I’ve never much cared for social media. Hanging out on Facebook isn’t my idea of fun–it involves a computer or phone screen, so it’s work. When it comes to online book promotion, however, it’s unavoidable work. So that’s how I spent the better part of October. Welcome to the discomfort zone.
First, I had to create visual posts related to the memoir I co-authored–Busting the Brass Ceiling–that would stand out. Luckily, @KeriBarnum, the book promotion expert who has teamed up with Incubation Press, had created a couple of great looking posts for me that I was eventually able to duplicate after she pointed me to Canva, an online “design-anything” program.
Figuring out how to generate a series of posts and then coming up with the text proved to be just the start of my challenges. I also had to familiarize myself with Facebook’s Ad Center, including how to target an audience without the spillage of too much blood, sweat, and tears.
Next, I had to take on Instagram. The app was clearly not designed for business, since it largely assumes you’ll be doing everything from your phone. Could I have accessed my files from my phone, since they’re in the cloud? Sure. Did I want to? Absolutely not. After years of typing, my fingers balk at working in those cramped quarters, and my eyes rebel if they have to stare at my Android screen for too long.
That meant learning, with YouTube’s help, how to make the web-version of Instagram function like a cell phone so that I could actually post. Of course, I could have asked at least two of the people on my Incubation Press team for instructions, but a girl has her pride.
I finally gave in and gave up on the solo mission when it came to linking my Instagram business page with my Facebook business page in order to schedule future posts on Facebook’s Creator Studio. The logistics involved to that point had nearly done me in, but when I kept being unable to complete the directions about how to connect the pages, I finally called for backup. There’s only so long that you can repeat a series of instructions, only to be stymied because the last step they’re telling you to take just isn’t where they told you it would be.
Having confessed my failure in a voice message to Scott Burns, Incubation Press’s website builder and my frequent rescuer when it comes to tech-related issues, I picked up my phone and decided to take one last look at my Instagram settings. Eureka! There it was–the elusive Connect Pages selection I had spent the prior two hours trying to find on the computer version of the app. (It bears repeating. This app was clearly designed for phones.)
So yes, I got it done on my own, and finally managed to schedule up two months of Facebook and Instagram posts.
Can you say necessary evil?
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