Web Site Launch Helped By Task 1

Time to reflect on my first FDSM Task. To be honest I think this task was the one that got me really hooked into social media. When I started researching web sites with online jewellery sales I was amazed to find that 1/3 of them were not engaging with social media at all. Most of the others were just dabbling (as I was) with Face Book and Twitter. However, some of the big names were getting into it seriously.It was Fossil, the watch, jewellery, clothes and accessories company that caught my eye as they were very actively developing relationships with their customers. Looking closely at all their customer communications I found that Face Book, Twitter, You Tube and Pinterest had the most activity. I was also interested to find that they were using Twitter as a customer query and complaints interface so that they had instant access to deal with any problems. Point to self - speedy response to customers is a high priority.

I really liked their blog as it was full of interesting and beautiful photos, with not too much writing. It also surprised me that there was very little selling done. Their blog was there to interest and engage customers - not to sell to them. Point to self - make my Chrissie Designs Jewellery blog interesting and about the amazing coincidences/experiences I am having on my journey developing my new business.

Finally, I discovered their Life-Style page with over 60 photos and links. This particularly interested me as not only did it give them a second bite at the cherry to promote things like their Blog and You Tube videos, it also linked to other people's blogs, photos, web sites. This promotion of other businesses was something I had never seen before in this way. It made for a novel and interesting page which for me highlighted the fact that their web site was not just about them and their products. Note to self - nice touch for the future on my web site.

Through undertaking this task I also discovered web analysis and the graphs behind FaceBook etc. Very interesting - Note to self - look at analysis for my web site. Having just this week launched my web site

www.chrissiedesignsjewellery.co.uk

This task could not have come at a better time!

So what did I learn from this first task and what actions has it prompted?

1. Varied Social Media platforms are important on a web site to develop relationships and increase traffic to the site. Action: Communicate on Twitter & Face Book every day at least once
2. The importance of web analysis Action: Research web analysis tools
3. Don't use Social Media to sell, just develop relationships with people Action: Create an interesting Blog that engages people to talk about their experiences in life
4. You can have instant contact with customers and respond to their queries / problems immediately to keep relationships positive. It is also good for other people to see how well you are responding to any problems/issues. Action: make my Twitter & Face Book pages more business rather than personally focused.
5. A Life Style page gives you lots of opportunities to link to and promote other people's blogs, photos and web sites. This allows you to develop a more interesting web site that will engage more people and increase the flow of traffic. Action: Develop a list of blogs, web sites and photos of things I like and develop my own Life Style page.

Think that's enough to be going on with for now!