How much social networking is enough

…or too much?!!  Are you getting value for your time invested?

Dianne Rigdon posted 2 comments today.  The first one is an excellent point. 

Connie I am loving all these great marketing tips and links and concepts. I?d love to hear an overall opinion about all the different social networks?whether we should try to be active in multiple groups such as facebook and twitter and kaboodle in addition to the digital scrapbooking forums and groups that we are already active in. It?s overwhelming to think of doing more, esp that which takes me away from design, but I love these concepts. Just trying to figure out how to fit it all in!

We are always juggling how to ‘fit it all in’.  Someone else had asked a similar question too, expect she said she was just getting into blogging.   I think that the wonderful thing about the web is that there are socialization opportunites just by powering up your PC.  We share our love of our hobby with each other & grow & learn together.

But there has also been talk of ’social network fatigue’.  How much is too much?!  Dianne questions how much she should be involved in?  And that underlines my efforts here.  My goal is to introduce our readers to the myriad of social networking options.  I’m outlining the ones that I’ve tried and trying to save everyone time by providing ideas for utilizing them for marketing your designs as well as the digiscrapper to enjoy. 

Please note that I’m not proposing that you use them all!  That is an individual decision.  Today, I think Dianne noticed my note to her on Kaboodle that said, ‘I don’t use Kaboodle for lists, but rather Evernote.’  I’m willing to be a hub for people starting out there though.  But I’ve been participating in the digiscrapping group there & enjoying that conversation.

My advice is to treat these social networking sites as places to experiment at.  Choose one & give it a chance.  I will provide you with the information to get started & suggestions for making it applicable.  You get to decide if it fits into your needs.  If you want to read an interesting article, this one on Social Networking Fatigue is quite in-depth & interesting. Brian Solis has some excellent points that I’ve extracted to save you reading it if you don’t have time.

1. Start with listening & watching, then participation becomes clear. (I have done this for you).
2. Monitor the guys on the front lines (again I’m doing this for you)
3. Why start with Facebook?  it experienced 270% growth in one year’s time!
4. Get involved & participate

“But, of them all, Facebook is the most interesting and so far, the most rewarding and engaging of the bunch. It’s not just about the ability to connect with people. It’s about creating, cultivating, and promoting a strategic online presence and personal brand.
Remember, participation is marketing.”

The option to have “…embedded feeds that represent all of my online activity for those who visit my profile, all in one window.”

And this is a great summary,

And what about Social Network Fatigue?
Well, that’s for everyone else. Your job is to not only promote your expertise, but also engage in conversations and discussions that matter to you and to your business.
Facebook is one of many social networks that require your attention. To truly engage in social media, you need to be wherever the people that matter to you congregate, even if it requires your participation across many different locations.

Well, Dianne made a decision before I had time to respond, and this is what she said:

Well I am just gonna try it all - facebook and twitter and delicious and kaboodle…play as I get time and see what works for me. So far I really like the interactive nature of facebook and that I can import links to my blog with it. I am also trying out the wordpress blog too just for fun lol.

And I think she answered her own question!  Try as you have time.  She realized like Brian stated that you can bring your other platforms like Twitter & your blog into Facebook.  But, the interactions at forums & your stores can’t, but maybe you can find a way to export your galleries as RSS feeds?  That’s a great idea!  In Brian’s conclusion, he says that you need to be where your people congregate, so it’s definitely important to be involved in the digiscrapping communities.  I’m not suggesting giving that up.  What I am offering are suggestions for sharing our digiscrapping hobby with the world & possible marketing opportunites for designers.  But as pointed out, you need to be a person first and develop meaningful relationships.  (and we’re very good at that - that’s why we love this community so much!)  

As I introduce these social networking sites, you’ll find that each has it’s own unique spirit. 

• Facebook is a platform where the masses are gathering.  (and I see you’re having fun with the over 2000 app’s  :)  ) 
• Kaboodle is a shopper’s dream site. (it’s in beta & growing quickly)
• Twitter is like mini blogging (I’m more of a listener there - Julie Ann Shahin is using it in a cool way though!)
• Flickr is about photography (there are also others like Fotki & others)
• Stumbleupon is a unique approach to finding new sites

Do I use them all?  Remember that I work full time & maintain this site with my sister, so no.  But I’ve been playing with them so that I can know what’s out there & in turn save all of you time.  That is our goal here to provide information.

If you have comments, please add them.  I really enjoyed discussing Dianne’s comments & I’m thinking that many of you were wondering the same thing?!

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