Build Your Brand On Social Media In Just 12 Minutes a Day

Building your brand on Social Media in just 12 minutes each day takes a consistent message, good listening skills and knowing how to best utilize your time. It is also important to realize that you don't have to be on EVERY single social media outlet to build a strong brand and following. First, take 4 minutes on Twitter to review your messages, retweet interesting content, post your own content and extend your thank yous. Having a consistent brand message is critical to your success. I like to use a list of twitter friends who post content that supports my message to pull from quickly and easily.

Second, take 4 minutes for Facebook. Read your comments and reply back to your followers. Always post an update that is like a headline. Review headlines in magazines, newspapers or online publications to give your brand a strong punch. Don't be a copycat--make sure your headlines are your own and use them to promote your message and build your brand to success.

Third, spend 2 minutes on Pintrest to pin 1-2 items and leave a few comments on posts you like. Next, follow back your followers. There are 5 great reasons that you should not ignore Pintrest. 1) You can learn a lot about what people are responding to by seeing what is being repinned. 2) There are lots of women on Pintrest--in fact, 80% of Pintrest users are women. 3) Pintrest is an awesome place to display photos of your wares, quotes, books and social media knowledge. 4) Group boards can be used to increase your brand and message exposure to more people. 5) Use Pintrest because it's FUN-it's like shopping without spending money!

Fourth, spend 2 minutes each day on your blog posting, promoting and writing. Your blog is a way to get your message out and it needs to be updated regularly with new information. Blogging is free AND it links ALL your social media accounts in one place!

There are many other ways to promote your brand on social media including LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram etc. You can add some or all of these depending on what your brand needs. Use your time wisely as it's better to be AMAZING in 3-4 areas than so-so in 8-10 areas. Balance is key to a success in social media and more importantly, in life.

Who is Jessica de la Davies: Jessica de la Davies is an award winning writer and author of "Slippery When Wet!"--rated 5 Stars on Amazon.com. She can be found on twitter at and on Pintrest at Both @DaviesWriter *Her hobby is lint!

Create Twitter Lists To Build INFLUENCE

Twitter lists can be used in a number of different ways to help you build social media influence by putting out excellent content to attract and retain quality followers. It’s not the number of followers that you have, but the quality of these followers that count the most.

Here are four ways that your lists can help you build your social media influence: 1) Keep a private list of people who post terrific content that your followers will be interested in reading and retweet this information from the list straight out to your followers. This saves you valuable time searching through your timeline trying to figure out what to post and ensures consistent excellence in your postings. With only 140 characters, the quality of each message in your post is important.

2) Keep a list of people who retweet you often, mention you often and/or a list that contains followers you want to thank. For example, you can have a “Gratitude For Following” list to thank new followers or a “Thx For Retweet” list as a special thank you for those people who are kind enough to retweet your posts. Don’t forget to Retweet them or thank them in return.

3) Keep a list of people who YOU value as top influencers on social media. This allows you to easily view their tweets for a few minutes each day. By replying and adding valuable information, quips or links into the conversation, you can build loyal, caring relationships with people who YOU value the most.

4) Keep a list of people who have conversations or discussions that you enjoy participating in and Retweet, reply and comment during these. This keeps the “social” in social media and keeps it fun for all involved-especially YOU!

Use your lists to build up your social media influence. Your goal should be to make social media fun and engaging for both yourself and, more importantly, for your followers.

About Jessica de la Davies: Jessica de la Davies is an award winning writer and author. Her book “Slippery When Wet!” is rated 5 stars on Amazon.com. She is on twitter at or on Pintrest at @DaviesWriter ---- Her hobby is lint!

To #Hashtag or not to #Hashtag...That is the Question

There are differing opinions on whether or not to use a hashtag on social media. Here are the pros and cons: Pros: 1) Using hashtags allows people to find the information they are searching for. For example, if I am looking for some editing tips from a fellow writer on twitter then I simple type in #editing and poof-I have tips from a variety of different sources. 2) Using hashtags allows others to know what your social platform is. For example, if I use #amwriting people know that I write. You get the idea! 3) Using hashtags lets people know what your link is. Is it a photo, a website... a blog? For example, if you have a blog that you are trying to promote, adding #blog lets people know what that particular link is.

Cons: 1) Using hashtags takes up precious twitter space. When you only have 140 characters and your hashtag #amwriting it eats up other peoples' opportunity to retweet your post. 2) Using hashtags clutters up your message. If you are only using it to put #quote then you may want to leave it off so more people can retweet your quote giving you great exposure to new people.

