For all the creatives who just want to keep things simple, I've written this blog for you. Those who succeed as an author, are those who got creative in how they were going to succeed.

If you want to get more technical. Read:

https://carincamen.com/blogs/cctraining/2022-technology-in-action

In 2020 I had grown my Twitter and IG to 40k, 20k each. With one push of the button it all went poof. Several years of work gone in a flash. I was tired, exhausted, and discouraged. In June 2021 I decided to come back to Twitter, because I knew it was the fastest platform to grow. The rules had changed drastically. I was stuck at 5k for several months, before I hired a Twitter coach. I'll talk more about him later.

Social media marketing has a lot of unknowns. A lot of things are out of our control. But what is in our control is our daily activity. Consistent daily action produces results... period. These results can be positive or negative. They key is to make sure your daily actions are based upon data, which indicate you'll get positive results.

It's All About Results

Between writing, working, and taking care of family; authors have a heavy workload. You need tips and tricks which you can implement. Just like we set daily writing goals, we need to set daily Twitter activity goals. The secret though, is by implementing technology to help you with those goals. 

The following is an analysis of my Twitter Page. 

• https://author.to/Twitter_CarinCamen

January Results

For all of you who have hit the 5k followers mark and then stalled. You're not alone. I was there for two months.

After being stuck at 5k, I decided to hire a Twitter coach. I hired M Lemont, who is the author of How to Gain 100k Twitter followers. I had used his book to build my 40k followers before. I knew I could do it again. But Twitter had changed the rules and I needed help to navigate. The next two months you'll see the results of this coaching. The top three things he had me work on.

1. Tweet more
2. Follow More
3. Retweet More

Sounds pretty simple right? I soon found out how wrong that assumption was when I began to hit road blocks.  So before you close out of this blog, I recommend you read on.

All three things were in my control. My consistency in doing them was in my control. If I succeeded or failed, it would be due to my self-discipline. Well... Mr. LeMont soon found out I was a very self-disciplined person.

February Results:

Tweets: 401.952% increase Tweets are always in your control. They drive the other increases.

Profile Visits: 185.366% increase Tweets cause interest to look further.

New Followers: 527.273% increase Tweets help users to choose if they want to see more of what you share.

March Action Plan

March Results:

Tweets: 2.11755% decrease 

• I tested with quality over quantity.
• I began scheduling tweets 24/7 so I could reach different time zones.
• I tested different writing and design styles.

Profile Visits: 57.4359% increase 

• I began testing different pinned tweets.
• I added threads.
• I started testing Moments feature.
• I became a Twitter Blue member so I could bookmark to folders.

New Followers: 125.604% increase 

• I increased my comments.
• I was retweeting pinned tweets.
• I daily was introducing myself to new people and following.

Twitter Analytics Results

Highlighting the top engagement rate day. 

Highlighting the day with the most likes. 

Highlighting the day I received the most likes.

Highlighting the day I received the most retweets.

Highlighting the day Twitter says I received the most link clicks. 

 Twitter's analytics on clicks is not accurate, due to what is called Dark Social. This is where someone will grab a link to a tweet and share it on other platforms, emails, and chats. Twitter doesn't have a way to monitor this activity. This is why I use GenuisLinks.

Now that I've got your attention, let's talk about how to use technology to make your life easier, and give you more time to write.

Getting Creative With Technology

Whether you are technology savvy or not, there are tools which you can easily set up. Technology has come a long way to ensure their products can be quickly set up by the average user.

Top Six Technology Essential To Every Author

1.  https://geniuslink.com/
1. This is a vanity link tracker. It allows you to determine if your marketing is productive by monitoring how many clicks you're receiving.
2. https://author.to/CCSmarterQueue
1. Posting content involves live and scheduled. If you are an author, utilize the writing you have to give a preview. 
2. No one wants to be blasted with our book ads. Create content that will benefit the user, stimulate thought and conversation, or entertain.
3.  https://unfollowerstats.com/
1. It's all about finding your target audience. A large number of followers mean nothing, if they are not interested in your writing.
2. We all despise the follow/unfollow game that some social media platforms play. But, the reality is that Twitter will stop you from following back or following interesting accounts if your following/follower ratio is off. 
3. Unfollowerstats also helps to catch those followers who slipped by your notifications, that you may want to follow back.
4. Twitter makes the rules, we just have to work with them. If you're being held back, you have to let go of those who are holding you back. They are not your target audience.
4. https://ifttt.com/ 
1. This is a bot app. Yes, there are good bots and bad bots. Are you a blogger? IFTTT can automatically post your blog to Twitter and other social media platforms. This saves you time.
2. It's an easy If this... Then That.
5. https://author.to/AmazonCarinCamen 
1. Do you have an Amazon Author Page?
2. Is your blog being posted on your page? 
3. Using your Amazon Author page is free advertising.
6. https://author.to/Goodreads_CarinCamen
1. Have you set up your Goodreads Author page?
2. Are you sharing what books you're reading?
3. Are you sharing what books you've reviewed?

Revealing The Truth Of How Well You Are Doing

While Twitter analytics is still very nice, let's dive deeper and see how it compares with Genuislinks. Twitter stated I only received 174 clicks. But based on GenuisLink tracking I can see that my total clicks were 3.5k with a 382% increase over February. By having vanity links, you can track what is called Dark Social. This is where people are sharing your links through copy and paste.

I can also see where in the world the clicks are coming from. Because I implemented 24/7 tweets through my SmarterQueue scheduler, I was reaching countries while I was asleep. I'm in the US, but Germany and Canada are my top two countries which enjoy my writing. The US comes in third. Knowing my books have been read by an international audience, is important to know. Knowing this will help me determine if I need to change up my tweets in the different time zones to make sure I am resonating with this audience.

