Happy New Year dear beautiful NeedleWork Community!
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a post like this with the community account. I felt it was way past due and with the start of a new year perfect timing for a little motivation.
We’ve talked about this before and on several occasions have encouraged the community to add more life and spice to their publications.
Do you realize how many other platforms have bloggers and vloggers that do tutorials? You can search so many different sites now to look up how to’s and diys of just about anything.
What’s special about Hive are the connections we have here. When I’m looking up tutorials from other sites I’m mainly just trying to figure out how something is done or made. When I’m here, I’m looking for a bit more than just the step by step part.
Since I have made connections here I love hearing the background or the story that surrounds a post. I’m always searching for those sentences and paragraphs that share a little more about the author and goes a little deeper into why this person is sharing the tutorial. This helps to get to know that person better and further relate to their content.
What inspired it? How did they learn it? Why do they love this project?
When an author shares the heart of their work and goes beyond just listing the steps and supply list, they are able to draw you in and excite your interest even more. Getting on a more personal level with your readers helps captivate them and gives them more appreciation for the work you do.
The question to ask yourself is
Do I Stand Out?
If the answer is no then the next question might be
How Can I Accomplish This?
The title of this post expresses how I feel sometimes when scrolling through the needlework feed and open up another tutorial. This is not to offend or upset anyone I’m just simply being honest and upfront as I always am.
When I read posts that start with generic greetings, briefly tells you what they are making and then immediately jumps right into the supplies and tutorial I am instantly underwhelmed.
Don’t get me wrong the tutorial could still be great and interesting and I will still support it. The point is that it failed to captivate me because it didn’t give any heart. The author missed the opportunity to pull me in further by giving me that background or making me feel as if I am right there experiencing it with them…emotions, settings and all.
Some people may think this type of write up is good enough and doesn’t need any more substance but I can guarantee you that most of these posts don’t stand out. If your goal is to just publish mediocre content that stays on the surface and doesn’t engross your reader then continue on with how you’ve been doing things.
You can even do a quick comparison and see that authors who put more sustenance and feeling into their articles get better support through comments and upvotes. It’s apparent that more thought and effort goes into these types of posts. Anyone can do a tutorial but there are clearly those that go the extra mile to create a more personal experience overall which levels up their content.
Today I am challenging our community and all who do any type of tutorials and diys to put more effort into your write-ups.
Instead of quickly jumping into the process how about setting the atmosphere with some background by telling us what made you interested in this project. Reach down and share some of your thoughts and ideas that brought you to making this post. Share your heart with us and any story that would help us relate or appreciate your work more.
The background doesn’t have to be emotional but could be a funny story that led you to this point. You can even tell us about friends and family members that are involved with what you’re sharing. Anything that makes your post more human friendly and less of a robotic feel helps.
A lot of posts I read feel as if they were rushed just to get you through the tutorial. It’s a sense of disconnection which makes it hard to capture and hold the attention of the reader.
After the completion of your project/tutorial please share with us how you felt about the process and if you encountered any struggles. Talk about why this particular project was worth your time or how it has benefited you. You can even explain why you think we would love it and how it would benefit us.
In short, leave with a more detailed closure sharing a little more about your final thoughts of the whole process and why you wanted to share it with us.
Believe me, ending in this way would have much more of an impact than just saying
I hoped you liked it. Bye!
I think this stems from me being here for so long and constantly seeing the same types of verbiage and writing styles. They all start to look alike and have that same ambience which is what personally causes me to look for something that goes above and beyond.
Let me reiterate that I still read, support and appreciate your efforts to share your projects with us. There are many tutorials that have taught me new things and diys that I have tried from your posts. What I am saying is let’s began surpassing expectations and reach new horizons with our audience.
Let’s find new and exciting ways to delight and attract our readers to the things we share here on Hive! Let’s make Hive the go to for diys and how to’s by standing out in how we do things! Challenge yourself to be above average!
I hope this has encouraged and motivated you as these were my intentions. I know each of us can add more life to our publications giving a fuller experience for our viewers making them want to come back for more! 😉
This was really engrossing for me, reading through the lines and inspiring everyone to be a true blogger and an enticing content creator is a plus 100 from you.
