When someone thinks about social media, the most popular platform that comes to mind is Facebook.  Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has swept the social media world with more than 750 million users.  If people were unaware of Facebook, they quickly learned about the social site in 2010 with the release of the successful motion picture, The Social Network.

Initially, a user creates an account at Facebook, and then they invite friends and family members to follow them, allowing them to discuss everything from political opinions to what they are watching on television.  But Facebook is not limited to friends and family.  Many businesses, including writers, join Facebook and set up fan pages to promote and market their works.

As writers, our network of friends expands even more with the inclusion of Facebook’s writing groups with both private and open access.  By definition, one must receive an invitation to join a private group, but the open groups have just as much to offer in regards to community and support.

This year, Google joined the social media market with the launch of Google+.  Much like Facebook, Google+ allows individuals to invite friends to their circles, or lists, and communicate with one another the exact same way as its counterpart.  While still relatively new, Google+ has already reached over 25 million users.

Google+ introduced the “+1” button as seen on websites, blogs, and at the end of provided links on the Google search engine.  This button represents a reader recommendation, similar to the “like” button on Facebook, and is already very influential and continues to engage more and more users.

Continuing with development, Google+ plans to launch a program for businesses in the coming months.  These business accounts will resemble the likes of the Facebook fan page.

Between Facebook and Google+, businesses have the opportunity to grow.  Writing is a business.  Why not utilize these two social media platforms to market and sell our e-books?

The past two weeks, we discussed using Twitter and blogging to help increase the sales of our e-books.  Facebook and Google+ are two additional organic resources at our fingertips.  Organic = Free.

So, what do we do?

Facebook – Join groups, create a writer’s list, invite fellow writers to join, and promote our blogs and e-books.  Remember to promote our fellow writers’ works too.  The best way to increase our followers is to share great content.

A great example of a Facebook writing group with open access is the YASB writing group – the Young Adult Sisters and Brothers is a writing group for authors of the Young Adult (YA) genre.

Google+ – Create a writing circle and join other writer’s circles, search “Sparks” to locate others interested in the same topics, and promote our blogs and e-books.  Again, remember to promote our fellow writers too.

Digital Content Center promotes our clients every month in a Customer Spotlight.  We not only add these spotlights to our blog and our website, but we also tweet the link to our followers on Twitter, plus we post the link showcasing our clients and their work via Facebook.  Once Google+ for businesses is available, Digital Content Center will also promote our Customer Spotlights using that social media platform as well.