Image from sxc.hu user Alex Bruda

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Holidays!

Brain food …

• 5 Sure-Fire Signs Your LinkedIn Company Page Sucks. Great tips. LinkedIn finally created useful company pages. It’s better than using Groups.
• Free Market-Research Tools — A Sampler. Good resources for small businesses to gain insights about customers, competitors and trends.
• The Precarious Portentous Perils of Self-Publishing. Yes, this is a freaking long article, but an important one from Chuck Wendig.
• 48 Ways to Measure Social Media Success. Organized by social network: blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, etc.

For fun …

• YouTube: Rewind. 2011. The year in review. The top ten videos on YouTube and throughout the year.
• Angry Birds Christmas Lights. Music and sound effects spot on, too.
• 10 Funniest Internet Memes of 2011. Where have I been all year? I wasn’t familiar with some of these … and I was there when “All your base are belong to us” hit the meme scene.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Photo from sxc.hu user bo_1963

So I decided to come up with a wacky title for this week’s links. Nothing to do with dancing, but it rhymed and Monday is Columbus Day. In 5th grade, I drove my social studies teacher crazy by repeating two lines of a Columbus poem. (In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In 1493, he sailed the deep blue sea.) I’m amazed she didn’t send me to the principal’s office now that I have kids who have done the same to me.

We’ve all done things to drive our teachers, parents and other adults nuts. What about you?

Brain food …

• 3 Tips for Professional E-Book Covers. Yes, we do judge books by the cover — ebooks included.
• How to Read More: A Lover’s Guide. Even book lovers like me fall into a reading slump. You get busy or choose to relax while watching TV. (It’s essentially reading for me because I read captions!)
• 10 Key Points Freelancers Must Know About LinkedIn. Good reminders. LinkedIn has so much going on. This cuts to the chase.
• Mobile Framework Comparison Chart. For my designer buds. Compare all the frameworks and choose the one that best fits your needs. [Link: Deborah Edwards-Onoro]
• Exquisite Tweets. Paste the URL from a single tweet in a conversation to get a one-page thread to share or save. [Link: Dana Chisnell]

And for fun because we’re allowed …

• 10 Coolest Lunch Bags. If you work in office with public fridge, first lunch bag and one other (ick) will stop theft. I like the lunch bag art bags.
• the difference 10 years makes. Cartoon covering TV, mapping, cell phones and more.
• 12 Hilarious Graffitis on Signs. Spoiler alert! Skip the first one if you haven’t seen Marley & Me …
• Size Comparison Of Famous Sci-fi Spaceships. Putting the end to “My ship is bigger” debate.
• Social Media Icons. I rarely follow the egg. Maybe twice out of the 8,000 I follow.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Meryl's Dad with his parents

My dad wasn’t an outdoorsy beyond playing sports. Yet, he once took me fishing at a nearby lake. I don’t recall the lake or the actual time spent fishing. The picture that comes to mind is us leaving our home and getting in the car. We also had a great conversation because he taught me a new vocabulary word. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the word — just the experience of being with him and learning something.

I asked my mom about it. She said he took me to Lake Weatherford to swim and maybe Benbrook Lake to fish. (Both in Fort Worth, TX, area.) I learned something new about my dad. He liked fishing and used to go deep-sea fishing with his Uncle Abe and David in Atlantic City (Dad was from Brooklyn).

