Let me hand straight over to Suzie to explain all the details and let you know how you can join in:

One of the earliest (and most fun!) ways that I learned about networking and boosting my Twitter (and consequently, my blog) following was through the use of Twitter chats. They’re exciting, fast paced and a great way to meet new bloggers without leaving links or spamming the community with content. It is important to note that there any no links allowed until the very end.

The premise of a blogging chat is simple: the person hosting the chat will ask a question and include the hashtag associated with the chat eg.

Q1. What’s your favourite social media to use for blog promotion? #BlogBashChat

Everyone participating in the chat will answer the question and include the same hashtag eg.

Q1. My favourite is Twitter because… #BlogBashChat

You can then use that hashtag to see everyone else’s answers – if you type in the hashtag in the search bar at the top all of the answers that have included it will appear and the you can individually respond to others, again using the hashtag eg.

(In response to someone’s potential answer that Pinterest is their favourite) I don’t understand Pinterest – have you got any tips? #BlogBashChat

This creates a bucket load of conversations with people who you may never have met, which then leads to connections and networking, which then leads to following etc.

There are usually five to six questions asked by the host, with 5-10 minutes left in between each question to give time for people to answer and chat etc. The person hosting the chat can retweet some of the best answers, and individuals can too (this doesn’t mean that you retweet every answer, just some). At the end people are asked to leave their links, again using the hashtag, which allows everyone to check out each others Twitter accounts and blogs…

Here’s where it gets exciting – The Annual Bloggers Bash will be hosting their very first Twitter chat tonight from 7-8pm BST, and this will become a weekly event – every Sunday at the same time.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the Bloggers Bash (and if you haven’t, where have you been) – the Bash is an annual meet-up for bloggers that takes place in London. Now in their fourth year, the Bash hosts their own awards – nominated and voted for by the blogging community, a writing competition, presentations and networking opportunities, with attendees from the U.K, Europe, the U.S. and Canada, and it is rapidly growing in popularity, with over 5,000 votes being made last year. You can find out more by clicking on the link here

Join us tonight where I will be asking the questions for the first ever weekly Bloggers Bash Chat on the @BloggersBash Twitter account, using the hashtag #BLOGBASHCHAT.

Remember:

There are no links allowed until the end

A question is asked by the host using the hashtag #BlogBashChat

Participants respond to the question using the question number and the same hashtag #BlogBashChat

The hashtag can be used to find others participating.

It’s a brilliant way to network!

If you have any questions about what to do, let me know and I will do my best to answer them!

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to follow my Facebook page www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks

Who’s going to join us? TWEET me (@sacha_black), to let me know. Comments closed on the post.

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The post Join the Bloggers Bash First Ever Twitter Chat @BloggersBash #BlogBashChat appeared first on Sacha Black.

In summary, she’s good. Fucking good. GO.READ.HER.BOOK.

AmazonCOM

AmazonUK

In celebration of her book, and that June is flash fiction month, her book is on sale. Check it out.

But today, Brentyn is teaching us all about Twitter and how to use it.

Welcome to Sarah:

Whether you love Twitter, hate it, or feel a bit iffy, I’ve got news for you.

Tweeting improves your writing.  

Clicking the button on someone’s blog with that little blue bird on it doesn’t count. I’m talking about composing a tweet. Writing something. All the cool kids are doing it. I’ve lost count of how many hashtag games there are on Twitter.

What am I going on about? Here’s what: Twitterature. Get it? Twitter Literature. I know. Sounds made up. It’s not. It’s a real thing. Seriously.

If you’re a writer not taking part in any of the prompts on there, you’re missing out.

Why are you missing out? Here’s why: Microbursts. Get it? Micro fiction bursting with story. This one is not a real thing—it’s something I completely made up for my book but totally should be a thing. (For my fellow nerds, yes, microbursts are real but they are a weather phenomenon so don’t go there. We’re talking about writing. Focus, people!) You’d be surprised how much you can fit in a tweet.

Let’s talk about how this fast-paced platform helps you become a better writer.

Way 1 – Learn to Be Concise

Let’s face it, you have to be brief when writing a scene, story, or joke in 140 characters or less. Even if you tend toward the dark side of verbosity, you can tweet. If you’re naturally wordy, you won’t be. You can’t be. It’s 140 characters. With a hashtag. You can’t afford to be long-winded. Succinct is the secret. The limit forces you to edit. Every. Word. Counts. Cut the crap, you know? Get rid of it. If it doesn’t fit in that tiny tweet, make it fit. Writers from all genres do this every day on Twitter.

