So many people I see posting on Social Media do just one platform and leave it there.  If you are someone who is trying to establish yourself in a business venture, you can’t stop there.  Over the last few months I have learned so much about this subject.  There are a multitude of possibilities out there.  You just need to work to find them.

My favorite so far is, of course, Facebook.  Facebook is a powerful tool.  But it does take some work to make it work for you.  Research is the key.  For instance, as my interest is in planners I went into Facebook and just typed that in the search box.  It brought up several groups that had that in their tagline.  So after finding them I sent a request to join.  I either was included on click or had to wait for approval.  But after this it is still a tricky process.  Don’t start posting ‘buy my stuff’ posts right away.  Just post like things that you see other posting in the group.  It’s sort of like flirting to gain acceptance.  And always be sure and read their rules first.  If it says ‘don’t post sale item’, don’t post them.  You will get removed.

However, once accepted, it is a great place to share what you’re trying to sell.  And it’s a good way to learn just what those people are interested in.  After you get accepted be sure and keep it up.  Like I said, it is a lot of work.  But it can have some good rewards.

The second most viewed platform is Instagram.  It is much the same.  Do your research.  Put keywords in the search box and look for like minded people.  Follow them and establish a network for yourself.  Then post, post, post.  Instagram is a fickle platform, but it can be powerful.

After these comes Pinterest which is good for fast posting.  It can bring people to your website.  If you don’t have one, research it and get it done.  Even if it’s one page, it gives people somewhere to go.  Then there’s YouTube which is great if you have the time to invest.  And finally Twitter which does take an investment of time and is, in my opinion, an art form in itself.  But a great platform once you establish a viewership.

So get out there and research other platforms.  Establish a following or a group among them.  It’s a great way to get yourself out there.  And if you’re someone with a business, it’s a necessity.

Happy Planning!

After months of working on building my own website I came to the point of having to decide where I was going to sell my products. I first attempted to get them on my website by using Woocommerce but this turned out to be quite a struggle. For some reason my website, which I established using WordPress would not communicate with Woocommerce. So my next step was to try and find a way to get a connection from my website to ETSY and have it open in a new window. This took a lot of research. Finally I found a plug in that would do just that. So now you can go to my website and click on a menu item titled Etsy Shop and go directly to my store.

After a lot of thinking and deliberation I finally decided to leave it that way. I thought a lot about the traffic I was getting on Etsy versus the traffic I would be getting on my new website. Since I have just established my website I have no subscribers. So the deliberation is saving money by putting products on my own website versus paying that fee to list them on Etsy. So for the time being it’s a much better choice to leave them on Etsy. But this might not necessarily be the right choice for you. So let’s talk about it.

When you sell items or products on Etsy you do have to pay a fee. But in comparison you don’t have to maintain it is strongly as you do on your own website and you have a built in large viewership. Personally I like that fact. In only two months I have already gotten over 1000 views on my shop. That includes views and likes and a few sales. I’m still working on being better at promoting my products and getting the word out there. It can be a tough sell when you’re one among hundreds.

When you sell your products on your own website there are definite advantages. You don’t have to pay fees, you have more freedom as to how they are presented and of course, you have more control over it. But again this depends on just how large your viewership is. Are there enough people going to your website to warrant keeping your products on sale just there. So let’s go into that further.

When you sell through Etsy you are charged $.20 for each item plus a 3.5% each time an item sells. That $.20 is per product listed. So you do have the advantage in that that charge generally occurs only once when a product is listed. So unless it is a unique item that will need to be relisted each time, it’s not that bad of a charge. And that charge is for a four month period.

When you list an item on your website there is an obvious advantage. Now I’ve talked about these before. But the greatest is probably that you have control over how it looks and how it’s listed. But you also have to maintain it. Now you can listed and let it set, but your sells will be small, if any.

So there are three things that you need to take into consideration when deciding where you’re going to sell your products.

Number one – How large is your viewership?

Number two – Can you maintain and keep up your product listings effectively?

Number three – How motivated are you to sell?

Now I can go thoroughly into each of these questions but I don’t want this blog to be four pages long. So I suggest you go and check out my video on YouTube under The Creative Owl and watch Periscope number two. That video gets more thoroughly into these three questions as well as other ideas and tips for selling your products either through Etsy or own your website.

As for me at this time it’s a much better choice to leave them being sold through at Etsy. I have a much larger viewership there and a much greater chance of selling my products. This might not necessarily be the best choice for you. Just consider these three questions and hopefully it will help you make that decision. But for me it boils down to question number one. Hopefully in the future I will establish a much larger viewership. Then I can move my products to my website and avoid those fees. However I think it’s still a good idea to keep items listed on Etsy. That way you can go into your About Me page and enter your website. That way those people that are viewing your products on Etsy can be sent over to your website and find the rest of your products there. Just saying.

I hope this helps. It can be a tough decision deciding just where and how to sell your products. And even then it’s quite a job to effectively do so. But I wish you the best of luck and a harvest of sales to successfully market your products.