Join Us On Pinterest!

We now have an account on Pinterest (thunderous applause) and we would love for you to follow us! (Okay, so we are begging...) Plus, please tell all your writing friends and reading friends that we are now on Pinterest, too. Click here to follow us.

If you haven't clicked on the link yet and you are still wondering: why do I need to follow WOW! on Pinterest? Then I'll tell you. . .

• Boards full of writing tips and inspiration
• Individual boards for fiction writers, nonfiction writers, YA/children's writers, and memoir writers
• A board highlighting our wonderful blog posts
• One-spot "shopping" for articles, blog posts, and memes that can help you find an agent, edit your manuscript or market your book
• Information on writing contests and publication opportunities

So...if you still aren't convinced, then I'll tell you how I've come around to Pinterest, which like all social media can be overwhelming and time consuming.

It is all about being choosy when you pin. Let's say, you are a fiction writer. Then you should follow our fiction board. Maybe you also want general writing tips and inspiration, so you follow that too. But you don't have to follow all boards, if that seems overwhelming. 

On your own Pinterest account, you would have a writing board (or maybe more than one depending on how you want to organize your pins). On this board, only pin things that you think will help you in your career. I think this is where the problem with Pinterest lies. People get PIN happy. They pin recipes they will never use. They pin every cute shirt they see. They pin an article on memoir writing because it's interesting, but they have no plans to ever write a memoir. Then what happens is when they are looking for the fiction article they pinned, they can't find it because the board is full of posts/articles that were interesting, but they will never use. 

So as a Pinterest user, ask yourself: why am I on Pinterest? What kinds of information will help me accomplish my goals? Maybe you have answers, such as: I want to remember different ways to begin a novel. I want help finding an agent. I want inspirational articles and memes for when I'm feeling down as a writer. Asking yourself this and then organizing your boards and following other writers who pin this type of stuff will help you. The purpose of Pinterest is to save and organize things you see on the web or your friends see on the web, so you can refer to it later and use it again and again. 

So...don't forget to follow us or at least some of our boards on Pinterest...and let us help you organize useful information for your writing career! 

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2 comments Margo L. Dill, pinterest, Pinterest for writers, social media

The Top 3 Social Media No-Nos

by Karen Cioffi

At this point in time, most everyone knows the importance of using social media marketing. It’s a powerful strategy that has the ability to bring traffic to your website, boost authority, and build your business.

But, there are certain things you should watch out for. Some of these No-Nos will help you avoid harming your credibility and authority, others will help you boost your visibility.

Here are the top three social media No-Nos:

1. Not using social media as part of your marketing.

I’d be surprised if you’re not already doing this, but if not, you must be a part of social media networks in order to create and broaden your visibility and bring traffic to your website.

Join the biggies, like Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, Pinterest, and so on. I also use StumbleUpon and LinkedIn. There are lots and lots of them. Find a few that work for you and start sharing on them.

Then find the one or two networks that work best for you and ‘work’ them by posting to them more and engaging with other users more.

Be sure to use social sharing buttons on your blog posts. As you publish each post, share it to your networks. And, be sure to share the posts of other users. This helps create the engagement I mentioned above.

2. Promoting too much.

If you’re primarily promoting your products or services, this is a NO-NO. People want to be informed, they want you to help them. They don’t want to be sold to.

There’s a 80/20 marketing rule: Provide your audience with 80% useable information and 20% promotional content.

In fact, there’s so much information online that I think a better rule would be the 85/15 or 90/10 rule. Make yourself the go-to person for the information your audience is looking for. Then slip in the promo for the product or service that will help ease their pain, build their business, get them healthier, make them money or other solution to their problem.

Make it about your audience.

3. Using link-bait.

Okay, first let me explain what link-baiting is: It’s the practice of creating titles and links that are used specifically to get traffic to your website.

If the content (website) you’re sending the traffic to isn’t relevant to the ‘hyped up’ title, this is a NO-NO. Or, you may be sending people to outdated content or to fluff pieces (no substance or value).

People don’t like this and it will affect your social standing and authority.

Use these tips to help boost your results.

***

Karen Cioffi is a former accountant who is now a multi-award-winning author, ghostwriter, freelance writer, editor, and author-writer online platform marketing instructor. She founded and manages Writers on the Move (a marketing group), and presents online writing and marketing workshops and webinars.

Karen has published 12 writing and marketing eBooks, the most recent, Article Marketing: Increase Website Traffic with Properly Formatted and Search Engine Optimized Content.

In addition to this, Karen’s website, Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing, was named Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012.

>>>Want to get more traffic to you and your website? Check out Karen's online class, GIVE YOUR AUTHOR/WRITER BUSINESS A BOOST WITH INBOUND MARKETING. Visit our classroom page for details and enrollment.

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1 comment audience, Facebook, Google +, Karen Cioffi, link bait, marketing advice for writers, no-no's, online class, Pinterest for writers, social media, twitter, WOW class, WOW instructor

How to Use Social Media for Copywriting Projects

I’ve been contracted to work as a copywriter for a three-month health and fitness challenge for a local parenting magazine. Part of the work involves writing e-mails that will be sent out to the challenge participants on a weekly basis. The majority of that process includes curating appropriate content to go into those e-mails.