It is not always easy to inspire people or force out the best in them, but how you have spelt this very simple that everyone can understand.
Thank you for this
And for thriving to bring out the best in us without been rewarded for the good work here.
I truly and sincerely appreciate the sacrifice and all you do here
I am so happy to hear you were engrossed by this post. 😃
I’m glad it was made simple enough to understand what I was trying to say and express. Thank you for that confirmation.
You’re truly welcome. It’s always a goal of mine to inspire and encourage people with hopes to help them grow as an individual and a blogger.
Your words mean a lot. Thank you for such a nice response my dear Monica. I always enjoy your insights ~ 😘❤️🌹
This publication could not be more precise 😃. It's true that the most great thing about a publication is to read the context in which the project was made, for whom, what difficulties or challenges it had along the way and how it turned out in the end. Personally I don't like when someone puts a little introduction and then "without further ado let's go to the tutorial" and the structured step by step begins. I also support these types of posts but they are not my favorites. I like to read beyond that.
I hope these tips inspire our members to be encouraged to write posts with a little more "spark"? It would be great, it's always a good opportunity for all of us to improve our content ❣️.
THIS 👆🏽! If only I could have added this to my post. These are exactly my thoughts and feelings. It’s like once I get to those repetitive lines I am ready to leave the post and search for something with more depth. However, we do still support these posts but they are not as engaging which makes it hard to enjoy.
Thank you for adding your valuable input on this. I too hope it encourages our community to add more spark to their publications. Unfortunately it seems the ones who need to read posts like these never bother to take the time to read, grow and learn from them. I feel the only ones who read these posts are the ones who are already doing great. Hopefully this will change though. 😕
Maybe between you, @kattycrochet and I together we can add this link on posts we feel could use the challenge and encouragement to improve and do better.
Yes, it is a great idea to suggest it to those who need it. It will also be a benefit for them because their posts will have more value :)
Absolutely! 😉👌🏽
Thank you ~
I really agree with this idea, and, of course I will suggest this post to everyone who need to improve its engagement.
Awesome! Thank you Katty ~ 😉
YEEEEEEES to this. I cannot underline enough how right you are. After being away for some time, I really wanted to start with writing, reading and commenting on monday but directly fell back into a slump: so many tutorials to read through… I felt like I could never catch up and honestly I was not sure if I wanted to catch up. There are always some post that stand out and which I love to read, as I can connect with the author and feel like I am near her. But as you wrote, these posts are not the majority.
Your reasoning resonates so much with me and I hope it will inspire the community.
Thank you so much for trying to help us all and shape this community into a huge friendship <3
I know what you mean. Seeing so many types of the same posts and almost feeling as if you're reading the same one's over and over. It really is key to stand out to help get people excited about reading. I know a few people that decided to take a break due to being bored from the content on the platform. 😐
I hope this inspires the community as well and adds some fire to their efforts and passion for what they do.
Absolutely! It makes it so much more fun when friendships are built and things are done on a more personal level.
Thanks so much for your comment and sharing your thoughts ~ 💗
I agree with the sentiment of this post. Adding personal touches and background information to tutorials and DIYs can make them more engaging and relatable for the reader. It helps to create a connection with the author and adds depth to the content. It's also important to consider the overall atmosphere and tone of the post, as this can also contribute to the reader's experience. Adding a personal touch can take a bit more time and effort, but it can ultimately make the content stand out and be more memorable for the reader.
I'm happy to hear you agree. 😉
Very good way of putting it.
Yes, time and effort are worth it and have nice benefits when coming to the reader’s experience and the support gained from it.
I appreciate you reading and adding your energy to this comment section. Thank you ~
It's definitely true that investing time and effort into creating a positive experience for readers can pay off in terms of support and appreciation.
You're welcome 🙂
Hello my dear @crosheille 🤗 I find it a very humane, sensitive and dedicated approach. Excellent!!! 💞 It represents very well what we feel when we sew, knit and make art with threads 🌟 Thank you so much for the encouragement and directing us to be an even better job 💟
Thank you for your positive feedback @purpleglitter!! 💛
It’s a great pleasure of mine to do so. I am grateful for your appreciation ~ 🤗
Greetings @crosheille, happy and blessed year, thanks for remembering those aspects that in many occasions we forget to mention, behind every project there is always a story to tell, sometimes we plan to do it in such a way and in the process difficulties arise that lead us to rethink the original plan, also ideas or "tricks" arise that facilitate the way to finish the job; the beginning of the year is very propitious to organize ideas and plans with the aim of making our work every day better with lots of love.
