Do What You Love, Love What You Do or a brief lesson in what networking NOW means to me

Last week Etsy (for those of you who don't know what Etsy is visit their site at www.etsy.com) had a presence at the Summit of Awesome artist and craft conference in D.C.  

One of the virtual workshhops offered by Etsy for those of us who (boo) couldn't attend the con, was 

a workshop on networking.  

For those of you tech saavy, up on the latest gadget, app., and the like, your fingers fly.....you're prolific with social and business networking etc.; you already know the nuts of bolts and the how to's.  Some of you keep up quite well and feel satisfied with your methods of networking.  

For me and others like me, networking was a puzzlement.  So many choices and with each choice presented was the concern of what 'network' or application to use. worries about the time that it takes to post to each one, then to keep up with the 'latest' that others are talking about. 

When you are a fledgling in this arena and you're looking to generate 'traffic', such as to my Etsy shop, you can get tunnel vision and very frustrated, at least I did.  

 Networking and posting here, there and everywhere seemed a huge waste of energy for little return.   It didn't come naturally, feel good, nor as far as I could tell did I want to join the ranks of those that twitter, poke and generally bore to death the poor creatures we 'keep up' with.  

Anyway, what I did come away with from my visit to the lab that day and our virtual participation in the workshop were some really great points that get lost in the shuffle.

Here are some as I remember them:

1) Be genuine and authentic.  Wow, there's a concept that certainly flies in the face of all that the internet has become.  If you're an artist and you're showcasing your goods with every post, you're doing nothing but using say, Twitter for instance, as a giant craigslist.  getouttatown. boring.  

People want to know who you are, what you do and why you do it.  Like great vintage and antique pieces, people like to know (and I love this word) if there's provenance or history behind what you do or sell.  

2) Do what comes naturally for you.  Some of us take good photos and love doing it.  For us, Flickr is a good way to network.  It doesn't so much feel like pulling teeth for us to post our pictures and talk about them; as long as we aren't using that sight to directly link to or market our wares. 

However, you can talk about your shop in your profile if that's something that you choose to do.  Others love to blog, create a newsletter or showcase their creative process via UTube.  It's about you, what you do, and why you want to share it with the world.   

What I experienced in the Etsy virtual lab for instance, was a group of women, some of them friends with each other and/or participants of the same crafting group.  It reminded me of the old fashioned 'bees'  (quilting, crochet, knitting)of the past.  Women coming together and get this, networking!  Doing what they liked and sharing that passion and interest with others, all around the world via the internet.  

3) Choose what you want to focus on, keep it fresh with updated material

Whether you Twitter, blog, use a newsletter, participate in forums or  use one of the many social networking sites....stay focused so that the material that you do share makes a connection with your readers. Don't spread yourself too thin by trying to 'post' everywhere!  If you are just dropping ads and photos to gain sales, that is your focus and that gets boring, and it probably doesn't yield many sales either.  After all, the whole idea behind the DIY and handmade movement is connection and relationship to the artist and his/her craft. 

 In the case of we vintage lovers, we are curators of tomorrows antiques. If you are a boomer like me than you are part of a very nostalgic generation and you value the past.  You might have quite a bit to say about it, and guess what, someone out there wants to hear what you have to say about your artifacts, what turns you on about them, why they have value and why they might want to visit your shop and buy something!

4)  Make a commitment and be consistent.  Here's where a lot of us fall short.  Set aside a regular day on the calendar and start out small. Better to be small and consistant than post once in a blue moon and be quickly forgotten. Whenever you can, link back to your shop, use your shop name everywhere to keep the seed you put out there, watered.  Make your photos recognizable as your brand by using consistent backgrounds or props. 

When people 'friend' or 'heart' or "bookmark" your shop or make a nice comment, check them out and comment back. 

 "Smile and be nice.....you'll make friends" was what my mom used to tell me when I was a little girl and painfully shy (ugh, how I dreaded those words, but oh how true they are!).  

I've made friends in Great Britain, France, Brazil, Singapore, Australia, Russia, Canada and all over the US via networking over the internet and didn't really know that's what I was doing.  I never really thought about it until now but over the last 18 mos.  I have received nearly 25,000 page views in my shop, even though I am not a regular blogger and just recently began posting to Flickr again after a long health hiatus.  But I have made connections and some sales and some lasting friendships as well since I first stuck my toe in the water.

What I do pretty regularly is post in forums (or is it fora?)  make inquiries and form relationships on other networks such as NING.  I do this in addition to my posts in the Etsy forums.  

NOW what I feel about networking is this:  I realize now that I instinctively participated in what came naturally for me, ie: wanting to talk with other like minded people who shared my interest in vintage and a greener lifestyle and continued to hone my picture taking skills. I steered away from what I wasn't comfortable with ie: ad dropping and daily posts with nothing but 'shop talk'.   I wanted to connect which is what networking really is right?

So, in my effort to encourage my reader(s) who are new or nervous about social networking I just want to say that you'll never know if you don't try.

You won't know what works for you or what you will like if you don't try it out.  If the shoes don't fit, you don't have to take 'em home with ya.

Be yourself, talk about what you love, genuinely and authentically and soon you'll be doing it like it was old hat.....and you'll have the sales and the relationships to confirm it.  If you aren't comfortable with a networking venue keep playing around until you find the one that makes you happy and accomplishes your goals.

To all of the mom's out there: Have a wonderful Mother's Day. Relax and let yourself be loved and honored for all that you do for your family.  Let them just 'love on you' take a deep breath and enjoy!

Celebrating the learning curve,

HighDesertRose

p.s. in addition to my  20% off everything in the shop Mom's Day sale going on in the shop right now mention today's blog topic and receive free first class shipping on any jewelry in the shop!  Happy Mother's Day!

photos hd.rose images 2009 all rights reserved