Summary

Don Sabado uses social media as a crucial tool for marketing his writing and math workbooks, despite initial reluctance and mixed experiences, recognizing its effectiveness in reaching customers and readers.

Abstract

Don Sabado, a teacher, author, and writer, has come to embrace social media as an essential marketing strategy for his work. Initially resistant, he now acknowledges its power in driving traffic to his Medium page and selling his math workbooks. While still grappling with the intricacies of social media platforms, he has established a presence on Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and his own math blog. Despite challenges, such as dealing with trolls on Twitter and a decline in Pinterest views, Don remains committed to leveraging social media to increase his writing income and replace his teaching income. He plans to continue writing on Medium and using social media platforms to market his work, focusing on consistent content creation and engagement with his audience.

Opinions

Don values social media as a cost-effective marketing tool, crucial for reaching potential customers and readers.
He is still learning and questioning the best ways to use social media to his advantage in the writing business.
Don is uncertain about the long-term financial benefits of writing on Medium but is hopeful and plans to assess his progress.
LinkedIn has been a surprise for Don, not just for networking but also for finding writing job opportunities as an independent contractor.
Twitter has been a mixed experience, with initial trolling issues that have since improved, and he now uses it to promote his work.
Facebook is a platform Don uses purely for professional purposes, maintaining an author page and connecting with high school friends.
Don's Math Blog remains a passion project, with steady subscribers and increased traffic thanks to his Medium articles.
He is realistic about his goals, focusing on consistent writing on Medium and marketing his existing math workbooks and products.
Don has no plans to add more social media platforms to his current marketing strategy, preferring to deepen his engagement with the ones he is already using.

The Only Reason I Use Social Media is Because it’s Free Marketing

I Have More Questions Than Answers at This Point in My Writing Journey

I have had several weird experiences on social media platforms, but I know it is the cheapest and fastest way to reach customers and readers.

Writing has created more questions than answers for me; the business side is the non-glamorous side, but I know it is a necessary part of writing if I want to earn money.

I had a slow start to social media because of my stubbornness; I thought I could do marketing without social media.

But, when I finally came around to it, I realized it helped me sell math workbooks and bring people to view my Medium page.

I started on social media like a fish out of water; I was uncomfortable using it. I’m still not sure if I’m maximizing and leveraging everything that social media offers.

My experiences on social media have been okay if I had to grade myself, but I do know it is a necessary marketing tool.

I will continue to use social media as a marketing tool for my math workbooks and my Medium articles.

My Experiences on Social Media

1. Medium

I am not sure if Medium is a social media platform, but I will include it here because it helps drive traffic to my other sites. I will continue to write on Medium and publish articles consistently.

I want to assess my progress on Medium in about a year because it’s too early to determine if writing every day on Medium is worth the financial benefit. I like practicing my writing on Medium, but eventually, I want to make a lot more than $10 per month.

2. LinkedIn

I didn’t know what to expect when I started my LinkedIn account; the funny part of LinkedIn was when my former students found out I was on LinkedIn, some of them requested to connect with me on the site.

I knew about LinkedIn because I received a lot of referrals from the platform when I had my tutoring business; however, I recently found out that I could connect to companies as an independent contractor for writing jobs.

I’ll continue to stay connected and search on LinkedIn.

3. Twitter

Twitter is a weird platform for me to connect to anyone. I had to block several trolls when I first started. It was the time I still tutored regularly.

I remember an account that trolled me. The person had one Twitter follower and followed 391 people; the Twitter profile would say teacher but had no verification to justify the person of the account was a teacher. I also received weird DMs from the troll.

The account would also indicate the created date as the current month. Another Twitter account would pop up and do the same thing after I blocked the Twitter account. It’s okay now on Twitter, but there was a time that it was weird being on Twitter.

I currently use Buffer to promote my math workbooks and Medium articles on Twitter.

4. Facebook

I was late to the party with Facebook; I only signed up recently because I knew it had a social media presence.

I also created an author page on Facebook. If I didn’t need a personal profile on Facebook, I would have only made my author page.

But, I created a personal page and connected with several high school friends I knew on my personal Facebook page. I don’t use Facebook for personal reasons because I use it only to use my author page.

5. Don’s Math Blog.

My math blog is strictly about the methods to solve mathematics problems. I write problems and solutions on my blog and have several subscribers, but nothing significant.

Gaining some traction on my math blog is tough; it has been several years since I started my blog on Wix, and I still cannot figure it out. But since I started writing on Medium, my traffic count to my blog has increased.

Takeaway

Social media is necessary if I want to replace my teaching income. I’m still trying to figure out how to leverage social media to increase my writing income.

Writing on Medium is my go-to for writing. I stopped creating math workbooks and products on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I didn’t stop marketing them. I am thankful that I have monthly passive income from both.

A realistic goal is to write consistently on Medium.

Final Thoughts

Marketing my work on social media keeps me busy. I don’t plan to add another social media to my list.

I also have Pinterest, but I’m not sure when Pinterest changed its algorithm. I remember my page went from 3,000 views to 55 views per month.

I’ll continue to use social media because it has helped me market myself as a writer and author.

Don Sabado

Teacher | Author | Writer

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Amazon

Twitter

Don’s Math Blog

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