Weekly update. . .I give up

I've been feeling it for a while, growing depression over "social" media or the lack of social-ness in mine at least. Meta sucks, that is a fact. The ever-changing algorithms and rules just suck, I worked for years to build "followers", but they never get shown my posts so what the F was the point?!!?  Seriously, from the facebook page, instagram, threads, pinterest, this blog even, what is the point of any of it if no one sees it, reads, interacts with any of it?

Years ago the multiple accounts in RainbowMaille's name seemed like a good thing (I thought) because it made the search of my business name a full page of google results, and being easy to find was supposed to be important. 😐  However, these days it doesn't seem to make any difference what I do, how often I post, or even what I post. The fb page is a "business" page so I tried to keep in business-y but no one interacts with it much. The instagram was supposed to humanize me as an artist, so show multiple facets of my life, but again not a lot of interaction. Threads is new and stupid and I still don't get the point of it so I don't use it much, but I've tried and yeah little to no views or interactions. Pinterest gets the most traffic and views but still doesn't generate sales, likely just people looking for ideas they can make themselves. 😏 So yeah really what the heck is the point of any of it?

I posted this adorable photo of my tiny kitty taking up the whole couch and made a joke in the caption and fb showed it to 18 whole people none of which even liked the photo 😕I mean how can anyone not like a cat photo?!?! 

Seriously the last thing I posted on threads was a link to the last blog post and even though I have 99 "followers" it was only seen by 6 people 😞 it got 1 like and that was my childhood BFF. 

So really what is the point? What am I doing wrong? Why is life a freaking popularity contest? And how is the awkward, social anxiety riddled high-school loaner supposed to get anywhere in this hellscape of "social media"?!?!  Well according to facebook I just have to pay, boost every post is their "Tip" and at ridiculous rates. The most recent suggestion about the previous post suggestions for only $140 they will show it to almost as many people as I have followers, yeah, I do not believe their promised numbers because time after time they have lied and failed. 

also since when does one have to "boost" a cat photo, facebook was built on people sharing pet photos 😕😞

I started trying to look for some local craft events, because in-person sales are often better than online, but you still have to use things like facebook to find local events. And in typical social media everyone lies fashion, the first event I found that sounded like it might be good for me was lying about its' location. 😠 Naming an event "Indianapolis" anything when the actual event is in Kokomo an hour away from Indy is a blatant LIE to me. WTF?  Like who does that? It is a gross misrepresentation, literally false advertising (it was a sponsored fb post) and there are people in the comments trying to justify the lie. 

 

For those that aren't familiar with the area

Kokomo is NOT Indy, when I look for local events, I want actual LOCAL events not stuff that is an hour or more drive. When I commented on the post that it was false advertising and their lying about the location will prevent me from considering vending with them instead of addressing my comment, they just deleted it.  

So, someone tell me again how great facebook is and how important to everyday life and business this pile of lies is, because I'm not buying it, literally I do not believe it and I'm not paying for it. 😐 

Now you just watch because of the clickbait-y nature of the title this will get more attention than anything else I posted this year. 😒 Which will just prove and support my point that the entire "social media" concept is about psychology and manipulation and the dishonesty at the core is what I really have a problem with.

Weekly update. . .Re-opened

I'm calling it official RainbowMaille has reopened all online shops, goimagine, etsy, and makerplace.  I'm not a fan of etsy and the .20 cent per listing fee so I only activated a limited number of things, all jewelry.  I also limited what I put on makerplace because I'm not sure how long they will even be around at this point. 😐 

goimagine is the only place I plan to list the art, so wire trees, dragons, dumpsters and canvas paintings will be exclusive to goimagine.com and RainbowMaille.com 

Which means the etsy and makerplace shops will remain limited to under 50 listings of chainmaille jewelry. 

So if you want a simple bracelet or earrings you can purchase from any of the online outlets as they all have the basics. 😇

I will also accept custom orders through any of the shops. 😉 But my main focus will remain getting all the art photographed and listed on goimagine in the next month. Luckily for me I finally found my camera this week, so with the lighting set and my proper camera on its' tripod I have high hopes of good photos in my future. 😎

In other more personal news, I broke a pinky toe the other night and have spent the week not sleeping well and hobbling around questioning why I rented a two-story house. 😅 

Weekly update. . . surprise

I posted some photos this week of actual fresh chainmaille, the first in months. 😊 It was nice to make something again, but it had a purpose. . .to surprise my Mom. 

Good news. . .she really likes it. 😁  

Also, my Mom wasn't the only one I surprised yesterday, there was a bit of a family gathering. I haven't attended one of these for many years due to living in various far-away states, but I am now within driving distance. I did tell my Mom I was coming but I didn't tell her I was bringing her a gift so that was her surprise. She only told one Aunt I was coming so I was the surprise for most of the family and the varying levels of shock were funny, some shouts, some tears, and so many hugs. 😂 

In business news I found my photo lights and tripod, but can't find my camera, so I'm not sure when I'll get the art photos done. 

