Facebook page

[CreativeCanvas]

Even though personally I believe Facebook to be a goldmine for crooks & imposters and/or law enforcement & intelligence agencies. I've been monkeying around with a page. Please stop by.

Merry Christmas everybody.


Doug

[Mike]

How. Do we find it?

[kodydog]

My Wife has a little time the next few days and is thinking about plunging into facebook for our business. Before she does she'd like to have an idea if the time to start a page is worth the trouble. I've gone back and read the posts over the last few months but can't see where anyone says they are getting jobs from their page.

Last evening after Christmas dinner the subject of social media came up. My brother in law said social media is the wave of the future. I explained 80% of my business comes from word of mouth and most of my customers are at an age where this type of media isn't in their vocabulary. He felt it is still something we should check out.


Jojo posted This link

http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/220796

And it was very helpful but I read other articles by the same author who says off line word of mouth works different than on line.

http://mikalbelicove.com/measuring-offline-vs-online-word-of-mouth-marketing/

Although many adults use facebook, is it mostly for teenagers and collage students? Both who never use my services.

I guess my question is, does your facebook page bring you customers?

[scottymc]

I have 2 facebook pages for 2 businesses , I do get people my websites from facebook, it shows up on google
analytics  Don't post anything on face book you don't want the whole word to know about.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001890712648

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001015263243

[bobbin]

I don't really understand Facebook, frankly.  It seems as though it's a terrible "time sink" unless you're really careful about how you use it.  So much of what I see on it is basically useless information, but that may be because I don't really know how to use it for benefit.  My friends all tell me "it's basically free advertising"... I dunno, seems as though that "free advertising" extracts a lot of time and effort and they're all young and really "into" the whole FB thing. 

[kodydog]

Here is the age demographics of facebook

http://www.kenburbary.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Image13.png

Unfortunately my customers are the smallest part of the pie.
One could say facebook can introduce my business to a younger demographic. And that would be a good point.

Scotty, how do you get people to look at and like your page.

From what I'm reading you are supposed to tell everyone you meet about your page. I am already doing that with my website, what I don't understand is how is facebook going to generate more hits to my website.

I can see how socially it may be a lot of fun but what benefits are there for a business.

The part that bothers me the most is facebook wants access to you address book. Can this be right?

The two benefits I see are ease of use and unlimited photographs.

More comments greatly appreciated.

[CreativeCanvas]

The two benefits I see are ease of use and unlimited photographs.

Big photographs btw. Up to 4.2 meg per if I'm not mistaken. Admittedly the demographics don't quite match up but what the heck. Don't cost nuthin?

[stitcher_guy]

Oh my gosh, folks... GET ON FACEBOOK!!!!

I have a business page set up that is open to anyone to "like" and add themselves too it.

(facebook: search/ pro stitch auto)

This is separate from my personal page, and is kept geared towards the shop, and auto-related stuff. It's the ideal locale for posting up-to-the-minute pictures of projects just completed and even those currently in the shop under construction. I update my Hot Wheels collection through the business page, and anything else that might draw attention.

I have 207 people on my page right now. Yes, this is a small number compared to a page like Black Magic Car Care (they boast about 12,000). BUT, consider that it's free and:

I post a message on the page and it shows up on my 207 "likes" pages.

Those 207 have -- guessing an average -- of 500-1000 friends linked to them. Those people see the post that's shown up on their contacts wall and it catches the interest of 10. So they "like" my business page, and then the next post shows up on their walls as well the original 207. It just continues to snowball.

I put pictures, happenings from the shop, all of it. ALSO, whenever I "like" another business page, it shares my shop's name around to those business pages. we stay linked, and we continue to generate larger and larger pools of interested individuals.

All of this is done for free, mind you. I just got done offering my input on the "12 Days of Christmas" at the Black Magic Car Care page. Each time I made a comment, I made sure to mention PRO Stitch Auto Interiors, so any one of the 12K people on that page are free to seek out PRO Stitch and make contact. Plus, I won a couple T-shirts from them, too boot.

If you are so inclined, Facebook also offers advertising. you can determine your spending limit, which is accrued based on the number of people who click on your ad per day. I've not done it, but have considered it.

I still have my www.prostitchauto.com website up and running. But it has remained static for years and years. It's sole purpose is for contact to my e-mail address for people who do a Google Search for Auto Upholstery. I have more fun on the Facebook page, and it seems to be more "with it" in the online world.

Go, have fun, get on Facebook..... and make sure you "like" pro stitch auto.

[Mojo]

Facebook should not be the primary focus of your marketing efforts but rather a piece of an overall process. Like it or not our lives are driven by the internet. We research, purchase, communicate, advertise and socialize using our computers. Customers have become very comfortable researching, ordering and buying online and some do almost all their shopping on the internet. Because of this you should make sure you have an internet presence. If not then your putting yourself at a disadvantage and hurting your chances for growth.

