Deanna Proach, the author of "Day of Revenge" shares her experiences with us.
''Over the last year, since the release of my book "Day of Revenge", I've learnt that Facebook is better used for networking than for marketing. That's why it's called a social networking site. Yet, many business owners--including authors--use Facebook to promote their products.
There is no written rule saying that people can't promote products and services on Facebook; they do it all the time. Although, when it comes to marketing, Facebook is very tricky. If you do one--or two--things wrong, you will offend people. Sometimes, that can lead to heartache. It happened to me last year.
As a new author, I didn't know how to use Facebook as a marketing tool. I posted links to every guest post, review and Internet Radio interview on my wall. At first, people were thrilled to see the cover art and to see that my dream of becoming a published author had finally come true. A few people even purchased a copy of "Day of Revenge". But, after a while people got tired of seeing endless posts on "Day of Revenge"--even though I have over 300 people on my friend list. I didn't mean to brag; that wasn't my intention, but I realized that some people no longer felt my enthusiasm.
That wasn't the worst of it, though. After my second interview on Blog Talk Radio, I messaged people en mass--including those I didn't know--letting them know about my interview. Of course, I posted the link to my interview. Facebook now has an option where people can leave a conversation if they're not interested. But at that time, there was no such option. Two people wrote in the thread, threatening to take action against me if I did not remove them from the thread. All they had to do was unsubscribe so that they wouldn't receive anymore, the emails from Facebook in their inboxes. I had one friend who stood up for me and an argument ensued because they--the people who threatened me--would not give up the fight. Things got really nasty.
It got to the point where I had to delete the entire thread. Although I was thankful for my friend's support, I was incredibly humiliated because other people who I had known and not known were included in that thread. What on earth did they think about me? They probably thought I was some dumb loser. I don't believe any of those people actually thought that way about me. But I do believe those cyber bullies tried to make me feel that way. And they almost succeeded.
Thankfully the bullying ended quickly--my friend and I reported the two individuals--and things went back to normal. But, I learnt a hard lesson. Messaging people en mass a success story with the intention to promote my book is NOT the way to do it. I've come to learn that people don't want to be lumped together with other people they don't know. And some of them think I'm sticking my minor success story in their face--a mark of an amateur.
Last May, I created a Facebook page--separate from my personal page--that is dedicated entirely to my books, mostly to "Day of Revenge" since it's the only book I have published as of now. There, I post all of my ongoing promotional efforts.
I don't think it's a bad thing to post the occasional success story on your wall, but as I've learnt, it's not okay to talk about every single little review, interview and guest article on your wall. It's important to save your time and energy for the big things that do matter."
You can find "Day of Revenge" on Amazon.com.
''Over the last year, since the release of my book "Day of Revenge", I've learnt that Facebook is better used for networking than for marketing. That's why it's called a social networking site. Yet, many business owners--including authors--use Facebook to promote their products.
There is no written rule saying that people can't promote products and services on Facebook; they do it all the time. Although, when it comes to marketing, Facebook is very tricky. If you do one--or two--things wrong, you will offend people. Sometimes, that can lead to heartache. It happened to me last year.
As a new author, I didn't know how to use Facebook as a marketing tool. I posted links to every guest post, review and Internet Radio interview on my wall. At first, people were thrilled to see the cover art and to see that my dream of becoming a published author had finally come true. A few people even purchased a copy of "Day of Revenge". But, after a while people got tired of seeing endless posts on "Day of Revenge"--even though I have over 300 people on my friend list. I didn't mean to brag; that wasn't my intention, but I realized that some people no longer felt my enthusiasm.
That wasn't the worst of it, though. After my second interview on Blog Talk Radio, I messaged people en mass--including those I didn't know--letting them know about my interview. Of course, I posted the link to my interview. Facebook now has an option where people can leave a conversation if they're not interested. But at that time, there was no such option. Two people wrote in the thread, threatening to take action against me if I did not remove them from the thread. All they had to do was unsubscribe so that they wouldn't receive anymore, the emails from Facebook in their inboxes. I had one friend who stood up for me and an argument ensued because they--the people who threatened me--would not give up the fight. Things got really nasty.
It got to the point where I had to delete the entire thread. Although I was thankful for my friend's support, I was incredibly humiliated because other people who I had known and not known were included in that thread. What on earth did they think about me? They probably thought I was some dumb loser. I don't believe any of those people actually thought that way about me. But I do believe those cyber bullies tried to make me feel that way. And they almost succeeded.
Thankfully the bullying ended quickly--my friend and I reported the two individuals--and things went back to normal. But, I learnt a hard lesson. Messaging people en mass a success story with the intention to promote my book is NOT the way to do it. I've come to learn that people don't want to be lumped together with other people they don't know. And some of them think I'm sticking my minor success story in their face--a mark of an amateur.
Last May, I created a Facebook page--separate from my personal page--that is dedicated entirely to my books, mostly to "Day of Revenge" since it's the only book I have published as of now. There, I post all of my ongoing promotional efforts.
I don't think it's a bad thing to post the occasional success story on your wall, but as I've learnt, it's not okay to talk about every single little review, interview and guest article on your wall. It's important to save your time and energy for the big things that do matter."
You can find "Day of Revenge" on Amazon.com.