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JohnU

JohnU

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
5,299
Location
Ottawa, Illinois
Since retiring and rebuilding a new shop I thought I would learn a little more about using social media. My thought is to start showing new blanks and ideas on completed pens. Just seeing a blank doesn't always work for everyone. This way I get to turn a few more and show off some of my work. Not sure if the link will work, so here's the name if it doesn't.

"Underhill Custom Creations" I had to add "Custom" since my original idea was taken. I thought it might be a nice touch since I like to add my own custom touch to what I make. Let me know what you think.

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JohnU said:
Since retiring and rebuilding a new shop I thought I would learn a little more about using social media. My thought is to start showing new blanks and ideas on completed pens. Just seeing a blank doesn't always work for everyone. This way I get to turn a few more and show off some of my work. Not sure if the link will work, so here's the name if it doesn't.

"Underhill Custom Creations" I had to add "Custom" since my original idea was taken. I thought it might be a nice touch since I like to add my own custom touch to what I make. Let me know what you think.

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I don't have any sites on Facebook but I like what you have done so far.
 
Sorry to say I'm not on Social Media either. As far as that goes it might be a necessary evil to reach out to customers like you mentioned. I did look at what you have so far and I like it! Not criticizing what you've done but just something to think about. Bottom line I pretty much use my phone to check emails and The IAP. Being old and slow to spend money to keep up with the times my phone is old and small. Keeping that in mind when I look at pictures by the time I get passed the background the item I'm interested in is very small. I noticed the pictures on Facebook didn't have a background, if possible make the picture take up as much space as possible so it will be easier to see. I know you can expand the picture but as far as my usage goes sometimes it's a pain to do so. It keeps bouncing around on me anyways. Thanks for posting with your work and advice.
 
I spend too much time on fb, friends and family. There are many pen related groups, and I wish they would all just roll up into one.
 
I am on Facebook, any controversy can be quickly ended by hitting the ignore or the unfriend button.

Facebook is great marketing tool for a small hobby business, even large corporations use for marketing their goods and services. If you do use Facebook business page, keep it professional and business like, it is NOT to be treated as your personal page. Customers do not want to scroll through pictures of your dogs, kids, trips and other stuff to find what you offer for sale. It is a "tool" like your lathe, use it wisely you can benefit from it's use.
 
Not sure how critical you want us to be of your site but I'll be honest and upfront. First off, I like what you've done. I did visit your site and with the exception of a few typo's it looks really nice and I like what you've done. Here's an example of what I noticed.

Underhill Custom Creations is a family run business started by John in 2008 when he began his adventure in(to) wood turning and resin cas(t) ing. He is know(n) as "JohnU" on the IAP (Penturners.org) and is a long time demonstrator and current co-coordinator of the Penmakers International MPG.
Underhill Creations is know(n) for their (domestic(ally) raised) Real Bird Feather(s), Snakeskin, Opal, Cardistry, Candy Wrappers, Military Buttons, Watch Parts, Color Casts and Embedded Object cast pen.

Did I catch them all, probably not but you get my drift and I was terrible at English so I could be way off too.

Here's just some advice on something that happened to me that hopefully you won't experience. My website address is Wolfcreekknives.com. A guy asked me if I would sell my site name to him, I told him "no". He offered me $12,000.00 for my site, still NO. So what he did was to use the name "Wolf Creek Custom Knives" on Facebook, not much change and people thought we were the same. So I started getting a lot of complaints about his work, most of which was not custom as he bought his blanks from the same supplier I did. Needless to say he's no longer in business, which is fine by me. In your case you're doing something totally different but I'm afraid you might be perceived as the other company and if they start messing up it might (big might) impact you. I feel you really need to differentiate yourself from the other guy.

I don't do anything on Facebook so I can't speak to how well it works etc.

I will say that after viewing your site I'm more than impressed with what you're doing and your product line. I just need to get more involved in blanks other than wood. Please take my criticism as a compliment and that I only want to see you succeed at what you're doing, you've got some very nice items.
 
I'm on a 30 day suspension (fb Jail). I think MeWe is where people are fleeing too... FB is censoring way to much.
 
Instagram, has been the better go to if you want to see makers work. There is less controversy. There is a lot of content that is shared and the tags help you find stuff.
 
I rarely look on facebook. However, I respect your work so much that I expect to visit more often. With that said, is there a way that I would be notified whenever a new post is added on your facebook site?
 
I don't go on FB as much as I used to since they upgraded the site. I get warnings after a few minutes that it is using too many resources. It killed my old hard drive. :mad: I had to get a new one but it still uses too much. So there is my gripe about FB. Your site, aside from the grammar errors, looks good and will in time bring you more business. Best of luck getting set up in Social Media.

