Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Networking, Internet, and Relationships....

As an author I'm a member of several networking groups. I'm on Facebook, MySpace (apparently the last person), Twitter, LinkdIn, etc. On these sites I've met hundreds of fellow writers, some in my genre, others not. Networking is extremely important, but how do you keep everything in balance?

I'm a married mother of three, and slave to several pets including reptiles (those of you who own them know how much time it takes to care for them daily). I'm responsible for keeping up the house, laundry, dinners, grocery shopping, running errands, and a slew of everyday oddities. On top of these regular daily chores, I also have children who require medication, constant visits to mental health providers, as well as the usual pediatrician visits. I haven't even started the orthodontist visits, yet.

Now, with all those things going on I still have to find time to write, research, market, format, etc. Then I'm supposed to spend hours a day on these networking sites? How in the world does one do that? I get on Facebook and Twitter two to three times a day, check the first page, like and comment, then head back to whatever it was I was doing before opening Facebook.com. I try to read blogs, and have found some which are extremely entertaining or informative, but either don't leave a comment because I have nothing constructive to add, or someone else beat me to the punch.

Am I setting myself up for failure by not trolling every networking site and blog and leaving comments, "likes", or the good ole "lol" on every single post? Am I setting myself up to be seen as self-centered or a recluse? I definitely don't want the people I've built relationships with thinking I'm ignoring them, but my time is stretched so thin it's damn near transparent.

So, please, dear wise ones...how do you balance life, writing, and networking? Those of you who seem to be active on fifteen boards...are you retired with grown children, or did you find the secret for an extra hour in the day?
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5 comments:

  1. shellyApril 27, 2011 at 6:03 AM

    Good last question. I usually leave a smiley when I'm in a time crunch..just to let them know I'm there.

    And, I do everything in a two hour time slot. Writing. Blogging. Housework. errands. Shopping. Doctors. The rest I play by it ear. I do this all around a 40 hour work week. I'm thankful to have several 3-9 shifts. That helps.

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  2. Kathryn RoseApril 27, 2011 at 9:41 AM

    Excellent question. I don't have three kids, so I know right away you're probably way busier than I am, but what's helped me is listening to audio books on my way to and from work (I live about a mile away, so I walk) and I gave up most television in order to find time to write. My husband's been great about giving me my "writing time" and amusing himself with video games and what not while I'm writing. Otherwise, I have access to online social networking sites at work and at home, so I try to sneak in some networking time there. ;)

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  3. Kathryn RoseApril 27, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    PS. Love how you're the last person on MySpace. Never give up! ;)

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  4. a traditional housewife against the worldApril 27, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    I actually kind of miss it. Granted, it's a lot easier to communicate on FB, but you can't pimp your page like we could over at MS!

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  5. Krisztina CliftonApril 27, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    Honestly, sometimes I schedule it in. It gets so overwhelming and I have a MILLION things floating around in my head, that if I sit down at the computer w/out a plan, I waste hours a week just clicking and staring w/out really doing anything. So I actually make a list everyday for what I have time for, like 1.reply to etsy emails 2.share links on FB 3.comment on other blogs...It might seem silly, but when I do that, I knock all of that stuff out in no time.

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