Face Book.....good For Marketing Your Leather Business?

[Rayban]

I would like to hear from someone(s) who have had good luck using FB as their advertising/marketing tool.

I see so many companies now, large or small, use FB, but I guess I just don't grasp the concept.

I even have an account but it's mostly to have my friends and family rip on me about this and that....

I would hate to miss out on something I can use......just have to learn how, I guess....any help or advise is appreciated.

RG

[steelhawk]

I have one for my business but don't really know how to use it in the most effective way, and have trouble keeping it up.

[Big O]

I post pictures of my work in progress on my personal Facebook page, and have ended up with several orders from friends, or friends of friends.

Mind you, I'm mainly doing it as a hobby. This just makes it pay for itself.

[Spence]

I do the same as Big O. Enough so that I'm thinking of going dark on my useless website.

[Hell Bent 4 Leather]

I've sold several items by posting my work on FB. I also go on certain motorcycle forums and post my work just to show it, I never post it as something for sale, and never right off the bat, this makes them think you're a spammer. I wait until I've been there for a week or so and have made several posts, then I post some of my pieces just to show them what I do, and usually, I'll start getting pms asking for pricing and such.Also, variety is good, if one item doesn't get any response, put up something else, keep trying different types of products and designs for your tooling, and eventually, something you make will appeal to someone and you'll start getting orders.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Hell Bent 4 Leather

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I have a friend who sell a lot of the jewelery she makes on Facebook .

A huge percentage of the population is on Facebook, so it is an easy way for her to get the word out for new items that she has made, or what shows she will be at, and where.

[Sixer]

I would like to hear from someone(s) who have had good luck using FB as their advertising/marketing tool.

I see so many companies now, large or small, use FB, but I guess I just don't grasp the concept.

I even have an account but it's mostly to have my friends and family rip on me about this and that....

I would hate to miss out on something I can use......just have to learn how, I guess....any help or advise is appreciated.

RG

FB is a great way to market your product! I started of like Big O... posting pics of my work to my personal profile from time to time. When I started getting inquiries and orders from my friends and their friends I decided to make a seperate page just for leatherwork. It's probably not as effective as your own website, but it's free! I even list my FB page / address on my business cards. It's perfect for anyone (even those w/o a FB account) to go online and check out your work. Did I mention that it's FREE!?

Sixer

[Scary Leatherworks]

I too have a FB page. I started with just posting pic's of my recent work on my own personal page but when I started getting friends of friends of friends interested I didn't really want all of those unknown people as friends on my personal page so I made a page for my leather work. Go to FB help to find out about making a page. it's sort of attached to your personal page but they are public viewed. you can't make friends but you can send your friends the link to "like" from your personal page. I'm sure I don't use it for it's potential but it is useful and has got me some orders.

[Sylvia]

I would like to hear from someone(s) who have had good luck using FB as their advertising/marketing tool.

I see so many companies now, large or small, use FB, but I guess I just don't grasp the concept.

I even have an account but it's mostly to have my friends and family rip on me about this and that....

I would hate to miss out on something I can use......just have to learn how, I guess....any help or advise is appreciated.

RG

I don't have much experience with it... but yes, it can be a great tool for Marketing.

I would advise you to keep your personal FB separate from your Business one however.

I've been experimenting with http://www.yardsellr.com which allows you to showcase and sell your items without the listing fees of either Ebay or Paypal. (unless you want to get your payments via paypal)

It also ties to your facebook account so you can have the yardsellr link right on your FB page. They have these things called "photon$" which you earn various ways, sellers can upgrade their listings (pay $2 to $10) to have their items boosted to the top of the listings, promoted, and even showcased. In return you get photon$ to give to potential buyers. The photons act as $$ off the purchase.

The buyer collects photons, finds an item they want, and uses the photons toward a purchase. The seller gets the full amount he's asking for. So if you list a knife sheath for $50, plus $8 shipping you get that in payment. But the buyer can use up to $50 worth of photons toward that and get the Knife sheath for $8 shipping and a "Yardseller slice" (a fee the buyer pays) Anyway, it seems to be good for a person who doesn't want to mess with a website of their own, for one of a kind pieces... and hand crafted things. check it out.

[Robyn]

I just made a Face book Page for my leather work. I have posting pictures of my work on my personal page, and just decided that maybe I should have one devoted just for leather items. I have invited some key friends/individuals to "like" my page...maybe it will take off from there. Not sure how well it will be, but anything goes for me! Happy Trails!

[gicts]

It's a great way to advertise to the people who already 'like' you. You can post pics and sales to remind them of your shop/sales/services. The hard part is to get them to like you.

Edited January 27, 2012 by gicts

[UKRay]

I believe that the real value of FaceBook, Twitter and the other social networking sites is to provide links to an existing website. This helps to raise the site's profile to a wider audience and gives the search engines another kick to raise the main site's position in their listings.

