Saturday 30 June 2012

Organising Social Media - and a Giveaway!

The Giveaway is now CLOSED! Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner will be announced on Thursday 5th July!

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of my Organisation Celebration! Did you catch all last night's posts? Head back to the start here and work your way through them if not, and keep reading this post for another giveaway!

I've been embracing more and more social media this year. When I first started hearing about Twitter and Instagram, I wondered if I really needed something else to be doing. But I've learned a few ways to keep it all organised, and not let it take over my life!

The social media I currently use are Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

I've been using Facebook personally for years, but I've only just this week created a fan page for Jennifer's Jumbles. I was worried before that I'd have to keep signing out of my personal account, and into my fan page, and vice versa. But I'm happy to discover it doesn't work like that - you can easily toggle between the personas you're publishing as at the top of your fan page, and your fans can't see your personal page. Clever!



Though I've only been on it a few days, I've already learned the way to keep organised with it is to use the Networked Blogs App to help publish my blog posts to my page. I used this tutorial to help me learn more about it. So far I've been using the 'Quick Publisher' option to publish my blog posts to my page, but I might syndicate them at some point, I'll see how much time it takes up! 

I started using Twitter after reading Julie Kirk's 'Tips for the Twitter Curious' series. I've found it to be a really useful tool for making connections and for hearing about the latest news / deals / opportunities. To organise the way I use it, I've been careful to only follow people I really want to hear from. Some people I started to follow because they followed me, or because they were funny, but I realised this just clogged up my Twitter feed and gave me too much to read all the time, so I cut back.

I don't tend to write many tweets myself, but I do have a set up via Twitterfeed, for my blog posts to automatically publish to Twitter and my Jennifer Grace Facebook Wall. It means I don't have to worry about announcing my latest blog post in these places, as it's all done automatically. Then I have more time to devote to writing interesting tweets when I can think of them!



Another way I use Twitter is to utilise the 'favourite' button. When I read a tweet that I want to follow up on, eg. if it's about a giveaway I want to enter, or a blog post I want to read in more depth, then I click to 'favourite' it, and I go back to it when I have more time. Sometimes I miss a deadline if I do this, but I try not to get upset about that, after all, I can't do everything! Hitting the favourite button means I have the option there though, so I don't have to spend ages on twitter at the time I see the tweet - I can come back to it later if I'm able to. It keeps me relaxed about it all!

I haven't used Google Plus or Instagram that much, I only joined these recently. So far for Google Plus I just 'share' my blog post when I'm prompted too (when I manually publish a post), and then browse it now and then. I feel like it's something I will use more as I get used to it, and find my way around! I was convinced to at least try it out after reading this post on CrafterMinds. 

I tried Instagram a little, last year, and decided I didn't need it right then. But I discovered that you could put a gadget in you blog sidebar via Snap Widget, showing your latest Instagram pics, and I thought it would be a cool way to keep the blog looking fresh, without me having to spend extra time loading photos. This was a great plan, until my baby boy dropped my Ipod Touch down the toilet this week. I'm now trying to convince hubby to let me download Instagram to his Ipod Touch!

The social media I use more than is probably good for me is Pinterest. I love browsing on here:


I think the best organisational tip for Pinterest is to make sure pins actually work when you are re-pinning them. It's so annoying and time consuming to try and find the correct link when you realise a pin doesn't work, or just sends you to an image instead of a blog post or website. 

And, though I think the boards are very organised on the computer, the only way I've taken them off into the real world is to print them onto random bits of paper, which get lost or stuck haphazardly on my study wall. But now I'm totally going to try this idea by Christina, to make an actual pin-board display from printed-out pins. So simple but so effective!

Now, do you want a giveaway to start the day? Okay!

One randomly selected winner will receive this Simple Stories 'Mix and Match' 6x8" album:


To enter this giveaway you need to follow me on Twitter, or 'like' my Facebook Fan page, and say 'Hi!' to me on either, so I know you're interested in winning! You can do both to get 2 entries into the draw. The giveaway is open to new and old Facebook or Twitter followers. 

Tweeters could copy this: '@_jennifergrace_ thanks for the chance to win a Simple Stories album! You could enter to win it too here: http://bit.ly/La3kVe'

A similar message on my Facebook Fan page would be fine!

The giveaway will close at 11.59pm on Monday 2nd of July {NOW CLOSED}, and it's open internationally. The winner will be announced on Thursday the 5th of July.

