by Mac Tyre
Tips for social media, websites, micro websites
When you decide to grow a web presence, think information, inclusivity, connections, and engagement. As a creative thinker, you’ll want to make your website a powerhouse of high-quality content, and your social media or other web assets magnets for other creatives and for people who enjoy creative thinking
Information to grow a web presence
Anything related to your area of interest is something that should go on your website.
You’ll want to talk about competitions, contests, updates and new developments in your field, updates in technology that relate to your field, new advertising opportunities, new magazines or publications, websites and content by experts in your field, and links to other expert websites are just a few information sources.
- Artists and writers, like you, are important to any business endeavor to create appealing advertisements and stellar content. Promote the artists who follow you — post their work.
- If one of your followers or someone who interests you is running a special or an event, share it to help them gain exposure and grow their web presence. Yours will grow, too.
- Your audience, for the most part, may be starting out on a new business adventure like you. That means sharing resources that have to do with advertising, finance acquisition, or business planning could be helpful.
- Remember that anything that is cost-effective will be of special interest to a new business.
Inclusivity can expand your reach
Your web presence is promoting a product, service, or skill. We all want a large customer base, so why limit your reach to only those in your field? Your product, or skill, or service may not appeal to everyone, but it is up to them to make that decision. Your job is to invite them in to at least consider what you are promoting.
Connections are essential when you grow a web presence
How does your product, skill, or service relate to others? Have you ever thought about how one set of skills ties into another?
Here are a few ideas from the viewpoint of a writer. These writer skills translate to all other businesses.
To make a character relatable, he is written with human characteristics and actions. He must eat. So a writer might refer to a restaurant that has a special dish that becomes the character’s signature. The restaurant could become the setting for themes of particular scenes. Now, the book or story connects to the restaurant and could open a conversation online that results in links, likes, and reposts. Readers or the restaurant owner may make a comment.
Characters wear clothes. Clothing designers or aspiring designers might make unique designs for fantasy characters or perhaps suggestions character-appropriate outfits. An item like a hat could become a signature for a particular character. Maybe you will get lucky and connect with a clothing designer into period clothing. And again, a dialogue may open, and a relationship begins.
Characters have to be unique. Maybe one character is into bodybuilding; engaging with a gym owner could give you ideas on what bodybuilding entails, on workout regimens, and nutrition. Hobbies like perfume making, gardening, or fishing give depth to a character and provide lots of ways to connect with new audiences.
If you want to grow a web presence, engagement is #1
Think about it. Game programmers and fantasy writers intersect in multiple ways. Game programmers are always looking for stories, and authors can learn a lot from the way programmers approach world-building. The technical aspects of programming games can give authors ideas for transformations, morphing, or multiplications.
Find the points of interest where you can engage with different types of people online and use that insight to your advantage. If you’re a writer, you can mention your most dedicated and empowering followers in your books or content: either in the text or in acknowledgments.
Many influencers with high numbers of followers say, “The higher the numbers, the more relevant you are.”
To my thinking, likes, comments, and shares are just as important since those are the actions that motivate followers to keep engaging. One person has mentioned that hearts rate better than those thumbs up, so give people reasons to love what you do. The next logical step, once those people have grown to like and trust your influence, is that they convert to buyers. And conversions are what we’re all after; we usually want to grow our web presence so we can fuel our revenue streams.
And a bonus item: Pay loyalty with loyalty
As you begin to grow your web presence, you’ll see that reviews are helpful to all businesses. If someone has been particularly helpful to you, a review is a great way to pay them back. Go the extra step to let people know you pay loyalty with loyalty. It’s easy to see when someone online is only concerned with big numbers and self-promotion.
So engage. When you find something interesting or helpful, share it or at least comment and encourage the site owner to keep going.
Your website is a powerful tool, capable of much more than just promoting a service or product. Use your social media site for more than just “collecting people,” as I heard one person put it. As you grow, you’ll expand your knowledge and your expertise while you develop friends, relationships, and influence. Big traffic numbers don’t tell the whole story — an enjoyable user experience is way more important.
About the author: Mac Tyre is a pen name derived from the Celtic horoscope sign for November. Mac thinks the symbol of a wolf seems appropriate for the needed tenacity of a writer. She currently has four works in progress – a romance and three historical fiction works based on family genealogical stories. Connect with her on Facebook.
