The ultimate Pinterest 101 for writers and bloggers

There are many ways to drive your audience to your blog and one of my favourites media sites is Pinterest. In this post we’ll be taking a look at how to set up an account, to maximise your chances of gaining new viewers, and how to set up visually enticing boards so that your followers can visually connect with your novel and get to know you a little better.

If you’re new to building your brand then I recommend reading The Importance of Building a Platform and How to Identify your Target Audience. Setting up solid foundations for your business is a vital first step, but don’t worry if you’ve jumped in feet first, sometimes simply beginning is the hardest part and I commend your enthusiasm.

Here are my four awesome tips to get you started!!

One: Set up a business Pinterest account. It looks the same as a personnel account, but has tools and analytics that will aid you and your blog. When setting up your profile, choose an image, or logo, that you’ll use across your social media and get creative with your bio. Now is the time to sell yourself, not your books. Tell your readers a little bit about you, your interests and what you write about. Put some thought into your profile using key words that correlate to you. Mine always features – fantasy-romance writer. Any content you create here can be echoed through all social media platforms to maintain a cohesive brand.

Inspiration for my second novel Mischief and Mayhem

Two: Pin boards: Use boards for historical research, to identify your characters, or help define scenes for your worldbuilding. A word to the wise, if it’s harmful to your brand, or is personal and you don’t wish to share certain boards, keep it locked from public view. Name each board with titles that use keyword to describe what’s contained within. Add boards that will direct the right audience to your profile, so for authors you could add a library board and fill it with books within your genre. Or, maybe have a board with your dream office space.

Create a unique writing den.

Three: Verify your websites ULR in settings. This took me a few tries and a couple of YouTube videos. But have faith, if I can master technology, so can  you. By linking your website/ blog to Pinterest, it creates a PIN symbol on all of your images, enabling you to link your posts to your Pinterest boards. Don’t forget to install a Pin it button to your blog, this is a vital way for you to gain more followers, readers may choose to add your content to their boards, showing your work to a new audience.

Captivating worldbuilding ideas

Four: Use great images in your blog. A picture says a thousand words, or so I’m told. Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash are fantastic sites that offer free stock images, that have no attributes or royalties attached. Don’t forget to edit each image when you add it to your blog, in the alt description box, use keywords to help new audience members find your content. Those keywords are used as the primary function of Pinterest, which runs as a search engine using those keywords. So it’s time to get savvy with SEO.

Finally learn SEO 😉

Do you use Pinterest? Is it one of your favourite media sites? Perhaps you have another tip to share, don’t be shy, you know I love hearing from you.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time, Much Love.

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© Author Lorraine Ambers and http://www.lorraineambers.com, 2019.

Writers: Identify your Target Audience

Writers are busy creatures, apart from writing and editing, we’re continuously developing our brand and building our platform. We’re constantly striving to reach out and connect with our audience. But have you ever stopped to consider who they are? Unfortunately, your story will not appeal to everyone, so ask yourself – who is going to read your book?

We shouldn’t waste precious time on social media, slogging away at the wrong audience. We want to target the readers who will find our story irresistible, those who will take delight in snatching it off the shelf to devour the secrets within. It’s time to stop the busy work and work smart.

So how do we find them? With a little bit of reseach, that should be easy right?? Queue – internal groan!! But there’s no need to worry, relax, we’re writers, and we’ve got this.

First of all, we need to take a closer look at the readers preferences: what do they like to see in the stories they read. And then do a little more research into the reader demographic: those who enjoy, relate to, and connect with the story.

Genre and sub-genre- Readers tend to gravitate to towards a preferred genre. My favourite genre is Fantasy, and within that my sub-genres I love epic/high fantasy, fantasy- romance, and paranormal romance. But I tend to avoid Romance Fiction, or plot driven Fantasy about war.

Plot vs Character- Some readers want a slow-paced story, driven by mysterious events. Others want to enjoy the journey of the characters, taking pleasure from their deep development. My novels are character based, with a fast-paced plot full of adventure and tension.

Period settings and worldbuilding– Some readers might be drawn to a specific time period, a particular setting, whilst others are drawn to the escapism of a whole new world.

Writing style– Perhaps your reader desires the luscious, poetic prose of literary fiction. Or the easy flow of commercial writing with its straight-forward style.

Age- Fiction is divided into different categories; Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult. It’s important to determine who your writing for because your character’s age, and their experiences should be relatable to the age group your writing for. Also this will have an impact on the size of your novel, as the industry tends to expect novels to stay within a certain range. For example, YA novels are usually between 60,000 – 80,000 words.

Gender- This won’t necessarily have a huge impact on your audience, after all, everyone has individual taste that isn’t gender dependant. However, it’s worthwhile noting that some genres tend to have a larger demographic following. Romance maybe appeal to a wider female audience, whereas gritty war stories may be preferred by a male audience. It goes without saying, of course both of these types of stories can be enjoyed by any gender.

