Rusty Shelton Pulls Writers Out of Their Shells

As Rusty Shelton shared his knowledge regarding digital marketing, social branding, and web design at the DFW Writer's Conference, I realized I need to embrace technology more fully. His session changed the way I view the web and its ability to reach readers.

So often, writers are advised to "Get a blog! Get on Facebook! Tweet!" but we're not told how. Rusty Shelton cleared away the confusing cobwebs of the World Wide Web and helped me see clearly with real-world applications. It's no surprise he spoke at Harvard for the first time at age 23 and continues to do so. The man knows what he's doing. His advice was so fresh and real that speakers in other sessions quoted him throughout the weekend.

Yeah, that good.

Plus, he's a nice guy. After his session, I went to my room to review notes.  In doing so, I developed more questions. So, I dashed off in hopes of finding him. He patiently guided me in a private tutoring session and even signed me up for Twitter.  (I'm still in the voyeur/learning stage of the game, so I'm not making comments yet.  But follow me at brandi_barnett and you'll soon see all sorts of fascinating tidbits.)

A few of his quotes illuminated the power of social media:

"10 years ago, we were a classroom with Oprah, Dr. Phil...telling us what to read. Today, we are passing notes."

"Facebook is a family reunion, a class reunion. Twitter is a cocktail party."

"Social media helps bad books fail faster."

Check out Rusty's blog to learn how to make social media your ally.