Facebook Insights Cheat Sheet - See what posts are working for you and grow your audience!

Who is paying attention to your posts? Which posts are working to build your audience? You may be surprised by the truth. Facebook offers Insights to show you what’s working. Let’s go to the source. Any text that is quoted or italicized came from Facebook. Facebook explains, “Insights provide information about your Page's performance, like demographic data about your audience and how people are responding to your posts.”

To see Page Insights:

 1.      From your Feed, click Pages in the left menu. 

 2.      Go to your Page. 

 3.      Click Insights in the left menu. 

About Insights: Insights provide information about your Page's performance, like demographic data about your audience and how people are responding to your posts. Keep in mind that you can only access data in Page Insights for the last 2 years, and demographic data, such as age, gender and location, are available in Page Insights once there is data for 100 or more people. Pages categorized as a Community Page don't have Insights. You can use Insights to: 

Understand how people are engaging with your Page. 

View metrics about your Page's performance. 

Learn which posts have the most engagement and see when your audience is on Facebook. 

  
 In the Top Post section, I like to click on See All to drill down on which recent posts got the most attention and engagement. You can sort the results to further analyze your media outreach.  The goal is to do MORE of what’s working and less of what is not working. Today, visit your Facebook page to see what’s working for your book business. I included a few screenshots to help you see what you can see. Remember to think about where your audience spends time online, build platforms and pages that engage that audience, and grow your readership and royalties! 

The Crippled Beagle Publishing team and I can help you: 

• Set up pages on most social media platforms 
• Create a Facebook group 
• Create and schedule social media posts
• Learn how to find and use Insights

 

For help with anything related to social media, please reach out to me, or book an appointment directly on my calendar using the booking link below that matches you😊.  

• If we’ve never spoken, choose Next Steps Call. 
• If you are a Regal Beagles Author Club member, you enjoy 50% off individual consultations, so choose the “Regal Beagles Only” option to book a phone or Zoom meeting. 
• Otherwise, choose Private Session with Jody.  

Then, make a huge list of questions. The team and I look forward to helping you any way we can. 

Xoxoxo 

 P.S. Instagram offers the same data. Just go to the app, then click Professional Dashboard, then click See all.  

What do you love most about being an author? What's holding you back?

 Writing a book is a huge undertaking. I liken the process to through hiking the Appalachian Trail. Every year, about 4,000 hikers start in Springer Mountain, Georgia, or Mount Katahdin in Maine. The goal is to hike the 2,190 miles before dangerous winter weather strikes. The entire process can cost over $7,000 and take several months. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy estimates that only 1 of every 5 hikers actually completes the journey each year. 

Did you know that only 3% of people who set out to write books actually finish the process? Like the Appalachian Trail, the writing wilderness can torment us with all kinds of obstacles. 

• Imposter syndrome
• Excessive self-editing
• Lack of support
• Backburner mentality (leaving something important to you to the end of the exhausting day, thus never getting to it)
• Lack of direction or guidance/mentorship
• Fear of legal issues
• Fear of judgement/anger from family or friends
• Lack of clarity
• Confusion and overwhelm regarding the publishing industry
• Writer's block (a myth, in this girl's opinion)

Now, let's compare the two. Wouldn't you rather have the issues above verses blisters, broken bones, frostbite, hunger, lightning, falling trees, copperheads, spiders, cliffs, shelter mates with body odor, worn-out shoes, bug bites, ... need I continue?

All this is to say that if 20% of AT through hikers can make it, so can you! 

If you HAVE finished a book, CONGRATULATIONS! Tell me what you love most about being an author. I will use your comment to not only promote you but also to encourage the 97% who want to be where you are.

Sometimes, we just need a little trail magic. For an AT hiker, that may be a soft drink and a bag of potato chips. For a writer, that may be encouragement from someone farther up the trail. If you haven't finished a book, let me know what's holding you back so I can help you. Schedule a "Next Steps" call with me by replying to this email or click this link: Schedule a Next Steps Call with Jody. Then make a list of questions, and let's get you moving up that trail!

xoxoxoxo 

In this photo, I'm standing in the "blue smoke" of the Great Smoky Mountains on Rich Mountain Loop Trail. My friend Sally took the photo. She packs gourmet snacks and is a wonderfully encouraging hiking buddy. The Crippled Beagle Publishing team is excited and thankful to help you, no matter where you are on the path today. Schedule a Next Steps Call with Jody.

What are your literary pet peeves?

Hello creative friend,

Last week, my colleague Debbie Patrick and I taught “Structure Your Story”—a two-hour workshop in the Professional Learning and Personal Development at the University of Tennessee. At one point, we jotted down a list of editors’ pet peeves. I hope the list helps you, too.

Print/save this list and grab your most recent piece of writing to see if you can fine-tune your work by addressing these issues.

• Sentences that start with the word “It” - I DARE you to use the Find tool to see how many sentences start with that tiny and nondescript word.

• Dead words - Dump them all!

• Gerunds – These drive me bonkers! Do the research and learn when to use them (sparingly, please).

• Overuse of pronouns - Help readers know who is doing/saying what by tossing the characters’ names in here and there. 

• People are human, so call them “who” not “that.” People WHO, police officers WHO, men WHO, teachers WHO.

• Pronoun agreement, generally - They, their, theirs, and them are plural pronouns. While these words are culturally accepted as replacements for singular pronouns in order encourage inclusion, the practice is grammatically incorrect. If in doubt, write in plural.

Each student should bring their pencil to class. WRONG.

Students must bring their pencils to class. RIGHT (and easier to read).

• Ellipses – Most people use them incorrectly or overuse them. The same goes for semicolons, em dashes, hyphens, and exclamation points. As my mother, the retired English teacher says, “If in doubt, don’t.”

• Quotation marks AND italics at once – There are rules. If you aren’t sure which to use, look this up. 

• Double spaces between sentences - The modern rule is to use only one.

• Modal verbs when regular verbs are appropriate – If you write, “The doctor could see,” that means that the doctor was able to see or had the potential to see but didn’t necessarily see. If the doctor did see, write, “The doctor saw.”

 

Give editors your best work, and they will produce their best work for you!

What are your pet peeves? 

I encourage you to create your own cheat sheet or use Crippled Beagle Publishing’s "Proofread Like a Pro Checklist," which also includes our submissions guidelines, a list of dead words, and many other tips. This invaluable tool can be found in the Author Shop at www.crippledbeaglepublishing.com. 

Happy revising! 

Xoxoxo