Happy Weekend, WG2E-Land!
I’m kicking-off a new blog series today called…
What’s Worked For D. D. Scott’s Ebook Empire
beginning with…
Finding Your Target Audience Using Twitter
Let me begin by saying that I AM NOT A TECHNO PERSON AT ALL!!!
So if I can use – and even enjoy – all these techno solutions to building an Ebook Empire, you can too and perhaps, like me, even find tons of joy in doing so!
So here we go…
As y’all know I’m a huge fan of both John Locke and Scott Nicholson, and one of the things I think they’re both right-on about is the fact that you’ve got to identify and then target your ideal reading audience.
Scott, in his book The Indie Journey, mentions that he thinks publishers are great at selling books to each other within their industry base, but don’t have much of a clue how to find and target readers.
But guess what?!
You and I can!!!
And John Locke, Scott Nicholson, and I – all three – rely on Twitter, in large part, to find then get to know and spend quality time with our target readership.
Notice I said three very important things here:
1. Use Twitter to find your reader base
2. Use Twitter to get to know your reader and fan base
3. Use Twitter to spend time with your reader and fan base
And also notice that I’m differentiating between readers and fans, which you’ll always see me do.
Why?
Because by spending time with your readers (who’ve taken a big gamble on you to make them happy and entertain them with your book), you might just turn those readers into fans (who buy every single thing you produce and who tell all their friends and strangers too how terrific you and your books are).
And then note I said those fans will tell everyone how terrific YOU are as well as your books.
I’m going overboard mentioning these themes because that’s what Twitter can do for you.
Twitter is not about BUY MY BOOK!!!
Twitter – like all social networks used to their best advantage – is about BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS AND GETTING TO KNOW PEOPLE WHO SHARE LIKE INTERESTS OR PERHAPS VERY DIFFERENT INTERESTS (that can be fun too, right?!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now then how do you do that using Twitter?
I use the following Twitter functions to build my Ebook Empire’s Reader and Fan Base:
1. Begin to “Follow” people who share the same interests as you present in your books
For example, if you write romantic comedies, chick lit, and cozy mysteries about bootscootin’ (country line-dancing), tomatoes, Manolo Blahniks, cupcakes and bbq, having twins, Ponzi-schemes, party-planning, Nashville TN, and Positano Italy – like I do – then “Search” for people on Twitter who like those things too!
***Note: Be careful in the number of people you follow in that Twitter has some obscure 2000 Following rule based on the number of those 2000 Peeps Following you back, which I didn’t know, and now I’ve got to go back and Unfollow people I don’t hear from so I can follow the additional peeps I want to follow.
2. Doing “Searches” is one of the invaluable tools of Twitter.
If you search for let’s say cupcakes in the search engine on twitter, you’ll discover a ton of peeps who talk all-things-cupcakes. Peruse the tweets and see who looks interesting then follow ‘em for a bit. So, in other words, I do searches for all the elements in my books and begin to follow people who like those things.
3. Begin using “Hashtags” with your own tweets to start streams of conversation about that particular topic
For example, our lovely WG2E-Land Peep Elizabeth Ann West started a WG2E Hashtag #WG2EP so anytime you tweet about anything here on The WG2E, use that Hashtag and you can connect with everyone else talking The WG2E on Twitter.
***Note: Always save your Searches so you can pop into those conversations whenever you want to!
Here are a few of the Hashtags I enjoy and use: #amwriting - #amreading -#WG2EP - #AGT (yes…LOL…that’s America’s Got Talent…I’m a huge fan…and those peeps read too!) – #pubwrite – #FF (Follow Friday where u can list your fave peeps to follow) – #WW (Writers Wednesday where u can list your fave writer peeps to follow)
4. Now then…what to tweet…what to tweet.
This is where you really get to know your fellow peeps and turn readers into fans.
For example, my peeps know that every morning, I tell ‘em good mornin’ by raising my coffee mug to ‘em with a toast. They know which Keurig K-Kup Coffee I have in my mug and which mug I’m currently using! I even got the attention of Green Mountain Coffee Company and they tweet with me now. And we know our readers love coffee and tea, right?! LOL!
I tweet links to great books I’m reading and start streams of conversation about what I’m reading and ask ‘em what they’re reading.
I tweet links to great blogs I’ve discovered.
And yes, I give ‘em updates on my writing process. Readers and fans luuuvvv to know how we write what we write and what inspires us. I also let ‘em know when each new release is out.
