So, are Folksy listings enough to get you noticed? I do have social media however I find it hard to keep it constantly updated because I don’t really want to keep making products in order to list them on Instagram etc. seems such a waste! So I guess my question is, will I ever sell just by people browsing Folksy alone?
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I think this is a really interesting one. I only do Facebook, I post three times a week with mixed content and I often think it’s a total waste of time, however, the traffic to my Folksy shop definitely goes down when I don’t so I keep going! However, if you look at the Folksy top sellers, a lot of them do very little social media or even none at all. I wonder if they focus more on their making, or perhaps have more targeted advertising. I suppose every business is different, you just have to find what works (simples 
)!
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I do Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook. A friend had a interesting zoom meeting with Jay from the Repair Shop and he said don’t just make Instagram as a gallery give insights into the making, your life in general. Gave that a go a couple of days ago and increased followers already.
Hashtags are also vital for Instagram.
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Oooo I’ll definitly try that!
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Yes I guess, just got to keep at it an hope for the best! I’m not non existent on social media but in all honestly, I just don’t enjoy it haha.
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The example with hashtags is the other day added #arrow to a card and got liked and followed by an archer. Probably would not have happened without that hashtag.
I also join in the monthly daily listing challenge, not something new every day but relistings as well. This again brings traffic.
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I saw somewhere that you should think ‘magazine’ rather than ‘shop’ on Instagram and that people like to be involved e.g. ask questions, ask for input on decisions - of course I’ve done none of that yet but, I think it probably helps as I noticed that I get sucked in when others do.
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I do Facebook & Instagram. Although I have a pinterest account, I don’t really use it because I don’t understand it, I just can’t get my head round what it is for.
I have a good following on the other two & agree, make some posts about you & your life.
Try them if you have time & see which work for you. I was advised that you don’t have to do them all.
Also, try not to compare yourself with others based just on number of sales as you don’t know how long they have been in business, what their business goals are or how much time & effort they put into other advertising.
Personally, craft fairs work best for me, I like being able to chat to people about my jewellery.
It is a matter of trial & error I think & don’t be afraid to ditch something that’s not working.
Good luck
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I don’t post on social media every day (or even every week sometimes) and I’m not constantly making new items just to share there, but I do make sure I do the occasional post so people know what I make, and that all of my social media links to my Folksy shop, and I think that helps a lot. It might not be immediately obvious, because it’s rare I’ll get a sale of an item I’ve just shared, but I think it’s a slow thing of my followers get to know my shop and what I sell, and then once they do need to buy an item like mine, they’ve built a connection with me so they come to my shop.
For shops that are already well established it’s probably less important, because they already have a strong customer base that know where to find them, but I think it’s more important for smaller businesses, especially when just starting out.
I think you can still get odd sales without social media, but if you’re not putting any links out to let people know about your Folksy shop, then they won’t be as regular. I made that mistake when I first opened my Folksy shop, as I was also selling on another platform I didn’t really promote my shop here, and because of that I only had a couple of sales. It was only once I added my Folksy link to my social media and started pushing it more that I started getting more regular sales (but I would still expect it to be a slow build, some people have a great talent for social media and sell things on the day they promote them, but for some of us it can still take some patience… and I expect that can also be to do with the types of item that are being sold).
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Most of the items I list on Folksy have been made for blog challenges, so everything is listed on my blog or personal Facebook page and some of the Folksy traffic comes from them. Other than that, I don’t use social media as I would rather be making things than working on social media (which, as a customer I don’t use).
I’ve certainly had sales to people who are just browsing Folksy rather than me attracting them through social media, I think that is easier to achieve that if you are operating in one of the less crowded categories and have worked on your titles/ descriptions and tags to rank highly in the folksy search/ google search.
