Linked In, Tuned In, Turned up

So, one time at band camp......Isn't that how it all starts? On the internet world, it's different. First, you get a website and all is well. You hand out business cards, you talk to people, but then that's not good enough any more. Something out there called blogging steps in. Blog....where you type your innermost thoughts. Well, something of the sort. Everything is fine and dandy, you have a new promotional tool. But wait, there's more. Blogging is so hard. You have to come up with many things to say. What can you say on a daily basis to promote your items without turning your customers away? Is that a bird? A cheep? A chirp? NO, a Tweet!! Now, we have Twitter. Quick little messages to let everyone know what's going on quickly, succinctly.

Oy vey! This ole dog is trying to learn all the new tricks, so I'm blogging and tweeting and now there's Linked In and Merchant Circle and everywhere you turn there's a new place to Stumble Upon! And just when you think you have it all down pat Facebook is here with a whole new world experience!!! I will now do my best imitation of a Charlie Brown scream! Don't get me wrong, I like all the newfangled things going on, but my brain does not travel at warp speed anymore. So, now you can Twitter me, Link me, Stumble Upon me and even check out my Face because at the end of the tunnel, I know I have my quiet safe haven of my workshop to create my soothing and delectable soaps to help me out at the end of my day! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..

Tags: after, facebook, handmade, in, linked, rayne, soaps, stumble, the, twitter, More…upon

Next Post >

Comment

You need to be a member of The Indie Beauty Social Networking Site to add comments!

Join The Indie Beauty Social Networking Site

Comment by Marge Clark on May 19, 2009 at 8:08pm: Nikie, thank you!!!!

Now, I have been doing online communications since the early 80's... before there WAS a www. there were bulletin boards, and Fidonet, and... and I was addicted to 'em.

but today, I just found four days worth of EMAIL that went unread and unresponded to. (but I did a blog post during that time. ;)

There are not enough hours in the day to keep up with them all.

(and then I think...I should be getting articles written and in the article directories... yeah, right, in my spare time!)

again, thanks! Glad I am not the only one a bit overwhelmed with all this!

Comment by dM, CEO on May 3, 2009 at 7:43am: Nikie,

This is an awesome post! It so clearly summarizes how many of us feel. It is a juggling act already to be in business, even without all of the social media tools you mention. They do make it more of a challenge to juggle, that's for sure.

There are far too many for me to join and participate in, but I think everyone can choose 2 or 3 that work really well for them. It takes an investment of time to figure out what works best, but that is time well spent because at the end of the day, when you find out where your customers and colleagues hang out, it's a no brainer to go there and hang out with them.

I also think there's still no substitute for personal interaction. The online stuff is a great supplement but there's nothing like getting together with customers at a trade show, craft fair or whatever and sharing your passion and the joy of your products bring to people's lives. Those are great places to take photos of happy customers with you, and sharing those pictures at your blog, on Twitter and elsewhere speak volumes when it comes to your products.

You can write forever about how great a sugar scrub is, but if you have a photo of you, the smiling customer and the scrub all at one time -- priceless promotion without having to write a single word!! And that will help generate buzz. Let others do the writing for you. Saves time and energy and it's pretty easy to post photos at different places all at once using a service like ping.fm and others.

Thanks again for posting this here. I love how you think and you are a very creative writer. I can't imagine you have any trouble thinking of things to blog about and making them sound wonderful.

Indie Love,
dM

RSS

Welcome to
The Indie Beauty Social Networking Site

Sign Up
or Sign In

You can also sign up with:

Bramble Berry

Visit Our Sponsors

Our Community Leaders

Meet the people who help moderate comments and posts, and provide leadership to our growing community.

Donna Maria is the founder and CEO of IBN. She hosts Indie Business Podcast, manages Indie Business Blog, publishes the Indie Experience Newsletter, and leads the New "One Percent" entrepreneurial MasterMind coaching program. You can connect with dM at her profile page, blog, FaceBook, or Twitter.

Kayla Hennegin is dM's assistant. She is an integral part of IBN and provides all kinds of technical and administrative support to dM, IBN members, and participants at this site. You can connect with Kayla at her profile page.