This should get you started using Twitter as a fun way to connect with potential readers who you hope to turn into fans of your own Ebook Empires.
Okay…It’s Your Turn, WG2E-Land: For all our WG2E-Land Peeps new to Twitter, what tips can u give ‘em to help them use Twitter to find, get to know and spend some superfab fun and quality time with potential readers and fans?
Happy Tweeting, WG2E-Land — D. D. Scott
Finally. An explanation of Twitter that I can understand. I had no clue what I was doing and basically only participate in Sample Sunday but now I have seen the light. Thank you.
Three or four people follow me every day and I wondered where they came from. Now I know they “found me” to help build their fan base. A very valuable post for me.
Woohooooooo, Consuelo!
I’m sooo tickled that my Twitter post has been Twitter-ific for you!
And I forgot to mention…duh…let’s all give our Twitter Handles so we can follow each other:
I’ll start with mine:
@ddscottromcom
Okay…y’all…keep adding to this list…
What a great, interesting, informative blog, D.D.! You have given everyone lots of helpful info……thanks!
U betchya, Jeanne!
Twitter can be a little bit of a trickster, so I thought I’d demystify it a bit.
Plus, I’ve really found somed terrific readers and now fans too from Twitter, and I wanted to pay that opportunity forward!
@saysaah
Gotchya, Consuelo!
Thanks for sharing your Twitter Handle…who else is on Twitter?
@EAWwrites
There’s another tool that is VITAL when you have so many followers. Lists. Make a private list (it’s a check box) and call its Reader make another on Fans.
When you follow someone, there is a small down-pointing triangle with a shadow person in it to the right of the Follow button. Click it, and select Add to list. There you can create a new list, and move the radio button from Public to Private. I suggest private because people might not like it if you publicly label them “Potential Reader” or “Fan” unless they say so.
As you follow people, just click the shadow man to the Add to list, and then it’s just checking a box. You can put people on multiple lists, like I have @DDscottromcom under Fantastic Writing Ladies (other women writers I talk to regularly), Indie Author Friends, and My Genre Writer (I keep track of these for future networking purposes, such as cross blogging, offering to swap first chapter samples at the back of books, etc)
Ooooooo…Elizabeth, you are sooo darn smart!!!
I’ve wondered about the List Feature, but never tried it!!!
See?! That’s why The WG2E is sooo important!!! We are all learning from each other!
Thanks bunches for this scoop, Elizabeth…and woohooo on your List Names! I’m sooo honored to be a Fantastic Writing Lady!!!
I don’t think you can tweet out to just your list of people (like Google Plus) but you CAN filter so you’re just reading tweets from those people. It’s also handy to have a list so say you want to spend 5 minutes reaching out to readers, you can go to your reader list, see their most recent tweet and respond. This makes them feel good etc.
I also use the list feature so I don’t send the same message to the same people and look like I don’t care. For instance if I am promoting my blog and suggesting it to someone – I add them to a list and I always check the list FIRST before I send anything else just in case.
@tessaapa
Love your blog and follow it. Informative, although I have so little time that ‘tweeting’ is
a difficult thing for me. I am slowly (very slowly) beginning to get followers. Will try your
suggestions.
Thanks.
Claudy
U betchya, Claudy, and I’m sooo thrilled you’re luuuvvvin’ The WG2E!
I hear ya on making the time to tweet.
I shoot for a half hour a day and work it in to my day ten minutes or so at a time…
For example, while dinner is cooking, I tweet. While the dog is doing his biz outside, I tweet. (Seriously, it takes my beloved Buckley FOREVER to find just the right spot…LOL!!!). While I’m waiting in a dr’s office for an appointment, I tweet. When I take a writing break, I tweet. During commercials, I tweet…especially during shows like AGT when I tweet with my peeps who I know are watching too (and of course I use the #AGT hashtag on those tweets).
This is very interesting to me. My sales have increased sharply in the past 6 to 8 weeks, and it was when i stopped using Twitter and started promoting the heck out of my free books. That’s how I found my target audience. But your article gives me something to think about. Thanks.
Wavin’ atchya, Shaina, and congrats on the huge sales increases!!!
U Go, Girl!!!
You’ve tapped into another reading base entirely with your Free Books promotions! Well done!!!
Have you checked to see if there is a Twitter Hashtag for free ebooks? That might be another way to capitalize on your promotion.
