Do You Have a Street Team?

No, it’s not a gang…well, it is…but not the West Side Story Jets and Sharks fighting with knives. A writer’s street team are the proverbial ground pounders spreading the word of your brilliance and talent.

We all know we are backed by friends and family who love us and wish us success. Street teams take it a step farther. They are fans who are enthusiastic about your work and wish to help promote it with their contacts. It is a more directed form of networking. But how to set up one? There are many ways to run a team but the first step is to establish communication.

Start a page on Facebook dedicated to your team. On this you will be able send forth information designed for their use, or even just thank you and motivational material. Make it fun. Give your team a name, preferably not based on one book title but one that can be used as you create more. Tell them what you are looking for them to do and what benefits they can expect (free autographed book, t-shirt, grateful thanks from the author). Make sure you have a form (Google forms) for them to fill out with so you know who you are working with.

Now that you have all the foundation work done, it’s time to promote your team and recruit members. Place the notice on your blog, social media sites, mailing list. Send them a welcome packet with promotional materials and basic projects to complete.

You can create another Facebook page where the team members can meet up and chat. Consider promotions and motivations (raffles, contests), on a monthly basis. Keep your street team happy. Maybe even have a meeting every two weeks on the site for suggestions, ideas, or to celebrate birthdays and other milestones. On Writers Unboxed, they suggest rewards such as naming a character in your next book. The two sources I’ve linked into this article have multiple suggestions you might try.

Any writer knows that promotion and marketing is key for sales to rise. And we also know there is never enough time to get it all done. So a street team is a wonderful idea to spread around the marketing to those who truly support your efforts.

Have you read my short story "The Bench" in OWS Ink: Literary Journal yet?