Four Ways to Make Your Own Luck Using Social Media
Guest Blogger: Alexis Grant
When good things happen, people tend to think you’re lucky.
“Oh, that’s so lucky that you landed a literary agent!” they say. Or, “You’re so lucky you got a book contract!” Or even, “How lucky that freelance writing client found you!”
But the truth is, only a tiny sliver of what you achieve is based on luck. The rest is hard work. You get “lucky” when you work hard to put pieces in place so opportunities come to you, and when you work hard to build a network that wants to help you succeed. In many ways, each of us makes our own luck.
And lucky for us (pun intended), there’s a relatively new and super effective way to make our own luck: social media.
Social media allows us to access people who otherwise probably wouldn’t give us the time of day… to catch the eye of influential folks who will help us meet our goals.
Through Twitter, I made a new friend who eventually put me in touch with my literary agent (Rachelle!), I landed an interview with a hiring manager who’d previously never heard of me, and connected with a writer who included me on Problogger’s list of 20 Bloggers to Watch in 2012. Had I not harnessed the power of my online networks, I wouldn’t have any of that “luck” today.
So how do you use social media to make your own luck? A few tips:
1. Make yourself interesting.
If you want people to be drawn to you, you have to offer them something. Unless you’re hilarious, witty or otherwise entertaining, your best bet is probably to provide value, usually in the form of links. Read a helpful book about how to write a book proposal? Share the link! Discover a blog other writers would die to know about? Point them toward it! Start using a digital tool that’s changed your life? Tell the rest of us! Providing value is the shortest route to success whether you’re tweeting, blogging or interacting in a forum.
2. Tag, tag, tag.
You can praise someone all you want on Twitter and Facebook, but that person may never notice your updates if you don’t tag them. So use Facebook’s and Twitter’s @feature as much as possible! If you’re telling your friends or followers about a fabulous book you read, go that extra mile and look up the author’s Twitter handle or Facebook page – and tag them in your update. This trick alone will do wonders for your network.
3. Make it a habit.
Don’t just log onto social media when you feel like you have to. Instead, incorporate it into your daily routine. Whenever you meet someone new, look them up on your network of choice, whether that’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. When you learn something or read something or see something that resonates with you, share it with your friends and followers. Try tools like Rapportive, a Gmail plug-in that makes it easy to connect socially with anyone who emails you. If you really want to make your own luck, you’ve got to be consistent.
4. Don’t feel like you have to be everywhere.
With new social networks popping up everyday – Pinterest and Google+, anyone? – we feel more pressure than ever to be on them all. But don’t fall into the trap of trying to be everywhere – because you will fail. You’ll spread yourself too thin and feel like a failure. And if you try to be everywhere, you’ll likely do a good job nowhere.
Rather than succumbing to this pressure, choose two or three networks that work for you – I like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but your list could also include, say, Goodreads – and do an awesome job building your network there. When those tools help you get “lucky,” you’ll be glad you left the other networks behind.
What’s your favorite social network, and what’s the best thing that has happened to you because of it?
###
Alexis Grant is a journalist and social media strategist who’s offering a new online course about how to use social media to Make Your Own Luck. If you feel like you’re not getting the most out of your social networks, now’s the time to sign up!
If you're new to publishing, please start here: How To Get Published.
You may also want to watch this 14-minute video: Advice for New Authors.
My Twitter name is @RachelleGardner.
My passion is partnering with authors to bring worthwhile books to publication. I started this blog as a way to create a community of writers, both published and seeking publication. I write about a wide variety of topics of interest to writers, and I consider the reader comments even more important than my own posts.
Click photo for my full bio.
This website has been awarded a Best Writing Website.
Sponsored by Writer's Digest, Writer's Market,
Writer's Digest University & Writer's Digest Shop.
There is plenty of information available on both traditional and self-publishing. But how do you know which path is right for you? How Do I Decide? is a concise, definitive resource that will guide you through the decision, allowing you to ignore the hype and focus on the right path for YOU. Click here to learn more.
Pingback: Too Much Social Media? Is There Such A Thing? « Writes By Moonlight
Pingback: Can Social Media HELP Chronic Depression? | Socnetus - Social Networking Users
Pingback: Luck & Hard Work «