Way 2 – Meet Other Writers (and Readers)

Of course, if writers are taking part in these daily hashtag games, you will be seeing them. And they will be seeing you. You can build an entire community of like-minded tweeps by simply participating in these micro prompts. This provides some good, quick reads but also an audience, support, and motivation. And here’s something else: Insta-feedback! You’re getting likes and retweets and replies or…you’re not. You’re learning what resonates with people and what doesn’t. Sometimes within minutes. And, while you’re enjoying some Twitterature while waiting in line at the store, your writing continues to attract readers throughout the day.

Way 3 – Write Impact Sentences

One-liners are like…BAM! They hit you upside the head. Whether they make you laugh out loud, cringe, or cry, they have an impact. These are essential for flash but important for longer works, too. And don’t even say a novel doesn’t need great one-liners. It does. It’s just that you can’t (and really shouldn’t) write a whole novel of sentences that pack a punch. That would be ugly. But you want them sprinkled throughout. Twitterature helps you write “wow” sentences. Because, when you’re only writing 20-30 words, you focus on perfecting those sentences and can wow ‘em (almost) every time.

Way 4 – Try New Genres

Like writing romance? Cool. Get your readers all hot and bothered with some smooches. Humor or horror seem way out of your comfort zone? Good. Don’t spend four months trying to be funny or having your MC cut people up and store them in the fridge. (Dude. You’re gross.) But you can spend one day doing this, can’t you? Stretch your writer-wings. If a specific genre doesn’t seem like your thing, practice it on Twitter. The fleeting nature of a tweet encourages creativity and experimentation. You’re not writing War and Peace. You’re writing Twitterature.

Way 5 – Be Your Own Muse

Those pithy pieces you write on Twitter can become so much more. Flash fiction, a short story, even the kernel of a novel. A timeline can be like a drafts folder. Write, tweet, repeat. Soon, you’ll have a whole library of your own work to search through. It’s brilliant. You can find some amazing lines in those tweets. Those can be stand-alone beauties but can also be the seed that grows into a tree. Or they can be your first line. Or the ending of a chapter, the beginning of another, part of a blurb, your tagline… There is so much potential packed into a tweet.

When writing a lengthier piece, you want to keep these things in mind. Better yet, you want to be in the habit of writing Twitterature so, when the time comes to write your WIP, this is all second nature. You will dazzle the world with your words.

Twitter is your playground.

Go forth and create, fellow writers. Play. Practice your writing skills. Have fun.

***

Dont forget her book is on sale – go check it out here: 

AmazonCOM

AmazonUK

Author Bio:

Sarah Brentyn is an introvert who believes anything can be made better with soy sauce and wasabi.

She loves words and has been writing stories since she was nine years old. She talks to trees and apologizes to inanimate objects when she bumps into them.

When she’s not writing, you can find her strolling through cemeteries or searching for fairies.

She is the author of Hinting at Shadows, a collection of short fiction.

You can find Sarah all over the tinterweb like here:

Amazon: Author Page

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blogs:

Lemon Shark

Lemon Shark Reef

Socal Media:

Twitter, Google+, Website

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The post 5 Ways Twitter Helps You Become a Better Writer @sarahbrentyn #MondayBlogs appeared first on Sacha Black.

I’ve already talked about choices, and the fact reaching goals is all about choice in my post a couple of weeks ago that talks about Setting Unrealistic Goals in Order to Achieve Unbelievable Outcomes.

Everyone knows Twitter is in the top 5 tools for boosting traffic, but scheduling tweets is another matter. I have tweets scheduled up to 6 months in advance. Yeah, really, and no, it’s not because I’m super organised. Once I write a post, I use a program to create template tweets and then schedule them for the next 6 months. It’s a pain at the time, but seriously, when you sit back on Monday’s, knowing you don’t have to tweet every 4 seconds you’ll be thanking me.

So how do you actually schedule tweets? And you know, add all the links and pretty pictures and stuff?! I’m going to tell you.

Like any social media anything, there are a plethora of tools you can use. Some are better than others, the three big ones that immediately spring to mind are:

• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• TwitterAds

They are a much of a muchness, although twitter ads requires you to put card details in, which it won’t charge unless you start a paid campaign to promote tweets. Buffer has slightly more social media options i.e. you can schedule tweets, pins and posts to more media outlets, however, you can only do it if you’re willing to pay.

That leaves us with hootsuite, and the program I use. You can pay a subscription, which actually, I am looking into, and that gives you more than the free version. But I have been using the free version for months and its been more than adequate.

Rather than write out a step by step instruction, I thought I would try something new. I have recorded a video of my computer screen whilst I scheduled a tweet for this post. I hope it works, and I haven’t raced off, I have a tendency to speak REALLY quick.

Here’s the video:

Finally, here are the top tips I have for scheduling tweets:

ONE

Schedule as far in advance as you can – I try for 6 months of tweets, then you don’t have to worry about anything other than RTs for months. Until you run out of course, and then you have to spend a whole evening doing it again! But still.

