Are you following HT1

I'm just wondering, if no one or a lot are not, perhaps I should bring more of my Facebook posts over here, I've moved most of my build and casting results to facebook for my customers and followers there

Thanks in advance

V/r HT1

 

I joined fb briefly a few years ago when it was the thing to do, and made a few posts, but those who know me know that I say what I think, and that always leads to a permaban, or multiple permabans.
So after a short stint, I got off of fb, and decided I had made enough enemies to last a lifetime just by getting onto forums.

So about a month ago, someone posted a picture of me during one of my iron pours, and people started asking me about it.
I decided to join fb using a fake name and psuedo email address (a working address, but under a spoof name, and still appears in my regular email inbox).
I got onto fb, saw my photo, looked at a lot of photos from people I had not seen for a while, and some I forgot I had known.
FB knows who you have known in your entire lifetime, and so you seen all the "people you may know" posted at the bottom of your screen.
Very very creepy I must say.

But I did not post anything on FB, and had no plans to ever post on FB, but rather just to look and observe.

About a week later, I get this ominous email from FB saying they were suspicious of me, and needed a closeup full-faced photo sent to them right away (I shit you not).
Needless to say, I did not send anything to FB, and so my account was disabled.

So much for FB.
And you know what I think FB can go do to themselves.

I am on GAB now.
No censorship there, and you can speak your mind without fear of a permaban.

I also run my own forum for steam engines, and so I have a permaban-free zone I can retreat to if I get myself into too much trouble, or if others decide my water is too hot for me.

So to make a long story long, no, I am not on fb and can't/won't get back on it.
Been there, done that, tried, didn't work, won't ever try it again.

 

The Zuck is Zucked! Zuck him!

 

I do. I've shared several of your posts as well.

 

I'm same as David, look now and then but don't follow.
I get much more from you on the forums.

 

Because your options didn't cover it: no facebook and no tinfoil hat, just haven't had a use for it.

 

Every time I use Facebook, I say to myself " I don't get it"
So, I don't use it much.

 

I ditched Facebook after an Australian programmer discovered around 8 persistent cookies (always active in the browser) that, when used together, identified you and persistently tracked every website you visited, even when facebook was not being used by your browser.

 

well the results are telling if not surprising... I've been debating opening my own website so I can land traffic there... I'm trepidatious about it for 2 reasons, it's a recurring cost I have no control over, and it's one more thing to keep me out of the foundry.
I hear conflicting things from Marketing types, My how to's and How I do it posts don't interest average shoppers, but are extremely popular with High end shoppers that want to Justify big price tags. I'm still Fighting business issues (gov reg and taxes) so trying to stay hobbyist for one more year. In this day and age I have no idea how anyone starts a Business requiring capital from scratch.

I never really thought you all cared much about my end products as much as How I get there. I've been told already I should take that to youtube, but I cannot afford the time sink of producing video. an occasional video of me pouring about all I have time for and those would definitely improve with editing

Thanks for the input guys

V/r HT1

 

It's possible to keep control over your website without too much trouble: two things you need are a domain name and a web hosting company. So long as you keep control of the domain name (paid in your name) you can always host your website wherever and with whoever you want. If you're reasonably computer savvy, you can create the web pages yourself if they are nothing too fancy and even embed a few Youtube videos of the process in the pages. I doubt you want a fully fledged E-commerce setup with credit card facilities so the website can be simple, sort of an online brochure of what you do. A lot of web designers go berserk to try and justify their fee and the website ends up looking like a late night TV infomercial.

 

Shit man if you are worried about website cost let me put your mind at ease. I just renewed my domain name and service for my site for the next year.. Less than a 100bucks. I haven't made a penny from my site, but for that price, who cares. It's hard to beat free FB, but people today dont f with bookface anymore. Its Instagram and Twitter. Both of which I dont use either. I believe a proper website is step one for any business. It's the foundation for your online presence and you can branch out from there with whatever social media is hot at the time. And I HATE social media. Just YT for me and you guys are lucky I let you see my ugly mug on there. I spend zero time working on my sucky website, but it's good enough to show the average clown I exist. Traffic across it is actually decent, now if only I could find some time to cast some damn expensive lanterns I'd be home free.

