Create If Writing

Single or double opt-in? Now you have a choice with MailChimp!

That sounds great...except that your existing forms will be affected. Here is what you need to know about the two kinds of opt-ins and how you should update your forms before October 31, 2017. 

For more: http://createifwriting.com/chimpdates

Also! My book, Creative Collaborations, is ready for pre-order! Get yours here: http://createifwriting.com/cc 

Want to form lasting and lucrative connections? 

You need to start winding up LONG before the pitch! Learn ways to connect with influencers that set the groundwork for a successful pitch to collaborate. 

You can now order my book, Creative Collaborations! Head to https://createifwriting.com/cc to get your copy!

My book, Creative Collaborations, is just a few weeks away from release! In another episode on collaborations, I'm talking about bad pitches. 

To kick off a collab, you'll have to pitch. We often think of pitching like a sales pitch, but really pitching is a wider category. It refers to the ask-- asking people about a potential partnership.

So how do you pitch well? 

Let's start by bad pitches. With examples. You ready? 

In this episode I'm starting a week series leading up to the launch of my book, Creative Collaborations: How to Form Lasting and Lucrative Partnerships without Being Smarmy. 

Today it's all about connecting with people: where? How? 

I've got two surprising (maybe?) places to find people. 

Listen up to find out!

This is the conclusion of my series on Why Isn't My Audience Growing? Today it's all about what to do when you feel stuck. We'll get a little more woo woo into the mindset, inspiration, and encouragement. To see all the posts, you can can check this page: How to Grow Your Audience and Platform.

When you are trying to grow your audience, you are going to hit bumps and plateaus. To be honest, I'm not sure which is worse.

Bumps are when something might not work the way you hoped it did, like a Facebook ad that flopped or a webinar that no one registered for. It stinks!

Plateaus are when you go on for long periods with very little forward motion. You might grow a little here and there, but nothing consistent or worth writing home about. This also stinks!

You might even feel like you are learning and applying strategies and following best practices with no results. Maybe you followed this whole series (catch up HERE if you haven't!) and still feel like nothing is happening. Your growth is stagnant. THIS POST IS FOR YOU!

Listen to Episode 111 - What to Do When You Feel Stuck in Your Growth

 

Subscribe via Apple Podcasts (the artist formerly known as iTunes) or you can check out the Create If Writing Playlist on YouTube. You can also listen right here on the blog on the podcast page with a player like the one right above. 

Troubleshooting When You Feel Stuck in Your Growth You May Not Be Creating the Right Content

While I feel strongly that we should all create the things we feel passionate about, this does NOT mean you will grow an audience. Your content may not be interesting to outside readers. You need to consider writing for other people, not just yourself. Unless you just want to write an online diary. Which is totally fine! Just know that if you are writing only for YOU, it may be hard to grow an audience.

• For help with this, see a great post from Paula Rollo on How to Double Your Pageviews.

You also may be struggling with your writing VOICE. I don't feel like people talk enough about this, but it's hugely important. Your writing voice is how you come across to other people. It's a mix of your tone and the personality and can even get as specific as whether or not you use emojis or ALL CAPS when writing.

If you don't have a writing voice (think: your writing is pretty vanilla and could be written by any person on the planet or be included in a textbook) OR if you are writing with a voice that doesn't jive with the audience you're trying to reach, you may get stuck.

• For help with this, see my post How to Brand Your Writing Voice.

You May Not Be Clear on Your Audience

When you are creating content, you need to ask yourself if you are meeting the needs of your ideal audience and speaking in their language. If you have a disconnect with the kind of audience you want to reach, you will get stuck.

Consider surveying your people you already have. I remember the big shock of finding out that the majority of my audience loves written courses...when I've been creating video courses. Doh.

• If you are not sure about this one, I have a whole series on Finding Your Perfect Audience that may help!

You May Not Be Promoting Your Work Enough (or in the Right Ways)

I go back and forth on how I feel about automation and scheduling. I want to be live as much as possible on platforms that are social. But I also have over 300 posts (probably way more) between my two blogs. If I am not actively promoting that content, few people see it. (Except those that come from evergreen search traffic like Pinterest and from SEO.) 