#Hashtags cuts both ways as for me, I use them and figure that people can delete them if they need space to write or retweet my post on Twitter or Pintrest. About Jessica de la Davies:

Jessica de la Davies is an award winning writer and author of "Slippery When Wet!" rated 5 stars by Amazon.com. She loves twitter and can be found at http://www.twitter.com/DaviesWriter and Pintrest at http://www.Pintrest.com/DaviesWriter -- Her hobby is lint!

Build Your Social Media Platform & They Will Come!

Building a social media platform is about posting content that you think is interesting and that others will find interesting. Good art provokes a reaction. Post something provocative. This will serve you in four important ways that will garner you attention on Social Media: • It will provoke a discussion about your posts among others and garner you attention for your social media attention. Just be sure that the topic you post will attract the type of followers you want. Good art provokes. Good writing provokes. Good social media provokes-get the reaction!

• Your provocative posts will help you garner extra interactions with your followers and lead to discussions so be sure you are familiar with the topics you select to post. You want to write about what you know.

• If people are discussing your post, it will lead to reposting, blogging or retweeting of your material which will increase your exposure to new people and build your influence.

• Post with a photo or photos when possible. They say “a picture speaks a thousand words” and since on a social media forum like twitter you have only 140 characters, you want to make the most of each post.

Ask yourself, what makes you stand out from everyone else. Use this to drive your brand (which is your business or you) and build up your following.

About Jessica de la Davies: Jessica de la Davies is an award winning writer and author of “Slippery When Wet!” a chick lit novel that has received 5 star ratings on Amazon.com. She is a twitter lover http://www.twitter.com/DaviesWriter and a self-proclaimed Pintrest addict at http://www.Pintrest.com/DaviesWriter -Her hobby is lint!

The Three Golden Rules of Twitter

Like any form of social media, Twitter has it's rules. Here are three of the most important ones: One: Tweet others as you want to be Tweeted. I don't think this needs any big explanation, do you? If so, you are invited to post a comment below. In fact, post a comment even if you don't want to add an explanation. :)

Two: Twitter is a two-way street. Acknowledge your followers who are retweeting or socializing with you in some kind of manner within a reasonable time period. You can do this by saying thank you, retweeting them in return, mentioning them in a weekly or bi-weekly tweet, replying to them directly or by marking their post to you as a "favorite" tweet. This lets your followers know that you are also engaged with them. Your social media relationship goes both ways.

Three: Don't ever spam. If you are promoting something, for example, I have a book released right now, then mention this fact no more than one out of five tweets. Also, do not direct message someone a sales pitch. It is considered bad taste to do this right away. Instead, tweet a welcome to your new follower or simply follow back. Also, it's interesting to read other people's tweets, check out their bios and visit their websites. Be engaged and be engaging! Good luck and see you on twitter. I'm @DaviesWriter and I love Pintrest too

Please leave your comments below.

5 Steps For Getting More Quality Twitter Followers

Here are five easy tips for increasing your twitter following with QUALITY followers. Step One: Follow people who are similar to you. The reason for this is that these followers will be more likely to take an interest in what you are posting. This will help you in three ways. First, these followers are more likely to follow you back. Second, they are more likely to read your tweets. Third, they may even retweet your tweets to their followers giving your more exposure to potential followers. Hooray!

Step Two: Follow people back. It is frustrating to be thanked by someone for following them and then not be followed back. Companies especially need to follow back since they obviously are building a brand and brand loyalty. You are more likely to build a loyal following of people who care about your content and care about your company or you if you follow back.

Step Three: Tweet content that can be retweeted. This involves a couple of things. One, you need to use less than 120 of your 140 twitter characters so someone else has room to add their name and RT to your tweet. Two, you should post some content that your followers will want to retweet to their followers such as a quip, quote, blog post or picture.

Step Four: Retweet others who post content that is of value or interest to your followers. Your followers may retweet your posts in return or say thank you. Now, you are networking with others to increase your success and their success!

Step Five: Don't ask someone to "Like" your Facebook page, buy your product, vote for you for an award or give you a shout out the first time you tweet them. It is more polite to say hello and introduce yourself. Take some time to build relationships with your friends on twitter-it's social media-and considered "SPAMY" by most people on twitter. Be engaging, be social...be a success on twitter!

