Is anyone else making much more from Instagram and personal commissions than Folksy? If so why is that?
Not me but then I actively lead people / potential customers to my shop here mainly via FB… but also via IG, Twitter, Pinterest and my own ‘non-selling’ website.
Facebook is definitely best .for me anyway … but I do work at it. New listings in my shop today now shared as 2 posts on FB ( as well as the other 3 social media accounts)
Today. 2 orders via Folksy, one commission query privately and another via FB.
It has been stated many times on here that you need to drive, lead, drag people to your shop here on Folksy. If they don’t know your shop is here then they won’t find you to buy from you
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Hi, I was just wondering if you dopaid promotions on facebook? I cant seem to get tge hang of it. I adore your glass btw
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I’m not getting sales from any platforms, despite posting links.
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I have seen the amount of work you put in on Instagram, glad to here its working 
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I have sold a few items on Folksy but dont rely on social media as not very good with it. I have a post on Hand Knitting Association website under knitters wanted and there is a link from this to my shop which has resulted in me picking up quite a few commission orders. I seem to do well with this as I have a number of returning customers. They can see the work I produce and so far i have had great comments back about my work. This works for me even though I would like a few more sales
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I have accepted that if I’m completing social media sales and commissions away from Folksy then it will mean fewer sales here (if someone contacts me though folksy the sale will be completed here but if someone contacts me through facebook the sale is completed with an izettle invoice). As a result I have to make sure my search engine optimisation is up to date so that I get sales here from people either browsing the site or the internet in general. If you feel that folksy is under performing have you read up on what the current advice is about titling/ describing/ tagging your items/ listings to make sure that you are featuring in folksy /google search results?
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Laura
I have been ‘doing’ this for quite some time now and have slowly and steadily built up my social media promotion expertise. I do pay for FB promotion, probably 3 or 4 times a year and a max spend of £10. This ensures that FB keeps my reach going for a couple of months after each promotion. I have also very actively joined in with British Crafters and had paid promotion from them too, up to now anyway but that has now stopped.
I do make sure that I don’t just post about my glass, i keep an eye out for artistic or amusing things to share and also often share other people’s work. The aim is to keep people’s interest in my page so they revisit so I try hard to avoid it being a MeMeMe page. I also pointedly avoid any commercial words on my posts, of my glass anyway. I load my photos directly, I put the link to the piece in my Folksy shop in the comment not the post itself and I don’t say Order or Shop or money or ££. Numbers can easily replace letters eg 0rder Sh0p.
xxxx
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I don’t sell anywhere else unless it’s to some one I know personally, face to face. I promote on a few social media sites but am most successful on Facebook. Any enquiry I get from social media, I send them a link to my Folksy shop and complete the sale through there. I want my Folksy shop to work, and I want Folksy as a site to work so that it becomes more successful for me and everyone else, so this is how I operate. I am not a big seller as I also have a job so I don’t have time to make more than 2-3 items in a week (sometimes less), but it ticks over nicely so I’m happy and I love my shop…
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I still struggle to get sales here. I had one the other day through my IG which is linked to Folksy, I don’t really do sales through my own website. Other than the usual places E, and I’m doing much better on AH. I don’t advertise on there either. I’m gradually going through my Folksy listings and trying to make them search engine friendly. But I noticed yesterday that I had a few visits via social media, which is great, also @SashaGarrett gave me lots of advice which I’m taking on board 
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That’s an interesting one Joy about putting the link in your comments box not your post. Is that to fool the system as it were, like using nos instead of letters?
You are amazing with social media, and credit to the way you give out a lot of your hard won info on here, just like @SashaGarrett. I like the way that you always point out it that social media takes graft, that it is something that has to be learned, and CAN be learned!
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Hi Andy. We do have lots of information and advice in the Folksy seller’s handbook. Have you had a look through that? Here’s the link https://blog.folksy.com/how-to-sell-craft-online-folksy-seller-handbook
Also, is there a reason why the link on your Instagram profile goes through to this search results page rather than your Folksy shop? It would probably instil more confidence in your customers if it went directly to your shop here https://folksy.com/shops/twistedturner
As ever if you ask Folksy people something they always come back with great advice, support and help.
Lots of things taken on board.
It is interesting all the different ways people advertise and push there shops. I wonder if there is a best method for particular types of shop? Anyway thanks for the help
Andy T
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Thanks for the helpful info. I have found facebook to be my least favourite and struggle to get much interaction from it. I haven’t done much with it lately as I seem to be mainly talking to myself. Thanks for the tips, I may try again x
I show my paintings on facebook but if anyone wants to buy from me, I will go and list it in my Folksy shop, as they deal with all the payments etc and it is my security.
The tiny % fee is worth it to me and saves me sending out invoices etc.
I send everyone here…
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Brenda me too. There are a few which I do directly but my first choice is to send them here as it is easier and I’m all for an easy life 
It does take time to build up followers and the more followers you have the better the reach. If my reach goes down then that is when I pay FB for a little promotion and the goodwill factor of that does seem to last at least a couple of months. It means Mr FB likes me again for a while
I must say I really enjoy the FB interaction nowadays and feel that many of my followers are my friends which is lovely.
Today I didn’t make any glass as I took the day off but I shared someone else’s work this morning and tonight I shared a photo album of the pictures I took at the Tatton Hall Flower show I visited.
I put the album on my private page as public view and shared it with my Joysofglass FB page as prefer not to fill that with too many non glass photos as they would appear on top of my glass pictures if you see what I mean…
Hope this helps
xx
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I don’t think the number of likers has much relevance to reach.
I only have 571 likers (i started a new page a few months back)
But my recent reach is a staggering (i think) 36.4K!
My page has been a bit neglected recently due to working longer hours at the day job (I’ve gone from 20hrs/week to 35+) but like Joy i try to share posts that i think my followers will be interested in ie new yarns on the market, knitting in the news etc. Sometimes i share funny posts (cute animals work well) and little snippets of my personal life. I also share some of my posts to relevant facebook groups (check group rules first as not all allow this)
Also now, some groups allow you to join as your page as well as your personal profile. In groups where you can do this, i join in personal mode so i see group posts in my newsfeed, but i also join as my business page and i always comment/like/post in these groups as my business page.
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My things sell really well on Folksy and so I don’t sell anywhere else at all. I do lots of promotion on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and have a large number of faithful customers who buy from me regularly. It’s all a matter of making relationships with customers I think and social media works well for me.
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thanks so much for the info xx