If you don't promote your posts (or bake in really great SEO), you will struggle to grow your audience. You have to do work to promote. People won't just find you.

Sometimes we think of promotion in a bad way, like self promotion, as in self-centered-ness. It isn't. I mean, yes, some people cross that line. But I know YOU won't. Right? :)

• If you need help here, you may be interested in my post on being a good steward of your content.

Encouragement When You Feel Stuck in Your Growth

Another big reason that you may feel stuck in your growth is that you are stuck in your mindset.

Growth is hard. It's hard for all of us. It isn't just hard for the newbies. It's hard for the people who have full-time businesses. We all have to keep working. We all still have goals. You hit one, then you make another. No one has ever ARRIVED.

I mean this to be encouraging! Not discouraging. I mean to say that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

I struggle with growth! Still! Always! Sometimes I see results and I love what I do. Other times, I feel stuck and feel like I'm going in circles or stuck on a plateau.

Two Truths about Growth: 

Growth Begets Growth - When you hit certain milestones (especially public ones where people can see your following or growth), growth becomes easier. I felt like it took forever to get to 1000 Twitter followers. Now I'm over 6k and felt like I tried WAY less hard to get the next 5000. This probably has some to do with social proof (people see a higher number and think you must be worth following) and may also have some to do with you hitting your stride with that platform and how you use it.

Passion Begets Passion - People can FEEL it when you are passionate. It comes across in your videos through your face, in your voice in your podcast, and in your writing itself. Embrace what you love because it may be much easier to do the work! It will be a joy, not just work. EVEN if you still struggle with growth. You may need to take a class and learn. You may need to step back. Find what it takes to tap into your passion!

• There may be a rare time when you need to give up, NOT push forward. And if you want to hear a really amazing and honest interview on that, you should check out this episode from The Fizzle Show. 

 

Need some growth??

If you know you are in a learning mode, there is a FABULOUS resource that I'm an affiliate for (and have a product in) called the Genius Bloggers Toolkit. You can get $6k worth of books, courses, and other resources for $97 OR attend some great free trainings! Click HERE to check out the trainings or HERE to see what's in the bundle. (Just through October 9!) 

<a href= "https://us154.isrefer.com/go/TGBTK2017/a1248/" rel= "nofollow"></a> DON'T BUY IT IF YOU'RE OVERWHELMED WITH LEARNING! Only if you need tools to help you move to the next step or get you out of a funk. :)

This week's featured patron is Kate Johnston, an author and a story coach who helps writers kick their writing dreams into reality through inspiration, hard work, and a little bit of ferocity. She knew she wanted to be a professional writer when she was 8 years old and wrote a story about a good wolf. (I totally wrote a book about a good wolf when I was 8!) You can find Kate's book, Writer Unterrupted on Amazon!

Want to get featured? Check out my Patreon page, where you can support the show for as little as $4 a month. 

I've been talking about why your audience isn't growing and want to tackle how to get more readers and sell more books. I have a great interview with Chris Syme of the award-winning CK Syme media group and author of Sell More Books with Less Social Media.

Many authors struggle with promotion the same way that bloggers do. Content creation is awesome! But promotion...not so much. I think sometimes we need to reframe the conversation. 

Think back to when you were young and fell in love with your first books. Did you ever wish you could write to your favorite author? I did!

But...back then there was no internet. No website for authors. Just the publishers' address on that boring page no one reads in the front of the book. 

Now? If you want to reach your favorite author, you might be able to get a response in under an hour on Twitter. 

Yes, social media means we have to do some promotional work. But what if instead of thinking of this as WORK, we thought of it as connecting with our readers. Directly. THAT'S SO COOL!

But it still isn't always easy. So I talked with Chris Syme to get some tips on using social media and I have some great tips for you to find more readers! (You can also check out episode 89 of the podcast, where Chris and I talk marketing strategies!)

HOW TO GET MORE READERS AS A NEW AUTHOR

Know Your First Book Is a Learning Experience

Your first book will likely NOT be your best. You should treat it as a learning experience. Learn from reviews and listen to beta readers if you have them. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work to make it great, but realize you will learn more from failures. 

