The Next Step for Influencers
Social media is a double-edged sword in that it’s easy to access opportunity, but hard to make the most of it. Platforms like YouTube and Instagram tend to be free, which means that they are flooded with people who want to be noticed.
In order to rise above the din of social media, and even general blogging, successful influencers work day in and day out to create content that’s unique, high-quality, and consistent. They develop connections with one audience member after another, gaining trust in order to see engagement with their posts (and subsequently their follower accounts) grow to significance.
Don’t let the punchy Twitter one-liners and the carefree Instagram photos fool you, becoming a successful influencer online takes work.
With all of the energy and determination they pour into their digital brands, it makes sense for influencers to plan for next moves as their online presences thrive. For example, a printed book may seem like a step back in time for the fast-paced social media world, but it’s important to remember that books are credibility-builders.
If you take the time to summarize your knowledge, sit down with an editor and polish until your text shines, then create a physical representation of your brand for audience members to enjoy — it sends a message that you’re serious about what you know and confident enough to release it in a form that can’t easily be edited or taken back. If you’re a social media pro with a wealth of knowledge, it might be time to solidify your expertise in ink.
Bloggers.
Perhaps the easiest transition from online content to book-writing is for bloggers. Whether you cover food, lifestyle trends, current events, or any number of other topics, you have an established voice and are accustomed to doing a lot of writing on a regular basis.
If a book seems like an inordinate amount of work on top of what you’re already providing monthly or even weekly, keep in mind that the blog content you produce can be compiled into a book. We’ve written before about the opportunity for authors to break their content into enough blog posts to last a year. With the help of an experienced editor, bloggers can reverse-engineer that method to create a book from blog posts they’ve already written.
Vloggers.
Successful vloggers are strong speakers who use their voices to provide resources or content to their niche markets, and do so in a creative and personable way. Whether or not they’re strong writers, their polished storytelling skills make vloggers the perfect candidates for a service that transforms their ideas and thoughts into a book manuscript.
Here at Greenleaf, for example, we offer what’s called a Spoken Draft service. Through a series of interviews, an editor works with the author to define the promise, theme, audience, and market differentiation of their book, then to create an outline and record a verbal first draft.
Once a draft is completed, the editor takes the manuscript through a developmental edit, a copy edit, and a proofread, alleviating many of the writing stressors that come with writing a book, especially for busy entrepreneurs with full day-to-day schedules.
Podcasters.
Podcast hosts, much like vloggers, find their success in their ability to tell compelling stories. Whether they’re hosting business leaders as guests or diving into the mire of an unsolved mystery, podcasters spend a great deal of prep time writing questions and crafting talking points that contribute to the narrative of the episode, or even the narrative of the whole show.
Once a podcast runs its designed course or has enough episodes that overlap in their takeaways, podcasters too, can easily compile the content they’ve written for each episode into a book that encapsulates the point of the show. That might look like a Spoken Draft service, or simply “guided work” with an editor to flesh out show notes into chapters. Whatever the writing process, dedicated fans of a podcast will be eager to read the thoughts and findings of its host.
Instagrammers.
Instagram-savvy influencers know that crafting the perfect photo with a witty or inspirational caption that emulates your brand is a job in itself, and a competitive one. If you’re a longtime player in the Instagram game, you likely already have thousands of captions that detail your brand message, with perfectly filtered photos to match.
Much like bloggers can compile their posts, Instagram experts can turn their small pieces of storytelling into cohesive books that educate and delight audiences. Even in the lightning-fast world of social media, books are a hot topic of conversation and are a great way to give yourself credibility — and another photo op ;)
Ready to write your book? Email authors@wellspirtcollective.com to learn more!
Photos: Spencer Selover, Jeff Sheldon, Kate Oseen, Daniel Lincoln, Dazzle Jam
Words:
Kesley Smith is the Corporate Communications and Business Development Manager of Greenleaf Book Group, Urban Wellness Mag’s partner in a new health and wellness publishing imprint, Well Spirit Press.
She holds a Masters degree in business and is an avid all seasons outdoor enthusiast enjoying wakeboarding, wake surfing, snowboarding and skiing. Connect with her online @GreenleafBookGr and @wellspiritpress, or on her personal Instagram, @kesleysmith.