A Social (Media) Experiment

by Sherri Stokey

Of all the struggles we face as independent artisans and small business owners (if you can even call us that - teeny tiny business owners?), one of the most daunting is figuring out how to be seen.  You can make the most amazing stuff ever, but unless you figure out a way to connect with the people who want to buy it, you're probably not going to stay in business long.

Some folks have good luck with doing craft shows and in-person events, but many rely on online sales, especially those of us who live in rural areas.  I have to tell you, it's really, really hard on a person's ego to be outsold by corncobs in Nebraska Cornhusker hats (and that's a true story) in the next booth over.  That and the made-in-China jewelry being sold at a fraction of the price a couple more booths down.

I made the decision years ago to go with online sales and it's really an amazing thing that we have the capability of doing that now.  Not to date myself or anything, but I grew up without the internet and without having all these choices available at our fingertips.  We spent a lot of time going from store to store or pouring over the pages of catalogs looking for just the right thing.  Now I can find almost anything I want, from anywhere in the world, and have it sent right to my front door and I can do it in my jammies.  It works the other way around, too: I can put the micro macrame jewelry I make by hand online and people all around the world can purchase it.  IF... (oh, the dreaded "if") they can find me.

When I really started trying to make my hobby work as a business (or at least a self-sustaining hobby), Facebook was just getting big and was the place to be as far as social media.  I set up a page for my business and started gathering a small following.  Life was good.  People who "liked" my page saw the pieces I posted.  Then somewhere along the line, Facebook started deciding which posts people would see and which ones they would not.  They started charging to have your posts seen and I started to feel like the invisible man.  Let me give you some statistics from my own experience (disclaimer:  I cannot tell you if these are typical numbers or not, they are simply from my personal experience).

My page Knot Just Macrame has 42K followers.  That's over 42,000 nice people who have taken the time to say they like what I make and they want to see more of it.  Those aren't bought and paid for "likes", either (I think we've established I'm too cheap for that).  I posted a photo a couple of days ago and it was shown to 414 people.  Less than 1% of the followers of my page.  Seriously, Facebook?

And just when I thought I'd reached the bottom of the "reach" barrel (that's what Facebook calls how many people your post reaches), Facebook decided to show me just how low I could really go:

Yes, that's actually a negative number!  It's not like the photo I posted was offensive or anything:

How do you even show it to a negative number of people, anyway?  UN-show it to them?  On this particular day I was almost desperate enough to give in to the Facebook strong-arming and pay to "boost" my post.  Right up until I actually clicked on the button and looked at the figures.  For a mere $20, they would show this post (and only this post) to an estimated 700-1900 of my followers.  Yes, to the people who had already said they like my stuff and want to see it.  That number is still less than 5% of the fans I already worked to get, and they'll do me the honor of showing my post to those people for $20.  *sigh*

Now I'm sure there are those of you out there who are saying, shut up and pay up, but I honestly feel like I'm being extorted.  Extort:  obtain something by force, threats, or other unfair means.  It's not that I'm against paying for advertising, but not like this.  It just goes against every fiber of my being.  You might also think it's just a matter of what I'm posting because we all know a post with a link to the item on Etsy won't be shown to anyone, etc.  I shared a video of a puppy playing with a doorstop and that got over 6.6K views, though... 

In the midst of all this unrest, I came across a post on Facebook saying that posts about Facebook will be shown to many more people.  So being the rebel that I am, I decided to conduct a little experiment.  I posted this on my page:

It mentions Facebook no less than 15 times, and guess what?  In slightly over 24 hours, it's been shown to almost 10,000 people!  That's more than my previous eight posts combined.

Well ain't that a kick in the teeth?  What's interesting is that a lot of the folks who saw this post took the time to reply to it, and what I heard from a lot of them was some variation of "I like your posts but I haven't been seeing them on Facebook in a while."  

So what have I learned from this experiment (besides the fact that Facebook is apparently very narcissistic)?  For starters, I've learned that not everyone is as easily amused as I am.  In fact, 20 people decided to unlike my page when I posted this.  Another 15 people decided to hide all my posts (can someone explain why you'd do this rather than just unlike the page?).  Another two folks decided to report the post as spam!  Aside from that, I've learned that I'm going to have to find another way to connect with people.

I'm too old, too crabby and quite frankly, too disinterested to learn the social media game over again and try to keep up with the ever changing rules.  I'd rather spend my time creating beautiful pieces than learning the proper uses of a hashtag.  And I won't give in to the pressure to pay for posts.  I just need to find a new place to hang out with my friends.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Meanwhile, if you enjoy seeing posts from your favorite Facebook pages, here are some suggestions for you:  try "liking" and commenting regularly on posts from those pages and you should (theoretically) be shown more of their posts.  If that's not working for you, go to the page and hover over the "liked" button at the top, then choose "see first" in your newsfeed and/or turn on notifications.  It's a pain to have to do it for every page you want to see, but the other option is to have Facebook choose what you will see and what you will not.  One last option is to create an Interest List (instructions can be found here) and add the pages you want to see to it.  This option requires that you click on that list to see them, but at least you can find them that way, and see all the posts.

