Benefits of social networking

By Bonnie Harris

First of all I have to admit that I copied the cute picture from Maria Hoagland's blog. Thanks!

I have an adult cello student that is also an artist. In our last lesson we deviated from the world of cello technique to that of online social networking. She has published a couple of art type books and was wondering how else to market them and whether or not to go directly to a publisher, etc. We talked about Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, and such. It turned out to be a very enlightening conversation for her and in turn, she's set up a blog to go with her website.

We both agreed though that any one individual can spends hours upon hours on the internet, trying to keep up with everything. She said she spends several hours a week updating her website. I think about all the time that can be spent and I get overwhelmed. So here's what I've come up with.

We all know the benefits of having an online presence. In fact many agents/publishers "stalk" you online before they offer a contract, just to see how well you are known. It's good to have that "fan base" so to speak and make sure that people know your name, but how to do you it without spending umpteenth hours? Personally I'm still struggling a bit with the whole balancing thing. I have a FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads account, along with my blog, but I've picked one to keep really updated. My blog.

Here's a little social networking success. Authors Theresa Sneed and Betsy Love just had a book launch in AZ. They plastered their social networks with the information and I found myself surprised to have to wait in line to get their books signed. I know Janette Rallison does the same when she has a book released, along with a giveaway. It's fun to see the results and gives me hope that when my day comes, I'll have people waiting in line to see me. :)

I've tried to update everything at the same time and found the little time I have to write disappeared. So as I receive invitations from various accounts, I spend a couple of minutes updating them, but for the most part everything is in one place. If anyone knows how to link all of them together to do in one post, I'm all ears, fingers, eyes, whatever. :)

So, I just found the conversation with my cello student very interesting and it reminded me why I'm doing what I'm doing. It may not be what everyone else is managing to do, but I have to be happy with it for now. In other words, your doing wonderful with whatever you manage to get done! Happy Social Networking!