Don't Start Copying Tactics with No WHY

Many authors start using tactics that other authors use...without focusing on NEW authors. You can't just copy a case study that a successful author shared and expect to have success.

Start with the Basic Platform that Succeeds

You need an author website, an email list, and Facebook. Data tells you that these three things WORK. You can branch out to Instagram and Tumblr or wherever you love to hang out, but start with the places that bring you ROI- a return on your investment. 

The Best Marketing Strategy Is Writing the Next Book

Don't stop writing. Your marketing should NOT be the focus, no matter what level you're at! But when you start especially, don't freak out when your books don't sell and you struggle to find readers. Just keep writing.

Build an Author Network

Stay connected to other authors, both at the same level you are and a few steps ahead. You should connect to those in your genre and some trustworthy groups. Do be careful-- not everyone knows what they're talking about in Facebook groups. 

Find Great Beta Readers

You want to find beta readers who aren't your friends, because you want someone to tell you the truth. Sometimes people in your genre will read a piece to tell you if you're on the right track. You could also hire a developmental editor. 

HOW TO GET MORE READERS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

Know Your Goals

You want to engage fans, moving them from readers to raving fans. In order to do both of these in the same place, you need to have a platform that encourages BOTH engagement and promo. 

[tweetthis]"You don't win the right to sell to people without engaging first." @cksyme[/tweetthis]

You Don't Need to Be On all Platforms- Just the Ones Your People Are On

80% of online adults 13 years old and older are on Facebook. The end. This is still the biggest platform out there. Instagram is the second, and it's owned by Facebook. You don't have to work as hard to engage people there. 

Know the Platforms That Sell 

There is a funnel when it comes to sales. Discovery is where people find you. Awareness is where they begin to engage with you and getting more loyalty. Sales is the bottom of the funnel. Facebook and Youtube are at the top when it comes to sales effectiveness and discovery. YouTube isn't always the best for authors, which leaves Facebook as the most effective according to data. 

Go with Engagement

Check what is working with Facebook Insights. Sort your posts by engagement. See what people are engaging with and then find a way to do more of that while being more of your authentic self. 

PRO TIP- If you love Instagram, but know more sales are made on Facebook, consider how you can make Facebook into your Instagram by engaging around visuals. It's a mental switch, but think creatively how you can apply what you like about one platform and put it into the platform with the data behind it. The mistake that we often make is that we think that we like a platform, so we need to be there. Go with data FIRST and then find a way to replicate that other platform on the one that DATA says to use. 

Ultimately, you don't want to be someone else on social media. You want to be YOU. Find a way to connect where you can be your authentic self. 

For more insights from Chris, check out her books and her course on setting up your Facebook page (which is really fantastic!): 

10 Tips to Sell More Books on Social Media (podcast episode)

How to Set Up a Facebook Page That Sells More Books ( a great course I've taken!)

Sell More Books with Less Social Media 

The Newbies Guide to Sell More Books with Less Marketing

Or just connect through her blog at CK Syme Media Group!

Want to know how to get more followers on social media? I've got you covered. This posts is the third in a series on Why Your Audience Isn't Growing. You should also read Why Your Social Media Isn't Growing to see mistakes you might be making!

One of the biggest questions that people have about social media is how to get followers. No matter how many you currently have, we all seem to want to get MORE followers. And more. We can never have enough!!

I especially know what it feels like to be just starting out where you have under 1000 followers. I remember my first year on Twitter with something like 300 followers, feeling like I would never grow.

Getting followers feels like an impossible task. You need more followers so that you have some kind of social proof, so that more people will follow you, but no one will follow you without more followers. And I have found it to be true that once you pass a certain benchmark of at least a thousand people, it gets easier to grow.

Getting followers is kind of like a chicken and egg problem.

So let's talk about how you get more followers on social media, especially when you are just starting out OR when you are stuck.

Note: This post contains affiliate links! That means at no extra cost to you, I will receive a commission if you purchase something through some of the links I share. 

Listen to How to Get More Followers on Social Media

You can listen right here or on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. Or keep reading below!