If you have any better suggestions, I'd love to hear them!  Oh, and in case you missed them, these are some of my posts in the last week:

And the puppy playing with the doorstop?  It's here.  You're welcome.

Don't be Held Hostage by the INTERNETS! By Karen McGovern

The online world is a tricky, crazy, spectacular, eventful, wonderful and sometimes terrifying place! My post today is inspired by a few threads I have followed online in a couple public jewelry/art Facebook groups over the past couple months.

The first subject I will call the HOSTAGE SITUATION. Folks held hostage by the fear or threat of a negative review on Etsy. I didn't know this was a thing, but evidently it is. I followed an online thread that began with an artist appealing for advice regarding a very difficult custom client for whom she had gone waaaaaay above and beyond to please but no matter what, the client was unhappy and threatened to leave a negative review of her Etsy store. This seemed to really upset the artist, almost more than the fact that her client was obviously unreasonable to begin with. Over 55 comments and replies were posted within hours. Most of the advice given made sense to me. Continue professional, calm dialogue with the client, keep copies of all emails between artist and client, and if she posts an unwarranted negative review (which this would have been), take it directly to Etsy admin. They have a division just for this very thing. Which brings me to my point....you do not EVER have to feel you are a hostage to someone's complaint unless the complaint is warranted. Keep records. Save emails. Be as up front and transparent as you possibly can and be ADULT about everything. Is one negative review on Etsy really that catastrophic? When I had a shop there, way back when the Internet was still on stone tablets or whatever, I got a review from someone that was the equivalent of an online "Meh". Not negative, but not positive either. I noted it, and moved on. I'm all about customer service. My clients know that I like to have a one-on-one dialogue, and that is one of the many, many, MANY reasons I left Etsy. It's too easy to have a pissy day and feel that somehow gives you the right to RUIN SOMEONE ONLINE.

Which brings me to my next point--a big one--DON'T BE A CYBERBULLY. I get the impulse. It's soooooooo hard to resist sometimes. You are in a group or forum of like-minded individuals (you assume, I mean remember, you've NEVER ACTUALLY MET MOST OF THESE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE) and you have a terrible day, or interaction with someone (another artist, client, whatever) and the impulse is to TELL IT TO THE MOUNTAIN THAT IS FACEBOOK IN DEEP DETAIL. Um, DON'T, okay? Sure, that first wave of responses telling you how fantastic you are and how HORRIBLE the other person is may feel good, but wait a minute. What about the long run? What about the consequences? When I read posts that vaguely infer something awful about another artist I totally cringe. The responses are so predictable--you are wonderful, they are dirt. Then the inevitable "Tell us who you are talking about. Come on, give us a name...." If you do, you are a CYBERBULLY because you know full well how online crap works. It's the perceived anonymity, and it's also mob mentality. You know full well your "supporters" will beat the online crap out of whoever they think has wronged you whether they have all the information or not. Do you really think it's okay to potentially ruin someone online? Do you have any idea how much that can devastate someone? Before you hit "post" carefully read your remark.  Would you say that out loud and in person? Would you be able to handle it if it was said to or about YOU? If you answer "no" to either question, DON'T POST IT. Disagreements are always best handled one on one. As soon as you involve complete strangers simply for the sake of an ego boost, you become a cyberbully.

Now, ranting in a private group of friends you know and trust--that's another story. We all need to vent now and then and groups are great for that as long as they are PRIVATE. I've been that person who has had one glass of pino too many and has drunk-blabbed and over-shared to friends online. I DEEPLY REGRET IT AND WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN. But, I do occasionally fire off a rant that I know these ladies will understand and respond to with a rousing "AMEN, SISTER!" Usually about the absurdities of life and art and living life as an absurd artist. But I will NEVER vilify another artist or client online in a public forum. The thought makes my stomach hurt and my skin crawl.

There are exceptions, I know. For example, when an artist is totally taken advantage of by a large corporation (are you listening URBAN OUTFITTERS?) or have their work stolen. Corporations, no matter what you may have heard, ARE NOT PEOPLE. And even then, smart always beats bully. Be smart. Don't make it your mission in life to ruin someone else's. Don't be a bully. We have to work together, lift each other up, encourage the best in each of us. I've been on the receiving end. It HURTS. I will never retaliate publicly. I'm better than that. So are you...all of you. Also, Facebook has this handy-dandy BLOCK capability....use it as needed.

Sorry for the serious post--it just really bugs me to read posts from artists struggling so hard to make it and ending up scared and defensive--scared of what could happen to them online somewhere. It's hard enough to deal with real life....

To make up for this sober post, here are pictures of art/jewelry currently blowing my mind (top three), and a recent design I made that came together in a way that has me so pleased (fossil stack on the bottom). It's good when the muse is on board!!

Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING AMAZING!