As an author, you feel pressure to be present online to build credibility and an audience while running a digital marketing campaign for your book. Yet the push often focuses on social media, even though another platform is extremely valuable: blogging. While social media is critical for establishing an online community, blogging on your personal website gives you a unique home base you control, where you don’t have to worry about other posts diluting your message. 

In Erin Penning’s blog, “Why blog? The benefits of blogging for business and marketing,” she says, “Blogging for business is still worth it because it helps companies build authority, increase organic traffic, generate leads, support SEO, and create content that keeps working over time.” Blogs are more than just articles on your website; they can drive your online presence everywhere. 

Before you start getting nervous about another place where you need to invest your valuable time online, we are not suggesting you become a full-time blogger or post multiple times a week. We are going to show you why blogging for your book is valuable and how to get started creating useful content that can fuel your online presence—without taking all of your time.

Why You Should Be Blogging for Your Book 

As you develop your social media presence (which you can learn about with this blog and this one), you’ll earn followers, but blogging helps you earn something much more valuable: readers. 

While social media’s fickle algorithms change daily and you’re competing with countless other posts, a blog gives you a voice in your own space. When you have a steady stream of content on your blog that your readers resonate with, they keep coming back to you for more advice, research, or humor—whatever it is you provide. 

This gives you a platform to build your unique brand and promote your book, all while creating one of the most valuable attributes you can have online: discoverability. 

Blogging Helps Readers Find You Online

While social media posts seem to be there and gone, as far as the algorithm is concerned, quickly buried under a mountain of fresh content from other users, your blog gives you evergreen content that search engines can find. 

That means if someone looks up a topic related to something you’ve blogged about, your website appears in the search results, and your advice is front and center for new readers. That means every new blog you write is a chance for a new reader to discover you! 

Write What You Know to Build Up Your Readers

When we tell you to blog about your book, we don’t mean simply creating a post that says, “This is my book! You should read it!” Blogging is about building a knowledge base around your expertise. You should write about the topics you’re passionate about that inspired you to write your book in the first place. This could include:

• Knowledge related to your book’s topic. 
• Advice, commentary, or research about your areas of expertise.
• Your unique perspective on world events, news in your industry, or other trending topics. 

Creating this well of information on your personal website does something irreplaceable for your brand: It makes you trustworthy. When readers can count on you for useful, informative, down-to-earth content, they have more reasons to invest in you by buying your book. 

Choose a Focus for Your Blog and Stick With It

However, before you start a blog, you need to decide what it will be about. The bullet points above can help you generate ideas, but you also don’t want to share any and every topic that interests you because refining your message is critical to establishing a loyal readership. 

You need to refine your focus because discoverability becomes more difficult the more topics you cover. However, if you consistently post about the same topic, you set yourself up as an expert, both for your readers and for search engines. 

Think of it this way: If you post a recipe on Monday, an engineering how-to on Wednesday, and a movie review on Friday, you are trying to attract vastly different audiences on one platform. However, when you narrow your focus to recipes, engineering, or movies and post weekly on that topic, you can start building a blog that a loyal readership looks forward to. 

Refining Your Topic Helps You Choose Effective Keywords for Discoverability 

Another important reason to narrow your topic focus for discoverability is keywords. If you’ve never heard that term, keywords are the specific words or phrases you use in your blog, social media, etc., to signal to searchers what your content is about. 

For example, if you were writing a blog about hiking the Appalachian Trail, you would want to use keywords or phrases like:

• Appalachian Trail guide
• How to train for a long hike
• Appalachian Trail packing list

Using the key terms in your blog signals to search engines what your blog is about. Then, when people search similar terms, a search engine can point to your blog as a valuable resource of information. You should aim to include several relevant keywords in each of your blogs.

P.S. If you need help with keyword research, we recommend checking out the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool. 

The Format for a Great Blog

Once you have some topic ideas for your blogs, you’re ready to start writing! However, you probably aren’t writing just for yourself; otherwise, you’d keep it offline. To make your blog a success online, meaning it shows up in Google search results, you need to optimize your blogs for searchability, categorization, and engagement. 

Here’s how you can lay out your blogs to make them easy to read and engaging.

• Pick an eye-catching title. Search engines look for keywords, while people look for originality—so bring the two together. Choose a title that grabs attention and includes a key term from your post. 
• Don’t make your paragraphs too long. When readers are looking through your blog for information, they want it to be easy to digest and understand. That’s why shorter paragraphs and bullet points work better for breaking up your content. 
• Use headings effectively. As you transition through the blog topic, set up headings and subheadings so readers understand the flow of your blog. 
• Add photos or graphics. Readers also don’t want to look at one solid wall of text. It’s a good idea to try to incorporate photos or graphics to engage your readers as they scroll through your blog.
• Add text to your photo. Unlike humans, search engines prefer words instead of pictures. So click on your image and change the title to something other than the default “IMG 25843” by describing the picture in a few words, preferably while including one of your keywords. 
• Create a call to action at the end. Once you’ve written an effective blog, transition to a call to action for your conclusion. This is where you can point to your book, speaking engagements, courses, etc. 
• Add some metadata. Most blogs have a basic metadata section beneath the area where you write your post, where you can add a brief title and description with your keywords. In the words of Jennifer G. from Writer Access, “Metadata is like a card catalog (remember those?) for digital content. It helps search engines, and it helps your website. In addition to identifying page titles and descriptions, metadata creates an organizational system. Specifically, metadata generates a taxonomy (Uh-oh, not another million-dollar-word!) within your content. This is just a fancy way of saying that metadata helps to create a hierarchical organizational scheme (That sounds fancy, too.) to identify, sort, and organize web content.” Search engines value this information for searchability, so make sure you fill it out for each of your blogs!

Blogging Gives You an Invaluable Resource: A Content Library

Once you get into the flow of blogging, we recommend trying to post a short blog once or twice a month. Why? Because blogging gives you a rich content library where you can generate valuable book marketing ideas for:

• LinkedIn posts
• Instagram carousels
• Facebook posts
• Pinterest graphics
• Email newsletters
• Short videos
• Quote graphics
• Podcast discussion topics
• Webinars
• And more!

Every blog post you write doesn’t just live on your website; you can turn it into ready-made content to promote across your brand. How?

Did you write something on Facebook that struck a nerve? Work it into a longer post for your blog or LinkedIn article. 

Did you create an image on Instagram that received tons of likes? Share it on Facebook or LinkedIn. 

Organizing Your Content Library

However, having all these content ideas ready to be repurposed won’t do you much good if you can’t find anything. That’s why you need to organize your content library into a list of topics, both so you can repurpose what you’ve already written and to ensure you don’t write about the same thing twice. 

Although it’s necessary, creating a promotional content library can quickly feel overwhelming. To stay on top of your content library, make it part of your blog creation process to capture the topic, organize it into your content library, and repurpose it into multiple types of content. 

We like using an Excel or Google spreadsheet to organize ideas because you can neatly organize columns and search for keywords once your library becomes more extensive. 

