Facebook Fanpages for Handmade Sellers

When you first sign up for Facebook, you have the option of creating a personal or business profile.

The business profile is intended for people who only wish to use Facebook to purchase space in sidebar ads. This type of account can also be used to create a Fan Page, but it cannot be used for any other interaction on Facebook.

With a business account, you cannot have Friends, and other users cannot view your profile or Wall. There is no real benefit to having a business account unless you have absolutely no intention of socializing with other users outside of your Page.

You may not have more than one account on Facebook, but you can 'upgrade' a business account to personal. Just click on the Create Your Profile button at the top of the screen when viewing your page. Once you have started a personal account, you cannot change it to a business one.

Profiles/accounts are not the same as Pages.
They are separate features, even if you're just using a business account.

With a personal account, you can connect with friends and family, and share your online activities with them. Don't think you know anyone on Facebook worth Friending? You'd be surprised how many old faces will come out of the woodwork once you start your account, assuming that you use your real name. You can invite all of your Facebook Friends to Like your fan page, plus have a separate activity feed to share your other interests.

Every Facebook user has their own guidelines for privacy on the site. Who you add as a friend is up to you, and you decide which of your activities can be viewed by your connections around Facebook.

In 2011, Facebook made it easier for businesses to use the site, by allowing users to interact as their fan page. Previously, page admins did not have the ability to appear as a fan page when using other public areas of Facebook. Now users can Like and comment on just about anything around Facebook under their fan page heading, and help promote their business.

If you have a Personal account, you can toggle over to any of your fan pages while logged in, by clicking the Account button in the top right corner of any page. Select "Use Facebook as Page" to select a fan page persona. Now you can fan other pages or leave comments, and your business avatar and link will appear, instead of your Personal account.

What's New:

Your business page now has it's own activity feed, with updates from other pages that you have Liked while using Facebook with that persona.

You can display your personal avatar under the heading "Page Owner" in your fan page sidebar. If you use the same personal avatar on Facebook as you do on other sites and forums, this can help your recognition with people that you "Suggest" your page to.

Fan pages have a whole new layout for both visitors and admins. Wall posts are displayed first by popularity, and then by date/time. The more interactions your posts have, the higher they will appear on your page Wall.

Recent photos now display as slides at the top of the page.

What's The Same:

When logged in to your Personal account, you can still use your fan page as an admin. Your posts will still appear with your business name and avatar, and you can hyperlink to pages that you have Liked with your Personal account.

Fan pages now have many profile-like features, but you cannot Friend regular users as your fan page.

To sign up for Facebook, visit the main page and enter your information in the space provided. It's a good idea to use your regular email address, so you can receive updates in a timely manner.

When you're finished, you'll need to spruce up your Wall a bit. Upload a picture or avatar, and it will be displayed in the top left corner of your visible profile.

Under your avatar, click on the Edit Profile button to customize your settings. Here you can set your privacy level, add your location, school and other information that you might want to display.

Remember that your Profile is about YOU. We're not at the business stage yet. Think of this profile as your mild mannered alter ego - or wacky alter ego, if that applies.

Next, you should look for some Friends. You can type a name into the search bar at the top of any page to find people or pages that are similar. You can also load your email contacts and add Friends from the list of current users.

Remember that anything you upload or write on Facebook can be seen by your Friends, and could also be seen by their Friends, and so on. Only add people if you are comfortable with sharing your activities with them, and only share information that you are comfortable making public.

To start a Facebook fan page, just head to any other page, like Oh Canada, and scroll down to the bottom. You'll see a link in the left sidebar that says, Create a Page for My Business. Click it, and away you go!

Choose the Brand, Product or Organization option, and type in the name that you want for your page. The most sensible thing to put here is the name of your store or product, the way it appears in your shop banner, or on your business cards.

Check the box that says you're not stealing a copyrighted name, and click the Create Official Page button. You will then see a totally blank, brand new Fan Page, with a handy checklist of steps to complete.

1. Upload a Photo

The photo that you choose for your Facebook avatar should be simple, clear and related somehow to your ArtFire shop. This will also show up beside all of your posts as a tiny thumbnail, so try different photos until you find one that works. Simple is always better.

