You may have started dabbling in digi, but haven’t really taken the plunge. Or maybe you’re avidly scrapping, but still don’t feel part of the “in crowd”. These tips are super-easy ways to get you engaged in the digi world. Put yourself out there – the rewards are worth it!

Ask a Question
Are you struggling to figure out Photoshop? Wondering just where to find that awesome font? Jump into one of the many forums, like the ones at My Scrapbook Art or DigiShopTalk, and ask a question. You’ll find many friendly ladies eager to help you get started.

Climb on the Blog Train
In the forums at DigiShopTalk, Sweet Shoppe Designs and The Digi Chick, you’ll find a daily or weekly thread blogging thread. This is a place where you can announce your latest blog post as well as check out other digi blogs in the community. Don’t forget to leave comments with generosity and sincerity.

Participate in Challenges
Almost every digital scrapbook shop hosted challenges in their forums. These are little games where you follow instructions to answer questions or scrap a certain way. You can meet other scrappers and even earn points for the shop. There are even challenges not hosted at a shop, like The Digi Dares, where you can participate with fewer rules and requirements.

Play the Praise Game
Many of the digital scrapbooking forums have threads where you post a link to a recent layout for others to comment on. Your only obligation is to do this same. This gets your work some attention and helps you spot some amazing layouts. There is even a blog called Genuine Praise designed solely for the exchange of thoughtful comment love.

Join the Tweet Up
Are you on Twitter yet? The 140 micro-blogging revolution has been spreading through the digital scrapbooking community. We identify each other and related posts with the #digiscrap hash tag.

Volunteer for a Creative Team
Nearly every designer has a group of girls that creates layouts using her kits. In exchange for free supplies, you can refine your scrapping skills and promote the designer’s work.

It’s certainly possible to be a talented scrapper without engaging in the community, but you’ll miss out on smart conversation, great friends,  and countless learning opportunities. Plus – you might even get RAKed in the process!

(A RAK is a random act of kindness – usually a free digital item given to new community members.)