And how you can too.

I posed a question on my facebook page, asking if any of you would be interested in knowing how I gathered nearly 5000 page likers in a month. (After that, I had a day where I gained nearly 1,500 in about 24 hours).

If you have a craft business or other type of business, I think this might be helpful for you. After all, if you are creating something amazing and know in your heart it provides a service to others (brings them joy, is an amazing product, etc) then why not dream big? Why not serve 1000 people instead of 100? Why not 10,000 instead of 1,000? Etc.

I’ve always dreamed a little too small I think and often (especially for women), we slip into the mode of asking too little. The world is abundant in all good things, just waiting to burst into our existence if we will but allow them and know we are worthy. I have for SURE had to work on this issue, so if you do as well, you are not alone! 😉

So down to the nitty gritty of it all. Please keep in mind these are just my experiences and I cannot guarantee you will have the same results or even similar, nor am I advising you try these things. I just wanted to share my experience with you.

1. At the beginning of 2012, I had a grand total of 56 facebook page likers. Woo. Mostly family and friends I had hounded to like the page. 🙂

•Just for funsies, my sister (of Girl Next Door Decor) and I decided to try and boost our page likers. First thing we tried worked fairly well:

I began typing in my facebook search bar at the top, terms that were similar to my niche. So: yarn, knitting, crocheting, etc. This would turn up other pages like mine and I would go and like posts and comment, like comments, share their pictures, like their pages, etc. I was just trying to get involved and get my name out there.

This created a few new likers a day. But I was spending about an hour at night to gather those few page likers.

So if budget is an issue, this is one way to get started without spending a dime. It does work, but it works slowly at first. 

2. I then realized there must be an easier way. So I attempted facebook advertising.

My original plan was to just try and get to 1,000 page likers. As it turns out, my sis had just read an article on how to properly and effectively advertise on facebook. So, I gave it a shot. Here is a basic rundown of what I did:

•You have to be logged into your personal facebook account, and then click on the little arrow at the top right of the page and then click CREATE AN AD.

•It is pretty straight-forward to walk through the ad process, but just keep a few things in mind. You want to set a daily budget. I started at just $2 a day. ( Eventually I tried out $5 a day, $10 a day and even up to $100 a day… but you usually don’t end up paying that. It’s just your maximum allowable budget)

•Whatever bid they suggest you pay, do about half that. And keep checking back every few days because you’ll find you actually are paying less than that and you can continue to lower your bid down and your ad will still show. I seem to be able to get down to about .05 a click (sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on the ad) before it just dies off.

•Put up a compelling picture, and have a clear call to action in your ad. Like, “Click like if you… whatever whatever.”  Love yarn, enjoy knitting, etc. Fill in the blanks for your particular craft.

•Set it so that it only targets people who are interested in your type of thing. For me, knitters, crocheters, weavings, spinners, yarn lovers.

•Set it to the countries you want to target.

Etc. It’s really easy; just make SURE you have a daily budget and that you are targeting your desired market.

•Finally, make sure to set it so that it only charges you when people click on your ad (not charging you just for impressions, meaning the times it shows your ad).

Then keep a close eye on it. They have changed things a little and automatically want you to include “sponsored stories,” meaning it will show your ad to people’s friends if they like something you do, etc. I have found with my niche, that this doesn’t work too well, so I don’t promote sponsored stories.

And you can pause or delete your campaign at any time.

After trying this the first time, I gained almost 300 likes for about $21.  So for me, the time vs. money issue became clear. I would rather pay the $21 than to spend hour after hour, night after night, trying to gather a few new likers. 

3. If you already have an established customer base, you can of course link to your facebook page from your site, or put the URL onto your business card, etc. 

Basically, you can promote your page wherever your customers are going to see it.

4. A word about contests. IMPORTANT!

Facebook has stringent rules on contests, which I see people breaking all the time. And if you break the rules, who knows what they might do. They could shut your page down, I guess and that wouldn’t be cool.

Anyhoo, the ONLY thing you can require people to do in a contest on facebook is to like your page. Period.

You CANNOT ask them to: Like a post, comment on a post, share a post, post a picture, etc. And you must use a 3rd party app for any contests, to remove any liability  on facebook’s end. I have tried offerpop and found them to be awesome.

I would highly suggest you google the current facebook rules about contests as they may have changed since I last looked it up.

So for me, I gathered a few (maybe 10 or 20?) new likes from attempting a contest. So meh. But I know many who have been successful. Just try and see, as long as you stay within the rules. 

•After trying several options, I decided on advertising. 

I spent about $321 in a month (about mid-September to mid-October) and gained nearly 5,000 new likes. These were NOT all from the ads, because I do love what I do and post on others’ walls and comment on other pages and like others’ posts, etc, because I want to. Plus people began sharing my posts, so a lot of it was viral, and I link to my facebook page from my blog occasionally, etc. It all adds up.

You might be wondering if it’s worth it. Sure I have a lot of likers, but are they converting into sales? To be honest, yes.

I always want to be open and honest with you, because life lived in a box of secrets is pointless. We’re all just people and I really want to help you out in any way I can.

I have never really liked it when people proclaim their subscriber number. It seems like bragging to me, so I hesitated to even say anything.

But I know there may be those of you out there trying to start or enhance an online business and I think this could really help you out.

Another thought is, once you DO have likers, you want to deliver targeted, amazing content (and photos!) that they really want. For me, I post mainly about yarn, knitting and crocheting. Occasionally I’ll throw in a positive quote picture or a random personal tidbit, but 99% of my posts are targeted for my niche. Period. That’s why they liked my page, and that’s what they want to mainly hear.

I try to post the best pictures I can, the most helpful info I can… I ask questions…

I really want it to be a community of yarn lovers united in creative bliss. WOO! Sounds like heaven to me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do.

I have loved yarn since I was a little girl and it is a blessing beyond belief to know there are so many others out there interested in this humble but heart-warming product.

I knit, I crochet, I dye my own yarn for sale in my shop, I spin my own yarn and I love every minute of it.  The joy that comes from creating with yarn is immeasurable and definitely a worthy use of time, in my opinion.

If you truly believe in what you do and KNOW others would be interested, I hope this information helps you out!

I believe that what you want for yourself, GIVE TO ANOTHER and miracles begin to happen. When I find posts or pages I love, I share them and try to help that page out.

If we all work together, we all grow and have a great time doing so.

ENJOY and have a beautiful day!

 

~Chandi

 

P.S. Please share your thoughts and let me know if you have any other suggestions!!