And we can go further, refining our target audience with themes such as, culture and race, sexual preferences, disability, mental health, religion, and personal traumatic experiences. Do any of these themes play an important role in your novel? Perhaps they’ll tap into a specific audience who will emotionally connect with the heart of your story.

Once you’ve built up a picture of who your audience is, ask yourself these questions. What do you like to read? What do you like to write? Who are you writing for? What writers are similar to work? Where would your novel sit in a bookshop or library?

You may not be able to identify your target audience right away, it might become more apparent once your story develops. When I first started writing I thought my target audience was Young Adult, but after a few meetings with editors and agents I realised my novel was more suited to the Adult genre. So don’t stress if you get it wrong, it’s all experience.

What challenges do you encounter when trying to identify your audience? Please share your experiences, you know I love hearing from you.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time, Much Love.

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© Author Lorraine Ambers and http://www.lorraineambers.com, 2019.

Top Tips on How to Write Persuasive Content

A writer’s career is more than sipping tea and typing. It also entails running a savvy business where all the job roles become your responsibility; administrations, planning, marketing, graphic designing, etc.

Today were going to look at persuasive writing and how it benefits entrepreneurs in any line of business.

Perhaps you’re asking; what is this and how does it apply to me? Well…

Persuasive writing is writing where you try to convince the reader to take a particular issue on a point of voice. Persuasive writing may be designed to convince the reader to take your position on that issue or may be designed to convince the reader to take a certain action.

Whether you’re an indie author or traditional author, persuasive writing will become paramount in your marketing. This will include writing about your brand, when creating blog posts, reviews and even through your online presence.

The aim is to coax your audience into engaging with you and your brand, so that they choose to invest in your product, your book or newsletter. We’re all aware that the hard-sell pushes your potential audience away. Whereas, persuasive techniques will entice your reader towards you desired outcome.

Here are my top tips to help you craft the perfect piece of persuasion.

Know your target audience: This is the most crucial step; once you’ve identified this, you can tailor your advertisements to encourage that particular demographic.

State your reasons why: Nobody likes being told what to do, so give a reason before asking for a call to action. Show what can you do for them. Your audience wants to know – What’s in it for them? What will they benefit from buying this product?

Be consistent: This helps build integrity.

Use repetition: Spice it up a little and get creative to keep your audience interested. On average, your product will have to be seen by the client seven times before they take notice, from there on your building trust to encourage a purchase.

Use social proof: This is where testimonials, reviews and outside referrals become invaluable assets. Psychologically people tend to take comfort in the tried and tested.

Comparisons: Metaphors, similes and analogies are a persuasive writer’s friend. Relating your product in a way  that the reader already accepts as true. Then you’re well on your way to convincing the reader to see things your way. Comparing your novels to similar authors has the instant advantage of drawing in your target audience who already enjoy that genre and style of writing.

Agitate and Solve: A useful persuasion theme is to identify a problem that resonates with your audience. Agitate the issue  before offering your solution which will solve the issue. Remember empathy is powerful here; you want to help the audience because you’ve experienced the problem and now have a solution.

Prognosticate:  This is a persuasion theme that provides your reader with a glimpse at the future. It’s a strategy built on credibility, if you can back up your claims with experience, credentials or a clear grasp of the subject, then this persuasive technique is a sure winner.

Unify your audience: This technique offers group inclusion. The power of knowing your target audience allows you to offer things that will appeal to them, making them feel selectively included, part of a group and offers real value. A newsletter is a perfect example of how authors can embrace their readers.

Be aware of objections: Being capable of presenting all of the pros and confidently navigating away any  potential objections that may arise. Then you’re actively solving problems and intelligently persuading your readers to invest.

Perhaps your character is trying to persuade the reader to agree with his point of view, as done in the Netflix series You. We know Joe’s behaviour is wrong, but through his constant  management of our objections and by justifying his point of view, Joe manages to keep the watcher on side. That is the power of persuasion.

Storytelling: This lies at the heart of persuasion. Passionate writing that allows the reader to independently persuade themselves.  By using all of the strategies available, tell a beautiful and engaging story. Colourful prose and strong verbs are essential when crafting each piece. Thankfully, we’re writers and have an advantage – use it.

Practice makes perfect:  Much like novel writing, all writing form’s need revision and editing to make them shine. Don’t slack on the essentials.

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Thanks for stopping by.

I love hearing from you, please comment and let me know if you have any tips on persuasive writing? Have you used it in your stories or marketing techniques?

And more importantly, have you watched You yet? ;0

Until next time, Much Love.

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© Author Lorraine Ambers and http://www.lorraineambers.com, 2018.