Pete
 
I created a Facebook account many years ago, but I almost never use it. It quickly became obvious that Facebook is a great way to waste a lot of time (something that my wife demonstrates daily).

A key point to remember is that these platforms are called 'social media' because the exist primarily for socialization. Facebook was created as a way for college students to talk among themselves, and today the only difference is that the demographic has broadened to include almost all segments of society. So it's totally uncurated chatter, which may create the illusion of community, but it has limitations in many other areas. Most importantly, because it's uncurated, it's essentially a platform for gossip, so it should not be treated as a source of good information.

I do agree with Rob, however, that Instagram may have some redeeming social value. I have an Instagram page, and I post a photograph every day. I don't discuss anything with anything - just post a daily picture. Those who are interested can look; those who are not can do something else.
 
Deactivated my fb and Instagram account a few months ago. When I had an account, i did purchase pen stuff from there twice but didn't like paying through fb. I am sure i'm in the minority though.
 
studioseven said:
I rarely look on facebook. However, I respect your work so much that I expect to visit more often. With that said, is there a way that I would be notified whenever a new post is added on your facebook site?
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I think you would only know if you click to "follow" and check your new feed, but I could be wrong and maybe someone here can educate us both.

I appreciate all of the input, and corrected the typos. lol I've never been great at proofreading my own stuff. I was told about Instagram and will eventually learn more about it. Since I don't directly sell my products but instead sell through Exoticblanks, I was hoping to use it as an informational tool to update customers and followers of new things coming out. At this time I don't really spend any time on FB so I guess only time will tell if I keep it up or not. Thanks Again
 
I like what you are doing John, and feel for those like you that need to explore social media to grow your business.

After staying off of Facebook for 3 years, I recently (4 weeks ago) started to see what my contacts have been up too (Segmenting stuff and checking on Ernie Borraga). I was appalled. I won't comment further. I again will take a 3 year hiatus... :(.

I will support positive folks, I will support positive threads, I will ignore negative stuff... just me.
 
JohnU said:
I think you would only know if you click to "follow" and check your new feed, but I could be wrong and maybe someone here can educate us both.

I appreciate all of the input, and corrected the typos. lol I've never been great at proofreading my own stuff. I was told about Instagram and will eventually learn more about it. Since I don't directly sell my products but instead sell through Exoticblanks, I was hoping to use it as an informational tool to update customers and followers of new things coming out. At this time I don't really spend any time on FB so I guess only time will tell if I keep it up or not. Thanks Again
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Like I said, I don't have much experience with Facebook. Took me a little while to find the follow button. Thank You.

Seven
 
I did that way back when.... and boy did my hobby become very UN-Fun. I make things on my own accord now. If I have some surplus I may sell them... but don't go out of my way to do so. The only thing I kinda sell... is pens for preachers and missionaries... and that is pretty much at cost. And usually someone else is sponsoring the cost.
 
Facebook/Instagram/TikTok... it all becomes necessary these days for branding, etc if you really want to promote yourself. I'm lucky since my wife runs most of our social media stuff but I tend to field most of the messages that come in. Just keeping up with those can be darn near a full time job. I've had to start keeping notes on what folks ask for and what I've promised to make sure I don't forget them. I know all about being copied though...

The trick really is to be active if you're going to get the use out of the Facebook and Instagram stuff. You can post to your page and then share that in the various pen groups. If you're looking to sell products I'd advise getting a shopify store and linking it to Instagram and Facebook. That way you can sell direct from those platforms and still tie it into a proper fulfillment system that makes it super easy to ship, etc. Some people make a go at selling direct in Facebook groups but it seems like such a time consuming process and I'd rather be making stuff than having to try and keep up with messages, posts, etc... Just click the buy button and I'll be able to go through my orders and ship them quickly.

For me this isn't a hobby though... it's the family business. We've doubled sales every year for the past 3 years and I'm sure being active in the various groups has been a big part of that. Ultimately it comes down to what your goals with your blank making are I suppose.
 
@JohnU I think I've sold more of my hardware kits through Facebook Groups (Pen Turning Supplies, Pen Turning, Pen Makers, etc..), than anywhere else. I think these are more effective at outreach than a dedicated facebook page for your shop though a different audience for sure. IMO selling through Facebook Marketplace is a total nightmare. Inquiries come through Messenger and there is really no way to track them, payment is any way you want, sales tax isn't charged, and there really isn't any accountability for buyer or seller. I refer inquiries to my Etsy or me fee free MyEBooth storefront whenever I can because I just don't want to deal with Marketplace.

Instagram can certainly work for marketing, but the algorithm favors"influencers" so it does take a lot of work and frequent posts to get seen by strangers. I you do instagram to do it and sales come from that, so be it - which is kinda where I am.

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