Facebook Page.... Should I Or Shouldn't I

Business By Ashleyssweetdesigns Updated 3 Sep 2011 , 9:17pm by Kiddiekakes

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 1:43am
post #1 of 27

I've been contemplating starting a FB page to see if it can bring in some business. I want to feedback from people who actually have one to see if the effort of putting it together is worth it. I would hate to waste my time on something that might be useless. Any advice would be helpful!

26 replies
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yummy_in_my_tummy Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:13am
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I have a FB page and I love it. I have 140 "fans", and I've only been in business officially since April. I post tons of stuff, whatevers going on with orders, I do a poll every month for my next months Gourmet Flavor and I get a lot of feedback on my page. You can customize your page to add a reviews tab and all kinds of stuff. Definately a must have.

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:14am
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have you gotten alot of business from it???

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fsinger84 Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:16am
post #4 of 27

They are totally worth it. I only spend a few minutes on mine a day and it only took maybe 1.5 hours to set up.

I only have 650 fans but I get a lot of business from it since I do not have a storefront (only do the farmers market for now). I have all my pro pics on there and a photo of my ordering stuff. I also post a few times through the week and put up my weekly flavor info and put photos up of special orders.

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fsinger84 Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:17am
post #5 of 27

To get members invite all of your friends and ask a few close friends or family members to invite their friends as well.

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jason_kraft Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:18am
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Personally I think a FB page is redundant if you already have your own web site up and running. I created a simple shell page for my business with a brief overview of our business and a link to our real web site. You can even add a FB "like" button to your non-FB web site to take advantage of link propagation via social media.

Yelp and Google Places have generated far more traffic (and paying customers) than FB.

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:19am
post #7 of 27

Cool! thnx for the advice... maybe I will try it.

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:22am
post #8 of 27

Whats Yelp and Google Places?

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jason_kraft Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:30am
post #9 of 27

Yelp is an independent review site, and Google Places is a search engine that helps people find, contact and visit local businesses.

http://www.yelp.com
http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=143059&rd=1

Google Places is especially valuable since it automatically ties in with any google search that mentions a place near you, and rates your business higher in the search results as a result. Both are free, and both also offer paid ads to help draw more business (Yelp ads or Google AdWords).

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 2:32am
post #10 of 27

Wow great thnx! I'll try that too!

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Tails Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 9:38am
post #11 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft

Personally I think a FB page is redundant if you already have your own web site up and running.




Not true. Its quick to update clients/fans right to their fb page which, lets be honest, most people check every day, or even more likely, multiple times a day.

How often are people going to view your website for updates unless they're needing something. Even if they dont need anything, seeing updates on their FB keeps you top of mind, and is good for marketing.

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jason_kraft Posted 1 Sep 2011 , 9:47am
post #12 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tails

Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft

Personally I think a FB page is redundant if you already have your own web site up and running.



Not true. Its quick to update clients/fans right to their fb page which, lets be honest, most people check every day, or even more likely, multiple times a day.

How often are people going to view your website for updates unless they're needing something. Even if they dont need anything, seeing updates on their FB keeps you top of mind, and is good for marketing.



You're right that FB can used to push out updates about your business...but we use Twitter for this instead, which I've found is better suited to this specific purpose (letting followers know about new stuff happening with your business). Incorporating hashtags in your twitter feed also allows for greater exposure beyond your direct followers, especially if you are operating in a niche market.

In any case, you don't need to spend a lot of time on your business's FB page if you are just using it for updates, it can just be a shell that links to your real web site.

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Annabakescakes Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 6:09am
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I have almost 500 likes on my page, (in 2 months) and it generates business constantly. Friends of friends of the bride's baby's daddy's cousins uncle, twice removed have contacted me for a cake, lol.

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mcaulir Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 6:16am
post #14 of 27

From a customer's perspective, I see sites that friends of mine have 'liked' and often go and check them out. Especially if they're local friends. So even if your friends only 'like' your page because of their connection to you, someone else might be looking for your service

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jillyscakes Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 6:50am
post #15 of 27

I started my FB page about 6 weeks ago and am still learning but I have found that other cake makers who get requests out of their area often will refer customer to another maker they have met on FB so its a good all round. icon_biggrin.gif

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 11:40am
post #16 of 27

Cool! Thnx for all the feedback. I love this thread!