HOW TO GET MORE FOLLOWERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Before we even get into the specifics of how, I want to talk about the WHY. Specifically YOUR why. If you are not super clear on your why, you are going to struggle to grow your social media presence, your blog, and your audience.

Your WHY is your purpose. My background is in writing, so I like to think of it as your theme. A theme isn't the beginning-middle-end of a story, but the ideas that run throughout, tying the story together.

For an example, my WHY is that I want to help writers and bloggers build an online platform without being smarmy. I love helping people connect with their perfect audience online, using all the tools and strategies that smart marketers use, but without the icky salesy tactics.

Knowing my WHY means that if I have a post idea that doesn't fit into that overarching purpose, I don't write it. Or I write it in a guest post somewhere else. Or on my other blog.

If you aren't clear on your why or the audience you serve, you are going to really struggle!

Take some time to write out a clear statement of purpose. This should include who you serve, how you serve them, and what is unique to you.

HOW TO GET FOLLOWERS THROUGH CONTENT

Once you have your why in place, you can both create and curate content that fits under the umbrella of your why. In the second post of this series I talked about curating content, which is essentially the way that you share other people's content on social media. I want to go even deeper on this idea of sharing relevant content.

Consider your perfect audience (see my series on how to find your perfect audience) when you are coming up with content ideas to create. In the same way, think about your target audience when you are choosing Tweets to Retweet or pins to share on Pinterest.

Ask yourself: Does this serve my perfect audience? 

When you share awesome content (your own and others), a really cool thing happens. People start to see you as an authority.

You become their go-to for news, trends, and resources. You save them the time so they don't have to research all the latest trends or news. Sharing quality content will help you get more followers that are truly interested in you. That's why it's really important to share relevant content.

PRO TIP: On Facebook in particular, you need to not only consider the topic, but the kind of content. If you keep sharing viral videos because they get great reach, but you don't CREATE video, this may hurt you in the long run. When you share your blog posts as links, your page is used to doing well with video, so the reach may diminish for link posts. An active page doesn't help you if it's active for video, but you are trying to drive traffic to a blog.

Examples of People Sharing Consistent Quality Content

Here are a few of my favorite creator/curators in different niches:

The Sell More Books Show - Each week Bryan Cohen and Jim Kukral share five big newsworthy items and three tips related to book writing and marketing, especially in the indie space. I want to know what's going on, so I follow their podcast, follow them on Twitter, and like their Facebook page so hopefully I won't miss anything.

Jenn's Trends - Jenn Herman has a blog focused on social media, specifically Instagram. Even though I've temporarily told Instagram, "it's not me, it's you," I can count on her to share big news I need to know about social media. I joined her Facebook group to keep up with what she's sharing about social media.

Social Media Examiner - While this seems like a no-brainer because this is a hugely established site, I love Michael Stelzner's curiosity and passion for social media. (You can hear this particularly through his podcast, where he seems genuinely excited and interested in the guests.)

HOW TO GET FOLLOWERS THROUGH CONTENT-SHARING TOOLS

Sharing consistent quality content is HARD. Especially when you are also creating content too. I really rock at creating content. I love it. Give me content creation all. day. long.

And while I shared in my post on why your blog isn't growing that it's not just about promotion, YOU HAVE TO PROMOTE your awesome content. If you are trying to curate good content from other people as well (which you should do), then you have even more posts to share and schedule. Promotion is a lot of work, so you'll want some tools to help with that.

Note: Don't forget that you can't JUST promote. You have to engage with people as well! Read the previous post in this series for ideas. 

So what tools can help you get followers on social media through content sharing?

My favorite tools to share quality content-

Quuu - (Facebook & Twitter) This app will generate and autopost relevant content to your Twitter or Facebook feeds for you. Like most apps, you can use some features with the free version and then upgrade.

I honestly don't LOVE pushing out content that I haven't seen first. But they have a great vetting process for the posts that they take, so you will get great content!

Quuu Promote - This is a paid part of Quuu where you can submit posts to go in the Quuu feed. I've seen really great results from putting my posts in here. This means that when other people sign up for Quuu and autopost links, YOUR links go in the pool to be shared on a particular topic.