Brain food…

• What It Takes to Be an Agent: Love books, but don’t want to be an author? Learn about agentdom (or agenthood?).
• 4 Detective Tricks to Find Your Customers in Social Media: One of the key things businesses need to do before diving in social media is know where their target market hangs out online. Of course, you can jump into something and be an early adopter, but you still need to know this information before you plan.
• Pros and Cons of an MFA: Cute cartoon. I’d love to get an MFA or MLA in the future. I hope by the time I’m ready that there’s a local program or an online program (without video lectures) that fits. Why do I want to do it? Practice, feedback, challenge and education. [Link: Elizabeth Craig]
• How to Stand out on LinkedIn: Authored by LinkedIn VP, Steve Patrizi. Meryl’s LinkedIn here.
• A Writer’s Serenity Prayer: Rough day? Read this inspirational post.
• 5 Lies Unpublished Writers Tell Themselves (and the Truths That Can Get Them Published): #3 is my favorite.
• 12 Ways to Market Your Book by Giving Away Free Stuff. It can work… when done right and the article gives great examples. I don’t fall for those $300 worth of freebies, which includes a bunch of ebooks, articles and other stuff I never get around to reading.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Rubikcubism: Space invaders, Pac-man, Mona Lisa… who knew the befuddling Rubik’s Cube could do so many things. Beware that some of the pictures may not be safe for work. [Link: Bit Rebels]
• 65+ Incredible Soccer Action Shots and Portraits and World Cup Stop Motion Made with Lego – USA vs England: In honor of the World Cup action. [First link: bkmacdaddy]
• Super Mario Sticky Note Stop Motion: Wow, that’s patience.
• Hello Kitty Now in Star Wars and Star Trek: Amazing what adding a little ribbon does for Darthy’s personality. Too cute. My husband — father of our three children — loves Star Wars and Star Trek. So here’s 18 Astonishing Star Wars Sand Sculptures from BitRebels (obviously, I love this site) in his honor.
• A Geeky Stop Motion Animation Created With Fire: Cool. Just cool.

Share a memory of your father or a male role model.

Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas. We’re honored to be a stop in Laura Cross’ WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour. We’re giving away a prize. Read on to see what you can win.

About Laura Cross: She is an author, screenwriter, ghostwriter, freelance book editor, and writing coach specializing in nonfiction books and script adaptation (book-to-film projects). She writes two popular blogs, www.NonfictionInk.com and www.AboutAScreenplay.com, and teaches online writing workshops. Her latest book is The Complete Guide To Hiring A Literary Agent: Everything You Need To Know To Become Successfully Published. You can download a free chapter, view the book trailer, read the full table of contents and purchase the eBook at www.GetALiteraryAgent.com.

The Supplies You Need to Build a Writer’s Platform by Laura Cross

Literary agents and publishers are looking for nonfiction writers with established platforms. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to land a book deal or acquire an agent without one. A platform encompasses the ways you are visible and attracting potential readers. It conveys your expertise and influence. Every author’s platform strategy will be unique to him or her. One size does not fit all. You must follow a path that is natural for you and your writing. However, there are five essential components or supplies you need to build a writer’s platform:

1. Understand Your Brand Image: Establish an author identity and use it consistently throughout your material. Your personal brand is how you package and present yourself to readers to distinguish and differentiate yourself from other writers.

2. Develop and Promote Your Expertise: Are you the go-to expert in your field? You can establish your expertise through:

• Professional credentials
• Writing articles
• Being featured on radio and television, and in print media
• Testimonials and endorsements
• Speaking engagements
• Teaching workshops, seminars, teleclasses, and webinars
• Hosting your own online radio show or podcast
• Creating informational products
• Being a resource for reporters, journalists, and television producers
• Sending out press and news releases
• Creating and distributing online informational videos
• Answering questions via LinkedIn groups and YahooAnswers
• Blogging and guest posts

3. Have an Internet Presence: Every potential author needs a website or blog. If you already have a web presence when you begin approaching media you will have an edge over other writers. A blog can add to your credibility, help you establish your expertise, and provide a means to capture potential readers for your database.

4. Build A List of Contacts: Publishers want to know just how many potential readers there are for your book. The number of fans you have from Facebook, followers on Twitter, connects on LinkedIn, and subscribers to your blog provide tangible figures. Producing a weekly or monthly e-zine or newsletter is an effective way to grow your list of contacts. Your website and blog can include an opt-in page to capture subscribers.

5. Engage In Community: You can network through local and regional events, national conferences and conventions, and online social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Online networking sites give you access to connections and a platform to share your writing and expertise.

Your turn: What are you doing to establish and grow your author platform?

