Web Advice from the 2010 Philadelphia Writers' Conference

I just attended the 2010 Philadelphia Writers' Conference, and I must say it exceeded my expectations in every respect. The conference answered the very questions I was asking. The real surprise for me was that this was not in any way, shape or form a painful process. I'm used to engineering conferences. To say that an engineering conference can be a bit dry is like saying the Indian Ocean can be a bit damp. When you find an informative speaker who can grab your attention and hold it in the palm of his or her hand for the duration of the talk, that moment is generally the highlight of the conference—if it even happens.

To go to a conference where every speaker drew my full attention—dare I use the word entertain? I fear I must. This conference was wildly entertaining, and just as informative.

A good percentage of the conference was dedicated to helping aspiring authors promote themselves and their writings. I was particularity struck by the fact that all the speakers who approached the subject had essentially the same mantra: You need a web site, a blog, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account.

None of that came as a surprise to me, but the fact that the speakers had pretty much stolen my sales pitch did come as a surprise. I expected perhaps a 50/50 split between classical approaches and more modern methods.

Instead, just about everyone was adamant that the Internet was an absolutely necessary tool for every author if they wanted to succeed. This is how you can interact with your readers, and catch the attention of agents, editors, and publishers. Your potential fan base is using the Internet to manage their lives. That's where you can reach them. At the same time, this demonstrates to agents, editors and publishers how well you can present your work, and if you can reach people.

How does this affect you if you're not a writer? The business aspects of writing are no different than any other business. You must attract people who will consume the fruits of your labors. You've got to build trust with them. You've got to give them enough information about yourself that they can decide they need what you provide. In an age where the most precious commodity is time, you've got to make yourself available to your customers on their terms.

What are their terms? They expect you to have a website, so they can research your product at a time that is convenient to them. A web site that includes or links to a web log—or blog—gives them even more information. A well kept blog is a sign of an active, aggressive business. More importantly, your customer will sense that you are taking extra steps to keep them informed. When you inform them, you are empowering them to make a decision—the decision to buy your product.

Hand in hand with this concept is the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. More and more people are using these sites to organize the communication they have with their friends. To a great extent, they are organizing their lives on these sites. When they go out, where they go out, what they buy and what they do is strongly influenced by the information they find on social networking sites.

Think about it. Mary and Bob are married, and both work. Mary checks her Facebook or Twitter account on her lunch hour (or more commonly today, lunch half-hour) and sees a message from Bob. “Hey Sweetheart, want to go out for dinner tonight?” Right above or below that message, there's a message from their favorite restaurant with the specials for tonight. She clicks the link, heads to their website, and checks out the rest of the menu.

She's already picking out what she's going to have, let alone where she's going to go.

The key to any marketing is putting yourself in front of the customer at the moment the customer is making his or her decision. The internet gives every business that ability.

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