Social Media for Your Crafty Business

The problem is, most people don't know how to use them very effectively.

Too often, I see small business owners treat Twitter and Facebook as advertising tools - which they are not. Social media websites are relationship tools - they help you connect with customers all over the world, and quickly form useful, reciprocal bonds with them. These bonds will bring people to your crafty business.

That is, if you're doing social media right.

With Social Media for Your Crafty Business you'll learn how to:

• Reach out to people more effectively in the social media space, presenting yourself as a potentially valuable contact, not "just another marketer"
• Avoid looking like a newbie in the social media space - or worse, a spammer.
• Create a "value stream" with your tweets and Facebook updates, so that people pay attention to what you say and come back for more
• Creatively mention your crafty business on Twitter and Facebook - without annoying people. (You can't just post notices of what you've listed in your online store, by the way - most readers find that rather annoying.)
• Manage your time and track your results, so you'll know when your social media efforts are paying off.

Social Media for Your Crafty Business is a 72 page PDF, formatted for easy reading on your computer screen.

If you need more nuts-and-bolts information about using social media, try this handy compendium of links.

If you own a small creative business, this ebook will help you use social media tools to grow an enthusiastic following - and convert them to customers.

Check out the Table of Contents:

Book One: Understanding Social Media

• Chapter One: The Lay of the Land
• What IS social media, really?
• Getting to know the social media space - who's there, what they want, how you fit in
• Getting to know your social media friends - how to tell if they're really listening to you

• Chapter Two: Friends and Followers
• The best etiquette for friending and following
• Building up your social media network without being a spammer
• Deciding whether to friend or follow back - who should you connect with, and who shouldn't you connect with?

• Chapter Three: Providing Value, Setting Goals
• How to make every tweet and Facebook update more valuable, so people read them
• How to mention your business so that readers really want to check it out
• What do you want to get out of social media, and how do you make that happen?

Book Two: Using Social Media

• Chapter Four: Nuts and Bolts
• How to build a social media profile that attracts friends and followers
• How often should you post to Twitter and Facebook?
• What to expect when you start posting social media updates
• Personal information vs. private information - protect yourself in the social media space
• Privacy and Terms of Service: do Facebook or Twitter own your content?
• Social media tools to make marketing easier

• Chapter Five: Time Management and Results
• Time management tips and tricks, so you can be effective without spending all your time online
• Which one is better: Twitter or Facebook?
• How to take social media breaks without losing followers
• How to tell if your social media efforts are working

About the Author
Diane Gilleland is a craft blogger and podcaster in Portland, Oregon. She produces CraftyPod.com, a blog that became a full-time career in crafty writing and teaching. Her ebooks and online classes have helped crafters around the world make better use of the internet for marketing their small businesses.

Ready to dive into social media marketing?