Win: You can win a class (choose from any of the classes — Meryl is jealous because she doesn’t qualify!) or a digital copy of her book. For a chance to win, please leave a comment at least 50 words long answering her question. Or write about your favorite character in a book. You have until 11:59pm on February 16, 2010 to qualify for the drawing. The unbiased and robotic Random.org has the honor of picking the winner.

Image credit: Zsuzsanna Kilian

I avoid in-person events as much as possible. It’s not because I’m an introvert. It’s not because I look hideous. (Although we should know better than to let our looks get in the way of meetings.) It’s because I’m deaf. Most people understand me when I speak. It’s the other side — the more important part– of the conversation that’s a problem for me: Listening.

It’s true that the average lipreader catches only one-third of what people say. Try reading every third word in this post or another and see how much you understand. I can usually fill in the gaps, but not always. “My name is [mumble]” is a biggie. I might ask the person to repeat once, but no more. In a book club meeting, someone mentioned that reading the book and seeing the movie version was not a good movie. I asked the name of the book. Missed it. Repeated once and missed it again. Gave up.

While this sounds innocent and no big deal, it is. People judge you when you don’t catch things because it makes a person look obtuse or not smart. With online marketing, I don’t miss a single thing and I catch every name and title. What you see of me online is all me without the barriers or presumptions. Writers can do more than just publish content to market themselves. These work well and take up whatever time you put into it.

1. Create a web site with a personal URL. It’s easier and cheaper than ever to build and update a web site. Using blogging applications like WordPress and Tumblr work well. They also have a lot of free and low-price templates available. A customized design adds a personal touch to your brand, but sometimes people don’t have the funds available right away. You can work it out so the only cost you incur is the yearly fee to buy your own URL. writer.blogspot.com hurts the professionalism. You have a lot of options for creating a web site using a blog app. Whether you should blog or not is a different discussion.

2. Set up social media profiles. The web site and blog is your home on the Internet. Social media sites give you a meeting place. Many, many social media sites exist. Forget that. Don’t let it faze you. Pick two or three and completely fill your profile on those sites. Currently, the biggies are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. That can and will change. Remember MySpace was hot? I have a page that receives updates from my blog and Twitter account, but I don’t visit it. I’ll set up accounts on other social media sites, but only on a “come across it” basis. Usually I get an invite from a colleague and join up then. I fill in the profile as much as I can.

3. Join conversations. It doesn’t matter where. I go to blogs and leave comments, participate in scheduled Twitter chats, respond to people’s Facebook messages and reply and retweet tweets. Some people love to talk in forums. Notice this says “join conversations,” not “give soliloquies.” People who talk to no one in particular or don’t acknowledge other people’s existence are not listening or becoming a part of the community. The only folks who can get away with this are celebrities.

4. Do the guest thing. Invite and ask. Invite others to be a guest in your blog or community, and ask if you can do the same for others. You’re reaching two new audiences: the other person’s audience and the other person. The other person has a following and will ask people to check out the guest post in your community. Most guest posts come with a byline, which means link juice for your site and getting your name out there.

5. Link to your site and accounts. On your web site, link to your Twitter and other IDs. In your email signature, link to your web site and important IDs. Make sure everything points everywhere else. Do you have an email newsletter? Put your links there, too. This covers all your bases. Those who prefer email updates, RSS feeds and social media IDs.

These five I do on an almost daily basis. It works because I have a comfortable workload. You can do much more with online marketing, but other online marketing tools take more time. Some people do videos. Some do podcasts. Some do webinars. Some do email newsletters. Doing a video or podcast requires thinking about the goals, writing the script, recording and editing before you can publish. With social media, you have control over how much time you spend.

What online marketing tools work well for you?

Want to win a book? We have a few authors stopping by here. Caryn visited yesterday and more will be here in upcoming weeks.

Still need more nominations for favorite books on writing before we take a vote.

