Life Hack 2013: Social Media Networking Strategy Development

I'm ready to get down to writing!

For those of you who have been following along, many thanks!  My little social media marketing experiment has yielded a few insights into what can really work for me.

First, let me explain the constraints under which any strategy must function:

My fledglings have
flown the coop!

1. I have a job outside the home--a full time job--and spend two hours on the road each day commuting.  I know this is not ideal, but it's the price I must pay, for now, for living on the farm.
2. I am active in my church.
3. I have an actual family--albeit my little fledglings have established nests of their own (without grandchildren)--and the Resident Dragon is an absolute jewel.
4. The demands of the garden are endless and cannot be ignored.
5. My real goal in all of this is for me to write, and for the Resident Dragon to make and sell his jewelry both at shows and through our Etsy shop.

So, the gleanings from my experiment are:

Craft and art fairs are fun!

• Facebook does nothing for me, at least until I have more than 8 followers.  No, I did not spam my address book to develop followers; I just could not do it.
• In-post linking is not a strategy; it may be helpful for your readers, but do not count on building readership from the links.
• BlogHer has not worked well for me yet, but I haven't really worked it.  Because my posts are spread among three blogs, I'm not sure I really qualify for their frequency requirements.
• SEO is not a complete strategy for the beginning blogger.  It has helped and is worth some time, but, unless you hit a really hot niche, you'll be languishing on Search Results page 3,857.
• SITSGirls is a good resource, although you sometimes have to hunt around for your topic.
• Angie Nelson's Work at Home Wife has very good information--especially for WordPress bloggers.
• Girlgab.com is my major source of hits.  Thanks, Mary Jane and all of the Farmgirl Sisterhood!
• Twitter and Pinterest have been the best development tool so far, by far.
• New posts drive new traffic.

Looking ahead . . .

I've been thinking about this all week and have come up with a plan:

1. Post once a week to each of my blogs and spread the post dates throughout the week.
2. Tweet each post (and each new jewelry item) with appropriate hashtags and mentions.
3. Participate in blog parties like SITSSharefest and writing memes like Five Minute Friday.
4. Convert my personal Pinterest board to a business board and let my daughter, the absolute queen of Pinterest, manage it!
5. Pay attention to my stats and target interest groups.
6. Re-evaluate my brand Live a Savory Life.
7. Write!

Developing the roots
of a good brand
is hard work!

So, that's the plan.

It's been an intense few weeks, and I really need to finish the organic gardening course I've been taking online.  Hopefully, the plan will allow me to do all the things I want to do, without one pushing aside any others.  My last task, re-evaluating my brand will be challenging and may require input from you, too.

Well, the dog is awake, and the cat is awake, which means the Resident Dragon will not be far behind.

Until we read again, how are you living your Savory life?

Nancy