I'm So Flattered (kinda)

So I know I am not alone as a blogger when I am incredibly, awesomely, beamingly flattered with every comment, follower and Facebook fan that finds me out there in the big old world and takes time to read what I have to say and look at what I have been making. (thank you, thank you, thank you!)

I have also gotten some e-mails with offers from internet entities that usually start with "We found your blog and think it's cool"  and then have an offer of some kind.  Any kind of contact is wonderful, but I am becoming a bit disenchanted with these offers.   Lookville is cool, but more fashion/outfit oriented than I am interested in.  Giveaway Scout sounded pretty cool, you register your blog and then when you have a giveaway they will help promote it.  But I never could find my giveaway featured, plus it would have been easily lost among the commercial product giveaways.  VideoJug originated in the UK and is kind of like YouTube only with high quality instructional videos and blog posts.  In their words, "the world’s most comprehensive library of free factual video content online."  Again, sounded pretty cool, but I since I have a family I love and a job that unfortunately expects me to work full time for my full time pay, I decided to pass.

The latest offer I got was in an e-mail that said, "stumbled on your blog while searching for Jewelry Making related information. We operate the largest Jewelry Supplies website featuring more than 30,000+ blogs. Our site averages 200,000+ uniques visitors per month. Based on your blog's popularity and other factors, we have featured your blog at...."
 
I logged onto the site to check it out and it is an odd mixture of links to online jewelry sources and Ebay, and I couldn't find links to blogs off of the home page.  Only if I used their specific link in the e-mail could I find their blog roll.  It could be a completely legitimate endeavor, but it seemed a little fishy, especially because in the e-mail they asked me put a link to their site on my blog.

With all the media outlets out there and with as large as the community of jewelry makers and as varied as the techniques out there to learn, I try hard to focus on what most makes me happy and what I can handle in the time I have to devote to a craft I love.  I am completely happy with blogging, Facebook and Etsy and think I will focus my attention there.

To that end, I have to highly recommend three things:

1.  Facebook fan page - if you are just starting out, like me, having a "fan page" sounds as boastful as putting the term "designer" under my name on my business card, but I think it's a great way to get your blog out to folks that don't read a lot of blogs.  It was also a way for me to separate my business promotion from my work and church friends.

2.  "Like" fan pages of other jewelry makers and suppliers.  I came across Happy Mango Beads this way.  They have wonderful posts, great design contests, and just launched their own blog.  They posted one of my necklaces from Etsy on their page and I just noticed that they put me on their blog roll.  I am now their devoted slave!

3.  Join your local Etsy group - I just joined the Capital Region Etsy Street Team which has a blog and a Yahoo group.  I had been struggling to figure out when and where to find local craft shows and I've already gotten group e-mails on a couple.  I think what will be cool about this group is that it is not all jewelry makers.

As usual I have blabbed enough.  We are off on another camping adventure this weekend, this time only our family, and I am really looking forward to it.  Have a great long weekend everyone and I'll catch up again next week.  And here is proof from last weekend that you can camp and bead :-)