of online fans on FaceBook, for instance, you can further define smaller communities to build around you as an author, expert and public speaker. If treated respectfully, these people will become your loyal following and share what you ave to say with their groups, establishing more exposure and credibility for you as an authority. The more you give target audiences a chance to get to know you, the better your chances of converting them into live audiences.

Remember, the image you project to people online is an image you want them to accept and appreciate for their own purposes. For a more detailed examination of using social media marketing, real Social Media Marketing Gets Authors Free Book Publicity.

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