TEAM FACEBOOK PAGE

[LynnBaileyPrintmaker]

The Made in Devon Team has now got a FaceBook page.
https://www.facebook.com/madeindevon/timeline

Please share/invite with all your friends.

I would like the page to show your work in progress as well as the finished items in your Etsy shops.
Team treasuries.
Items of interest to both the crafting and Devon communities.
The aim is to draw the attention of your potential customers (world-wide) and be informative and useful to the team members.

I shall get the page busy liking team members FB pages as soon as I can and liking arts and craft pages and pages of interest to Devon.

If you have a FaceBook page, share the details here.

If you were one of the people interested in being an admin let me know here or contact me privately if you prefer. Remember, I can’t see from the survey who is interested.

If you see arts and craft opportunities that could be of interest please share.

Thanks

Lynn

[OneDottyDuck]

Great idea! I have invited all of the local small biz owners I know to like the page too. Is it going to be a selling platform or is it more for sharing ideas etc? x

[mazedasastoat]

I've been teams before when they've decided to promote themselves on FB, & twice (2 different teams, one on Etsy, one on eBay) most of the discussions have moved there, to the detriment of anyone (like me) who doesn't use it. Also, it seems to get used to promote those who support that platform, & to ignore those who aren't on FB. It appears, as a group, to be promoting an UN-level playing field, which seems unfair, & it would be a shame to see that happen here. There's a danger in spreading ourselves too thin, it's better to do one thing well than several things poorly.

I'm not saying that any of that will happen on this team, but in my experience it just seems to be the way teams go once they get on FB with a few FB enthusiasts. Etsy teams should be run on Etsy, the discussions should take place on Etsy, otherwise Etsy-only members will be marginalised, made to feel second-rate, & eventually forced out.

Sorry to make this sound like one long whinge, but I've "lost" two teams so far because I don't use FB, & was invited but then not allowed to join another because I wouldn't join their Yahoo discussion group.

[LynnBaileyPrintmaker]

Hear what you are saying mazedasastoat and it's a timely warning.

I had given that some thought and have the intention of feeding posts both ways. For example, if you post new items here, a link to a team treasury you've made or start a particularly interesting discussion, a link to that can be posted on the FB page. Equally if anyone posts something on the FB page of particular interest to team members it can be shared here so that the non-facebook users don't get missed out.

The aim of the FaceBook page it to reach potential customers who might not even be aware of Etsy yet. As a non-FaceBook user yourself you will get the benefit of having access to another audience that you (and other non-FB team member) might not have had. This will happen whenever an item of yours is included in a team treasury that gets shared on the page, and when an item is selected from your shop to be featured on the page.

I'm a relatively late adopter of social media myself and don't agree with anything being compulsory.
I believe in fairness - hence this being led by a survey of team members’ interest.

You do raise an important point about the team forum being the primary place for discussions within the team. The Facebook page is an additional marketing tool. My hope is that I can also use it to remind team members to keep coming back to the forum here.

I also agree wholeheartedly about not spreading ourselves too thinly. Which is why I'm suggesting that we only start a FB page and a Pinterest Board to start with, even though there was interest in all the other forms of social media too.

When the Pinterest Board gets set up (this is dependent on someone else leading on this) all team members should get the benefit of that – whether they indulge in Pinterest themselves or not.

Feedback is always welcome and let us know if you start to feel disenfranchised.

Cheers
Lynn

[DamianMilesJeweller]

mazedasastoat: I think we all have to make the team work rather than just rely on a couple of people that manage it (no offence intended team leaders). If the emphasis in too much on one thing, it needs to be justified. If interest and leads comes from Facebook more than anywhere else, it needs to be pursued. I get a few direct links from my Facebook and Etsy accounts.

Having had a look at the page, it's not bad. Links directly to shops can be made from the page (similar to copy and pasting in Etsy forums), so if your items are featured, you are certainly not at a disadvantage. It might even boost your trade.

I don't think the discussions are likely to go to Facebook, maybe a few, but that is where members need to keep an eye out and re post things here.

At the end of the day, Etsy shops are businesses and need to be promoted, if that means Facebook, pinterest, twitter and all of the other things that I don't understand, so be it.

I am probably the most internet un-savvy person around and everything seems to take longer than I plan, but I'm having a go.

Please can I make a request to my fellow Facebookers to re-post here anything that you think is relevant.

I think it's a good thing, lets just wait and see.

Bets wishes,
Damian

P.S. If I am needed to help with anything, give me a shout.

[Lasercutz]

Hi Lynn - happy to help admin the FB page.

I used to be cautious about FB but now I can see the benefit - I keep my private life page separate and have control over what happens on the business page.
Best
Dave

[LynnBaileyPrintmaker]

Thanks Damian and David,

Yes I would be very please to make you an admin David. I like the way you have been managing your own page. I shall send you a message about this.

Thanks Damian for sharing the Made in Devon - Etsy Team on your own page. All help very much appreciated. Are you interested in being an admin or just helping out generally? The page also needs people to encourage interaction and make a point of visiting regularly and interacting especially while it's getting established. So the choice is yours..... Let me know.

The page is only a couple of days old, but already has 93 people liking it and 10 pages liking it. I think this is pretty good going. According to the statistics, the page has reached a theoretical 1,321 people (always take with a pinch of salt).
Thank you all who have shared and invited your friends! The more interaction there is the wider the news about Made in Devon team Etsy shops will reach.

Cheers
L

[DamianMilesJeweller]

Lynn,
I'm happy to help out, but don't want to take on a full admin role as I have trouble enough trying to keep up with my own bits and pieces (also very tech shy).

My view is, if we all share the Etsy page on our own pages, it should increase all of the teams exposure. You never know, it may even increase or sales.

Best wishes,
Damian

[LynnBaileyPrintmaker]

No worries Damian. If there is one thing I learnt about social media it is that it works best when you are enjoying it. If it becomes a chore & something that you just have to do, it goes flat.

Yes if everyone could share posts on their own pages now and then (or as often as sits nicely with their own page) it would increase the potential reach and spread the word. eg, each time the treasury currently at the top of the page is shared, 16 team members can get a bit more exposure and more people are made aware of the groups existence.

All help welcome and appreciated!...

L

[FloraBubble]

Hello!
Some good points made above, I know it is all too easy to unintentially shift discussions onto Facebook so it's good to be aware of the potential issues early on. I'm happy to be an admin on the facebook page also :)
Sarah

[LynnBaileyPrintmaker]

Thanks Sarah, I shall contact you about that :-)

The facebook page is coming along nicely, so I shall unpin it from the top section of discussions so that other topics can be a bit more visible now.

That doesn't mean we can all go back to sleep now, please keep sharing as Damian suggests.

Cheers

Lynn