Happy Wednesday!
Greetings @belkyscabrera!
Yes, behind every project there is a story to tell.
Exactly! Sharing tips, tricks and shortcuts is also a great way to engage with your audience and help them in the process of trying out the project.
You’ve said this so well and I agree fully.
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond with this wonderful input ~ ❤️
I think it is important to dedicate a few paragraphs to the reasons or why we like the project, sometimes there is not much to say but other times it is important to do it, for example when we make a lot of mistakes 😅, a few days ago I shared a post about a hat that I didn't finish because I miscalculated the size because it was a type of stitch that I hadn't done before, but I felt so happy to have learned that specific stitch that I needed to share, but I felt a little embarrassed to post something unfinished, after Doing so made me feel a little lonely for not having many comments, I felt that perhaps a publication like this was not well received, now your post has made me value my publication on that occasion more and the reason for sharing the experience more than the result. A hug 🤗
I'm glad you agree about it being important. Ultimately a great goal to have is publishing an inviting post that gives the reader more context into what is going on throughout it.
Please never feel embarrassed to post an unfinished project. That is what this community is here for. Everything I post surely isn’t finished. We learn from each other’s mistakes ☺️😉. Part of the fun is joining someone on their journey through a project. In my opinion it’s more exciting following a project over a course of time to watch the progress unfold 😍.
So glad this post helped you value your post and experience more ~ 🤗💓
Happy New Year @crosheille , I totally agree, you have to have a reason why I inspire you to make or create, I particularly love to create, design, it makes me feel alive, this year is a new beginning, full of ideas that I hope I can carry out with the passion and love I feel for sewing. Greetings...
Happy New Year @ayleenr! It's so good seeing you here! 😉
Yes!! I love it! A new year full of new ideas for sure.
We look forward to having you sharing your work with us this year ~ 🤗💖
You are very right, we don't need to go directly to out tutorial. We have to make some description about the tutorial, why you share and wat move you to share
Absolutely! 😉
I am completely grateful with this publication because it invites us to be better in what we do and not feel satisfied with what we have achieved so far.
Every day we can learn new things, you are an example to follow since I met you and for that I want to thank you.
Hive is not a link to deposit a tutorial, a photo, for me this goes beyond and what I have learned here I have practiced in my daily life and that's good.
Thank you for inviting us to be better people dear @Crosheille.
This was beautifully put Carolina!
Thank you for such a compliment. I am truly grateful to be in this position where you feel that way about me…I’m truly grateful. I have always wanted to help others bring out the best in themselves and this is where I still stand today. I am still amazed at how you began adding more of your life to your publications, telling a story through those beautiful photos you share. Keep up the great work ~ 😊
I am still learning myself and as long as I have breath that won’t ever stop. There is always room for each of us to grow.
😘
Excellent, I really like the proposal, since it allows us to delight in what we do, point out every detail, not to fall into monotony, if during the project we had any difficulty express it and expose the solution, if it was not ideal, that's why we are here to correct our mistakes mutually. I look forward to the new challenge.
I'm glad you like it and agree. 😉
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @lauramica ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
I totally agree when you say that there are many other places on the web where to watch tutorials, what makes the difference in our community is that we are a family of crafters with heart, we all have anecdotes to tell about our projects, each project has a story and there is not always a happy ending, what matters is to share and learn from our successes but also from our failures.
Thank you for this post.
Absolutely Katty!
That’s what makes us standout. I believe from the tone and standards we have set here since the beginning, that has caused everyone to feel more like a family in the fact that we share so much here (on Hive and within our needlework community). I don’t want us to stop sharing our hearts and this become so redundant that it looses its value and spark.
Thanks for all you do ~ 😘
🤗🤗😘
Wonderful, we're a great communnity, your words and the all team make us feel safe, and amazing.