Best of luck on Twitter and you are welcome to join me on twitter @DaviesWriter -- I look forward to meeting/tweeting you soon!

Jessica de la Davies is an award winning writer. Her novel "Slippery When Wet!" is out and Amazon has rated it 5 Stars. She is working on her next novel "Quit It Some More" which is due to be released in August of 2014. Her hobby is lint!

Things not going right? Just write. _ Jessica de la Davies - Author, Writer & Social Med...

From The Desk Of Jessica de la Davies: Jessica de la Davies - Author, Writer & Social Med...

The Wizard of Oz, Martha Stewart and U-Haul

When it comes time to selling our house, I click my heels together three times and turn into Martha Stewart. I race around in my preppy shirt and apron organizing and labeling my closets, de-cluttering the house and Swiffering the floors within an inch of their lives. I plant wisteria along the front walk, fold the toilet paper into nifty points, create a fire hazard in the foyer with glade scented candles and cover the dust on the coffee table with coffee table books like my current novel “Slippery When Wet!”-shameless plug! In short, I would sum myself up at this point as: INSANE. When my sanity returns, I find every bath towel in our home is rolled up into logs, unused soaps adorn our sinks, tubs and shower and a lovely bottle of White Star Champagne sits beside two fluted glasses next to the soaking tub. In short, my home makes me look like a lush who doesn’t use soap! I have fake fruit in a bowls on the kitchen counter, fake plants on top of every available surface and my bed has disappeared under a pile of oversized pillows. When buyers come through to view our home, the glass tables sparkle, the linens are ironed and the Pillsbury Dough Boy is snoring peacefully on top of freshly baked rolls next to the oven. When my boys come home from school, Mark exclaims, “Mom, can we live here?” The house sells quickly and I begin packing. I call this “Operation Shock and Awe!” I wrap everything we own in newspaper and stack it into boxes. Soon, I have created a fantastic maze through our home. My boys, Mark and Chris, set about selling tickets to the maze to the neighbor children to pay for the pizzas we are now eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A week later, our U-Haul is loaded and we are rolling toward our new home. Another two weeks of pizzas later, we are beginning to feel at home in our new place. The towels are no longer rolled into logs and are where they belong-on the bathroom floor in a heap. The soaps are falling apart and I’m loopy on White Star champagne. It’s 10:00pm on a Friday night and I’m tracing into the dust on our coffee table: There’s no place like home.

Wouldn’t It Be Great If Good Things Could Be Transmitted Through Sex?

Wouldn’t it be great if good things could be transmitted through sex? What if we could catch things like education, fashion knowledge and Super Spider Man Powers? He could say things like: Oh yes, Sexy, I’m going to make you a Mathematician tonight. I could reply: Oh give me those mathematical equations and give them to me good. My girlfriends will ask me: Did you get lucky last night? I will open up my briefcase and pull out a piece of paper and reply: Just check out my new resume! We could pass on fashion knowledge to each other and speak in a new love language. He will now know how to speak Coach and Gucci to me. We would beCOME fashionistas together! Most exciting would be the Super Spider Man Powers we would pass along. She would say: Oh, Baby, I’m going to have you climbing the walls tonight. He would say: And I’m going to take you to the edge of the highest sky scraper and swing you down and up until you can’t take it anymore. If sex transmitted good things, men and women would no longer be from different planets. Instead, we would co-exist in perfect unity. • No more explaining to him how I feel when he leaves his socks on the floor. I could just nail him and he would know. • No more of him sharing with me that I snore in several different languages. He could make sweet love to me and I would know just how he feels. • I would not have to explain to him why I need to stop clipping his toenails in bed. He would understand through our love language and just stop on his own. If sex transmitted good things, the world would be a better place. I know it’s not going to happen but a girl can dream, can’t she?