How Our Client Built a Blog That Drives His Brand

Our client, Bob Tiede, has a popular leadership blog, LeadingWithQuestions.com, where he shares insights on leadership through personal blogs and guest posts. He then turns these blogs into content for his LinkedIn profile and email newsletters, generating multiple veins of content from one blog post. 

This strategy has helped him become extremely successful across all his platforms, with 16K monthly website visitors, 30K LinkedIn followers, and 13K email subscribers. 

Read Bob’s full case study here to see how we helped him leverage his blog for more success online. 

When You Should Start Blogging for Your Book 

The best time to start blogging for your book is now! The great thing about a blog is that it provides evergreen content that can live and grow on your website across months and even years. 

You don’t have to wait until you’re nearing your book’s publication to start blogging; you can begin building your content library now so you have a foundation of topics to pull from for social media once you’re ready to start building your brand and your book launch.

The Bottom Line

Blogging is a valuable way to build your online presence and create a content library you can draw from for social posts, podcast topics, and more. Writing blogs doesn’t have to be time-consuming: choose a focus, create a solid format, and settle on a regular publishing cadence. With a strong foundation of blog content, you’ll be on your way to building an audience of readers and growing your brand. 

Take Action

Now that you understand the pivotal role blogging can play as an online platform for building book marketing ideas and growing your brand, it’s time to get to work. Start by coming up with a few topics to get you started on your first two to three blogs. Then, once you have several blogs on your website, compile the topics in a content library so you always have content at the ready to repurpose for social media and all elements of your book marketing toolkit. 

If you need a hand with digital marketing for your book, Weaving Influence would love to help. We provide book marketing for authors, including website design, social media management, public relations, and more. We would love to help you build your brand to launch your book successfully!

The post How to Maximize Your Content for a Stronger Platform: Why Blogging Still Matters appeared first on Weaving Influence.

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Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura is joined by Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD, a medical oncologist with 25 years of experience at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the author of Calming the Cancer Chaos, a book that helps women take control of their cancer care. Laura and Tiffany discuss how cancer patients can navigate their diagnosis, advocate for themselves, understand clinical decisions, and lean on their support system. Although much is beyond a cancer patient’s control, Dr. Troso-Sandoval offers practical steps for managing the chaos and making this difficult diagnosis a smoother life transition. 

Key Points From This Episode: 

[01:43] Dr. Tiffany shares her personal background and how a degenerative eye condition led her to transition away from clinical practice and why she wrote her book, Calming the Cancer Chaos. 

[4:44] Laura and Dr. Tiffany discuss cancer survival statistics, the diversity of patient journeys, and how patients deal with ongoing cancer. 

[6:22] Dr. Tiffany outlines immediate steps patients should take following a cancer diagnosis, including processing the news independently and compiling comprehensive medical history lists to make appointments easier.

[11:27] Dr. Tiffany describes the “teach-back” method, which can help patients get a better understanding of their diagnosis and treatment. 

[14:02] Dr. Tiffany outlines why seeking a second opinion isn’t always the best choice when you have an aggressive cancer diagnosis. 

[18:53] Dr. Tiffany emphasizes the importance of patients organizing a support system to help with everyday tasks during their treatment. 

[21:54] Dr. Tiffany and Laura discuss environmental toxins that can expose people to carcinogens. 

[25:37] Dr. Tiffany shares a sweet personal story about how she met her husband. 

[30:10] Dr. Tiffany describes the core mission of her book: To foster the “empowered cancer patient” through medical literacy, confidence, and self-advocacy.

[32:35] Dr. Tiffany discusses the role of AI in medical diagnoses today and why patients should be careful with what they research.

Resources:

• Order Calming The Cancer Chaos: An Oncologist’s Guide for Women to Understand, Organize, and Take Control of Their Cancer Care 
• Follow Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

Every patient’s journey and every patient’s cancer are very different. So how we manage your cancer is very specific not just to who you are and how you’re feeling, but also to the type of cancer. And I do want to bring attention to the fact that not everybody is cured. I mention that especially because when we talk about survivors, there are also so many thrivers. In other words, stage four cancer is not necessarily the same quote-unquote death sentence that it was years ago. We’re treating it more like a chronic disease. I mention that because, when patients are on continuous treatment, they often feel left out when we talk about survivors, who rang the bell and are all done. But there are so many more. – Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD

I always talk about the fact that the kiss of death is if you say to a patient, “Call me if you need anything.” Because they’re never gonna call you. But part of what I want to do is empower the patient to realize she needs to call on friends, family, and loved ones so she can free up the time and space to heal, rest, and get through her treatments. – Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD

My goal is to create what I call the empowered cancer patient. What that means is a patient who is going to be able to learn more about her cancer and be able to control the controllables that are available to her. Not everything in cancer care is controllable, but you can control many things. – Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD

Actively participate in your care. If you understand, you can communicate what you’re hearing and advocate for yourself much better in the office with your doctor and elsewhere. That’s what I call the empowered cancer patient: someone who has clarity, gains confidence, and can rally her own community to support her. It’s not gonna make cancer go away, but it can make the journey or the whole pathway a lot easier for people if you have the type of support and communication that you really need. – Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD

It’s in every cancer patient’s best interest to make sure they get credible information they can rely on. If you see something on social media and your doctor didn’t mention it to you, bring it up with them because there’s probably a good reason they didn’t. And there might not be as much real-world data behind whatever you think is gonna be the next cure or the replacement for a mammogram or what else you heard today. – Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, MD

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 7: Practical Steps to Empower Your Cancer Journey: Advice from a 25-Year Oncologist appeared first on Weaving Influence.

If you’re an author, thought leader, or entrepreneur who is either brand-new to social media or trying to grow your online presence to promote your brand, it can be intimidating to figure out how to promote yourself and build a platform that amplifies your message. After all, how can you create the right content, enough content, and find your audience? 

To help clarify the process of building a social media presence, we like to break it down like this: Great branding = Trust-building = Engagement. In other words, as you build a reliable brand by producing great content, you establish trust with your audience. As this trust grows, so will your following and engagement on your posts. 

Stick around, and we’ll show you how to build your brand, earn your audience’s trust, and track engagement so you know your social media is on the right track.

Defining Your Brand for Social Media

Do you follow any pages that have great branding? Pages that feel cohesive, driven, and always deliver on providing watchable content? Their success started when they sat down to define their brand.

• What is the goal of our content (education, humor, etc.)?
• Who is our target audience (their interests, age, preferred content, etc.)?
• What topics are essential for our brand? 

Once you answer these questions, you’ll have clarity on the type of content you should create and who you want to engage, which will build the foundation for how to market your book on social media.

Branding gives you a distinct voice and personality in a sea of pages that may cover the same or similar topics. As the Social Media Examiner says, “A distinctive personal brand helps professionals differentiate themselves in saturated markets . . . A personal brand with a unique perspective on your subject matter distinguishes you from others covering the same topics.”

