![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/3weeks.jpg\" "\\"Calendar")
Something interesting happened this past week — my third week without social media. An explosion of ideas hit.<\/p>\nSomething interesting happened this past week — my third week without social media. An explosion of ideas hit.<\/p>\n
I’m never at a loss for writing ideas; that always comes first! But I realized that I haven’t really thought about ways to promote all I’m doing because it’s so easy to post stuff on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ and feel like I’ve accomplished something.<\/p>\n
This isn’t to say I haven’t sold anything by saying, “Take a summer road trip for less than the cost of a gallon of gas — the Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors<\/em> Ebook, only $2,99!” on Twitter, but I’ve come to realize something about the people buying what I write: most of them aren’t other writers. Most people who follow me on Twitter are other writers. Oddly enough, with a few exceptions, the people who seem to be reading Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors<\/em><\/a> are women in their 50s and 60s.<\/p>\n I figured with all the crude humor and over-the-top happenings in the book that it would appeal to guys between 12 – 45 years old. But I’ve received more email from women saying they were reminded of road trips they took when they were younger. More than that, though — they make a point to tell me they loved the moments of heart scattered throughout the story. I’ve sold more through word of mouth and to people I meet in real life than people who follow me online.<\/p>\n This past week, I came up with a pile of ideas to promote Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors<\/em> to people I bump into at meetups, conferences, and just here and there. That kind of thing was always on my mind when I wrote independent comic books, but I haven’t thought about that kind of promotion as much, lately, because it’s easy to believe that updates and tweets to all the people following me on social media sites is promotion.<\/p>\n Of course, this is all my own experience. I know people who really don’t blog and just focus on Twitter for promotion and do well. What works for one doesn’t always work for other. For example, LinkedIn<\/a> and Slideshare <\/a>have brought more my way than Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ combined. For others, those sites do nothing for them.<\/p>\n For me, the social media break has helped me think a bit differently about ways to let people know about what I’m doing.<\/p>\n The Juggling Writer<\/em> turns two this week, and I’ve been thinking about what I want to do over the next year. Since taking a break from social media — already — I’ve seen an increase in traffic to the blog. It’s become my online focus since I’m not on social media sites, and the things I’m doing are no longer lost in a list of updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.<\/p>\n The people I hear from, now, are the people who really <\/em>want to stay in touch with me and see what I’m up to. I’ve had more time to reply to comments on The Juggling Writer<\/em> and get to the email I receive.<\/p>\nThe Third Week without Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Almost Two<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Next Year…<\/strong><\/h2>\n