This has resulted in a good amount of traffic and also shown me what content is working well. Check out these two posts, both about email marketing. (For reference, another promoted post I did had 17 clicks from only 80 shares, as compared to the 300-something shares for only 8 clicks.) They don't accept posts automatically, but look through each.

Promo Republic - I love this social sharing tool because it comes with templates and stock photos that you can edit (think: Canva), but you don't have to LEAVE the platform to share them. Instead, you create them right there, write your text for a post, then choose to share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram (reminder, not autoschedule, since Insta doesn't allow that).

They share trends that may help you come up with post ideas and you can create a queue of content that will post at optimal times. Get this on AppSumo for a limited time with my referral code (that gives me credit at no extra cost to you) HERE. 

Tailwind - I love this app for Pinterest! (It also does Instagram, but I don't use it for that.) It has one of the easiest scheduling dashboards I've used. You can click a button to shuffle them all, choose the best time slots you want per day, how many shares per day, and even join tribes of other Pinterest users to promote each other's content. If you use my affiliate link, you'll get a free month to try it out!

• Learn how to use tribes and where to find them

Hootsuite - I have been using Hootsuite maybe longer than any other social tool! It's very similar to Buffer, which a lot of people like, but because I have never seen a reason to switch! Choose which one works for you. You can manage up to three accounts with Hootsuite's free plan, including Facebook (page, group, or profile), LinkedIn, and Twitter.

I create Twitter lists within Hootsuite and then can easily go in and schedule content on a weekly basis. (Though I've been HORRIBLE about this lately.) It clears the clutter when you just want to pop in and see what's going on over on Twitter. This makes it easier to get in, engage and schedule, then get out without getting lost.

• How to Use Twitter in 15 Minutes a Day

Iconosquare - Iconosquare is NOT a social scheduling platform and is strictly for Instagram. But it's a really helpful tool to manage your followers and to see what content people engage with so that you can create more of the same. You can even track details like which hashtags performed well for you. As with most tools, you can get more when you pay.

Social Jukebox - This is a great tool to create a content library (or "jukebox") of evergreen content that get shared again and again over time. 

RecurPost - Similar to Social Jukebox, this tool will let you schedule posts to share again and again. If you don't want to pay for Edgar or SmarterQueue, you can use these two together to get the max number of posts without paying. 

PRO TIP: Remember to share your own posts with as much gusto and passion as you share other people's posts. This tip comes by way of Paula Rollo of Beauty Through Imperfection and her Facebook Group, Actionable Blogging Tips.

HOW TO GET MORE FOLLOWERS THROUGH FOLLOW FOR FOLLOW

I know that in the past year, the idea of getting followers by following people brings out the eye rolls. Especially on Instagram, people talk about getting 300 new followers in a day, then losing 294 two days later. (True story.) That's a LOT of people doing it wrong.  

The BEST way to follow people to get followers on Instagram and Twitter is to follow people you are actually interested in, interact with them in a way that isn't smarmy (ex: DON'T follow, then tweet at them telling them you followed and asking them to follow back), and then in a few weeks or month, unfollow the people who aren't following you back UNLESS they are stellar content creators and you want to keep following. 

Give this practice a little more of a personal touch and a little more time to see it actually work for you.

A Note on Facebook

I have not mentioned much about growing a Facebook page here. There are a few reasons for this. First, this can be one of the harder platforms to grow. Because of the way the Facebook algorithm works, people often won't see your content. Even huge pages have very little reach on posts. I'll talk more about this in a separate post, because it's a HUGE topic.

HOW TO GET MORE FOLLOWERS...SPARINGLY

Facebook groups - Many blogger Facebook groups have threads on a weekly or daily basis where you can link to your social profiles and then follow everyone and have them follow you. You really want TARGETED followers, so these don't always work well. But depending on your goals or while you're trying to get past that social proof number, this may really help. 

Giveaways - You can definitely grow quickly and with big results using giveaways. But you are more than likely going to end up with people who don't care about you or your content. Particularly if you are giving away money or a gift card to a store. Try to be more targeted to your audience and give a great prize, but one that is specific to writers or moms or your audience. 