I put off starting on the project because I was intimidated. I’m a writer and not necessarily a content strategist. Right? Even though I consider myself a pretty health-conscious gal, I began to doubt myself. Was I the right person for this job? Finally last week I decided to see what I could find related to healthy lifestyles on Pinterest.

I hit pay dirt.

“50 Workout Songs to Keep You Going.” Inspirational quotes from personal trainers. Healthy recipes galore. “How to Burn the Most Calories in 20 Minutes.” Within an hour I had pinned so many different ideas to my board that my head started to spin. Then I started to get that feeling you get when inspiration strikes. You know the one I’m talking about? The one that feels you’ve just had three cups of espresso?

I e-mailed the head of the project and shared the board with her. She loved it and shared it with the social media strategist for the initiative who is in charge of creating a Pinterest board for the group. I then shared it with the magazine’s editor, who used it to help put together the editorial plan that will run in the magazine for the next few months. Now that I’ve compiled so many different ideas, I no longer feel intimidated about putting together the remainder of the e-mails for the project.

And of course I stumbled across what always happens when I get on Pinterest—-ideas to pin on other boards. For fun I started browsing through creative writing ideas (Hello “11 Elements to Brainstorm Character Development!) and pinned so many I’ve now got a stockpile of future ideas to share on my social media accounts, specifically Facebook and Twitter.

Have you used social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.) as inspiration for writing projects? I’d love to hear your stories!

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who also blogs at Renee’s Pages. Visit her Pinterest board for ideas on creative writing, healthy living, home décor, fashion, and to catch up on her fictional works in progress.

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4 comments content strategy, curating content, Pinterest for writers, Renee Roberson, social media

Using Pinterest To Your Advantage

I like Pinterest. I like it so much that:

1. My husband told me I was online too much and had accumulated too much stuff for Pinterest projects I "promise I will get to, one of these days" and
2. Received a notice from the website that I am one of the top pinners. (I bet they say that to every user. ;) )

Until recently, I didn't think I was using Pinterest to my advantage as a writer. After Facebook posting articles and sharing links via Twitter, in addition to engaging with readers, it's tough to find time for one more social media account that showcases my writing talents.

But then, I began posting some of my writing on one of my Pinterest boards. A few of them have been pinned and repinned and repinned and repi---, well, you get the point.

Why do some posts tend to make a bigger splash than others? I wish I knew the truth here, but I'm going to take a guess:

1. The pinned article helps someone. Perhaps the information helps a reader/pinner solve a problem. Pin and repin.
2. The pinned article contains precise information. It's direct and to the point.
3. The pinned article tells a clear story. No fluff, just facts (and preferably, facts that can be used).
4. The pinned article posts during a targeted time. Predict when highest number of potential pinners/readers will be online. Compare it to Facebook pages, where you get data about the number of friends reached. Pinterest works in a similar fashion, so select key times to draw in pinners and readers.

If you want to use Pinterest to connect with your audience and create potential readers, these pin guidelines may help you increase your readership.

And isn't that the ultimate goal?

Do you have a Pinterest strategy? Share how you make it work for you. 

by LuAnn Schindler

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2 comments LuAnn Schindler, pinterest, Pinterest for writers

Using Pinterest With a Purpose

A photo from my "Travel Writing" Pinterest Board.

I’ll admit when I first started hearing about Pinterest, I thought, “great, another social media outlet for me to learn how to use and further fuel my teeny-tiny problem with procrastination!” I stubbornly refused to check it out for a few months, thinking that what from what I saw on Facebook people mostly used it to get home décor, craft and recipe ideas. (For those who haven’t discovered Pinterest yet, it’s basically a site where users can create virtual boards and “pin” images to them on a number of topics.)

When I started hearing about other writers promoting their Pinterest pages, I begrudgingly decided to poke around a little and see if it could benefit me in any way.

Here are some ways I’ve seen other writers use Pinterest:

1. Bloggers/writers can showcase products/books they are giving away on their blogs.
2. Authors can feature their book covers and promote new releases.
3. Writers share photos of their writing spaces and include images from their daily lives (books they read, shots of coffee and teacups, inspirational quotes, etc.)
4. Freelance writers can take snapshots of their magazine clips and create a board as sort of an online portfolio.
5. Bloggers can drive traffic to their blogs by pinning photos from their posts on Pinterest and including a link back to the blog.

So as you can see, Pinterest can be a very useful tool, whether you are a published author, freelance writer, aspiring novelist or a social media maven. I started out by creating virtual pinboards for my two works-in-progress as opposed to cutting out pictures from magazines. I included photos of the towns where the stories take place and even pinned photos of a few actors I would cast in the movie version of my books. (Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?) I also pinned photos created from song lyrics, because I have many playlists I use when writing fiction.

I also had an “aha!” moment where I created a board called “Travel Articles.” I uploaded photos that I’ve used with my travel pieces and included a link to a blog post I wrote on that topic. Since I first started using Pinterest, I’ve come up with even more ways to use Pinterest to promote my writing but they will have to be put on the backburner until I have more time to execute the ideas.

Are you on Pinterest? What do you use it for? I’ve love to hear how you’ve used it to promote your writing or provide inspiration for your fiction/nonfiction.

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who blogs at Renee’s Pages.

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4 comments creative inspiration, Pinterest for writers, Renee Roberson