Thanks @afrikablr ~ 😊
Me parece muy oportuna esta publicación, tenía días sin pasar por aquí, cuando lo hago, siempre leo los post fijados, en ellos consigo muy buena información como esta.
A veces digo, se hace fácil ver un post en esta comunidad, solo es ver las fotos y ya se puede comentar, que quedo lindo, pues es como dices, es solo el tutorial y ya.
A mi parecer, cuando hago una publicación por aquí, hago un poco más de eso, es decir, le pongo todo el corazón en ella, a veces hasta me extiendo y termino quitando algunas cosas.
Ya que como no soy experta en la costura me equivoco mucho y termino echando los cuentos de mis errores, cosas que pudiera obviar, ya que en el proceso lo acomodó y nadie se daría cuenta.
Pero me gusta contarles cómo se fueron dando las cosas, esos post que vienen con todo ese sentimiento, me parecen genial, pues me siento identificada en cada palabra.
Ahora sabiendo que usted como cabeza de este proyecto, nos da pie a que podemos dar más que un tutorial, ya se como enfocar mis post cuando lo publiqué por aquí.
Al igual que usted espero que todos los que hacen vida aquí lean esta publicación.
Lo bueno de Hive es que cada día vamos aprendiendo de gente como usted que ya tiene más tiempo aquí y comparte lo que sabe.
Muchas gracias a usted y a todo el equipo que conforma @needleworkmonday, pues me di a la tarea de leer todos los comentarios y vi sus puntos de vista.
Por un mejor 2023, salud y bendiciones. @crosheille
Hi @leidimarc. I am so sorry I am responding to this so late. I do want to thank you for such a thorough reply to this post. I also want to thank you for being attentive to the pinned posts we publish.
It’s good you put your heart into your posts. I notice when reading you always give us a little background of what was taking place and how you came to doing your project. 😊
I am glad that you are able to learn from others here and thank you for adding your valuable input ~
Thank you very much for reading and answering my friend @crosheille.
I really like this community, I hope to be posting more often here, following your suggestions and enjoying the content that excites us to continue creating.
You’re very welcome ~ ☺️
Sorry I'm a bit late to this post, I have been needleworking 🙂.
I'm a bit confused about where all these tutorials have come from or why anyone feels they have to write a tutorial. I enjoyed it more when everyone came together on a Monday to share what they were doing in their own lives and what they were enjoying. It was fun watching a project progress over several weeks.
I have to say it: these endless photographs in a post drive me mad 😡!
Everything in this comment is 💯 💯 💯!!!
I have felt the same way wondering how it even got to this point of endless tutorials. Not to say that tutorials are bad it’s just that when it’s all we see now and not much more to make up a post.
I surely miss those times too when it was more about just sharing everyday life and adding in about our needle adventures. It was very personable. I’m glad we still have some members here that share in that way, just hoping more will catch on and add bit more to their content.
Thanks for this comment Shani ~ ❤️
Excellent recommendations to go beyond the step by step... to show how human we are, our fears, disappointments at work or on the contrary the joy and happiness we feel at the end of the job.
Also expressing the reason why the work is done is a good focus for the post. Thanks for every recommendation and I will keep it in mind every time I write. keeping the reader's attention is paramount in the community.
By the way happy new year 2023! ... a bit lost, you know end of the year, things to do, family and well even a mini vacation which is always so important to come back with energies to the max.
Thanks for this wonderful feedback @tibaire!
Yes, you definitely get the heartbeat of this post. Those are exactly the things we are encouraging people to pull out as they write their publications.
Happy 2023 to you as well! I hope you enjoyed your vacation ~ 😊
Oh, I don't even know what to say. I love to read a little bit of everything when I come to the community, especially techniques and strategies to help me get better at what I do. I am very encouraged to see crochet posts because they inspire me, I think I am also capable of doing more than what I have done so far. Of course everything in life has a reason and a raison d'être, maybe many people don't feel encouraged to read the story or maybe after seeing us leaving tutorials so many times they have been infected.
It is very good that in your publications you continue to make calls for attention. Besides, you do it in a sincere and cordial way.
In particular, sometimes I am more excited to show them how I did it than why I did it. However, I always leave the reasons even if they are brief.
Thank you very much for always being attentive and caring so that our performance is better and better.
Greetings!