Edie Melson's Blog, page 424

Social Media Monday—Social Media Doesn’t Work For Me . . . and Other Lies People Believe, Part One

by Edie Melson
I get a lot of emails and phone calls from people who really believe social media doesn’t work for them. They’ve convinced themselves that they are the exception to the rule. And because of that, they’re somehow exempt from having an online presence.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s called an exception because it rarely ever happens. Actually I’ve NEVER seen an instance where it was true. But I’m skeptical about absolutes, so I’ll grant that there might be one single person out there that social media doesn’t work for.
The rest of you need to quite claiming it doesn’t work and get busy working it.
The Four Main Types Who Fail at Social Media
First, there’s the person who has really tried to make it work, but they’ve been trying all the wrong things. Doing it wrong won’t get you much further than not doing it at all.
Second, there’s the person who’s been paralyzed by over-thinking the process. They’ve spent so much time analyzing every possible scenario they’re confused and defeated before they ever start.
Third, there’s the person who starts and stops. They work at it consistently for a week or two then stop. Then start again . . . then stop . . . . I think you get the idea. A big part of social media is building on success. If you keep stopping, there’s nothing to build on.
Fourth, there’s the go-getter that’s spending so much time on social media they no longer have time to write. So they throw up their hands and walk away.
What You Need to Do to Have a Successful Social Media Presence Start a blog or become a part of a group blog.Have a presence on Facebook.Have a presence on Twitter.Utilize a scheduling program (like Hootsuite) to help manage your time efficiently.Never break Edie’s five to one rule. For every five social media updates on a particular platform, you may only post one additional update about yourself or your product (this includes your books, a blog post, or an announcement about a guest blog post you’re doing).Quit overthinking the process. Social media isn’t a science. It’s relationships, and relationships are messy. So get busy, take a chance and find what works for you by DOING, not THINKING!

I recommend you start with the following minimum goals and work up from here: Blogging once a week, if it’s your personal blog. Blogging twice a month if it’s a group blog.Comment on a minimum of one other blog once a day, four days a week.Post on Facebook a minimum of three times a day, four days a week.Comment on someone else’s Facebook post a minimum of three times a day, four days a week.Tweet a minimum of four to six times a day, four days a week. (This can include retweeting something someone else has tweeted).But no matter what you do with social media . . .  
Don’t spend more than 20-30 minutes per day on social media.
Spend more than 20-30 minutes a day on social media and you'll run into the law of diminishing returns. You just don't get as much bang for your buck. Beyond that, you'll be cutting into valuable writing time.
Later on in this series I’ll share how to find updates, how to figure out who your audience is, and what a growing social media presence looks like. (HINT: it’s not a straight, uphill graph.)
But I’d like to know what things are standing in your way with social media?
Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
Tweetables"Social media doesn't work for me!" and other lies people believe - via social media mentor @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Are you buying into a lie that's keeping you from a successful social media platform? via @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Weekend Worship—When I Learned that Being Nice Wasn’t One of the Ten Commandments

Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. Ephesians 4:14-15

"Speak the truth in love.”
I’ve heard that admonition about as long as I’ve been in church. It’s advice that’s generally given when a situation is dicey. It’s uttered as encouragement, in an almost don’t-forget-to-buckle-your-seatbelttone of voice. But just with a seatbelt, there’s no guarantee the outcome will be good.
I’ve also heard it bandied about after a situation blows up, usually with a sorrowful shake of a head. “If only they’d spoken the truth in love.”
Beyond that, the advice to speak the truth in love carries with it an unwritten assurance—a false assumption. Do it correctly, and everything will turn out fine. While that does occasionally happen, usually it’s after some serious fallout. And there’s never a guarantee about the outcome.
At best, truth speaking is an untidy proposition.
It involves laying bare the lies we’ve accepted as truth. No one likes being exposed, and that’s what truth does.
But when a lie is holding the position that belongs to truth, it must be done. It’s rarely pleasant. Replacing a lie with truth means that some serious restructuring needs to occur. I don’t think I’m alone when I confess that I’m not a big fan of change—even change for the better. Let me assure you that exchanging the truth for a lie is a MAJOR change. It’s about as perfect a 180° as you can get.
The bottom line is this, though. No matter how difficult, when we love, we will be called on to speak the truth. It won’t be pretty, and it certainly won’t be nice—for anyone. But that’s okay because a friend recently reminded me of this truth. Being nice isn’t one of the ten commandments.
When we follow Jesus, we find ourselves in messy situations. We’re accused of being mean, our reputations are maligned, and even our families are attacked. None of that should stop us from loving one another enough to speak the truth.
So today I’m drawing a line in the sand. I’m refusing to bow to those who want me to be nice. Instead I’m going to love—with the truth—no matter how hard it is. It’s going to get messy, but I know I’m going to get to see God at work, redeeming unredeemable situations. 
How about you . . . care to join me?