Update Your Social Media Profiles According to Your Brand

Once you have defined your branding, the next step is to update your social media profiles. You should focus on:

• Your Profile Picture – Make it an accurate representation of who you are now.
• Your Cover Photo/Graphic (for Facebook and LinkedIn) – Here, you can share your book cover, services, credentials, etc.
• Your Bio – Bio length varies by platform, but you should mention your credentials, book, contact information, website, and your unique values (services, expertise, work, etc.). 

Remember, your profile picture and bio are a big part of your audience’s first impression of you and your brand. As you build your social media presence (whether that be Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or all of the above), remember to keep your image consistent with your website and other online platforms. People shouldn’t receive different messages about who you are and what you do depending on the platform. Define your message, hone your offerings, and find your voice, then put it into practice to build your online brand. 

A polished profile is essential for strong branding and the next step in building your social media presence: earning your audience’s trust.

Creating a Trustworthy Brand Keeps Your Audience Coming Back

A key step in building a trustworthy brand is seeing your profile as a way to build relationships with your audience, not just a platform to promote yourself. As Becky Robinson, the owner and founder of Weaving Influence, says, “I often tell clients that building followers is about building relationships. Focusing on authenticity and showing up as a real person online can help build connections and trust.”

For example, if you have a self-help book that uses a humorous worldview to encourage others, then that should be the angle of your content. Using self-deprecating humor, valuable life advice, and personal stories, combined with photos and videos, will shape your branding into a voice your audience trusts for humorous, relatable advice. 

Do you see what happened there? By sharing insights from your book and life on topics you’re already passionate about, you can build trust with an audience that resonates with what you have to say and starts seeking advice in your content.

Trust Builds Community

Using social channels to share your brand message seems simple, but if you’re not careful, it can turn into self-promotion that doesn’t make an impact. Social media becomes powerful when a brand takes the time to nurture a genuine, interested, and enthusiastic community by building trust with followers. 

It’s a rewarding process that takes effort, but it’s within your reach. After all, the fact that you’ve gotten this far shows you want to learn the most effective ways to promote your book and message on social media and are ready to put in the work to get there.

Tips for Building a Social Community

Add Value With Your Content – Remember, your page is about your followers, not you. People follow you because they find value and relevance in what you share. With so much noise on social media, make sure your content genuinely adds something helpful or interesting to their lives. Otherwise, they might scroll past. When writing social copy or making a video, consider what information or format will resonate the most and serve your followers.

Be Authentic – Social media is overwhelmed with cookie-cutter content, and people often put on a front instead of showing their true selves. That’s why it’s valuable to be your genuine self online. People want to connect with the real you: your challenges, your experiences, and your happy moments. 

Ginelle Testa, author of Make a Home Out of You: A Memoir, explains that her openness about her addiction recovery and self-love journey on social media helped her profile grow: “I love sharing my journey [on social media], and being vulnerable is just part of my process.”

Engage With Your Followers – How do you engage people in conversation? That’s right, you ask questions. Take the same approach when building relationships on social media. Ask thoughtful, engaging questions, and you’ll receive thoughtful, engaging answers. You can do this by ending your video with a question, adding a poll to your post or Story, or encouraging your followers to post a question in your comments. 

Give Your Audience a Voice – When you engage with your audience through comments, polls, and questions, you give them a voice. You are showing that you don’t want your platform to be a stage, but a safe, fun place where people can gather, interact with you, learn, laugh, and find answers to their questions. 

Be Generous – When you see your time on social media as a chore or just a way to sell your brand, people will feel that lack of engagement. Instead, be generous with the time and effort you put into your social media presence so you can build an audience that trusts your consistency and commitment to building relationships. 

Our Ideas for Getting Better Engagement on Social Media

Building a successful social media page also comes down to the quality of the content you share and how you use it to encourage responses from your audience. Here are four tried and true ways to get better engagement on your posts. 

Post Photos and Videos – Humans are visual creatures. That’s why eye-catching photos and videos perform best on social media. One of our clients, Christian Greiser, saw firsthand the impact great content can have when we helped grow his Instagram following from 200 to 7,000 by creating authentic, selfie-style videos that opened his page to conversation with his community. 

Ask Engaging Questions – Just as you don’t want your social media to be only about you and your brand, you also want to show your audience that you value their perspectives by asking engaging questions. You can do this by ending your video with a question, encouraging responses in the comments, or posting a poll. 

Respond to Comments – Part of building a relationship with your community on social media is responding when they take the time to reach out. Always carve out time to offer thoughtful responses to comments and DMs because that is how you earn even greater trust and engagement with your audience.

Run Giveaways – A great way to build early interest in your book or services is to feature a giveaway, offering a free book or brief consultation for following you or sharing your post. As people share and promote your giveaway, it also puts you in front of new followers. 

Keep Your Community Engaged So They Keep Coming Back

Think about a band you love that always makes music you enjoy. Because you like them so much, you want to be the first to know when new music drops and where they’ll be touring. You sign up for their emails, visit their website regularly, and stream their new music the moment it drops. 

This is the kind of passion you want your social media to drive for your brand. When you consistently post great content and share valuable insights from your book and life, you keep your community engaged and excited for what you’re going to share next. As they value your social media presence, they will also come to your book, speaking engagements, articles, and YouTube videos to learn more about what you have to say.

When Engagement Turns Into Success for Your Book

After you’ve put in the work to build trust, community, and engagement on your social media profiles, you want to measure your success and see how your efforts have moved the needle for your brand. This is when you turn to your metrics. 

Tracking monthly numbers helps you spot trends, top content, and areas for improvement, so you can better serve your audience and reach your goals. Here’s what to focus on:

Fan and follower counts are fundamental. You should aim for consistent growth, indicating a healthy social media presence. However, don’t worry if your follower count doesn’t jump quickly; building the right audience takes time as you start posting consistently. 

Engagement metrics show how well your content connects with your audience: Do they like, comment on, and share your posts? At the end of each month, you should go back through your posts to see what performed best between videos versus photos, humorous versus educational, etc. Then you can try more of what’s resonating with your audience. 

Website activity shows how effective your social media is at driving people to your brand, book, or services. We use tools like Google Analytics to track which social media platforms drive the most traffic each month. You can also use Linktree or Lnk.Bio, where you can list your website and book purchasing links, and it will show how many clicks you’ve received month to month. 

The Bottom Line

Solidifying your brand on social media to build trust and community with your audience is a critical step in growing an online presence that promotes your book. Show your audience consistent value by providing authentic, high-quality content, and by asking questions to build relationships, not just to put on a stage for yourself. Once you’ve put in the work to create that community, your followers and engagement rate will rise, in turn leading people to your website, book, and other offerings. 

Take Action

Do you feel more equipped to build your brand and understand how to promote yourself on social media? We hope this blog has given you more tools and direction for building your social media as an author or thought leader, but if you need more help, Weaving Influence would love to assist you! 

We help nonfiction authors amplify their books online through social media management, email marketing, public relations, and so much more. If you’d like to learn more about how we help grow social media for authors and thought leaders, get in touch with us to schedule a free consultation!

