The great thing about social networking is sharing a passion and finding other like-minded individuals. Lucky for book lovers (and authors), there are many sites especially designed to share the love of books. With the following sites, book lovers can discuss what they are reading now, favorite books, and even those they really couldn’t get into.

Best of all, they can get recommendations on what to read next. Here are some social networking sites especially for book lovers.

Shelfari

Shelfari allows book lovers to create a virtual bookshelf that helps log how much someone has read. Shelfari has a blog that talks about popular books, author interviews, and other popular book-related news items. There is a widget for book lovers to show what they are reading on their own blog or website.

Goodreads

Goodreads has a variety of options for book lovers. People can look up favorite book quotes, gather friends together to form a book club, and answer trivia questions related to the written word.

Library Thing

Library Thing lets users list books they have read and enjoyed like the other sites, but they also offer up books for review. Some local author events are listed as well. It is a good source for authors and readers to interact.

aNobii

aNobii is a based in Hong Kong, and encourages readers to strike up online conversations with others on the site. According to their website, the name comes from the “first few syllables of Anobium Punctatum, which is the proper name for bookworms.” Users can get help navigating the site with a “most popular” list that shows what others are discussing, as well as books that are “most buzzed.”

Like the other sites listed, aNobii allows users to rate and review books as well as find other sites that sell works by their favorite authors.

Book lovers today have plenty of options on how to chat and interact with other people who share their love of the written word. Not only that, but many authors also frequent the aforementioned sites, which provides opportunity to interact with the person behind the writing. Finding great things to read has never been so easy.

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About 10 months ago, I listened to Gary Vaynerchuck talk about this new site called Pinterest. He was really excited about it, though at first I didn’t get it. “Get on Pinterest now!” Gary encouraged. I didn’t listen, thinking “oh, dear, not another social network!” But Pinterest has proven to be anything but another social network.

First, its growth has been extraordinary. According to several reports, including a blog post shared on Mashable, from September 2011 to December 2011, unique visitors on Pinterest increased by 429%. That kind of growth has never been seen in a social network and while it’s still early for Pinterest, we’re seeing a lot of staying power, especially with established brands like Macy’s, Land’s End and magazines such as Real Simple – which got more traffic from Pinterest in October 2011 than from Facebook.

For those of you who haven’t been on Pinterest, the concept is almost deceptively simple. You sign up for an account (there’s a waiting period right now as Pinterest tries to manage traffic and new accounts, once you sign up it should take about a week before you can get in). The site is a collection of boards, sort of like virtual bulletin boards that you name and add to your page. You can have as many boards as you want and name them whatever you want (though make sure to read through the Pinterest terms of service so you know you’re not violating any of their regulations). The boards can describe your brand, book, message, or business. We’ll look at some board ideas in a minute but for now, think bulletin board.

So, that said, how can you make the most of Pinterest? Like any social network, I recommend that you poke around, follow a few people in your industry and see what they are posting about. There are a lot of creative boards and a lot of companies using Pinterest as a unique brand extension. Check out http://pinterest.com/chobani/, they have all sorts of boards that tie into their brand including Chobani Champions, recipes, spoons, and sans yogurt which is a board about all things non-yogurt related.

Picking your Boards

* First, it’s important to come up with creative and interesting board names. Keep in mind that these board names get shared whenever someone repins you so make them catchy!

* When you first start on Pinterest, you are a completely blank slate. It’s up to you to fill your new Pinterest page with exciting boards. But where to start? Well, your business, product, message, or book will often determine the boards you put up. You should consider your audience first and what they would like to see.

Here are a few ideas:

* If you do a lot of speaking or other offline events, create a board that captures the excitement of these by posting pictures and videos. This is especially great if you have a conference or other big event you’re planning. You could put the board up early with “teaser” content to encourage sign-ups, too!

* Create a customer or reader board that has pictures and/or videos of happy customers. I often talk about capturing endorsements or reviews on video when you see someone at an event, these can be posted to this board.

* How-to boards are great as well. You can create a board (or several) around how-to’s related to your product or service.

* Company boards are great too, you can create one that showcases your company, sharing your core values, and also highlights your team.

* Thank you boards are great, too. Consider creating a thank you board for clients.