 

Like you did not just state my entire concern, I do Not want to get so tied up in Running a business, I cannot cast anything, years ago, i found that to be the issue, and I went and Got a real job. now i'm back to casting and having moderate success... Dis the F@cebook all you want it averages me a couple of sales a week , and the way I do it no one gets a cut , not their Market place , that is a terrible scam to separate you from your Money. I have sold maybe 3 items on Ebay EVER, so that is a no go, I've considered Etsy, they will report your gross earnings, so you have to go stupid bookwork, and get an accountant. which means I work hard Uncle sam and the accountant get rich while lounging in an office chair . I'm leaning towards shopify, but it has the same issue as etsy. I think seting up a web page and domain might be the way to go . any suggestions???


V/r HT1

 

avoid etsy... i have etsy, it sucks and they have gotten greedy. wix.com for a website. if fb is getting a couple sales a week then keep it.

Running a website is a no brainer. Build it up as you go. Skip the market place setups if you can. An hr her and there and before you know it, there you are. Use a template, pick 5 main pages, add photos and contact info some where. And link to your yr and fb. Easy. look at my website for an example. It was really simple to build. www.handcraftedlanterns.com

 

Make sure to find a reputable domain name registry company, I made the mistake of using Godaddy (reputable sounding name right?) to register www.unamit.com for a friend's website. He neglected to pay the registration fees after it was paid up for two years in advance and the instant the fee lapsed, a third party company had it registered and wanted USD$6000 to "sell" it. I just did a "whois" online check of the domain and it's back in the hands of Godaddy with client delete, renew, transfer and update functions prohibited. You can make a case to get it back with the ultimate domain authority: ICANN but it would cost money and time to do. So fast forward a few more years and my friend mentions his website stopped working and again, he didn't pay the registration fees and this time the company involved just let us pay the fee a few weeks late and the website was working again.

In my friend's defense he's not super computer literate and was ignoring several emails a year from companies that try to send you a invoice for $200 to take your domain registration away your current company that charges you $10 a year. Currently he's using iPage to host his website with no complaints on a budget plan of about $50 a year for a basic website with matching email addresses. The website gets about 300 unique visitors/month.

So: do some internet searches on the domain registry you're planning on using, a few internet searches would have identified companies that "steal" your interesting/valuable domain name: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=godaddy+stole+my+domain&t=canonical&atb=v139-7__&ia=web

Make sure the domain is registered in your name and not theirs, that way if you're not happy with some outrageous fee increase after one year, you can move your domain registration to another company.

 

I used wordpress for my domain name. 18bucks a year. I can already see 2 of you hit my site yesterday.
The plan on wix I'm running is $60 a year. Mark is right.. Never EVER, EVER EVER let your domain expire. The scamming bastards will be on it like flys on shit to sell it back to you. Imagine getting to hold names like Coke, Ford or CarInsurance.com hostage for someone forgetting to pay their annual 20bucks. (That last one is worth about 50mil)
My crappy site is only worth about 200bucks, but THF is worth about the same. Gotta have something to do with the name or .org I don't get it...
David probably gets a better rate for the .org and he parlays that into storage space for our junk.

 

If you are getting sales from FB stay there

I find FB poorly done, clunky, bad code, a legacy of its dorm room origins, it infuriates me

One small example hitting return in messenger sends the message instead of inserting a line break, that would have been a failed assignment in my FORTRAN class

I think by now we all realize that there is and likely never was any privacy, so I don't worry how stalky/creepy it is , go ahead to use it to make money if you can

My wifes website has been up for almost 2 decades and the hard part is to get near the top of search engines without paying

Her sales are all from the website and very rare ones from FB

For the things you make don't forget old school mail order

Why not try some ads in the back of military/veterans magazines?

 

I'll be putting up a website ASAP... $$$ tight, and directing traffic there from Facebook Instagram and pint rest. Military and veterans Magazine adds are Stupidly expensive . looked into that early, even Base Rags want a Months wage for a Small add that wont net me enough business to cover the cost

V/r HT1

 

A lot of physical print media is circling the plughole: barely profitable or making a loss. Nine years ago, I used to advertise in my local free newspaper for about 1/3rd of my new business, then they doubled the price in short time. They more or less folded and became a thin brochure printed in another town and trucked here to be placed in stores instead of delivered to every household. I don't think they even have classified ads, just puff pieces talking up events and businesses.

 

Direct mail (yes, US Postal Service) to American Legion and VFW posts as well as other service related organizations at the club level might bear some fruit. Just a 4x6 postcard with a full color picture on one side and a link to whatever your online presence is could be enough to reach at least some of your market. Not a lot of $$$ and precision targeted. A handwritten address and an appealing photo will get your postcard at least looked at instead of thrown directly in the trash. You can start off small with 25 or 30 clubs you know to be especially active (and there are many).
Just something to think about.

Pete