Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Nonnie Jules Talks About Twitter

Overlord Fans, I would like to introduce to you once again, Nonnie Jules.  Nonnie is a huge Twitter supporter of mine and is taking time today to talk about her ways around the Twitter-sphere.  Enjoy!


"HOW TO MAKE CLOSE CONNECTIONS AND GAIN SUPPORTIVE ALLIES ON TWITTER" 

Hi, and thanks so much for having me here once again at The Overlords!  Mike is such a great and supportive friend, he's one of the reasons for my topic today.  But, let me start off by introducing myself to his new followers, as there have been some new additions to my family since the last time I was here.

My name is NONNIE JULES and I'm a mother, a wife, an author, and a great friend, among other things.  If you're curious, I named my top four.  My first written piece of work is "THE GOOD MOMMIES' GUIDE TO RAISING (ALMOST) PERFECT DAUGHTERS", 100 Tips On Raising Daughters Everyone Can't Help But Love!  I published it in May of 2013, it was 102 pages long and it took me 17 days to write.  My latest baby (the newest addition I mentioned earlier) is my debut novel, "DAYDREAM'S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE'S FRIEND" and it was just released a couple of weeks ago, at the end of November, 2013.  It is a whopping 370 pages long and it took me 370 years to write!  OK, although I'm stretching that a tad, that's what it felt like to me.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's move on to the topic at hand, my title.  I started on Twitter the early part of 2013 and I WAS a fish out of water.  I had no idea what I was doing, or what I was supposed to be doing there, but I knew that I needed to market and sell my books.  Being as new as I was, early on I didn't find too many people who were willing to help teach me anything.  So, me being me, I just jumped right in.  One of the first things I noticed on Twitter, since it was the easiest social media forum for me to pick up, was I learned that people were sort of "clique-y".  You know the kind I'm speaking of, the ones who have gathered their close little net of friends and they just don't know how to let anyone new in.

I would ask questions about certain things, and I'm sure you won't believe me when I tell you this, but some of the answers I received were surely meant to discourage me to move on and go pick a new hobby other than writing.  I was sorely disappointed that I was coming across people who acted this way, especially since I'm known to be a great big supporter of others.

One of  the second things I noticed on Twitter was a thing called a BLOG TOUR.  Didn't exactly know what it was, but had stumbled across it on someone else's blog, and it just so happens that Mike was guest posting on that particular blog tour.  I contacted the owner of the blog who was a writer by the name of Taylor Fulks and I simply asked if she would be kind enough to host me one day.  She was more than happy to say "YES!" and I almost fell over from the shock!    Why?  Because I had met so many others who were not eager at all to help me in any way, and  here was this one person who said "Yes" without hesitating or without me having to promise her one of my two very special daughters.  (Then I found out she had two seemingly very special daughters of her own, so she didn't need one of mine *smile*).

From the tour that was going on there at Taylor's, I met Mike of The Overlords and you know how they say "the rest is history?", Well, let me tell you, it really is.  Since that time Mike and I have appeared on each other's blogs countless times and we have developed this friendship that reeks of nothing but mutual respect and support.  I said to him one day recently, "I know that if I can't show up anywhere else in cyberland, I always have a home at your place". That door swings both ways.

I learned on my own that I had to find a way to develop and cultivate friendships on Twitter that would be mutually beneficial for me as well as the other party.  And here are some of the ways I did that:

1)  I sat, I watched, I learned and then when the time was right, I jumped right in on a conversation and from there, if I found a person to be interesting and "of substance",  I would spread their message with a 'Retweet' and/or a 'Favorite'.  

2)  I randomly would select someone new to interact with, and again, would just sit and peruse their timeline, read their bio and start a conversation and then spread their message (again with Retweets and Favorites).

3)  I personally have developed what I call my TWITTER SUPPORT LIST.  This list is comprised of people who have been very supportive of me and I in turn, I am  EXTREMELY supportive of them.  There are others on this list, too.  These are random people who I've never interacted with, yet I (once again) read their bio, perused their timeline to see what they were all about, and then I would start to spread their message (Retweets and Favorites).  This is a habit that engages people.  It lets that random person know that you are a person supportive of others and generally they will return the favor by spreading your messages, as well as becoming a Follower of yours.

4)  Lastly, I tend to go out of my way for certain people on Twitter.  Those are the people who I can call on in a pinch, they're always the first ones to support me and my causes and they are simply over-the-top great people!  Mike, is one of those people to me.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these people are always and will always be in my corner, no matter what.  As the kids say today:  "I know they have my back and I surely have theirs." 

So, there you have it in a nutshell...ways to make close connections and gain supportive allies on Twitter.  It's how I did it, and it's how you can do it, too.
Engage and engage some more.  There are wonderful people out there in cyber-land, I believe more than there are those clique-y types I met early on.  You just have to be patient and soon you will know that you've made the best connections and gained the most supportive of allies.

My time here is up so I'm going to leave by asking for your support.  I ask that you visit the links below to my blogs, my books and my book trailers (they are very nice to watch!).  And then I'm going to ask that you follow me for the rest of my tour.  I have some very interesting topics each day, that I really encourage you to not miss any of them.  Here is the Schedule for each leg of the tour so feel free to click on each day's open link.

