Rebel with a mouse

Hi there, it's been a while since my last post - shame on me! I had sort of decided to post once a week, on Fridays if possible, and generate some sort of order here. Looks like life got in the way of that one. While I've been quiet on the blog front I have been very busy behind the scenes curating and collating (try saying that one after a medicinal brandy ;)) and generally getting my hands dirty in the world of social media.

Social media has changed a LOT since I last ran a craft business. When I first started out, some time around 2004, the big new thing was Mr Site - a website in a box - and that was about it. I joined Facebook as it was back then, but had no idea how to build an FB page, or connect that page to other websites. I posted on Livejournal, occasionally pimped the website link, did a monthly newsletter, but everything I (and my business partner) did was driven by us and at our pace. This time around I am floored by the changes.

I worked as an online editor for seven years, so I really shouldn't be so surprised with how quickly social media has moved on, but I am. Most publishing companies in the legal compliance arena are just about comfortable with having a Twitter account, perhaps a linkedIn presence, maybe an app or two. I was even perversely proud that I had managed to avoid the dreaded Twitter for so long. Looking back on it now, I think I was steeling myself; plunging into the world of social media is not for the faint hearted or the ill-prepared.

Social media today is not just Twitter, Facebook, Web 2.0 and all that jazz. Social media today is all of those things plus so many more. There's Paper.li, Sulia, RebelMouse, ExploreB2B, Digg, StumbleUpon, Tumblr... there are sites for collating all your social media activity into once place, sites for guided discovery of material of interest to you, sites for networking, groups on Twitter dedicated only to retweeting each other... there's almost too much choice.

So what is a budding craft entrepreneur to do?

My advice is to take it one step at a time. If you try to do too much too quickly you will burn out. After launching my own Paper.li, deleting it, launching a RebelMouse page which I like much better, tweeting and retweeting others, building my network of likeminded souls, after two weeks I am worn out! I want to retreat into my studio (OK, my kitchen) and play with clay. That's the point of all of this after all?

What I intend to do is to get organised about this. I'm gonna get strategic on this mutha-humper's ass. The trick is not to do everything, but to channel effort where it brings the most reward. I'm going to stick to #uketsyhour twice a week, to keep retweeting and promoting the friendly people I come across and to keep an eye on who returns the favour and who does not. I'm going to do my #shoutouts to the people that I feature on my RebelMouse page, and I'm going to share tidbits of fun with my Facebook likers on my FB page. The rest can go hang... for now.

The trick to being a good editor is being able to quickly and calmly filter out the dross. If you try to include every single news story in your weekly digest then you're going to be coding til midnight and nobody wants that. You'll give yourself RSI from all the typing and your readership won't appreciate wading through mountains of irrelevant stories to get at the jewels hidden beneath. Neither of you will be able to see the wood for the trees. The trick is to prune wisely, to focus effort on maintaining an overview, and to know when to stop, take a step back, and review.

So with that in mind, follow me on RebelMouse, like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, and know that the information you will receive will be incisive, relevant and timely, and hopefully occasionally heartwarming and/or funny too, with no extraneous crap. Lord knows, we all have to wade through enough of that as it is without me adding to the noise.