* If you’re promoting a new book, product, or campaign you can also create a board to support that. The board can have tutorials on it, or videos of the new product. It can be a combination of how-to and showcasing what you’re offering.

* Tutorials are big for our company, so we plan to offer tutorial boards to help walk our clients through how to use social media, how to continue reaping the benefits from our campaigns once they are done, etc.

* Trends and seasonal stuff make great boards, too. So don’t hesitate to create a holiday or trend board if you think your audience will be interested.

* You can also let your customers work on a board with you. Create a user-generated content board and invite customers or readers to pin away!

Marketing Ideas

* If the idea of Pinterest is still intimidating, consider the following marketing ideas for your boards:

* Videos: Pinterest loves videos. What videos can you pin to a board?

* Keywords are big on Pinterest, so be sure to think carefully about what you name your picture and what words you use in the description. You can even use hashtags on Pinterest and if you’re trying to get the attention of another Pinner, use the @ followed by their Pin-name to tag them. You can also use a dollar sign to add a “ribbon” to your pin that will immediately show pricing. This is great if you’re selling product.

* When you add your pin, don’t forget to tweet it and add it to Facebook, you can do this as soon as the pin is loaded.

* When you blog, be sure to add great pictures to your blog so that when you pin your blog post to your board, you can capture a great image. Images on Pinterest are obviously important!

* Click the “popular” link on Pinterest to see what’s hot and what’s trending. You might be able to make this part of your content strategy.

* Be sure to promote your Pinterest account on Facebook, Twitter, on your website, and in your email signature line, of course

A Few Final Points

Be sure to add a catchy description to your profile and when you’re setting up your Pinterest account, link it to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. This will help you gain followers, and add the icons to your profile page so you can direct people there, too.

Make sure to engage on Pinterest. Repin pins you love, comment on pins and since you can see pins on the site from folks you aren’t even connected with, be sure to broaden your reach when networking. You never know where the next follower will come from.

Pinterest is a fun, if not highly addictive way to start marketing. Still not sure what to do on Pinterest? Then get started by following others in your industry and get a sense of what they’re doing. While the future of Pinterest is still uncertain, one thing we know for sure. The site has grown at rates that no one expected and continues to do so. It’s been the quickest site to monetize (to give you perspective, it took Twitter five years to monetize) and has already become a staple for many businesses.

Happy Pinning!

Other boards we love:

http://pinterest.com/societysocial/
http://pinterest.com/pulpwoodqueen/

Reprinted from “The Book Marketing Expert newsletter,” a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

More on Pinterest:

• The Ultimate Guide To Marketing Your Business With Pinterest (Internet Marketing, Social Media for Profit, Web 2.0, Web Marketing)
• Pinterest For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
• Pinterest Marketing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marketing Your Brand and Products on Pinterest (Volume 1)

Guest post by: Vicky Anscombe

The beauty of Twitter is its complex and diverse nature. People from all over the world  with different writing styles, opinions, senses of humour and ways of expressing themselves come together in 140 characters to make their voices heard. It’s a magnificent melting pot of the interesting, thought-provoking, inspiring and obscene that anyone can sign up to and enjoy.

However, there are always a few rotten apples that can ruin your Twitter experience. Here’s our handy guide to spotting five of the worst…and what to do about them.

The cryptic tweeters: We’re all aware of the Facebook friends that enjoy making a drama of their social lives, and it’s vaguely irritating to see that Twitter has also attracted these folks. If you spot anyone posting song lyrics along with a sad face, a sentence that starts with ‘Some people…’ or an unflattering, thinly-veiled description of an ex-partner’s bedroom activities, it’s probably best that you unfollow them. It’s not just that they don’t deserve the attention that they’re garnering, but that after a while, their updates will make you want to hang them over a bridge by their ankles whilst shouting, “Man up!”

The trolling tweeters: You must have seen this lot. They’ve got an opinion on everything, and it’s usually eye-wateringly strong. These are the people that actively seek out others with differing points of view, and set about aggressively challenging them, in order to provide evidence for their way of thinking. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, of course – but these people take ‘freedom of expression’ to a new level. If you’re pretty laid-back and enjoy watching a good sparring match, keep them in your feed for entertainment purposes, by all means – but be warned. These people don’t go out much, so prepare yourself for little to no respite; they tend to tweet a great deal.

