6 Key Components of an Online Author Platform
Next week, on June 2, I’ll be teaching a live, online class on building your author platform. To help make “platform” more understandable and approachable as a topic, I’ve boiled…
Next week, on June 2, I'll be teaching a live, online class on building your author platform. To help make "platform" more understandable and approachable as a topic, I've boiled it down into 6 key components. Here they are, briefly.
VISIBLE
- Your website (your hub, or Grand Central Station)
- Your social media activity or update stream
- Your content
INVISIBLE
- Your relationships or network
- Your influence and authority
- Your actual reach
It's impossible to have an effective visible online platform without also working on what's invisible. And that's why I think so many authors come to me and complain that their efforts aren't working. It's because the invisible components are weak, growing, or being ignored.
My class will also address the following:
- 5 key channels of social media engagement (e-mail, community sites,
blogs, comments, multimedia), how to use them, and how to prioritize
them - What meaningful interaction looks like on social media
- The 4 key stages of online engagement, and why it's important to take them one stage at a time (no skipping to the fourth stage!)
- How to develop a Facebook and Twitter strategy that works for you, which might mean not using them at all
- How to use analytics to better focus your efforts and figure out what's working and what's wasting your time
Fortunately, I discuss all of these topics frequently on this blog. If you can't take the class (and/or afford the $79 registration fee), then here are some of the my best posts where I discuss online platform.
- The Hardest Part About Developing Platform (Who Are You Anyway?)
- The 4 Stages of Marketing and Promotion
- When or Why Social Media Fails to Sell Books
- No. 1 Component of an Effective Online Marketing Strategy
- Giving Stuff Away Is Not a Strategy
- Audience Development: Critical to Every Writer's Future
- Should You Blog? And If So, What Are Best Practices?
- Figuring Out Your Facebook Strategy: 3 Tips
- Using Facebook to Amplify Your Reach (and Not Annoy People)
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