• How to Write a Novel Using the Web: How does Mashable come up with the most brilliant topics? Meryl’s brain, get to work!
• MFA Confidential: Applying for an MFA: Like to get an MFA someday, or at least take writing courses. Schedule is full.
• 13 Writing Tips from Fight Club: A Novel author: Over a year old, but still relevant. He’s not big on web writing. If he were, he’d use the tip topic instead of numbers as the bolded headers. Instead of “Number One,” I’d write, “Use the egg timer method.”
• 80+ Social Media Policies from Social Media Governance: We’ll be seeing many of these showing up in organizations as social media because an important factor in building brands and customer service. These will give you a starting point to create your own.
• 100 Tips, Tools and Resources for Twitter: I glanced at it quickly. Didn’t want to tempt myself to take on more addicting twitter apps. But maybe you can use it.
• Building Your Tribe: 6 LinkedIn Case Studies: Explore using LinkedIn for freelancers, selling products and strategies for everyone.
• How to Make Knowledge Work Fun: Simple graph, powerful message.
• Nine Scientifically Proven Ways to Get Retweeted on Twitter: Good content is #1 in my book.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Hello, Kitty gone wild: Scroll down… the gun is only the start of it. Ahem… who knew that kitty had such a sexy following. In honor of my friend Frances… lover of all things (maybe not after this) Hello, Kitty.
• Museum of Kitsch is open for bidness!
• Good Night and Tough Luck by Chirstoph Niemann: Explores the world of sleep…
• Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries: Incredible libraries. The only one I’ve been to on the list is the Library of Congress.
• Giant Tetris: Whoooaaa….
• Spongebob does Queen’s We Will Rock You.

LinkedIn can do more than just grow your connections and look them up. I love using LinkedIn Answers, which gives me an opportunity to ask questions to the vast network. Some of you may not have discovered this feature or realize it can help you with an assignment. Take advantage of LinkedIn and all of your connections.

Your Account

1. Create a complete profile.
2. Enter your @twittername or email address after your last name in your profile so it always shows up. (See mine for an example.)
3. Import blog entries into LinkedIn with BlogLink or WordPress applications.
4. Incorporate Twitter tweets into your profile with the Company Buzz application.
5. List clients, publications and writing work in profile.
6. Link to your other social media accounts so account stays fresh with updates.
7. Set up to receive LinkedIn messages in your inbox so you can respond right away.
8. Publish LinkedIn URL on business cards, email signature, email newsletters, web sites and brochures.
9. Import vCards and contacts from other platforms to find more connections.
10. Export contacts to import into other applications.
11. Join industry and alumni groups related to your writing topic, business and past work.
12. Join writing groups.
13. Avoid hard-sell and marketing when posting in LinkedIn because they’re a turn-off.
14. Update your status with recent work that benefits customers such as “Need ideas on how to use Twitter? Read 50+ Writer Uses for Twitter.”

Content

15. Do market research with Polls.
16. Conduct polls and surveys.
17. Share poll and survey results.
18. Post content with value to show expertise without a hint of self-promotion.
19. Ask questions in Answers to find experts, obtain quotes or learn more about a topic.
20. Post questions in Answers to see what customers and prospects want or think.
21. Link to your other social media accounts so account stays fresh with updates.
22. Combine with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, someone asks question in Twitter, you respond in 160+ characters on LinkedIn and link to it from Twitter.
23. Start and manage group or fan page for book, topic, platform or business.
24. Share links to articles and content posted elsewhere with a summary of why it’s valuable to clients and prospects.
25. Post presentations using a presentation application.
26. List your newsletter subscription information and archives.
27. Use LinkedIn’s search tool to find what you need and specify what you need (people, jobs, groups, etc.).

