Social Networking for your Etsy Business
The main idea behind Social Networking is that if you like something, chances are your friends will like it too. Using different websites such as Twitter or Facebook you can help create awareness for your products. When used right, they can be a great asset to your business. However they can be time consuming and some of them can be downright confusing! Which ones are worth the effort? Do you have enough self control to not be that annoying person that clutters up a newsfeed?
Twitter:
Pros: Easy to use, Not very time consuming.
Cons: Sales will be very minimal, if any at all. Most views coming from Twitter are not real people.
Twitter is a numbers game, plain and simple. It’s all about how many followers you have, and how many people you are following. There are guides all over the place that talk about how to get as many followers as you can. Guess what, they are worthless. Twitter is oversaturated with fake accounts, that follow fake people, who follow fake people back. They are robots, ran by computer scripts (commonly known as bots). It takes a lot of effort to find real followers on Twitter. Even if you find your real followers, if they are following 1000 people, they may never even see your tweets.
The most important thing about Twitter is having an eye catching background. Since Twitter doesn’t show pictures in its newsfeed, it’s important to make sure your background is showing off your products. In today’s fast paced world, people don’t have time to click or read.
Make your own Twitter Background: http://www.freetwitterdesigner.com
A well written Twitter Tutorial can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/6323729/
How to Automatically post your Etsy to Twitter via RSS: http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/6490037/
Facebook Fan Page:
Pros: Probably the best for getting exposure to your shop. You don’t need to hunt down people, they come to you.
Cons: There isn’t any!
The best thing about Facebook is that when you “like” a page, all your friends will see that you liked it, and if they are curious, they will probably check it out. If they like what they see, then their friends will probably come check it out too! It’s a new take on the whole “10 people who tell 10 people who tell 10 people” word of mouth advertising method. Another awesome thing about your Facebook page, is that you can put whatever you want on it. Upload your pictures, Videos & more. Tell people about what you are working on. Link other people’s things you think are cool. The ideas are endless, and its super easy to get started.
To get a custom Facebok URL for your Facebook fan page, you need to have 25 people like your page.
It’s easy to switch between your personal Facebook Page, and your Fan Pages. Just select which one you want from the drop down menu under Account.
Facebook Pages FAQ: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=904
Swapping:
So many things you want to buy, so little money? Try Swapping! There are quite a few communities on the internet where people come together to trade items. This can be a great way to trade or sell some of your items. It’s also a good way to get rid of any of your extra supplies you have laying around. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
www.swapmamas.com and www.swap-bot.com
Blogging:
Pros: A great creative outlet if you love to write. Could lead to some sales.
Cons: Very time consuming to maintain. Very confusing to customize & setup. Moderation of comments.
Blogging in itself has become its own business now days. There is money to be made in blogging, but you need to find your niche. People don’t just want to read about your everyday boring life. They want to read exciting blogs. They want to read blogs where they will learn something new, or save money, or to live vicariously through your adventures. They also want daily updates. If you don’t update every other day or so, your readers are likely to forget you exist and move on to something else. If you can’t commit to that, it’s best to put blogging aside and focus somewhere else on your efforts. If you want to sell your crafts through your blog, make sure both are directed towards your target demographic. Don’t start a fishing & hunting blog if you are trying to sell nursing covers.
If you want to blog, it’s best to start out with a free blog site such as Wordpress or Blogspot. You can purchase a domain name through GoDaddy.com
for about $12, and have it pointed to your free blog. There are many tutorials and even books from your local library on creating a custom look for your blog. You also find graphic designers on Etsy who are eager to create blog designs. If you find that you really enjoy blogging you may want to invest in a pay blog such as Typepad.
Making money: When your blog has a small following you could start putting ads on your site. Google’s ad program & www.ProjectWonderful.com are a great place to start for ads. If you end up with a lot of followers, sometimes big companies will contact you about advertising or giveaways. Always make sure you have a way for someone to contact you from your blog.
Forum Communities:
Forum Communities are a great place to get to know people who share your interests. On Etsy, these are called Teams that you can join. You can find teams based on your locations, your interests, your crafts, or anything else you can think of. Some other great Forum Communities for crafting are located here:
http://www.doyouetsy.com/
http://www.indiepublic.com/
http://etsylove.ning.com/
It’s always fun to show off your creations to other people. Flickr is great for uploading pictures of your finished products or your in progress products. If you have a video camera you can create a tutorial video and upload it to Youtube. While these sites can be a good place to show off your craft, they are not to be used for marketing. Each site has their own rules regarding marketing, so it is best to read through the rules when you sign up.
Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.
Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.