Hi there!
I’ve been on Folksy for a few months and am struggling to get people into my shop. I’m just wondering if other photographers here have found the platform helpful or can share any tips to improve traffic. Any advice is greatly appreciated - thank you!
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It’s tough going and honestly the only way to really get people to your shop is to be active both on SM and out and about, craft fairs and such.
You’ve done well to sell anything in a couple of months to be honest so you must be doing something right. 
Lovely shop btw. Hopefully you’ll get some more useful answers soon.
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Thank you for the encouragement - it’s genuinely appreciated.
I’m all over SM but I must suck at it as I get very little traction 
I haven’t gone to any craft fairs yet, so maybe I should look into that. Thank you!
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I think Instagram is notoriously hard now to gain traction on unless you spend a long time, months, posting the type and amount of stuff Instagram think you should. I think even people with big, established accounts struggle to get the reach they did.
Have you considered Pinterest which acts more like a search engine than social media? Folksy did an update post not long ago and a surprising amount of traffic comes via Pinterest.
Your photos are lovely and I’m sure people will enjoy them.
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Your photos are stunning! It looks like you are doing everything you should be doing as far as your Folksy shop is concerned. Social media promotion really is the key. I’ve only recently had the time and opportunity to start doing it again (I’m a mature student, now off for summer), but it’s already paying off, I’ve managed my first sales in a while this week.
You have to try and find where your audience hangs out, Most of my paintings are of Cornwall, so I engage a lot with a “Love Cornwall” Facebook page. I don’t use it solely to promote my work, but occasionally I’ll post one of my paintings. Nearly every time I get a message asking for my website, which has links to my Folksy shop if they want to purchase. Perhaps you could explore something similar for your photos?
I agree Instagram isn’t what it used to be, but I’m still managing some sales that way. It all means a lot of extra work, but it can get results at least some of the time.
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I’ve just thought of something else: Engage in activities here in the forums that result in your work being favourited, which puts you in the “Popular Right Now” category on the front page, if only for a short time. The Daily Listing Challenge gets the best results but it does demand a daily commitment to favourite all the day’s posts, which is a recipricol act. Most people get sales out of it. If you can’t commit to that, others like the “What have you listed today?” thread, “Favourite an item from the shop above you” or “Alphabet Game” will unleash some hearts and get you on the front page. There are also threads for mutual Pinterest promotion.
The “free” relist facility for Folksy Plus members is also useful in that you can relist items almost at will (which end up on front page) though I wouldn’t go overboard with it. “Hogging” the front page might be frowned upon! I move in and out of Folksy Plus depending on personal circumstances, but I always sell more when I opt in, perhaps due to the greater freedom regarding relists, or the “featured items” on your shop page.
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Thank you so much!
I know what you mean about Instagram, they seem to change their algorithm constantly, so just then I think I’m getting somewhere I have to start all over again.
I haven’t tried Pinterest as I don’t really ‘get it’ but I’ll definitely look into it. Thank you for the advice!
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Thank you, Chris!
I have been interacting with the Daily Listing on the forum but I haven’t tried the others, so
Maybe that will help.
I do need to get better at interacting on FB but it is such a slog but I guess you only get out what you put in. Thanks so much for the advice and the kind comments - I really appreciate it!