Social Media Image—Listen to the Music

For me to be able to pour out into my writing, I must also find a way renew my spirit. I do that through the music of nature.

How do you recharge and refill your soul?

"The earth has music for those who listen." George SantayanaShare your thoughts in the comment section below. 
I also invite you to use this image any way you like online. Post it to your blog, share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, anywhere you'd like. All I ask is that you keep it intact, with my website watermark visible.
Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie

Evaluating The Writer’s Path—A Journey of a Lifetime

by Edie Melson

The writer’s path is a journey of a lifetime—one fraught with discovery and discouragement. We can avoid some of its pitfalls if we define that path early on. Today, I want to share some insights into my writing journey and the markers I look for to help me stay at least in the vicinity of the path.
This time of year, with Christmas and New Year's still looming close behind, my thoughts turn backward. I use this time to evaluate the past year and prepare for the next one. I've given up New Year's Resolutions completely and find the freedom from those expectations (and failures) a major relief.
But I have implemented something else instead. My husband and I spend some time looking back at our spiritual markers for the past year. We evaluate them individually, as a couple and as a family. I also look at them in regard to my past year as a writer.
This is particularly helpful, because staying on the writer's path is difficult because each of our paths are so unique and varied. In the past I've had trouble evaluating my progress because I was comparing my journey to someone else's. I’ve come up with some questions to help me process where I’ve been and where I’m headed.
Questions to Get Me Started What were some of my writing successes this past year? (Not necessarily the most lucrative, but the most rewarding)What were some of my writing setbacks this past year?What writing advice stands out in my mind because it seemed to have been aimed directly at me?What brought me the most joy? (Writing related) 
As I map out these spiritual markers, the path God has had me on becomes quite clear. And, by knowing where I've been, it becomes clearer where to go next.
I'd love to hear some of your answers to these questions. I'll be posting mine later in the comments section.
Don’t forget to join the conversation!Blessings,
Edie
Tweetables4 Tips to help you evaluate your writing path - where you've been & where you're going - via @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Do you know where you're headed as a writer? @EdieMelson shares 4 tips to help you evaluate your path (Click to Tweet)

A Behind the Scenes Look at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference

Yesterday I posted about the top 10 reasons to attend a writers conference, and I highlighted some of the conferences that I personally recommend. Starting today, and continuing over the next few Thursdays I'm going to provide you with a look at the people behind those conferences. We'll start with a behind the scenes look at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Since I'm the co-director, I thought I'd let Alton Gansky handle this one solo.





If you've had the opportunity to attend Blue Ridge (and I know a lot of you have) feel free to chime in with some of the highlights from your stay.

Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie

Conference List & the Top 10 Reasons to Attend a Writers Conference in 2014

by Edie Melson
This time of year writing conferences are gearing up, the faculty has been chosen and the websites are humming, ready to take your reservations. So why attend a writer's conference? Is there anything to be gained? I believe the answer is a resounding, YES. 
Personally, I've been attending large conferences for years. And as my experience level has increased so have the benefits from attending. Here are my top ten reasons to attend a writer’s conference this year.10. Relationships. Writing is all about relationships – your relationship with the reader, with the editor and with other writers.
9. Loneliness. Writing is a lonely business. We need time to socialize with others who get this crazy passion we have with words.
8. Confirmation. We all face doubts as to whether or not we really are a writer. A conference is the best place to confirm that calling and receive support from our peers.
7. Misery loves company. If you have spent any time at all as a writer, you know all about rejection. It helps to hear other people talk about their experiences and realize we all face the same thing.
6. The classes. Where else can you spend hours at a stretch learning about all the different aspects of writing?
5. Late night brainstorming sessions. Many of us keep odd hours as writers, where else can you find others ready to share a cup of coffee and discuss an idea at 2am?

4. Meet your neighbor. Okay, I admit, this one’s personal for me. But I had to go to a writer’s conference to meet my writing buddy Vonda Skelton – who lives less than 3 minutes away!
3. Hang out with the stars. We all have writers we admire and a conference where they are on staff is the perfect place to get to know them.
2. Sharpen that pitch. If you want to pitch an idea, a conference is the perfect place to try it out on other professionals before you send it to the editor.
1. Network, Network, Network. Like I said, writing is all about relationships and its human nature for an editor to prefer someone he’s met to someone he doesn’t know.
Now, in case you don't know where to begin when you're looking for a conference, here's a list of conferences that I can personally recommend. 
Writers ADVANCE! BOOT CAMP 2014
The Cove, NCFebruary 21-23, 2014
Florida Christian Writers Conference
Lake Yale Conference Center, Leesburg, Florida
February 26 - March 2 2014

Carolina Christian Writers Conference
Spartanburg, South Carolina
March 14-15

Write2Ignite!
North Greenville University, Tigerville, South Carolina
March 28-29, 2014

Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Ridgecrest Conference Center, NCMay 18-22, 2014
American Christian Fiction Writers Conference St. Louis, MOSeptember 25-27
What conferences do you recommend? 
Don't forget to join the conversation!BlessingsEdie
TweetablesReady 2 take your writing up a notch? @EdieMelson has a top 10 list of reasons to attend a writers conference. (Click to Tweet)
Looking for a writers conference to attend in 2014? @EdieMelson has the info you need & a fun top 10 list. (Click to Tweet)

Confessions of an ADD Writer—How I Turned my Struggle into Success

by Edie Melson

Writing is the best and the worst career choice for me. I used to joke about the fact that if it wasn’t illegal or immoral, I’d write about it. A very true statement. You see, I’m definitely an Attention Deficit Disorder Writer. Today I want to share how I turned my struggle into success.
Freelance writing and blogging is a good fit for me, in that it gives me lots of varying subject matter. It also gives me the opportunity to work in small bites and find success with short pieces. But even working with small projects I had to find a way to manage my time and not get distracted.
Book length projects are more of a struggle. I’ve had to learn how to apply my work habits for short projects to the long ones, and instead of being a liability, it’s helped me become a more productive writer.
Here are the things that help me—not just to cope—but to excel as a writer:
1. Embrace my creativity. One of the things that happens with my mind is that it’s always coming up with new ideas. Instead of shutting out these ideas, I keep a list. Now, I never lack for a blog post topic or article idea.
2. Work in small bites of time. I get twitchy if I have to sit still for more than an hour, so I plan my day in hour-long blocks of time.
3. Don’t stress about working on more than one project at once. There is lots of advice out there about only working on one thing at a time. The problem isn’t on how many things I work on at once—AS LONG AS I’m finishing projects regularly. The problem comes if I only start things and never finish them.
4. Write through the rabbit trails. In high school and college I learned how to write papers and articles by coming up with a theme sentence and focusing on that through-out the paper. That’s good advice, for the final draft. But the rough draft is supposed to be…well…rough. That’s the time to experiment and try things out. I’ve come up with some really good stuff by following a rabbit trail to its end. Often I come up with two or three good things. Good for a freelance writer.
5. Let your boredom be a barometer. Often when I get bored with a project it’s a symptom of a problem—and not with me. It means I’ve lost focus or need to add something to what I’ve written.  I’ve discovered I’ve got pretty good instincts and I’ve learned to trust them.
6. Freewriting is my friend. Sometimes my mind is spinning with so many ideas I don’t know where to start. That’s when I pull out the pen and paper and start writing. No rules, just words. In very short order my brain has pulled some order out of chaos and I’m ready to get to work.
7. Keep track of time and set limits. I could research for hours. Every fact seems to lead to another, and then to another and then…well you get the idea. I give myself a time limit for research and that helps limit the distractions.