Jessica de la Davies - Author, Writer & Social Media Expert

Tattoos, Summer Camps and Kat Von D

I saved all year living on rice and beans so that I can give my child the best. My oldest child, Chris, is going away to a sleep away summer camp for an entire month. I want to have Kat Von D tattoo the words, “Handle with Care” on his forehead, but Chris won’t even consider it even though I offered to pay for the tattoo! I feel sad as Chris packs his sleeping bag, his flannel shirts, his favorite baseball cap, our flat screen TV, our family computer, the contents of the pantry and all of the bath towels. I think he left one for me and one for our dog, Mr. Pooh…my thoughtful young man. I am crying a little as Chris loads everything into the back of the car. As I hug him goodbye, he mumbles something about needing money. I hand him my wallet. It is a special moment between a mother and her eldest son. As Chris drives away with his friends to the airport, I try to put into words what I am thinking. Instead, I snort out through my tears, “Don’t forget to use your deodorant. Floss only the teeth you want to keep. Comb your hair at least once a week. I love you!” I blow him kisses and run behind him waving as the van pulls away. Chris is pretending not to know me. I am stressing out as there is so much Chris doesn’t know about yet. I still have so much to share with him. • Chris needs to know that for every mountain he climbs, there is a reward of a GREAT view at the top. • He needs to learn how to find his laundry hamper with his socks. • I need to teach Chris to avoid fake people and never to believe people when they ask him to be honest with them. • He needs to know to never ask a woman if she is pregnant unless he can see the baby’s head crowning. Most of all, I want to teach Chris to text his mother once in a while.

Secret Crazed Stalker Chicks & One Hot Mess!

So, I’m trying to log in to Facebook so I can post a comment onto Lady Gaga’s page. I am trying to figure out what I’m going to actually write. I don’t want to sound too clingy even though I am the oldest Monster in my Bible Study Group. After I think about what I am going to write, I am ready to make my post knowing that I don’t want to be perceived as an UBER fan or worse, as a crazed stalker chick. Speaking of crazed stalker chicks, I am watching this show on TV (FYI-I’m home with the flu-not some lazy coach potato) called The Secret Lives of Women. I read the word “Secret”, grab my Tylenol and I am tuned in. The subject de jour, you ask? YEAH: Crazed Stalkers Chicks (they may have used the word “women” instead of chicks and I’m not sure about the use of the word “crazed” either but to Hell with it-who cares! So anyway, I am not missing this show. On this show, these “allegedly” crazed stalker chicks do NOT think they are real stalkers! This one crazed stalker chick- let’s call her “Hot Mess”- not her real name- is a TEACHER. It gets better…she teaches JOURNALISM-seriously…I AM NOT KIDDING. The only way this could get any better is if Hot Mess was a police woman. Anyway, although she is a convicted stalker, Hot Mess, does not think that what she did - following one of her poor male students everywhere he went - was really stalking him. “I was just keeping track of him,” Hot Mess says. Pretty funny right? Unless, of course, one of these Nut Jobs is chasing you around the block with a butcher knife in one hand and a camera in the other… Oh, I got way off track… So anyway back to my question which is this: Why when I get a “letter puzzle” to solve so that I can prove to Facebook that I am not a computer (??) and I screw up the puzzle…then why does Facebook give me an even harder one to solve? If I am too slow to get the first one right due to a bit of “Night Time, Coughing, Aching, Sniffling, Hurry Up And Get Back To Work” Medicine, what makes Facebook think I’ll get the harder one right?!? Anyway, I have to stop writing now. I see that another episode of The Secret Lives of Women is about to start. This one is titled “Women with Extreme Beliefs.” Does this mean… Do these women have Coo Coo for Coco Puffs beliefs? Allegedly…I meant to ask do these women allegedly have Coo Coo for Coco Puffs beliefs. If so, I’m thinking that Hot Mess could be in this episode too. Where did I put the remote?

Live Like No One Else So Later You Can Afford To Live Like No One Else!