The banal tweeters: Nobody’s interesting all the time, that’s a given. Even Lady Gaga must run out of things to say sometimes. However, this lot seem to have not only lost the ability to use their imagination, but have also chopped it into tiny pieces and buried it in a nearby wood. Updates might include ‘Had a great weekend’, ‘Just caught a bus’, or ‘Eating my dinner’. I suggest that you unfollow them, as one day after a few drinks you will be tempted to write a terse reply that you may regret. However, you’d probably receive a pretty mild response if you did, so it’s nothing to worry about in the long-term.

The boastful tweeters: These people are, by far, the most irritating. They’ll talk about their huge salaries, cars, clothes made of gold, that sort of thing. The average tweet will be something like, “I cannot believe my ivory cravat is in the wash. I will have to wear my diamond tie to the Brits tonight. Thank goodness I’m going backstage!”. There are two ways of dealing with these people. Bow out gracefully, and unfollow – or, if you’ve got a strong stomach, keep following them to see how long your blood pressure can stand it.

The grammatically-nightmarish tweeters: Grammar’s a funny thing. Some (potentially happier) people are unfazed by spelling errors, but some of us carry a black felt-tip to correct mistakes and wince when we hear double-negatives. These tweeters are probably all decent, harmless human beings, but may use the following: numerous exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!, the term ‘LOL’, spelling that as ‘dat’, and utilising a ‘p’ to represent sticking their tongue out. If you’ve ever been caught shame-facedly altering a pub’s chalkboard after being unable to ignore a spelling error, it’s best for everyone if you unfollow. Life is too short.

Vicky Anscombe is a writer and social media consultant living in Norwich. She enjoys the finer things in life, such as toasted bagels, singing songs from ‘Chess’ to her bemused boyfriend and toying with her 6-month old tabby kitten.

More About Twitter:

• The Tao of Twitter: Changing your life and business 140 characters at a time
• Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Guest post

Social networking sites are popping up all over the place. There are sites for users to create a profile and connect with others. Some sites are used for people to share their interests with each other. A few sites serve the purpose of informing people about news and current trends. The social media and social networking trend has increased exponentially over the years. For some people, social media is essential in their day to day lives.

Expanding Target Audience

Different social media sites serve different purposes for people of all different ages and interests. Originally social networks were primarily used by teens and twenty year olds. Sites like Facebook and MySpace evolved and encouraged people of all ages to join by making it more engaging for everyone. More and more sites came out to target different interest groups. Now there are so many social media websites that it would be near impossible to name them all in one article.

Business Profiles

Businesses have even been able to prosper from the development of social media. There are many different media vehicles online to promote a business or company website. Businesses are able to get more visibility to prospective customers by targeting different types of people. Facebook is a popular tool for businesses. Company profiles can be created to display product and service information, current deals, updated information. Business pages make it easy for a business to advertise their company and drive traffic towards their site. Twitter is also commonly used because customers will be constantly informed by following their tweets.

Sharing Interests

Other sites like Pinterest allow users to set up a profile and pin their interests. General users will pin items such as crafts or recipes to share with friends and they can also pin products they wish to purchase. Pinterest is also beneficial to businesses because they can pin their products and encourage other users to follow their posts. These pins will either link back to their website or link to a website where customers can purchase these items.

Social Networking Site for Kids

Social Networking sites have become increasing popular for young children. Many of these sites are not necessarily appropriate for kids under 13 because of the type of content that is uploaded and there is also a risk of online predators. There are kids social network sites that have been created specifically for kids under 13 years of age. Kids Social Network is monitored for any inappropriate content. This protects kids from running into foul language, vulgar pictures, and online predators.

Social Media

There are numerous social media website that benefit a variety of users. They are entertaining for users and beneficial for businesses.  Most of these websites are free; however there are a few sites that charge a small fee. Take a look at what some of these sites have to offer and beware because many of these sites are easy to get hooked on.

Kids Social Networking is a Facebook site for kids that has many benefits to offer children younger than thirteen years old.  Kids can connect with friends and share their interests in the safest social networking site on the web.

More on Social Media:

• The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue
• Success Secrets of Social Media Marketing Superstars
• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter

Image: KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You know, I never used to be in writers groups of any kind, but in the last few years I’ve suddenly found myself in quite a few. I have to say, they have been very valuable for my career and personal satisfaction. A writer’s group can help you deal with the ups and downs of the freelance writing life and give you some perspective on days when negative clients and low rates get the best of you.

