Are You Doing Social Media Backwards?

I see it all the time. People with links on their blogs, websites and emails with the words "Follow Me on Twitter" or "Like Me On Facebook."

But is that the correct way to use social media?

Are you supposed to use it to drive people to your social media pages?

Until recently I used to be the same.

I had links to my social media accounts on all my websites and emails.

Now they're gone.

Why?

Because you should be driving people TO your website FROM your social media pages, not the other way around.

I was listening to a podcast recently and the person being interviewed said sending your website visitors over to your social media pages is like having customers in your store and sending them to someone else's cash register.

It was a light bulb moment for me.

So now my website don't have links to my social media accounts, but my social media accounts have links to my websites.

I've finally stopped using social media backwards.

And it's working.

Why Do Writers Procrastinate?

Look around anywhere on the internet and you’ll come across articles about procrastination, especially when you're reading about writing.

All writers complain about procrastination. It’s like a resistance to sitting down and starting.

We all say we’re writers, but the resistance we feel every time we want to start writing is always there.

If you love to write then why is it so difficult to sit down and do it?

Some say it’s because of a fear of failure, fear that your writing won’t be good enough.

Others say it’s because of a fear of success, of how much your life will change if your writing is popular.

I say “Get over it.”

It’s just laziness.

I feel procrastination and resistance to anything that feels like hard work.

And writing is work, no matter how much of a romantic idea is conjured up about being a writer. It takes work.

But all you have to do is start.

Sit down and start writing.

Tell yourself that for the next 30 minutes you cannot do anything else.

Sit at your computer (or with a pad and pen) and tell yourself that you can only write or sit and do nothing. But you cannot do anything else.

Before you know it, once you start writing, it’s easy to keep going and you’ll soon get plenty of writing done.

You just have to start.

So what are you waiting for?

The Weekly Newsletter is Dead

A few weeks ago I started republishing my weekly newsletter for writers to see if it was useful.

Last week I checked the online stats and saw that every time I send it out, very few people click on anything in it (in fact there were very few clicks), which means that I’m not providing information that anyone needs.

And it takes me a couple of hours every week to research the contents and put the newsletter together.

So If I’m wasting my time, then it’s time that would be better spent doing my own writing.

If you still want writing news, it can be found in the writers’ news feed at the bottom of this blog.

If you need writing markets you can find thousands of places to submit your work at http://writeaholics.net/writingmarkets.html.

And I’l still be writing articles for Writeaholics.net which I’ll link to in this blog.

Speaking of which, I wrote and uploaded an article this week called “Stock Your Online Writing Store and Ship Goods Daily” which will really inspire you to write and publish more books.

So now my weekly newsletter for writers is dead and will not rise again, which is good news for you because you should be writing, not wasting time reading emails.

So get to work.

2 Really Great Offers For Writers - But You Have To Be Quick

This is just a really quick notice that there are currently two really great offers for writers, but the offers only last a short time (a few days)

First is an offer for anyone serious about wanting to be a screenplay writer.

The second offer is for 50% on ebooks for writers, including The 2015 Novel and Short Story Writers' Markets, The Kick-Ass Writer, Writing New Adult Fiction and 2015 Songwriters Markets. Just apply the discount code on checkout to get your 50% discount. There are several pages of ebooks to choose from.

But these offers don't last long. One finishes in 2 days.

So here they are:

Shop the Final Draft Sale at Writers Store
Final Draft 9 retains all of its studio-tested features used by Hollywood giants like Tom Hanks, J.J. Abrams, James Cameron, and Aaron Sorkin, while setting new benchmarks in performance and ease of use. With Final Draft 9, you’ll enjoy over 30 new and improved features, plus a fresh look and feel for both Mac and Windows users. Now, get Final Draft 9 for $69+, Valid 26th May till 5th June 2015.

50% Off eBooks through May 31 with Offer Code TAKE50 at Writer's Digest Shop
Want to improve your writing skills but don't want to wait around to take action? Browse the eBooks and start learning how to write a book, discover the steps to getting published, and learn how to effectively market your book to a wide audience. With downloadable eBooks on fiction writing, character development, screenwriting, story outlines and even how to get started writing, we can help take your idea from page to publisher.

Offer Code TAKE50 Valid 29th May till 31st May 2015.