The post Branding, Trust-Building, and Engagement: A Guide to Social Media for Beginners appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Becky Robinson, owner and CEO of Weaving Influence, about the rise of AI in publishing and how authors should approach using AI when crafting books. Specifically, they discuss how AI can strip an author’s voice, making the book less impactful, and can make errors when providing information or relaying transcripts. They reinforce that publishing standards matter and books should maintain the integrity of human creation, editing, and design. Becky ends by encouraging authors to bring their unique experiences, stories, vulnerabilities, fears, and joys to creating their book, instead of relying on AI.

Key Points From This Episode: 

[02:17] Becky discusses how she has seen a rise in the use of AI in writing and publishing.

[04:00] Becky explains the ways she is comfortable using AI, including for transcription and to extract exact quotes.

[06:18] Laura and Becky discuss the fallibility of AI and not relying on it for factual information.

[10:41] Becky shares how she believes AI should not have a place in publishing books because the integrity of books should be maintained. 

[11:43] Laura and Becky discuss AI graphics and how using them can be inauthentic and reflect poorly on who posts them. 

[14:35] Laura and Becky reflect on Carl Pritzkat (BookLife President) and his clip on AI-generated writing.

[18:36] Becky emphasizes that a distinct human voice makes writing more meaningful. 

[20:02] Becky outlines Weaving Influence’s AI policy.

[22:45] Laura and Becky discuss AI “tells” and their stance on authors being upfront about their AI use. 

[25:18] Becky reinforces why human writing matters and encourages authors to share their unique experiences through writing. 

[27:46] Laura points out that it’s okay to change your mind about AI, for better or worse.

[28:32] Laura and Becky discuss how AI-generated content can negatively impact marketing, PR, and other opportunities for a book.

Resources:

• Learn more about AI in publishing with this statement from Dzanc Books. 
• Read Weaving Influence’s AI Policy.
• Follow Becky Robinson on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

I personally don’t want to use AI to write anything for me ever. We often will say, “Use AI to take away words.” So I’m gonna write a first draft, and it might be messy, and I’m gonna let AI clean it up for me. But unfortunately, my feeling or opinion or experience is that when you do that, it strips away everything that makes your writing unique and interesting. So the idea that we can do a messy first draft and then let AI clean it up, you know, I think it’s taking away something essential from the process. I believe the best writing is created when a human being crafts, refines, edits, polishes, and proofreads it from start to finish. — Becky Robinson

As it relates to the publishing of books, there’s something a bit more sacred or careful in the way that we need to approach it. Because of the integrity of books and honoring the reader who’s going to pay money to read the book that we’re writing. — Becky Robinson

The bottom line is that writing a book always takes more time, energy, and money than an author thinks. And then once you’ve written the book, marketing it is also exceedingly difficult. So you want to make sure that you have the best possible product. The best possible product comes when a human takes care to write as well as they can and brings in a professional team to edit and refine the text. — Becky Robinson

There can be some AI tells in writing, and people joke a lot about things like the em dash. You know, I’ve always used a lot of em dashes in my writing, even before the advent of AI. So I’m not going to look at text and just because there are em dashes, you know, assume that it was written using AI. — Becky Robinson

The data shows that people are reading less and less, so why would we want to waste our time on something that was generated by an algorithm? I think what we all crave is real, genuine connection in our lives. And I would want that when I’m reading as well. When you read a book that’s written by a human, particularly if you’re reading nonfiction, if you’re reading prescriptive nonfiction or memoir, and you read a story that captures your heart, that is something only a human can do. — Becky Robinson

Each of us has to contribute whatever is most true and authentic about ourselves. It’s our own unique experiences; it’s our own unique stories; it’s our own vulnerabilities, our fears, our joys. And that human connection is what we all crave in our increasingly computerized, impersonal world. So in publishing, as in any other endeavor, the more you can bring your wholehearted self to what you’re doing, the more valuable and resonant it will be. — Becky Robinson

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Bonus Episode: Human-Crafted: Authors, AI, and the Future of Books appeared first on Weaving Influence.

If you’re in the professional world, whether you just entered the field out of college or have been building your career for decades, you’ve probably heard about the importance of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the online place to showcase your resume, build career connections, and find new work opportunities, whether you are a freelancer, in a typical 9-to-5, or out of the workforce but still building your brand.

Like many other social media platforms, LinkedIn has a personal profile and a feed for scrolling other people’s posts, making it easy to interact with, even for people new to it. It is also an incredibly fast-growing platform with one billion members across 200 countries. 

In the words of LinkedIn, “The mission of LinkedIn is simple: connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” That’s the truth! LinkedIn is all about building connections, and this blog is the foundation you need to start leveraging the platform to grow your brand, career, or voice as a thought leader. 

So stick around, and we’ll give you everything you need to get started on your profile, build connections, join career groups, and more!

Your Profile Is Your First Impression

In the past, you made a first impression in an interview with prospective employers or organizations. Today, with most professionals on LinkedIn, a polished profile is critical to making a strong first impression as an employee or contractor. That’s why it is critical that your profile gives the best impression of who you are, your experience, your skills, and the types of people you want to work with. 

Breaking Down Your Profile Sections

Profile Image

Your header image is the photo that gives visitors to your profile an idea of who you are. Use a recent, professional photo, and update it every few years. When you join a Zoom or Teams call, you want people to recognize you at a glance! 

Headline

Your headline is the brief description directly below your profile image. LinkedIn limits this to 220 characters (roughly 30-40 words), so it’s important to keep it concise and direct with the most important titles or experiences you have. 

Contact Info

Your contact info, also located near the top of your profile, is where you list how people can reach you. All of these are optional, but you can add:

• Profile URL
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Website
• Instant Messenger
• Address
• Birthday

At a minimum, we recommend adding your best email address and a professional website link. 

About 

Your About section is arguably the most important part of your profile. This is where you get to describe who you are, your experience, what you’re passionate about, and where you hope new opportunities will take you. 

As you write it, consider what differentiates you in your industry and what unique value you bring to the marketplace. This will help set you apart from other candidates in your industry. 

Keep in mind that you are limited to 400-500 words in this section. However, we recommend sticking to the 150-300 word range (in 3-5 short paragraphs) to keep your viewers’ attention. In that section, you should also incorporate effective keywords related to your industry (read more about identifying the right keywords below). 

Featured

The Featured section on your LinkedIn profile lets you pin and display your best work. If a post goes viral, you share a major career achievement, or publish a book, you can pin it here as evergreen content for new viewers to see immediately. 

Experience

The Experience section is where you’ll stick the information from your resume, essentially. This includes your previous career experiences and your major responsibilities in those positions. If you’re a member of a board, you might consider adding that here too. Keep this updated as your career progresses!

Education

Continuing in the resume-like vein, the Education section is where you’ll put your education, including degrees and certifications.

Skills

The Skills section is where you can list any skills you’ve developed across your educational and professional journey, from writing to business management and countless things in between. 

One unique thing about LinkedIn is that you can also receive Endorsements for your skills from other LinkedIn members. This is essentially them recommending you for that particular skill, which is a huge boost for your credibility with recruiters or clients. 

