#FolksyHour on Twitter

Shop Talk
42

I posted a question early with the hashtag and then Camilla RTd it. Some interesting answers and I was able to direct someone to a handmade shoe maker.

There is no point complaining that “people only do X, Y or Z” we are all the people, so if you want questions, the easiest way is to post one yourself to start with, or reply to someone else’s.

Also, don’t expect to get an immediate sale from FolksyHour. It’s more about getting the Folksy name more widely known, the sales will come later when people remember seeing Folksy and then come here to shop.

3 Likes
43

I’m no expert on twitter but I believe #folksyhour was “trending” last night. Not entirely sure what that means but I think a lot of twitter users like to look at whats trending and may end up visiting Folksy as a result. I presume the more people that get involved the more likely it is to be trending so the more the merrier whatever they are tweeting. I tweeted several links to my items last night but also engaged in a couple of conversations - and I was lucky enough to get a sale from it. I also try and retweet other items that I like the look of so that my other followers (who may not be fellow folksiers) will get to see them.

7 Likes
44

I love Twitter for networking its great. I think FolksyHour is a much needed addition to promote the Folksy name.
Yes it can move very quickly and sometimes its impossible to keep up, but the beauty of the hash tag allows you to play catch up at a more leisurely pace when the sessions over.
I was gutted to miss most of last nights hour but I will definitely be there next week.

Happy tweeting

Karen :wink:

2 Likes
45

Thanks Silvapagan.

I didn’t expect any sales from it, like you say, it’s more about Folksy promotion. That’s why I expected it to be a bit more structured rather than lots of “look at my shop,#folksyhour”

There were a few conversations stemming from Folksy hour, but the constant linking made it difficult to keep up.

I’m aware that I could ask questions but I referring to a more structured approach to Folksyhour rather than “who had pancakes for dinner”. something like #bdib (bloggers do it better) where there is a theme such as photography/SEO/advertising each week. That way experienced sellers can offer advice as to what has or hasn’t worked and newer sellers can learn.

2 Likes
46

Sorry I missed this last night (especially since it was “trending”).

Love Sam x

1 Like
47

Thanks to everyone who joined in with #FolksyHour last night.

Sorry you didn’t find it useful @Bobblesblankets - I intentionally tried to keep the topics and questions chatty to encourage conversation, although there were some more serious ones in there too. I may have mentioned pancakes quite a bit, but that’s because a) I like pancakes a lot, and b) it was Pancake Day and as that was the top trending topic I thought we could capitalise on that.

From what I saw, and looking back over it this morning, lots of people did seem to be talking with each other, which is what we’d like to see more of.

It’s new to me too, and I’m really interested to hear people’s feedback. So if people would like it to be more structured and have a specific topic running each week, I’m very happy to try that. My concern though is that it could become very seller/sales focused and might not appeal to as many people.

But it was very exciting to see it trending last night – it reached number two and ranked above even EastEnders! That means that anyone looking down the list of trending hashtags will have seen it, making it visible to loads of people who don’t follow us and might not have heard of Folksy before. I think we had around 1,500 tweets on the #FolksyHour hashtag, and twice as many click-throughs as on an average day.

It would be AMAZING to get even more people involved - and keep it trending! So if you could all help spread the word and talk about it, that would be great.

In the meantime, I’ll keep talking about it on Twitter and ask for questions in advance too, so we can retweet them during the hour. And if you would prefer each week to be on a specific theme, it would be really useful to know, so I can start planning.

Again though, a HUGE thanks to you all for being there, and if you have any ideas how we can make it even better, let me know.

8 Likes
48

Sorry @folksycontent. I came off as sounding a bit childish and that wasn’t what I intended. I think I was more disappointed than anything and by 8 o’clock I was sick to the back teeth of pancakes because Instagram and facebook were full of pancake pictures!

It’s great that it’s trending and had such good response. I think I was expecting something more structured so was just disappointed because it wasn’t what I expected.

49

I found the hour both useful and entertaining because i found out about new shops that i hadn’t ever seen before and last week had a chat with some people that i wouldn’t have found if it were not for folksyhour.

I think questions would be a good idea for some structure - but surely anybody can ask questions(not just folksyhour) if they need to discuss topics - ?

One idea however could be one set topic each week, given a day before.

But i also think using the hour as a way of reaching people with your products is good idea too - especially for us that are just starting out - and it’s great to see what other people are making.

that’s just a few thoughts… thanks.

3 Likes
50

i didn’t know about these - sound really interesting. thanks.

51

@SallyandtheFreckles off topic, but I just had a look in your shop and I didn’t know you sold cards until I actually clicked on one - I couldn’t work out if they were earrings, pendants, stickers or what. Maybe slightly different photos that show the cards in context, or with a coloured envelope or something might help?

52

thanks for this - it does say cards in listings titles/folksy categories - but i can see what you mean.
have added ‘card’ to shop collection titles.
Photos are not my strong point so am always trying to work on these.
thanks again for your feedback.

1 Like
53

I believe #FolksyHour on Twitter has the potential to reach a vast number of people who don’t currently know about us or the items we create. I suspect the event, and the way we use it, will change and develop if we persevere. At this stage I’d have thought it needs to be fun to get Folksy people engaged and attract the attention of Folksy virgins. If we get too involved with sales/marketing topics, for example, it may well turn non Folksy people off and they would lose interest in finding out more about us. Afterall, we have this forum to discuss technical Folksy matters every hour of every week. For now atleast might #FolksyHour be best used to get the word out to the world at large. Just MHO.
Hugs Bee

5 Likes
54

I like the idea of set topics, but like Bea think they ought to be more entertaining and current than shop stuff. It’s usually quite easy to find a way to link something current back to your craft, especially if you’ve had a day to think about it.

Sam :whale2:

1 Like
55

Remember it’s #folksyhour tonight at 8pm! Tweet us anything you want to know or ask: https://twitter.com/folksy

3 Likes
56

Cant wait, having missed last weeks im raring to go tonight! :smiley:

57

In case I get sidetracked, as often happens, I’ve scheduled a post to my Facebook page which should then feed to Twitter. That’s the theory anyway. :slight_smile:

1 Like
58

Fair warning - we want a snoop around your workspaces during FolksyHour tonight. You’ve got 15 mins to tidy up :wink:

59

Eek I’ve only just seen this message. Not sure 8 minutes is enough. :slight_smile:

60

Now you tell me! LOL! Too late, too late … was the cry.

1 Like
61

That was great fun :smile: See you all next week!

4 Likes