GenuisLinks also lets me know where my audience is coming from as well as if I am increasing from this referrer. The referrer "None" is the Dark Social. This shows me that 1.5k tweets were shared elsewhere through copying the link and sharing it off twitter. T.co is Twitter. Which is still higher than what Twitter analytics is showing. My website referrals were done, mainly because I had neglected to update it with a new thirty-day motivational challenge. This is something I will need to rectify.

My top performing book was Define and Align. The link click increases corresponds with the dates I was tweeting about this book. 

Digging into how my book was being shared shows me that Twitter was my highest referrer. Dark Social came in second. This is beneficial in letting me know that the marketing I am doing on Twitter is gaining interest.

Results Driven Action

I use my STEPS to Success Program for setting all my goals. As authors, we break down our books into chapters, pages, words. By focusing on the small tasks, we don't get overwhelmed by the large task. 

March Activities:

• Comments: 306
• Retweets: 345
• Follows: 4607
• Unfollows: 2602 
• When Twitter blocks me from following, I have no choice but to unfollow those who have shown they are not interested in my writing. I don't like the rules, but I have to work with them. I may be interested in what they share. But I can put them into my lists or bookmark their pinned tweet into my folder to check in on them. I don't need to boost their numbers, I don't expect anyone to boost mine.
• Total Activity: 7984 = 257/day = 10/hr on a 24 hour timeline.
• Of course I'm not on twitter 24/7, so I need to apply automation. I use SmarterQueue scheduler and IFTTT to keep working while I'm sleeping.

Creating A Page Which Stimulates Interest

Based upon the data I have gathered and the correlation with my activity these are my goals for second quarter. I used the last couple of days in March to set myself up for a successful second quarter.

1. Created a new banner image.
2. Adjusted my name so I pull up in search for writer, reader, author.
3. Utilized these hashtags in my bio to help being pulled up in search of these terms.
4. Added emoji's for visual stimulation.
5. Clarified my three hashtags of what I use to share my followers work.
6. Updated my website with with a current The Ember Within Motivational Challenge.
7. Updated my navigation to take people who want to purchase my books to Amazon using GenuisLink tracking.

Regardless of what we do professionally, we all have found success in our lives. Step back and reflect on what you do professionally and personally that has helped you achieved your success. Then apply those things to your writing business. We are all passionate about our writing, but we also are all critical of it. It is the combination which benefits the reader. 

Tips On What To Avoid Doing

Because I am actively looking at different accounts and using a heavy vetting criteria, these are some tips to help you improve your appealability to finding your target audience.

1. The Window Display
1. Create an interesting banner and bio.
2. Be Re-tweetable
1. Use a pinned tweet which will show your writing, but is interesting to retweet.
2. We get it. Everyone wants to promote their books. But, do you know how boring a page gets when that's all there is to read?
3. Is your tweet stimulating interest to click on your profile picture and learn more about you?
4. Is your pinned tweet old? You may have a lot of likes and tweets, but if your pinned tweet is several years old, you've just shown your page content is dated.
5. If you want to have people come to your page to learn more about what you write, then keep your pinned tweet interesting. 
6. Get creative. You have books filled with amazing writing. Get creative with how you share them.
3. Creativity and Consistency
1. People come to your page to learn about you. 
2. Their time is limited. If they have to endlessly scroll through dozens of retweets, you'll quickly loose their interest. You'll get a one and done.
3. Are your tweets interesting enough to draw people back for more? This is the same methods we use in our writing. We want our books to be so interesting they come back to buy another one. The same thing applies with your tweets.
4. So What? What's in it for me?
1. That's the question most of us ask. Remember, it goes back to having two products. Your books and yourself. 
2. You are what sells your books. 
3. What are you doing to help your reader's lives? 
5. Are you searchable?
1. When was the last time you searched for yourself, without using your name?
2. Are you miss using hashtags, which will cause you to get muted or blocked?
3. How is a random Twitter user going to find you?
6. Are you a beggar or a professional?
1. Begging for followers may get you numbers, but it will not get you in front of your target audience.
2. Consistent habit of this practice will do the opposite and get you blocked or muted.
7. Quick Tweet Tips
1. Tweet an interesting line from your book.
2. Tweet a motivational quote.
3. Tweet a photo of what you imagine one of your settings in your books looks like.
4. Create a Pinterest board which shares what your world looks like in your mind and share images you've saved.
    https://author.to/Pinterest_CarinCamen
5. Quote Retweet of how something you've seen inspired you.

Need Help? You have options!

1. Feel like you just need a bit of guidance?
   You've got one. I recommend you begin by following 
   https://twitter.com/MisterSalesman. I'm very self-disciplined, but Mr. LeMont helps to fine tune and guide me through avoiding the Twitter traps which can set me back. He shares what he has implemented and learned. 
2. If you feel discouraged, you should hear his story of how he built up his Twitter account and then had to rebuild it when Twitter began the purge.
   
   
3. Want to take your business to the next level? 
   If you are wanting to take your business to the next level, you have to begin with your mindset. The Ember Within Series is where you'll find my STEPS to Success Program. In these workbooks I take you step by step through the same process I use to get the results I have shown you. https://author.to/TheEmberWithinSeries
   
   
4. Need help with technology integration? 
   Whether you are an individual or business. I can help train you with the technology which will take you to the next level. You can find my portfolio here. https://author.to/carincamenconsulting

If you found what I have shared helpful, please share it with others. See you on Twitter. Click those social media share buttons below.