Books & Publications

If you’ve written a book (or books) or have work in any publications, you can list those in the Books & Publications section. Updating this section is always a wonderful moment for our publishing or book launch clients!

Articles & Newsletters

LinkedIn also lets users publish long-form articles on their page or a company profile, which can include photos, links, and quotes. People can then directly comment on and engage with your article. 

Once you start publishing multiple articles, it can become a newsletter, which followers can subscribe to as you build your community. 

Add Focus Keywords Throughout Your Profile

You now have an outline of what you need to do to optimize your LinkedIn profile, but before you start writing, here’s one more tip: Keywords are a critical part of showing up online, and they are just as vital in your LinkedIn profile as anywhere else. 

Keywords are essentially the common words or phrases related to your work, skills, or industry that people will type in the search bar to find a professional or build their connections. 

For example, if you’re in the interior design industry, you would want to add keywords like head interior designer (your role), restaurant and hotel design (your specialty), expert in 3D visualization (your unique skills), etc. 

When selecting the best keywords for your profile, focus on a few key terms that potential searchers might use to find someone like you. Try to incorporate these keywords naturally across all sections of your profile, such as your headline, summary, and experience. While it’s beneficial to include your keywords frequently and in multiple areas, do so subtly and in relevant context to avoid sounding forced or obvious. 

Finding Your Posting Cadence: Focus and Consistency

Once you have your profile updated and optimized with keywords, you’re ready to move to the next step in growing your presence on LinkedIn: start posting. If you’re unfamiliar with social media, this may feel like a daunting next step. However, once you get into the swing of posting regularly, it comes naturally.

The most important thing when finding a good posting cadence for LinkedIn is choosing a frequency you can keep consistent so you can maintain focus over time. We see many of our clients get excited at the beginning and post several times a week, but then they get burned out over time. That’s why we recommend finding a schedule that works for you without becoming overwhelming.

Some people can fit in three, four, or even daily posts and have no trouble producing that much content. However, for others, it’s better to post once or twice a week and do it consistently without getting discouraged or burned out. We recommend narrowing your focus to produce one high-quality post each week rather than trying to quickly write three or four posts that won’t get nearly the same engagement as one well-thought-out, well-executed post. Like many things, quality far outweighs quantity. 

See for yourself the difference consistency and value make in building trust with your followers and driving engagement in this case study for our social media client, Bonnie Marcus. (We grew her LinkedIn following by 116%.)

“While consistency sounds like a great idea, good intentions to create a consistent online presence can easily get derailed. The key to creating consistency is creating a sustainable approach.” (Reach, page 10)

What You Should Be Sharing on LinkedIn

In many ways, what you share on LinkedIn is very similar to what you would on Instagram or Facebook, including photos, photo carousels, graphics, and short videos. Like any other social media platform, your content has to look good and be engaging to perform well. 

As our social media client Lisa Fain learned under our guidance, creating value for your audience is pivotal to growing your success on social media. We worked with her to create short videos of her speaking engagements and interviews, host giveaways for her books, share meaningful information through articles and posts, and more. By helping her produce consistent, high-quality posts, we helped her social media profiles grow engagement, impressions, and followers exponentially. In fact, she earned a Top Mentoring Voice badge on LinkedIn!

Three Pillars of Great Content on LinkedIn

On Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner recommends three content pillars to help your LinkedIn Profile grow and reach the right audience in his article, “How to Create Content on LinkedIn to Attract Your Ideal Prospects.” 

• Awareness Content — Educational or broadly relatable content best shared as photo carousels, infographics, or short videos.
• Trust-Building Content — This content focuses on showing your professional experience or sharing a personal story so your followers connect with you on a human level. Trust-building content is best shared as a photo, carousel, or video. 
• Lead-Generating Content — This is the content that makes the “ask,” whether you’re trying to get people to book you for a speaking engagement, buy your book, or sign up for your webinar. Here, you can share graphics promoting your upcoming event, or case studies or client testimonial videos that drive people to your offerings. 

Building Your Community and Connections

While a robust profile and consistent posting are great steps toward organically building your following and connections, you also have to get out there and talk to people! LinkedIn is all about community, so aim to make as many connections as possible. 

Here are five ways you can do that:

1. Browse “People You May Know.” 

The simplest, quickest way to find potential connections is to explore LinkedIn’s recommendations. Select individuals you know or people in similar fields, then take a moment to craft a personalized note when you send a connection request. 

2. Look for people you’ve recently met in person. 

Have you recently connected with clients or prospects in person, or attended a networking event or conference? Review your collection of business cards to find the people you’ve recently met and make a LinkedIn connection with them!

3. Look for people you interact with daily. 

You may not have taken the time to connect with obvious people: coworkers, clients, and vendors. These are easy connections to make!

4. Find connections from other social channels. 

If you regularly chat with someone on Instagram or Facebook, look for them on LinkedIn and connect. 

5. Find people in your industry and tangential industries. 

Search for people in your industry or related fields and reach out to connect. They often create valuable content, and since you share an audience, it can be mutually beneficial!

Once you’ve built those connections, don’t forget about them! It’s important to continue building on the relationships you form on LinkedIn by engaging with other people’s posts through liking, commenting, and resharing, as well as replying to any comments they leave on your posts. 

Contribute to Groups 

Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn also has unique groups you can follow related to your industry or interests. Many of these groups are private, so you have to request to join them. Participating in a group can be a great way to meet new people, develop a client base, and even promote your brand. However, it’s important not to get carried away by joining too many groups at once. It is much more beneficial to join a few groups you can devote time to, because once you build trust in that group, they are much more likely to advocate for you and share your information with others.

Here are five ways you can contribute to LinkedIn groups to grow your connections and influence:

1. Answer questions that people ask in the group to share your expertise and grow your influence.
2. Add value by offering help when someone has an issue or is looking for resources. 
3. If you want others to read and interact with your content, you need to go first! Read and interact with the content others are posting, and leave encouraging, thoughtful feedback. 
4. Don’t use LinkedIn groups as just another place to drop links. Instead, share your content when it feels relevant and timely, and when it adds value to the group.
5. A LinkedIn group can be a great place to find and cultivate new relationships. If you see potential for a deeper relationship with someone you communicate with in the group, send a connection request. 

See Who’s Already Watching You

On your LinkedIn home screen, you can see the number of recent profile viewers in the right sidebar. While detailed information about who is viewing your profile might only be accessible to premium members (via a paid subscription), you can still gain valuable insights by regularly checking this section.

It’s useful to review Profile Views periodically to see whether you’re connected with the viewers. If you don’t know them, consider whether you should connect. If you do, it’s a good opportunity to send a connection request. If you don’t recognize the viewer, take a moment to review their profile and see whether it’s a good opportunity for a new connection. 

Giving and Receiving Recommendations

One unique feature LinkedIn offers is the ability to give and receive recommendations, which are listed on personal profiles. You can request recommendations and give others positive feedback, creating a great give-and-take that helps build your connections and trust on LinkedIn.