Weekly update. . . Happy Mother's Day

I did not have any kind of sales or discounts this year for Mother's Day. I just didn't see the point of trying to set up a sale the week of when I am just getting things re-listed. 😐  

I found the box of mini dumpsters, so they will be next in the re-listing process as soon as I go thru the box and inventory what's available. 😉

I need to get my photography set-up stuff out so I can figure out where in this new house I have decent lighting 🤔 so I can start the massive "re-photograph all the art" project. 

Weekly update. . .May the Fourth (be with you)

Happy Star Wars day, yes that is a joke in the title in case you are not a giant nerd or missed the reference somehow. 😅  

It has been a productive week for me, I've set my workbenches, unpacked many boxes including tools, supplies, and inventory. 

Sorting out the contents of some of the boxes takes quite a while, even when the boxes are small and it seems like it should be super quick it takes hours. 😏 

Because of the nature of the supplies inside some of these boxes need a lot of sorting, although I am thinking about leaving some of them packed. I don't plan to use the buckles, spots, rivets, snaps, etc., that are for leather, because I don't really plan on doing any leather work in this house. 

But the boxes of jewelry findings, barrettes, pins, rings, scales, beads and wire tree supplies etc., are still a ton of stuff to sort out. 😉

I have re-activated most of the chainmaille listings on #goimagine but not all of them, I still need to do an inventory check on the earrings. I started re-activating the wire trees, but I also need to verify inventory on a few of those. Art will be last because I want to do all new photos, not just for the framed pieces but ALL of the paintings need new better photos. 

I am trying not to think about the amount of work it will be to re-photograph all the art. . .there are over 100 finished paintings. . .at least 10 listing photos each. . .so shooting literally thousands of photos to select and edit down to a thousand to use. 😬 Yeah yikes, should not have thought about that. 😅  

I still need to re-activate stuff on other platforms, I did a few on Michaels but I still haven't done any on etsy. I'm not thrilled with Michaels really, but I did have some sales there last year, so I thought I'd give it another go. However, since reactivating listings over a week ago I have noticed that the stats haven't updated or moved it is literally stuck on March/April a month behind. I went looking for the facebook group where we used to report things but apparently, it's gone, the official group that was run by an actual Michaels employee that is listed/linked in the seller help pages is just gone, the link goes nowhere, I've searched facebook every way I could. I finally posted in a different michaels sellers group and asked wtf? multiple people have said the group is just gone and there was little to no explanation, the employee that ran the group has left michaels, heck a few of them are speculating that Michaels may just throw in the towel on the whole of MakerPlace. 😐 Not sure how to process that.  . .it would not be the first time a retail craft store tried to launch a handmade platform and completely gave up, I remember the A.C.Moore/Zibbet partnership fiasco, it did not work out and A.C.Moore ended in bankruptcy (I think they were headed there anyway because of the excessive/constant coupons, kind of like Bed, Bath & Beyond or JoAnns).  So, I think I'll just focus on goimagine for now. 😉 

Weekly update. . . re-opened

Well, I have not gotten the workshop set up yet, but unpacking is happening. 😉 Inventory has been located and mostly verified and counted, so listings are being re-activated, so far just chainmaille and wire trees but I'll get to the art and shooting new photos eventually. Actually, I've been focusing on goimagine and haven't even started reactivating etsy yet😅 I literally just changed the announcement.  

I am looking forward to being done with the move and getting back to "business", but I am not looking forward to the social media posting demands of being back in business. 😒

The new catio has been installed at the rental house so at least the cats are happy. 😇 

I think today we'll be breaking out the grill

Weekly update. . .Happy Easter

I'm gonna be honest. . .this move has been exhausting 😔 from Thanksgiving when I had to tell my best friend it was absolutely a done deal that we would be moving, thru to right now sitting in this rental house debating on what to unpack, it has been months of non-stop work and decisions. I would say "I think I need a vacation", but I don't want to go anywhere I just want to sleep. 😴 Maybe I'll take a nap today. 

No idea when I will have the shop fully reset. I can reactive most of the jewelry listings but much of the art needs new photos for the framed pieces so that will have to wait. 

This will be my workshop space eventually, but there is a lot of sorting to do to clear the floor space so I can decide where to set my bench and easel for the best lighting. 

I have been working on it, I have found several boxes that don't go there 😅 like the box of guest towels I've been looking for, for a bloody week. Multiple boxes of PLA fiber and computer bits that belong in my husband's office not mine. Plus, I've decided to set up the racking for the crates of art inventory in a different room than my work room due to the size of the rooms, so lots of re-shuffling of boxes before workshop building can begin.  

I am slowly making progress; look you can see the stack of drawers in the corner and most of the floor. 😉