How do you present a professional appearance online?

How can you improve your online first impression?

What does a successful author platform look like?

What do you do when you hear about a book or author who are new to you?

A) Search for them on Amazon

B) Look for them on Social Media

C) Attempt to find their website

D) All of the above

I’m a D) all of the above kind of author-stalker. If I am able to find the person on these platforms, I look for a variety of things.

How many books have they written?
Do their books have any reviews?
Have they posted anything on social media in the last six months? The last six weeks?
Does the appearance of their online-self look like they take their authorpreneurship seriously?

We all know the advice, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” fell out of use a LONG time ago. Good book covers sell books. Good book covers even sell bad books. I’m not advocating for trickery, but instead trying to prove a point. People pay attention to appearances and having a good appearance online, is increasingly important. I am convinced that the professional appearance of my website and social media content have convinced others to take me seriously, even though I am (pretty much) a no-name girl from the Midwest.

I know that unless you have a graphic design degree, curating high quality images can feel overwhelming, but I’m here to tell you it’s easier than you think. And, with Canva, it can also be free!

Canva is an online digital design tool that has predesigned and pre-seized templates as well as banks of photos, illustrations, and fonts to help you create professional graphics. Canva also has special features including animations, music and filters that can help you take your designs to the next level.

I understand that at this point my contribution to this newsletter sounds like an advertisement. I have only said amazing things about this tool and what it can do, but I can honestly say I 100% believe every one of them. To prove it, here are eight ways you can use Canva to upgrade your authorpreneur presence online.

Make engaging graphics for your social media platforms.

2. Create a discussion guide to make using your book an easy and appealing choice for book clubs.

3. Design an author logo that can make your brand, books, offerings and name instantly recognizable.

4. Turn your email sign up freebie into an attractive product people actually desire to get their hands on.

To your freebie, click the audience that best describes you! (WRITER READER TEACHER)

5. Improve the appearance of your eNewsletters with branded headers and footers.

To sign up for my email list, click the audience that best describes you! (WRITER READER TEACHER)

6. Create branded blog post headers and graphics to make content visually cohesive and engaging.

8 Ways to Use Canva to Improve Your Online Author Appearance (1).png

7. Design beautiful book covers, because as we said before... it really is very much about a good book cover.

** To learn more about book cover creation, watch this video, or read this blog post!

8. Make eye catching YouTube thumbnails to convince viewers to click on your content.

With a little time invested now, you’ll be able to massively improve the appearance of what you put out into the world and as a result, present a professional author platform people will want to follow. Soon invitations to connect, present, and hire will begin rolling in.

To learn what these items could look like for you in your authorpreneur world, watch this video in which I walk you through the creation process step by step and also share important career considerations.

Learn how to make these items in this video!

This post and video were made beautiful by Canva.

If you liked what you read on my blog today (or are in search of weekly word nerd goodness) and would like to have it delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning, you can sign up HERE. As always, feel free to share this post with others you think might be interested via email, Facebook or Pinterest. **

Affiliate marketing is promoting a product or service in return for a commission. When you purchase a product or service through one of my links, I earn a small part of the sale. There is NEVER any extra cost to you. If you looked up the same product on the same site through another source besides my website, the price will still be exactly the same. 100% of the time.

I also NEVER link to products or services that I don't 100% believe in. I will never tout a company or their goods if they are disreputable or if I don't believe them to be worthy of your hard-earned money. In no way are my affiliate links a scam. (Language borrowed with permission from Kristen Kieffer on Well-Storied.com)