Why Ballyhoo?

One day I decided it was time to expand my audience and get my products out to the world. The internet was there so why not use it as a resource. I thought it would be as simple as putting the photos and descriptions out there and people would flock to my wares. Right? Wrong.

I set up pages and started trying to build a network and to get people to buy from me. I joined every WAHM (Work at home mum) website and forum, 'liked' and joined pages

for pages similar to mine and began posting, tweeting and updating

statuses driven by the want to succeed.

And- nothing happened.

I got some followers, but it didn't translate into sales. I tried to find out how other running pages like mine were promoting themselves to no avail. I acknowledged every comment or like on my pages, and again nothing. Unsure what I was doing wrong, I began to cross promote each of my pages through my other pages. I didn't even realise I was spamming my potential marketing network.

One day I got a message from a friend “Don't be offended but I'm removing your pages from my news feed. I love your stuff, but there are just too many messages. If anything happens or you make something new you think I need to know about email me the info!”

This led to an epiphany, which was that I didn't know what I was doing. I was exhausted from all the tweeting, updating and posting, friend requesting, joining and liking and it had gotten me nowhere. The networking forums and sites did nothing but get people to 'like' my page with no further interactions.

Confused, I closed my pages temporarily and observed. How often people posted. What they posted. The things that my friends and I took notice of and the things we got rid of from our news feeds, notifications and messages without reading.

I re-opened my page and applied everything I had observed and it worked! Patience is key.

I want to use those observations to help others avoid the frustration and self doubt I went through. Social media marketing is not as easy as you think it will be, but it doesn't have to be hard either.