Thursday, September 06, 2007

Myspace: Need Input

Hello, my lovely and faithful blog readers! Did you see the bat signal go up? That's because I need your help. I'm working on an article for an upcoming issue of the RWR on using Myspace for promotion. If you have anything you'd like to tell me about your experience with Myspace, please email me with your story at kristen (at) romancedivas (dot) com.

If I use your story, you'll get quoted in the RWR and live in infamy for the rest of your life. Okay, maybe not, but it could happen.

Here are some things I'd like to know:

1. Did you design your space yourself or have help? If you had help, who helped you? If you didn't have help, what was your method?
2. Has your experience been positive or negative? Explain.
3. If you've ditched Myspace for another networking site, which one did you go to and why?
4. If you don't have a Myspace page, why not?
5. If you have a Myspace page, what motivated you to get one started?

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On a side note, I somehow got a piece of tortilla chip in my eye last night. I know you're wondering how I've lived this long and if you know anyone who's more of a freak, but there you have it. Snack foods can attack. Consider yourself warned.

13 comments:

  1. My daughter designed mine on our iMac. I just got one because ...I gave in. OK, I heard it was great for networking with READERS. Positive experience. Very. I didn't have one for the longest time because I didn't like the time drain, but I found it's really not. But I also wanted to be in charge of how mine looked, so Dd saved me there. And she's been making me these cute Thanks for the Add thingies, and such. Very kewl.

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  2. {{{hugs}}} for the attacking snack foods. Can't say I've ever had them in my eye, but I have witnessed other attacks. It ain't pretty.

    As for my MySpace, there's not much design to it other than color change, and I did that myself. Google was my friend, I found a website or two that told me how to do it and I just started fiddling. Of course, I'm a trial-and-error designer anyway, so fiddling's in my blood.

    My experience has been mostly positive. As with anything on the internet, I have run into some really strange characters. And by strange I mean I'd cross the street if I ever saw them coming toward me. But they're the minority.

    Unfortunately, MySpace requires a lot of time, and I don't dedicate as much as I should. Still being pre-published, I have the advantage of not needing it yet for self-promotion. But once I am published (notice the positive thinking thing there?), I'll have to make sure and make the time for it.

    I think one other disadvantage is the sheer number of people. The site calls the people you're linked to "friends", but it's nearly impossible to give all your "friends" the personal attention the term "friend" indicates.

    Finally, the reason I got one is almost embarrassing. It had nothing to do with self-promotion or networking or any lofty-type goal.

    It was music.

    I found out one of my favorite musicians had a profile and would be posting pictures and blogs. And I couldn't see those pictures or blogs unless I was a member. So of course, I signed right up. Who knew it would explode the way it has?

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  3. Sorry for leaving such a long comment! Argh!

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  4. MySpace is the best free marketing available. Period. I jumped on it because I write YA, and gee, my target audience is MySpace savvy. If you are interested in MySpace opinions/tutorials, you should check out J.A. Konrath's blog and do a search on marketing and promotion. He knows his stuff.

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  5. Good grief - owwww. Take care!

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  6. lol- consider yourself chipped. (Do you have that expression in the US? As in "told off?")

    Myspace- done by moir, the techy-challenged luddite, after much netsurfing for "furniture" and much creative use of language (muttered so the bratsters couldn't hear me.) I got a MySpace coz my loving friend, that would be you, told me I should blog, which became an obcessive time-wasting machine. MySpace was really the next step, like a junkie who starts by tasting a little weed and soon finds themselves hooked on ice. Yes, the finger is pointing at you, you time-sapping, cyberspace-promo pusher! Feds are circling your house as we speak and this post is just a diversion to keep you still so the little red dot can settle on target.

    And so, with my flying pigs and excessive pinkness, I am now on MySpace. Has it done any good promo wise? Not sure, but you meet a lot of nice people there. SOme of them are even sane.:-)

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  7. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Kennedy-t.html?ex=1189656000&en=859540383d9a0fe6&ei=5070&emc=eta1

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  8. NYTIMES essay written by an author about MySpace. Let me know if that link does not work.

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  9. My personal myspace page isn't really for promotion; just jumping on the bandwagon. However, I set up a myspace page for my RWA chapter to reach out to local writers who aren't members of RWA and to promote our events/ accomplishments to a larger audience. Overall, I've had a positive myspace experience. Easy to use, set up and navigate (no help necessary). I tried using Gather, but that site is a bloody mess.

    Scary about the snack attack. I guess that means no more chips for you?

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  10. I do not have a MySpace page.
    Sheesh. Blogger takes up enough of my time. Plus, I'm technologically challenged.
    I feel like Caveman Lawyer from Saturday Night Live (remember Phil Hartman?) "Your MySpace world scares and frightens me." LOL!

    But I think that if I were to write YA, I would consider learning.

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  11. I was turned on to MySpace by—who else?—my Diva friends. I'm a do-it-yourself kind of person, so I played around with mine page until I ended up with something I liked. MySpace has given me a lot of exposure that I don't think I could've gotten anywhere else. When I look at my website statistics at the end of the month and see that hundreds of hits came through the link on my MySpace page, that's very good publicity.
    Good luck with your article, and I hope your eye gets better.

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  12. You shouldn't be putting your face in the tortilla bowl. It keeps the chips out of your eyes and nose.

    I have myspace and love it.

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  13. No My Space story, but I wanted to console you on the tortilla chip attack. Making out with your food can be dangerous;0

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