| Your Writer Platform

Pinterest is exploding!

And with it, so too are the opportunities for authors to expand their reach and increase their book promotion and brand awareness.

Now the third largest social network, Pinterest acts as a virtual pin board that helps you organize and share things you find on the web. As you surf, you can pin images from other sites onto Pinterest where others can re-pin those same images.

People head to Pinterest to find solutions, get ideas and to be inspired. Plus pinners are buyers.

Hmmm…

So how do we encourage them to be book buyers–your book buyers?

Well, like with all social media, it’s important to avoid the incessant self-promotion. Pinterest is a quieter platform where you express yourself primarily through images. No witty banter required.

Plus, over 80% of pins are re-pins, which means if you are in that 20% of pinners that are sharing original content, you can add real value. If you provide remarkable content, your fellow pinners will happily circulate it for you.

What’s important on Pinterest is to market indirectly by building trust, loyalty and engagement. You want to give people a reason to click through to your site for more.

“Pinterest drives more referral traffic to websites than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined.”

~ Mashable

Your goal should be to teach, entertain and inspire your audience on Pinterest. In return, Pinterest will grant you the ability to increase awareness of your author brand, drive more relevant traffic to your website and increase your book sales. [Read more…]

Images and graphics are an incredibly important tool for capturing your audience’s interest.

Like multi-pixel eye-candy for your readers.

In fact, images rank right up there with your post’s headline for creating impact, grabbing attention and enticing your reader into giving your article a chance when the competition is fierce.

Add to that the growth of social media platforms like Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest–and the increased ease with which we can take, alter, upload and share images–and it’s impossible to avoid this new age of visual fascination.

For many writers, this may be alien territory, but since the importance of images in today’s world can not be denied–or ignored–finding simple but effective ways to source, edit and incorporate images into your platform building is essential.

Strengthen Your Content with Images

Often, seconds are all you have to make your content stand out, grab your reader’s attention and effectively convey your message.

A great photo can do most of the work for you, so it’s important to spend a little extra time to craft a visually stimulating experience that not only attracts, but engages your audience.

Adding graphical elements to your article can help highlight key points, illustrate a concept or even trigger an emotional reaction from your reader.

Remember, even the most avid book lover will tend to scan and skim online, so photos can also help to break up large, intimidating walls of text and add visual interest and aesthetic appeal to your online content.

Concerned as to how you can pull off the ‘visual storytelling’ that plays a major part in your author branding and your presence online and off? [Read more…]

Powerful Pictures Perform: How to Create Images That Grab Attention

Strengthen Your Content with Images

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