Great post as always, D.D. I’m a twitter newbie and fumbling a bit to figure it all out, so any info about maximizing its use is wayyy helpful. I’m still not sure I understand what hashtags are and what they do.
Thanks for the tips.
@pjsharon
Hey PJ, I didn’t understand hashtags either. Remember the old days of going into chatrooms? Like you’d go on AOL and go into the chatroom “MomsofTots” or something. This is what hashtags do, they create impromptu chat rooms on Twitter. It’s how they come up with what’s trending now, too.
So say you have book you love. You could Tweet “I just read Bootscootin’ Blahniks, LOVED it” and it goes out to people following you. Now, put “I just read Bootscootin’ Blahniks, LOVED it! #goodreads” People who follow you can click on #goodreads and see every Tweet with #goodreads in it. And anyone following the search #goodreads sees your tweet, even if they don’t follow or know you. And say they also liked that book, they may decide to follow you now because of that one tweet. (My followers has increased from 150 to 352 just from using hashtags and interacting in hashtag chats)
Some hashtags are used regularly by people who want to stay chatting about a topic, like #pubwrite, #mywana. A group of us all throughout the day will use that hashtag and we all follow it (by saving it as a search). So I will write “My daughter just went pee-pee on the potty, YAY #toddlers #pubwrite” All of my #pubwrite friends see it, and so do people following #toddlers. Not all hashtags are popular. There are also funny ones like #addinmypantstomovietitle and everyone puts that in and then makes tweets with movie titles adding “in my pants” to the end. Another is add duck to a famous quote.
People also use hashtags to emphasize an aspect of their post. Like “Husband just bought three jars of peanut butter on sale. We have 3 already. #shoppingfail” #shoppingfail may not be a hashtag anyone actually follows.
Hope that helps.
Hi Elizabeth,
I never would have thought of the #goodreads hashtag. How do you find these? For me, finding new tags — or maybe it’s the RIGHT tags — is the hardest part of using Twitter.
I #needhashtagtraining.
Generally, you stumble on them. It’s kinda neat because the people who need to read or use the hash tag usually comes up with it organically. As spammers take over hash tags, people filter them out, or move on to a new hash tag. Trending now helps, too. Or, seeing someone you follow use a hashtag. Certain blogs will say they use a specific hash tag like #WG2EP and a writing goals group I belong to, A Round of Words in 80 Days uses #ROW80
So when I make a blog post about my progress in A Round of Words in 80 Days and tweet it, I add the hash tag #row80. All of the ROW80 peeps see it, click it, comment, etc.
You can take advantage of the trending now to increase visibility too. For example in my book (once it comes out) a man has a fiancee and a babymomma. Trending now is #youknowuisasideline
I could put in “Alexis’ greatest fear is he loves the baby more. #youknowuisasideline link to book” To test if this is even viable, I would use a link shortening service like bit.ly, make a specific link that goes to my Amazon page or wherever I want people to buy, and then see how many clicks it gets per time I take advantage of something like a popular hashtag. I used to do this for my non-fiction articles that generated ad revenue base don reads. By doing it a few times per day, I boosted page reads by a dozen or so. Times 20 days, that’s 240 more views, or $.38 more per month, but I never knew when one of those dozen each day might RT (well I could see the RT after the fact, but not anticipate it) or share a link to the article on their blog, or email it to someone. So, on some of my articles, like the one about embracing being a stay-at-home Mom suddenly increased in page views outside of my Tweeting exercises.
But, if I was going to do that again, I’d create a new Twitter profile just for marketing, so that I don’t tick off my followers with hash tag spam.
And speaking of Twitter Profiles…come up with one that matches your pen name so people can easily find u, then post that Handle Name on your website, blogs, grogs, etc. as well as include it in all your social networking profiles.
For example, you can find my Twitter Handle @ddscottromcom on my website, blog, Facebook, Goodreads, Grogs, etc.
In addition, sometimes I find the Twitter Search engine a bit slow and unreliable, so I will Google “twitter (the name of person I’m trying to find on twitter)”…for example Googling “twitter kim kardashian” gets me Kim’s Twitter Handle which is @KimKardashian
U betchya, Sharon!
And Elizabeth’s explanation of Hashtags is excellent! Thank u, Elizabeth!
I look at Hashtags as “threads” (a Kindle Board term) where you see a continuing stream or thread of tweets revolving around whatever topic the hashtag states.
