Everyone says to help with sales you need to be active on the forums, How? When do you find the time? I really struggle with this, not just timewise but because I am a naturally shy person and never know what to post. It takes me forever to do my own insta and facebook and I know I don’t post enough but I’m trying. I tried to post everyday (lasted 2 weeks) but between making, and general household stuff I find it difficult and something that should be fun turned out to be a chore. I know I need to make the effort but for an introvert I’m finding it hard.
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I wish I knew the answer, I find that I’m a much happier person when I’m not ‘online’ in any way, but you do have to balance that with the need to get seen.
I probably do just a couple of posts on Instagram each week and if you can find it there’s a way to make it share the same post on FB, I don’t like or understand FB and have never managed to get more than a handful of followers on there so I don’t really bother with that.
I do like Instagram and have quite a few ‘friends’ now, you do have to spend time on there and talk to folk though.
On the forums here, I find with the daily threads I just can’t keep up and to be honest (don’t shoot me) I don’t want to spend hours of every day here, so I just check daily for new threads and reply if I’ve got something vaguely useful or interesting to say.
You have to ask yourself what you want from your business I guess. If you want to make a living you will have to either pay to advertise and see if that works or get a lot more active on SM and learn how to use it well.
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If you are new to Folksy you can glean a huge amount of information about how it all works from the forums.
Also the forum is a ready selected audience of people who appreciate handmade, sellers are often buyers too.
Like you I am not great with social media and prefer to just make, but I find joining in with the “daily listing “ thread here a great way to keep on track with posting new makes regularly, finding out what social media tools work for people and finding out what events Folksy are coming up with.
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Thank you for your response. Everything you have said I completely agree with. I will try to ‘check in’ regularly
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I tried with the daily thread but I don’t have loads of items and therefore can’t add to my shop on a daily basis. Once I’ve posted all my items on a thread that’s it! Apart from liking everyones post, which I do, I don’t have much to add.
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I’m very shy too!
I think the forums have a weath of knowledge, you can read without commenting. I join in on the daily listing thread because it helps concentrate my mind on working on new items for my shop also it’s a very chatty, friendly thread, not just about our work but anything from folksy to ordering our Christmas food shopping online and much more. It does take time and commitment but it’s how I start my day.
I only post once a week on social media, Instagram and Facebook, I like to interact with people and doing so can take a lot of time. I also think there maybe a bit more impact if you do it regularly on a certain day, followers then may then get to expect it and it doesn’t feel too spammy.
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I am on the daily challenge thread every day either post something new of a delisted item.
I was shy to begin with but have made some very good friends on here now and have more confidence. Everyone is helpful and will guide when needed, this month I have taken on the admin side on the daily challenge a few years ago would never have done that,
I post daily on the Business Suite of Facebook, this then automatically shares on Instagram at the same time. You can schedule posts in advance, which is invaluable and find now have the forum side down to a fine art where time is concerned. I am lucky and do not work as my crafting is my work and find time spent on social media is a must. I do not make everyday but make sure I always have time to do the promotion side.
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Thank you good advice
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I think the forums can be a great source of info if you are having an issue that you need help with but, personally, I think they are of limited value for promotions/ sales. With the exception of the daily listing thread where everyone promotes each other’s items on social media, I’m not convinced of the value of showcase threads for getting sales, it’s a limited number of people who are active on the forum and if they are not your target market then it is unlikely to convert into sales. If it’s taking up too much time I think you could drop the forums from your routine without it impacting on sales.
Have you tried pinterest? No need for social interaction there - just pin and run! I’ve found it helpful for appearing in google/ internet searches (on the image tab) and have made sales because of pinning stuff.
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Pinterest have quite a few courses you can do, free. You earn a badge for each lesson and it explains in detail how it can work for you. I have started to go through them as did not have the Academy when I first started on there. In fact looking at my figures get more pins etc than across any where else.
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I didn’t know about this where did you find them?
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Are these the courses you are doing? I always think I could do more with pinterest than my current pin and run just not sure what.
I’ve always found pins to have a greater longevity than FB or IG and they (apparently) help with google indexing.
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Thanks for sharing this, techno phobe that I am I might even have a look at this.
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Yes they are the ones, thought worth a go.
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I find the forums informative and helpful - and post when I can. I certainly can’t keep up with the daily thread - I couldn’t keep up the pace making baskets! But I do a regular daily Facebook post and like the community of friends I have gathered here and on Facebook. I have somehow managed to have pictures of my work coming up on Google searches and have never done Pinterest. You have to gradually work out what is best for you. 
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I’ve tried Pinterest but find it difficult to use. Maybe it’s just me but it seems a lot less intuitive than Instagram.
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Thanks, I might try that.
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If you’re finding it a bit overwhelming, both time wise and socially, then don’t worry about having to do everything. I would say social media is more important to focus on than the forum for promotion, and again, you don’t have to do it all. I would start with focusing on the platform you enjoy using the most.
While Instagram may work best for some, TikTok may work better for others, Twitter for some, Pinterest… I think the most important thing is to find the one you enjoy so you want to do it and it doesn’t just feel like a chore. That you’re comfortable with making posts in whatever way it is for that platform, so you’re more likely to post regularly and interact with others. Just posting and running doesn’t build connections, so people are less likely to click on your page and follow you. Social media works better when you interact with others so if you enjoy browsing that social media, it’s going to be easier to do that. It could be commenting and joining in with discussions, but you could also just start with liking/retweeting/pinning if you’re not comfortable with chatting with others yet and don’t know what to say.
Again, if you find posting every day is overwhelming I wouldn’t force yourself to either. It’s important to post so people know about your items, but if it’s not enjoyable you’re more likely to give it up completely and not bother interacting. Find a frequency that works for you so you’re more likely to keep it up.
Maybe try posting a quick photo of something you’re in the middle of working on, or the materials that will go in to your next make, and then a photo once it’s finished. It can add some intrigue, and might make it a little easier to think what to post when you can just put comments like “What am I going to make with these?”, “In progress”, “The finished… now available on Folksy”.
And like a few other people here said, I use the forum more for information rather than promotion. I generally skim past the showcase threads and look for the ones that are discussions like this one (which makes it much quicker to check). If there’s something in there I can answer, or it leads me to think of a question, then it makes it easier to have something to post. Same if you’re trying to interact on social media, sometimes it might feel difficult to make a comment, but there’ll be some posts where there’s a question right on the post asking for opinions, and that can make it much easier to start interacting and get comfortable with making comments and building connections.
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I pop by the forums but spend more time reading threads like this than promoting on it, I don’t join the daily listing thread as my items take too long to make, i tried it when I first joined Folksy but I also seriously struggled to fit everything in and decided it was more important to focus on making as I was spending so long on socials and not getting any work done. I do think with time and good management it gets easier to do everything. I post most days on Instagram but still get behind with facebook, really don’t have a clue with pinterest so I also just pin and go but I do enjoy instagram and have made some lovely friends on there. It’s easy to get distracted though and not have time for the important things, i continuously have lists of things I need to look at but don’t have time and now I’m just going to add the pinterest link above to it, thank you @Caroleecrafts I could benefit from this it might just take me a while to get around to it though. 
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Debby the first one was about 15 minutes or less depends how quick you are at reading. I had to speed read in my real life years ago and have taught myself to slow down. We were mainly looking for key words etc or things that did not look right in context. They are not long courses which to me is better as more likely to absorb than if they ramble on.
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