I’m always trying to up my game… and next up will be adding exclusive content for subscribers to the blog. Over the next few weeks, I will be adding exclusive excerpts from upcoming books to the blog. These won’t go out on any social media… they will only be publicized through the subscriber channel or by visiting the blog.

Stopping in and taking a look around will be rewarded, as will being a subscriber. Social media, especially FaceBook has dramatically curtailed the ability of creators to distribute. I used to be able to share it, and it would be seen by all of my friends, but now, they want me to buy ads.

I actually did pay for a few ads… the results were WAY worse than the free distribution I used to get. In fact, the paid solutions didn’t measure up to even the hampered free distribution over a short period. Of course, FB’s answer was that I should spend MUCH more money over a MUCH longer period of time in order to see results.

Here’s the thing… I’m NOT making money at this yet. Not even close. I’m not spending a lot more than I make, but I am running in the negative. I don’t mind spending where I get a result… even if it means losing a little money… but pointless spending, especially with FB is a non-starter to me.

Anyway, as a result, I really want to recruit dedicated readers. And I want to reward those readers with FREE content that they won’t find anywhere else.

I haven’t mentioned it too much here… and I probably should… but I am also writing on Vocal Media. It is a site that allows authors to post up and get paid for their traffic. The pay for traffic is seriously weak, but it’s something. But they also have contests, some of which I have suitable material to enter. Read More

I have dropped a few stories on Vocal of late, and thought I would mention them here.

Little Orphan Annie, which is for a challenge regarding adopted dogs. Annie was a Golden Retriever mix I used to have that had been a stray. She was a beautiful dog with a wonderful heart. I’d love for you to give it a read… I’ll make about 2/3 of a penny.

Junkyard Dog is another challenge entry… and I already know it isn’t going to win. The challenge is about thrift stores… so I posted up about junkyards. They are kind of the same, right? Anyway, I figured the contest needed a little balance.

Here’s one that will give pause to those that like to take things out of context… Trapped in The Closet. Not that you would have guessed, but it is literally about being trapped in a closet. I will not say the girl’s name (she was a lovely girl at the time, and now a lovely woman), but I was stuck in her closet, fearing for my life… It’s also a contest entry. The fictionalized account is in Lies and Omissions.

In the next few days, I plan on writing another fiction story for the site for another contest. But I haven’t hit on the right story for that one.

You can see everything I have posted there by going to my author page… Link here. Yes, I make money when you read the stories… six-tenths of a cent per read. I’m sure there is an FTC guideline I would be in violation of if I didn’t state that…

Enjoy.

I don’t even know why…

Last week my site referrals from FaceBook dropped off by 75%. That’s right… I only had a quarter of the traffic from my FaceBook posts as I normally get.

Other sites are not affected. Just FaceBook.

So… either the algorithm decided that it no longer liked me, or Read More

I haven’t ever offered this one for free, and it will only be FREE for a few days.

Who, What, When, Why?; Dixon-Prince Book 4. I have several stories posted here on the blog from this book. It is shorter stories from the series, collected together. They were the side plots that grew out of the mainline plot, but deserved their own telling.

Here are some of the side stories I have posted (follow links to see them):

• The Proposal
• The Hacker

There are also some excerpts from other books, but these are complete stories from this particular collection.

As always, I’d LOVE for you to share on your social media if you liked them, and I welcome your feedback. You can find me mostly on MeWe and Parler, but also on Goodreads. I’d love for you to follow/friend/whatever my profile on those sites.

For a very long time I have been on FaceBook and Twitter. I joined them decades ago.

I soon tired of Twitter. The feed rolled too fast for me to really pay attention, and it was dominated by just a few voices and fewer real views. I maintained a presence, and actually have several accounts for different purposes, including @LaneBailey where I post updates of this blog. Read More

Brought to you by Marketing Automation Software from Marketo

There is buzz about “marketing automation”.  Some of it is good, some of it is bad.  automating social media marketing, if done right, is great.  If done poorly, it can take a toll on your brand.

On the plus side, getting the message out on a regular basis and measuring the impact in a consistent and repeatable manner, and then tuning the message, is a GREAT way to build a brand.

But, the dark side is that automated marketing, without monitoring and measuring, too easily becomes noise.  And because there is so much noise, it gets tuned out, and your brand gets turned off.

Real estate agents are some of the best… and worst.  I see agents posting up everything, everywhere, all of the time.  I see others, filtering their message based on the audience…

Related articles

• The Magic Behind the Curtain: Marketing Automation Makes it All Happen [Infographic]
• The Evolution of Modern Marketing Automation
• the Key to Success: Marketing Automation (infographic)
• Three Myths of Marketing Automation
• How to Avoid Marketing Automation Failure