I hate to, but I have to, admit, “I suck at social media.” I understand the concepts and apply many of the tools involved, but I am just ‘playing with myself’ sort of speak. I have multiple Twitter accounts, a LinkedIn account, two Facebook accounts and two business Facebook pages, two Pinterest accounts, plus two blogs / websites (this being one of them). Yet, I do not have much influence. I believe my lack of success with social media can be attributed to two major factors:
- I have not taken the time to identify and address my target audience, and
- I have not been consistent in the application of good content
My content on its own has been pretty good. I have a damn fine book, Wine Sense, that I am selling (and very proud of), and I have relatively insightful blog posts and website pages. But I do not update them regularly enough, nor understand how to make things go viral. I have been of the belief that content is king and content carries the day. But that is not enough in a noise-filled world where people get bombarded with messaging continuously. I need to better target my audience (not my peers) and connect with them.
I am using social media to connect with people who are like me, but not my target audience. That is why I say “I am playing with myself” via social media channels. My book, Wine Sense, is selling briskly in hard copy form from the print run of 1,500 I commissioned, but it is through my contacts and my targeted email campaigns. I have had tremendous positive feedback on the book from:
- Three Masters of Wine (MW)
- Restauranteurs and Wine Makers
- PhDs and writers on wine, wine language and philosophy of wine
- Many respected business contacts
- A lot of experiences and enthusiastic wine drinkers
They are telling me it is a great book, a book of real quality, a great Ebook reading experience. Yet, this has only resulted in a few shares, a few retweets, and one 5-star Amazon review. Why is this? For one thing, it is because the many icons in the wine industry who have provided positive feedback privately do not understand social media themselves; they are ‘old school.’ The have acknowledged the fine work and quality effort expanded privately to me and that is sufficient in their minds. They have not seen the need nor taken the time time to publicly write a good review or recommendation. 
While Wine Sense, in hardcover format is selling briskly, this does not help my Amazon Sales Ranking, nor number of Shares on Facebook, or Retweets on Twitter. My Amazon ‘stat whoring’ (watching my sales stats every 30 seconds!) has been a real disappointment. While the book has already sold almost 100 times as much in revenue than my previous book from two years ago, the Amazon sales statistics look measly! I should be happy, but I am not!
Why am I concerned about this and need to improve it? Who cares how the books sells as long as it sells? It is because even though Wine Sense sales have been brisk, they are not passive nor sustainable. They have been due to hard work, working my direct contact base and sooner or later that expires. They only way to make it happen on a sustainable basis is by reaching new and expanded markets. My father-in-law asked me a couple of months ago if the book would sell to the broad audience it deserves? I told him it did not matter as I have my corporate contacts and my friends who are buying multiple copies, But it does matter! If I ever want to be successful, I need to sell Wine Sense to people I do not know nor ever will know. People who are influenced by people I need to influence.
I am starting to figure out how to do this, but I still suck at social! Hopefully, that will change soon.