Connect

28. Use search feature to find people, agents, writers, virtual assistants and experts by company, name, industry and city.
29. Research experts, agents and others before meeting or contacting.
30. Write honest and valuable recommendations.
31. Request a LinkedIn recommendation from happy clients willing to provide testimonials.
32. Check connections’ locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading using My Travel application.
33. Ask your first level contacts for introductions to their first level contacts.
34. Connect clients with your first level contacts.
35. Interact with LinkedIn on a regular basis to reach those who may not see you on other social
36. Find experts and writers to invite them as a guest blogger, speaker, guest, etc.
37. Post job listings to find qualified talent to help with a project or be your backup.
38. Look for connections related to a gig you want.
39. Collaborate with others by sharing files, data and information with applications like Huddle Workspaces.
40. Find vendors and contractors through connections.

Marketing

41. Post discounts and package deals for books, writing services and products.
42. Buy a direct ad that only your target market will see.

ShortURL to this post: http://bit.ly/linkedinwriters

What other ways do you use LinkedIn for writing?

Happy 4th to Americans and Happy belated Canada Day.

Email going around with this. “At 5 minutes and 6 seconds after 4 a.m.,on the 8th of July, this year, the time and date will be:

04:05:06am on 07-08-09

“This will not happen again until the year 3009.” You can say the same for the ones coming in the next three years:

05:06:07am on 08-09-10 (2010)
06:07:08am on 09-10-11 (2011)
07:08:09am on 10-11-12 (2012)

It’d be cool to have one of these birthdays.

• 7 Ways to Build Your Author Brand Online
• My Favorite Book Covers of 2008: Fabulous list. Can’t begin to pick one.
• LinkedIn: 22 Ways to Dominate: Link with me, if you haven’t already.
• How to Succeed (or Survive) as a Writer: PDF slidepack of F+W Media Editorial Director Jane Friedman’s two most popular talks from 2008-2009, plus a handout on surviving publishing in the 21st century.
• 10 Books for Mothers Who Write: I read Letters to a Young Poet when I took art in college. I don’t even remember the book — just that I read it. Maybe it’ll resonate more with me now.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Buildings don’t always fall down. They fall over.
• 10 Life Lessons from Star Trek presentation
• The Sea Pig [Link: shelleyryan]
• Collection of Independence Day covers from New Yorker
• When fireworks go wrong. Proof that fireworks aren’t toys.

Photo credit Scouts Caslu

Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. MySpace. Social Median. FriendFeed. Friendster. Ryze. Blogs. It’s never-ending. Those of us who work to keep up with social media as a marketing and publicity tool feel like we’re drowning in a pool of “Be my friend,” “Join my group” and “Update me.”

It’s like tangled cables. You have all these resources that connect you to a network of many, but the tangles drive you crazy.

• Tell yourself that no one can keep up with it all. Well, maybe the one person who can make it a full-time job to do it without worrying about money.
• Create a profile at all the reputable sites. I said create a profile, not go there every day.
• Pick three to use on a regular basis. Generally, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Connect other sites with your Twitter and Facebook feeds. Many sites now let you update them through Twitter and Facebook. This way it looks like you’re active, which you are — just not at that specific site.

Fascinating Twitter conversations with just 140 characters and the addicting Facebook applications can engulf you. Here’s how I control my social networking cravings so they don’t get in the way of my work:

• Create a folder called “social media” or “social network” and filter everything from twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. etc. into that folder. Check it once or twice a day. This made the biggest difference.
• Avoid using applications like Tweetdeck. With Tweetdeck putting a lot of features in your control, it’s easy to get carried away. Twitter and Facebook almost never have slow times.
• Multitask. I try to participate in two twitter chats every week. On those days, I tend not to sign in twitter until those chats start and catch up then using tabs and multiple monitors.
• Stay off when you’re most effective. I do my best work in the morning. So no social networking in the morning. Instead, I write and write.
• Use monitoring tools. If you have to know when someone mentions your company, you or something else, let the monitors do the job for you. I know some don’t do a perfect job as I use several that haven’t been consistent in reporting. Read this great article at Web Worker Daily on mining twitter.

Don’t let social networking overwhelm you. You’re the boss of your time and very few can be all over the place on a regular basis. Instead, take a step back and prioritize. Having a profile is better than nothing. Besides, you can point to where people can find you.

How do you manage your social networking activities?