[mrfunone]

Hi.
While looking for a place to sell online, everyone tells me to avoid fleabay. Is it just cuz of the high fees that they charge, or is there any other reason to avoid them? If I did build my own site, where would it be noticed? No point building it if nobody shows up. It seems that there are other players on the block now. Etsy, Artfire, Bigcartel, Shopify etc.
Is ebay old hat by now?
Thanks.

 

[mrfunone]

To build an online presence that you control, get that blog going. Your blog will be your home base. It’s where you show your art to the world as you would like for it to be seen.
Blogs take longer to establish than Facebook, but they offer you more flexibility.
==============

Thanks, but.................how does one do that?
I have no clue about any of that newfangled stuff.
What do I write about?
How uninteresting my life really is?
What a strange world we live in.
Thanks.

 

[GN]

Not to sound too snarky, but...........what am I supposed to write about? It's not enough to just sell stuff, but, you have to entertain your audience with the mundane minutiae of your life as well? Welcome to the Twitterverse!
Should I tweet every time I use the bathroom?
I'm not making fun of you, it's just this strange way of doing business that has evolved in a really weird direction. An online presence is great.............unless EVERYONE else does it and dilutes the effectiveness. Oh well.
Thanks anyways.

Don't think of it as entertaining your audience. Think of it as marketing to and interacting with your audience.

You would tweet/blog about things going on in your business or things that affect your busineess (like global trends or economy). Examples might be: send glimpses (pictures) of new designs that way customers have to go to your site. Appeal to thier intellect by asking questions about your industry or taking polls. Advertise discounts or specials only on twitter or fb or (whatever) that drive them to your site. Today's consumer is knowledgeable because they can do research anywhere, anytime. And if you dont have the info or the rapport out there, then you may lose to a competitor that does.

Sales is created first by marketing. Word of mouth, and websites is not enough anymore. Many big companies now hire social media directors whose job it is JUST to tweet all day or JUST to monitor facebook or write blog entries etc. If you choose not to take advantage of this powerful marketing tool, I can gurantee you are losing business.