When you complete a project or engagement, ask for a recommendation, and don’t be afraid to ask former clients for recommendations, even months later. If you feel comfortable, you can also ask supervisors or coworkers for a recommendation based on your work together, and offer to give them feedback in return. 

The Bottom Line

LinkedIn is an incredible platform to grow your reputation and network as a professional, no matter what phase you are in your career. To get started, you need an optimized profile, a reliable posting cadence, and the drive to grow your connections through networking, groups, and recommendations. 

Once you have a solid following and a framework for creating great content, you’ll be well on your way to leveraging LinkedIn to grow your career, enhance your brand, sell your book, and more. 

Take Action

We’ve given you the tools to get off to a strong start on LinkedIn. Are you ready to get started? If you need to, start small by developing a content strategy to post once a week for the next three months and devote an hour or two every week to growing your connections. You’ll be amazed at how even this small commitment can help your profile grow! 

However, if you’re still not sure you’re ready to begin on your own, Weaving Influence would love to partner with you to provide social media management and strategy for LinkedIn and any other platforms you want to grow. We are book marketing pros, and we partner with nonfiction authors every day to grow their online reputation, provide public relations support, build custom websites, and more. Learn more by contacting us to set up a free consultation!

The post Everything You Need to Know To Get Started on LinkedIn: Optimize Your Profile, Build Your Community, and More appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Dr. Denis Cronson, author of The Executive Condition: The Hidden Health Crisis of High-Performing Leaders. Laura and Denis discuss the book’s central idea: a leader can look successful on the outside while their biological, cognitive, and emotional capacity quietly declines beneath the surface. Denis asserts that because high performers are often exceptionally good at compensating for problems, organizations may not recognize the warning signs until the decline becomes much more serious. He suggests recognizing early indicators, measuring health and performance trends, and personalizing recovery rather than waiting for burnout.

Key Points From This Episode: 

[01:48] Dr. Denis Cronson introduces himself and his background, defining the “executive condition” and the premise of his book. 

[04:16] Denis explains how the condition isn’t limited to corporate executives and how similar patterns can occur in other high-pressure leadership environments, reinforced by company values of overcommitment, self-sacrifice, and depletion.

[6:31] Denis describes how burnout is the endpoint, not the beginning of the problem, saying “performance drift” is the first sign of a problem. 

[12:00] Denis details how he extensively researched the biological basis behind leadership characteristics, discussing the approximately 300 research citations in the book. 

[16:51] Denis encourages wearables to track heart rate, sleep, and more so leaders can monitor the direction of change and risk.

[24:54] Denis outlines the Resilience Typing System (RTS) in the book, describing the different leadership/stress-response profiles. 

[30:47] Denis explains how different biological recovery goals can require different interventions, including stress recovery, sleep quality, and mental clarity. 

[31:27] Denis tells Laura why he chose hybrid publishing. 

[34:00] Denis shares his book’s upcoming global/U.S. launch and confirms plans for an audiobook.

Resources:

• Order your copy of The Executive Condition: The Hidden Health Crisis of High-Performing Leaders. 
• Follow Denis’s work on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

They’re using the skills that brought them success—their intelligence, their grit, their willpower, their ability to spot patterns and intellectualize solutions—to camouflage their progressive decline. – Dr. Denis Cronson

Frankly, the village constable and their dog can identify burnout. What’s far more subtle and far more important, and frankly far more consequential in an organization, is the depleted leader who still looks like success and who’s still charged with making important decisions. – Dr. Denis Cronson

The executive condition could very easily be called the residence condition or the consultant’s condition in a medical environment because decision-making is degraded, and yet it’s a high expectation of the institution that doctors work in to maintain that level of output, to see the cases, to perform at a high level, to be perfect, to not make mistakes. – Dr. Denis Cronson

This hidden state of high-performing decline is a massive blind spot in leadership science. And it’s a blind spot because it’s actively hidden by the executive; it is rewarded by the organization; it’s defended by the identity of the leadership; it’s accommodated by the leadership team. – Dr. Denis Cronson

Wearables have opened up a whole new world by enabling proactive identification of strain, overload, metabolic instability, and stress hormone imbalance, and they’ve made executive health management far more nuanced and accessible than ever before. – Dr. Denis Cronson

The executive leader has to pitch up every day, perform for their team, perform for their organization, perform for their family, in highly consequential situations. And yet recovery is not only the last thing on their mind, but an existential threat to their identity as a powerful, invulnerable leader. – Dr. Denis Cronson

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 6: The Executive Blind Spot Nobody Is Talking About appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Congratulations! You’ve written a book and gotten it published, but now comes what we call “the hard part”: figuring out how to market your book on social media (and everywhere else). 

If you’re feeling lost, trust us, you’re not alone. We’re here with some helpful tips for how to promote your book on social media and start planning your book launch strategy.

Before You Get Started: What Are the Best Social Media Platforms for Authors?

With your book launch getting closer every day, you’re probably feeling pressure from your publisher (and especially yourself!) to start promoting your book on social media. But before you get started, it’s important to know where to begin. 

When we start discussing a book launch strategy with our clients, we first help them identify which social media platforms best fit their voice, brand, and audience. Let’s quickly go through the six primary social media platforms.

Facebook

Facebook, owned by Meta, is the world’s largest social media platform and is widely used to connect with friends and family, community groups, local news, and businesses. You can post any kind of content, from a simple written message to a long-form video, making it easy to share whatever media you want. 

Instagram

Close behind Facebook in terms of users is Instagram, also owned by Meta. However, Instagram is visually driven above all else, focusing on Reels (vertical videos under three minutes) and photo carousels. Instagram creators focus on lifestyle, aesthetics, and humor, creating catchy content that quickly grabs their audience’s attention. 

TikTok

Like Instagram, TikTok loves visuals, but it centers on short, engaging videos. People turn to TikTok for entertainment, to catch up on trending events, and to explore helpful tutorials. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great platform for professional networking, where people share career updates, companies look for new team members, and industry leaders share valuable insights.

X

X, formerly Twitter, is all about real-time conversations in short-form written posts, images, and videos, with people commenting on current world events and discussing breaking news. Industry leaders in business, news, politics, and sports have to keep up with conversations on X to understand how people perceive them. 

P.S. Although X still has a large user base, many professionals are moving away from the platform because of its controversy. Do your own research before you decide whether or not you want to invest your time on X. 

YouTube 

YouTube has been the go-to platform for video streaming for years, with long-form videos, Shorts (similar to Instagram Reels), tutorials, and live streams offering versatile options for sharing all kinds of video content.

Pick 2-3 Social Media Platforms: Don’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin

Seeing all those platforms listed, you may feel nervous because you feel pressure to be active and engaged on all of them—but that’s not the case! The best approach to social media is to pick two to three platforms that interest you most and where you feel your book can reach its best audience, then start posting. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself at the beginning of your book launch strategy by overcommitting to too many platforms because you run the risk of getting burnt out before you can develop the audience you need. 

For example, if your book offers practical, down-to-earth concepts you can share in short videos or graphics, Instagram or TikTok may be the best option to begin promoting your book. Or, if you’re talking about business concepts from your book or discussing case studies, LinkedIn and Facebook would be great places to reach an audience that connects with your book.