Ads - You can run Facebook ads to get likes for your page, but this is something I would do sparingly. Facebook seems to drop your reach right after you pay for things to make you think you NEED to pay for things. So, realize this is an option in the ads manager, but don't rely on this. 

Remember the Context When You Are Trying to Get Followers!

If you are trying to get more followers on social media, don't forget your overall purpose. Think of the kinds of followers you really want and the long-term goals. 

Consider all these tips in conjunction with the reasons your social media isn't growing, particularly thinking about the idea that you need to be SOCIAL. 

What are YOUR tips for getting more followers on social media? Share in the comments!

Today's post is all about why your social media isn't growing. As in, why you can't seem to grow your social media followers. It's the second in a series called Why Your Audience Isn't Growing. You can click to read the first post, Why Your Blog Isn't Growing. 

Social media can be one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal...but it can also be the most frustrating. It takes a lot of time, can feel like a part-time job, and sometimes doesn't seem to bring in results.

If you are one of the many people stuck wondering why your social media isn't growing, I've got some explanations and some tips for what you might do differently. 

Listen to Episode 108 - Why Your Social Media Isn't Growing

Keep scrolling to read the post! You can also subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, I Heart Radio, your favorite podcast app, or find the audio on YouTube.

WHY YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ISN'T GROWING 

Here are three reasons why your social media isn't growing. 

You Aren't Sharing Relevant Content

Back when I first started using Twitter and Facebook, I'd been blogging for a few years. But I NEVER shared my own blog posts. 

Why? Because NO ONE DID. These social media platforms evolved to be a good place for promotion, but they didn't start that way. Now many people use them ONLY for link-sharing. (More on that in the next point.) 

Part of growing your blog IS utilizing the power of you social platforms. (But your blog still won't grow without fixing the three mistakes we talked about in the first part of the series!) We should be sharing links on our Twitter profile, our Facebook page, on Instagram, and wherever you hang out online. 

But if that's ALL you are doing, you aren't going to grow your followers on social media. Which means in turn that you won't have as much traffic to your blog. You do NOT want someone to come to your profile and find that every post or even every other post is your own. 

The Fix

If you really want to grow your social media platforms, you need to be a curator of content, not just a creator. Being a good curator means that you are picking and choosing things to share as a kind of collection or gallery. People often talk about the 80/20 rule: 80% of what you share should be from other people and 20% from your own content. 

Ask yourself what kind of content would COMPLEMENT your own.

• What links would add to the conversation you're starting with what you write?
• What other people are creating quality content in your space?
• What words of encouragement or news do your people need? 

Consider how you can curate a collection of links and posts that will reach your target audience. Share your own, but share links from other sources MORE. 

You Aren't Being Social

Social media isn't always the best name for Facebook or Twitter or Google Plus or Instagram anymore. It's often more like Self Media. You promote yourself. And, if you aren't actually being social, you're only talking to yourself. 

If you aren't having actual conversations with people on social media, you aren't being social. This happens a lot when people automate their social shares. They use tools to send out links automatically so they never have to actually go ON Twitter or LinkedIn. 

It also happens when people try the follow-unfollow method of growth. This looks like following a bunch of people and then unfollowing them the next day or week. (Um, that's just smarmy, PERIOD.Stop.) 

Clearly, if you are automating everything, you CANNOT be social. Without showing up and talking to other people, you will not grow your social following.

The Fix

Automation is great (see this post on the difference between scheduling and automation), but you need to have conversations. You must be social. 

This means that in addition to scheduling and automating content, you must actually show up on those platforms and engage. Here are a few ideas for how this can look: 

• Reply personally to people who share, like, or comment on your posts. 
• When you follow someone, check out their profile and comment to them about something in their profile that stood out to you. (If nothing stands out to you in their profile, why are you following them??)
• Instead of just dropping links on your Facebook page, go live and answer questions or engage with your fans.
• Join Twitter chats where you can talk to as many as a few hundred people in an hour. 
• Try an Instagram hop where people on a particular day join in on a hashtag like #itssimplytuesday from Emily P. Freeman or #fridayintroductions from Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan. 

