Call for Artists, Making Money at Juried Art Fairs, Craft Shows and Festivals
I’m thinking of setting up a page under my business name, just to list my schedule, news, maybe some photos of what I’m working on. Anyone do this?
I have not set up a webpage and am inclined not to. I don’t want to sell online, so I was think a blog or Facebook would be an easy alternative. (Right now, I’m so far behind: if it’s not easy, it’s not going to get done!)
It would be separate from my personal page. I would put the name on my cards and give them to customers. They could be a “fan”.
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Thanks Paula and Linda!
I have a personal page already, so that’s done. One of the things I’m wondering is how you format the kind of info you want to include, like the show list I mentioned, into a Facebook page.
There’s the Wall, there’s “What’s on your mind”, etc. I don’t know how or where to put a showlist! And if I wanted to write a longer piece explaining what I am working on for the upcoming season, where would I put that? I was hoping to add some blog-like entries to stimulate interest. I tried writing something like that on my personal page but the box cut me off after maybe 15 words.
I do! I do! I am a huge Facebook (FB) fan. I do have my personal FB page and a business page as well as a website. For people who are uncertain about social networking you have NO IDEA how detrimental it is in getting the word out about your business, it can mean the difference between "hearing crickets chirping" to going viral all depending on how you use it. The best thing to do is establish your personal page first - which I understand you have done already, Linnea. I say this because you need people to invite to your business page and not all of your FB friends (on your personal page) will care - not because they don't care about you but due to all their connections they might not be able to handle yet another. In other words don't be offended, it won't matter in the end.
So when you do have the business page up - at least have one or two interesting things up on it to show "hey I am new and this is only the beginning of so many awesome things to come...". At this point you should invite people using the invite button which will access all the people on your personal page. Click on them all - sounds crazy but even those you think wouldn't be interested in your business may surprise you. Once you start a fan base, you need to keep them there as well as ask your friends to invite their friends to check out your business FB page. Some ideas that is great for getting people to come back and stay interested is yes, posting your schedule, add photos of your work - especially new pieces, sales - yes sales that you might offer (for instance sign up to my FB page and get exclusive coupons, good at any up coming show), ask for opinions on your work -- which can lead to testimonials, also add something personal on your wall - frustrations with a piece, that your elated to be accepted into a particular show, awards/press releases, goals, share info about your colleagues (as they most likely will do the same for your - if you ask)... Lastly, keep it business related whatever you post on that FB page. To draw more people to your FB page will take time, that part is very annoying however it will happen. The best thing to do is link up with other groups regarding art/crafts, art show FB pages/groups - like artfairinsiders FB page, even groups that promote local shops/events (be a fan of a local shop you frequent and mention that you are a local business and love supporting all things local and mention your FB business site), and do this on a semi regular basis. I say this because visiting a group once and introducing yourself won't make people want to learn more about you, but say once every 1-2 weeks to once a month may be more ideal.
The one thing I MUST stress is once people learn you have a FB page they will want to visit your website and you said you don't have one yet???! Are you kidding me? In today's society, if you don't have a website, you don't exist. A common misconception folks have is a website = I have to sell stuff on it. NO YOU DON'T. For years my website was all informational - like what you can do with FB but far more customized yet attractive to anyone. When you have a website you are opening 1 door of 2-3 Billion other doors to all the world. This means while you do a years worth of shows you might be exposing yourself to say 20,000 ( I am pulling that number out of thin air) where people who are looking for your type of art/craft is using search engines and not coming up to your business - because you don't have site - means tons of lost opportunities because the web doesn't sleep. Creating a website can make customers salivate to want to come and see you at shows and buy. It can make people at shows see all of your work if you aren't able to bring all of your work to a show. And most of all it is THE place where people can learn all there is about you, your business, and what makes your work unique - the story behind your work. There are simple sites out there where you don't have to spend hardly anything to create your own site. I highly recommend moonfruit.com as they even have a 2 week free trial period and I can't stress how easy it is to use - I am NOT a web designer nor do I know any computer languages yet I was able to create my own website, www.bythebaybotanicals.com with them - $75.00 a year with e-commerce tools. However they go as low as $20-25 a year for a basic package. Regardless there are countless others to try too.
Lastly, I have to mention my trifecta for web success. Using Facebook, a blog, and a website is an easy way to advertise your business to the world. Facebook and a blog is the advertiser and the website is the virtual business in the Main Street of the Internet. Using them all together, equally has gotten me tons of hits, drives people to shows, and so much more. Granted it might not be for everyone but those who have a "famous" business is constantly connected to their customers through tweeter, FB, linkedin.com, blogging, their website and so on. This is where technology and marketing are at and you can choose to be apart of it or not. For me, I am all in.
Good luck! And if you want I will be your FB friend!!!
Michelle Sholund
www.bythebaybotanicals.com
www.quickcraftartisttips.blogspot.com
Here’s a question for you guys who have done it. When I try to set up a new account under my business name, it tells me that there is already an account with the same e-mail address. Do I have to have a separate e-mail address? I’d rather not. I do have another one but I never check it.
Linda : you said: First set up a personal face book page, then at the bottom someplace, add your business.
Where is that? I didn't see anything at the bottom.
Linda: I finally got the chance to check out your Facebook page. (darn deadlines keep getting in the way! ). It looks great. Hard to believe you set this up so professionally, so quickly! You have the show list nicely formatted. How did you do that? Or is it just the template that comes with Events? I guess I have never used events before.
I saw your copyright notice below your pictures. I wonder if this will be a problem? Since I have never had any web presence, I have not had to deal with this before. I will probably put a watermark on my images, as soon as I figure out how.
Another question: this could be for anyone:
“Be careful to go through all settings as some you will want to limit access to only having "friends" be able to view. Some areas you don't want "everyone" to see - make them become an approved friend first.”
Do you need to do this with a fan page? I have the security settings high on my personal page but don’t see how that would work for a business page. If I want to give this info to my customers I can’t be screening them all the time!
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