TWO

Remember you can schedule old posts too. I often have a little session scheduling old posts using the hashtags so that I drive more traffic to them. Just because they are old, doesn’t mean you can’t continue to share them.

THREE

Add photos to your tweets. Here’s 4 Easy Steps To Seriously Awesome Photos. I use the same photo for my blog as I do on twitter and Pinterest – it keeps the branding intact. The smaller the photo file the better – any photos you add will take up characters. But photos in tweets are shown to boost shares and RTs.

FOUR

Don’t forget hashtags and links. There are a plethora of hashtags out there, #MondayBlogs, #SundayBlogShare, #ArchiveDay, #wwwblogs and Rosie’s #TuesdayBookBlog are among my fave hashtags. Here’s a post highlighting 50 tricks to twitter.

FIVE

Save as draft so that you can use it repeatedly, and make sure you click ‘retain copy’ otherwise your template will disappear.

SIX

Schedule tweets around popular times of the day. Each social media outlet has its most popular times, which google can tell you. But, knowing when to tweet is difficult because you could be in one part of the world but your audience is from another part of the world. But go for the most logical times you can think of. I have most success at the following times:

8-10:30am  – people sitting down at work (especially Monday’s) and checking twitter before getting on with the day job.

11:45 – 13:30 lunchtimes (people on breaks at work)

16:45- 18:00 Post work – checks on route to the car, train/bus home

19:30 onwards – this is when most people look at blogs and social media – evening times.

SEVEN

If you have time, try to vary the wording of your tweets a tiny bit. I don’t always have time, but people can see it as spam if you just post the same wording continuously.

EIGHT

Use numbers in your tweets. Research shows that using numbers increases interaction. As does the word ‘YOU’. Finally, you don’t always have to just use the title of your post, use big emotion words and catchy marketing headlines. I know, I know, it feels like selling your soul using this type of phrasing. But is it really? I mean, do you want to boost your traffic or not? And if you are writing good material then it doesn’t matter if your twitter title is a bit showy offish? Be proud.

Jon Morrow – if you sign up to his website, has an awesome guide to creating headlines. Since I used his method, I can’t even quantify the increase in traffic. I really recommend the application of his method.

Examples for tweets I could schedule for this post are:

Want To Grow You Audience? Try These 6 Twitter Tricks

Need More Time? Boost Traffic Using This Method

Writers – Want a Bigger Audience? Try This Must Use Technique

You get the point.

***

Good Luck, and if you have any questions drop them in the comments.

What methods do you use to be more efficient? How do you get more time out of your already compressed life? What Twitter tricks do you have for growing your audience?

If you liked this post, subscribe here to get writing tips, tools and inspiration as well as information on the release of my books.

The post Grow Your Audience – 8 Tricks Efficient Writers Use On Twitter appeared first on Sacha Black.

I read recently (I forget where – and I have already scalded myself for not saving the link) that every aspiring writer should have an electronic platform namely, a social media presence.

What that media presence is, and how effective it is has until recently seemed to me, to be knowledge only for the elite and all powerful superb loggers, and not something I was that bothered about until I read about the importance of having an electronic platform. So I set about doing some research on how to boost traffic and network better.

I am guessing that most aspiring authors, myself included, started a blog to do one or more of the following:

a) Network, meet other aspiring writers and build contacts and if your lucky friendships

b) If and when you are brave enough to post work, build some kind of appreciative base of friends, acquaintances, people (fans?!) who don’t think your utterly useless (like my own brain does).

c) Learn from, and share your own learning on the writing process (this one is important to me)

d) Write more

e) Procrastinate writing blogs instead of stories, and claim it’s writing (I do this, it counts in my head and somehow gets me closer to finishing my novel)

If we are honest, B – is probably the one lots of us secretly hope for? I do, not ashamed to admit it. I am  a writer, and although I write because my brain gives me no other option (characters scream at me if I don’t). I dream of one day  selling thousands of books. This means having people that God forbid, actually read my work! But what better place to do that, or at least start that conversation than on social media.

But how do you actually build a follower base? Well, I can’t claim to have an extraordinarily large base yet, but it is growing, and there are a few things in particular I have done that have helped. So I thought I would share the nuggets I have found with you so far.

Here is an infographic that gives you some ‘headline grabbing’ (see what I did there!) stats on blogging

Twitter

Thanks to Norah Colvin for introducing me to some writing Hash Tags on Twitter.

I saw a 400% increase in twitter followers in 10-11 days using these hashtags so if you want traffic use them!

Click #MondayBlogs to links to their twitter account. If you post on Mondays tweet your post with the hashtag #MondayBlogs. If you tweet and retweet others, trust me when I tell you you will get a ton of followers – take a phone charger to work your phone battery will die! Posts must have been posted on a Monday.

