Social Media for Authors: Who are you and why are you here?

Coach Versandra

As a writer, speaker and coach I absolutely love social media. To me, it is the most amazing vehicle for global communication. No, I am not one for logging in to Facebook to talk about sitting on the porch watching the cars drive by, but I do visit my special places on the world-wide-web often. Typically I visit in the morning and then again in the evening to connect with my readers, clients and business associates. Sometimes I am only on-line for 10-minutes and other times I may hang out for an hour. My focus when I am there however is to connect, share and express who I am.

I told you already what I do for a living, but who I am runs much deeper than a title. I am a very passionate woman of faith who has been a talker since I was a youth. As a matter of fact, during my senior year at Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Alabama, I was given the official title “Most Talkative.” At first I was offended. How could they possibly decide that I talked more than any other young lady in my graduating class? As the years went by, I began to see what others saw in me and gosh darn it, I did what every warm blooded American does when a gift or talent is discovered, I capitalized on it.

Ok, I’m telling you more about what I do but look deeper into my words. I’m telling you who I am but do you hear me. Are you really listening to my story? I believe I’m beating around the bush because I actually don’t like putting a label on who I am.  I hate being put in a box. But, one day I was watching television and saw Halle Barry speaking about one of her many philanthropic efforts to support survivors of domestic violence. In that interview, she matter-of-factly stated that she was a “Life Changer.” That title resonated with my spirit and I claimed it. My mind took me to the booth inside the Thai Food Restaurant in Greektown where my business coach and I sat and discussed the reinvention of my business. My tagline “Touching the World” described every product and service I provided and now “Life Changer” described who I was.

This is a sample of how an author can connect with their readers using social media via a blog. The above three paragraphs tell your readers who you are and why you are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.   Now you are set apart from every other fiction and non-fiction writer using social media. Your readers are searching for you on-line. They are hoping to connect with you on a personal level. You know how fans talk about their favorite sports player? If you did not know it, you would believe they were friends from back in the day. They simply take bits and pieces from the news, interviews and gossip of course and talk about them as if they know them. This is also how your fans want to connect with you.

I know what fans are looking for because I listen when I run into them at the grocery store, the movies and even Starbucks. They always say, “I know you” then they continue to tell me something personal about myself. This summer, I attended the Kem Live @ Mack & Third: A Call to Service event, and on my way to my car, I saw a distressed young lady sitting on the steps of the Masonic Temple across from Cass Park in Detroit, MI.  I sat beside her as she told me her story. Several people stopped to hug me as they walked by and the young lady said the famous phrase “I think I know you.” She continued to tell me about how I took care of my brothers because my mom was mentally ill. She said her mom was sick too and that she just put her out of the house and didn’t care about her. She explained that she read my book at the local shelter where she was residing. Besides this personal story, the book Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business, by Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman has all the research and more killer blogs for you to read. Content Rules is an essential read for every author. I use what I learned in this book every day.

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