GUEST BLOGGER AMBER STOKES: 5 Tips for Spreading the Word and Surviving in the Online World (and Giveaway!!)

Julie here, and I have to tell you that I have a soft spot for today's guest because she made me grin BIG TIME the first time we ever met online. Most of you know and love Amber Stokes, either from Seekerville or in the blogging world, but my introduction to Amber was a story I will treasure forever.

You see, Amber was about 17 years old when she left a comment on a blog interview of mine, telling me how much she loved A Passion Most Pure, except for one major problem she had with it ...

Apparently she could only read it when her parents took her to Borders, where she would sit in a chair and read a Borders copy till she had to go home. I still remember Keith and I laughing over this because we thought it was adorable. We promptly nicknamed her "Borders Girl," and a very special friendship was born. Well now, Amber is all grown up and as resourceful as ever, so allow me to introduce you to a very savvy young lady named Amber Stokes, AKA Borders Girl!

“5 Tips for Spreading the Word and Surviving  in the Online World”

by Amber Stokes

This is the “spring” season – maybe it isn’t out in Nature quite yet, but it is for my business! Last May I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree, a passion for books, and a plan for the immediate future: to go home and be with my family. A few months later I started a freelance editing business by obtaining a business license, creating a website…the whole shebang. So this business-thing is still relatively new to me, and I’m still waiting to see how it might blossom and what might come of it. But in the last four months or so I’ve learned a bit about the difference between my initial dreams and the reality of running a business.

How could those lessons help you, though? Some of you *might* be small-business owners. But I’m pretty sure the majority of you are writers, right? (I’ll raise my hand with that lot, as well!) Well, as I’m sure you’ve either been told or learned for yourself, the Internet has changed the name of the publishing game. Whether you have an online business selling your services, or whether you’re in the business of selling your books by spreading the word online, here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Friends ~ Friends are so important! And by “friends” I’m not talking about the number of people who follow you on Twitter or the number of people who “like” your Facebook page or the number of followers you have on your blog. The numbers do have their place, for sure! But numbers aren’t going to fall in love with your stories or recommend you to their friends or encourage you to keep the vision alive.

Make relationships. Interact with the people who comment on your blog. Retweet others on Twitter. Connect with people who have similar interests. The paradoxical thing about this tip is that you shouldn’t follow it just because it will help your business or your books. Follow it because friendship is a gift. Building true relationships takes time, but it is a joyful circle of blessing others and being blessed, and it’s worth the investments you have to make. And when you find yourself in that beginning season of planting, the friends that share your passion can help you with preparing the soil (the nitty-gritty details of creating a website or putting together a newsletter or figuring out how to use Twitter, etc.) and scattering the seed (spreading the word about your services or writing endorsements or inviting you to write a guest post – thanks Julie and the rest of Seekerville for this!).

2. Freebies ~ Ah, freebies. I’m not really in a position to say whether the free Kindle e-books actually boost sales for an author or not. I can cite a couple of personal examples where a free or cheap e-book gave me the practically risk-free opportunity to sample an author’s work – and I became a big fan. (Clockwise by Elle Strauss, which is still free for Kindle, and The Language of Souls by Lena Goldfinch, which I got for $.99 but is currently $2.99.)

But what about other “freebies”? Investment is a part of the game – the whole “you’ve got to give something to get something” sort of idea. Buying a business license, having a fictitious business name printed in the newspaper, purchasing a domain name and website hosting…just getting a business started has its own set of expenses. For the author, he/she might have to pay for a website designer or contest submissions or a freelance editor (yes, I had to go there!), etc. But then you’ve got to keep investing money and time. For me, so far that’s included doing a giveaway of one of my editing packages, taking the time to write up guest posts, beta reading for an author (I confess that was more because I love her work – but now she’s endorsed me, helped me spread the word, and given me great suggestions about sprucing up my website!), etc. And I imagine I might need to keep doing more of the same to let people know who I am and whether or not I’m any good at what I do.

