How To Gain Followers On Social Networks And Keep Them!

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and others are the 'Word of Mouth' of the new millennium. To be successful you need to learn how to gain followers and keep them. They will be the bread and butter of being successful.

I have written many articles on how to start your Twitter account, your Facebook page and Pinterest along with others. That is the very first step to creating a useful and meaningful social network. They can't come to you if you are not there. Even Etsy itself is based on social connections. Favoriting, Following and Sharing is at the core foundation on how Etsy works and has become so very successful!

Over the next few days I will be writing about how to gain and keep followers in your social networks.  I am always open to questions and comments so let me know where you'd like the conversation to go. If you do not already have the social networks I have mentioned above started, search my blog for instructions on how to get them.

Social Networking For Etsy Shop Owners

How do you build your social network as a business? It really is pretty simple, be human. As an Etsy shop owner you probably have a personal Facebook profile and a Facebook Page for your Etsy shop. You probably have a personal Twitter and a Twitter for your Etsy shop. You may even have a personal Pinterest and a Pinterest for your Etsy shop.

I have doubles of everything when it comes to social networks, some things I even have triple or quadruples! How do I manage all of these social network profiles? The short answer i automation! That and I spend a lot of time linking my social networks to one another.

Over the next few weeks I will be talking about how to build your social networks. I will show you how to link your social networks together and how to use free tools to automate your social networks. I hope you will join in discussions that might help to answer a few questions.

For today I would like you to make a list of what social networks you use. Post them here in the comments section. Don't post any links to your networks just a list of which ones you use.

Twitter Marketing For Etsy Users

As promised I have created the first of two Twitter eBooks. Book one is Twitter Marketing For Etsy Users and it runs through the basics of setting up your Twitter account and getting it ready for public view. The second eBook Advanced Twitter Marketing For Etsy Users will be ready next week and will go into detail on how to gain followers quickly and free!

If you are new to Twitter or never have used Twitter I recommend you purchase this $5 eBook from my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/163120645 and put it to good use! It is an instant download so it is ready to go as soon as you purchase it!

Twitter is one of the three social networks that I use personally and do very well with. The other two are Facebook and Pinterest. I do have a great eBook on starting a Facebook ad campaigne here:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/99617992 I am working on an eBook to help you out with using Pinterest for marketing your Etsy shop. It should be done in a week or two.

I hope your week is going well. Come back tomorrow for a few tips and a recap of the week. In the meantime if you have questions please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Gaining More Followers On Social Networks

Many of the questions I have received lately is how to get good quality fans/followers on your social networks. I am working on a few articles on just how to accomplish this. In the meantime I thought it might be a good day to share your links with the readers and maybe get a few followers. So, in the comments post your Etsy Shop Link, your Facebook Page Link, your Twitter page, etc and then go through and join everyone's who have posted. It will be a small bump to your social network.

I'll start:

Etsy: http://TangledMetal.etsy.com and http://MarketMyShop.etsy.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TangledMetal and http://www.facebook.com/MarketMyShop
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TangledMetal and http://www.twitter.com/MarketMyShop
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/TangledMetal

Go forth and follow/like/heart and share with your friends. I will do the same with each link you all post.

Making Time For Social Networks

Several of you have asked about how to make time for posting to social networks. I have written a couple of articles on Time Management and Making Lists to help with time management. The articles can be quite helpful to get a plan started. However, as one reader writes "Sometimes I get caught up in social networks and don't have enough time to make new items for my Etsy shop."

It is very easy to get distracted. Though I have nothing much scientific to back it up, every creative person I know tends to get distracted easily. There was this one time I was watching this squirrel. The very best thing to do is to write out a schedule and keep to it. 20 Minutes on Twitter, 15 minutes on Facebook, 30 minutes on Pinterest, etc.

Fortunately many of the social networks you can schedule your posts and also cross post automatically. I will be creating a few articles on how to do just that in the near future. The main thing to remember for now is if you can keep to a schedule you will be more efficient in the long run.

That is all for today. I just used my 30 minute allotted blog time and I must move on to the next thing on my list. Keep the questions and comments coming. Leave them here on the blog or email me at MarketMyShop@gmail.com and don't forget I have a couple of helpful eBooks for purchase in my Market My Shop Etsy Shop.

Scheduling Your Social Network Posts

Yesterday I touched on determining the best times to post to social networks. Today I would like to mention that scheduling posts can free up a lot of time for you to do other things. As I write this post it is actually Sunday morning. I am working on a weeks worth of posting because I have the free time to write today but may not during the week. Blogger is easy with the "Schedule" link in the right hand side bar. Other social networks are not quite as easy.

Facebook now allows you to schedule your posts, which is really great! When you write a status update or upload a picture/video there is a small button in the post field that looks like a little clock. Clicking that will allow you to set when your post will actually be posted.

Twitter, unfortunately, does not have this option. You can use a third party program to schedule your posts. Tweetdeck, HootSuite and other programs have the ability to schedule posts for you. There are also web based programs like SocialOomph that have similar services. The services usually have a pro or paid version as well as a free version.

Doing a quick Google search on scheduling posts on social networks will give you specifics for individual sites.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments by leaving a comment here or sending me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

When To Post On Social Networks

We all know that Social Networks are the best form of free advertising. Why? It is the 'Word of Mouth' of the new millennium. I have written several articles about how to use social networks efficiently. The one thing that I have not touched much on is what time of the day is the optimal time to post to get the most views, shares and comments.

There are actually 2 times a day that are optimal for most posts. The first time is 10 a.m. through noon. The second best time is between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. That is, of course, your local time. So, if you have a business that is supported by people mostly in your time zone those are the best times to post.

Now, if you rely on buyers outside of your time zone you need to expand your time to cover those times in all time zones. That may mean reposting the same content many times during the day and/or evening. Of course you probably want to change the content up enough that people do not feel that they are being spammed into oblivion. Perhaps sharing different products will suffice.

Here is a breakdown of the top 3 Social networks with optimal time to post:
Twitter: 1 p.m.
Facebook: 5 p.m.
Pinterest: 11 p.m.

Be sure to optimize for your time zones. Of course this is just a suggestion of times to post. Using common sense can be the best idea. Knowing that Mom's are home alone after dropping the kids off at school between 8:30 and 9:00 or that Single People often check their social networks over morning coffee, during lunch break, when they get home and right before going to bed. This is where my previous article about knowing your customer can help you fine tune your post timing. Tomorrow I will write about scheduling posts so that you don't have to be right at your computer during all of your optimal posting times.

Got a question or comment? Leave them here or send me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Share Your Etsy Shop

From time to time I like to have a day of sharing shops. It helps to build networks and to give everyone a little more exposure. Today I would like you to add your shop link, Facebook Page link and your Twitter link. If you have multiple shops please feel free to add a link. But don't stop there! Visit everyone's links and add them to your circle, follow their pages, like an item, share them with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Help build your network and theirs. Here are mine to get it all started:

Market My Shop Etsy Page
Market My Shop Facebook Page
Market My Shop Twitter Feed

Tangled Metal Etsy Shop
Tangled Metal Facebook Page
Tangled Metal Twitter Feed

I will also have a link exchange set up on my Market My Shop Facebook page for you to share your links as well. I just ask that you like the page before sharing. I hope you all have a great weekend. See you on Monday if not before!