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I hope you enjoy my new blog, with fluffy love and quacks, Mother Duck xxxx

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Enough is enough! Social Media & Networking can easily become all consuming

Mother Duck is feeling over whelmed by social media and the many platforms available to sell our products and give us an on line presence ... so when is social media and the internet too much?

Dizzy Ducks have their Social Media fingers in many pies Twitter,Facebook, Google +  and Etsy we do of course have our own website, we also have our Blog, although not all of these are up to date.
So as a technophobe and a sole trader with only so many hours in the day how do I keep up?
The answer is I don't.
I don't have enough know how to make the best use of what is available out there and so sadly Google+ and Etsy have been sidelined, twitter is hit & miss. The only one I have managed to keep up to date, after a fashion is Facebook; even the Blog and website are trailing behind and in much need of revitalising.

So when is social media too much ... when it is detracting from a work/life balance, when you spend more time on line trying to keep all the balls in the air. I know there has to be a simpler way of doing it ... I just haven't found it yet. I am constantly being told that I need 'get Dizzy Ducks out there' but to be honest there is only so much I can do. I am sure there is a way of linking all of these forms of social media, ways of scheduling posts (figured out I can line up posts and delay their posting on Facebook) so that each of the various 'pies' are getting an equal amount of attention. This is all very well but with the changes to Facebook, reaching my small audience is getting harder, I am never sure quite how to be effective on Twitter. I haven't been onto Google+ for a long time and my Etsy shop has been in holiday mode since before Christmas and finding time to update the website & improve the shop is getting harder.

So what is the answer?
Do I pay someone to control my social media presence?
Do I keep doing what I am doing and hope that enough people will see Dizzy Ducks?

I know that the answer isn't to keep doing what I am doing, I need to make what I say and do on social media platforms count.
I shall continue my daily posts on Facebook, I am currently trying to see what types of post get the most attention and what time it is best to post.
I think this old duck just wants to bury her head in the sand until it all becomes a little easier.

On another note that will get a Blog of its own in the future ... it has been suggested that I try to find a local networking group so that I can expand my local presence but as yet I have been unable to find a group that understands the 'designer/crafter' sole trader. The one group I did try were all businesses employing 25+ people with a whole different set of needs, I felt badly out of place and out of my depth. What about local networking - it has been suggested that as I cannot find a group that is suitable I set one up for other people like myself ... good idea but more time consuming than social media!

When I first entered the world of social media with Dizzy Ducks is was easier but as with everything it needs work and needs to be effective. So what is the answer ... do you know ... is it Facebook, Twitter, Gooogle+ or some other pie I haven't found yet?