At least that’s what Fox’s financial guru, Dave Ramsay, is always advising us to do. I like Dave Ramsay. He knows how to make a recession fun. Dave’s got Americans lined up to cut up their credit cards in new and dramatic fashions like chopping them in the kitchen with their new “Chop Chopper”-only $19.95 plus $5.95 for shipping and handling. Thanks to Dave, we’re now hanging up on our debt collectors in record numbers. “Why do you need credit?” questions Dave. “Live like no one else so later you can afford to live like no one else,” is Dave’s motto. I like it! Most of my friends are talking about the recession in terms of gas price, milk prices and what kind of vacation they can’t afford to take this year. Some of them are turning to “at home” vacations. These are vacations where you don’t leave home with or without “IT”! I personally like the concept. • No more packing all my clothing into my wallet to avoid the airlines’ charging me extra if I want to take a suitcase with some clothes to wear with me to Belize. • No more waiting in line in my bare feet only to have my underwire push up bra set off the alarm at the security gate. • No more cavity searches for pipe bombs done behind a sheet that some random passenger is holding up at my request while an enormous sweaty woman with bad breath molests me. “Just when was the last time an American thirty-something woman set off a bomb on an airplane?” I ask, as the sweaty woman tells me to bend over. “Oh we don’t do profiling, Ma’am,” she replies, snapping off her rubber gloves and waving me toward the gate, where a hostile looking flight attendant is waiting to cram me into my seat. With passengers puking their guts out headlining news broadcasts every few weeks, this whole at home vacation thing is sounding pretty smart. First, I Google “at home vacation ideas” and Google comes up with some interesting options. I select the “Make Your At Home Vacation like a Cruise” option as it is WOT certified and sounds like it might be fun. A week later, I am ready for my vacation. I decide to rename my home the “Freebies by the Sea” ship. My kitchen is stocked with prepared meals from the grocery store and is now sporting a sign that reads “The Grand Dining Room.” I have some movies from Netflix turning my living room into “The Show Lounge.” I decide to make it non-smoking. At the Dollar Store, I buy a deck of cards and scatter them around my office nook to create the “Shipboard Casino Royale.” I drag my mattress into my walk-in closet and tape a sign reading “Cabin 1” onto the outside of the closet door to simulate a real life cabin cruise ship experience. Finally, I decide to splurge and spend $38.99 on a baby pool from Walmart for the backyard and stop at the liquor store to pick up a few bottles of wine. I want this to be a classy cruise. The first day of my “cruise”, I put on my bikini and head over to the pool to work on my tan. I wonder why people say they are “working on their tan” when actually, they are just lying slathered in suntan lotion doing nothing. While I’m lying in the backyard next to my new baby pool, I notice a few weeds popping up in the grass. I decide that I’ll go ahead and pull them. Four hours later, I’m fertilizing the yard and clipping the hedges. Later that evening, I head into “The Grand Dining Room” aka my kitchen and reorganized the pantry while drinking a glass of wine. I opened a can of Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup and pop it into the microwave. The soup is my first course and from there, I move onto my canned spaghetti. I give kudos to Chef Boyardee! He never messes up a meal. As I am making my way into “The Show Lounge” to watch one of my Netflix movies, I noticed that there are cobwebs on my TV so I get out my Swiffer. I Swiffer the TV, mop all the floors and moisturize my leather sofa, loveseat and recliner. Then, I head into “Cabin 1” aka my closet, finish off the bottle of wine and fall asleep with my pillow tucked in next to my Jimmy Choos. On the second day of my vacation, I decide that my cruise ship the “Freebies by the Sea” is in port and I am going on a shore excursion to do some sightseeing. I walk around the block and check out my neighbors’ houses. Mrs. Hendricks is standing in her front yard, watering her lawn and she asks me if I would mind helping her move a dresser from her garage into her guest bedroom. I help her and have to cut my shore excursion short as I have pulled my back out. I head back to “Freebies by the Sea” to soak my aching back in the baby pool. I wake up 6 hours later only to realize that I have not applied sunscreen-I’m burned. On the third day of my at home vacation, my cousin, Lizzie, calls and asks if I can watch her 4 year old son, Clive, for a few hours as she is going to get her hair done. Lizzie arrives just 10 minutes later and unloads Clive, a laundry basket of toys and a McDonald’s Happy Meal. During the next 7 hours, I become an expert on Clive. For example, Clive can run his dump truck into the base of my coffee table 83 times in just one hour. He also enjoys throwing handfuls of dirt into the toilet bowl and flushing the dirt to “make it disappear.” Clive can also blow into his McDonald’s Happy Meal cola drink through his straw to make bubbles to “decorate the kitchen table.” He has a pretty good vocabulary but he does not seem to understand four basic words: Do not do that. The plumbing bill from the dirt in the toilet set me back $225. When the plumber leaves, I crawl back into my closet-I mean cabin and put my head down on my shoe rack. Somehow this at home vacation just isn’t as relaxing or inexpensive as I thought it would be. So on my fourth day aboard the “Freebies by the Sea,” I call Delta and book a flight to Cancun for a week. I pack up my wallet with everything it can carry, pull 3 dresses on over two swimsuits so I will have something to wear on my trip and head for the airport. I am not wearing a bra. The booking agent stares at me silently as I tape my credit card back together with duct tape at the counter. He hands me my ticket and points toward the security check point. I take off my shoes and get in line. I feel hopeful. Maybe with a little luck, I’ll have just enough room on my credit card for a Pina Colada…or two!