3. Flexibility ~ I know you’ve got to be careful about this one. Each author has his or her own voice and his or her own interests. Breaking your standards or selling your soul shouldn’t be necessary in order to be published. (There are so many publishing options nowadays!) At the same time, if you want to actually sell your books or your services, you have to consider things from the reader’s or client’s perspective.

An author friend of mine recently asked me if I’d like her to share some suggestions for me regarding my editing website. What she had to say was super helpful, even though it took a few subsequent e-mails to find the right balance between my “image” and a clearer to understand/prettier to look at website. I realized that I had to be willing to be flexible – there was a right balance somewhere in there, and if I wanted people to understand what services I’m offering and to be able to use my website easily, I had to make some changes. I love how my website looks now, and I’m very grateful to that author for speaking up and helping me to see what wasn’t working! I imagine that as time goes by and the online world continues to change, I’m going to have to keep being willing to change, as well (as long as I’m not compromising who I am!).

4. Fighting Spirit ~ I’m not really a physical person. I was the one who got on the elementary school basketball team because our school was so small that we didn’t have tryouts. And I was also the one who would duck whenever the basketball came too close to my head. Interestingly enough, I have a black belt in Jujitsu. I basically contribute this to two things (three if you count the fact that my parents paid for my lessons and encouraged me to keep going!): the age in my life when I realized that I was one of the few girls in a place full of guys, and the desire to not give up after investing so much of my life into those classes.

The latter reason is what authors and small-business owners need when times get tough. (Too bad there aren’t also lots of single men in this business to give us females some motivation, as well, LOL!) I’ve invested enough financially, time-wise, and from the heart to want to keep fighting for my business. You and I know that times are tough now. It’s hard to get noticed among all the voices clamoring for attention. It’s hard to get people to purchase something from you when hardly anybody has a lot of extra cash lying around. It’s hard to sit down and actually write, or edit, or whatever it is you need to do. So you’ve got to want it bad enough to fight for it – and then you’ve got to fight.

5. Faith ~ What if your fighting spirit isn’t enough? What if the freebies and the help of friends and the flexibility don’t cut it? It can be hard to imagine what life would look like beyond our own current dreams. We might not be at the place to know what’s coming down the road, and we can’t make choices now that we won’t know about until later on. But what if, someday, the time comes when you realize that the plans you’ve been making aren’t the right plans for right now?

These are questions I have to ponder myself. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about starting a business, it’s that the process involves a lot of waiting and a lot of investment. I haven’t really seen any little green shoots poke their heads out of the soil. I keep watering and waiting and watering and waiting – and what if this business doesn’t take off the way I want it to?

I’ve got to keep moving forward one step at a time. And I’ve got to cling to the faith that there is more beyond me and more beyond this business. I know God can bring something good out of it, but I want to trust that, when all is said and done, God will provide. He will provide a purpose for my heart, a place where I can live for Him, and the power I need to follow Him.

Conclusion: Whether you’re an author or a small-business owner, I offer these tips to you from this early season of my own experience: make friends, be willing to invest and to make changes when necessary, fight hard for your goals, and ultimately, find rest in perspective. 

GIVEAWAY:
What season of your “business” are you in right now? What have you learned about spreading the word and surviving in this crazy online world? Leave a comment and we'll toss your name in the hat for a $10 Amazon.com gift card. 

ABOUT AMBER:

Amber Stokes has a Bachelor of Science Degree in English, and she loves to write poetry, short stories, novels, and blog posts. After her brief time at college in Oregon, she is now back home among the redwoods of Northern California, living life one day at a time and longing to follow God, wherever He leads her! She has recently started a freelance editing business –  Editing Through the Seasons – and she is currently offering a special discount on proofreading services for those who are getting ready to self-publish their books.

You can find Amber on Mondays at The Borrowed Book blog, and all the time at her personal blog, Seasons of Humility.