Ok, I don't think Facebook is a good marketing tool. Here is my experience...

I can honestly say I have been an addict of Facebook since I first started it in 2005.  But that has been because it revolves around my personal life.  My friends, my connections, my likes.  In regards to a professional use, I am not sure it is working for me.  Here is why.

The Facebook page was my original focus.  I figured it would be the brain of my marketing.  Type in the search engine: boom, you have all the Louisiana bridal shops in the area.  Need contact information: boom, check the About section.  Want to create an ad: boom, click here, input Visa card number and: boom, you have an ad.  Yeah, not quite.

Now, before I rip it, let me give it some props.  I did discover a Louisiana Bride blogger who reviewed my book.  We both communicated with great ease over their messaging service.  It was nice to reach out and touch someone who is just as obsessed with their Facebook accounts as I am.  That worked out awesomely and I am indebted to her for her completely unbiased review.

But...I wasn't looking for a Louisiana Bride blog, I was seeking Louisiana Bridal shops, magazines, retail locations.  The search engine on Facebook pulled up little.  Facebook search is no Google search.  Facebook only pulls what we put into it.  If you don't know it is New Orleans Louisiana Bride, then it doesn't pull it up.

When you do know the retail store's name you are looking for, it can be great.  There is the store, there are their hours.  But what about reaching out and touching them?  If I send them a message, will they read it?  Well, as obsessed Facebook fans know, you can tell when someone has viewed a message.  Not one of the messages I sent over Facebook to a retail location was read.  That tells me something too: are these companies really using their Facebook accounts or is their Facebook page like their abandoned 2007 website.  Who knows?

My other issue with Facebook was developing an online ad.  I really thought it would be an ideal ad location because you can narrow your field to exactly who you are looking for: women, Louisiana, over 18, family, etc. - Whatever terms you seek, you can get it pretty close because of the algorithms they developed.  But then, you get to the actual order time and it gets really complicated.  Do I want to pay per click?  Or do I want to pay indefinitely?  WTF?!  Indefinitely?  No.  Per click - how many clicks?   What am I signing up for?  The ambiguity of it all was frightening.  I never did it.  Plus, I heard this:

"GM Says Facebook Ads Don't Work, Pulls $10 Million Account" 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/05/15/gm-says-facebook-ads-dont-work-pulls-10-million-account/

If GM isn't seeing it as a successful avenue, why should I?

And what about my Twitter account?  Oh, please.  That is my own personal abandoned site.  That is the most collasol waste of internet space.  Granted, I think it occasionally grabs a follower, which is great, but I am pretty sure the follower is following me because they want me to follow their page.  I probably should check it more and be more interactive on it, but Twitter bores me.  I do not get it.

So, for today, I have visited the retail locations actual websites and emailed them a communication.  I am curious if I will receive any replies.  All of these shots in the dark will be helpful though when I decide to finally invest in actually SNAIL MAILING these individuals.  It may be the only way I can get through though.  We shall see...

CC


http://www.amazon.com/Proposal-Ever-After-Louisiana-ebook/dp/B008A0UVPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370471596&sr=8-1&keywords=from+the+proposal+to+ever+after

Author Central Profile Developed

Phew.  That took some mindjuice...

When I originally posted my book on Kindle, I waited to work out the kinks before developing the hardcopy version on CreateSpace, another Amazon publisher.  Once I had completed that, it asked me if I wanted to develop a Kindle page.  Well, no, I already have one.  I simply declined that option.

Once CreateSpace approved my book (i.e. not porn), they started posting the hardcopy version of my book in a separate doo-dad from the Kindle version.  Considering it is difficult to explain, here is a screenshot of what it looks like:

I have to get these two listings together.  So, in the Community section of kdp, I found people mentioned the need for an author page on Author Central.  When you create an Author Central page, the commentor indicated it would essentially meld the two together.

First off, go to authorcentral.amazon.com.  Once there, you need to set up a new account.  Everything should be fairly easy from there.  The only reason I write this post is that I had difficulty bringing in my twitter account and my blog accounts.  I believe the main difficulty with the twitter account was the kinks in the author central site itself.  I mean, what is so difficult about "@FromTheProposal".  It should have simply accepted it, but no.  I had to do it a couple of times.  So, if you have this issue, I am just sayin': don't give up.  Simply keep inputting it until it accepts it.

If you also have a blog, you need to figure out the RSS url, not the blog's URL.  For this, simply visit your blog's help section.  I use Blogger and it was very simple.  The trick was simply visiting "Blogger Help" and then inputting my inquiry, "RSS URL".  From years of trying to figure out Excel, I have learned to simply give up and search the help section.  It always works out that way.

Anywho, here's to hoping that the two listings will meld within the next 24 hours!

Camille

P.S. - Make sure you double-check your author central.  I just did and they had the second listing!

UPDATE: Here is my profile: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008QXS2EY  They still haven't melded the two texts together.  Shit.

Testing the TwitterFeed. I hope this works!!!...Few days later, that did not work well. On the Facebook page, this looked like this:

That sure is boring. I will have to investigate further. Nothing comes easy...