Do you participate in forums and discussion groups to learn more about writing and publishing? Or, perhaps you belong to online groups related to the theme of your book—gardening, New Age thought, motorcycles, bird watching, hiking or finances, for example.
Before I ask you what you’re getting out of it, let me ask what are you putting into it?
• Do you open and read messages from the group?
• Do you respond?
• Do you sometimes pose questions or provide information to the group?
Maybe you believe that such groups are a waste of time. Your time is too valuable to spend chit chatting with people you don’t know. And this could be. Some groups are not well-monitored and the messages are less than useful or informative. But most discussion groups and forums provide many benefits. If you’re paying attention, you might discover,
• Ideas for articles or a book.
• Experts or interesting people you can interview for articles, a book or your blog.
• Updated information or anecdotes you can use in your presentations.
• Resources you weren’t aware of.
• Solutions to a problem you or a client/customer is having.
• New friends/colleagues you’ll enjoy knowing.
If you shun the opportunity to join in with others in forums or discussion groups related to your interests, particularly if you have established a business around this interest, you may be missing the boat. This week, seek out such forums and discussion groups and spend a little time checking them out. Report back to this blog via the comments section and let us know what you gained.
In the meantime, if you are a freelance writer, author, hopeful author or if you enjoy cats or are fascinated by true metaphysical stories (of hypnosis, past-life regression, self-healing, etc.), check out my wide array of books for sale at http://www.matilijapress.com
Yes, I am the author of them all.