A quick search on folksy turned up 1583 listings for wax melts so you’ve got quite a lot of competition. And if someone was to use a search term such as ‘floral wax melt’ you wouldn’t rank highly in the search results as you’ve opted to tag/ describe them using a commercial equivalent smell rather than actually describing the scent (sorry I don’t know what pixie dust/ witches brew/ pomegranate noir/ risk/ chanel No.5 etc smell of you’ll need to give me a bit more of a clue). Just my opinion but if you want to achieve sales to people browsing folksy I think you need to work on your descriptions a bit.
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I am new to Folksy and so far have not had a sale.
Before covid 19 I was a craft fair person and did well and enjoyed the banter and interacting with people at my craft stalls. I miss the face to face reality of it all.
My experience of Folksy so far is when when when. LOL!!
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@SashaGarrett It’s a good point about the famous scents, not just because customers won’t always know what they smell like, but because it’s not allowed to use terms like “chanel no. 5” anywhere in listings. Chanel are one of the companies that are known to check Folksy for trademark infringement, so any items using their name are likely to be removed.
https://folksy.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/58120-copyright
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My daily routine list on the following
Folksy daily challenge
Twitter
Pinterest as many boards as appropriate to what I have made
Instagram including narrative
Facebook business page
Facebook personal page
Facebook about 10 groups I am on.
This too approximately 20 minutes, drinking a cup of coffee in bed. Now the rest of the day is mine to create, read, knit whatever takes my fancy.
It dies not have to take long if you are organised. This week have had 5 sales, one on Folksy the other 4 through sm. one lady saw my listing on The Hampshire Arts & Crafts page. Without sm and a bit of effort on my part she would not have known about me, she comes from Portsmouth and I am in Lindford 30 miles away. The other lady Leicester a lot further.
Spending time on sm is time well spent.
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Just had a thought think about online as a face to face fair. You talk to customers to promote yourself, do the same but on social media. Hope that makes sense.
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Working full time I find it hard to keep up with my social media let alone making items to fill my shop.
However I think that a minimum requirement for social media is 1 post a week. Bare minimum though!
Starting again with craft/ making at the end of last year I have noticed that my reach has increased the more I post into SM. That has translated into a slow progression of sales.
If I come to a grinding halt with posts my interactions halt and can even go backwards.
I am also looking at scheduling posts throughout the week/month. If you are like me and have a backlog of projects. Pre preparing SM content means that I then have a regular updated feed of content for a set time. It should take the pain out of SM posting and prevent the worry of what have I got to say.
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As others have said, it’s an interesting question. I started on Folksy in May, and I do not do Social Media as I really don’t feel comfortable with Face Book and Instagram as companies, and I have reservations about privacy and data protection. I do use Pinterest as I have always used them as a creative resource in much the same way I keep tearsheets and photographs of all sorts of things that inspire me - I certainly don’t just look at other people’s ceramics. Since opening on Folksy I have put images of my own work there as I have always done that, but now with a Folksy link. So really, my Folksy shop exists in its own space and I have been very happy with sales alongside also using galleries some of whom also now sell online because of Covid restrictions. My own feeling is to do what you feel comfortable with, but I can certainly vouch for achieving sales without social media. Because ceramics is such a slow making process, I could not cope with large volumes of sales, and so it also depends upon what you make, and whether you intend to use online as your sole income, or as one of several ways of selling your work. I know for many people Social Media is a big part of their business and personal lives, but different strokes for different folks, and different folksyites!
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@konyskiw Perhaps we could have a special theme of the day for those sellers, who like me, don’t use Social Media for whatever reason. Suggested theme: ‘You won’t see this on Social Media!’ At least that would give us a flag wave!
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I still work full tome so can’t post yo social media every day. I do however post to FB, instagram, Twitter and Pinterest once I list something and I do WIP on Instagram. Despite being on Folksy for more than 2 years I have made less than 20 sales. I honestly don’t think there is a definitive answer to why some people/sellers do better, I think sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw.
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A lot of my sales on folksy have been from other crafters following me on Instagram!
I detest social media , I’m hopeless at it but accept it’s a necessary evil especially as I haven’t been selling very long and it does appear to be helping .
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