Brand new here. Flopped totally on Etsy so have paid for a “Plus” account on here! I’d really love your hints and tips. I have a blog and am regularly sharing on Facebook, threads, Instagram and X. Thinking of being brave and trying TikTok but the teacher in me is terrified!!!
Is there anything I should or should not do as a beginner here? This is just a way of covering costs for me ideally. Is traffic normally steady?
Many thanks lovely people!!
My biggest tip would be to have a read through this blog post - How to write a listing that gets found in search results
People you know may find your shop and items through the links you share on your social media, but for strangers to find your items, the words written in your listing have to match the words they’re searching (whether that’s on Folksy search, Google search or another search engine).
For example with this item - Welsh beach sunset - needle felt landscape - Folksy
If someone was searching “textile art” there’s not much chance they’d see your item, because even though it’s listed in the textile art category, you don’t use the words “textile” or “art” anywhere in the title, description or tags, so the searches won’t see it as very relevant to what the person is looking for. It may be included in the results because it uses the correct category, but it’ll likely be lower than any listings that also have the words mentioned in the title, description or tags, so it may be too low down for most people to see.
For Folksy search, the title is most important so make sure the words you think people are most likely to search by if they were looking for an item like yours are in there.
That’s awesome!! Thank you. I will go through and update my tags tomorrow and read the blog post tonight!!
If I could go back 10 years I would
Folksy is a nice, friendly site and very helpful if you have a problem. I am very happy to have my shop on here x
If I were a potential customer I’d want to know if they are mounted ready to go in a frame or if I’m going to have to find a specialist framer who can do that for me. I’d also put in the actual measurements as not everyone knows what size A5 or A4 is.
That’s a really good point. I’ve only literally started making them so they’re not mounted or framed. I’d need to source that and factor in costs. I can easily add full dimensions though. Thank you
Hi Catherine,
Firstly, I love your Pembrokeshire scene.
I was going to follow you on Instagram, but there is no link to it from your shop?
Personally, as a shopper, I would like to see more photos - maybe with some context, such as on a wall, so I can get a better idea of size in situ.
Certainly more detail on your description.
Good luck, and welcome to Folksy 
Thank you!!! I couldn’t get the Instagram link to work for some reason! It’s on tomorrow’s list of things to look at! I definitely need more photos. My husband is going to Frame a piece or two so that we can show sizing! I’m going to add measurements too! Thank you for being so kind and sharing your expertise!!
My Instagram is Temporary Instagram link
I’m setting a new one up for art work but have only been doing this a week!!
Following
Also following, your work is lovely, nothing I can add that hasn’t already been said I don’t think, except perhaps be patient, it can take a while to get going even with a ton of self promotion. Good luck x
Thank you. I’m going to get going in the recommendations already given. I’m juggling full time teaching too so who knows where this will go but I’m so grateful for the support!
I second what SashaGarrett has said, as an ex picture framer, your work would be sellable if mounted, and mounted to a standard size, most customers want something that finished and ready to pop into a ready available size frame, they don’t want to go to a custom framer to get a mount and frame made to size. I used to run a online picture mount shop and on ebay, I used to supply lots of crafters, some maybe on Folksy, a lot were on et$y, I think off white such as ivory or a soft white would suite your work
Thanks Stephen. I have no idea how I’d go about getting it done. Wouldn’t it drastically delay lead times? And add to costs?
I can see the reasoning. Just no idea where to start! A local framer I guess? Thank you so much for the feedback! I will get on it!!
If your items are already made, you just need to add to the mount, Then list it, don’t give an option for mounting the work, just list it as already mounted, so you handling time would be just printing the order off, and packing the order, popping into the Post Office
I used to sell my mounts in pack of 5 , 10, 12 or multiples of the packs, just learning to make you items to a standard size
Just found some mounts! Thank you!!! Will update pics and details once they arrive!!! All this advice is golden!! Xxx
