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Post by mountaindweller on Nov 11, 2015 16:19:50 GMT -5
I haven't posted for a very long time here! I am very busy propagating plants, lots of them and selling.
Now I have a question, and yes, I am born in this century....
I have got a website with all the descriprtion of each and every plant, now people say that a website has to
have a connection with social media like facebook, twitter, google+, pintrest and Instagram.
I am on facebook every now and then (so at least I know how it looks like. First: is all this social media stuff of any help?
I mean it is a lot of work being connected to that. Does it mean that I have my own facebook page or that I post in groups?
What does it mean that a page is linked to all these social media sites? And once more is it worthwhile? (I am really born in this century)!
BTW my experiences selling planbts:
1. people don't care about how old the pots are
2. people want variety and more variety
3. people want information lots of it
4. people don't want to carry too big plants around
5. everyone wants French tarragon
Nr 2 and 3 are the most important (that means a lot of writing singns, laminating....)
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 11, 2015 16:44:09 GMT -5
I was born last century, but the older I get the more I wish that I wasn't. I use fewer and fewer modern communication and selling techniques the older I get...
I used to use a facebook group dedicated to my garden. It was a wonderful way to communicate with people that use facebook. A post on Friday evening would alert people to what I was taking to the farmer's market the next day. People would show up asking for those things. It generated a lot of direct sales. The problem with it was the spying... The powers that be seem to view growing or selling plants as an act of bio-terrorism. Because facebook is so popular it is therefore one of the most important sites to spy on.
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Post by jondear on Nov 11, 2015 16:44:18 GMT -5
If I ever actually get to marketing the produce and or seeds I produce, you can bet I'm going to use social media as one form of advertising.
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Post by mountaindweller on Nov 11, 2015 18:37:53 GMT -5
Both answers were sort of funny! Well, not the spying, it is scary (but I still try to get some humour out of this. Did you have some real problems with that?
A lot of sales means that I link my website with a page on facebook.... or do I use local facebook groups around similar interests? What is the difference between having a facebook page and simply write stuff in a blog?
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Post by rowan on Nov 11, 2015 20:26:32 GMT -5
I am on a lot of gardening and permaculture groups on Facebook. I find that if you are regularly contributing to the groups you are in by offering advice etc then they are happy to let you occasionally sell plants. There are also a lot of regional plant buy, swap and sell groups that I earn a fair amount on by offering plants and seeds. Facebook is great for selling.
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Post by templeton on Nov 11, 2015 20:42:39 GMT -5
MD,
selling on the net is a whole new universe.
Is your webpage your primary means of marketing, or is a place to send your pre-existing customers to - a sort of online catalog?
If you want your page to show up in searches by random customers you've never met before, then social media is a must - One strategy search engines use is to count the number of references or links throughout the web to your page - the more times it's linked, the higher up the search results you get.So getting lots of links all over the net is worthwhile - it's also a pile of work.Then there are the tags on your page, and advert payments, and a whole lot of stuff I don't even begin to know about. For a bit of fun, and some interesting insights have a look at lazy ass stoner on youtube.
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Post by mountaindweller on Nov 11, 2015 20:58:22 GMT -5
That sounds actually good. If I am contributing to the groups they might simply get in touch with me. do you post your plants around? I find that sending plants around is a pain, especially as Australia post just upped their fees. We are climatically on an island. There are a few places in Australia with similar cool climate, but then I would have to post plants around.
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Post by mountaindweller on Nov 11, 2015 21:17:17 GMT -5
I just had a look at facebook - it seems that the people around here are not so much into it!
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Post by templeton on Nov 11, 2015 21:26:08 GMT -5
I have trouble using FB - I'm not a native user, and find it clunky and awkward.
I don't post plants, too much trouble. seeds are burdensome enough.
Whereabouts are you, mountaindweller?
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Post by rowan on Nov 11, 2015 23:52:23 GMT -5
I don't post plants very often because of the hassle and post costs but when I advertise plants locally either people come to collect or wait till I can do a bulk order in a town I am going to be visiting soon. I also have a good response when I advertise that I will be at a market and I can take plants for people to pick up there.
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Post by richardw on Nov 12, 2015 0:14:27 GMT -5
To me i find that the larger mainstream FB gardening groups are mostly dedicated to inexperienced novice growers, there for i get easily bored with endless posts from people posting photos of first carrots, radishes or what ever they've ever grown..(though no disrespect for anyone giving it a go.. and good on them too..) ,but, instead when it comes to social media i'm more into the private local groups which some of ive started on FB based around developing landrace varieties, i like these as its easy to share seeds, plus easy to visit each other. I know my post has gone somewhat off topic as you mountaindweller were more asking about selling via social media, but i reckon the problem with social media is that it costs, and its this cost verse its returns that you need to evaluate, its hard to say if its worth it because the more encyclopedic the likes of FB becomes the harder it become to advertise your wares. |
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Post by mountaindweller on Nov 23, 2015 16:59:56 GMT -5
It cost but 'only' your time, not money. Yes it is boring. (Here I can only ask and not really contribute!)
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Post by taihaku on Dec 3, 2015 5:29:08 GMT -5
For those growing more unusual plants, I'd recommend ebay as a marketing tool. In my quest for hardy bananas, gingers and also for permaculture/agroforestry plants I've come across a good few sellers in the UK who are doing things like buying seeds of plants they want in bulk to get good deals and then selling on seedlings or offsetting the cost of an unusual plant by propagating cuttings and selling on. The beauty is having done the ad copy once you can just keep repeating. Things like Bocking 14 comfrey always seem to be on there at what I would call a fair price for both parties. Obviously you're into the realms of postage and so on too but its another good option and a way to reach customers. I've also seen people in the UK offering punnets of rare fruit via ebay - check this out www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Medlars-Fruit-1-kilo-/151878183607?hash=item235ca52ab7:g:KikAAOSwu-BWPlMq |
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jocundi
gopher
Tinkering with fruits and veggies in Eastern Boreal Forest on Canadian Shield.
Posts: 28 
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Post by jocundi on Apr 3, 2016 10:15:04 GMT -5
I think what's attractive is the ability to connect blog to fb to twitter etc. So you post once and it appears throughout, so you save time and reach people in whatever their favourite channels are. This does not guarantee that you're targeted or talking to the right people, just expanding your reach.
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Post by mountaindweller on Jun 9, 2016 23:33:02 GMT -5
Ebay works really well. I don't like ebay. The look of the page and everything, and of course they charge, but it works well. Ebay reaches simply a LOT of people. The back side is there is a lot of fraud at ebay. Strawberry seeds of all strange colours and unbelievable sizes. Seeds which has been imported via alibaba and are most unlikely to be viable, but there are as well good people out there. Further down the road I must say that i don't like Facebook. I really have to kick myself in the butt to even look into it. Facebook IS boring. Every day (when I don't look into facebook) I promise myself to get better at that..... mountainherbs.net/ |
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