Revisiting Facebook

analytics shows facebook gets the most clicks followed by twitter (which is very small) and then goog.

facebook 122
twitter 22
goog 2

something like that, when the last time it was that i found where that was and looked at it.

can't say i'm getting buyers from there though.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I don't proactively look for nor invite friends (strangers) to my facebook site so I got Zero visits to my site via facebook, until now, using my fb credentials to log onto other sites to comment on. The inability to tell if fb or any other method to your site is buying is not the fault of those other sites but in how we are not able to see the final stop to each sale. And given that, all I can ask for is more traffic, where the sales from, whichever path they take, the subway, by air, by car, by chuckwagon across the prairies, I am not able to see anyway. Strangely enough, my traffic is the exact opposite of yours Mike (before I started my fb ventures), Google was the only real traffic I got. -W

I guess I'm not understanding how your doing this unless your main page is your business page. I use facebook a lot. My problem is if I logged in on another site using my FB login, it uses my personal page instead of my photography page that I manage.

I don't like to look or invite people to my page either. But one issue I have with FB the past few months is the changes they've made to business pages. Used to, the majority of followers would see my photography page postings if they logged in that day or so. But now, FB doesn't let everyone following see the posts anymore unless you pay to boost it. It's been a pain ever since they made that change. I guess they have to make their millions some how.

Jennifer, I have a fb page strickly for my art and photography https://www.facebook.com/wingsdomain.artphotography, it also has it's own business page which is needed if you intend to link faa's fb app. I login to other sites to comment using this fb page, and anyone who picks my avatar/name from the comment will be taken to my strictly art and photography fb page. -W

I always find the "Facebook Factor" interesting. Most feel like Wings and Mike, that it has little or no effect on sales. I on the other hand, saw an immediate HUGE increase in sales when I began sharing my aviation and automotive art on fan/group pages that are interested in those categories. I went from selling one or two large prints a week, to averaging one or two a day As they say on infomercials though..."your results may vary". What is most interesting is, almost no sales come from my FB art/Photography page. I have developed so many friendships and commissioned sales through my personal page, that I rarely even post on my art page. Even the people that follow me and can't afford my work, share my images all over the world and have become nearly 1500 "agents" for me and my FAA links. They are often doing the leg work and steering people to either FAA or me personally, regarding prints while I'm offline working. It's really the ONLY avenue for marketing I currently use, so I have nothing to compare it to. All I can say is Facebook works for me, way more than I work for Facebook.

-Peter

Thanks Peter, I'll have to give FB fan/group pages a try. I've never explored fb other than to build up my own fb page, but ever since my fb traffic to my www.wingsdomain.com website increased after using fb credentials to log into other websites to comment, my enthusiasm for fb has been reborn. Still don't know if any of that fb traffic will increase sales, but any traffic is good traffic. And your fb fan/group page is worth a try. -W

Well, with 85 views from fb to my www.wingsdomain.com page, those 85 views have just broken my previous views record set just 2 days ago when I first started using fb logon credentials for other sites to comment on. And I still have 7 hours before the day is over here in the West Coast. FWIW, a dozen of those fb to www.wingsdomain.com views have clicked through to my artistwebsites page. What they do from there, no one knows! I know if the links from my fb page go directly to my artistwebsites page, instead of hopping to www.wingsdomain.com first, that that would take them directly to where I need them to be in the first place. But for now, I'm leaving the fb links to my www.wingsdomain.com page so that my www.wingsdomain.com site can have the traffic and internet recognition and perhaps increase google rankings. They will just have to click all the way through from fb to www.wingsdomain.com to artistwebsites. So far, from my limited data, about 15% have done so. -W

Hmm ... I've seen those log-in boxes that include asking you if you want to use FB to comment ... I've never used them ... was always afraid they'd raid my follower's names and email addresses and start spamming. But if I can do the logging in via my business account versus my personal FB account ... it might be worth giving it a spin. Thanks for the idea!!! : ))

Yea, I've tried to stay away from fb in the past because they track your every move worse than the CIA and KGB. But that's the cost of creating an internet identity these days. Having a strictly business fb page makes it less obtrusive. But be careful what you comment on and what comments you make being logged in with your business fb credentials, it won't affect your personal page and life, but it will affect your business page and business persona, and potential sales. Use professional restraint as I know you do anyhow, but I had to train myself to do so! :-D -W

Oh, I hear ya. And I never comment around under the business name. Am pretty tight-lipped even under the personal umbrella. Well, extremely so, actually.

So I ended up with 112 click throughs from FB to my www.wingsdomain.com website yesterday. And from that, 15 click throughs from FB to www.wingsdomain.com to my artistwebsites page, that's just over 13%. Not bad for about half a dozen online comments that I would have made regardless. -W

I have a FB page strictly as my business page to, but my personal page is used as administrator. I manage 3 different pages for 3 companies and they all require me to log in with my personal account. Sounds like you just have a basic page that you log into. I had to create all 3 business pages, and they all required I used my personal log in to create them. How did you set yours up?

