Social Media for Handmade Business: Upkeep and Good Fit

Originally posted on Acorn Tops tumblr: On Fairy Wings and Acorn Hats

There is a lot to social media, and all of it can seem very overwhelming, especially the upkeep. I can understand being wary of it as a handmade entrepreneur because time spent online is time spent away from making the product you need to sell. However, the flip side of this is an online presence will equate to sales. The more you get your name out there, the more people will know about you. That being said, whatever social media you decide to do, you want to do well.

People don’t want to follow a social media account that is inactive. With everything a handmade entrepreneur already does for their business, how is one supposed to keep up their accounts? Here are a couple tips:

• Schedule posts- Certain sites like Facebook and Tumblr allow you to schedule posts ahead of time. Make it part of your daily or weekly schedule. Once a week, such as Sunday evening, take the time to schedule the posts for the week. I find it helpful to schedule as I go along. If I take a picture of my product I immediately upload it and schedule it for my business accounts.
• At least once a day- Be it in the morning with your cup of coffee, on a lunch break, or at night while relaxing in front of the television, you want to go on your social media accounts at least once a day, even when you schedule posts. Replies and liking other people’s response to your posts is not only proper etiquette, but shows activity and interaction, two essentials to the online presence. This is something else that will separate you from the huge nameless corporations. It allows for a more personal relationship with your followers and to keep the conversations going when you aren’t in your booth selling face to face. If someone walked into your booth at a craft fair or boutique and said “What is this” or “That’s so pretty,” you wouldn’t ignore them, so don’t ignore them when they respond on Facebook or Twitter.

Another question that I’ve heard asked multiple times is how to pick which social media site to participate in. No, you do not have to do all social media sites out there. Think of them like possible options. An ice cream parlor of flavors to choose from. So how do you pick?

• Research- Each social media site has different uses and purposes. Twitter is more of a conversation while Pinterest is more visual and picture-oriented. The demographics for each site will be different, including age range and interests, just to name a few. Here’s a few questions to ask yourself when looking to see if your business would be a good fit for a social media site: What is my targeted audience? Am I, as an individual, comfortable with the purpose and use of this site? If conversation is not your forte or the thought of writing a blog gives you a panic attack, stay away from sites that focus more on these particular things. There are many books and articles about using social media for business and using individual sites.
• Test it out- The best way is to make an account and just try it out. The worst case scenario is you discover it’s not a right fit for your business and you end up closing it. No harm done and it might give you some insight into what you are looking for.

These are tips born from personal experience, as well as gained from members of Handmade in South Bay.