• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Self-Publishing
  • Author Blogging
  • Sitemap
  • Fonts/Typography

The Book Designer

Practical advice to help build better books

by selfpublishing.com

COACHING


PUBLISHING


WRITING


PRODUCTION


FREELANCE


WRITING JOBS

  • Home
  • About
  • Articles
  • Contact
  • Shop
You are here: Home / Social Media / Twitter: Choices, Choices, Choices

Twitter: Choices, Choices, Choices

by Joel Friedlander on February 19, 2011 6 Comments


Twitter is so basic, it reminds me of a utility more than anything else. You have electricity running into your house. What you do with it is up to you.

  • On Twitter, I know people with private networks for extended family or friends. All the people are following each other, but all the accounts are private. They use it as their personal, real-time communication system no matter where they are.
  • Reform-minded Egyptians in the street and around the world used the #jan25 hashtag among others to create a live, up-to-the-minute news channel anyone could tap in to to find out what was happening during the revolution.
  • Some celebrities seem to have a competition to get the most followers possible, while having the smallest number of people they are following. “Five million people want to hear what I say, but I only listen to my 27 friends.” Something like that.
  • Then there are the legions of Social Media Consultants who are constantly following me. They always have big smiles and slick backgrounds for their Twitter page. It’s obvious these guys are only interested in me because I am a number, and numbers are what they want. Let’s face it, would you hire a Social Media Consultant who only had 453 people following him? No, you wouldn’t. This is one place that size does matter.
  • Other people keep separate lists. The people they actually read, and the others who they follow out of politeness or obligation.

I’m pretty active on Twitter. Connecting with people is so much fun—it’s half networking and half performance art. I love the personal side to it.

But I’ve also always approached it as platform-building. I enjoy my social media time more when I know what the purpose of it is. On Twitter I try to connect to people with whom I might share an interest. Writers, designers, ebook wizards, editors, proofreaders, indexers, printers, agents and anyone else whose life somehow revolves around the book.

This is intrinsic to my business, since I need many suppliers for book projects. It’s vital for the blog articles I write here and elsewhere. As a bonus, I really enjoy it.

That’s my world, and those are the people I’m interested in. I don’t worry about the tweets I don’t read; I love the tweets I do read.

Use Twitter for connections, to interact with people, to populate your network. Test different headlines. Run giveaways in exchange for an opt-in. Give great value with the posts you put up for others to read. Build your community, and when it comes time to launch your book, that community will be there waiting for you.

Click this link to follow me on Twitter where I’m @JFBookman.

Photo: Luc Legay

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: author brand, author platform, networking, social media marketing, tribe, tweet, Twitter

journal marketing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marialena says

    January 9, 2014 at 5:19 am

    Great post. “Enjoy yourself and your interactions” may seem common sense, but it is priceless for those new to twitter, which can be overwhelming.

    Reply
  2. NaLonni Madden says

    February 19, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Excellent post! I actually enjoy reading it and it is sooooooo true!

    Reply
    • Joel Friedlander says

      February 19, 2011 at 12:25 pm

      Thanks, NaLonni.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Twitter Tips and Resources - Part 41 | Spotlight on Marketing says:
    February 27, 2011 at 10:09 pm

    […] “Twitter: Choices, Choices, Choices” by Joel Friedlander (@jfbookman) […]

    Reply
  2. How I Get Business from Twitter | Red Willow Digital Press says:
    February 20, 2011 at 5:25 am

    […] from Joel Friedlander at The Book Designer where he talks about his own experience with Twitter: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/02/twitter-choices-choices-choices/ […]

    Reply
  3. Tweets that mention Twitter: Choices, Choices, Choices — The Book Designer -- Topsy.com says:
    February 19, 2011 at 11:03 am

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Margie Dana and Joel Friedlander, Joel Friedlander. Joel Friedlander said: Twitter: Choices, Choices, Choices: http://ow.ly/3ZvW5 […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Get the Advanced Publishing Kit

Topics

  • Audiobooks
  • Author Blogging 101
  • Book Construction Blueprint
  • Book Design
  • Book Printing
  • Book Production
  • Book Reviews
  • Cameras
  • Contributing Writers
  • Cover Design
  • E-Books & Readers
  • Editorial
  • Guest Posts
  • Interior Design
  • Interviews
  • Journey of a Book
  • Legal Issues
  • Marketing
  • Podcasts
  • Project Focus
  • Reports
  • Reviews
  • Samples
  • Self Publishing Basics
  • Self-Publishing
  • Social Media
  • Training
  • Video
  • Webinars
  • Writing
Self Publishing Platform
Self Publishing School

COACHING

Self Publishing

PUBLISHING

The Write Life

WRITING

The Book Designer

PRODUCTION

Make a Living Writing

FREELANCE

Freelance Writers Den

WRITING JOBS

Footer

  • Home
  • About
  • Articles
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Self-Publishing
  • Author Blogging
  • Sitemap
  • Fonts/Typography
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Comment Policy
Guest Author Guidelines
Why?
"Writers change the world one reader at a time. But you can't change the world with a book that's still on your hard drive or in a box under your bed. This blog exists to help you get that book into people's hands."
—Joel Friedlander

Copyright Self Publishing School All Rights Reserved. © 2022