Facebook and Twitter and Paypal, OH MY! The Rabbit Hole that is the InterWebs by Karen McGovern

It's all MaryAnn Carroll's fault.

It all started with an *innocent* post by MaryAnn to the artists of  LMAJ discussing linking Facebook pages to Twitter, so that every post made to your Facebook also appears on your Twitter page. Great idea....That was Friday....

48 hours later I emerge, bleary-eyed and brain dead, hands cramped from continuous clicking and clacking on my laptop, lost in the bowels of social media rules, regulations, hacks and shortcuts.

What MaryAnn didn't realize is that once I get started on something web-wise, I do not stop until I have figured it out or hit a virtual brick wall.

Here's the deal. MaryAnn's suggestion (and a good one, I might add...) lead to more ideas and questions regarding how this all works. I have, like many artists on Facebook, more than one page. I have my personal page under my name, I have my art page under my business name (Beadkeepers). I also am in charge of the Facebook page for the organization I work for (Rare Species Conservatory Foundation). That's three pages. I also have three Twitter accounts, one for me, one for Beadkeepers and one for RSCF. Sure, it would be FABULOUS if posts to Facebook (which I use and post to almost everyday) could magically appear at the same time on the corresponding Twitter pages. I didn't even know you could do that BECAUSE I AM OLD AND DON'T GET THE TWITTER MUCH.

BUT, I do understand the value of social media when it comes to living in the 21st century, and if you have any presence online it's best to learn and UNDERSTAND as much of this stuff as possible. It's never a bad idea to expand your online toolkit if that is where you do the bulk of your communications, and frankly, it's UNAVOIDABLE. So let's USE this stuff, right????

First, I consulted the mighty oracle...Google. I learned much, and I am here to share...

Linking Facebook to Twitter is relatively easy once you stumble blindly around the Internet, which provides a solid 75% of the info you need. Lucky for you, I did all the stumbling. This link between pages and sites is great to promote your business or organization and is a huge time saver. No more posting one place, then having to start over someplace else!

Here's what you do. I am going to explain this as if you have more than one page on both Twitter and Facebook that you want to link because that is a bit tricky....First, log in to one of your Twitter accounts. Then, open a new tab and go to www.facebook.com/twitter and follow the prompts to open your Facebook page. 

Click the link allowing access from Facebook to Twitter (you need to do this for every page you link). 

You should then see a page with your personal page at the top and all your other pages listed below. Here is mine...

Next to each of your Facebook pages is a button to click that will link that page to the openTwitter account. Click the page you want to link to that account and hit Save Changes. VIOLA! You are linked!

Now, to link another page to another Twitter account, go back to Twitter, SIGN OUT and then SIGN IN to your other page. Go back to the facebook.com/twitter page and REFRESH. Find whatever page you want to link to that Twitter page, hit the Link to Twitter button and the new Twitter page will be listed as linked. Hit Save Changes and VIOLA! You have just linked two different Facebook pages (that you administer) to two different Twitter accounts (that you administer). Now whatever you post to these pages on Facebook will instantly also post to the correct Twitter page as well. THAT ONLY TOOK ME 12 HOURS TO FIGURE OUT. I'm sure a 10 year old child could have done it while I was in the bathroom. ANYWAY....It's a cool feature that can boost your presence on the 'Web and boost your sales as well.

Speaking of sales...you guys know that you can link your shops directly to your Facebook page, right? Under your cover photo on your business page should be a few tabs. As you can see on mine, I have a Shop Now button. Before it was Shop Now it read Call to Action. To link your shop to Facebook, click the Call to Action and a drop down menu appears. Select the Shop Now option, then put your direct web address in the box below for your Etsy shop, website, whatever. Since RSCF is a 501(c) 3 charitable organization, we have the option for a Donate Now button under Call to Action. I linked this to our PayPal donations account. This is super spectacular for us since we have over 15,000 followers  now and we have already gotten donations coming in since I created the button on Friday! 

In figuring out how to link the Donate Now button directly to PayPal, I also discovered something else. I figured out how to create a link in PayPal you can put in a post to SELL DIRECTLY FROM FACEBOOK USING PAYPAL ONLY. No Shopify, no middleman (other than PayPal) no FEES other than PayPal. I have to do a bit more research on this--it's so unbelievably easy it must have a catch somewhere. I've been discussing it with some webby folks and no one seems to have a 100% clear answer on Facebook's policies for selling from your page. Some say it's a no-no, others point out that selling through Facebook/Shopify is...well...SELLING, so what's the problem? I'm sure it has to do with Facebook wanting their cut somehow....Until I do some more digging I'm going to keep this nugget of info to myself. BUT I WANT TO TELL EVERYONE!!! Maybe next time....don't want to get anyone in trouble with the FACEBOOK POLICE. I'll keep you posted.....

In the meantime, I'll close with a recent design I created that is perfect for the season. An AMAZING carved labradorite skull set in sterling silver with a steel flower, brass bee, cast sterling silver twigs and a bronze dogwood flower. I created this in honor of Dia De los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This wonderful holiday is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. The traditionally Mexican holiday is a celebration and remembrance of those who have passed on, and feature elaborately decorated skulls called Sugar Skulls. I have created many sugar skull designs, but this by far is my favorite and my first carved gemstone skull. The labradorite is ELECTRIC! 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween (if you celebrate) or a wonderful and heartfelt Dia De los Muertos. 

Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING AMAZING!