Hi Brenda. The Plus account is intended to help people who either list a lot of items or have a lot of stock in their shops by enabling them to pay an annual fee rather than a fee each time they list. It shouldn’t affect whether or not you appear on the homepage. Having a strong presence on social media is great for your shop and helps get you seen more by buyers too, but again we don’t pick items for the front page based on whether a seller has a Twitter account. Having said that, tweeting us and talking to us across social media can help us find you and see your products. As @GraceTextiles says, if you can, it pays to use social media, and creating Pinterest boards is a great way to get your shop on to the homepage.
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Thanks for explaining the Plus Account, Camilla…I wasn’t sure abt it, myself. I’m learning all over again here on Folksy as it’s changed a lot. I’ll look out for you on Twitter, although it kinda baffles me at times lol but I do post my work there.
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We’ve been running a guide to social media on the Folksy blog.
http://blog.folksy.com/category/seller-tips/social-media-tips-for-crafters-designers-and-makers
So far we’ve covered Instagram and Pinterest, but Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Google+ are next on our list. Hopefully they will help take the confusion out of tweeting 
I used to use those sort of descriptions in my headings Grace and then someone else told me that people would search, “art” “painting” etc and so I changed it…lol…They increased their sales by using those words, so I thought it might help.
Twitter etc are way above my head technically and hubby hates them with a vengeance so I could never do them. However, I belong to over 20 facebook arts and crafts pages and share on most of them every day…so I do what I can…thanks for the ideas though.
I paid for a plus account because I had a lot of items to list, but I don’t think I have ever been on the front page so if that was what I paid for it didn’t work. I paid for plus because it would save me money but as I have only had 2 sales it was a total waste of money. I have had a lot more sales on Etsy in the same time and it is working out a lot cheaper so I am actually making profit.
thanks for the Link…had a read of it.but apart from the twitter and pinterest thing, I do loads of promoting…hand out flyers and this morning, I even put Folksy on my facebook page and explained what it was. I also have a facebook art page. I spent my life doing craft fairs and to be honest they are not worthwhile. Years ago, they were fabulous but now it is difficult to take enough money to cover the cost of the table, let alone, materials, petrol etc. I am not a newbie to selling, been there done that, etc…taught at adult education centres and sold items to my students…even wrote and self published a book, so I don’t just sit and hope…I spend hours and hours promoting…but lately sales all round have slumped, except for the auction site where 99% of my art sells… I think the problem is letting the public know about folksy and I have them on my business cards, so I do what I can…we need a nice tv ad, like the one etsy has been running recently !
Hi @MaddisonsRainbow. I’m sorry you haven’t been on the Folksy front page. Looking at your shop I think your your animal hats are really great and would love to feature those, but they are photographed against a crumpled background, so sadly we would struggle to feature them in our favourite finds.
Professional-looking product photography can really help sell your products and also help to get them featured not just on Folksy but on blogs, across social media and in the press, and that can all bring in buyers. It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, and there are several simple things you can do to improve your product shots. There are lots of tips in the product photography section of our blog… http://blog.folksy.com/category/seller-tips/handmade-photography-tips
Here are a couple that might be particularly useful:
It might also help your products come up in searches across Folksy and in external search engines if you had more information in your product descriptions, and possibly in your titles. For example, the Buzzy Bee Hat doesn’t specify that it’s for children in the title, and doesn’t list the size or age it’s suitable for in the description, so a buyer wouldn’t know if it was the right size for their child. You could also consider using extra words in the description like ‘animal hat’, ‘bumble bee’ or ‘handmade’, ‘character hat’ or even ‘gift for children’, how it’s made (eg crochet or knitted) and more about where and why you made it.
