I’m trying to start regularly making & listing items on here and am spreading the word on both my FB page and personal profile but am sure I could be doing much more to promote my shop. Has anyone got any good advice please? Thanks! x
Morning, I do mostly FB business page, and folksy related groups on facebook, twitter, and pinterest every now and then, lots do others like craftjuice and others i dont know, hope that helps 
Anything which links to your shop is good for the Google search. I find writing a blog and craft juice gets my images and shops found, but if you want something quick and simple, Pinterest is great, like @jaqueline says.
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There’s lots of info over on the Folksy blog too:
http://blog.folksy.com/category/seller-tips/social-media-tips-for-crafters-designers-and-makers
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Very helpful advice, thanks everyone! x
At the moment I pretty much do Instagram, a FB business page and Twitter. I don’t have much time for anything else.
I have found they’ve all driven sales. Though I don’t post that regularly on any of them. And my Instgaram and Twitter aren’t just business related to me- I put all sorts on there. But my business Facebook page I do keep that for my artwork as I don’t want to hound friends on my normal Facebook page with my stuff- though a fair few of them also follow my business page.
I think it’s important to just share random things about yourself and your life as well- personally if all I come across on Twitter is someone just repeatedly posting links to their folksy / Etsy page or similar I unfollow them because it’s boring.
Though I always find that less of an issue on Instagram as I guess because that’s photo cantered it’s much less annoying than just having one like ‘go to www.blahblahblah to see what I’ve just posted for sale’ on Twitter all the time.
I have tried Google+ but couldn’t get away with it.
I also have a website and blog attached.
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Thanks Susannah! Really like your work.
I think that’s probably a good tip about posting personal things as well as about selling stuff directly. It does seem to take so long keeping all the social media stuff up though! Or is it just me…?! Facebook seems pretty straightforward but only just getting my head around Twitter & Instagram so need to visit it more to learn I think! I tried doing it through Hootsuite but it didn’t seem to post to my Instagram as well so need to look at my settings again.
Anyway, talking of taking ages, I’ve been listing earrings all night so best get to bed or will never get up for the day job in the morning! Ha ha!
Cheers
Is anyone else on Streetlife? I joined a couple of months ago and thought the locals might be interested in some locally handmade goods (and a voucher code) so I posted some info yesterday. Needless to say, it was taken down! Apparently I was supposed to set up a page for people to visit, which I’ve done. Don’t know if I’m allowed to repost now. I felt like saying “EXCUSE ME! YOU invited ME!”…
When I post on Facebook I have to beg my daughter to share it otherwise it’s “seen by 9 people”… 
I’m thinking of hiring an aeroplane and dropping a million promotional pamphlets… 
Ok… I guess I will stick to Facebook & Instagram.
Right I’m off to crack the Craftjuice conundrum.
Karen
Thank you. 
And It’s not just you. I go through phases where sometimes I barely post anything just because other parts of my life take priority. But I think sometimes in a way that might be a good thing so I’m not boring anyone.
I used to be really good with Twitter but I have actually found the community on Instagram really nice and friendly and sharing. So I think I get much further with that to be honest. Just fun with it all!! I think when people start to over analyse what they post it all just becomes a bit clinical.
Great topic @MillieMoth – always worth talking about what’s working best for everyone in the community. There’s lots of great advice above, especially in the link shared by Liz @BigBirdLittleBird.
To throw something else into the mix and give crafters another free promotion opportunity, I’m currently working on an idea (it actually came out of this Folksy discussion: What Do You Think of this Idea for Promotion?)
It’s not live yet, but hopefully in a couple of months it’ll give the community even more links back to their stores.
Hi Susannah - hope you can help me as I’m not the clued up with Facebook. re business Facebook page. I was told that I have to open a main page under my own name i.e. Emily Clayton and then only can I open a business Facebook page, which I’ve now done i.e. Precious Moments Crafts - but it seem so tedious because I have to list in both pages to reach all my “friends” and I don’t have all of my “invitees / friends” in my Precious Moments Crafts page - I’m sure that is why I’m not really getting any views/ likes from my Facebook.
Will appreciate some advice / help with this.
Kind regards Emily
Hi Emily, FB want people to have their personal profile kept personal and not use it for business related stuff. They have been known to close accounts that run their business through their own personal account. This is due to how FB wants it’s platform to operate and this is because, using algorithms, it can target people that want to see your page rather than people having to be friends with you to see what you do.
What you can do is invite all your friends to like your new business page - if they don’t want to that is up to them, not all my friends like my business page either -because they don’t necessarily want to see my stuff I guess. Also with a business page you can pay to boost a post and target a specific audience, and you can also pay to promote your page, which you can’t do with a personal profile.
Hope that makes sense
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Hi Liz, great thanks so much for the info - so I have been doing it right then. I will invite all my friends through my business Facebook page as well then.
Thanks again and have a nice day x
Thanks, @NataliaBraga. I’ve just read through your link’s posts about your proposed site. It does sound like a good idea from we sellers point of view but rather a selfless time consuming project on your part! I take on board everything you’ve said but would be concerned about any affiliate stream revenues making the site annoying to use like so many sites can be. I get impatient with them and usually close them before they’ve finished loading as they take ages. Plus it gets so confusing trying to see the actual content amongst the ads! You did say you wouldn’t want to overdo the advertising (or words to that effect if I understood correctly) and I’m guessing you’re far more clued up than me about computers and the technicalities of SEOs etc so you’d probably know how to handle it. So far my crafts are making me no money, especially as I seem to be addicted to buying new beads! Having said that I love it and am enjoying it immensely which is what life is all about! I get such satisfaction and pleasure from it and feel very proud and excited by my creations that I feel it’s all worth doing. Maybe you feel as strongly about this site in which case go for it! I’m sure if it really takes off it will become apparent how you can make it work in terms of revenue. Good luck with it and I’d love to be on it!
Hi @MillieMoth,
You’ve made great points about how ads can make sites really annoying to use and I totally agree – I also just leave any site that takes too long to load and/or is polluted with ads! After a lot of thinking, I’d actually decided to fund the site development and initial costs through crowdfunding and so will be launching a Kickstarter campaign at the end of the month. It is still a lot of effort on my part, but I have to say I’ve been meeting some amazing people and really enjoying it.
I love hearing how enthusiastic you are about your work – it’s truly inspiring. Having said that, I feel like it’s a shame that the financial side isn’t adding up. That’s the whole premise behind the site I’m working on (Authentically.co); helping people like you get discovered and bringing more traffic back to your stores.
That all sounds great - I hope the crowdfunding works well for you! I’m not too worried yet about my lack of revenue through crafts. I also work part time in a jewellery shop and am a jazz singer (www.karenlake.co.uk) so doing the crafts as a hobby isn’t too much of a problem. I’ve dabbled with making things for 20 odd years and have always wanted to be able to have it as a natural and regular part of my life. Hopefully soon I will find my niche and be able to make more of a go of it!
Wow – I’ll definitely check out your jazz site!
I have a facebook page for CobaltMoonDesign. I’m on there nearly everyday posting new items or art related pieces of information. I did start a blog too but I must admit I haven’t kept up with that as often as I intended. I always pin my work on pinterest and tweet each item too.
I hope this helps.
Thanks @CobaltMoonDesign. That is helpful. Think I definitely need to be on social media a lot more than I am now!