The 80/20 Rule

One of the most frequent comments we get from our clients when they’re trying to learn how to promote a book on social media is “I don’t want to just post about my book all the time. People will get tired of me!” Our response is “You’re right! You shouldn’t just post about your book all the time.” 

This is where the 80/20 rule applies. When you create your monthly social media calendar, only 20% should promote your book or brand. The other 80% should be helpful information, interesting events from your life, responses to thought leaders in your industry, etc. When you think about it like that, it becomes a lot less intimidating, right? 

After all, once you build an audience that is interested in what you have to share about your industry or specialty, they’re more than likely going to be interested in your book as well! 

Get Inspired for Your Social Media Posts

When you sit down to write social media content, you may feel stumped about what to say. But you wrote a whole book! You obviously have plenty to say about your area of expertise, and you should share your thoughts because what you have to say is important.

To get you started, here are some freebies to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Do you have any upcoming author events?
2. Are there any thought leaders who inspire you?
3. What’s one valuable quote from your book?
4. What are some misconceptions about your industry/expertise?
5. What’s the most surprising thing you learned when researching your book?
6. Has anything changed your perspective in the last year?
7. Are there any current events that resonate with you?
8. What is one applicable framework from your book?

Guess what? If you want to post twice a week for the next month, we just gave you your first month’s content calendar.

Build the Right Audience for Your Book

Now that you have chosen two to three social media platforms and have some ideas for social posts, you need to build the right audience for your book. Start by thinking about your “ideal reader.” What are their interests? What questions are they asking online? What communities/podcasts/thought leaders do they follow?

Considering these questions will help you define the major themes to focus on in your content so you can connect best with your audience. For example, if your book is about trail running, you could post:

• How to effectively plan runs
• Your favorite high-carb recipes
• Comments about national or global running events
• Success stories from your favorite runners
• The biggest struggles of trail running

As you post about topics that are valuable to trail runners, they will see and engage with your content. Then, when you post about your book during the 20% of monthly promotion, they’ll be sold on your value as a thought leader and ready to make a purchase to get more of your insights.

Be Yourself and Find Your Voice 

In the oversaturated world of social media, where it can be difficult to parse out what’s real about people’s appearance and opinions, it is becoming increasingly important to be your authentic self. People want you to be genuine and vulnerable about your values, perspective, and experiences. 

We’ve seen the value of authenticity firsthand with one of our podcast guests, Ginelle Testa, the author of Make a Home Out of You: A Memoir. Her book is a deeply personal journey of overcoming addiction and finding self-love, and showing up authentically in online spaces helped her grow her social media presence and reach new audiences with her important message. 

Instead of hiding her struggles, she used them to connect with an audience that wanted to hear what she had to say. What vulnerabilities of your true self would resonate with your audience? How can you be your most authentic self when posting about yourself, your life, and your book?

P.S. You can learn more about Giselle and her social media journey by listening to our podcast.

Consistency Is Important, But Choose Quality Over Quantity

Consistency is one of the most pivotal aspects of social media success, but that doesn’t mean posting every day or even every other day. It just means finding a posting cadence that works for your life and sticking with it. Maybe that’s three times a week or maybe that’s once a week. The quantity of what you’re putting online doesn’t matter nearly as much as consistently contributing valuable content that your audience wants to see. 

How do we know consistency works? We’ve seen it time and again with our clients. Alison Fragale, the bestselling author of Likeable Badass, attributes her success on social media to staying proactive and consistent to keep her audience engaged. As she says, “Consistency leads to growth.” Hear everything she has to say on our podcast. 

Review What’s Working—And What Isn’t

Once you’ve gone through all the planning, posting, and engaging with your audience, you have to do the scary thing: find out if it’s actually working. At the end of every month, go back through your posts and see what did the best (a.k.a., which posts had the most likes, comments, and shares). If you notice a particular format (photos, videos, or graphics) or a particular theme is performing the best, experiment with more of that in the next month. 

Don’t be offended and discouraged by posts that didn’t perform well. Social media is all about putting yourself out there and discovering what people relate to the most. It’s a learning process, so stay open to learning, growing, and meeting new people along the way!

The Bottom Line

Leveraging social media to promote your book and amplify your brand is an important step in your book launch strategy. However, before you get overwhelmed, focus on two to three platforms, set a consistent posting schedule that fits your life, post topics that resonate with your audience, and be your authentic self. If you do that, you’ll be well on your way to building an online presence that you can enjoy—and hopefully sell some books along the way.

Take Action

We hope our guide on social media for authors helped you feel a bit more confident about launching your book strategy online, but if you’re still feeling uncertain, you don’t have to do it alone. 

At Weaving Influence, we are committed to helping nonfiction authors amplify their books online through social media promotions, email marketing, public relations, and so much more. We would love to partner with you to share compelling content and connect with the audience that most needs to hear your message. Get in touch with us to schedule a free consultation!

The post How To Promote a Book on Social Media appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Ronit Ziv-Krieger, editor of The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously. The book was created by Momentum, a global organization engaging 25,000 mothers in 40 countries to foster stronger families and communities. The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously is based on surveys of 10,000 mothers to identify the most meaningful topics about life, family, and health. The book features wisdom from the Jewish tradition, applied to contemporary life, and includes contributions from various experts and storytellers. It aims to foster resilience, combat anti-Semitism, and promote meaningful relationships.

Key Points From This Episode: 

[01:40] Ronit describes the book’s creation process, including surveys of thousands of mothers to identify the most meaningful topics about life and family. 

[04:12] Ronit explains Momentum’s global work in 40 countries, engaging thousands of mothers in a year-long learning journey.

[7:48] Ronit discusses the book’s focus on applying Jewish wisdom to contemporary issues like friendships, parenting, and mental health.

[9:33] Ronit explains the book’s approach to nourishing oneself with beauty, wonder, and relationships.

[13:56] Ronit shares the story of the 12 scouts from the Jewish tradition, highlighting the importance of perspective and outlook.

[18:11] Ronit discusses the book’s role in combating anti-Semitism by fostering a strong, meaningful Jewish identity.

[23:19] The practice of chavrutah, or studying with a partner, is emphasized for fostering deep relationships and mutual growth.

[28:34] Ronit shares that book bundles are available for group learning or gift-giving, and thanks Weaving Influence for making that option possible. 

Resources:

• Learn more about Momentum and order your copy of The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously. 
• Follow Ronit’s work with Momentum on LinkedIn. 