For example, #amwriting is a thread of peeps tweeting about the fact that they’re writing and perhaps what they’re writing or how long they’ve been writing or identifying themselves as writers.
Another example, #amreading shows peeps who are reading and perhaps what they’re reading or what kind of books they like to read or want to read.
Does that help a bit?
And of course any tweet that says something about “I love Bootscootin’ Blahniks and all D. D. Scott books! #amreading #goodreads” is over-the-top terrific! LOL!!! Thanks, Elizabeth!!!
Also, like in the example I just gave, you can put multiple hashtags in the same tweet.
Like Elizabeth said, following and participating in Hashtag threads is one of the best ways I know to find your target audience!!!
One of my recent thrills is that my favorite mystery author Lawrence Block has recently (I mean really recently — the last couple of weeks) embraced EPublishing and social marketing.
The big deal for me is that he followed me back on Twitter. You can look at my blog for more on that.
I think it’s great to see the old school writers get on board.
Isn’t that superfab fun, Cathy?!
It’s amazing who you can find and chat with on Twitter!
I’ve chatted with Amy Grant, Lisa Rinna, Kirstie Alley…I’m still waiting on Kim Kardashian to tweet with me, although she has tweeted with John Locke!!!
And of course I’m always tweeting with superfab authors like John Locke, Scott Nicholson, Bob Mayer, Barbara Silkstone, Barry Eisler, Karen Cantwell, L.C. Evans, Tonya Kappes, and across the pond too with Sibel Hodge, and down in Africa with Mark Williams, etc.
Twitter can really take you international!!!
Thanks! I realized that I didn’t add my twitter name which is @_muck_ I have been using that for some time. I also have my full name reserved as a twitter name which I should start using now that I’ve pubbed.
**and in breaking news Lawrence Block commented on my blog. I’m completely starstruck now**
How cool is that, Cathy?! Congrats on drawing Lawrence to your blog!
And let us know as soon as you switch over to your new Twitter Handle…and yes, the sooner the better since you’re now pubbed. You are building your name as your brand so it’s superfab important to have everything in that name!!!
U Go, Girl!!!
@abbey_macinnis
Thank you again, D.D. for such a great post. I love John Locke’s book too.
I’m not able to tweet for very long each day, so this was very helpful to me. Makes sense to find your target audience, you need to boil down the elements of your books and find folks who enjoy those same things.
Now you’re talkin’, Abbey! You got it, Girlfriend!!!
And thanks for sharing your Twitter Handle!!!
Look for people on Twitter who enjoy the same elements you’re writing about…and they just might be a perfect addition to your John Locke-style GBL list!!! They are your instant OOUs.
Woo-hoo, DeeDee! Great info as always!
I want to add one thing. There is a took out there called Tweet Spinner. It costs about $16.00 per month. When I first saw the price, I balked. I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth it. But Spinner is a super tool for Twitter!
It goes through and finds people who are not following me back and unfollows them based on a schedule. It can “mimic” the followers of other writers in my genre. It can find new Twitter friends based on keywords. It can set up automatic tweets that you can schedule yourself.
Tweet Spinner has helped me move from 800 followers to over 2000 in just a few weeks!
Another tip for tweeting writers: Be sure to retweet fellow writers when they talk about their books. Not only does your own twitter stream look less like your own sales pitch for your books, but other writers will then retweet for you too!
Great post, as always, DeeDee! I really need to talk my husband into getting a Keurig coffee maker. I LOVE those things!
S.J. Thanks for this great tool.
Sounds like it’s ben a great help to you. And thanks for sharing. I’m going to go check it out. 
Hi S.J.
Do you use TweetSpinner instead of TweetDeck?
This is all such great information. Thanks for sharing!
I do luuuvvv TweetDeck too, Shelia!
And good mornin’ to ya!
I like TweetDeck ’cause you can simultaneously send posts to both Twitter and Facebook versus having to post to each individually.
But I’m sooo getting that Spinner tool for even just a month to help me weed through the 2000 people I’m following.
Cheers to you and gettin’ a Keurig, SJ!!!
LOL…now onto Twitter business…
I have not heard of Tweet Spinner, but darn I sooo need that to weed out some of my 2000 peeps I’m following!!! I’ve got to get rid of those who aren’t tweeting with me so I can make room for those who are following me that I can’t follow back til I get this darn 2000 Rule out of my hair!!!
