Jump Start Your Intro to Twitter

Have you ever sent a crafty pal of yours a link to some cool crafty thing you came across on the internet and just had to share? Do you agree that if your co-worker or employee was telling you about an awesome quilted car snuggy, for instance, you'd be very intrigued if not somewhat frustrated until you actually got to see it for yourself? Twitter is the perfect platform for trading links and sharing inspiration, so for that reason alone you should join the party. And you'll remain in Tweetdom, because at some point not to far into the future you'll realize the potential Twitter has as an integral part of your business marketing strategy.

I will get into the nitty gritty of Twitter as a useful tool in helping you grow your business later. This post will tell you how to jump start your Twitter experience so that you don't waste any time in getting Twitter to work for you. In no time you'll be enjoying tweeting back and forth on topics that interest you with people you didn't previously have access to.

When you have opened your Twitter account, be sure to fill out the Account tab under Settings. The only other mandatory action item at this point is uploading a custom picture. It doesn't have to be your face- it can be something fun- but the quicker you change out of the generic graphic Twitter provides, the quicker you'll look and feel like a pro.

Now you need to find your people. Directories such as Twello and Just Tweet It are definitely worth exploring. You can also register yourself in these directories under certain categories or genres such as crafts, knitting, scrapbooking, home business, and entrepreneur in order to help others find you. wefollow is probably the most widely used directory. Try searching for people by tags such as "craft", "handmade", and "creative" and follow those you know or find interesting.

Follow the instructions to add yourself to the directory and you'll be prompted to choose your own three tags. You'll want to choose tags that are specific to yourself and your business, but aren't as popular as similar tags. For instance, you'll want to go with craft instead of handmade (if these terms do in fact have the same meaning to you) because you will be more easily found and followed when you are in a group of 40,000 vs 117,000. And it's all about how many followers you have.

Now that you've chosen your tags, you can start including them in tweets that you want to direct to these groups. If you include "#craft" in your tweet, anyone who is searching for tweets directed towards craft followers will find and read it. This is a great way to broadcast to those you want following you.

But what are you going to say? This is the cool part: Twitter really makes it easy to be transparent. Where Facebook portrays you as your friends and family see you, and LinkedIn highlights your professional life, Twitter lets you easily be both. This is because people like receiving tweets that are relevent to their careers, interests, or business. But if all you do is shamelessly promote yourself or link to industry news, then no one ever gets to know the real you. As old as it gets to read all the "good morning"s and "good night"s on Twitter, it's also nice to know that its real people on Twitter, and not just a bunch of robots.

Next Twitter post will be about setting up your TweetDeck. As Snoop Dogg would Tweet, "good night my Twizzles!"

New stuff in spaz-made: Hambly

I just added some fresh made robot art pieces to my Etsy Shop, spaz-made. I just love Hambly, so when I found some rub-ons while unpacking the crate after the CHA show, I just had to put them to good use.





Allison Abad at Hambly is one of my favorite designers and I love what she makes out of the rub-ons, papers, and overlays that she designs for Hambly as well. The pillows she made that she shows off in this post are rad. The girl JUST got her first sewing machine so I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. I wonder if Quilt Market is in her future... Anyway, here are some of the new items I have added to spaz-made my etsy shop, and a few more I will be adding soon!

Reason #3: Paco

Reason #3 (for not being sad about issue #10 being the last printed issue of CRAFT Magazine):

There is something much, much bigger to be sad about...the death of Ana Poe's dog Paco, of Paco Collars fame.

I was so excited when I opened the last issue of CRAFT Magazine to page 111 at random. It was a great surprise to see Ana Poe and Paco and a how-to article on making dog collars the Paco way. Ever since I met Ana and Paco last summer I've had so much respect for Ana and her business (and Paco of course), and I was thrilled to see them featured in one of the coolest craft mags.

Last summer when my dog Alabama was still a puppy, my S.O. somehow found the Paco Collars website. He called me over to check it out. We read everything on that site including the blog from start to finish in just the one sitting. From the moment we saw the first pictures of Paco in a huge sombrero, we decided Paco was the raddest dog ever. (The pictures of Paco in pants further confirmed this belief.) And we absolutely had to get our dog Bama, a pit bull coon hound mix, a Paco Collar of her very own!

However, we were absolutely broke at the time. But that didn't stop Ana from helping us make our dream come true. We read on the Paco Collars website somewhere that she allowed her customers to help her with her prep work and in doing so, pay for the collar they want to buy in time instead of money. Ana taught us how to bevel and dye the edges and had us conditioning the leather. I had a blast hanging out with her and Tim, as well as Paco and a few other kick-backed canines. Then on my birthday, Bama got a very special gift...


...And I got a matching bracelet! I picked out the winged star conchos from the supplier catalog but the design of the collar was all Ana and I love what she did. If you'd like a better look at it, check out the product page for the Alabama Collar. I believe there may even still be a photo of Bama there if you click the "View additional images" link.

Thank you Paco for inspiring such slick designs and such high-quality products! You'll be missed. At least I know where I can find a photo of you in that sombrero - it always makes me smile!

Why I am not sad that CRAFT Magazine has printed it's final issue

Of course I was sad when I picked up the very last printed issue of CRAFT Magazine. I've loved this magazine from the beginning and have been lucky enough to get to read every issue. I had a ball at O'Reilly Media's (CRAFT Magazine's parent company) Maker Faire a few years ago when I was lucky enough to set up and work at the C&T Publishing booth there. I also attended Natalie Zee Drieu's demo-nar on the Indie Craft movement at CHA last year and of course seized the opportunity to chit-chat with all the CRAFT Magazine peeps in attendance. CRAFT Magazine and Craftzine.com really deserve a post all their own right now, but I can't write the sad and lamenting post I'm supposed to upon hearing the news about #10 being the very last printed issue. And there are two reasons for this:

REASON #1: I am actually really happy for CRAFT. They still have a booming blog which I imagine will only be getting better, and...well, it's CRAFT! They have their very tech-savvy fan-base/ market wrapped around their little online finger anyway. They aren't going to lose anyone! The only difference now that they are online only is they won't have to jock so hard for advertisers. Which couldn't have been much fun at all.

Doing away with the print version of the magazine probably made great business sense and the forethought that took place there is really something to be commended! Especially at times like this when other awesome magazines like Domino are dying left and right and craft market magazine giants like CK Media can't seem to offload their wares fast enough. It seems like CRAFT is adapting where other magazines just weren't able to evolve fast enough. It's a perfect example of "survival of the fittest" and the way I see it, CRAFT Magazine is at the top of its game. Which is something to celebrate, right.

and REASON #2: When I finally got to sling open issue #10 (The Very Last Issue), the page I just happened to see first was wonderful page 111. The reason this page is so wonderful is because Ana Poe and her truly one-of-a-kind pit bull Paco, from Paco Collars here in Oakland, are on it - what an awesome surprise!! More about Ana and Paco in my next post...