Tweet

Now, I know I've babbled on about Twitter before, but as I've decided it's my new best friend I thought I'd share what I've learned about using the site. If you haven't checked it out at all, they call it a micro blogging site, but it really feels more like a giant, unruly forum. You can spend hours watching half conversations, uncovering drama and actually conversing with hundreds of people at the same time. In the last few weeks, I have read more interesting blogs and found more like minded people than I ever did at more traditional networking sites like myspace.

I am not a social person. I do not like wasting time talking to people I have nothing in common with. I do not like putting on a happy face to get in the good graces of people I don't know. With Twitter, I can follow whoever I like, block whoever I don't and generally spend my time talking to like minded people and actually enjoy networking for once. I also do not like marketing, it's just not my thing. I do not like to advertise, I do not like beating people over the head with my listing. I do however, want to be noticed and again Twitter is great for non invasive exposure.

Here's what I've learned. First, get an avatar & write a really good and accurate profile complete with a link to your store or blog. Then find people you know from other spaces, people you like then start posting. Simple thing work best, status updates, new projects, listings, what you're having for lunch, things you want to buy, etc. Make sure you respond to other posts and try engaging people with questions. Once you're comfortable communicating in 140 character statements, start looking for more people to follow. Look through other peoples follower lists for people that you find interesting and people who might like your work. When you add them to your following list, they get an email. The first thing most people do is check out your profile to see whether they want to follow you back or not.

This is passive advertising. Don't go wild adding hundreds at a time though. That makes it look like all you're trying to do is sell something. Use twitter to make a few connections, click on links, and try not to let it take over your day. You will inevitably get followed by some strange or creepy people, if they're extra creepy, just block them otherwise just don't follow them back, eventually they'll go away. If you decide this is the place for you, you might want to get a dashboard widget so you aren't constantly refreshing your web page. I use Tweetdeck, but there are at least a dozen of them. It allows me to literally tweet all day long in the background of my computer without leaving my browser open. This may or may not be a good thing.

I'm certain that Twitter isn't for everyone, but its been great for me. It satisfies my need to read a little drama, exposes me and my work to new audiences without effort and allows me casual interaction with many new people. I follow tons of etsians, but I also follow news sources, fake new sources, comic book creators, actors, bloggers, fashion mavens and scrunches of other people that I think are cool. They don't all follow me back and that's fine too. I've gotten a few sales, bought a few things myself and just this morning I got a wonderful blog mention at The Coveted blog that I never would have gotten had I not followed it author on Twitter.

I do wish a few more of my tatting friends were there sharing projects, so if you want to check it out, go ahead and follow me. I'll try not to lead you down a bad road, but don't blame me if you get addicted.

Back To Business

So apparently I was talking to myself yesterday. That's okay, I just needed to vent I suppose. So today I'm back to my creative self. I am of course working on a new mask design. This one is based on my Grand Daisy motif and though I'm certain to make the first one for sale in black, I think this one will be great in many colors for perhaps a fairy costume. I know it's hard to see in the ecru, but that's my prototype thread. I use it not only because I have a mile of it, but also because I can count the stitches so much better with this thread. I have yet to write down the patterns for any of my masks. I know, I should should know better by now. If I wait too much longer, I'll forget the changes I made from the prototype to the final design and they will be lost to the ages, but I'm on such a creative roll that I'm afraid that stopping to write them down will stunt my growth.

Since I'm back on the subject of tatting, I thought I'd share that I finally joined my first tatting community. Why is this a big deal? Well, when I first tried tatting I was using a shuttle and I failed miserably, but I was determined to learn this skill. I went online for help and ran across a small mention of needle tatting, bought a book and learned like lightning. Once the book had no more to teach me, I went back to the Internet for help, techniques and patterns and though I found lots of that, I also found unpleasantness. I ran across people claiming that needle tatting was not only, not "real" tatting, but insinuated that it was akin to cheating. I also found folk who thought that they were the only worthy tatters and they rest of us should just shove off. You can imagine that I tried to avoid all contact with other tatters for fear of being judged and told that I did not belong.

