Social Networking???

Facebook...Twitter...Pinterest...etc...

Which ones do you belong to and which ones should you belong too? To be honest I have no idea!

I never imagined that when I wanted to start posting my handmade items for sell there would be soooo much to consider and learn! Years ago I started selling on eBay and have continued to - in small increments - sell my handmade items as well as stuff I no longer needed - books, clothes that have been outgrown, etc... But now there is Etsy, which is a great site dedicated to the crafter/artist and nothing else. Their fees are WAY lower than eBay, but there is sooo much more to wade through when wanting to buy something. I'll get to the costs in a bit, let's return to this social promotion first.

I have Facebook and have had it for years but I initially started it to remain updated with family members - who are spread out everywhere - and friends I had previously lost touch with. Now I see you should have a page for your business. How do you make one or why should you even have one? So far I have found out that the reason behind having one is to promote your Etsy store and allow friends and such a way to see promotions you may have and to announce sales that are happening or will be happening. Oh and it will also show all of your newly listed handmade items! So this will be my first stop: http://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php , always read your guidelines first before doing anything else! I goofed already and broke one rule on Etsy, so now I am trying my best to be *mmm, cough, anal, cough*, when it comes to double and triple checking things before I post anything :)

Now to make a page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php  I have used the Brands & Products and used the subcategory Products/Services. I was going to use the Small Business category, but since I sell such a small amount of items and do more custom orders than anything else I decided the Products/Services was my best option. So be sure to go through each section until you find the one that feels like the right fit for your products/business/etc...

This will help with, well just about any question you may have: https://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/etsy-seller-how-to-creating-a-facebook-fan-page/
Just be sure to read through it entirely and take your time :) I had a few windows open at once to switch back and forth, double checking and rereading certain items.

So now that you have begun your new business page you need to go and design a nice cover photo. After that you will need to decide what your welcoming post should say - make it lighthearted, funny - and be sure sure to include a thank you for all those who have stopped by!

I could go on and on forever on this subject but I think I've given enough to get you started :), also earlier I mentioned the costs of selling on eBay compared to Etsy. I will do a whole new post just on that subject so please check back for that.

Thank you for stopping by and listening once again to my rambling!