Creating a Presence VI
Social Networks - Facebook and LinkedIn
There is enough information on the web about social networking without writing a new book.
I have a Facebook business page, in addition to my Facebook profile page. Facebook changes frequently. This can be a good thing or if you can't figure out how to do what you are used to doing on FB, it can be frustrating.
Start with this series of articles for setting up an FB fan page from Farmer SEO.
This article by Mari Smith from Social Media Examiner should be helpful in increasing your FB audience.
For advanced FB take a look at this page from about us.org.
You can sell directly on Facebook in many different ways. Etsy and Artfire storefronts can be added on tabs or linked to on your landing page. Try the FB application Payvment. Facebook has a wide variety of applications. The difficulty is in finding the ones that are the best fit for your business, or just finding them period.
I like LinkedIn. For some reason, I think that people who are employed may be a good target market for selling art. Many users are serious about business, networking and sharing information.
The LinkedIn format is different than FB, but user friendly and easy to move around in. The RSS feeds are great. Your blog posts can be automatically picked up without using Networked Blogs. LinkedIn also offers company pages, similar to FB fan pages. They are not used as often, and those that I've visited don't show very large audiences. Perhaps this will change with time. The set up for a company page is under the company tab.
After your page or profile is set up on FB or LI, you will want to begin joining groups. Introduce yourself and your business and add links to your web presence sites. I visit groups once or twice a month, add a discussion item or images. I use the same content and image for each group by cutting and pasting the info.
For FB pages, some groups on social networking sites (including forums on Etsy) have what is referred to as "link love" or "round robins." Member post links to their businesses. You are expected to "like" the business pages of participants and in turn they like your page back. Here is an opportunity to advertise your business. So don't just hit the like button. Leave a comment and a link to your page. If you are looking at several hundred page links, write your comment out, cut and paste into the pages of other businesses.
Deciding whether or not to purchase ads on FB and LI. I suggest that you do some reading on the Google and Yahoo advertising info sites. (Google is free, if I remember correctly Yahoo costs $5.)
Advertising campaigns require a commitment to see a return on your investment. A small regular budget is probably better than one big one time expenditure. Researching expected returns for different forms of paid advertising is also helpful. Back in the day, research showed that getting a potential customer to recognize your brand took five exposures. Because we are inundated with info today, I'd hazard a guess that way more than five exposures are needed to make an impact in a customer's mind. FB and LI ads may account for one exposure.
What have your experiences been with Facebook fan pages and LinkedIn profiles? Do you use other social networking sites. Share your experience with us and thanks for reading.
Lino Cut, printed on rice paper, mounted on recycled card stock. The block was cut in the 1980s, and printed in 2009. Yasmin Sabur ART
There is enough information on the web about social networking without writing a new book.
I have a Facebook business page, in addition to my Facebook profile page. Facebook changes frequently. This can be a good thing or if you can't figure out how to do what you are used to doing on FB, it can be frustrating.
Start with this series of articles for setting up an FB fan page from Farmer SEO.
This article by Mari Smith from Social Media Examiner should be helpful in increasing your FB audience.
For advanced FB take a look at this page from about us.org.
You can sell directly on Facebook in many different ways. Etsy and Artfire storefronts can be added on tabs or linked to on your landing page. Try the FB application Payvment. Facebook has a wide variety of applications. The difficulty is in finding the ones that are the best fit for your business, or just finding them period.
Lino Cut, printed on rice paper, mounted on recycled card stock. The block was cut in the 1980s, and printed in 2009. Yasmin Sabur ART
I like LinkedIn. For some reason, I think that people who are employed may be a good target market for selling art. Many users are serious about business, networking and sharing information.
The LinkedIn format is different than FB, but user friendly and easy to move around in. The RSS feeds are great. Your blog posts can be automatically picked up without using Networked Blogs. LinkedIn also offers company pages, similar to FB fan pages. They are not used as often, and those that I've visited don't show very large audiences. Perhaps this will change with time. The set up for a company page is under the company tab.
After your page or profile is set up on FB or LI, you will want to begin joining groups. Introduce yourself and your business and add links to your web presence sites. I visit groups once or twice a month, add a discussion item or images. I use the same content and image for each group by cutting and pasting the info.
Lino Cut, printed on rice paper, mounted on recycled card stock. Yasmin Sabur ART
For FB pages, some groups on social networking sites (including forums on Etsy) have what is referred to as "link love" or "round robins." Member post links to their businesses. You are expected to "like" the business pages of participants and in turn they like your page back. Here is an opportunity to advertise your business. So don't just hit the like button. Leave a comment and a link to your page. If you are looking at several hundred page links, write your comment out, cut and paste into the pages of other businesses.
Deciding whether or not to purchase ads on FB and LI. I suggest that you do some reading on the Google and Yahoo advertising info sites. (Google is free, if I remember correctly Yahoo costs $5.)
Advertising campaigns require a commitment to see a return on your investment. A small regular budget is probably better than one big one time expenditure. Researching expected returns for different forms of paid advertising is also helpful. Back in the day, research showed that getting a potential customer to recognize your brand took five exposures. Because we are inundated with info today, I'd hazard a guess that way more than five exposures are needed to make an impact in a customer's mind. FB and LI ads may account for one exposure.
What have your experiences been with Facebook fan pages and LinkedIn profiles? Do you use other social networking sites. Share your experience with us and thanks for reading.
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