The ‘Interested But A Bit Lazy’

Lazy might not be the best choice of word; they aren’t lazy people and they do read your posts; they just don’t do anything more. They don’t engage with you by liking your posts, commenting, sharing them, or anything. They see it, they read it, they move on.

Drawing these people out isn’t going to be easy and you might have to lay some bait. Ask them a direct question, encourage them to get involved in discussions. Try running contests or providing an incentive for them to engage with you, even if it is just a simple like.  Contests or giveaways are often the best way to get people more involved.

So, to get this group of fans to move up the ladder, they need to be encouraged to engage with you.

The ‘Fully Engaged But Never Follow Through’

This is probably the smallest part of your fan base. These people will shout about your work, they will tell you how much they love it. Your comments will be liked, posts will be shared, tweets retweeted. They will want to talk to you and let you know that they can't wait for your next book but when that book launches, where are they? They talk the talk but they don’t walk the walk.

They may go as far as buying your book and they may love it but they won't go as far as leaving you any reviews for it – authors thrive on reviews, they encourage more people to buy and read their books. Some don’t even bother retweeting or sharing your comments or posts with their own following. These are the type of fans who are great to have but don’t fulfill their potential. There isn’t a great deal you can do to encourage this group to help you out by buying your book or by sharing what you do with others. Just be persistent in asking them to share, in reminding them how easy it is to purchase your book – “just click the link below” – all sorts. Make every post a call to action, ask them to do something; that is the only way to encourage this group to climb the last rung of the ladder.

The Real Die Hards

Keep working on your fans, keep providing enticing calls to action that make them want to engage with you and you will start to see some terrific results. It really doesn’t matter how few or how many fans you have – five or five million – it makes no difference. Be polite, be consistent and be persistent. Regularly share content that is relevant, engaging, interesting; encourage them to get into a discussion, offer something for free or a promotion.  Eventually, those on the lower rungs of the ladder will begin to make the journey up and, at some point, the top rung will be the biggest part of your fan base, the real fans who follow you wherever you go and buy whatever you publish, not to mention telling everyone else about it in the meantime.