Let’s face it, for many artists PROMOTION is the least liked part of running an online art or photography business. It takes so much work and is nowhere near as fun as the creating process. But without it, your work has a slim chance of being seen no matter how talented you may be.
For anyone who has been in the business for a while, you know that there’s a zillion ways to promote your art. Social networking is a vital part of the internet world. You can twitter, blog, squido, google+, share with your friends and family, just to name a few.
And then there’s the ever increasing frustration of using Facebook Fan Pages! With all the changes happening recently, pages seem to be going dead. What can you do about it? To get things livened up, sometimes you have to play the ‘LIKE’ game.
This seems like a pointless game to play because you want REAL fans—customers who actually want to purchase your wares. When you start trading ‘likes’, you know that the fans you acquire aren’t really interesting in becoming your customer, they have their own business to run. So why play?
Here’s the main reason: The more people who visit your page, real fans or not, the better chance you have of your work being seen. At some POD sites, the more your art is viewed, the higher up on the page list it goes, making it easier for your authentic customers to discover.
So how do you play? What are the rules?
How can you get the most benefit from it?
Most everyone knows the first part: I’ll like you if you like me! The big question is though: Do I like people with my personal profile, or my business page? The answer: BOTH! Why?
First, if you like a page with your personal profile it increases their fan count.
If you aren’t willing to do this for them, they aren’t likely to return the favor. In fact, they might not even know you exist because 'likes' with a business page registers behind the scenes. If they don’t have notifications set up, or don’t know how to, you’ve just played the game for no reason.
So if ‘likes’ don’t count with your business page, why do that too? Because when you like another person's page with your business page, it adds a link back to their page in your ‘likes’ box, increasing their exposure.
For example: I liked 'The Camera Mom' with my page.
Then, when they return the favor, you get a link back to your own page, thus creating some free advertising for you! See, she 'liked' me back!
Now that you’ve done all your liking, how can you get the most benefit from it? This is where ETIQUETTE comes in!
Rule #1: DON’T post on another business page saying: ‘I just became a new fan, please like my page. Here’s a link!’ Doing this is unprofessional. This person, like you, is running a business. Posts such as this are likely to get deleted and you may even LOSE a fan!
If you want to leave a comment, say something sincere and meaningful about their work. How will this benefit you? If you leave the comment with your business page, it automatically adds a link back to you. This is known as ‘Silent Tagging’ and a benefit to both pages. Here is an excellent example of how this can be done:
The St. George Salon of Art, LLC was sincere in what she said. It also made The Camera Mom's day!
Another polite way to let a page know you are there is to take time to look at, ‘like’, and comment on some of their work. Don’t blast them with ‘likes’ (unless of course you are truly amazed at their talent and just can’t help yourself!) If this is done with your business page, these are automatic links back to you. Note: You won’t get notified if they reply to your comment when you use your business page, so you'll need to remember to go back and check.
If you comment with your personal profile, it's a good idea to have a link to your fan page in the about you section. That way they know which fan goes with which business page. This is what my personal profile looks like:
I added the link to my page in the Work and Education section:
If you just can’t help yourself and you have to say it: ‘I liked you, so you just gotta’ like me back!’ Do it by sending a personal message through their messaging center.
Then comes the interesting part, maintaining the relationship! This can be really hard to do if you’re following several pages at once. Here are three helpful tips:
1) Spend time looking through your news feed. The default setting is ‘Top Stories’ so you might need to change it to ‘Most recent’.
Find status updates, photos, and links that interest you, then either like or comment on them. Don’t just start ‘liking’ everything down the list. Facebook now shows everything you like in other people’s feeds and can make you look like a ‘spammer’ even if you’re not. SO ANNOYING! (Hopefully FB will give the option to change what shows soon, because I really enjoy looking and commenting on others work!!)
Find status updates, photos, and links that interest you, then either like or comment on them. Don’t just start ‘liking’ everything down the list. Facebook now shows everything you like in other people’s feeds and can make you look like a ‘spammer’ even if you’re not. SO ANNOYING! (Hopefully FB will give the option to change what shows soon, because I really enjoy looking and commenting on others work!!)
Another Etiquette tip: If you ‘like’ a link to an item or blog post, make sure you actually take the time to click on it.
When the page owner goes to check their counts and sees no one has actually taken the time to view what they wanted to share, they’ll know you’re just a random ‘clicker’ and won’t bother taking the time to look at the things you have to share.
2) Make a list of pages you like to follow and remember to take the time to check in and see what they’ve been up to. When you really pay attention to what others are doing it can inspire you and help keep you up-to-date with what’s hot and what’s not! (A benefit for both of you!)
3) When a fan takes the time to like or comment on your work. Use the silent link back to their page to see what they’ve been up to.
When I saw this comment from Loraine Wheeler Photography, it reminded me to go pay her a visit. I just clicked the link and off I went!
When I saw this comment from Loraine Wheeler Photography, it reminded me to go pay her a visit. I just clicked the link and off I went!
When you take the time to do this, you gain REAL fans and a business relationship that benefits both of you.
All that being said, you wanna play the ‘like’ game? I’ll like your page if you’ll like mine!
And here's a link to the pages I highlighted in my examples. I'm sure you'll enjoy following them as much as I do!