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allycatt Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 12:28pm
post #17 of 27

I think a FB page is a great idea. I have a local cake company that is on the rise, featured on a cake show recently and now doing high profile customers. They got many followers by offering a free cake to the person who got the most "likes" on a photo. So I became a fan of their page to help out a friend who wanted the free cake. Because of that, their followers increased quickly. It was great word of mouth. I never knew of them before, now I've been down there twice this summer getting some of their yummy cupcakes!

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yummy_in_my_tummy Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 7:55pm
post #18 of 27

I've gotten a little bit of business directly from my FB page, and a TON of referrals, but I don't look at it as a money maker. I look at it as a way to stay in touch with my clients and make them see me as a "person" instead of just a "business". Viewing a website makes the client see your business, but doesn't give them an idea of who you are as a person. I believe that if people like who you are as a person, they are more likely to place their business with you, and refer you to their friends and family icon_smile.gif

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mariacakestoo Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 8:06pm
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Be careful with contests, if you do it wrong, you'll get your page shut down. And you don't want to look desperate either, because a lot of people will unlike your page as soon as they know you aren't going to give them something for free.

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jason_kraft Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 8:12pm
post #20 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by yummy_in_my_tummy

Viewing a website makes the client see your business, but doesn't give them an idea of who you are as a person.



There's nothing stopping you from putting information about yourself on your non-FB web site, in fact I've seen several home bakeries that include info about the owner prominently on the front page.

On the other hand, if you want to make your site appear more professional, it's difficult to do that with a FB page.

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mandyloo Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 8:19pm
post #21 of 27

Speaking strictly as a customer, I love it when local businesses have facebook pages. I am more likely to see any new news or specials if I've "Liked" them than remembering to frequently check their website, if they have one.

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yummy_in_my_tummy Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 8:19pm
post #22 of 27

Right. You can absolutely call your web designer, or log on yourself to have your website updated on a daily basis to let people know about what you're doing that day, or to post updated pictures from your phone of your recent order.

It's just a PITA, and in my opinion, using your regular website as your social media website is unprofessional. I choose to have both, so I look both professional with my website, and personable with my FB page.

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jason_kraft Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 9:33pm
post #23 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by yummy_in_my_tummy

It's just a PITA, and in my opinion, using your regular website as your social media website is unprofessional. I choose to have both, so I look both professional with my website, and personable with my FB page.



To clarify, I wasn't suggesting using your regular web site to post regular updates about your business, I agree that would be a PITA. Using FB strictly for business updates is certainly one solution, Twitter would also work (as discussed in the last page of posts on this thread).

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cakesbycathy Posted 2 Sep 2011 , 10:22pm
post #24 of 27

You absolutely should. GIven the influence of social media today, you are missing out on an excellent (and free!) source of advertising if you don't have a FB page.

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Ashleyssweetdesigns Posted 3 Sep 2011 , 3:44am
post #25 of 27

Well due to all the fabulous advice I started a fb page and an account with twitter and there both strictly professional!

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LenaMay Posted 3 Sep 2011 , 7:33pm
post #26 of 27

I love my FB page. I've only had my page for two weeks and I've got 41 followers. It's also gotten me three orders for September from people I've never met.

My only recommendation is not to post "updates" all of the time or your potential customers might delete you out of annoyance.

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Kiddiekakes Posted 3 Sep 2011 , 9:17pm
post #27 of 27

I have to agree with Jason-Kraft...My FB account has produced hardly any business.. yet my website is my main site and all my business comes from there.I've tried doing little contests...tag tuesday...doing little blurbs every week to post on my wall about ordering and my website...None of my friends on Facebook have ordered a cake at all...My stupid BIL even called last week to talk to my hubby and say.."No..I'm not calling to order a cake..I saw your facebook page"..Yadda Yadda Yadda.I said bluntly to him "Yah well you never have before so why would you now"..He went silent...what an idiot...I get way more business from returning customers and my website than facebook.I do agree that it can be very successful for some businesses and definetly should have one..

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