Our last name is not actually Jones.
It is my maiden name and when I started my business I was, in fact, a Jones. Now it is just the name we go by {even Ryan has adopted the name for business-y things}. Our real last name starts with an L {hence the wall of l’s} and we’ve decided to keep it mostly private.
So when I say ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ that really doesn’t mean anything because we are not actually Joneses. But you get the point.
Since starting this blog in 2010, the whole social media network has grown like crazy. Instagram, twitter, pinterest, vine, google+ . . . none of these existed {or at least they were not main stream} three years ago. To tell you the truth, I don’t even use/understand half of the networking tools out there.
I read a blog post the other day with bullet points about how many photos are best to post to instagram and how to hide affiliate links in pinterest pins and why pre-scheduling posts to facebook is awesome and optimal times for tweets to go out.
The whole thing stressed me out.
I’m sure there are very valuable reasons to follow all of the social media ‘rules’. I’m sure it helps grow traffic and builds community and makes you money but, good grief, I can barely keep my head above water with the things I’ve got going right now, I can’t even imagine adding 7 twitter updates to my daily must-dos and worrying if I’ve met my photo-posting limit on instagram.
I mean no harm if these are rules you follow or love or have built your business on.
Social media is certainly a powerful tool and there are ways that it has benefited our business that we are beyond grateful for. Maybe I’m behind the times, maybe I’m ignorant, but I’ve decided I’m not really a rule-follower when it comes to social media.
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JDC has a facebook page. You can like it here.
But I’ll just let you know that it’s not something I post to regularly. I do reply to messages, so if you want to contact me or have a question, facebook is a fine way to do that. Unlike most of the world’s population, I am not a daily facebook user.
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JDC has a pinterest account. You can see my pins here.
But know that I’m a very inconsistent pinner {I go for a few days without pinning a thing and then go overboard in one sitting}. I pin things that are either pretty or inspiring. That’s it.
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JDC has a instagram feed. You can follow here.
But keep in mind that you’ll see lots of photos of my kids and little moments throughout the day that either make me laugh or make me thankful. Of all the social media tools, instagram is my fave. But I still don’t follow the rules. I just post a photo when I feel like it and rarely talk about bloggy things on there.
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JDC has a twitter account. It’s right here.
But I don’t know how to use it. My ig photos automatically post there, but that’s about all you’ll get. At least until I figure out how to sign on.
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JDC has an email list. You can sign up at the top of the blog on the sidebar or below this post.
Our email list is the best way we’ve found to stay connected. It’s where posts are emailed and special promotions are offered.
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So even though I may not abide by all of the complex social media rules, these are the ways you can keep up with us {non} Joneses.
Funny you should mention your “L” wall. It has inspired me to do the same thing in my entry way redo. Coincidentally, we too are an “L” family, so it will likely be a close resemblance to yours. I love all of your ideas, so am shamelessly copying several of them. Speaking of which, the large “L” that you decoupaged. Would you mind sharing if you did that with modge podge (I am a novice) and did you use one of those very large specialty pieces of paper (like from Paper Source) or did you piece together the basic 12×12’s? It looks almost seamless, so has me intrigued.
I so enjoy your blog and have followed for several years, passing along many of your ideas to others.
It is a blessing to read about a “real” faith-filled family such as your own.
Thank you and blessings,
Rani
For the large L, I cut a few sheets of 12×12 scrapbook paper into squares and rectangles and just overlapped them, gluing down with modpodge and then sealing overtop once everything was in place. Because the paper has a busy all-over print, you really can’t see the seams.
thank goodness you don’t know how to use some of those social media sites too! i see all the buttons the side and i have no clue! i don’t facebook, nor pinterest (though i’ve been told its cool), nor instagram. i don’t feel so inept especially since you blog and in my eyes that makes you guys techno-geniuses! thanks for being honest, love the site, so easy to maneuver and pretty too.
emily,
i subscribe to *very* few blogs…yours and one other, really. recently i asked to follow a blog on their e-mail list, and whew! it was over-kill! i didn’t know that you weren’t following “the rules”, but i am so glad you don’t. i look forward to your email updates as a treat, not as something i delete in my morning inbox-cleanout. as always–you’re doing a great job, and i am blessed by jones design company’s work (and approach to business!).
Thank you Cameron! I appreciate your kind words.
I can relate to this on SO many levels!! Twitter totally stresses me out!! I am definitely a lover of Instagram.. capturing snippets of our life without having to bring my fancy camera wherever we go!! Pinterest is a great media tool to get inspired, and Facebook is kind of on the back burner for me as well.. especially for my blog!! I LOVE your honesty and each post you write seems to inspire me even more!! :)
Great post! Thanks as always for your honesty & insight! I’m so glad I’m not the only one overwhelmed by social media (and my habits look quite a bit like yours!)
I agree with the comment above that bloggers who are heavily engaged in all forms of social media often come off as inauthentic. I also hate it when I take the time to read my twitter stream, only to see tweets from bloggers promoting posts that I’ve already read–often multiple tweets about the same post. OK. I get it. I’m already reading you; can’t I filter out all the blog pimping somehow?
