Social Networking 101 --- What Do You Know?

Hello guys -- So, did you attend the Social Networking 101 teleclass hosted by Womens About Biz?

Yes? Great job placing importance on continuous learning. There were some things that I knew already, but there were a few new hints that I picked up as well. All in all, well worth my time.

No? You missed it? I believe that they said they had it in article form at their web site. .... But, I'll be truthful, I could not find it there. :( So, I cannot attach a link here....

However, I did find a lot of good information about motivation and organization, so I still consider this site a worthwhile bookmark. Maybe, this should be more incentive to make time for their free teleclasses, since they are not available in article form. Just a thought! ;) I did see a couple more teleclasses listed and may go back to sign up. How about you?

And, because I thought their information could be very beneficial for some of my friends and followers, here is an extremely distilled and probably biased (for my interests) set of notes:

• Be selective in picking your social network. From my perspective that is pretty simple since FB and Twitter are the big-hitters, and there aren't that many alpaca specific social networks out there!

• Maintain good online etiquette! Yes, it IS BEING RECORDED and LINKED somewhere out there in the wide web and could come back to HAUNT you. In my words: don't do, say, or show anything on the web that you wouldn't do in front of your mama or preacher or kids.

• Be Consistent and Relevant in your postings. Again, in my words: don't pop in and out of my life to try to give me advice (who are you?) or waste my time with drivel (please go away!). I loved the Women About Biz presenter's phrase: "build a familar trust" -- compendious!

• Build a Social Networking Identity / Presence (to paraphrase several points from the teleclass). Have a signature line on your postings with your full name, business, and contact email/phone. Guest blog on others' blogs and postings. Give info freely, without strings (buy now to get this info!) attached, so others want to read your posts. Get your articles, videos, audio clips, etc out there on different sites. But be careful about overtaxing yourself, because remember: consistency in posting is key!

• Have a Internet Strategy! Why are you doing all this? What are you achieving? Get a website of some kind, maybe a blog, join relative social networks, publish e-articles, send newsletters -- which ones will work for you? Just a hint, it's more than one of these in this list to be successful on the web.

So, I hope that I haven't misrepresented their information or over-summarized their info here. I encourage you to peruse their site and maybe attend a teleclass or two: Womens About Biz.

Remember what we talked about earlier here? Take advantage of the free knowledge out there, just waiting for you to grab it!

eFlex-Spinner -- a Handcrafted Electronic Spinning Machine

We at Autumn Sun Alpacas, aka Mary & Michael Livingston, have been enthralled with alpacas and their fiber for many years.

In addition to raising a family of boys and caring for our alpacas, we have jumped headlong into the fiber aspect of the business. Fiber spinning, crocheting, felting, and now fabrication of handcraft, electronic spinning equipment are a new focus.

Michael has worked carefully to design an electronic spinning machine that takes into consideration the needs of a wide range of 'spinners' -- from experienced to novice, artisan to elderly. The flexibility of the portable eFlex-Spinner works for everyone!

We are taking orders for each unit on our Etsy page (autumnsunalpacas.etsy.com) or you can contact us by phone or email if you are not comfortable with web-stores. We can also give you custom quotes on specific wood requests.

Thanks for listening here, and looking at the spinning machine at our Etsy store. Contact us now to place your work order and secure your place in the queue.

Mary & Michael Livingston
livingstons@autumnsunalpacas.com
(719) 484-0438

GWAS 2010 -- Show book Ad Deadline

Don't forget that the deadline for advertisement for the GWAS 2010 showbook is fast approaching on March 15th.

Don't let yourself miss the opportunity to get your COLOR ad in the showbook for the Level 5 show that was the largest show in the nation last year.

Your ad will be in the hands of hundreds of exhibitors and visitors!!

Don't wait, at the same low prices as last year, these slots will quickly fill up!!

ABR - GWAS
ABR - GWAS on Facebook

Questions? Contact:
Event Manager, Becky Zierer at lzbalpacas@aol.com, or the
Show Manager, Carl McGill at carl_freda@msn.com

What's your Silver Lining?

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade...

Look on the bright side...

See your glass as half full, not half empty...

Find the silver lining...

There are lots of ways to say it, but it means the same thing.

Life is not always fun, fair, or encouraging. But there is always a break in the clouds ;)

The trick is to find what benefit you can from things, what you have learned, what's cool about the new avenue you are on now.

Every place you are now is a special place. You may not think so now, but I bet you can find a reason why sooner or later if you think about it.

That is my life-learned tidbit that I am trying to apply daily and teach my boys.

Because, then things like broken cars, lost jobs, friends left, and family lost can really bring you down.

I hope this helps someone out there today!

Mary

Love is in the air....

Well, it is officially February! I am reminded by my frisky open girls, flirting with the males across the fence, that breeding season is almost upon us. And, so is birthing season this spring -- my favorite, albeit most anxious, time of the year.

I love seeing the results of all our carefully thought-out combinations. I once attended a lecture where the speaker, a renowned professor that often talked about husbandry and growth of the alpaca industry, reported that he spent many hours (somewhere along the lines of 60-80 hours) researching his key pairings. What? That seemed really long. Maybe we weren't holding to our proper business goals as well as I had thought.

Well, he said that he reviewed all the previous offspring of this female and their heritage vs. the results (their characteristics). And, he reviewed each potential male candidate on his list, and then all of their offspring vs. their characteristics. He weighed the pros and cons of each and weighted that against his goals for his breeding program and specifically this female. Well, then I understood! We also do that. It's part of what I love in determining our breedings, seeing if we are achieving our goals -- one step at a time, one cria at a time.

So, my advice is to put as much thought and research effort into your breedings as you have hopes and desires for the outcome. Then, you are always gaining something, even if it's only knowledge of how better to plan this year. Good luck!