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There’s a particular kind of emotional attachment that I feel about my websites. I don’t know if other artists feel the same way, or if it’s just because I’ve spent so much time labouring over them; anyway, they’re more to me than just a shopfront or a way to make money from words.
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When I think about writing up my creative activities for this blog, it’s always focused on the visual art side, because that’s how I mainly see myself.
When I talk about my writing here, it’s always focused on the creative writing or maybe critical essays, and even when I mention the journals I’ve published so far I don’t link to them because they belong in a non-art genre.
But this week my other writing career got a major shot in the arm, and took me off on the crest of a wave that’ll probably last for at least another week and pay off hugely for a long time to come. So far this week I have:
Often whilst balancing a cat on my lap. Oh, and I’ve experimented with copper-leafing a pair of shoes. Seriously.
Not entirely sure. Something started it – my guess would be finally committing to pay for Tailwind and accepting that I’d have to make some better images to make that investment worthwhile – and then I realised how very out-of-date a lot of my articles were, and how much better my entire publishing business could be if I just woke up and pulled my finger out.
Sometimes you just get into a rut with a creative business, and there’s nothing like parting with some money to create enough pain to snap you back into action!
So my big blog will get the benefit first, and then I’ll overhaul this one once that’s ticking over.
Well, it doesn’t hurt to try. I have a cat who particularly likes new shoes… he specifically likes to scratch them to bits.
I thought I might as well have a go at rescuing a pair that fell victim to his claws. Of course, being an art materials hoarder, I had one single sheet of metal leaf left from a sculpture I made in 2003, and the little bottle of leaf size to go with it.
Will it look good? That’s subjective, and high fashion doesn’t usually mind looking dreadful, if we’re telling the truth.
Will it stick? Now that’s something I’ll have to answer after the weekend.
If you’ve spent any time on Twitter, you’ll probably have come across the automated Direct Message, or auto DM.
They’re supposed to be a tool to drive engagement and make new followers feel welcomed. Well, I’ll cut this post significantly shorter than it could be by getting to the point: they’re annoying and no-one likes them.
Some of the most annoying are the ones that essentially go: “hey, thanks for following me on Twitter! Now go follow me here, there and everywhere else, and now go read my blog or buy this thing”. Cheeky or what?
But you’ve been told you should be doing it? Wha? Who should you believe?
Yep, I myself have set up auto DMs on Twitter in the past. Why? I read some advice somewhere online that made me think it was a good idea.
Where did I get that advice from? Probably a company that provides auto DM services. Makes sense, right?
Why did I stop? I got very, very little engagement back from those messages, and I would guess it’s because I just came across like every other bod who uses bots.
I’ve even read that they’re not all bad, as they provide an opportunity to start a conversation with someone who might not yet be following you back. But wait – that person’s sent an automated message because they don’t want to start a conversation themselves. They’re probably too busy, or most likely, they don’t check their DMs because they’re also swamped with auto DMs as well.
There must be some diabolical mind behind that automated message service that, right at the end, purposefully misspells “week” as “qeek”. Then, instantly, it sends a follow up message that says “week*, not qeek, oops“.
This might get you, but not after you’ve followed the second person who makes the identical “mistake” at the end of their message. After the third person makes that identical mistake… well, it’s suddenly more sad than funny.
Lots of people will tell you to simply be a human and engage with people on Twitter to build your following.
Well, they’re right. However…
The fact is that most of us are busy, and becoming increasingly more busy hammering away at every social media strategy we can to give our blogs and businesses a fighting chance in this competitive online space. We’re stressed. We can’t do it all. So we look for easy options.
What do I suggest?
How about taking a bit of time to check your feed and retweet something that catches your eye? Or comment? Or even just like someone else’s tweet?
Oh, and don’t bother starting a DM by apologising for sending it even though you know they’re annoying. If you already know it… just… stop.
The fact is, you can’t be online all of the time, and I’ve even taken an extended break from promoting my work on Twitter because I just wanted the headspace back.
I recommend RecurPost for automating some aspects of social media (including Twitter, as we’ve been discussing). It’s easy to use and has a free starter plan, and leaves no icky feeling whatsoever!
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