I have a blog and I do tweet… but rarely. I’m on FB all the time, but like my twitter account, I use FB almost entirely for personal stuff–not self promotion. I have a FB account for my “business,” but I don’t update it at all. It all just seems like too much.
I LOVE your house, blog, etc….the only thing..your pinterest links go to your current blog instead of the picture I click.
Oh Emily! Every week brings reasons why I love and enjoy your blog! Your sense of style and love of Jesus are what made me notice, and your heart is what keeps me tied in! My husband and I are a general contractor in So. Cal. We have friends who say you need a website, a facebook page, twitter, instagram, ads, ect. ect. How can you have a business with out all of that? While admittedly we need for people to be able to find us, most of our work is by word of mouth, and those are our best clients anyway! Sometimes simple and personal is the best way!
I totally agree….i have the buttons on my blog but I make a rule not to really stress myself out about posting to them…I just use them because different people prefer to stay in touch different ways…I really like pinterest the best out of everything!
Thank you for posting this. There are so many “rules” and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who can’t keep up with them.
I’m right there with ya. I couldn’t keep up with all the “rules” if I wanted to. I just post randomly whatever I want to post and when it starts to feel like work (not the good kind) I pull back for a bit to regain my balance. I think it’s going to be harder and harder for those of us in the technology age to find balance in things like this, don’t you? It feels like balance doesn’t happen unless we go about it intentionally. That’s my goal for sure. And IG is my favorite too. I could quit it all in a heart beat but keep Instagram. I love that.
YES!!!! I’m not a blogger, but I’m so inspired by those of you that are. Having said that, I do NOT feel the need to follow every available social media option out there. Nor do I feel the need to get information 7 to 10 times a day, either! Sometimes I think we are just all toooooo connected. Stay true to yourself, Emily. It’s working for you. That’s the most important thing! Have a wonderful day!
YES! Yes, yes, yes and amen to this. I just read a similar post about how many times to Instagram and what times to Facebook and on and on. And it stressed me out too! I know lots of blogs are businesses and need this type of structure, but knowing they follow those rules makes them lose some appeal to me, a reader/follower. I love your honesty and believe you are successful online because that comes through and so many of us relate to you and your real life. And you are endlessly inspiring! Love keeping up with you, Mrs. Jones! :)
Emily – I could not agree with you more. You are one of my faves because you live by your own rules and don’t follow the crowd. Love when I see that in women. Stay true. It is what makes your brand – you are very successful doing it your way.
I recently read an article by a magazine editor who shared the same thoughts you did., Reading that and now your post – makes me happy to know that I am not alone in the way I engage in social media.
One of the first blogging lessons I learned was that we all have different goals for our blogs and where we want them to take us. I try to stay focused on my goals and not worry that some company didn’t choose me to promote their product because my social media numbers were too low. That is not why I blog. We can get caught up in it all, I sit back and just do it very happily my way.
Thanks for writing this post. XO
Hope you have an enjoyable weekend with your family and friends.
Thanks for a little insight into your blog habits/background. I think part of what I like about JDC and I think what makes it successful is that you are true to yourself and not following some social media “rules”. I read a few blogs that do and it starts to feel a bit forced and a little insincere over time. I love following along with you {non} Joneses and seeing the world through your filter, not some prescribed set of blogland rules. Have a great weekend! Cheers – CT
I feel the same way. I blog because I enjoy it. I post on IG because it is fun. I pin for myself. None of these are for blog traffic.
Yea for breaking the rules!
Ugh, those rules… High five for making your own rules! People who follow the rules to closely and try too hard sometimes come off as not very authentic. Frankly, I don’t want to get hourly post updates (twitter can really be annoying sometimes!) and I don’t want a reply to my comment in which they invite me to follow them (if I want to follow, I can find out how to do so on the blog, right?).
I love pinterest and often hop around when I’m in between appointments, so my use of it is very infrequent as well.
Good content and a nice personality that shines through is what gets me to follow blogs. I hope that I also manage to do that with my own blog.
you are so precious, emily.
Honestly, it’s refreshing to see a great blog like yours do so well despite you not following all of the social media “rules.” Reminds me that there’s no one formula for “success” and while strategy, etc, is good, it’s often best to just do what works for you and how you’re wired.
Have enjoyed JDC since the beginning! :)
This made me laugh out loud! You are SO right. But truly the amount of social media out there is not only complex, it is also time consuming. I have a twitter account that is rarely used and a blog. And I think I am doing darn good to do several posts a week and reply to emails and comments and work full time and have a life and family. Facebook, I am sad to say, is one of my goals when summer arrives. I have tried hard to avoid it, but it is the only way to communicate with some people unfortunately. I kept thinking facebook would go away and be replaced by another “new thing”…perhaps Instagram? Thanks for allowing us to keep up with the Joneses…although I am happy just to see a blog post as often as you do one! :)