#SundayBlogShare Same thing – Links to the account but use the hashtag on a Sunday and tweet and RT others, you can tweet anything you like from your blog though.

#ArchiveDay not quite sure who created this one, but same thing – tweet any post from your archives on a Saturday, tweet and RT others.

#wwwblogs This ones for ladies (sorry guys) same principles – but on a Wednesday

I read an interesting post the other day on Twitter Tips there are 50 things to do, or not to do on twitter, some basic but others actually quite interesting.

The other point to note is that when someone follows me now, I respond thanking them and pointing them in the direction of my website. This has helped a lot, and I have connected with lots more writers, and even started to make friends with fellow writers.

Pinterest

I’ve written about the benefits of Pinterest before here. Mandy Wallace who I have also talked about before here has mastered Pinterest for writers. She now has thousands of re-pins and refers from Pinterest to her website everyday. Mandy has written an excellent tutorial about how you can get your posts to go viral like hers here.

Mandy discusses things like, the size and importance of the size of photos you put on your blog posts, the importance of having the right headlines and having good images, and ensuring you post them to Pinterest.

I have also read recently that to get featured on Pinterest there are a few key things you can do – like ordering your boards to reflect who you are, titling your boards something relevant to the content and similarly having a reflective picture of the content. I had never been that bothered about being featured on Pinterest, I just used it for inspiration and completely selfishly just pinning things I thought were interesting or useful. Despite that, I was actually featured for a few days – my writing board – which you can find here. Although quite why I was featured, still remains a mystery, but I have to say if you are interested in increasing traffic it is a really good way to do it, my followers on there exploded over night. But I do think with most of these ‘being featured’ like on freshly pressed, it’s mostly a matter of luck.

I haven’t seen much luck with Pinterest in terms of referrals or viral posts, so I am still looking for more hints and tips to share.

Facebook

This is an obvious one. I haven’t ever posted my articles to Facebook before, partly because I blog under a pseudonym and had previously wanted to remain anonymous. I posted my interview with James Howell on the 13th, and I got 44 refers just from that one post on Facebook. I don’t know what everyone else finds when you post your blogs to Facebook? But I would be interested to know what you find on traffic from facebook?

Google Plus

Google plus is completely new to me. It wasn’t until I spoke to my friend who works in marketing that I really understood what it was. It’s a new platform that is similar to Facebook. But it is quickly becoming THE platform in social media. The biggest reason for it’s success is what it can offer you. Your google plus account directly affects your visibility on google. The better more prolific your google plus account is, the more searchable and visible you are on google searches… ideal for any writer. I have only just signed up for an account so I am not sure theres much I can offer by way of intelligence other than to suggest its a ruddy good idea for networking. There are dozens of communities and groups on google plus dedicated to writers, so it is already proving to boost networking.

Headlines

In Mandy’s post there are some links to a post about headline grabbing titles which I have now added to the Free Resources Page, alongside Jon Morrow’s website where you can download his headline hacks article, which is fantastic. It’s a complete tutorial all about how to create the perfect headline to grab readers attention. I have to say, it is very interesting how many more clicks an refers they suggest you can get just by changing the title of your posts. I’ve noticed a small increase, but as yet, nothing major.

Interviews and Guest Posts

It’s fairly common knowledge that guest posts and Interviews give your blog credibility. They show an ability to network, and sharing of expertise knowledge. I was skeptical as to whether and actually, why, interviews and guest posts had such an impact. But after posting the interview with Howell, I got the most hits in one day I had ever received – so it obviously works. I guess the importance here is to choose your guests wisely and your interviews more wisely in order to keep your credibility and boost your networks.

Timing is Everything

Now, if you’re anything like me, then you post when you post, and you tweet when you tweet. I have a full time job, and child, so I don’t have the luxury of much free time to do any of the things I am suggesting. But timing is another really important aspect of social media. There are key times in the day for each social media platform. It’s not something I had thought about until I found the infographic below. But I guess it makes sense. If you want to post at the ideal time for the social media site of your choice, use the below timings for your benefit.

 Imagery

Imagery is essential for any writer, so why should it be any different for blog posts, they are of course ‘writing’. Images for writers though can be hard to find, particularly free ones that you can manipulate to your hearts content, in the knowledge you aren’t breaking any copyright laws. Creative Commons is excellent for this. Just go to the explore section and choose where you want to search. I use it ALL the time. I am drawing together a list of image databases which I will put in the free resources section once it is complete.

That’s it for now, but I will be sure to share any other intelligence I glean

The post Writing Tips #16 The Secrets of Social Media – Everything A Writer Should Know appeared first on Sacha Black.