I do post to a FAA Group occasionally. Thanks for the info Peter. Maybe I should post there more often. I do think that there is more image theft on FB so that's why I don't post too much of my FAA work there, but I do some. I post more of portraits on my FB page. I'll try posting more to the groups and see what happens.

I'm not sure what you have set up. But all I did was create an account on fb normally and just use it only for my art and photography image posts, nothing else, no family photos, no pet shots, no embarrassing drunken moment photos, just my art and photography photos that link back to my www.wingsdomain.com website. If you need to, just create a new fb account and use it strictly for your art. -W

Ok, that's what I thought. You have a personal type page that you've made your business page. You have friends and not followers. I have a business FB page and those require management by a personal page. Your idea is probably better, because there are a lot of draw backs to business pages. For example, I can't join groups under my business page. I have to do it under my personal page. Then, in order for me to share a FAA link to a group, I have to do it under my personal account, visit my business page, and then share the post to the group. Otherwise it just sends people to my personal page which I try to keep for friends only. It's pretty annoying. Several have complained to FB so hoping they correct this soon.

How do you search for groups in FB? I pick the section "Groups" from the left side and it brings me to a page that only have options for "Suggested Groups", "Friend's Groups", "Local Groups", and "Your Groups". Is there a Groups search function? -W

All of my online sales (admittedly, not a whole lot) were from Facebook posts. I belong to town groups as well as photography groups and it is from the town pages that the sales come from. Just got a sale today as a matter of fact-the Doors of Bordentown-after posting my FAA site on Bordentown's page. My views went up a lot as well this past week due to posting it.
People keep complaining how Facebook does nothing for them, but it is all in how you use it. Just putting your work on your own page doesn't really work for most people. Join groups, understanding if you can "sell" or not and keep active within them.

Louise, how do you search for groups? Per my post just above yours:

"I pick the section "Groups" from the left side and it brings me to a page that only have options for "Suggested Groups", "Friend's Groups", "Local Groups", and "Your Groups". Is there a Groups search function?"

-W

Stick with anything FREE using Facebook....I've tried their paid ads enough to know they pad the numbers and cheat. Very few sales become of it because I believe you do not actually get the hits they say you do. An ad will finish and say I got 55 link clicks (directly to the image I am promoting on FAA), but the FAA analytics only show 3. Something fishy. So I don't give them any money anymore.

Wings, to search for FaceBook groups:

1. Type keyword in search box at top left of page and run the search.

2. When list of results shows, click 'More' tab from the menu just below the search box, and choose 'Groups'.

3. Voila -- groups!

Hells knows if I'm doing the right things here, on Facebook with the groups it makes no difference for me, I've seen a few views on my FB page and on FAA but no sales, my friend also has a FB page and sells on FAA but is struggling to sell.

Been chatting to someone from here and he thinks UK sellers may have to do things a bit differently, I've been looking for months how to get my work out in the UK more but this is so difficult.

I'm not sure and I'm still looking into this, some of my work like my farming and wildlife is more documentary with the rest being more art so it becomes a problem where do I advertise with the different types, I've done the stock thing as some of you know and the payouts are not worth nothing to me, I always look to advertise in others ways but this is a bit too much sometimes, i feel that Facebook good for certain types of photography, if you advertise wedding so on, another friend does weddings and portraits and is always working, i think wildlife and the other things i do is much slower.

Had someone pass my work on to advertise in a FB group but nothing as of yet, with Twitter i have a good following and the bird photography does well but no sales leading from this.

Sometimes i get that feeling that I'm going round and around in circles but can't seem to pull out of them lol with trying to sell work.

@Sharon -- the Internet is FULL of info about the proliferation of 'click farms'.



If you pay for it, they will click!

Thanks Wendy, will give that a try. -W

Here's today's tally so far with 7 hours left on the day here in the West Coast:

82 clicks from FB to my www.wingsdomain.com website
14 clicks from FB to my www.wingsdomain.com website to my artistwebsites page

Same time yesterday:

85 ""
12 ""



-W

Yup...stick with FREE!

I do a similar thing as Peter but only on LInkedIn ... No longer on Facebook.

https://m.facebook.com/help/contact/268228883256323
For those of you that have a FB business page go to the link above & suggest adding the feature that allows business pages to join groups such as FAA. Currently only your personal page can join. I noticed several are trying to push this change.

If they make this change, then Wingsdomain idea would also work for our business pages.

"Louise, how do you search for groups?"

Basically, just search what you might be interested in just like Google.

"I do a similar thing as Peter but only on LInkedIn"
And I don't think I even get looks from anyone at LinkedIn. I post updates if I have new work uploaded. I've never seen an upward boost in views after.

Well this will be the final message on this topic. I looked at my FB page about 15 minutes ago and had about 128 visitors. I just went back about 5 minutes ago and FB is now saying my FB needs to be a page and will not let me log in unless I turn it into a (business) page and assign it to another FB real person account. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. I will close this topic now so no one else tries this approach. -W

EDIT: We've seem to have found a way to make this work, see http://pixels.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2743391