In the Spring and Summer issues of The Professional Quilter Gloria Hansen took a look at the phenomenon of social networking, specifically Facebook and Twitter. While we think of social networking as relatively new, it had its start in 1997 with SixDegrees.com, though the site is no longer active.

Today social networking lets you make connections that you would not otherwise make. I’ve connected with high school friends and flames, new friends who share similar interests besides quilting, and quilting associates. And, social networking is a good thing for business. It lets your customers and clients get to know you on a more personal level. I’ve heard it said that before someone buys from you, they need to know, like and trust you. Social networking lets them do that.

Here are six tips to help you take advantage of social networking:

1. Quality of your connections, not quantity, is your goal according to Gloria. You don’t have to “friend” everyone. You want to enhance your opportunities rather than get bogged down in lots of non-relevant chit-chat.

2. Learn how to fine tune the information you receive. Spend time learning how to use Facebook so that, for example, you don’t get spend unnecessary time reading news feeds that aren’t news. You can do this in the Settings, News Feed section of Facebook. Facebook also has a help section.

3. Facebook lets you post photos. Take advantage of this by posting photos of yourself teaching, lecturing, working at the longarm, attending a gallery opening with your work. Pictures speak louder than words.

4. Give more than you get with your posts. Share your expertise so that you can to help other people. This comes back to you in so many more ways than you can count. Zig Ziglar says, “You can have everything in life you want, if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.”

5. Look for ways to integrate the technologies. For example, if you tweet (the action of posting to Twitter) about being at a gallery opening, post a link to your blog where you have uploaded pictures of you and your quilts at the gallery.

6. Use timesaving applications, such as TweetDeck and Twhirl. I like Ping.fm that lets me post to both Facebook and Twitter at the same time.

7. Remember that Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites don’t eliminate the need for a Web site and/or blog. Be sure to keep your Web site active and post to your blog. Each tool has a purpose, so develop a strategy for using them all.

Remember it’s all about making connections, and you never know when that connection might turn into a wonderful opportunity.

The Professional Quilter always includes an article that is technology focused to help you grow your quilt business. You can learn more from Gloria Hansen’s articles on using Facebook in Issue 107 and Twitter in Issue 108. If your subscription is not current and you need to renew, or you want to start a new subscription, here’s a link to our order page

Digital Essentials
Gloria Hansen
Electric Quilt; $29.95

If you’d like to add this book to our library, here’s a link to purchase it through Amazon.

If you missed it, we had a teleclass with Gloria where she discussed many aspects of working with digital files. Here are the details on the audio from the class.

I’m still on a cloud after our teleclass on Tuesday evening. One of our listeners asked, “How do I type a standing ovation?” Thanks, Allison! It was our first of what I hope is a long series of teleclasses geared to serious or business quilters. Our first class featured a Q&A format with Gloria Hansen. Gloria’s latest book, Digital Essentials: The Quilt Maker’s Must-Have Guide to Images, Files and More, was just published in late September. The book is a wealth of valuable information and she shared lots of information on the importance of resolution, printing on fabric, working with images for slide shows, copyright protection of your images on the Web and more. I think our conversation is a great compliment to her book. We taped the conversation and it will be available next week as either an audio download or a physical CD. I’ll also have copies in Houston. And, thanks to everyone who stuck with us despite the technical difficulties. I know you’ll agree it was definitely worth it. And, thanks to Gloria for helping us kick off the series.

Innovative Fabric Imagery
Cyndy Lyle Rymer and Lynn Koolish
C&T Publishing; $27.95

Every year we see more and more quilts with images that have been created with digital technology. In 2007, C&T sponsored an Innovative Fabric Imagery special exhibit at International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston. The majority of Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts features a gallery of more than 40 of the inspiring entries in that exhibit. The book also includes the basics of working with photos on your computer and 19 projects. The projects range from “Ocean Sunset” by Gloria Hansen, which features a large photograph printed in four sections, cut into squares and then fused on a background, ending up with an attic windows look, to “Gramsie” by Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero, which turns a photo into a kaleidoscope as the focal point of the quilt. The book is full of ideas to inspire you to put your computer and its imaging software to creative use.

The Summer issue is out and in the mail. I’ve heard from subscribers that it’s showing up in mailboxes. Here’s a peek at the cover:

Articles include a profile by Eileen Doughty with Alaska quit artist Linda Beach, tips for developing a blog as a marketing tool by Maria Peagler, a studio tour with longarm quilter Paula Rostkowski, guidelines for business recordkeeping by David Nagle, help with phrasing judging comments by Scott Murkin and a primer on understanding DPI for good digital printing by Gloria Hansen. We will have some excerpts in our ezine later this month.