Hello everyone, it’s great to be back. I have been biking and hiking in Europe for five months as research for upcoming books. Prior to leaving, it had been my intention to continue this blog on a weekly basis. The effort proved too difficult; either there was no WiFi connection, I was busy writing my daily travel blog, or I was too tired. As a result of being disconnected from this blog and other social media marketing, my sales have slumped.
To revitalize my slumping sales:
- I culled my Twitter account of over 700 non-followers and inactive users using the free Unfollow Twitter tool. This gave me plenty of room to add active followers, and then I tweeted daily. I recommend using this tool monthly to keep your Twitter fan list current.
- I wrote articles for several e-zines and blogs. I am hoping that the exposure from these guest posts will generate interests in my book.
- I joined a book promotional effort by members of the Facebook Author Promotion Group 1. Several writers will be giving away a book to people who comment on the “Fall in Love with Books Blog Tour.” You will see how we did this in my next blog.
- I added new pins to my Pinterest boards, and followed similar boards.
- I wrote book reviews for books I read while traveling and posted these on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, and Googlebooks.
- I returned to blogging and commenting on blogs and forums.
Since the decline in sales happened over a five-month period, I am not expecting an immediate upsurge in sales just because I have returned to using social media on a daily basis. I am hoping sales will climb steadily for several weeks, and then surpass the pre-trip level. To this effort, I will look for different social media to expand my reach and for additional distribution points.
In addition to using social media, I believe having a focused mindset is important, not only to the bottom line but in engaging readers. I am a writer. When meeting people, I tell them I am the author of Women of the Way: Embracing the Camino and that I am working on my next book. Every time I say this is an affirmation and reminder to me that my work as a writer is not done. This mantra helps me be myself and lets others see me for what I am. It is liberating.
Do you have suggestions for revitalizing sales? If so, I would love to hear them; please comment.
