Chris Campbell Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 There was a presentation at NCECA on the topic of using social media. These presenters talked about using facebook, Linkedin, pinterest, instagram, tweets, etc ... and all I could think about was "When?" I mean, I do want to connect with other potters and potential customers but could not see many places in my day to fit in all of this activity. Did they have special 40 hour days? Or, is it easier to 'connect' than to get into the studio and work? In baseball, there is a 'Warning Track' for fielders so they know when they are about to hit the wall. What is your 'Warning Track' for over connecting?? Can you balance it all?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebekah Krieger Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 This is an interesting topic. I think your question "when" is the key. "when" could be the times that we are unable to work in clay. I go on Facebook and forums periodically through the day when I am drinking my morning coffee, when I am waiting for my kids to get ready to be driven to school, & when I am eating lunch. The problem is that i do use it to procrastinate too. I notice my husband does the opposite, he is a fiction writer, he will vacuum his office floor, give the bird a bath, wipe down his book shelves, etc when he has work "stewing" in his mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Miller Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 I'm bad for using social media to procrastinate and I don't think I use the tool properly, but I know of a guy who does. He photographs snippets of his daily projects as he goes and he has his phone optimized to do so, posting a photo to facebook or twitter is as fast as taking the photo. Anything he feels is educational, important, or just plain cool goes up. It only takes a half second and the result is a constant stream of media to his audience with as little loss to productivity as possible. I feel like this is a good way to do things if you can keep social media in mind. On the other hand, his style of work also has a strict work schedule to meet orders, so it's easier for him to stay on track than most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Puckett Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 If you post too often, people will block your feed so they do not see it. There is no way for you to know who is actually seeing your posts vs those that do not. My tolerance for a business page of any kind is about once a week. That is enough to keep me interested without being a nuisance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSC Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I tried facebook but with only 21 friends whats the point. I actually like twitter better, i found that it is easy to use it to network with other potters and artist but not so easy to use it to find potential customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted March 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 They were all very big on instagram and pinterest ... posting photos of your work, your studio, your surroundings wherever you were. I just don't really get how all this leads to sales $$$$ .... of course, that's the business side talking not the warm fuzzy. I don't see how having 'followers' is any different from having 'friends' ... they get an instant of fun from you before they switch to an instant of fun from someone else. Two seconds looking at your work before they are distracted into looking at a kitten video. What sites are sticky?? By that I wonder what sites lead to the person staying there, not rushing to the next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 I just don't really get how all this leads to sales $$$$ .... of course, that's the business side talking not the warm fuzzy. I don't see how having 'followers' is any different from having 'friends' ... they get an instant of fun from you before they switch to an instant of fun from someone else. Two seconds looking at your work before they are distracted into looking at a kitten video.This is how I feel about it. My only social media platform is Facebook. I enjoy it, but I don't think it leads to sales. So many of my followers are not local to me, so they aren't going to see or buy my work. I think most of them are fellow potters, who are following me to learn about business practices, not to buy. I don't have a problem with this, in fact I've connected with some nice people this way. And I do the same thing, I don't follow other pages because I'm planning to buy something, I follow pages for other reasons. Most of the pages I follow are the galleries that carry my work, and the art festivals I apply to. This is a very reliable way to stay updated with them. I guess you can say this leads to sales, because I don't miss any application deadlines. I agree with Diane, sometimes I like a page, only to realize they post way too often. Unlike. Finally, I can't help but notice that the potters who I admire the most, both for their work and their thriving businesses, are barely using social media, or not at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslinger Ceramics Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 If I could get as slick at social media as Tyler's friend ok but otherwise agree it takes WAY too much time to keep it all up.....'everyone' talked about the exposure and potential sales so I jumped in too. ......until one night when I 'surfaced' after 3 hours looking at ceramics on Pintrest......and that was it. Realised the amount of time social media sites could 'suck' out of a day that could be better spent in the studio, meeting people face-to-face or personally negotiating on the phone. Now it's just website and one or 2 posts a week on Facebook when there's something to say. Also like GEP I follow what is genuinely useful to keep up with and have Unliked everything else clogging up my feeds. Was told by a person who uses social media alot for her mentoring business that a blog post will 'last a week' in relevancy, a Facebook post 24hrs and Twitter 6 mins!!....and to keep it up you need one of those social media managing sites that automatically posts everything for you on a schedule you program into it and these are especially important for Twitter users......aaaargh... ....the world had very successful businesses before social media when people went out with a smile, a handshake, business cards and a conversation to make connections........oldie but still a goodie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantay Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Mea, how do you notify your 'regulars' when you are doing a show or craft fair? -chantay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Mea, how do you notify your 'regulars' when you are doing a show or craft fair? -chantay By email. I consider collecting/maintaining/using an email list to be an essential function of doing shows. I guess I don't consider this to be social media, more like direct mail. It's the same as sending an old-fashioned postcard, only they are electronic now. People who sign up for emails are MUCH more interested than social media followers. I also announce my shows on facebook, but like I said above, I don't think this is a big sales generator. I can think of a few cases where someone at a show told me they attended because of a facebook post. But it is far more common for me to recognize folks from my email list, or when people who I don't recognize say "thanks for the email!