Tweet Bird by feltmeupdesigns

In part I of my random musings and (hopefully) helpful hints on Twitter, I talked a little bit about thinking through what you want to use Twitter for and how it’s important to find an on-line ‘voice’ that you’re comfortable with.

In this sort of vein, there’s been some interesting discussion going on in the handmade blogosphere about ‘keeping it real’.  The always inspiring and often intriguing Pip Lincolne got the ball rolling with a post over at Make and Meaning.  She was writing specifically about blogging, but her message can apply to anything we do on-line – Twitter, Facebook and the rest.  The post talks about ‘Little Faux-Peeps’ who ‘blog for fame’ – ‘Hatching a plan, developing a persona, carrying out a strategy, strings-attached linking, prolific commenting, all zero-ed in on Blog Fame, and ultimately MONEY’ – and the loss of authenticity and creativity that can come with that.  Pip encourages us to ‘post with honesty and care’, to ‘blog in your own way, from your own core, and with your voice’.   You should really take a moment to read the whole thing, it’s worth it!

So yes, like many others I’m sure, my first reaction was good old fashioned paranoia and defensiveness – am I a ‘little faux peep’?!  But once I got past that and thought about it a bit more, it really struck a chord.  Basically, the message I got was – trust in yourself and people will respond to that.  Kathreen Ricketson summed it up beautifully in a post on whip up.  She writes: ‘So if you’re feeling a little weird about your beautiful blogging style, nervous about courting fame by leaving comments or submitting posts, or paranoid that you doth protest too much – don’t – just be true to yourself.’

And when I think about the tweeters that I enjoy and follow, and want to support and promote, it’s those kind of people.  People who are clearly passionate about what they do, who have a distinct voice, who share their unique take on the world.  People who interact with their followers, who support their community.   Which brings me to my next Handy Hint…

Twitter Handy Hint #2

Actively seek out and follow people you like.  Sounds simple right?  But so many people don’t seem to do it.   You’ll get so much more out of Twitter if you take the time to follow people that you admire and/or who share common interests.  And there are so many places to find them.  Tweeting Etsy-ers are right here in the Handmade Spark directory for a start.  Then you can use the ‘Find People’ function on Twitter or directories like Mr Tweet (based on recommendations from other Tweeters) or wefollow (based on popularity).  I have a permanent search set up on Tweetdeck which picks up any tweets that mention ‘owls’ and ‘etsy’…but you might set one up for pink macrame, or elephant shaped chocolates, or whatever your particular passion is.

Maybe you’re thinking:’ all this ‘keeping it real’ stuff is nice and warm and fuzzy, but hey, this is the real world!’?  And it’s true.  I know I’m supremely lucky: someone else pays my bills.  So whilst I’m passionate about handmade and I know I’m a nicer person when I make the time to craft, it really is a ‘hobby’ (for want of a better word).  But what if you’re just starting out and striving to one day quit your day job?  What if your craft is your day job, and you do the sums at the end of each week to check if you’ll be eating roast chook or spam?  It’s kinda understandable then that you might be a a little focused, a little driven.  That you might have a 3 year plan with targets and goals and the like.  That you might be conscious of your on-line ‘brand’.

But don’t forget that so much of buying handmade is about making a connection with the maker.  Your customers come to you wanting something unique, and part of that is letting them get to know you, just a little.

Twitter Handy Hint #3

Maybe one solution to consider (which some people use in the blogging world too) to the whole business vs pleasure thing is having two twitter accounts.  Have a look at this great article by Tamar Weinberg which talks about having one Twitter account purely for business, and one where you can be a bit looser, a bit more personal.  Nice idea. (With thanks to Perri Gorman for tweeting the article!)

We Are All Connected by pleasebestill

To me, Twitter is all about making connections.  And yes, one day, maybe in the future those connections might result in sales or collaborations or opportunities (like writing on an awesome handmade blog!).  But, as with any on-line forum, if you’re only there to get what you can out of it, you might find that you don’t get anything at all.