I have sold a few things to my FaceBook visitors but I can't see it making me rich!

Ray

[Cobra Tom]

My mother used to say "There is one way to found out."

https://www.facebook.com/LeatherMachineCoInc

[cowboy bowhunter]

I have used facebook for buying and selling horses. It is great you can see what horses your friends are selling and they see what you are selling. It must work the same for leather.

[Mokosh]

It's been great for my business. I have gotten some really cool commissions from people I would never had met, had conversations about my work with people from all over the globe, and built an audience of over 1,800 fans. Facebook consistently ranks in my top 10 for referral traffic to my website. I think that is great proof that it works - well worth your time!

[Techsew Ron]

Facebook is an extremely important tool for marketing your business. Everyone should use it no matter how small or large your business.

Here's how to get started:

1) Create a business page

2) Fill out your business information, including business name, website, company history, hours of operation, products/services offered etc..

3) Update your page regularly with promotions, photos, advice or anything you think your customers or potential customers may find interesting.

The most important thing about marketing your business on Facebook is keeping your page up to date and posting regularly. If you want customers to interact with you, you need to engage them and encourage them to visit your page, leave comments etc... Post photos of your recent work. Post some nice reviews that you got about a certain product. Link to an interesting video you saw on youtube recently (keep it relevant!). Offer your customers a discount coupon. Most importantly, encourage people to share your page with their friends, who might share it with their friends, and their friends, and their friends.

For some examples you can visit our Facebook page at:

www.facebook.com/techsew

Good luck!

Ron

Edited August 10, 2012 by Ronnie

[Rayban]

Good info Ronnie...I'll have to learn to maintain my FB page better.

Thanks!

[badLoveLeather]

I have a Facebook page. I got tired of hammering m y regular friends list with my stuff. Besides the "Fan Page" has these cool stat's that you can access that show you how many people you reach and how many people see and interact with your stuff. Basically its a free web page. PLUS the pay per click ads I heard are a great deal too!

Heres my page:

Bad Love Leather Facebook

[Techsew Ron]

I have a Facebook page. I got tired of hammering m y regular friends list with my stuff. Besides the "Fan Page" has these cool stat's that you can access that show you how many people you reach and how many people see and interact with your stuff. Basically its a free web page. PLUS the pay per click ads I heard are a great deal too!

Heres my page:

Bad Love Leather Facebook

Looks good! Large and clean images are key . I added you to our favorite pages.

Do you have a website as well to show off your products?

Ron

[badLoveLeather]

Can be found here:

Bad Love Leather Etsy

and here:

Bad Love Leather - Official

Looks good! Large and clean images are key . I added you to our favorite pages.

Do you have a website as well to show off your products?

Ron

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I know an artist who is killing it in sales, and he sells many of his works off of his FB page. One thing he does is that he keeps his phone, and laptop next to him while he works. That way he can respond instantly to the comments made on his art. He starts with pics of a rough sketch, and may ask "Who is it?" if it is a portrait of a famous person. By doing this he starts to draw in the fans as they start posting their guesses. He continues to post progress pictures of the painting until it is done, which may be from a few hours to a day later. I have seen paintings sell within 15 minutes from when he posts the final pic with the price. BTW the paintings are in the $300-$500 range. His higher end paintings- $700 to $10,000 are sold through his gallery, but FB plays a big role in sales.

[artycpt]

That is a great marketing idea. I need to be more active on my facebook page. I tend to just post completed projects but I like the concept of works in progress and making it interesting for those who view the page.

[JinxedDream]

Facebook is a great tool. I know people who's entire business runs on FB, including leatherwork. And we're talking international sales. If done rit, it can make or break you. I've helped several people set up pages. Its huge for sales, I trade and deal more over FB these days than anything else. Horses, show cattle, tack, goats, textbooks, all on there.

[Chit]

Hi

I recently started a facebook page and I do agree with many of you guys that it is a good marketing tool to get new fans or to direct traffic to your selling website.

I believe beyond posting your personal works, the key is to think of creative ways to engage your fans.

I did a simple promo to give away a card wallet this week just thanking my fans for their support, asking them to share my photo and choose a thread colour that they will like.

And Im pleasantly surprised that it has kind of went viral: I had 3000+ more views, 15 more new likes and some enquiries. Im still very much learning the craft and still new to this whole business thing, but it has been encouraging.

You can check it out here:

http://www.facebook....&type=1

Edited April 12, 2013 by Chit

[cowboy bowhunter]

Since my last post i do 90% of my sales on facebook. I went to school for marketing and know how to advertise. But facebook has been great. I don't have a website just a facebook page. If you know what to do on facebook you can make good money selling on there.