And yes, I should have mentioned Re-Tweeting!!! That’s a great way to get people’s attention and share the Twitter luuuvvv.
Thanks for all this great scoop, SJ! U rock!!!
@sheilaseabrook
Count me in as a reader, fan, and author. LOL! As a reader, well my Kindle TBR pile is taller than I ever let my print TBR pile become. As a fan, I don’t stalk anyone (yet) but I sadly also don’t do enough for my favorite authors by talking about their books or putting up reviews. As an author, I so appreciate the women of the WG2E blog who share so much of their knowledge.
One of the hardest parts about twitter is finding those hashtags. See, I would have never thought to look for one called #WG2EP. Or even #WW. I obviously need to spend more time studying the hashtags others use.
Can you explain a little more about the 2000 followers? I have seen people with upwards of 64,000 followers, so this limit confuses me. I obviously didn’t get what you were saying.
Thanks for another great post, DeeDee.
And now I’ll make a list of all of you wonderful people here and make sure to follow you because I’m not only an author but I’m a reader and a fan, too.
)
Wavin’ atchya, Sheila!
Apparently, you can’t follow more than 2000 people unless some high percentage of them are following you back.
I’ve got 2000 people I’m following…but only 963 following me back…because yes, I luuuvvv following celebrities and catching all their crazy tweets…but yeah, most of ‘em don’t follow me back…LOL!…so that means I can’t then follow peeps I know and want to follow like my readers and fans!!!
Okay, that’s interesting. I’ve been trying to keep my “following” and “followers” fairly even, which turns out to be a good thing. Thanks for the tip, Dee Dee!
U betchya, Sheila!!!
Thank you D.D. for this fantastic article. I love using Twitter as it’s great for sharing useful information, but now if I use your tips I think I’ll love it even more.
U bethcya, LK, and Happy Tweeting!
Twitter sooo works!!!
What’s your Twitter Handle so we can follow u?
Thanks, D.D. for this great post!
And thanks to PJ for asking about hashtags and Elizabeth Ann for the thorough explanation.
They are something I don’t really understand and probably would not have the courage to ask about without feeling like the techno idiot that I am.
Always so much good info here!
U are sooo welcome, Alicia!
Don’t ever feel like you can’t ask anything here at The WG2E…we’ll pretty much give ya the scoop on it all…and if we don’t know, we can try and find out together!
Cheers to sharing and learning together!!!
Thanks so much for this article. I am crawling along on twitter and have some idea of the hashtags and how to reply to people, but that’s as far as it goes. Maybe I’ll be able to find more now.
@TManderino
U gotta crawl before you can walk or run, Tara, so U Go, Girl!!!
And thanks for sharing your Twitter Handle too…I’ll look for u!!!
Thank you DD for a fantastic post…you are the only one I have seen that explains how it works so well. I was lost, but now maybe I’m found, lol.
Thanks to all the other comments and their great tips, too.
@jacquehopkins
Ohhh yeahhh, Jacqueline…doin’ the Happy Dance ’cause you are now able to demystify Twitter and make it work for you!!!
U Go, Girl!
And thanks for sharing your Twitter Handle…we’ll all be following you!!!
Hi Everyone – thanks for another great post. I read John Lockes book which helped immensely. But now I understand hash tags – I had been wondering what the heck #WW and #FF was all about!!
I have followed all of you I think
@tessaapa
Good Mornin’, Tessa!
Wasn’t John Locke’s Howie book fantabulous?!
And I’m thrilled my post has u in-the-know and ready-to-use Twitter Hashtags. Those little gems will sooo work for u!!!
I’ll look for u on Twitter too!!!
Here’s a terrific new thread I just found on Kindle Boards where everyone posts their #SampleSunday tweet and you then re-tweet (RT) each other.
How cool is that?!
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,76021.0.html
I also just started a #SampleSunday Twitter Thread on The Nook Boards for us too!!!
C’mon over and start tweeting and re-tweeting too:
http://www.nookboards.com/forum/index.php?topic=11139.0
I’m a twitter newbie with a few duh questions. So, if I’m following somebody but they’re not following me, can I respond to their tweets and will they see them? I responded to a tweet by an author, and looked in her tweet stream but didn’t see my response there.
And I downloaded tweet deck, but can’t figure out how to search for people by hashtag.
I’m @readlisascott