Barb Drozdowich's Blog, page 28
March 11, 2018
Important points about Facebook’s Algorithm
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How have you all been? Things are busy here!
I’ve been re-writing my books and updating the content.
Almost finished – just need one more graphic and they will all be new to the retailers. I atook on the NaNoWriMo project of writing about Self-publishing in Canada. I didn’t actually achieve my 50,000 words in a month, but I managed to finish it over Christmas and it’s in the hands of my editor as we speak…
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I’ve actually been trying to avoid writing a book on Facebook 
March 7, 2018
The Ultimate Guide for Social Media Image Sizes of 2018 (infographic)
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Today’s infographic is a one stop shop for image sizes for the various social media platform.
I know that I frequently use Canva to create graphics for my social media posts, but not always. And when I don’t, I’m searching around for the right dimensions. Since these dimensions frequently change, I like having an up-to-date size chart. So….this post is helpful to you as well as me
March 4, 2018
3 Things to think about when sending messages – Newsletter Tips
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Morning all!
As you may all know, I deal with a lot of newsletters. I format and optimize newsletters, I set up accounts and I am frequently called on to troubleshoot.
Generally speaking, there is a lot of misinformation or lack of information in the author world about Mailing Lists and Newsletters. This is troubling to me. There are laws that authors need to follow when sending out newsletters to readers as well as when collecting names and email addresses of interested folk.
Because I’m always on the look out for things to share, I found the helpful graphic below when doing some reading this week.
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Clearly, this information is the Canadian version, but keep in mind that as authors you need to follow all the country’s laws as your audience is in most countries of the world. You don’t just follow the law of the country you live in.
Back to the graphic – it outlines three significant errors that I see all the time:
Have your readers given consent (and can you prove it)? In other words, do you have double opt-in in place on your Newsletter service of choice? Single opt-in theoretically allows anyone to sign someone else up without their permission
Make sure no part of your message is false or misleading. This should be an obvious point, but I still see authors using some version of “Open this note to win a new car” type of subject line – or mis-represent chances of winning in a giveaway.
Every note must contain and easy way to unsubscribe as well as a mailing address.
The last point is something that is pretty easily put in place on most Newsletter services, but lately I’ve been seeing a lot of Mailerlite notes come out with only a website URL in the place of a mailing address. Is this a huge deal? In the big picture likely you won’t be fined for this, however it is something that your competitors can get you in trouble for.
With some of the changes that are being brought into play in the EU, I’m working on a guide for authors to be compliant with the latest.
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Stay tuned for more information on the legalities coming out of the EU!
The post 3 Things to think about when sending messages – Newsletter Tips appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
February 28, 2018
100 Best Websites for Writers
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Today’s topic is ethical, accurate sources of information.
I was honored to be included on a list of 100 best websites for writers put together by The Write Life. I found out a few weeks ago and I’ve had plenty of time to think about why this is important. I’ve actually written a piece about these types of lists for my provincial writing association’s magazine, WordWorks.
As writers, especially beginner writers or not very technically oriented writers, it’s difficult to tell the good guys from the bad. Who knows what they are talking about? Who is just blowing smoke up your skirt?
I was honored to be included on this list as many of the authors on the list I read regularly and I have been known to quote them in my books. People who have been publishing longer than I have. People, whom I think know quite a bit more than I do.
Why is it important that lists like this exist?
They fight against misinformation. They work hard to provide correct sources to knowledgable people. They highlight accurate and ethical sources of information. They provide great starting points when searching for an answer.
Please drop by and have a look at the sites on this list. Subscribe to some sites, find some new sources of information to read. It’s important!
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Thanks for dropping by and reading my blog this week! If you think I can help you in your learning, please subscribe using the widget on the sidebar off to the right –>
[image error]In my news, I’ve given up on trying to keep the section on MailChimp of The Complete Mailing List Toolkit up to date. I have either added to or completely re-written that section 5 times since the book was published last April because of changes MailChimp made to their platform.
