An article I read a while ago about reserving your name on popular social media sites forced me into exploring Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Because of our farm business, I added Ravelry to the short list of critical places to be on. At first, I just wanted to be sure no one else was OogieM in those places (Desert Weyr, too). I soon added Etsy as well, and I upgraded my CafePress site (although that is still a work in progress). I’ve found that, for me, there is usefulness in all of these new social media.
Twitter is short, and I am following several folks I met on GTD forums, some farming and cooking people, and a few fiber artists as well. It’s very interesting to see how businesses can use Twitter for good service and customer feedback.
Facebook is mostly for local communications between folks here in the valley. In fact, we use it to talk with people doing remodeling work on our new building in town.
Ravelry is the big surprise. My online wool orders had really slowed down, but once I started posting and participating in Ravelry groups and sharing my fiber products, orders picked back up. I think my old email list customers have moved on and forgotten about our farm and products.
YouTube is next to work on. We do have a small video there of our new lambs, but we haven’t done much with it yet.
Etsy is a bust so far. There have been no sales yet, but I also haven’t spent much time improving my site to attract buyers. My CafePress site is in the same boat. However, since it’s not just going to be our personal farm site – it’s also going to benefit the American Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Association and our Historical Society – I hope things will improve.
I’d be interested in seeing how other small businesses use these new tools to get the word out.
Speaking of social media, you can find me at:
- OogieM on Twitter
- Oogie McGuire and Desert Weyr, LLC on Facebook
- OogieM on Ravelry
- DesertWeyr on Etsy
- DesertWeyr on CafePress
- DesertWeyr on YouTube