8. Keep research and writing separate. When I’m done with my allotted research time, I start writing. If I come across something I need to check, I make a note, but I don’t stop writing. Otherwise it’s hard to get things finished.
These are the things I've found to help me succeed. What could you add to the list? Or am I the only easily-distracted writer around?
Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TweetablesDo you struggle with focus as a writer? That difficulty may contain the secret of success. (Click to Tweet)
Confessions of an ADD Writer - @EdieMelson shares how she turned her struggles into success. (Click to Tweet)

Social Media Monday—Clean Up Your Twitter Ratios and Get Rid of Excess Weight

by Edie Melson
Twitter is great social media tool for growing an online presence. But like any good tool, you have to take care of it, to keep it preforming in tip-top shape.
Today I’m going to share how you can clean up your twitter ratios and get rid of excess weight to keep your account working efficiently.
The first thing you want to do is look at your ratio of the accounts you follow and the accounts that follow you. Below is a screen shot of my ratio: My ratio is 12,685 following and 12,544 followers.
This is a healthy ratio AFTER you go past the 2000 ceiling.
You want this number to stay pretty close, especially as you reach the 2000 follower ceiling. This is important because Twitter has certain hard and fast rules about how many people you can follow. This makes following more than 2000 accounts tricky. Here is how Twitter explains it:
…every user can follow 2000 people total . Once you’ve followed 2000 users, there are limits to the number of additional users you can follow: this limit is different for every user and is based on your ratio of followers to following.
The best way to avoid hitting this ceiling is by keeping your ratio close. But if you hit this limit, you can use a free program I recommend to unfollow people who are not following you back. I’ve looked into a lot of programs and www.Manageflitter.com is by far my favorite. It allows me to unfollow a large number of accounts in one sitting.
SPECIAL NOTE: Twitter has strict guidelines about aggressive following and churn. BEFORE you work with ManageFlitter, know the rules so you won’t be penalized.
Definitions:Aggressive following: Twitter defines aggressive following as: indiscriminately following hundreds of accounts just to garner attention. However, following a few users if their accounts seem interesting is normal and is not considered aggressive. 
Aggressive Follow Churn: Twitter defines aggressive follow churn this way:when an account repeatedly follows and then un-follows a large number of users. This may be done to get lots of people to notice them, to circumvent a Twitter limit, or to change their follower-to-following ratio. 
I am giving you an option to explore if you hit the 2000 Twitter limit, but it’s important to be very careful how you do it. It’s better if you keep your ratio close enough that you don’t have problem when you hit the 2000 ceiling.
How to Safely Use ManageFlitter1. Go to the ManageFlitter website and click START. (See screenshot below)
2. Now Click CONNECT TO TWITTER. This will take you to a screen and you’ll have to give the ManageFlitter app permission to access your twitter account.Now you’ll have to wait for it to load all your date. Depending on how many followers you have it may take a few minutes. The developers at ManageFlitter have a great sense of humor, so be prepared to be entertained. (See screenshot below)  It takes about five minutes for me. Below is a screenshot of all the people that I follow who don’t follow me back. You’ll notice there are six pages. At up to one hundred people per page, that’s 542 people who don’t follow me back.
Actually I will keep up to about 200 who don’t follow me back. There are certain celebrities that I follow who I know will never follow me back. And that’s fine because I get value from the tweets they send out.
It’s the average people, like you and me, that I want to weed out. I try to do this logically. So the first thing I do is go to my last page. Because those are the people I’ve been following the longest, so they’ve had enough time to follow me back if they’re so inclined.
On my account, since I use this program regularly, I know that page six is full of celebrities that probably will never follow me, so I don’t go that far back.
3. As I hover over an account, a pop up window appears with all the relevant information I need to make a good decision about whether or not to unfollow the account. Here you see the account info on MacGregor Literary. I won’t unfollow them because they are a valuable source of industry information. (See screenshot below)
4. Now I continue going down the list and clicking UNFOLLOW to everyone I want to stop following. Below is a screenshot of what that looks like. I make it a policy to NOT unfollow more than about 190 accounts per day. This keeps me under the radar of the Twitter police.
NOTE: I also don’t bother with checking the first page on my ManageFlitter account because those are people that I’ve followed within the past couple of days and I want to give them a chance to follow me back before I decide to unfollow them.
5. Once I reach the number of accounts I want to unfollow, I just close the website. I don't have to do anything else. ManageFlitter gives you quite a few options to unlock more unfollows, but since I don't unfollow more than 190 per day, I haven't found that necessary. 
How did I get into this mess? Now you’re probably wondering how it is that I’m following so many who don’t follow me back. About fifty percent of these are people that I ran across on the Internet and I thought would be interesting to follow. The other fifty percent are accounts that have followed me and then unfollowed me. That happens quite a bit, so it’s important to keep close watch on your account.
I try to clean up my ratio about twice a month with ManageFlitter. But I check for new Twitter followers on my Twitter account almost daily. I want to make sure that if someone has found my account valuable enough to follow, I return the favor and follow them back. But that’s another lesson—on Twitter Etiquette.
Any questions? Be sure to leave them in the comments section below.
And don’t forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TweetablesDon’t hit the dreaded 2000 follow limit on Twitter - @EdieMelson has tips for a healthy ratio. (Click to Tweet)
Is your Twitter account following too many accounts? tips from social media mentor @EdieMelson can help with that.  (Click to Tweet)