In regards to upholstery businesses I believe that a good marketing /advertising program should include the following:

1.) Ad cards also referred to as Rack cards. ( You can order 250 of these from Vista Print for $ 50 or $ 60 bucks ).

2.) A professional appearing website

3.) A Facebook account

4.) Professional appearing business cards

5.) Flyers

These are all tools you use to reach the public. Outside Advertising is done these days with a focus on moving traffic to company websites. Many companies try and move customers ( using outside advertising campaigns ) to their websites to educate them on their products or services and this is where Facebook comes in. Facebook is nothing more then a tool used to create an awareness to potential customers while helping to educate as well as move traffic to your website.

Is facebook going to make a huge difference and create alot of business for you ? Probably not. But it should be a part of your overall marketing program. Marketing is a complex process. There is so much involved in putting together a comprehensive marketing / ad program. When I was still working my daily chores included pouring over demographic studies, holding focus group meetings, working with advertisers and looking for ways to move brands. My focus was on moving products or services for my clients and I accomplished this by identifying markets and then going after the consumer using a whole host of tools. That was just part of the work. There is so much more that comes into the marketing equation. I loved it and found it interesting.

Getting back to the internet. Almost all of my growth ( through sales ) in the last 12 months has come via the internet. My focus has been on selecting my markets carefully and then making inroads into those markets by making my company visible to those consumers. I have a large market out there I haven't even taped into and probably wont because I couldn't handle the increase in business. I am in an enviable but frustrating position. I have had to admit to the fact that I am limited in what I can do because of my disease so I have to manage my growth and business carefully. I am currently almost at my max in regards to the amount of business I can handle without having to bring in extra help and that isn't going to happen. I refuse to go down that road.:)

I would look at facebook as just another way for your business to have a presence in the consumers world. It is not going to create riches for you but rather help ( in a small way ) to move traffic to your web site or possibly help bring you that occasional new contact. If anyone has any questions I will be more then happy to answer them.

Chris

[fingers]

I have to tell you Mojo it's fascinating when you talk marketing. The willingness to share your hard earned expertise floors me every time. It's intelligent, concise and valuable. Thank you
         Bern

[Mojo]

Your welcome Bern. I enjoy helping out the gang here whenever I can. I started doing marketing work at the age of 14 under the careful eyes of my Godfather.  It became my passion in life and I loved the work. I really miss it. If I was cured tomorrow the very next day I would sell my machines and be back in marketing again. :)

My post went up before Russ's so I will comment on it now.

I "Liked " Russ's Facebook page when he first put it up and I follow it. But then I have always liked Russ. :)

There are several others here who have a Facebook presence. Mike802 has one and he is very active as well. He uses
" How To " videos to connect to his specific audience and does a great job. But as I stated in my previous post, Facebook should be looked at as a small part of your overall program and your concentration should not be solely on your Facebook page.

My market is RV'ers. That is my niche and I try and exploit it the best I can. I do this through strategically placing my business in front of RV audiences that are on the internet. I have joined RV associations and organizations which gave me direct access to their membership. I put on seminars which provided me the opportunity to go face to face with potential customers. This also provided me the chance to hand out flyers, rack cards, business cards, etc. I am still getting business from the two seminars I did in the spring and referral business has been amazingly good. I am doing two more seminars this spring as well and ordered more advertising materials for those. ( When I get the chance I will take some pictures and scan some of the marketing materials I use and post them here ).

My feeling still remains the same with Facebook. It is another tool you can use to capture your target market but it is not the do all / end all to your advertising needs. In case any of you are wondering, I myself have a personal Facebook page I use to stay in contact with family and friends scattered throughout the world but I do not have a business page simply because my target market is not within the age groups of the Facebook users ( see Kody's post on the demographics ).

Chris

[kodydog]

Great Chris. Lots of good info there. My main questions are,

How do you get traffic to your facebook page?

Suppose I do want to target the younger demographics, and possibly
educate them on the value of reupholstering, how would I get them
to go to my facebook page?

[TheHogRing]

For tips on driving traffic to your upholstery shop's Facebook page, check out our article

10 Tips for Marketing your Upholstery Shop on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/4xz9oln

We hope this helps!

[CreativeCanvas]

'Preciate the valuable input everyone. Been a real eye opener.

Guess after buying an established business I never gave much thought to 'marketing' per se. Majority of my work comes from accounts, loyal customers and/or word of mouth. Having good relationships with the local marinas, boat yards, repair shops, etc helps. Plus my shop's on a heavily traveled road so that helps too. But we will be exploring some different marketing avenues.

Thanks again for sharing your priceless knowledge with this ole canvas slinger.

Hope Santa brought ya lotsa new toys!


Doug 

[kodydog]

10 Tips for Marketing your Upholstery Shop on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/4xz9oln
We hope this helps!

Thanks Hogring. I'm sure you posted that before but somehow I missed it.

And thanks Doug for starting this informative thread.