This is not rocket science. It isn't hard to do. But it also takes a bit more time and investment. Life would be wonderful if we could just step back and automate everything...but then we wouldn't really make connections or increase engagement. 

You Aren't Laser Focused

One of the reasons your social media isn't growing is that you are trying too many things at once. You are on five platforms, trying to manage all of them at the same time. 

Each platform has its own quirks, social media sizes, audience, and best practices for how often to post. (See my post on Seriously Simple Social for more and a free guide!) Unless you've been doing this for years or have an assistant helping you out, it can be near impossible to manage all of the platforms well. 

I also see people often having one post from a social platform automatically post to all the others. So if I'm following someone on Instagram, I might see their post there first. Then I see it on their Facebook page. Then I see it on Twitter. Then I see it on their Facebook profile. 

Each platform has its own nuances. You aren't going to get a ton of Instagram OR Facebook followers when you automate your Instagram images to post on Facebook. You'll look silly when you have 11 hashtags on Facebook or you tag people and it doesn't work because the original tag was on Twitter, not Facebook. 

Don't cross the streams! It is more work, but even changing a few things about your post (image size, hashtags or NO hashtags, description length, etc) can help it do well on EACH platform. 

The Fix

Start with a focus. You may want to make sure you secure your name on several of the big platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest for sure) before someone else gets it, but you don't have to be fully active on all of them. 

Pick 1-2 platforms you really like where your ideal people also hang out. Consider an overarching strategy for the kind of content you'll post and how often. Set an alarm or set aside time daily or weekly to engage with people on that platform. Master the kinds of images and posts that do well there. (Again, get my Seriously Simple Social Guide for that!) 

When you are really rocking 1-2 platforms and are in your groove, consider adding another. But don't try to be in all the places at one time. You will have a hard time posting quality content on many platforms and 

You Are Participating in Too Many Share Groups

Wait-- shouldn't we be using Facebook groups to grow? Yes. Ish. Facebook groups are great for connecting with other bloggers and getting our content out there! But share groups may be holding back authentic growth.

The kinds of groups I mean are those where content creators can post their links in daily or weekly threads. Then they are required to follow or like or share or comment on the other links in the thread.

While this SEEMS like a good idea, it's really not. It might boost your numbers a bit. It might give you some social proof when one post has 20 comments. (Note: whenever I see a post now with more than a handful of comments--ESPECIALLY if it's a newer post--I always assume these are from one of these share threads.) The problem with these groups is that you aren't actually finding your target audience. 

Instead of connecting with that busy mom or that just-starting-out author, you are connecting with another blogger. Who, outside of the group requirements, is NOT likely to become a superfan. If you are trying to work with brands, they have grown wise to this (especially about Instagram pods) and they are NOT happy. 

It's one thing to have a small group where you support each other and share content. (Like the content curation I just wrote about.) Follow-for-follow threads are another thing altogether. Required follow and share groups do not result in authentic engagement from your target audience. Period. 

The Fix

Be wise in the kinds of groups you join and what kind of threads you participate in. Ask yourself what you are REALLY gaining from your participation. 

• Is the group made up of your target audience?
• Will other people in the group help get your content IN FRONT OF your target audience? 
• Is the content you are required to share relevant and good for curation? 

These groups are popular because they give a FEELING of success. Doesn't it feel nice when you have a bunch of comments on a post? Don't you love seeing other people share your content? If the groups you are in result in real engagement from your idea people, that's GREAT. If they don't, or if they require that you share content you otherwise wouldn't, it's time to rethink. 

Though many of these fixes are a bit more time intensive and require more of YOU, that's the cost of real social media growth. A lot of the tactics people teach out there are just that: tactics. They are not a strategy. And they are not about engaged, authentic growth. 

If you're looking for the main reason why your social media isn't growing, it's likely because you aren't investing enough of yourself. You are automating in order to create a Self Media that's all about your links and not about real engagement or serving your audience. 

What are YOUR struggles with social media? Have you seen some of these reasons in your own social media? 

These reasons why your blog isn't growing might surprise you! Find out what isn't working and how to fix it.

How do you keep creative work going in the midst of storms? I share how we fared in Hurricane Harvey and give tips for creativity in the hard times.