6 Key Components of an Online Author Platform

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Next week, on June 2, I'll
be teaching a live, online class on building your author platform. To help make
"platform" more understandable and approachable as a topic, I've boiled it down into
6 key components. Here they are, briefly.

VISIBLE




Your website (your hub, or Grand Central Station)

Your social media activity or update stream

Your content





INVISIBLE




Your relationships or network

Your influence and authority

Your actual reach

It's impossible to have an effective visible online platform without also working
on what's invisible. And that's why I think so many authors come to me and complain
that their efforts aren't working. It's because the invisible components are weak,
growing, or being ignored.



My
class will also address the following:



5 key channels of social media engagement (e-mail, community sites, blogs, comments,
multimedia), how to use them, and how to prioritize them

What meaningful interaction looks like on social media

The 4 key stages of online engagement, and why it's important to take them one stage
at a time (no skipping to the fourth stage!)

How to develop a Facebook and Twitter strategy that works for you, which might mean
not using them at all

How to use analytics to better focus your efforts and figure out what's working and
what's wasting your time

Fortunately, I discuss all of these topics frequently on this blog. If
you can't take the class (and/or afford the $79 registration fee), then here are
some of the my best posts where I discuss online platform.



The
Hardest Part About Developing Platform (Who Are You Anyway?)




The
4 Stages of Marketing and Promotion




When
or Why Social Media Fails to Sell Books




No.
1 Component of an Effective Online Marketing Strategy




Giving
Stuff Away Is Not a Strategy




Audience
Development: Critical to Every Writer's Future




Should You Blog?
And If So, What Are Best Practices?




Figuring Out
Your Facebook Strategy: 3 Tips




Using
Facebook to Amplify Your Reach (and Not Annoy People)






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