I’ve not had my folksy shop long. I was drawn to it because I liked the idea of promoting English made products. I’ve been making my bears for about 3 years now and I sell quite a few via word of mouth and craft events. However since joining folksy I’ve only sold two on this site. Am I doing something wrong? I promote like mad and I’ve tried picking up tips from the forums. Would I have more chance if I was a full member? I didn’t want to be a full member in case it didn’t work out… I’m not sure if it is working out.
Hi,
First up the link to your facebook page from your shop doesn’t appear to be working might want to check that out - also double check that any links on your facebook page actually bring you back to your folksy shop. I’m not an expert of social media promotion but a lot of people say it is a balancing act and you need to make sure that you don’t send all your time going ‘I’ve just listed…’ but have it as more of an interaction with people. Also make sure you have plenty of business cards to hand out at craft fairs and include one with every sale (if they have bought one bear from you they are likely to buy another).
You might want to redo some of your photos - a couple look slightly blurry - and they could do with re cropping. Folksy crops the photos on our shop front and in search results to square which means some of your bears are missing bits. If I was a bear collector I would want to see all of the bear in the search results so as to decide which one to look at further. People only have our photos and description to go on so we have to make sure these are clear and include all the relevant information (ideally in the first paragraph) unfortunately people can’t run their fingers through the bear’s fur on line and I’m sure thats a major factor with falling in love with a bear.
Its taken several years for my folksy shop to develop any momentum (most of my work still comes from craft events/ word of mouth/ commissions) so you might not be doing anything wrong you just need to be a little bit more patient.
Good luck
Sasha
Hi , Having the pro account makes no difference to sales , it is purely a way of saving a bit of money if you have a huge amount to list. There is no extra exposure or promotion.
My sales have grown slowly year on year as people know to find me here, as Sasha said hand out lots of business cards at fairs , then people will know where to find you when they need bithday treats etc.
Stick with it and keep tweaking things.
Best wishes
Deborah
Your bears are gorgeous! It does take a while to build up a presence on here. It took me 7 months before I made my first sale. Try not to get disheartened. There is certainly not a problem with your product.
I think Sasha has said it all really. Photos are what people will first see when looking, and they need to be the absolute best that you can do, to show your beautiful bears off to their utmost potential.
Also if your bears are collectors items for adults and not CE tested for kids, you will need to state this. Trading Standards will be able to help you with the correct wording (it may need adding to the packaging too).
Otherwise it’s really just keep promoting, engaging with your audience, and building a relationship with them. That all takes time to do, and I remember my first sale took between 2-3 months on here. Good luck!
It does take time to get sales and a massive amount of work.
Not just in your listings but promoting and don’t only rely on one social media platform for that. The more social media sites you use the wider your reach will be.
You need to use all 5 photo’s not just one. Customers will want to see not just the front, but the back, sides, close up of bits etc etc
Your descriptions need a lot of work the most important information should be at the top of the description ie what the item is a teddy bear holding a chocolate bar, colour type of material used, size etc etc.
Your bit about loving chocolate really isn’t what customers will be looking for first that should come at the end of the description as it’s extra information.
Customers want to see the the details straight away not read a essay to get to the information they require to make up their mind on whether to buy or not.
Also try using some two word tags or even three word tags you have plenty of room for them. Think about what words potential customers will put into a search box to find your items.
For bears it might be bear or teddy or teddy bear for instance.
Here is a list of different ways to promote your items and shop
Facebook
twitter
pinterst
google+
Instragram
Craftjuice
wanelo
buisness cards/flyers
word of mouth
joining in the promotional threads on the forum
Being part of craft forums I find helps as well.
But beware it’s small gains and most online businessess don’t do well for the first 2 years and many simply give up. It’s a long haul thing really.
