Quick recap, I wrote a book, decided to self-publish it, had 24 followers on Instagram, was told I needed to up my social media game, which brings us here.
“Just post” they said. This is how you create a following, this is how you get your book noticed, just post. They said to post about me, the author, not just the book. They said, “People want to know you as a person, not just about your book”, so “just post”.
The first big issue I have with this is who the heck is “they” and how do “they” know all this stuff? How do “they” know people want to know me. I might be the antithesis of what people want to know. In fact, I know some people for whom this is true. “They” are probably wrong about this but on the off chance that “they” are right, I will do as “they” say and post.
The next hurdle – what the heck do I post? There are only so many pictures I can take of my book and my coffee cup and maintain any sort of interest from anyone much less the social media world. So, in this regard (and only in this regard so far in this experiment) “they” might be right about posting about me.
Once I decided to follow “their” advice and post about me I became keenly aware of the level of excitement in my life. (enter groan here) I am a middle aged (although I am not far from the youngest member of the “Golden Bachelorette” harem) suburban-empty-nester-dog/cat-mom. I mean come on! Talk about the antidote to insomnia! Maybe that will be my following – insomniacs. Maybe I will become medical journal famous for the cure to insomnia. I will follow up with this later . . .
Ok, so I have decided to “Just Post” about just me. (eye roll) So far, I have come up with a few cutesy photos, a couple of videos of me talking to the camera (groan), many many many photos of my pets (after all my house has become a small pets-mart) and I began to post them. Exciting news (drum roll) I now have 41 followers. Saying it out loud makes it seem very anti-climactic. It seems like this much effort should produce more results.
Now here is the aha moment. Apparently, you can’t “just post” any old time you choose. There is an algorithm (which is a word I never thought I would use in a sentence) to posting. There are charts and graphs and pies to look at to determine when your target audience (huh?) is going to be more inclined to see your post. In other words, posting is a science, and I am now back in school.
So, I am off to study these pie charts and graphs and figure out who my “target” audience is and what time they tune in to insta/tik/FB. I will keep you “posted”!