Creating a Digital Business Card

In 2020, online conferences started to become common place. There were some conferences that were forced to move online, so they could keep operating, but others were designed as online conferences from inception. For some conference, the online environment was a distraction from the networking concept. However, one online conference I attended during 2020 built into their program the Happy Hour Zoom events, doing the best they could to create the end-of-the-day bar socializing experience. And it was during these events that I noticed something in particular.

When it came time to exchange contact information with others, I would find myself typing in (copy-and-paste, really) the various URLs for my social media, my website, and my email. Sure, I could have given them just my website, but the first time I did that, someone complained—they couldn't be bothered looking on the sidebars or the footer for my social media links. So, while the website contains all the information a person needs to contact me in easy-to-find locations, it was clearly too complicated for some users.

I needed a digital business card.

The Importance of Press Kits—Even for the Debut Writer

Some years ago, I encountered a post that spoke about the importance of having a press kit on your website, even if you were a debut writer. By a press kit, they meant having downloadable pictures and copies of your bio of various formats, and of course, information about your new book. The press kit could be used by anyone for almost any purpose, but it was a form of advertising.

I have no idea on what blog I saw that post on all those years ago, but I remember getting my A into G and putting together a press kit page on my personal website, complete with information about the book that was being released at the time. Since then, I have updated the page to focus on more recent publications, and I keep updating it.

However, in the last week, I have discovered how important having the press kit page really is.Read More→

The Must-Have Website

When I first started down the road towards publication myself, I did an extensive amount of research trying to understand exactly what I needed to do to make it happen. There was this one thing that kept cropping up, time and time again. Platform. Website. Website. Platform.

When I saw this constant theme of website for writers, I wanted to run screaming. There was no way I wanted to stress myself with having to do all the coding associated with having a website. And the cost... I could barely afford my internet bill. But if I wanted to make a name for myself as a writer, I was going to have to suck it up and just do it.

I was pleasantly surprised at how simple — and cheap — it all was.

I created the first iteration of my author website, with all the bells and whistles, within 30 minutes. I kid you not. And all it cost me was time. That website was FREE.