Thank for your tips and advice. I hadn’t realised the facebook link wasn’t working. It still isn’t as I need to find my user name. Might have to go on my lap top in the morning for that. Thank you for pointing that out. Xxx
Thank you for let the me know about the pro account. I wasn’t sure if you got more promotion or not. I get plenty of orders outside of folksy and at craft fairs so I thought maybe I was missing something with folksy. I’ll keep plodding on. Thanks again. Xx
Thank you Helen. I love my little bears. I’ve just sold a bride and groom today (not on folksy). I’ll keep plugging away. I’m just not used to having my bears sitting around waiting to be sold. Normally they’re made and gone. Xx
Thank liz. I think my photos let me down really. I need better lighting and a better camera I think. Maybe I better write to santa. My packaging and discriptions all state my bears are not suitable for children due to small parts. They are collector’s bears. Thank you also for the link. I will have a read of it and see if I can get some tips. Xx
Thank you eileen. I will certainly take on board your thoughts and give my shop a spruce up over the next couple of days. You guys have been doing this longer than me and I appreciate all advice I’m given. I like to think I can learn from the masters and hopefully one day I’ll be just as successful as you all. Xx
Hi Mandi, I’ve found you on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Kelly-Belly-Button-596195393831759/?fref=ts - and I notice that you’ve still got all the numbers after your business page name. You can get rid of them as soon as you’ve got 25 likes, so as you’ve got a lot over that, you can trim your Facebook url down to just having your business name, so it’ll be facebook.com/Kelly-Belly-Button, which is a lot neater.
Go to www.facebook.com/username
Select “Select a Username” for your page
This brings up a drop down menu, select the page you want to create the username for.
If your page has the needed 25 fans it will bring up a box .
Enter your desired username and click on “check availablilty”
If it’s available, you will be shown some final terms – if you are happy with your choice click “confirm” or select “cancel” to try another one.
Oh thank you Jo. I’m not really social media sassy at all. I had no idea about any of that. I will certainly try to sort that out first thing in the morning. I really do appreciate your help. Could I ask a really dumb question… what is google+? Sorry if it’s a daft question but I really have no idea and so I won’t click on the button. It really is a miracle I have facebook or even folksy for that matter lol. I’m just glad the forums are easy to use. Xx
I’ve liked your page because I really do like your bears. They are lovely. I see you have already set up your FB page with a link to your shop which is excellent and that you’re linking your posts back to your Folksy listings.
Can I suggest that you don’t put your Folksy link against the actual post / photo but as a first comment. Mr Facebook will show your posts to less people if you include a link in the actual post.
I always upload the photo separately which I think you have done but then add a comment with just the link and then remove the preview from that. It works for me anyway.
No worries Mandi. I should think I found that information out on this forum when I was first starting out on Facebook, so the info all goes around in the end. You’ll be telling a newbie all about how to do it soon enough
Google+ is kind of like Facebook and Instagram combined. You can join groups, add pictures which other Google Plusers can see. I’ll be honest, I don’t use it. I’m signed up on it, but it’s just too much work to keep up with all the social media you could potentially use. My advice is always, try a few out until you find the ones you really like using. Could be Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (that’s what I try and keep on top of, although really I only have time for Facebook when I’m busy), so it could be you find just one that really suits you and the time you have. As long as you use that one efficiently it will work for you. If you are trying to use 5 or 6, realistically you’ll be flying in and out and your posts will look like marketing. You really need to connect with the people that are following you on these social media sites, so you need to spend time building that relationship with them so they engage with your posts, which is why I suggest only sticking with a few social media sites, or even just the one.
Hi joy. I’ve been experimenting with my face book page and I’ve notice when I put a folksy link on a post hardly anyone sees it but if I just put a picture up loads of people see it. But if I’m honest you lost me when you said to upload a picture and then add the link… do you mean to do that rather than the link from folksy where you get the small picture. I honestly feel so numb asking questions like this. I’m really good with computers but this social media stuff is so confusing but it’s a must have in this day and age. Xx
Yes. to add a post I just type my text then hit the photo button and select one of those on my Folksy listing from my computer file.
No links, no mention of money, shop, sell or anything possibly commercial - Mr FB doesn;t like those and will limit your post.
Once you’ve posted, add a comment with just the pasted Folksy listing link and wait for the preview to appear then hide it as you don’t need it.
Oh that has made me feel so much better jo lol. I like twitter it’s not to hard to understand. I was worried about google+ as I thought it’s yet another social media nightmare to try and get my head around. I’d much rather spend my time crafting than doing any of that but I know I need to. I guess the best solution is to do one or two sites well than 5 or 6 badly. I do hope one day I can offer some advice to a newbie. I like to pay it forward whenever I can. Thank you again for all this advice and all the encouragement too. I know you are all busy ladies and I’m grateful you’ve taken time out to offer me your assistance. You really are a great bunch of people. Xx❤
I’ve managed to link folksy to facebook. Thanks to you. I don’t think I would have been able to find my username in a million years lol. Thanks again Jo. X
Glad to help. Just remember, though, when you’ve slimmed your Facebook username down using those instructions I posted above, you’ll have to change that link on Folksy again to the new ‘without the numbers on the end’ version
