Tips on using Facebook with your online business.

I have never really shared any tips & tricks for online businesses here before, but selling online for four years has taught me something (I think). Everyday online is an adventure & I'm always trying to learn more about how to market myself and get the Broken Hallelujah Accessories name out there. When people ask me what the hardest part of selling online is, I say advertising. It's hard, time consuming, sometimes frustrating, and you rarely see the results right away. I use several methods to get my products seen including Flickr & Twitter. One platform of "advertising" that had alluded me for awhile now was Facebook. I simply didn't get how to use it as a business owner. I've done some reading & studying & followed tips I've received from friends and fellow artisans and I think I may have begun to crack it! Below are some tips I have for using Facebook to get yourself seen!

First, get a 'fan' page for your site. Whether it be Etsy, Artfire, or both, creating a fan page for your shop allows you to share new items, sales, announcements & more. People can then become fans of your shop & you can send annoucements to all of them at one time. It's a very easy way to send a message to multiple people all in an instant. And when new pictures, links, annoucements, or sales are posted on your fanpage they will usually show up on your personal facebook accounts actions - meaning they turn up on your friend's news feeds even if they aren't fans of you on Facebook. This allows you to reach even more people! Plus, encouraging your friends to fan your page then causes that action to show up on their friend's news feeds - so people you have never even heard of are learning about you & and your product. And they could be potential customers! This chain of events is one thing that makes Facebook so great - you reach new people on lots of levels. Facebook is all about exploiting this!

Once you get your fan page set up it can seem daunting to get people to become your fan. You have to get out there & let people know you exist. Share your fan page with friends on facebook, tweet your fan page, blog it (you can join my fan page here). Use your other social networks. You can also usually share your fan page on the Etsy & Artfire facebook group pages. Search for Etsy and/or Artfire on Facebook and see what you find.

These groups/fan pages for your selling avenue brings you a whole new place to introduce yourself & share your products. You can usually share links to your shop(s), post images of your item, and network with fellow artisans. We all know (hopefully) how imporant networking can be, so make the best of the opportunities these pages give you. I try to post images of my new items right after I list them along with sharing links to new items every once in a while. I don't want to seem like I'm spamming myself, so be sure to join in on disccussions in the disccussion boards and make new friends!

I haven't mastered Facebook, myself. But since I've begun commenting on people's fan pages, sharing images, etc. I have seen the number of visits to my shop's fan page jump more than 3x! Facebook provides you with stats, so you can monitor your own progress. I hope these tips are helpful. And if you have tips of your own, please share them. If you create or have a Facebook fanpage for your shop, please leave me the link in the comments so I can become a fan of yours. You can become a fan of Broken Hallelujah Accessories by clicking here.