You can change this photo at any time by clicking on it. Only change it as often as you would change your shop avatar. Remember that your avatar is part of your brand, and people will start to recognize you for it.

2. Basic Information

Click on this section to fill in your page vitals.

Under Founded, list the month and year that you officially opened your Etsy shop, or when you began selling under your brand name. You can also fit a small URL in here. This is a great place to add a link to your shop, your newsletter, or blog.

Fill in the Detailed Information boxes with the same voice that you would use in your Etsy profile. Make it professional, but friendly. Only fill in the boxes that apply to you and your shop, or the purpose of your page.

Under Website, simply paste a link to your full shop URL, like http://www.artfire.com/MyAwesomeShop

The other sections can be filled as you see fit. This is a very good place to display your email address. It won't be clickable, so spam isn't a problem, but it will allow non-Etsy members and other chance visitors to reach you if they have questions.

When you are happy with this section, click Done Editing to save your information. You can return to the list of Getting Started steps by clicking on the Getting Started Tab at the top of the page - next to Wall, Photos, etc. Otherwise, proceed to the next step, editing your settings.

Some Etsy sellers create profiles under their shop name. While this may seem like a great way to advertise, it makes it difficult to interact with people that you know on a personal level. Let your Profile be the real you, and leave the Etsy stuff to your Fan Page, and you'll get the most out of Facebook.

Always link to your Fan Page and not your Profile. Anyone can see and interact with your Fan Page on some level, even when not logged in. If you direct people to your profile, there's only a slim chance that they'll want to log in and Friend you just to see what you're all about.

Profiles/accounts are not the same as Pages.
They are separate features, even if you're just using a business account.

Click on the Edit Page link under your avatar. You'll see a list of different aspects that you can customize for your page.

1. Settings

You shouldn't change any of the tabs here, unless your shop sells mature items. Then you will want to limit access by age.

2. Wall Settings

Here you can change your default landing page, and who can interact with your Fan Page. The default landing page is what will load when visitor your Facebook space. Some sellers like to use the My Etsy App as the landing page, or the Photos section. Set this to whichever area you most want visitors to see.

Tip: Facebook is a huge, busy site. If any link you try to use doesn't load, try right clicking and opening it in a new tab.3. Mobile

This is for cell phone internet users, to set up mobile posts. Not necessarily recommended for a professional page.

4. More Applications

This is where you will spice up your page with helpful tools like the My Etsy App. Click on browse more to find what you need.

If you're an ArtFire seller, you can create a Rapid Cart style tab right on your fan page that shows off your wares. The ArtFire Kiosk is a live app - visitors can make a purchase right from your page, because no log-in is required to shop on the site. Best of all, the Kiosk shows your items in the same order that you have arranged them in your main studio, so you always know what your ArtFire tab will look like.

The My Etsy App will create a tab on your page to display your most recent Etsy listings, and your favorites, if you have them set to public. You can also add a feed for your blog. This app will also post an announcement on your Fan Page Wall if you are featured on the Front Page of Etsy.com.

Go to the My Etsy App page and select Add to My Fan Page. Select the page you want - if you have more than one - from the dropdown and click the Add My Etsy button. You will be redirected to your page.

Click on the My Etsy tab at the top of your fan page. Enter your Etsy username. Add your blog URL if you have one related to your shop or demographic. Click Create My Etsy Tab and wait. If it doesn't redirect on it's own, simply click on the Home or Profile tab in the top right corner of the screen. When you return to your Fan Page, the My Etsy tab should be visible above your wall. Click on it and scroll to the bottom. You can add your blog or make changes to the app using the Edit Settings link. Remember to turn on the notification of features option, so the app can post an announcement when you're featured on the front page.

You can make the My Etsy tab the landing page that visitors will see when they first visit your Fan Page. Although many sellers do this to showcase their listings right away, there are a few reasons not to.

Your Facebook page isn't just for driving traffic from another site into your shop. It's there to help you connect with potential customers, fans and other sellers like you. There are other ways to encourage sales than just plastering your listings all over the place. Wow people with your personality, and they'll keep coming back to see what's new.

