Using Pinterest to generate interest in your writing

January 4, 2017December 1, 2017 / kimberleycooperblog / 2 Comments

Hello again! Thanks Sheila, for giving me at http://kimberleycooperblog.wordpress.com the chance to chat with the folks that visit your blog. Nice to meet you all. I’m based in the UK, so please excuse any spellings and expressions you might not be familiar with.

With a bit of writing under my belt now, I’m spending some time looking at different ideas to promote it. You’ve probably come across Pinterest. But you may not have thought of using it to promote your writing. There’s a lot of guidance out there on ideas to do this, so rather than re-invent the wheel, I’ve listed below a couple of sites you might find helpful.

But what I can offer is my experience of what went well, and what made me tear my hair out, in the hope that it helps you.

Converting my private Pinterest account to a business one was easy. There are new terms and conditions to accept, but I couldn’t see any problems for me, or cost involved. A business account gives you analytics, so you can see which of your Pins is getting interest, where those Pinners are from and what else they are interested in. These articles were helpful https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/set-your-business-account and http://www.thesocialcraft.com/social-media-marketing/how-to-convert-your-personal-pinterest-account-to-a-business-account/

Verifying my website on Pinterest gave me a headache. It took about a week of puzzling over this to see what I’d done wrong. One tip – if the website that you want to be verified is on WordPress.com, then the format of this to put into Pinterest is http://yourwebsitename.wordpress.com (eg don’t put www in there). There’s really useful guidance at https://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/

I created more Boards to hopefully get my work in front of a broader range of people. Eg although I have a Writing board that gets quite a lot of interest, some of my newer boards like “10 free things to do on a cruise” which showcases the pictures I’ve taken on holiday, has been reaching (probably) different people. Who knows, they may be interested in paranormal/urban fantasy or sci-fi romance too!

That’s just a quick run-down on how Pinterest is helping me. I’ve only just scratched the surface and it’s already looking promising. If you have any experience of using Pinterest to promote a business (any business), why not mention it in the comments below. And for no other reason than it’s cold and grey in the UK today, here’s a picture of a warmer day, to enjoy.

Zemanta- The easy Way to Share Related Content

April 30, 2016October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 25 Comments

Day 2 6: #AtoZchallenge

Yeah, we made it. Today is the last post of the #AtoZchallenge. It has been a wonderful experience. For the letter – Z– I want to share Zemanta with you.

Zemanta is a browser extension that once installed provides recommended links and photos as related content (posts). It will load automatically as you write, allowing you to click on the specific content you wish to share. Proper credit for the articles and photos are provided by default. Below is an example of a post on Blogging Tips and the related content pulled up by Zemanta.

The content will show at the bottom of your post in either title format:

or thumbnail format based on your preferences in the settings.

This extension saves time and gives increases your authority, promotes, links to other writer’s content and increases networking.

To download the extension, click on this link.

Download the Extension

I hope you will try it out and let me know what you think. Again, it has been my pleasure to participate in the #AtoZChallenge and to have met each one of you. I look forward to a long and engaging relationship in the Cow Pasture.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, and Contently.

Tweet this

April 23, 2016October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 28 Comments

Day 20: #AtoZChallenge

I’m sure you’re familiar with the, “Tweet This,”embedded quotes used on other blog sites. It’s a great way to get readers engaged in the content of your blog and to share it with others.

If you self host, you can use the Tweet This plugin, but these plugins only apply to self-hosted blogs and web sites that use the WordPress.org software.

For those of us on WordPress.com, there is a way around the plugins.

You can use HTML if you’re comfortable dealing with code (more about that here). Or, you could simply go to the website Click to Tweet.

Enter the quote you want shared into the box, click on “generate new link,” and the URL used for the anchor link to your quote will appear.

We’re heading into the last few posts for the #AtoZChallenge. It’s been an exciting and challenging month (no pun intended). When I signed up to do this challenge, I wasn’t certain I could post every day, but I’m a pretty determined woman. So for those of you who who been on this journey with me and see the light at the end of the tunnel, here’s a quote to keep your feet to the fire.

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” -Tommy Lasorda. Via @sheilamgood. Tweet This

What do you think? Like the idea of Click to Tweet?

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, and Contently.

Well, Hells Bells

December 6, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 14 Comments

If you’ve noticed I haven’t been as active in the Cow Pasture the last few weeks and the only excuse I can give you is, it’s been one heck of a month.

October arrived and my muse took a hike. Halloween brought enough candy to put my whole street in a sugar coma. And, right before I spent three straight days cooking a Thanksgiving meal, for twenty plus people, I broke my toe.

I gotta tell you, lugging around a big black orthopedic boot is a pain (no pun intended). It’ll throw your hip outta whack in a skinny minute! Not to mention screw with your holiday attire. There’s just no way to look sexy wearing a one-legged, open-toed, platform, orthopedic, boot.

This time of year brings no rest for the wicked, infirmed, or plain ole’ tired and writing always takes a hit. Whoever decided to have #NaNoWriMo during the month of November, is as crazy as the people camping out for 12 hours, in the cold, at Toys r’ Us on Black Thursday. I mean, really?

For the record, I didn’t take part in the Black Thursday-Friday madness. Limping around in an orthopedic boot in a mass of crazed shoppers was as appealing as water torture.

Something’s gotta be wrong with people leaving a table spread with goodies to join a bunch of crazy shoppers. What’s wrong with staying home, lingering at the table (with a glass of wine or two) and engaging in conversation with each other? There’s a novel thought.

Of course, I’ll admit it’s easy for me to say this year; I’m ahead of the curve. Every last Christmas present is purchased and ready to go under the tree. Ebates and Amazon are my new best friends. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. In this case, a broken toe leads to online shopping. I may never step foot into a store, again. But, seriously can’t we slow down this speeding train of time and just talk? The world might be a better place if we did.

But, who am I kidding? The art of conversation has gone out the window with bell bottom jeans and hippy hair. Talking? What’s that?

Speaking of which, I sent my daughter a lovely message the other night (yeah, via text). Conversing is too taxing for her. The holidays sometimes put me in a reflective mood. So, I sent her a note expressing my love and pride for all she’s accomplished.

Her response? “Is this a suicide text? Well, it’s rude to send a suicide letter via text. Handwritten is preferred.”

The world has gone crazy, indeed.

Perhaps, the best I can do this year is to be thankful for the little things in life – a good laugh, orthopedic boots, and my iPhone.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. And as always, you can follow me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilagood, and Contently.