If you’re new to the idea of a writer’s group, here are some ideas on how to join or start one.

Online Writers Groups

You don’t have to be face-to-face with someone in order to reap the benefits of emotional support. Being a part of an active online group can work just as well. If you’re a work-at-home writer, there are several forums online that accept new people.

If you write for an online magazine or website, you can also check to see if they have a writing community. Suite101, Examiner, and About.com, and the like are all sites that have an online forum.

Yahoo Groups is another great way to find other writers. Go to the Yahoo home page, then click on “Groups.” (The “groups” link will either be on the left side or at the very bottom, depending on your personal site preferences.) Enter “writers” in the search box at the top. Or, you can start your own group on the site by clicking the link at the top.

Local Colleges Have Writers Groups

Many local colleges and technical schools will have a writers group that meets regularly. I was actually asked to speak to two of things last year in our local area. These may meet after class, at night, or even during the day. Generally these types of groups have a wide variety of people, from freelance writers to aspiring novelists. The range of people can help writers get a variety of feedback about their work.

Writers Groups on Meetup.com

Meetup is a wonderful way to connect with other like-minded people. There are a variety of groups listed on the site, many of them having to do with writing or books. Simply enter your zip code and do a search to find one that is right for you.

The site also asks members for their areas of interest, and even if there is not a group formed they give suggestions on how to start one. Knowing there are other people out there looking for the same types of groups you are can be a motivating factor in creating your own.

Join a Writing Organization

In the last few years, I’ve joined a couple writing organizations, and these have had several different meetup opportunities. Some of these are in the form of classes, but quite a few have been small luncheons and coffee meetups to get to know other writers. Go to a few events and meet some people, and these can turn into friendships, lunch dates, “coffice time,” and more.

Start Your Own Group

As mentioned above, Meetup and Yahoo provide easy ways for you to start your own writers group. These groups can be formed online initially, and brought to the real world if enough local members sign up. You can also post a notice in your local coffee shop (where writers are known to hang out) or library to help generate interest.

Connecting with other writers is a great way to get sympathy on a bad day, get over a rejection quicker, and receive an honest critique of your writing. The best part is being surrounded by people who know exactly what you’re going through. Writing, even for the business world, is often connected to emotions, so having a group of like-minded people you can share your triumphs and frustrations with will help you put the ups and downs in perspective.

More on Writers Groups:

• The Complete Guide to Writers Groups That Work
• No Red Pen – Writers, Writing Groups & Critique
• Writer’s Workshops Book 2

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We’ve been hearing a lot in recent weeks about Pinterest. Every time we hear about a new promotion method, I immediately see writers jump on it and then begin to promote their stuff. Yes, we want to promote, but sometimes this need to get our books and blogs in front of people can put off the very readers we’re trying to attract.

It’s a delicate balance, and one every writer needs to constantly reflect upon. I just started on Pinterest, and I’ll give you some of the ways I’m using it right now. I’m interested in how each of you are using Pinterest as well. Let’s share some of our best ideas.

Branding

The word “branding” when it comes to writers is slightly different than with corporations. Corporations are made up of a lot of people and concepts, whereas writers are each individual and unique. That uniqueness is what you want to show to people. One way to do that is on Pinterest.

Before you can give readers a visual representation of your brand, you have to be sure what it is. For example, my brand deals with helping people to connect. I write about relationships, dating, and friendship. To break it down further, I write about acceptance and helping people to show off their unique abilities.

To give people an idea of what I’m like (because personality can be part of your brand as a writer), I write about creative projects and words I appreciate and things I struggle with at my blog. Pinterest is an extension of that, so I pin visual things that represent that, like craft projects, recipes, inspirational quotes and sayings, books I enjoy, etc.

Promoting My Books

I pin lots of different books to give people an idea of what I like but I also have a separate board for my own books. They are labeled so people know what they are, which is like the “about me” section on a blog. If someone wants to find out more, it’s there, but in the meantime I’m on the site for the same reason as everyone else: to share cool stuff we find.

