Clearing The Digital Clutter
It's a new year, so let's get your online presence cleaned up!
Happy New Year! 2024 has included a lot of laptop time on the couch, reading, playing tourists on the cable cars in San Francisco and gearing up for getting back into our normal routine next week!
Of course with the start of a new year, I’ve seen the increase of ads for gym memberships, weight loss programs and workout equipment…the talk of resolutions and goal planning. I’m sure you have too. Instead of making resolutions, let’s start the year by getting your online presence cleaned up, clearing out the digital clutter and ensuring you’re ready to show up as the expert that you are.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working with a friend who launched a new business this week and wanted to make sure his personal website and online presence were both ready for the launch. This is a great exercise for everyone, no matter what your business is and making it a task at the beginning of the year is perfect!
If you feel you’re too close to your website and content, then ask someone else to take a look at your site and answer some of these questions. Overall, take some time to read everything on your website. Look for grammatical errors, updates, out of dates and everything in between.
Your Website
Homepage
Can you tell right away what you do? Sure, your business name or book might be on the homepage, but does it specifically call out what you do and who you are? This isn’t where your bio will go, but it should be clear when someone lands on this first page who you, what you do and what you offer.
About Page
THIS is where your bio should be! Is it updated? Is your headshot included to welcome visitors? If you’ve listed features in your bio, are they hyperlinked? Add a button to your Media/Press page to easily direct people to where you’ve been featured.
Media/Press Page
Are your features and interviews updated? Are they hyperlinked and open to a new tab? This is great to ensure that you don’t lose website visitors when they click on your past interviews. Bonus points if you’ve embedded your podcast playlist from Spotify! Make sure you name the outlets you’ve been on and not just the title of the interview or article. Include your “Official Bio” and “Approved Headshots” with photographer credit to make it easily downloadable.
Contact Page
Have you given visitors a place to contact you? You’d be surprised how often I find this left out. You don’t have to put your email address, you can add a contact form. Just be sure that there’s an easy way to get a hold of you.
Double Checking and Triple Checking
Read through everything. Click on every link. Check on a desktop and a mobile device. Certain website hosts/templates default to showing a different view on your mobile device, therefore it’s important to see how it shows up on both and that everything is where you want it to be.
Media Interviews & Features
When was the last time you Googled yourself? I do it almost weekly and yes, I am aware at how narcisstic that sounds, but it’s actually good practice. I also have alerts set up on my name.
Stop read, open a new tab and go set up your alerts. Create a Google Alert and a Talkwalker Alert. They are both free and save you time from Googling!
Now, go Google yourself. Do you have a spot to house all of your past interviews? I use Trello because it’s already where I track my pitches, so everything is in one place.
Podcast Interviews
Your podcast interviews are hopefully already housed on your Trello board (or at least in one spot), but let’s also make sure you have a Spotify playlist of them. I think having a Spotify playlist of your podcast interviews is not only smart and useful but also really freaking cool. You can embed the player on your website (see media/press page above), add it to your LinkedIn profile (under your current job, there’s a media section you can link it in) and embed it in your pitches and on your media kit.
**Create Playlist Cover Art in Canva using the Instagram post size!**
Social Media Bios
Take a quick look at your bio on Instagram. Now head over to LinkedIn, Threads, Facebook, X…all of the places you’re showing up. Do they all say the same thing or did you update one and forget another? Consistency is key, so make sure they are say the same thing and point followers in the same direction.
How To Get On Podcasts
Tomorrow my author copies arrive! The latest pub date (and hopefully final one) is January 19th! I’ll be heading to Los Angeles this month to record the audiobook and will then heading NYC. I’ll be therre on my actual pub date (didn’t intend on this happening but I’ll be sure to sip on champagne in the Big Apple to celebrate!). I will be heading to Barnes & Noble on 5th Ave to sign copies on pub day! Keep an eye out on my social media for the big box opening tomorrow!
My Favorite Interview
Last week’s podcast episode might just have been my favorite interview of the year! I met Silvia Vasquez-Lavado back in September at the Zibby Retreat in Solvang. Her smile and warmth brought me in and I knew we were going to be friends. We’ve literally bumped into each other since then, found time to catch up togther and will be celebrating my book together later this month.
Silvia brings a new perspective to the word authentic and shared how she’s intentionally dreamed about what she wants in her life…and how it’s happened. It’s a beautiful conversation that I keep going back to. If you haven’t read her book, In The Shadow Of The Mountain, I highly encourage you to add it to your TBR list this year!
HTGOP Tips 32-42
If you’re following along, today was tip 42!
Tip #32: Research podcasts using Spotify.
Tip #33: Research podcasts using Podchaser.
Tip #34: Listen to an episode or two of the podcasts you’re going to pitch to. Make a note of what the episode was and what your takeaways were.
Tip #35: Make sure the podcasts you are going to pitch to accept guests! Don’t pitch to solo shows.
Tip #36: Looking for contact info? Check Instagram to see if there’s a contact or email button.
Tip #37: Share an episode of a podcast you are going to pitch to with your social media followers and tag the host. This is a great way to engage with the podcast host!
Tip #38: Couldn’t find the email address for the host on Instagram? Try their website!
Tip #39: Rate and review podcasts you’re pitching to.
Tip #40: Write a 2-3 sentence mini-bio of yourself. This is what I call your skeleton pitch because it’s the only part that won’t change…unless you change!
Tip #41: Only select 2-3 speaking topics for your podcast pitch. All 6+ of your speaking topics will be in your attached media kit but only the applicable ones should be included in your pitch.
Tip #42: Personalizing your pitch is going to include what episode you listened to and the value you got from that episode. You’re also going to include the value you will bring to the audience, but this isn’t a time for selling. Podcasts are about the audience, not you!
Sharing Is Caring
I’m a big fan of sharing things I love. I’m a newsletter subscriber to HuffPost Books by Tessa Flores and she not only talks all things books but shares what subscribers are reading. You can subscribe here! This week, Tessa shared my recommendations! I loved Emma Grey’s, The Last Love Note and also interviewed her on my show last month.
’ debut novel, Love, Me, comes out January 16th! Keep an ear out for her interview on My Simplified Life as well!
I had a really fun time chatting with Tod on PR360 about what else…How To Get On Podcasts!
If you’re an author looking for book promotion ideas for 2024, WOW - Women On Writing included my thoughts on why podcasts are a must!
Let me know how your online cleanup goes! January is a perfect month to get ready for pitching yourself and it’s much easier to do when the foundation is already laid!
Terrific post! I’m off to start on my to-do list. Thank you!