What I’ve done instead is created a video series that visually walks through both MailChimp and MailerLite. I hadn’t touched Mailerlite in the book originally, bit I figured if I was going to create a video series, I might as well cover both platforms. The video series is free and the link is in the book. If you have already purchased a copy of the book, send me an email and I’ll send you a link to the course.
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I’ve also updated all the videos for my Goodreads course. It is [image error]really important to me to keep my books and videos up to date. I talk about technical subject that seem to change in a heartbeat some days. I generally update all my books once a year – more frequently if necessary.
As always, don’t hesitate to email me a suggestion for a blog post or a new book! I’m currently working on a book on Self-Publishing and hope to have that out in the next month or so.
Cheers!
The post 100 Best Websites for Writers appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
January 24, 2018
The Cyclical Pattern by which Social Media Supports SEO
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Again, another infographic that illustrates how interconnected content is with the success of a blog. For a great explanation of each part, please feel free to read the original article here.
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The post The Cyclical Pattern by which Social Media Supports SEO appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
January 17, 2018
11 Design Principles to Enhance You Social Media Images (Infographic)
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Do you struggle when putting together social media posts? I found this infographic that shares great ideas about what makes great images – from the wonderful folks at Buffer!
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The post 11 Design Principles to Enhance You Social Media Images (Infographic) appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
January 14, 2018
How to use Post Planner to manage your social media and save time (video)
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Today’s post is essentially on Time Management – something that I get a lot of questions on. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, authors have many hats to wear and there are still only 24 hours in each day. There are many tools available to help with time management – some free and some premium.
Time management tools
I use a variety of tools. I use MissingLettr and I posted about it here. I use Vellum to format in a fraction of the time I used to take. I posted about that here. I use Canva to create graphics quickly. I blogged about that here.
On the list to create posts about are ManageFlitter, Hootsuite, PromoRepublic and Instafreebie and/or Bookfunnel. You see, there are a lot of tools available.
Today’s post is about a premium tool I use for social media management. It’s called Post Planner and can be found here: http://postplanner.com Rather than trying to describe how it works and what I do with it in words, I’ve created a video – not too long – only 8 minutes.
Have a look at the video and let me know what you think. Let me know if you thing this is something that can save you some time.
*****As for the latest news – working away on new versions of books displayed below, and working my fingers to the bone on a book on Self-Publishing. Stay tuned for more news on that one![image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]
The post How to use Post Planner to manage your social media and save time (video) appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
January 10, 2018
This is How to Write the Best Social Media Posts (Infographic)
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More help for questions I frequently get. What’s the ideal number of words or characters? Where are hashtags used? Where are they not used?
This great infographic has all these little details in one spot.
This graphic was originally found here.
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The post This is How to Write the Best Social Media Posts (Infographic) appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
January 3, 2018
What a High-Converting Blog Page Looks Like (infographic)
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I’m the first one to suggest blogging as a way of connecting with and curating an audience, but have you thought about what you are writing and how you are writing it? Do you just throw something down and hope people will read it?
It’s my opinion that you need to be a bit more strategic than that. A great place to start is just looking at the structure. Is the structure readable? Is it visually attractive?
As a result, I’m frequently looking for graphics that help with the understanding of what blog posts, blog pages and social media posts SHOULD look like. When I stumbled on this week’s infographic, I loved it. A great starting point.
This infographic was originally posted here.
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The post What a High-Converting Blog Page Looks Like (infographic) appeared first on Bakerview Consulting.
September 12, 2017
Time Management for Authors & Bloggers – Introducing Missinglettr
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Today’s topic is again in response to some concerns raised by authors and bloggers alike.
We would all like 28 hours in a day…I often say that if I had 28 hours, I would get SO much more done. The reality is we need to make better use of the 24 hours we currently get.
The topic that I’ve been researching and writing on for a new book is Networking. As working professionals, we all know how to network. We chat with peers and co-workers and find that go-to person or persons that help us do our job or perhaps can introduce us to our next boss 