Key Quotes:

As the global director of education, my team and I curate amazing resources for that journey, helping mothers build cohorts that foster strong families and strong communities, creating women who become agents of hope not only for their families but also for the communities they live in, and building global relationships among us. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

“The Art and Practice of Living Wonderously” is for anybody seeking to draw wisdom, inspiration, wonder, and awe into their own lives, into the lives of their children, and into the circle around them. This is what this book offers: the wisdom of the Jewish tradition. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

I love books I can put by my bedside that help me transition out of the day and the challenges—sometimes the heaviness, sometimes the intensity—and help me relax, get inspired, feel nourished, and find guidance for living well into my dreams. That I can wake up feeling refreshed, and that my soul is also nourished. So that’s what I imagine this book to be. It doesn’t take me long, just a few minutes, and I get a nitbit that relates to my life and can help me in that kind of way. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

With those challenges, there are also nuggets of wonder, beauty, relationship, and soulfulness that one can tap into. It nourishes us from within and gives us more inner strength to address what is difficult. We take time to build the muscle of nourishing ourselves with beauty, with wonder, with awe, with relationships, with kindness, with gratitude. Then, even when we’re dealing with painful situations, the way we approach it is different. It’s transformed. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

Build a practice to start each day connecting with something beautiful first and foremost from inside you, your pure soul that doesn’t get tainted by your mistakes, by your foibles, by your failings, by your challenges. Our sense of hope, our sense of possibility, our sense of strength, our sense of courage—it all gets nourished from that. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

Judaism encourages us towards action, towards doing things that bring goodness. And one of the ways we bring goodness is to foster strong, deep relationships. — Ronit Ziv-Krieger

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 5: Growing in Wonder and Resilience: The Wisdom of Jewish Tradition appeared first on Weaving Influence.

Click here to listen on your device and subscribe! 

Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with Jobert E. Abueva about the concepts behind his new book, The Janus Plan: A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention. Inspired by the Roman god Janus, who represents dual perspectives and transitions, his book guides individuals, families, and teams in reaching sustainable goals by reflecting on past experiences and setting realistic, SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives. Abueva highlights how understanding our limitations and learning from the past can empower us to plan better for the future.

Key Points From This Episode:

[01:48] Jobert discusses why it’s so difficult to keep New Year’s resolutions and how The Janus Plan changes your approach to goal-setting. 

[04:28] Jobert explains how reflecting on your past allows you to set more intentional goals for the future. 

[10:11] Jobert describes how he discovered the Roman god Janus and why the dual perspective symbolism has helped him throughout his life. 

[13:26] Jobert explains why it’s important to set goals throughout the year, not just make New Year resolutions, and not be afraid to pivot those plans if your circumstances change. 

[19:01] Jobert discusses why you should take a step back from your responsibilities at times to broaden your perspective.

[22:11] Jobert describes New Year’s celebrations from around the world and the importance of goal-setting in all cultures. 

[25:19] Jobert explains why you have to see your life like a tapestry, taking the good and the bad together. 

[28:32] Jobert lists the many ways readers can interact with The Janus Plan and get the most out of the exercises in the book.

Resources:

• Learn more about The Janus Plan and pre-order your copy. 
• Follow Jobert’s author journeys on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

When it comes to setting goals, you want them to be SMART; it’s an acronym that many may be familiar with. You want your goals to be sustainable, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The more your goals adhere to this model, the more likely you are to meet them, if not succeed in them. — Jobert E. Abueva

Look to the past. Understand what the lessons are before you look to the future. — Jobert E. Abueva

Many countries and cultures share the same mindset or anticipation of the new year, but before you enter the new year, there is a lot to be said for reflection and understanding what the past has taught us. That’s really what Janus, the Roman god, is all about: beginnings and endings, past and future, looking to the past for those lessons and looking to the future with energy, enthusiasm, and goals that will last. — Jobert E. Abueva

It’s really critical that once we set goals at the beginning of the year, the month, the week, the day, that we have checkpoints along the way to just see if we’re still on track. If we’re not, why might that be? Take a reset, a step back, and don’t be afraid to pivot to adjust your direction to reach your final goal, because conditions change. — Jobert E. Abueva

It’s really critical to have that broader perspective and to get out of your head. That’s what The Janus Plan has offered me: the perspective that there is more to life, my day, and my week than what I got myself so caught up in. — Jobert E. Abueva

I use the imagery of weaving and tapestries. Each year is a tapestry. Once it’s done, hang it up and admire it, all its imperfections, all the beautiful threads in it, because that’s life. Life has the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s really appreciate and understand it before we move into the next year with whatever goals, themes, and milestones we want to accomplish. So, if anything, live in understanding your past before you step into the future. — Jobert E. Abueva

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The post Episode 4: Understand Your Past and Step into Your Future with Confidence appeared first on Weaving Influence.

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Welcome to Indie Author Chat, the podcast designed to help you explore the ideas and insights behind today’s most thoughtful nonfiction books. Join host Laura Finch for engaging conversations with independent authors as they share the wisdom and inspiration behind their books—each title carefully curated by Weaving Influence Press.

In this episode, Laura talks with David Alsop about the concepts behind his new book, Making HR Matter: What CEOs Want and How to Deliver It, coauthored with Ted Forbes. As the very first title from Weaving Influence Press, Making HR Matter is an excellent example of how indie authors and hybrid publishers can collaborate to create something special. David shares concepts directly from the book about how to make HR matter, while also reflecting on the experience of writing with a coauthor and what he hopes readers will gain from reading it.

Key Points From This Episode:

[01:33] David shares the primary audience for Making HR Matter and who he and Ted wrote it for.

[02:58] Why is there a negative perception around HR? David explains the history. 

[06:08] David reveals how HR can be a value creator for a company. 

[11:15] David outlines the four essentials of RelevantHR, which are a key component of the book.

[19:51] David expands on the concept of being “mentored by your enemy.” 

[21:55] David reflects on the possibilities that unfold when executives, managers, and HR professionals unite around a shared path forward.

[29:34] Discover what it was like for David to write Making HR Matter with a coauthor and how they tackled the author experience together. 

[32:18] David shares the number one thing he wants listeners and readers to know about Making HR Matter.

Resources:

• Learn more about Making HR Matter and order your copy. 
• Follow David and Ted’s author journeys on LinkedIn.

Key Quotes:

Where HR people get held back is they get into benchmarks of what everyone else is doing to retain people—they start paying attention to every other company instead of their own unique needs. —David Alsop

As HR people, we are the stewards—the facilitators of systems and tools that maximize the partnership with employees. —David Alsop

You can create a system where you bring people in and you increase the number from 20 to 30 to 40 people who are rock stars. You’re never going to have perfection, but you have to shepherd that culture where everybody is willing to step up and give their best to the organization. —David Alsop

We’re meant to get out of our comfort zones to grow our mentality and our perspective. When we grow our perspective, we empathize with more people to navigate the chaos and difference of our country and our society and our business. —David Alsop

People who acknowledge their weaknesses with confidence are able to identify the opportunities to fill those gaps. —David Alsop

There are jobs for everybody that will work for everybody, and if we’re not honest with one another, we will put people in jobs where they’re not engaged. —David Alsop

Sign up for the bi-weekly newsletter to connect with Becky Robinson and learn about upcoming book launches.

Consider joining Team Buzz Builder, our book review team that supports most of our client launches. When you sign up for a launch, you’ll receive a complimentary copy (digital or print) in exchange for your commitment to post an early review.

The post Episode 3: The Ultimate Guide to Making HR Matter appeared first on Weaving Influence.