Many Etsy sellers are excited about the merchant app by Payvment, which you can add to your Fan Page just like the My Etsy app. It allows you to build a small storefront right on your page, which Facebook users can browse and shop from.

The app is very similar to other online markets, except that it is 100 % free to use. There are no fees, other than those associated with using PayPal for your transactions.

It might sound too good be true, but according to the Payvment App FAQ:

Payvment is the only application on Facebook to be TRUSTe certified. Not to mention, the shopping cart uses 256-bit SSL encryption for completely secure transactions.

Setting up the storefront is easy to do, and there are plenty of helpful videos right on Facebook to walk you through the process. You can even import all of your existing Etsy listings into your Payvment shop.

If you choose to use the Etsy Importer, you will have to remove any URLs currently in your Etsy shop that point to your Facebook page. Here's an excerpt from the Etsy DOs and DON'Ts:

You may not use Etsy to direct shoppers to another online selling venue to purchase the same items as listed in your Etsy shop, as this may constitute fee avoidance. This includes posting links/URLs or providing information sufficient to locate the other online venue(s).

If you are selling on ArtFire, you don't have to worry about linking to your Facebook page, because the site encourages you to link in and out of your shop to help attract sales. However, it is important to alter any duplicate listings by at least 30% to maintain adequate SEO status. Identical listings on two different sites are generally ignored by search engines.

If you also use Twitter to promote your shop, you can link your Facebook Fan Page wall to your Twitter account, and automatically Tweet anything that you post there. Only your posts will be sent out, not those left by your fans.

Linking Twitter should be listed in under the Getting Started tab when you are building your page. You can also find the correct page by going to Facebook.com/Twitter

Wall posts will show up in your Twitter feed just like any other Tweet, with a compact URL and an excerpt from the text. The URL will direct to your page, unless you attach an outgoing Link to your post. Your followers can still see the original post on your wall by clicking the "From Facebook" text below the Tweet.

What better way is there to show off your wares than with photos? You can upload your pictures to your Fan Page albums, and sort them into easy to browse categories. Each photo you upload can be given a title and description, and you have the option of making any photograph display as the "Cover" of the album it resides in.

Treasuries and Front Page screenshots are also a great way to share your love of Etsy. Many sellers also share photographs of their studios, works in progress, or other images that would be of interest to fans.

To upload your first pictures, click on the Photo tab at the top of your page. Click the Create a Photo Album button, and fill in the appropriate information. You don't need to include a location if you don't want to. This feature was designed for things like vacation photos.

When you're ready, click the Create Album button. If you have the latest version of Java, you'll be able to select items directly from your computer. You can also click on the Simple Uploader button, which will take you to the Browse and select section. This system is similar to the one used on Etsy and many other social networking sites.

Once you have uploaded your pictures, you will be able to add titles and descriptions, and arrange them to your liking. When you're finished, you will be given the option to Publish your new pictures to your wall. Do this only if you want to send out a post to your fans about what you've added. It will also send out a Tweet with a link to the album if you have Twitter enabled.

To make changes to a photo or album you've already added, click on the Photo tab, and select an album. Click on the Edit Info tab at the top left, and you'll be able to make changes to the entire album, arrange the photos, add descriptions, or delete pictures. You can also edit individual photos by clicking on them and using the options menu at the bottom of the screen.

There's nothing worse than a big, blank empty space on a website, profile or shop. You should add a little something to the Discussions tab of your page, like a welcome message, or delete it entirely.

The little text box under your avatar is also a great place to welcome your visitors. Add a short blurb about your page, and a link to your shop. Include the full URL to make it clickable.

Some people use custom HTML, or purchase it from designers. While this can make your page more unique, it's up to you do decide if it is worth the time and money. After all, it's just a Facebook page. We all know what the site looks like, and what it's for. You might be better off spending more time and money on your products instead.

Did you know that you can add live links to your Fan Page posts?

Any person, page or thing that you have Liked on Facebook can be made into a link with @. Just type @, and then begin typing the name of the item you want to link to, and a drop down of possible choices will show up. Click on the one you want, and voila!

Like this: @Twitter will become Twitter

Posts that include these hyperlinks will also show up on the page or profile in questions. This can be a good way to get visitors to your page, but don't abuse it! Only post relevant things, and be nice.