I will also be awarding 3 lucky winners at the end of the tour.  The first lucky winner will receive a "DAYDREAM'S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE'S FRIEND" Swag Pack, and winners #2 and #3 will each win a $5 Amazon Gift Card!  All you have to do to win is to leave a comment below and for every comment you leave (1 per stop), you will earn 1 entry into the giveaway.  This is a 10-day tour so if you leave 10 comments, that's a comment at each stop, then you will have 10 entries into the drawing.  Isn't that fun?  

I wish you all much peace, love and great reads!  Don't forget to visit the links below and don't forget to leave us a comment! Thanks!!!

Nonnie Jules, Author
"...and her words breathe life onto paper"

CONTACT:
General Blog
Parenting Blog
Nonnie's Book Store - Signed Copies & more
Twitter:  @nonniejules


BOOKS:
"The Good Mommies' Guide to Raising (Almost) Perfect Daughters,"
100 Tips On Raising Daughters Everyone Can't Help But Love!

www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP62O56
www.createspace.com/4355124

"Daydream's Daughter, Nightmare's Friend
www.amazon.com/dp/B00GLM2VVM
TRAILERS:


Sunday, December 1, 2013

"EDUCATION AND HOW IT MOTIVATES ME"

Overlords fans, I would like to introduce to you Shirley Slaughter,


a Twitter friend and person who firmly believes in paying it forward.  Shirley was kind enough to host me on my Overlords Blog Tour and now I'm happy to give her a landing spot on her tour.  Shirley is very active in the community, especially in the education department, which she is going to talk about today. Please help me in welcoming Shirley to our blog.  Read on!


"Hello, Mike. Since this is my very first blog tour I’m so excited that you are the fourth host that I am visiting. I can’t believe I have come this far in the land of twitter considering where I started. As you know, I have been sharing a little bit about me so folks can get to know me better. As I continue to tell my story I am beginning to realize how multi-dimensional my pursuits are. I believe in giving something back and that is what motivates me.


EDUCATION AND HOW IT MOTIVATES ME


My name is Shirley Slaughter @motorcityauthor. I was born and raised in the great state of Michigan and lived here all of my life. I am married to my best friend Langston with two children and now grandchildren some of whom are talented themselves. My mother was a gifted individual and now I know where some of those talents come from. I graduated in 1993 Magna Cum Laude from Cleary University with a BBA Degree. My grandparents were educators. I talk about them in my book more extensively. I have been active in my community which included joining the school board in the Oak Park School District.

I was asked to help out a college friend of mine who ran for board trustee and won two terms. After she completed her terms she asked me to run and having no excuses I couldn’t refuse. I was concerned about my community and property values and figured either I better put up or shut up. I served one term and joined the legislative board to have a say in local school policy changes coming out of our Capitol in Lansing, Michigan. I realized I cannot stomach involvement in politics (although I love staying informed) so got off that “train” and got involved in other areas.

Speaking of trains I stated that I was multi-dimensional. It means that I engaged in numerous other endeavors such as saving our local train station which was in an advanced state of decay. Around 1992 I resurrected the Friends of the Michigan Central Depot and called it the New Friends of the Michigan Central, and was its president. I created a newsletter called On Track and was featured in a special section of the Detroit Free Press (had a 13-year career there) a major newspaper. I think the newsletter caught their attention. My Thesis at Cleary University was titled, The Implementation of the Most Comprehensive Approach to Restoring the Michigan Central Depot. Since then other groups have sprung up.

In later years I mentored four freshmen girls through the Winning Futures Program. All had come along with a myriad of problems. But they managed to get through the program and we developed a very close relationship. Winning Futures will help these girls for the rest of their lives because they were taught life skills and how to stick with something and see it through. They learned how to interview for employment opportunities; how to speak and dress well, collect references that can help them land jobs, and many more positive things.

I am a former member of the Detroit Writers Guild and there was a lot of educating going on. I am still listed on the web under “Members Books.” The theme and mission was getting children to read and improve on their skills. There is a major problem with children in Detroit lacking basic skills. The guild also was involved in the arts as well and put on shows showcasing the skills we brought to the table.

I was a block club leader; a member of KPC Ladies Auxiliary, Court 189 , a branch of the Knights of St. Peter Claver National, affiliated with the merged Presentation-Our Lady of Victory ChurchI was always involved in something or other even trying my hand in a few business ventures. One was Amway which is how I met my husband. Dabbled in an online business as well. None made me any money but you take your chances and I did learn a lot.

I am a firm believer in paying it forward. My godmother helped put me and my siblings through school until we graduated. She was another angel along life’s road. I paid it forward by assisting my goddaughter through higher learning. Today she is a social worker and was instrumental in helping my own brother work his way through the mental health system. You see, he was in real trouble and she got assigned to him. It’s so amazing how this works. That’s why finding Twitter friends and helping each other out was a natural for me. There is so much more I could say on this topic, but I will let you get the rest in my book.

Click on this link to catch the sale while supplies last!"



Here is My Contact Information:


Website blog: http://rememberourladyofvictory.com/

Giveaway!

For each comment left (1 per day) on each day of my tour, your name will be entered into a drawing.  ONE (1) lucky winner will receive an autographed copy of my book "OUR LADY OF VICTORY:  THE SAGA OF AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY" and a $5 Amazon Gift Card. 1 daily comment = 1 entry into my giveaway.  Thanks again for the support and good luck in winning!!!

Thanks, Shirley.  Overlords fans, please give my friend Shirley's books a look and help her on her journey.  Also, visit her other blog stops to learn more about her and her great works.