Benefits of MySpace?

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Permalink Reply by Kerrie on April 25, 2008 at 9:53am

Hi Pia!
I've just started trying to use MySpace for marketing, so I'm not sure yet how well it'll work. To me, I'm trying to get to the point where it's not too complicated to find like-minded potential customers there. I'm definitely still learning. One suggestion I have, and I need to take this suggestion myself, too, is not to post the same EXACT thing on multiple pages. It takes more time, but if we're trying to get someone to go from a MySpace to another blog or etsy site or other web site, we have to work at keeping them engaged, and not let them get bored by presenting them with too much duplicate information.

Also, my opinion is that since MySpace is free (moneywise, anyway, if not timewise!) it certainly can't hurt to put something up.

I'm interested in hearing what others have to say about this, especially since I'm just recently playing around with MySpace!

Kerrie
(Kerrie Carbary on MySpace)

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Permalink Reply by Attaining Creativity on April 25, 2008 at 10:01am

Thanks, Kerrie!
And you make a great point about duplication. I'm still trying to understand the concept of "friends" on these social network sites: while having a page on MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, etc., is a great venue for displaying your wares, the other part of what really helps your business is that you start getting a rolodex of people that you can connect with and sell to (by asking for friends, etc.). At least I think that is how it works :)

Thanks again, Kerrie, for your feedback!

pia
gallery: www.attainingcreativity.com
blog; www.attainingcreativity.com/wordpress2

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Permalink Reply by Jewells on April 29, 2008 at 10:23am

I would love to have a rolodex of friends. I just need to get out there more. I have a myspace account and I don't utilize it enough. I've never gotten any sales from it, but I keep using. Yes, it is free.

I don't know what to put in the blogs, for instance, blogspot. I've got my Etsy jewelry on there, but I don't know how to get people to come to it.

Hopefully I will hear how other people are marketing themselves.

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Permalink Reply by Lee on May 8, 2008 at 6:47am

Personally, I'm not crazy about MySpace. To be honest, I'm leery in general of many of these social networking sites (including Ning, sorry!) Whenever you join, you immediately get bombarded with mail from all these what I call "insta-friends" ... and "friend" is not a word I use lightly. These sites probably DO increase social or at least cyber-social interaction, but increasing sales? Hmmm... I'm not sure about this. Sure, there are always those who will say, "I joined Facebook or My Space, made tons of friends and my sales are through the roof!" but I think those are the exception rather than the rule. I don't mean this to sound insulting, but some people just like to "collect friends"; to say that they have hundreds of connections on My Space... but that doesn't necessarily mean that any of those people are actually going to buy your merchandise.

*.Lee
http://abeleeshandcrafted.etsy.com
http://fivetoninesupplies.etsy.com
http://fivetoninedesign.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by Jewells on May 8, 2008 at 6:53am

Your right lee.d I'm always got a lot of friend requests, invitations mainly inviting to an event or someone promoting their music, etc. I've never had anyone write about my site. It's always about their. So I don't concentrate on it as I do my other sites.

www.jewellsdreams.etsy.com
www.jewelldreamsbyvickie.com
www.jewelldreamsjewelry.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by PumpkinLights on May 8, 2008 at 7:10am

I am really unsure as to how people use Myspace for marketing. I have an account there but I guess I just don't know how to use it.

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Permalink Reply by Jewells on May 8, 2008 at 7:11am

I don't think it's user friendly. It's not as friendly as other sites for marketing like finding frieinds and inviting them. It's not as social as I like it.

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Permalink Reply by Lee on May 8, 2008 at 8:28am

I could be wrong but I think that many sellers assume that the more "friends" visit their pages, the more eyes will see their work and this will ultimately bring in sales. I just don't find that to be so. From what I've seen, you usually get a lot of communications from other crafters, not buyers! Which is great in terms of interacting with peers, learning new techniques, sharing tips, etc., and some sellers are also buyers -- but beyond that, I'd be surprised if having a MySpace page caused a jump in sales.