Weekend Worship—Definition

A man’s steps are established by the Lord,
and He takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
 because the Lord holds his hand. Psalm 37:23-24
I’ve long since given up making New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I use this time to allow God to redirect my steps onto the path He has for me. I’d like to take today to share how I go about that.
I began this process in 1996 when, at the urging of several godly friends, I began asking God for a verse to guide my steps during the coming year. He faithfully supplied that first verse and has done so every year since.
I’ve loved the practice of searching out His will, and it’s become a sweet time of fellowship as I listen for His voice. Then, in 2012, a new friend suggested I also ask Him to supply a single word for the coming year. (Thank you, Beth Vogt.) I did, and again the process added depth to my relationship with God.
This year I began the process, as usual, in early November. The verse you see above is the one God gave me. When I began searching God’s heart for the single word He had for me, it became a more involved process than in previous years.
At first I thought the word would be freedom. Because I had allowed myself to become chained to the expectations of others. But as I meditated on this, I realized God had more to say to me about the bondage I was experiencing. He showed me that I was actually allowing myself to be defined by what others thought I should be. He reminded me that He wanted to be the One who defined me.
It was a prospect that filled me with peace and freedom.
Today I invite you to join me. Ask God for a verse and for a word to illustrate your upcoming year. You’ll be blessed by the process and by His answer. If you already have your word and/or verse, share them in the comment section below.

Social Media Image—What Adds Depth to Your Life, adds Depth to Your Writing

As I begin this new year, my thoughts turn to ways to make my life more meaningful. And it occurs to me that adding depth to my life will also add depth to my writing—not just through the richness of experience—although that's huge. But if I allow my characters to experience the same kind of richness that I seek, my stories will have an added color and depth.

What parallels do you see in living a life of depth and richness in your writing?

"It is not the length of of life, but the depth." - Ralph Waldo EmersonShare your thoughts in the comment section below. 
I also invite you to use this image any way you like online. Post it to your blog, share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, anywhere you'd like. All I ask is that you keep it intact, with my website watermark visible.
Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie