Thank you all so much for responding to my social media enquiry last week. The comments were overwhelmingly positive when I asked the question, “What is your favorite channel to interact with me?” I asked across all of my current platforms and wasn’t surprised to discover that the channel you are currently using is you favorite way to connect, of course! So the result is that I’m not going to get rid of any of them, but I’ll be much more intentional about what I share.
So for anyone who’s interested, scroll down for my new and improved social media plan, interspersed with some pics from quilt market that I haven’t shown before:
Chatting with Catherine P. in my booth at quilt market.
She’s one of the amazing Benartex sales reps.
My Blog – 2 Posts Per Week, Mondays & Thursdays
Up until now, I’ve never had a good feel for how often I should post. In the days before IG (Instagram) and FB (Facebook) took over, I blogged daily. Then I went silent when I was working on my first book. The last couple of years I’ve aimed for 3 posts per week but I’d often get overwhelmed and just post once. Going forward I should be able to handle two blog posts a week with informative content shared on Mondays and Thursdays.
These will be mostly tutorials or “making of” posts since you all love to see my in-depth process of start to finish quilting. But occasionally I’ll share new products for sale or other important announcements. My blog will longer-form content with lots of pretty pics!
If you’d like to get notified each time there’s a new blog post, enter your email address in the box on the sidebar if you are viewing on a computer. If you are reading this on your phone, you’ll have to scroll way, way down to the bottom to see it.
I love chatting, teaching, and interacting, whether it’s live or online. The best part about presenting in person is all the funny faces I get to make while talking, LOL!! This was from “Schoolhouse” presentation the day before quilt market opened.
My Newsletter – Every Wednesday
Click here to subscribe to my email newsletter.
Again, I haven’t really had a good newsletter strategy or a regular day to share until now. But I finally sat down and came up with a plan that focuses on quality over quantity. Each week I’ll share these three topics in my email newsletter:
- The latest quilt along post, video tutorial, or important announcement.
- My thoughts on a current quilting topic, or bonus tips and tricks.
- A special offer or discount on my products, not available anywhere else!
Showing off my Terrace Tiles quilt patterns to quilt shop owners at quilt market.
They were each made from one colorway of my my new Gridwork fabric.
Instagram – Daily
Click here to follow me on Intagram.
Instagram is mostly for what’s happening now, spur-of-the-moment posts. Whether I’m traveling and teaching, working on a behind the scenes project, or organizing my sewing room, this is the place where I’ll share what’s happening in real time. There’s no set schedule and it’s the most flexible platform because I can share as little or as much as I want.
Interactive Facebook Group – Daily
Click here to join my ChristaQuilts Facebook group.
I look at Facebook as the place where YOU can share what you are working on with me and other group members. It’s the perfect place to ask general quilting questions and get advice on projects you are working on. Of course I’ll share what’s happening in my world, but I’ve set it up to be like an interactive quilting bee where we can gather for friendship and inspiration!
Quilt market in action in the Benartex aisle. Can you see my pink shirt on the left?
It said #gridworkfabric on the front and #benartex on the back.
I was a walking social media ad during the show!!
YouTube – My Newest Channel
Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
I’ve just dabbled in YouTube for the last year or so, but have finally started sharing in-depth video tutorials on a particular quilting topic such as basting, or machine quilting. They say the future of any business lies in the success of online video so I’m excited to dive in and provide content here that I just can’t do anywhere else.
Originally my plan was to just make videos through Craftsy/Bluprint, (check out my 3 online workshops here). But I’m taking what I learned there and applying to to my own videos so that I can offer more relevant content to you all in a timely manner – for free!! The hope is that when you view my videos, you’ll be inspired to work with my patterns, fabric, and other items I create for a fun and thorough quilting experience.
So far I have over 400 subscribers which is a great start. But once I reach the magic number of 1000 subscribers I’ll aim for sharing weekly videos. Ideally, I’d like to create quilt alongs that show ALL steps of how to make the quilt from start to finish, so stay tuned!
I had actual Gridwork swatches in my booth so everyone could have fun fondling the fabric!
Final Thoughts
So when I finally sat down to plan out a social media strategy it didn’t feel so overwhelming. While there will be occasional overlap among all the different areas, I’ve realized that each platform has a different audience and that’s ok. My goal is to share the love of quilting with as many people as possible, so I don’t mind meeting you where you are at.
I recently tracked my time spent online and it wasn’t as bad as I thought, as long as I stayed focused. When I spend more time creating, and less time consuming, I somehow have time to manage it all.
And now that I’ve spent my allotted time today creating this post – I’m off to sew! Thanks again for your kind comments and support, no matter where you follow me.
Christa Quilts 
Oh my goodness! I’m retired and cannot imagine created a social media schedule. I’d never get to create! However, I’m not socializing for business, so that likely makes a big different. I socialize for the pleasure of getting to know other quilters. And, I only write blog posts (for myself and our Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild) and Instagram posts. I’ve never joined Facebook and many people agree that I’m not missing anything. 🙂 I wish you the best at keeping up with your schedule. Heaven forbid that you or anyone in your family would get sick! My best-laid social media plans always seem to go awry because of health problems.
Thank you so much!
Thank you.
Patsy
Thank you for sharing your new schedule and for including all the current forms of internet connection. I am sure we will all understand if you need to cut back more as time goes on. Creativity is so important and while we all want to share as much of yours as possible, I am sure we all want you to have plenty of time to actually create, you have so much energy and so many ideas. Thank you for being so willing to share them.
“Schoolhouse” was always my favorite event sitting down with the gigantic printed school schedule of classes trying to pick out what classes to go to at what time. This is almost an entire day’s event. It is such a privilege to have access to the pillars of the quilting community. I was always amazed at how much I learned during those short classes. But this was in the mid 90s before the internet was what we know today. You could always tell which class Eleanor Burns was teaching in because you could hear the hoot and holler from the audience!