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Angela Ford tells us about online marketing and social media, and how she was able to use those skills to self-publishing market her fiction novels using Instagram, Facebook groups, contests, book tours, and more.\n\nDisplay TranscriptAngela Ford: I really got started in the online marketing, first of all, because I'm obsessed with social media, like a lot of the younger generation. It's just so attractive and so much fun, especially to get a lot of likes and comments on different things. That's initially what got me started and really attracted me to online marketing. After that, I discovered it was an excellent way to really reach people that aren't next door to you, in your neighborhood, or in the same city that you're in, but really reach out to them and help them with promoting their products or services. That's something that I've always been in the business of promoting products or services. I was a musician when I was younger, and after that I transitioned into blogging. Now, I have a book out. That's something that I really wanted to focus on. How do I get visible online? How do I help others get visible online? What do you need to do in order to get a fan base and get people that will talk about your work and promote it for you? That's really what got me into it.\n\nWhat really makes me unique here is that even though I do a lot of the digital marketing, I actually write fantasy novels. That's my huge passion project. That's a little strange, a little different there. It's a lot of fun for me. Then, what I get to do is not only promote those, but also promote my business. I do a lot with digital marketing. I work with a lot of creative entrepreneurs who have their own websites, their own blogs. Some of them actually sell products. Some of them do more of the courses and services. It really depends there. It's a fun way to work together to really strategize, be creative, and figure out, "Okay. What can I do today to get visible online, to get more clients, send people back to my website, and build that traffic, and build up a reputation on social media?"\n\nRobert Plank: That's cool. I especially like that you have your fantasy novel as your hobby, but isn't it cool if the hobby we have makes us some money, too, right?\n\nAngela Ford: Oh. Absolutely. I firmly believe that with what the entrepreneurial lifestyle, we all want to do a lot of different things. We're not just in it for one thing, like you just don't do a podcast, and that's it. I don't just do digital marketing for other people, and that's it. We all have different passions and different things that we're doing in our lives. Regardless of whether or not it's making money, but it's a huge plus and a huge bonus if it is.\n\nRobert Plank: Right. All right. As far as that goes, like as far as the social media especially Twitter and stuff like that, do you think that there is a dark side to some of the social media? Especially with the, you know, a lot of people putting in a lot of time, not getting a lot of traction, or some of the bots and the spam stuff and going down a rabbit hole. Do you see people using social media in the wrong way?\n\nAngela Ford: Oh, for sure. It's so funny that you say that, because every now and then I will get on Instagram or I'll get on Twitter, and I'll see a bunch of posts. I'm like, "Oh no. The marketers have come to down. They're ruining this social media platform, because they're really gungho promoting their next webinar, their next course, or they just have a ton of quotes there." It can be kind of frustrating. It takes away some of that real human connection when you get all of the spams and the bots coming in. Then, all of the posts that are really hardcore promotional. There definitely is that side, and it really isn't about promoting, promoting, promoting. The whole point of social media is to be social and to share authentically who you are, yourself, even if you're focused on one topic.