Also, don't forget that commenting on this post, or any post from this weekend, will enter you into the Grand Giveaway {NOW CLOSED}- but only if you've registered your interest in winning it here

See you in an hour! x

22 comments:

Annie Claxton said...

wooHOO! I'm the first comment :) I got up early to catch up on yesterday's posts and now I'm going to be watching the clock whilst doing a bit of housework (unfortunately the elves didn't turn up). Must have a go at this Pinterest business - I am a bit technically challenged, but if I can get my head around blogging I'm sure Pinterest is possible - thanks for the pointers. Off to find your Facebook fan page now...have a lovely day and thanks again x

Maria Ontiveros said...

I"ve happily avoided twitter (too complicated) and pinterest (too big a time sink because I know I would be incapable of backing away from it!). I do enjoy facebook and may link my blog to it. I think google set me up with google + inadvertently, so I just ignore that one. Good for you to be so adept at these!
Off to like your facebook page.
Rinda

Counterfeit Kit Challenge said...

My biggest tip for computer organization is using my favorites bar. I have it ultra organized and categorized, so when I get online, I can find anything I want pretty quickly.

Bethany

Patricia said...

I'm a new liker on facebook! Thanks for the great organization tips so far!

Julie Baswell said...

My computer and internet is so slow that all these social media just take too long. I love pinterest and do check facebook once in a while. I avoided twitter til recently and got spammed by pinterly almost immediately. But I'm slowly, slowly getting there.

hueisei said...

I'm a FB fan. I love Pinterest too ^^

Emily Mae said...

I love Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram the most! I use them daily for all sorts of things. They can be time sinks, but I try to keep it simple by not following loads of people. That way, I can check each in just a few minutes, instead of spending most of my day just reading new tweets and looking at new pins and photos. So that's my tip--don't feel the need to follow everyone, everywhere!

Lisa said...

I am absolutely love love love pinterest. Glad I was told about it a year ago. Good luck and have a fantastic weekend!

Carin McDonough said...

I have Facebook and am a total Pinterest addict but avoid everything else as I am too scared of all the time it will take up lol.

scrappyjacky said...

I love Pinterest....and am on Facebook....but rarely actually go on there!!

Susanne said...

I don't do Facebook, or any social media to be social in fact. I use Pinterest - but really just for keeping track of things I used to print out on paper. I don't spend any time following others on Pinterest, either. I just don't have the extra time to spend, I'd rather be reading blog posts where there is usually more meat to the conversation.

dogmatix said...

I do facebook but mainly for keeping in touch with family and friends.....i am awful at keeping in touch by phone and I love stealing my sisters pictures of her children :)

i am totally hooked to Instagram and dip in and out of twitter. I think i need to cut a few off my following list as well to be honest as my timeline can get totally blocked with pointless stuff :s

I am on Pinterest but think I need to learn how to use it properly....I hardly ever dip in at the moment :(

Caroline Hackney said...

I use FB for staying in touch with family and friends, who are divided across both sides of the Atlantic. I stay away from the games - I have little enough time as it is! I have a Twitter account but I really don't use it, and I use my Google Plus account only marginally more. I'm staying away from Instagram for now, but I have been absolutely sucked in to Pinterest. Absolutely love it for inspiration, or for a pick-me-up on a tough day.

Ana Laura De Romero said...

Well now I'm your follower on Twitter as @Sra_De_Romero

this is the 'social media' I use the most, I do tweet a lot LOL,


here's my tweet --> https://twitter.com/Sra_De_Romero/status/219328400349872128

And Liked your fan page as Ana Laura de Romero
And this is my comment --> https://www.facebook.com/JennifersJumbles/posts/242938825808577

Thanks =) and kisses

sra_de_romero(at)yahoo.com.mx

Sally said...

Have just liked your page and followed you on Twitter. I love facebook....am an addict and waste far too much time there

Margie said...

I LOVE Pinterest!

Clair said...

I use Twitter all the time at work, so I must admit that I come home and want to switch off for a while - which means I don't use it as much as I used to! But, I'm using Facebook much more now than ever before, so I'll be sure to add you over there x

Jimjams said...

Not sure about Twitter - I have trouble enough with Facebook confusion! I like Pinterest, but I wish there were a few privacy options on there.

Unknown said...

I love pinterest, but have to start putting a timer on to limit the amount of time I am on there!

Anonymous said...

I too love pinterest - but as a bookmark for me rather than anything else - I try not to lose hours there! I'm not so sure about twitter and facebook - life seems busy enough (maybe I'm officially an old fogey now!)

byondbzr said...

I love Facebook and pinterest!

Lisa-Jane said...

Did it on Facebook. I am resisting Twitter at the moment but I may have to investigate it at a later date - apparently its a great platform for authors to reach another audience. For me its just another thing to get sidetracked on!

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