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Saturday, July 11, 2020

When You Ask, You Get!

isn't this a lovely quote? 
A very long time ago I wrote an article titled: If You Don't Ask. This article was about asking specific questions as they relate to our writing. Asking for reviews, feedback, cover opinions, etc. Now, life has changed since I wrote that article. I don't simply mean just the weather as it was snowing and below zero the day I wrote that and today it was in the 90s and humid. I mean our culture is ever changing and in recent months it seems to be doing back flips instead of just simply ebbing and flowing like a gentle lake.

How has the changing culture affected how you ask for help when it comes to your writing? It's important to keep up with what is going on around us. Have you approached a podcast host and asked to be interviewed? This can be a great way to reach the masses - and the best part is, most hosts will read your book beforehand or at the very least, allow you to help craft the very questions you'll be answering for the audience. Have you created a Facebook or Instagram account for yourself as an author? Do you post to those social media pages on a daily basis asking for ideas, opinions, reviews, feedback? Are you posting several times a day asking your audience specific questions to keep them engaged? Have you done a live video? Do you post things about your personal life as well to help people relate to you as not only an author but as a friend? When you ask people into your life, you create a group of loyal readers.

I learned something interesting recently. Did you know when you do a Facebook Live presentation (even something short and sweet) that Facebook will push it out to more followers? It will appear to more people and every time someone comments on it, it will bring it back to the top of the newsfeed. This may not always be the case, but it is right now - so take advantage of it! Do a live video about your garden and ask people what their favorite flower is - whenever someone watches the recorded version, they'll still comment, and there you go - you're back at the top of the list! Some people recommend doing a video every day - not just about your writing or your latest book, but about the real behind the scenes parts of your life!

This doesn't just relate to authors either - so feel free to share this information with your friends who have side-gigs, who own bookstores, etc...

And now - here's the ASK portion of my article: what have you started doing differently this year that has helped you reach more people? get more likes? sell more books?

What tidbits would you like to share to help others be more successful? What has helped you get to the point you are at? What would you like to try that is new/new to you?





~Crystal

and now...a little more about me...


Shown from left to right:
Delphine riding Honey
Mr. Otto holding Eudora
Crystal riding Marv.
Thank you Forward Farm, LLC 
Crystal is the office manager, council secretary, financial secretary, and musician at her church, birth
mother, Auntie, babywearing mama, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Manager with Xyngular, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their five youngest children, two dogs, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, horses Darlin' and Joker, pony Miss Maggie May, and over 250 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal milking cows, riding horses, and riding unicorns (not at the same time), taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books here, and at her own blog - Crystal is dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade and she has never (not once) been accused of being normal!

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for making us think about all this stuff. Interesting to learn about the Facebook Live thing, and I do love that quote!

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  2. I didn't know that about Facebook Life. Definitely something to keep in mind. May be worth doing a video or two.
    --SueBE
    PS It is worth it. But I will have to convince myself to do it which will require overcoming 2 or 3 thousand insecurities.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I didn't know that about Facebook Live either. Since Facebook started advertising (which I know was a long time ago!) it's been hard to get your posts seen by your followers, so this is helpful news.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jeanine DeHoney2:53 PM

    What food for thought this article has been for me Crystal. You've given me some homework, lots of questions to reflect on, and that's a good thing.

    ReplyDelete

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