I don’t like playing games when I don’t know the rules. Heck, the game I’ve been playing for nearly five years has an invisible leader and rules that change every five minutes. I am climbing an invisible ladder. My panties are in a twist and I have no idea how to remove the wedgie. There is just no way to keep up and I am spinning my wheels. I could choose to not play, but that is not an option. I started the game without knowing it even existed, so I refuse to let it get the best of me. But it has, and I don’t know what to do about it.
When I started eWillow.com, I just wanted a place to sell my greeting cards and post tutorials about DIY paper craft projects. I did not know that my success was going to be measured by how many followers I had. You can’t get anywhere without followers, but you won’t get followers if you aren’t out there. Catch-22.
Social media is a vicious beast. There are rules and tips and tricks coming at me every minute of every day. “Do this.” Don’t do that.” “Pin to Pinterest, but do it this way or you will turn people off.” “Make sure your link is a ‘no-follow’ link in your blog post, or Google will penalize you.” Huh? Can’t I just go on Pinterest and pin the things I like without having an ulterior motive? Can’t I just write a DIY blog post and forget about it? No. I have to share it on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I have to share it on Pinterest and Stumbleupon and Google Plus. It takes so much time to “get it out there” that I don’t have time anymore to create. I don’t know how I got pulled into this rat race. I never knew it existed when I started eWillow.com, but now I am a hamster on a wheel and I don’t know how to get off. I never even wanted to get on.
P.S. While I’m on the subject, will you please follow me? Just click on the buttons that you see on the top of my blog’s picture. Oh, and you can share my posts, too, by clicking on the little buttons below. 🙂