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted April 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 "Was told by a person who uses social media a lot for her mentoring business that a blog post will 'last a week' in relevancy, a Facebook post 24hrs and Twitter 6 minutes." Those numbers look really high to me. It has to be a very relevant blog to last that long! Facebook I would put at the time it takes to leave your main screen. Tweets I'd put in seconds judging from the content I've seen in some of them. Could we talk about 'stickiness'? What holds your interest? How targeted does it have to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Oh look.... shiney! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 My entire business model is built on a different platform than social media. Its more about personal contact or let the product sell itself than junk mail in the in box or what I had for lunch. The time it takes to self promote for me is better spent making quality work. I think this is more about a customer base that I have zero in common with. The issue I have with much of social media is big business is now married to it as well and its no longer like a personal letter or sudio sale event invite. It all to impersonal on a grand scale. I do not want to sell my friends my stuff for sale as they already know I make things. One last note is I think it really depends on who your demographic market is as well. my 2 cents As far as procrastination I somehow outgrew all of that in my early 30's. Now If I can do it now I always do that 1st. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChenowethArts Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 This thread popped back up this morning as I was looking for thoughts on Facebook and whether or not I should do some sort of monthly, promotional mug giveaway later this Fall (in preparation for a Christmas sale). There are so many salient points that have been made here. The one that got me, was the very thought of who is actually reading/following my artist's Facebook page, and is that a different group of people who follow my personal page? I don't know if I did this intentionally, but I have been using my artist page to connect with other artists...and I still think this is important, however, these are NOT the people I would expect to actually purchase my work. My target audience looks much more like the people who follow me personally...so, I am asking myself: Do I push my friends to my artist's Facebook page where they can enter some sort of promotional thing?...or do I simply put the promotion on my personal page? And, perhaps most importanly, is the ole-give-away-promotion idea something that still works to expand your market of prospective customers? And, to reel my comments back to the primary focus of this thread...I believe there is real power in social media for marketing. Managing the effort and your personal expectations requires more time management discipline than many of us have (an I include myself in that group of strugglers). -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nola Potter Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Things to remember about social media 1. Do not let Facebook or anyone else own your content or photos! Write a blog and then share the blog on your Facebook page. There should be a button in your blog dashboard to do this. 2. Watermark all photos shared on the Internet with your copyright or web address. It's easy to add text to a photo in the InstaFrame app and then share via Instagram and add on a Facebook share at the same time. 3. Pinterest is an idea place...so pin from your etsy page if you want to make sales. Again make sure to copyright designs and photos. Because although "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" it's also called being a copycat and taking $$$ out of my pocket. I personally think an artist should be able to come up with their own ideas and if making a similar product then give it their own twist so it is unique. 4. Make posts informative and fun. If you can swing it get an intern to do all of your social media at least once a week. Then it's less of a distraction from your work. The Intern will learn about social media, sales, tracking advertising, etc.. 5. Create events in Facebook for festivals and invite your repeat customers. Add photos of new work or your best seller. 6. Most important! Tell your followers, friends, and family to LIKE and SHARE. This expands your reach to potential customers. I have made sales because of Facebook shares. Ex. You have just unloaded your kiln and have lots of new artwork for sale. Get everything ready for your storefront / festival take photos, watermark and upload. Tell people where you will be selling your work and don't forget to tell them to LIKE AND SHARE! Do I always do all of these things no... I try to remember to do these things when sharing my work. The rules don't apply to kiln kitty updates. Lol! http://instagram.com/p/nX8cCdtfS1/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nola Potter Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Example of watermarked photo http://instagram.com/p/nYDfJfNfcO/ Step by step photo diagram for sharing photos http://instagram.com/p/nYEN8jtfdW/ 1. open InstaFrame 2. select frame I used the single photo frame 3. Crop and slick on text to add text 4. Click on Save 5. Click on Open in Instagram 6. Alter with filters in Instagram if you want 7. Click on Facebook 8. Click on share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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