There’s the easy way and
there’s the newbie way.
If you are thinking about building toward your platform
then you need to read on and avoid my mistakes and wasted hours. Firstly, what is an author's platform? I think Jane Friedman sums it up perfectly in this blog. A platform is who you will become; A proven authority making an impact to your target audience.
A platform, like Rome, is not built in a day but the cornerstone of your future self starts here and now.
A platform, like Rome, is not built in a day but the cornerstone of your future self starts here and now.
Pick your domain name
Picking your blog name is without doubt the
hardest part of the process. Unless you are very fortunate, you will have to
work hard to find a name to fulfill all of the naming criteria.
· Keep it simple and easy
to remember.
My first idea was “the writer, the runner, and
the psychic wife” but it is not memorable and sounds like the first line of a
joke.
· Ensure the domain is
available.
You can check by trying to go to the domain or
at Go Daddy.
· Check the name out on
Blogger or WordPress
Be aware to redirect Blogger to your domain is
free, but you have to upgrade at Wordpress. I selected Blogger.
· Ensure the name is
available on Twitter.
· Ensure you can use the
name elsewhere
Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr etc. I had a mix bag
of luck but was able to fall back to adding “blog” to the end.
· Make a good note of your
many new passwords
I may have forgotten one or two.
I ignored the Google ad-word stats testing, not
because I think it is wrong, it is sounded like excellent advice, but because
when I finally filled my criteria I was exhausted and I didn't want my domain
taken away by good advice.
Buy Your Domain Names
This part is actually very easy and inexpensive
($12 a year) with Go-Daddy. Check out the cost packages, I found a 12-month
with auto renew was the cheapest (per month).
Select your Blog Host
& Theme
There are all kinds of interesting tools out
there but I used Google Blogger. I felt I had more control and options
and the statistics are cool. I’m also sure Google will help you get to top of
their searches.
For the theme, I got a photo of myself and I got
a header\banner photo my daughter took of Bowen Island and I used them on all
platforms – instantly I had a theme.
Twitter & Facebook …
etc.
·
Create a
Twitter account using the same pictures & link to domain
· Create a
Facebook page using the same pictures & link to domain—keep it separate
from your personal Facebook page.
·
Create
Wordpress, Pinterest, Disqus, and Tumblr so you can leave comments
Make it look good
I tweaked and played for hours, moving gadgets
around (which are very easy to manage.) I found one down side to Blogger is you
can only use the layout on the home page, so I felt it was a bit busy.
Add a blog
Following advice from Daily Blog Tip, I did the
following:
· Make it for my audience
NOT you.
· Make it concise and
clear
· Add a pretty picture
· Share it with your other
platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest & Tumblr)
Make a video to support
this blog
Everyone loves a good video. I made a welcome
video and my advice is:
· Write script &
practice before turning the camera on
· Ensure anyone watching the
video leaves with something:
·
A gift
·
A reason to come back
·
A piece of education
· Smile but don’t freak
anyone out
· Lose the Wolverhampton
accent
I did none of the above which is why there is no
welcome video on my blog.
What next
Now I am going to reach out to the world. I am
going to read blogs and leave what I hope are stimulating comments or tweets
and I am going to follow interesting people. Make the font size 13pt.
I'd love to hear what the best advice
you ever got when first setting up your platform?
My newbie mistakes:
· I took hours making a
web site and deleted it
· I took hours making
Wordpress blog and stopped using it
· I made a Facebook page
linked to my personal page and deleted it
· I forgot some of the
many passwords
· I wrote a brilliant,
insightful, and tremendously witty comment on another blog, but I forgot my
Wordpress password and lost the comment.
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