I'm certain that nearly every discipline or craft has the same problems in their communities, but I was so afraid and unsure of myself that I stayed away. It wasn't until I started my blog just a few months ago that I began to develop friendships with other tatters. I've since met some amazingly talented and wonderful people and it is because of them that I finally realize that I do in fact belong. I look forward to using this new resource to learn and grow. It is also refreshing to network where my ultimate goal is not selling something. I don't know how much time I'll devote to this new adventure as I'm stretched pretty thin already, but I've dipped a toe in and water seems fine so far.

Nice People Exsist

I'm feeling a little remorseful for yesterdays post. I don't take any of it back mind you, but I think I failed to point out the good points of online social networks. While I stand by my assertion that there are too many of them and that they are generally wastes of your time, they work well for some people and more importantly, you can meet good people and form valuable friendships. I've been lucky that in my short time of internet socialization I have been the recipient of some wonderful surprises and acts of kindness from relative strangers and I'd lke to recount a few of those stories for you.

I've never been what you would call popular, familiar maybe, but never popular, so when I announced my birthday and recent pregnancy in the forums almost two years ago, I was surprised by the outpouring of well wishes from etsians. One gesture was particularly amazing. Luca of lollibomb asked if it would be okay with me if she could send me a gift. She sent me a jar of her wonderful body frosting and made my day and of course earned a lifelong customer.

Later that year ficklefaerie organized the first Etsy Baby Showers. It was an amazing display of goodwill organized entirely in the forums where sellers were randomly hooked up with expectant mothers and sent them a shower gift. I recieved five gifts from people all over the country that I've never met and since this was my second baby they were the only gifts I received. I can't possibly forget the kindness of all the people who participate in these event.

I've also met several other artisans through the forums and other sites that I eventually collaborated with to create amazing pieces that I never would have even thought of. I'm not going to list them, because I'm afraid I'll miss some and feel guilty again. These collaborations have proved invaluable to my personal artistic growth and I would have never done them had I not socialized at least a little.

Most recently, and the inspiration for this piece, is a gift I just received from Zygote of FetishGhost and RedGateCeramics. Along with another new friend Sarah from Industrialfairytale he conspired to send me a surprise present of one of his amazing ceramic cups. I did nothing to deserve this lovely gift and yet here it is. So as much as I dislike networking for the sole purpose of self promotion, I am so glad to have met these wonderful people and I would not trade these experiences for anything. I hope that karma rewards these kind acts and people with much joy.

I'm Just Not That Social

I've been online for a long time, not as long as some, but still a long time. I remember when AOL was the place to be, I ventured into my first chat room. It didn't take me long to realize that this world was not for me. The chaos of dozens of people trying to talk over each other just made my head hurt. So I used the Internet for other things, knowledge and entertainment and I was happy.

Cut to more than a decade later and I run across Etsy and soon after the forums. I liked the structure and more importantly I had something fundamental in common with the users. I was quickly addicted to this newly discovered social club. Then it started, the many suggestions for networking and advertising. I started with a MySpace page and it was fun for a while, then there was Indiepublic, then Street Team forums, Flickr and the sites just kept coming. In the last week alone I've received half a dozen invitations to join various social networking sites.

Enough already! If I wanted to be this social I would actually leave my house. What's worse is most of these sites are set up just for you to pimp your wares and that gets old real fast. I mean, would you go out to dinner and then visit every table in the restaurant doing product demonstrations and handing out business cards? If you said yes to that question, I think you may have a problem. I know that exposure is the key to getting your name well known and that's the basis for most advertising, but this is getting seriously ridiculous.

I'm very picky about who I hang out with and who I call friends in real life, so why wouldn't I carry that over into the online world. Why should I join dozens of sites and spend my precious time talking to random people just to make a sale when I could spend that time with, Oh, I don't know...my kids. I've found some wonderful people on etsy and in a few other choice places and I think that I would actually spend time with them if they lived near me and I've learned things from people I never would have met otherwise. All social networking isn't a bad thing, but I think we are encouraging each other to do far too much of it for all the wrong reasons.

I think that I have reached my limit for online socializing for now. Maybe in the future I'll find a group or two that fulfill a special need or niche, but until then I'm done. So, if you wouldn't mind, no more "you should join us here" or "this is a great place to...", I'm just not that social.