A captive audience.
That’s what you need if you want you want to build your reputation as a writer. Having a loyal audience will make your life easier. You will have better opportunities to earn a living as a writer. You will also have it easier when you publish an ebook or two for sale. An amenable audience is one that will spend money on your products.
Social blogging platforms are the best. They usually have members who are ready to consume good quality content. Your only responsibility is to use the available tools on such platforms to attract your target audience.
So, what are your options? What writing platforms are available for your use?
1. Wattpad
Wattpad prides itself as the ultimate place to read and share stories. No one could argue with that. After all, Wattpad has 40 million active account users, all of whom are your potential readers.
Wattpad is free to use, which makes it a very affordable marketing tool if your budget is limited. All you have to do is create an account using your email and a password of your choosing. You can also join Wattpad using your existing Facebook account if you would rather.
As a writer, you have the freedom to write content regardless of genre. There are millions of people who would read what you have to offer. Your readers can access the platform via their computers as well as mobile devices. The platform also has an inline commenting feature that allows people to interact with your stories as they read. What more could you ask for as a writer?
2. Medium
Medium is another platform for writers that you should explore if you are looking to create a captive audience. This platform provides you with a chance to run a semi-autonomous blog while still keeping you connected to other Medium uses.
With Medium, you can post your content and observe how people react to it. Your Medium dashboard will provide you with statistics of number of reads, views, and recommendations. These numbers will help you determine what kind of content is popular and what isn’t. You can then use that knowledge to refine your writing until it is worthy of purchase.
Other features that make Medium a great platform for writers like you include share buttons, footnote and recommendation capabilities, the ability to bookmark an interesting post as well as the ability to write a response post. It’s also worth noting that you can make use of third party platforms like YouTube, Kickstarter, and Instagram among others, to enhance your content value on Medium.
Medium is estimated to have about 25 million users. These are great numbers to have at your disposal when you are looking to build an audience in order to enhance your writing career.
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the social networking site for professionals. If you are a writer looking to impress all the right stakeholders, you cannot afford to ignore LinkedIn. The 414 million or so active users on this platform are nothing to joke about either.
LinkedIn not only allows you to post your resume and establish professional connections, but it also provides you with tools to post useful content on a regular basis. Use the chance provided by this platform to show off your writing capabilities. You never know, it may just be the ticket you need to attract high-end clients or the agent of your dreams.
The basic LinkedIn account is free. This means that you can get access to professionals you would like to follow or connect with, even when your promotion budget is nil. What more could you ask for?
4. Facebook
Facebook seems like such an unlikely place for writers to be in, but it isn’t. The social media platform is the largest in the world. It has at least 1.55 billion active users, which accounts for about 20% or thereabouts of the global population!
Are you sure you want to ignore that kind of marketing potential?
Ensure that you create a Facebook account separate from your personal one. Create interesting content that can be read in bite-sized chunks. Post several times a week and invite everyone on your network to take a look. Interact with your audience via the comment section. Before long, you will have that captive audience you are looking for.
It becomes very easy after that to create an ebook and sell it to your loyal audience. One such success story is the photographer Brandon Stanton, the owner of Humans of New York Facebook account.
The social media blog on Facebook has over 17 million followers, a number of whom have bought his published books after viewing the author’s street photographic series and reading his subjects’ interviews. What’s stopping you from becoming an authority in your chosen industry?
The sky is the limit, even when you have no marketing budget as a writer. All you have to do is use the readily available blogging platforms with in-built social networks and you will be ready to go. So why not get started today? How much cheaper can you get after free?
Ellie Matama is a Kenyan-based freelance writer. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, watching cooking shows, and fantasizing about global travels. you can reach her via LinkedIn.
