Use the Power of the Internet, a post by R. Clint Peters

I recently had a conversation about The Book Reviewers & Authors Club with a friend who asked how things were going.  My simple answer was ‘For some, well, but for most, not at all.”

The next question was why?”

The immediate answer to why is simple:  They aren’t using the Internet.  The solution to the why is a great deal more complicated., but still boils down to one answer:  They aren’t using the Internet.

For the purposes of this discussion, lets create a new member for The Book Reviewers & Authors Club.  Let’s name him Joe Blow.

Joe has a complete biography on the club blog and a complete catalogue on the website.  His two books are listed on Amazon, Goodreads, and three other websites.  He even has a Twitter and Facebook account.  However, he seldom if ever Tweets, and uses his Facebook account only to inform family when he is planning to take a vacation.

The Internet is a huge highway on which Joe Blow is a tiny rest stop.  If someone wants to find Joe on Amazon, but knows neither his name nor the title of his books, Joe will not be found.  And if Joe has not been participating in the power of the internet, he will never show up on someone’s search.

For an example of the power of the Internet, I plugged ‘r clint peters’ into Yahoo search.  The search returned 7 total pages.  On the first page were, in order, my Linkedin account, my personal WordPress account, my personal Twitter account, two of my books on Amazon, two posts I made on The Book Reviewers & Authors Club blog, my account on MerchantCircle, and two listings for Google.

It is apparent if someone wants to find me, I am available to be found.

So, how do we, as authors, use the power of the Internet??

First, create an identity.  The best identity is your name.  I use R. Clint Peters, Author as my identity.

Second, using your identity, become a member of as many places on the Internet as possible.  Join The Book Reviewers & Authors Club, join LinkedIn, start a blog (I use WordPress), create a website (I use a free version of Weebly), start circles on Google, create a business Twitter account, create a business Facebook account, and certainly establish an e-mail account using your identity (I use gmail.com).  If you get an offer to connect anywhere, accept it.

Once you have joined everything on the Internet, do you just sit back and wait for the book royalties to flood your mailbox?  No.  That is, however, the reason why many are not finding success on the internet.

For a moment, let’s take a look at the Internet highway once again.  How do you become more than a tiny rest stop?

Does anyone remember the Barbasol signs along the highways of yesteryear?  Why were they successful?

First, they were unique.  Second, they were persistent.  They caught your eye because of the clever rhyming, and they caught your eye because they were everywhere.

Unfortunately, it’s a little difficult to become clever on the Internet.  There are dozens of companies formulating clever things to say.

You can, however, become persistent.  And, there are easy ways to become persistent.

First, get your name on a blog.  In addition to your own blog, submit something to The Book Reviewers & Authors Club.

Second, tweet on a relatively frequent schedule.  (Some experts suggest tweeting once per hour.)  What should you be tweeting about?  You can tweet about your latest book being offered on Amazon.  You can publicize your membership in several Internet clubs, such as LinkedIN or MerchantCircle.  You can tweet about a book you read.

My friend asked a final question that perhaps answers the question of why more people are not participating on the Internet:  If I join The Book Reviewers & Authors Club, submit blogs, re-tweet everything you send me, and generally support The Book Reviewers & Authors Club, how do I benefit?

That is the easiest question of all to answer.  Remember that really big highway called the Internet and you are a tiny rest stop on that highway?  Every time you submit a blog to The Book Reviewers & Authors Club blog site, you expand the roadside sign that travelers on the Internet highway use to find you.

Browse the Internet for ‘r clint peters’ and take a look at where the responses are coming from.  Did you notice two responses came from theauthorsclub.wordpress.com, two came from Amazon, and two came from Google?

Unless you write two or three new novels, you can’t increase your exposure on Amazon and you are also limited on Google.  However, you can increase your exposure on The Book Reviewers & Authors Club by submitting a blog each week.  Your name will be prominently displayed on the blog as the one who submitted the content, and your name will be tweeted on twitter.

So, how big is the potential sign provided by The Book Reviewers & Authors Club?  There are over 2250 Twitter accounts that receive the tweets, 54 people have signed up to receive notification when something is posted on the blog, and 34 Facebook accounts have liked The Book Reviewers & Authors Club on Facebook.

How can you increase the size of your sign on the side of the Internet highway?

First – submit a blog once a week to The Book Reviewers & Authors Club (http://theauthorsclub.wordpress.com)

Second – Follow The Book Reviewers & Authors Club on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/review_club)

Third – Retweet ALL tweets originating from The Book Reviewers & Authors Club.

Fourth – Add your profile to The Book Reviewers & Authors Club website (http://thebookreviewersclub.weebly.com)

Fifth – Keep your profile on The Book Reviewers & Authors Club blog up to date

Sixth – Join social media on the Internet, and link your profile to The Book Reviewers & Authors Club website and blog.

Remember, I am one author, but the club has over 80 authors.  The Book Reviewers & Authors Club is 80 times more powerful as an identity than I am.  Let the club work for you and you help the club.  Together, we can become more and more successful.

#RClintPeters #TheAuthorsClub