Just one sister's opinion. :-)

*.Lee
http://abeleeshandcrafted.etsy.com
http://fivetoninesupplies.etsy.com
http://fivetoninedesign.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by East Coast Kitsch on May 9, 2008 at 5:50am

I am still on the fence with myspace. I have an account and have quite a few "friends" now, but if you look at the views to your page, they are relative to the amount of people that you have. they probably check your site once when you add them as a friend and that's the last time. So with that being said, I don't really know of the benefit other than that one time contact. I do post on the bulletin board every so often and may get a few clicks on my etsy site, but that's it...

Jane
http://eastcoastkitsch.etsy.com

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Permalink Reply by Attaining Creativity on May 9, 2008 at 8:20am

Thank you so much for replying to this post! It's been a while since I put up the discussion and didn't realize that some people had replied lately.

You hit the bull's eye with your comment about the collection of friends and the downturn of communication after the "collection" has been done.

I just didn't want to go crazy by spending time keeping up my "social" websites (like MySpace, Facebook, etc.) if there was no sales connected with it. At least by being in just one such website (Indie), I can find crafters/artists easily.

Thank you again for taking the time to reply!

Pia f. Walker
Gallery: www.attainingcreativity.com
Blog: www.attainingcreativity.com/wordpress2

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Permalink Reply by Attaining Creativity on May 9, 2008 at 8:17am

Thanks, Lee, for your opinion. I think deep down I had feelings that the social websites are just as you described them. Just like in a real friendship, one has to work on keeping a communication going, and I wonder how often that happens. Also, since sites like indie are made up mainly by crafters, it makes sense that we wouldn't really be interacting with possible customers.

Thank you very much for your reply to this post. It is much appreciated!

Pia f. Walker
Gallery: www.attainingcreativity.com
Blog: www.attainingcreativity.com/wordpress2

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Permalink Reply by The Hand Made Product Shopping Directory on May 9, 2008 at 12:31pm

In todays market, the use of social networking has become a very important part of an overall marketing and advertising campaign. It's really important however to be realistic in ones expectations as to just what amount of importance one places on this piece of your campaign. If you have enough "Friends" signed up on a social network, you will see some sales from just the sheer number you have. Everyone's ratio is going to be different but they can help. The big question is just how much and since it is really difficult to track which customer come from these social networks, who can really say how much of a help all the work has really been.

In big business, sites like Twitter and Linkedin and others like them have been very successful in linking people together for business purposes. These groups however are not really geared for normal retail sales, either on line or off and in my opinion, not terribly useful for those who sell in a niche market like we do. At least from the retail sale side. They can be useful in other aspects of you business however.

It's important to look at your potential and probable customer base. What are the demographics of these social networks? Do these figures justify spending vast amounts of time on these networks? How much am I worth an hour and will that time spent convert into dollars of sales?

All the data coming out that I have read is indicating that the use of search engines is still big when it comes to people shopping on line. What may be a surprise to some is that sites that are actual specialized shopping directories and search engines are almost as active. The reason is really pretty simple. In today's world, time is in shorter supply than money for many consumers and finding what they want FAST, is very important. Consumers are finding out that most general search engines are very manipulative and they have to search through a ton of garbage before and if they find what they want.

Potential customers are finding that specialized shopping directories are much easier to use. What is nice is that because the people that come to these types of sites to find a product, have already chosen to look in this niche area. A large part of the selling process is already done for the store owner. You don't have to talk them into buying all you have to do is get them through the front door.

It all boils down to target marketing. You can either use the shotgun approach in your marketing efforts and hope you bag a few customers or you can target those that have already chosen to buy the types of products you create and sell. I relate it to the car dealer who is trying to sell a man a caddy when he is looking for a chevy. It takes an awful lot more selling to sell the caddy than the chevy simply because the man was already pre-sold for a chevy when he walked into the dealership. It's the same way with handmade and handcrafted products.

Social networking sites can be and are useful. They are not however the end all as some people think. Particularly for many of us. Use them but don't let them distract you from your other marketing and advertising efforts.

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