Social Media Manic

A year ago I had no understanding of social networking nor would I have ever imaged I would become so involved in it. Selling online has opened up a whole new world to me. Over the last few months I have overloaded myself with all the outlets available to me. I have made some new twitter buddies, have more blog followers and within a period of two weeks can boast 50 Fan page followers. I have discovered that the internet is a treasure trove of opportunities to get my little shop noticed. It's a beautiful thing and easy to do. So, I certainly wouldn't want to complain. However, I am having an awful time keeping up with it all. Between, the three Etsy teams, twitter, FB, LinkedIn, blogging and who knows how many handmade sites I've joined, it's been difficult responding and posting to all of them. Especially since I have, what I like to call, "menopause retardation", definition: the inability to concentrate, multitask or walk and chew gum simultaneously. (Some days I have trouble with just the walking part.)


So, this week my computer decided it was also overloaded and started making a noise like a jet engine ready to take flight! Turns out it just needed a new fan, but it still took a couple days to get it fixed. Needless to say, I totally missed my follow friday posts and couldn't list my new creations in the shop! I get a bit paranoid that if I am missing from my social network for more than a few hours, I will be forgotten and all my efforts would have been for nothing. You wouldn't forget me, right?

After going through days of withdrawal, (Hello, my name is Jodi, I am a twitter addict!) I finally am back up and running. Imagine my horror when I discovered I had no new shop hearts, no sales, and only five new twitter followers! Bitches didn't even notice I was gone! I did however, have at least 35 emails from team members replying to forum posts. I have to figure out how to fix that, so I don't get every single person's response to a post, oh my!

Anyway, I am now done stressing and realize that I cannot twitter and Facebook 24/7. I have calmed down and accepted that I will post when I can (I refuse to use a twitterbot) and hope for the best. I am also—and this is advice to anyone starting in social media, keeping a notebook with websites, user names and passwords which alleviates some confusion and helps me on my way to internet organization and success. Could be a long road, but I'm giving it my best effort, even if it is accomplished through a menopause fog!

Thank you to all my followers, fans and wonderful customers—you are greatly appreciated!

Much Love—Jodi