It was the first time that Michael [Drew] and Andrea [Reindl] were teaching a person with my level of computer skill and understanding how to blog.

This has been difficult lately, not knowing what to do. And frustrating for my masters also, as they were challenged in how best to teach me. The one thing that became evident was that I have to become known in the social media world. There are great benefits in doing so.

The lesson or gem that I became aware of is that I needed to join a bunch of social networking groups.

The easiest way to do this is by using a site that such as ping.fm, that will get you signed up quickly and easily.  On that site, there are multiple other sites all inter-connected, so that if I put a message on the ping board, that message gets broadcast through all of the social media places that I join.  Easy!

My assignment for the month of December to join the sites and take notes.

So far, I have joined Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Linked in, MySpace, Tumblr, and Plurk.  So, if you want to go and join those and add me as a friend, that would be wonderful.

Let me know when you join, or what you join.  Just think…a whole new batch of friends!

Here’s the thing, it brings up the question ‘How real is too real?’.  How much do you share with people you only kind of know (or don’t know at all)?  How much is too much?  How do you evaluate what may or may not be too much?

Each of us must answer the above questions for ourselves.  Wether you like it or not, transparency is really no longer an option. Things like social networks and social media have made it easy to find information for just about anyone. Reality is, we have to consciously decide what information about ourselves we’ll be putting out online.

Gretchen Rubin of ‘The Happiness Project’ has some standards that she keeps as part of her checklist before she posts something.

•           Am I being funny?

•           Am I giving interesting information from science, history, literature, etc.?

•           Am I revealing my character?

•           Am I telling stories?

•           Am I showing what it’s like to live in New York City?

•           Am I linking to other bloggers?

•           Am I comfortable with my parents reading this? (I never work blue.)

•           Am I criticizing anyone except myself?

Facebook and other social media were not something that I was automatically comfortable with.  It took me some time.  Honestly, I’m still not sure where my line is. How much information I really want out on the big world wide web about me and my personal life.  I think a checklist is a great starting point to gauge what I want to post.

Below is a video that shows some of the details about social media, the web and how things are changing.  While you watch it pay close attention to the words and what’s being said. What do you think?  Have you thought about it?  Have you really put conscious thought into what kind of personal information you want exposed?  I would love to know where you stand, might help me come to some of my own conclusions

Looking for potential readers? Internet groups (aka forums, communities, or clubs) can connect you with people who are already discussing topics relevant to your book or area of expertise. Some groups even allow you to post audio, video, photos, polls, links, and calendar events. All you need to do is find them . . . and join them. Here is a list of some of the most popular group sites:

• Yahoo! Groups
• Google Groups
• MSN Groups
• YouTube Groups
• Flickr Groups
• MySpace Groups

All of these sites have communities dedicated to books and literature, but don’t stop there. Browse through the various categories and find more specific groups. There are millions of groups out there, so you’re bound to find some that fit your interests and needs. To narrow your search, look for groups with more members, but remember that smaller niche groups can be beneficial too.

Join the groups and join in on discussions. Just don’t be too invasive and salesy. Let your knowledge and winning personality sell the book for you!

We all love movie trailers. They pull us in with drama, comedy, even fear, and get us longing to go to the theater. Now publishers are joining the act and producing “book trailers”—short previews to show off how books will keep their audiences on the edge of their seats. But how can a book trailer reach the number of people who see movie trailers?

Actually, a good book trailer can reach more people. Thanks to popular sites like YouTube.com—which has 900,000 unique visitors a day—iTunes, Google Video, and Yahoo, publishers and authors can post their trailers for the world to see. The key is to create a video that people want to pass on to their friends and connections. To add more punch and make the trailer viral, use special offers, humor, or suspense.

To distribute a book trailer, the publisher simply has to upload the trailer to the sites listed above; email friends, family, and targeted email lists; and ask them to view the video and vote. Publishers are sending trailers to bloggers to post on their sites as well. What other ways are publishers using book trailers?

• On plasma screens at airport bookstores
• On their book’s Amazon.com page
• In email pitches to bookstore buyers and media
• In author press rooms

Book trailers have been around for several years but have just recently gained momentum as publishers search for new ways to sell books in a sluggish market. And with production companies like Vidlit.com to create unique and fun book trailers, we can see why publishers and authors are eager to start using this media-blending form of marketing.

So what makes a good trailer?

1. Stylish. It should be unique and should capture the viewer. You want the audience to feel that they have to read this book now.
2. Short. Try to keep your trailer under two and half minutes. You are going to lose your audience if it’s longer. Two and half minutes is the maximum length allowed by movie theaters, so their experience shows that’s long enough.
3. Imaginative. Remember that readers want to imagine what the characters and settings look like for themselves. Don’t take away the fun of reading the book.
4. Fun. Give viewers a reason to pass the trailer to their friends. You want to create buzz for your book and the trailer, but more importantly, you need to sell books.

What’s next for book trailers? We’re just starting to see them played in movie theaters, with rumors of kiosks being developed for major chain bookstores to show them. It seems as though the publishing industry has come across a marketing tool with some real star power.

According to Internet World Stats, there are about one billion people currently using the Internet. Of those people, millions are connecting, interacting, and sharing ideas with fellow Internet users around the world with new Web 2.0 technologies.

The term Web 2.0 was coined in 2004 by O’Reilly Media to describe the various Web-based tools that emphasize collaboration among online users. At the center of Web 2.0 technologies are the social media, which encompass any Web-based technologies that allow users to contribute their ideas, opinions, and experiences with other users around the world. These technologies have grown exponentially in the past couple of years, and there’s no better time for you to start taking advantage of all the perks of online social communities to bring your book promotion efforts up to speed.

Utilizing social media websites allows you to interact directly with your target audience and lets them play an active role in your media campaign. Through social media initiatives, you have the ability to create brand ambassadors, elicit consumer feedback, and launch a cost-effective campaign that has the potential to reach millions of Internet users worldwide. Major advertisers have even started devoting parts of their traditional media budgets to cover social media marketing. The media environment is constantly in a state of flux, and advertisers have realized they must alter their methods to capture the attention of precious target audiences. With this new venue of user-generated content, you don’t need the clout and budget of a traditional agency. All that’s necessary is a computer, an Internet connection, and an opinion.

Increasing your visibility in online communities will give you the opportunity to voice that opinion and expose your book to potential readers for the price of developing a screenname and providing an email address. Stay tuned in upcoming weeks as I walk you through seven of the hottest social media tools and show you how to capitalize on the opportunities they provide for you and your book.

In the next social media guide: What has the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards, and Silicon Valley all atwitter? Find out next week as the Big Bad Book Blog joins the Twitterati and we discuss one of the fastest-growing microblogging phenomena to hit the digital world.