looking for ideas to promote you shop or blog and connect with others?

If you're looking to grow your network, spread the word about your blog or shop this post is for you! This month's sponsors were asked to:

and they answered with...

Rachel of Swell and Stylish says:

For me, I don't consider myself a heavy social media person but if you asked my husband I think we'd disagree. If I were to choose, I would say I spend most of my social media time on twitter and/or instagram. I think the response time is what works best! I like to interact with my fans/friends in an instant and see things in real time. Let's face it, we don't want to see what you had for breakfast last week.. we want to see what you had for breakfast TODAY!  Although I love facebook and pinterest, I don't really spend much time interacting with people -- I think it might be considered stalking. (just kidding!!)

Bernadette of Barefoot Hippie Girl says:
I love using my Facebook page to promote my blog. Having a page allows my real life friends (who so desire) to keep up with my blog and Hippie happenings but it also protects my little family's privacy. My tendency to bloviate makes FB a better choice for this Barefoot Hippie Girl than say, Twitter.=)
You can also connect with Bernadette on Twitter and Pinterest

Jacky of The Sweetest Petnuia says:
As for social media, I'm pretty addicted to Instagram! I feel like it's more personal, sharing photos from everyday life, and I love the community I have there. I try not to spam my feed with too much blog/shop updating, but if I do have a good sale or great post, I like to share a picture with that info, and I feel like it gets the word out to people who care. ;) You'll find me on IG as @thesweetpetunia!
You can also connect with Jacky on Twitter and Facebook

Alli of Life on Leroy says:
My favorite form of social media is TWITTER! I love staying connected with other bloggers through Twitter.  I feel like you get a more personalize look into their every day lives and a lot of times I find myself relating to their situations.  Through Twitter you can also announce new posts, giveaways, etc. which is always beneficial in getting traffic to your blog. I also like Instagram because I'm such a picture taking fanatic (and I love snooping at everyone else's beautiful photos as well) :)  
You can also connect with Alli on Instagram

Gina of Acute Designs says:
My favorite form of social media is a tie between Twitter and Instagram.  I love how both are immediate and quick.  I have made awesome connections on Twitter and always have fun browsing Instagram.  I love how people share personal photos and I have started to feel like I "know" some of my blog-ey friends.
You can also connect with Gina on Facebook.

Jaclyn says:

I have definitely found the most success in using Twitter to promote Jac & Elsie. I see other shops have a ton of success with Facebook, and I'm wildly jealous, but for me, Twitter all the way. I think it's because I follow people who tweet about stuff that interests me, like autism. And for my fundraiser pieces especially, Twitter has been a wonderful source of sales, including one of my larger wholesale orders for a batch of autism necklaces and bracelets. Also, you can never underestimate the value of a retweet. Etsy has retweeted me twice, and holy cow, the response from Etsy users and lovers was stupendous!

I have found that Twitter is most successful when used to simply tweet about stuff I'm doing. Something about, "Oh man, I'm so happy with the new pieces I just listed in Jac & Elsie" will garner so much more feedback than "Hey, check out these earrings!" No one wants to be bombarded with nothing but sales pitches. Something that can possibly garner a conversation will be met with much more success.