K: “So I was watching The Last Unicorn the other day, and they have these butterflies in it which are seriously irritating characters because they can only speak by repeating songs and words from poetry that they have heard. But then this one little butterfly starts singing, ‘One alone, to be my own…’ and I was like ‘Holy crap, a Desert Song reference?!?!?’ How many people would even get that reference?”

M: “Probably more than we might actually think.”

K: “But probably way less than would make us happy.”

We fondly remember The Last Unicorn from our childhood and a number of years back, when K lived in Austin, TX, she attended a screening of the film at The Alamo Draft House and swears she was the only adult in the theatre. (We also saw the Quote Along screening of The Princess Bride there, which was totally Epic!)

We also fondly remember The Desert Song, a totally awesome musical about a character that can be described as a mix between Zorro and Wesley/The Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride. Our dad was a member of the cast of a community theatre production of this musical when we were little and we loved going to the practices, dress rehearsals, and then finally the performances. We played Desert Song in the backyard and sang all the songs at the top of our little lungs.

A life-long love of musical productions was cemented by those early experiences and we voraciously digested the Rogers & Hammerstein collections on VHS, and attended community theatre productions every chance we got.

Isn’t it odd how things about which you were once so passionate fall by the wayside as you “grow up” and precious memories get relegated to the dusty corners of your mind?

We are suddenly feeling the need to re-watch Rock-a-doodle and go see a haphazard production of some obscure play starring the guy who helped us change a flat tire on our way home from the grocery store.

Tilting at Windmills – The Social Media Monster

by M of the FrenzyGals

I admit it. I am NOT a savvy Social Media user. I only joined Facebook a few years ago (basically when we started the business), and I was never on MySpace. I really don’t “get” Twitter. In fact, I kind of totally hate it, but I try. Blogging is new to me and I have a lot to learn. Then you throw in Tumblr (I REALLY don’t get THAT), Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Google+ and I am WAAAYY out of my element.

This makes things difficult, and somewhat ironic, considering I run a web-based e-retail business. Trying to keep up with the constant changes to the Terms of Use and functionalities of all these “tools” as well as trying to find that balance between staying engaging and not crossing the line to overbearing, is a full time job. In fact, I know of several companies who have at least one individual, if not a team of them, whose entire job is to manage the Social Media Presence of said company!

So, with all that AND the job of actually RUNNING a business (i.e. filing the proper licensing and tax forms when necessary, processing orders, finding or making new merchandise, responding to information requests, developing marketing strategies, and working on website malfunctions) how does a girl get a grip on reality?

The truth is, I don’t. Not really. Despite the setbacks and the frustrations and the “what the hell is this new thing I have to learn and master to survive and compete in the new global marketplace” I still manage to find that well of optimism that washes me with a belief that I actually CAN do it all.

It helps to have a business partner that is also my sister and one of my best friends so I know her inside and out. We fight fair(ish) and can work together even when we don’t like each other very much. She is amazing (yes, K, I’m talking about you!) and I am very lucky to have her.

But even with the optimism, the support system, and that annoying little voice inside my head that pushes me to do better and learn more, it is a daunting task. So I ask you

How do you form a strategy for dealing with a Monster you don’t understand, that is constantly evolving and changing the rules, and is always growing new heads?

I don’t know the answer to that question. I am still on the steep side of the learning curve. I read articles and books and blogs that promise to give you insider tips and the “Top 10 Ways to Use Social Media for Your Business,” but I always come up empty-handed, or, rather, with hands full of even more questions.

I don’t want to spend my days worrying about how many people “LIKE” my business page, or re-share my photos, or @ me on Twitter. I want to spend the bulk of my time creating and presenting inventive and quality work to the marketplace. And, yes, I would like to get a decent amount of sleep on a fairly regular basis.

But the nagging questions remains, how does a micro-business (we are even smaller than small) compete in the world of web business without these tools? How do you remind people you are a business and translate that knowledge into sales? How do you balance the 27 different hats you wear as an entrepreneur on your head, all at the same time, without dropping any?

Maybe we have to drop a few hats every now and again. Maybe we have to go radio silent to think about what we actually want to say. Maybe we have to say, “fuck the stats” and just do what makes us happy and share what brings us joy without the worry of how many people will LIKE or SHARE it.

Staying the course. It is a nice little buzzphrase, but really hard to put into practice. We do our best, and that is all we can do. For us, here in the Frenzy Universe, the thing about social media, is the social part. We like the interaction, the commentary, the discussion. And so, our strategy, if you can call it that, is to put it out there, honestly and openly.

We aren’t experts, we are simply us. We will scrawl our message on the side of the monster with whatever art supplies we have on hand. It may get washed away by the rain, or graffitied over by others, become irrelevant, or be challenged, scrutinized, and deemed invalid by the powers that be.

We may be hard to hear over the din or hard to read in the dim shadows and awkward corners. But we will be here, optimistically sharing our little corner of this world and inviting you all to cross the Portal of the Possible and step into the Frenzy Universe, where the Impossible happens every day. Even a luddite like me navigating the waters where the Social Media Monster lurks beneath the waves.

K and her fiance recently took a trip to Kentucky and visited the Jim Beam Bourbon Factory. They learned that during the distilling process some of the liquor is lost to evaporation and some to the barrel itself. The portion lost to evaporation is known as the Angel’s Share, while the that lost to the barrel is called the Devil’s Cut.

Well, those clever devils at Jim Beam have figured out a way to reclaim the Devil’s Cut and sell it in specially marked bottles. K, of course, bought one of those special bottles. And then she had a clever idea of her own for how to use some of it!

K’s Truly Devilish

Bacon Avocado Bourbon Deviled Eggs

Instead of the standard mustard and egg yolk deviled egg filling, K made a filling using avocado and seasonings, added a little Devil’s Cut Bourbon, topped it with some bits of bacon (not to be confused with Bacon Bits), and a sprig of parsley for looks.

WOWZA! Those are some devilishly delicious deviled eggs!!!