An article I read a while ago about reserving your usernames on popular social media sites was the stimulus to force me into exploring Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Because of our farm business I added Ravelry to the short list of critical places to be on. At first I just wanted to be sure no one else was OogieM on those places. And also to reserve Desert Weyr. I soon added Etsy as well as upgraded my CafePress site (although that is still a work in progress)

But I’ve found that for me there is usefulness in all of these new media.

Twitter is short and I am following several folks I met on GTD forums, some farming and cooking people and a few fiber folks as well. It’s very interesting to see how businesses can use Twitter for good service and customer feedback.

Facebook is mostly used for local communications between folks here in the valley. In fact we use it to communicate with people doing remodeling work on our new building in town.

Ravelry is the big surprise. My on-line wool orders had really slowed down, but once I started posting and participating in Ravelry groups and sharing my fiber projects orders picked up. I think my old e-mail list customers had moved on and forgotten about our farm and its products.

You Tube is the next to work on, we do have a small video up there of new lambs but we haven’t yet done much with it.

Etsy is a bust so far, no sales yet and I haven’t spent much time improving my site to attract more buyers. My CafePress site is also in the same boat but since it’s now going to be not only our personal farm site for logo merchandise but also the place where you can buy stuff that supports the American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Association and our Historical Society I hope things will improve.

I’d be interested in seeing how other small businesses use these new tools to get the word out.

BTW you can find me at:

OogieM on Twitter
Oogie McGuire in Facebook
OogieM on Ravelry
DesertWeyr on Etsy
DesertWeyr on Cafe Press
DesertWeyr on YouTube