I hope that all helps 
PS. I have extra love for your Octopus beanie hat
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Thank you for your comments and I take them on board and will work on my listings. I just was stung by the comment the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.I am a 75 year old widow who has to work as my pension is not enough to live on and I certainly would not be able to run my car. So as you see despite the fact that I thought I was doing the right thing by opting for the Plus account I am not, by any stretch of imagination one of the richer, in fact just the opposite
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Like You MaddisonsRainbow, I am a pensioner and we oldies, sometimes struggle with technical things. When I retired I was told that my pension was £1.08 a week…yes really…and all because of a loophole in the system. I contacted pensions, Age Concern, Cab etc but there was no help, so I had to borrow money to pay back NI stamps that should have been paid for me while the children were growing up…My pension is still pathetic and I paint to help make ends meet…
We oldies must stick together…lol
Camilla, thank you for trying to help with information…this is much appreciated !
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A kindred spirit To be honest if I didn’t make things I would be climbing the walls by now and I am not bothered by being on the front page. I just don’t like it when people make sweeping statements considering it took me a few weeks to put the £45 together. Oh well onwards and upwards I shall look at my listings and re-do them All the best to you Audrey
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MaddisonsRainbow…I doubt if either of us are wanting to start up a big business, but like you say, it would be nice if things were seen as being fair…no matter who you are or what your circumstances, we should all have equal opportunities.
Brenda I quite agree, at the end of the day we all want the same thing A few sales to keep us motivated. The thing is I have the same things on Etsy and they are starting to sell there. I shall keep my Folksy going as I have paid for a year and see how things are when my Plus account is about to run out Audrey
@MaddisonsRainbow I have just had a look around your shop and your knitted hats are really very good.
A cheap way of getting a nice smooth background for your photos is a wallpaper sample.
Go into one of the big stores like B&Q or a Bargain Shop that sells wallpaper and you can usually take home a long length as a sample for free.
If you are careful and roll it up it will last for ages.
Choose a plain one cream one if possible. Most of your items will show up nicely against it.
Your shop also has a lot of varied types of items. It would be much easier for customers to look around if you organised it into different Collections, such as Childrens Hats, Scarves, Bags, Household etc.
It would then have different Departments and customers could look in the one they are interested in.
Also because you have a Plus Account you don’t need to wait until the 4 months listing time is up before relisting items.
I can see that some of your items were listed in April of this year.
Try to relist several every day. I relist about 4 items at a time, several times in the day.
Most of my items get relisted every 3 or 4 days.
You have paid for the Plus Account and you need to make it work for you.
Items which have been listed or relisted recently will appear closer to the top in the Categories for different things.
You have quite a lot of competition with the knitted hats and scarves so you need to keep near the top of the lists.
Summer time is quiet now so don’t give up and good luck with your shop.
Shirley x
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@MaddisonsRainbow if you don’t know how to organise your shop into Named Departments / Collections leave a message on here and I will explain how to do it, step by step.
Shirley x
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Thanks for that I have done that on Etsy I don’t know if it is the same on Folksy. Glad of any help I am not brilliant on the computer but learning all the time! Audrey
Thank you for all the suggestions I must admit that I haven’t done enough to get this off the ground Audrey
I have done my bit this morning…put a Folksy ad on my facebook page and explained what Folksy is all about…and I didn’t include one of my own listings, I just generally told people that Folksy was a website selling hand made British crafts…(now wait for the sales rush…lol)
I’m still learning too, Brenda and we do seem to get a lot of conflicting advice. I’m gonna crack on with what works for me and hope things pick up on here.
Good luck with it all 
Hello MaddisonsRainbow, I apologise if I jumped the gun a bit with my comments re. the plus account, I wasn’t sure of how it worked and was responding to other’s comments abt it.
I, in no way, meant any offence to anyone. I’m still learning all abt the new Folksy myself, and will hopefully get to grips with it soon.
Good luck with your shop
Please don’t worry about it, the thing with forums they are so public and we all forget that sometimes myself included. At the time I was talking to my daughter who is a partner in my shop so you just caught me at the wrong time. the thing is because I am selling on Etsy the tendency is to put all the effort into that but as I have paid for the year on folksy I am going to re-do some of my listings this weekend and give it a go . We all have to learn and I am not very good on the computer I usually have to ask grandchildren at times. I wish you good luck with your shop too, we must both look to the stars! Audrey