Remembering the Reason Pinterest Got Hot

Pinterest became a cool place to hang out because people shared the stuff they enjoyed just to share it, not sell stuff. So remember that when you’re pinning things. It’s so tempting to just start tagging your own things, but if you go too far you’ll repel readers instead of attract them. The way to attract them is just to be the unique person you are. If they are interested in finding out more about you on their own, they will. This type of reader will be one that is more loyal than someone you badger with constant, in-your-face, marketing. Like all forms of social networking, it’s about genuine interaction first and referrals second.

More on Pinterest:

• Pinterest For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
• Pinterest Marketing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marketing Your Brand and Products on Pinterest (Volume 1)
• The Quick and Easy Guide to Branding Your Business and Creating Massive Sales with Pinterest

Guest post

There are loads of ‘How to’ books and ‘How to’ articles that will teach you to get a lot of followers. But hold on. How many of those people are actually those you influence?

Are people simply following you for the sake of it? – yo increase their own followers or for some such reason – like team follow back? If they are actually not interested in your work, then why bother about them?

Photo: Kristie

Twitter is a very powerful tool and can work wonders if used the right way. It’s not about the number of followers you have; it’s about the sensible following that you do, and the number people following you WHO actually care about your work. Or, if that doesn’t happen, then follow those who YOU actually care about.

1. The Influencers

Follow people who influence society. Every group has such people. Every society has such people. They can be the celebrities or the local heros. Follow them and try interacting with them. If you manage to build a good rapport with the ‘influencer’, he can help in getting you the conversion on your website and help in influencing other people to do so as well.

2. Interact With Influencer – Tweeters

The powerful – tweeters are none other than the influencers. They tweet reasonably a lot, they have a strong ‘fan’ following, they have people who actually follow them. It’s good to interact with the influencer, once you follow them.

3. Interact With Your Followers

People who follow you count a lot. In fact, they are your real audience, and hence, you must talk to them. Respond to as many @ mentions as possible.

You may not be able to reply to everything, but make sure you stay connected.

4. Regular Tweeting

Be regular. Don’t leave your profile like a barren land. Be active for the best results. Moreover, as twitter is based on human flavor, there’s a famous saying that should pretty much explain your twitter experience – if you are out of sight, you will be out of mind! People are bound to forget you, if you aren’t around.

5. Tweet Sense

Yep – that’s important too. WHAT you tweet is almost the most instrumental thing to get you followers and to build relationships. If you are something like a ‘resource’ to people, they are bound to like you. If you provide information that useful to people around you – for instance – it becomes easier for them to follow you.

Twitter is really strange that way. Because it has the ‘following’ and ‘followers’ concept, people psychologically tend to be selective about who they follow and tend to enjoy ‘more’ following. Reports indicate that although the number of following has no direct relevance to the ‘real’ popularity, people are known to believe that it does, attaching much more importance and ego issues to it. It’s hence a ‘handle – with care’ medium that needs to be tackled smartly.

Most importantly, treat everyone with respect because twitter is an open forum and everyone sees and listens to everything. The strange part is that they might no one minds seeing flattery on their time line, but they will certainly mind seeing arguments. Yes, #SuchIsTwitter a powerful communication tool; make the most of it!

Divya is an enthusiastic social media expert working with an SEO company on various areas of web development, content writing, SMO and SEO strategy.

More About Twitter:

• The Tao of Twitter: Changing your life and business 140 characters at a time
• Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day
• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter

What’s the difference between social networking versus social bookmarking? What should a freelance writer know about the various sites available to promote content? Which sites are a better use of the writer’s time? Here are some answers.

Social Networking

Social networking is a general term for the ability to communicate with other individuals online. Social networking sites allow users to create a profile, providing photos, website links, biography information, or a host of other personal details. Users can view other profiles, connect in forums, or comment in community chat rooms.

Each site is different and focused on a certain area. For example, sites such as MySpace and Facebook encompass a wide variety of functions on both a personal and professional level. Linked In, on the other hand, is focused mainly on business relationships.

Here are some examples of social networking sites along with their area of specialty:

• Linked In (professional and business contacts)
• Facebook (personal and professional connection site)
• Buzznet (music and pop culture)
• Classmates.com (reconnecting with old school friends)
• Gather.com (sharing links and photos)
• MySpace.com (started as a way for bands to connect with fans, transformed into social networking site geared toward youth-oriented crowd)

For a social network site to be worth the time and effort, individuals must use it for the purpose intended rather than just self-promotion. Simply posting links without interaction not only causes negativity but tends to be self-defeating. Social networking sites can be a wonderful way to get exposure, but it needs to be done as a soft sell effort, and only when true interaction has taken place.

