Why are offers only put on Facebook

[accdave]

Seems odd to think we are concerned about what our customers see on Facebook yet any of them who are really curious can find this forum and get advice, prices and trade secrets at the drop of a hat. How many times have we seen people join up ask a few questions then ride off in to the sunset collecting the money in their stetsons ?

[Ian M]

Seems odd to think we are concerned about what our customers see on Facebook yet any of them who are really curious can find this forum and get advice, prices and trade secrets at the drop of a hat. How many times have we seen people join up ask a few questions then ride off in to the sunset collecting the money in their stetsons ?

That's very true Dave & that is what my ex business partner did to me. He didn't know how to do dye sub or where to get the equipment or supplies from until he came on here. I'll keep a look out to see if he is wearing a stetson because, I soon found out what a cowboy he was.

[GoldRapt]

That's very true Dave & that is what my ex business partner did to me. He didn't know how to do dye sub or where to get the equipment or supplies from until he came on here. I'll keep a look out to see if he is wearing a stetson because, I soon found out what a cowboy he was.

Ouch, sounds like I wouldn't envy you Ian.

[Ian M]

Thanks Tony Thing is I can sleep easily at night I wonder if he can. I always wondered why he didn't seem to have any friends.

[mrs maggot]

are there not now settings on facebook where you can like something, but its not visible to all your freinds ?? i must say BMS / Dorotape and others with FB pages i tend not to "like" on facebook for the same reasons others have said. BMS do mail their offers, although whether we get them all mailed, i dont know.

I know they have pulled out of the scheme, but surely they could have a place where they could publish their newsletter on a weekly/monthly basis, in exchange for all the help they give on this forum - Martin often steps in to help, far more than other suppliers who only tend to help in their own place.

as for suppliers paying for the upkeep of the forum - lets not forget the £10 membership fee, which is being paid by more members

[pisquee]

I would think BMS benefit more than any of the other 'approved' suppliers, due to their high involvement in the forum itself - I would be very surprised if they didn't see a good correlation of sales to the amount of support they freely offer on here. For them it is probably better value to spend some time on here offering support, help and advice, rather than spending money on a more traditional advertising approach.

[bms]

...rather than spending money on a more traditional advertising approach.

You may be surprised how much we've spent on 'traditional' advertising over the past few years. Answer of course depends on how you define expenditure of course!

[pisquee]

I don't doubt it, but I think in terms of this forum, you are probably better off with being here as a friendly presence than paying to be an official supplier. You seem a lot more official in doing that, and I'm sure people buy from you as a direct result. It is a shame that other suppliers don't see the value in spending a bit of time here helping people out, but good for you (BMS) that they don't!

[meldean]

I agree with BMS that facebook is a good way of exposing your business. However i wont be liking the page as i dont want my potential customers knowing what i pay and where i get my stuff from. The friends on my facebook are all friends and family and are also one source of income.

If BMS are gonna choose to go down this route for discount and special offers then i will just have to set up a dummy facebook account and like it so that i get to know what the offers are, but i certainly wont be using my main facebook account or my business one.

[pisquee]

I have a personal facebook account on which I have BMS liked, our business facebook page is a completely different entity which hasn't liked BMS. My friends/family aren't my customers, we do printing for some friends who are also designers, and they are happy to pay us because we do a good job, and like that they are helping us to earn our income, whilst we help them make theirs. Clients of ours don't get liked by us personally, only from the business page. Close friendsget mates rates anyway, so it doesn't really matter.