Tweets, widgets and blogs, oh my!

I'm doing a workshop this Saturday for my Kentucky Romance Writers chapter called, Tweets, feeds, widgets and blogs, oh my! Let's explore Social Media Marketing. One thing I've been doing to prepare for the workshop is surveying my own use of social media to market my books, and attempting to look a little deeper into some of the sites that I use on a regular basis.

Maddie James is a fan of

Maddie James, Romance Novelist

Create your Fan Badge

I am a fairly regular user of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and I know I could spend more time on those sites. I also have Goodreads, LinkedIn, YouTube and some other niche network sites. One thing I've learned in my informal research is that there is A LOT to know, and it's continually changing.

One book I've been reading is Facebook for Dummies. There is truly a lot I did not know about Facebook! I thought I'd share a few interesting facts from the book with you.

• If Facebook were a country, it would be the 6th most populated nation in the world.
• Facebook Fan pages have no fan limits; Facebook profiles are restricted to 5,000 friends.
• Fans can opt-in to Fan pages without approval; Profiles require approval.
• Facebook Groups do not allow applications.
• Facebook etiquette: Don't drink and Facebook.
• Stories on your Facebook wall should: 1) invite visitors to take action (photos, links, etc...) and 2) encourage interaction (conversation, sharing, etc.)
• Fans are opt-in subscribers.
• Facebook Fan Pages are public by default; not so Profiles or Groups.
• Tagging is one of the most directly effective actions you can take; the more people you tag, the more your page spreads.
• Social networking is a quantity game--the amount of time spent networking equals the amount of results you receive.

I hope a few of these provide you with a bit of new info. There is so much to know and I am not sure anyone can know everything about this topic! New applications (apps) are being created everyday, and new networks are being built. I think the best we all can do is find and work with the networks that we enjoy and understand, and work to fine-tune and use them to the nth degree!

Hope to see you at the workshop!