Logging on to a site consistently is the key to success, but that doesn’t mean an individual needs to spend a large portion of time on the site. Just a few concentrated minutes a day (say, ten to fifteen), will help someone reap the benefits of social networking.

Social Bookmarking

Like social networking, bookmarking sites are meant to engage users and provide interaction. However, bookmarking sites also provide a way to more easily market articles and links. Sites like Digg and RedGage encourage users to click on new links and view what each user recommends.

Social bookmarking works best when users also take the time to get to know other members. Many sites rank the popularity of articles by the number of votes they get from their members, so it pays to get to know other users. Unlike a social networking site, however, members are limited in the items they can post.

Links and articles are popular things to share on social bookmarking sites. But personal pictures, videos, or messages usually are not. Following are some popular social bookmarking sites:

• Twitter
• Digg
• Reddit
• Fark.com
• StumbleUpon.com
• SheToldMe.com
• RedGage.com

A few minutes spent on a social bookmarking or social networking site can really pay off. Bloggers and freelance writers can especially benefit from these Internet and communication tools on both a promotion and personal level. Bloggers can promote their blog posts while freelance writers can connect with other like-minded individuals.

Promote Your Book:

• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter
• Virtual Book Tours

Image: sscreations / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yesterday on our Facebook page we asked about the Facebook pages from you guys: the writers of the world! Several of you shared your pages.

If you didn’t get a chance to do it, head on over to our page and list your site. Be sure to “like” these pages from your fellow writers as well:

• Jim H. Moreno
• K’Lee Banks, Freelance Consultant Services
• The Night Train
• Freak Bacon
• 100 Pink Pens
• Marlena Frank – Author
• Trials: Thanks a Lot (book)
• A Moment With God: A Teen Devotional
• Tracee Sioux (AUTHOR)
• The Girl Revolution
• Sins of Love – Barun Bajracharya
• Dreams Aloud Animal Book Buzz

Support each other and you can each grow your writing business.

Guest post by Kirsty LaVier

If you’ve kept up with any of the latest marketing trends, you know that Facebook marketing is big – and only getting bigger. After all, how can you ignore a website that has more than 800 million users?

But just because you’ve created your own Facebook page doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s working. Here’s how you can tell if your Facebook page is a success – or a dud:

1. You’re making more money

This is what Facebook marketing boils down to – profits. If your Facebook marketing campaign is truly successful, you’ll see a boost in profits. How you see those extra profits, however, can vary. You might just notice little things – like more traffic to your website, an increase in email subscriptions, or an increase in phone calls to your store. At the end of the day, though, it’s all going to translate into more money!

If you really want a good way to keep track of Facebook-related income, add a shopping cart to your page or offer Facebook-only coupons.

2. You have quality fans

Having 50 highly-targeted Facebook fans is better than having 500 fans that aren’t part of your target audience. While you should always be looking for more fans, just having any ol’ fan isn’t good enough. If you want to make the most money off of your Facebook page, you need quality fans that have a legitimate need or desire for your products and services.

And, if that number of quality fans keeps increasing on a steady basis, that’s the best you can hope for!

3. People are always commenting and “liking” your posts

When people take the time to comment on what you’ve posted, that’s a great sign. Not only did they make it all the way through your status update, picture album, embedded video, or outside link – but they also thought enough of it to share their thoughts! Even if people just take a split second to click the “like” button, it means you’re making an impression on them.

Conversely, if you’re the only one who ever participates on your Facebook page, you’re doing something horribly wrong!

4. You update your page – but not too much

By updating your Facebook page on a regular basis, it shows that your business is anything but stagnant. However, that doesn’t mean that you need to add something new every few minutes. Even if you just update your Facebook page once a day, it shows people that they need to come back frequently and check out your new stuff. And, let’s face it – even the busiest businessperson can find time to do a daily update!

Kirsty LaVier is editor for AShop Reviews, and loves social media just a little bit too much for her own good.

More on Facebook:

• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, 2nd Edition
• Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day
• Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks)

Image: creativedoxfoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net