It was a hot August day, the summer of 2005. I stumbled out of my dorm room at college into the path of a pretty girl. After a brief chat, there was mutual interest and she asked me a question I’d never heard -- “Are you on Facebook?”
At the time, Facebook was a young, feisty, startup website for college students. Concepts like the Timeline, Video Sharing, and Pages didn’t exist yet. It was built as a way to quasi-stalk your classmates, form communities of like-minded individuals, and to share photos of you and your friends. Believe it or not, Facebook is called a “social” network because it was built for people.
Eventually, the world caught on to the power of an online public square, and Facebook exploded into the behemoth we know today - a hub for business information and content, the world’s leading social video platform, and a marketplace to buy and sell your old couch (or your brand new guitar pedal.) By 2015, everyone and their grandma had a facebook profile. Like all things, the smashing success of the ability for business pages to reach their audience and acquire new customers faded precipitously as Facebook made it increasingly difficult to reach your goals without putting some skin ($$$) in the game.
As a result, many businesses are pondering now more than ever what an effective strategy for best-use is on Facebook. Some are even writing off the platform all-together. When I do one-on-one consultations with PG clients, social media strategy is one of the most prevalent topics discussed and my message is always simple: Success on social media is still very possible, it’s just that the goal needs to be adjusted.
Unless you sell personalized T-Shirts or low-cost consumer goods, Facebook is not a place to expect direct revenue to be earned. But, that doesn’t mean Facebook should be abandoned or that it can’t bring value to your online presence and brand. So, here are my tips to maximize impact and help your business on social media:
Build community by engaging your followers on a regular basis. Ask them questions about their experience with your brand and invite them offer feedback that could help convince others to buy your products.
Offer them something they can’t find anywhere else: exclusive follower discounts, rebates, or offers that entice them to stay engaged.
Post content that puts a human face to your company. People like to support people. This could be behind-the-scenes photos/videos, a company blog or Q&A, or stories about the history of your company or products.
Create a series of low-budget facebook ads that will allow you to test messaging, content, and results. Vary your messages for content, new follower acquisition, sales, etc. See here for help determining your facebook ad budget and strategy.
Define a budget to commit to boosting your content to your followers and relevant related audiences. This will help you grow your reach.
Inquire with other, larger, pages that produce coverage of your brand about partnering to boost and promote your coverage to their followers. Make sure your page is tagged when doing this.
These are just a few, simple ideas to get the most out of social media. If you need a more personal touch, PG’s Marketing Lab is here to help with any and all of your marketing questions. We’d love to help you develop a strategy specific to your social media presence, including how PG can help you spread the word via our social media channels. You can sign up for a free, no-pressure consultation with me using the calendar below. Happy posting!
Reader: Erik Sheppard
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Guitar: The Alumidoomer
I had Warmoth make the body (rear-routed to avoid the need for a pickguard), and had them paint it as well. They did an amazing job. The neck was made by the Electrical Guitar Company. They were kind enough to put some Gotoh locking tuners on there for me as well. There are a few companies making these necks now, but I thought their headstock looked the coolest. It went in the neck pocket with minimal adjustment. Both took about three months from order to delivery.
When you only have one pickup, you kind of have to choose wisely. After a bit of agonizing, I finally decided on a Lace Matt Pike Signature “Dragonauts” pickup. I figured if it’s good enough for Matt, it should work for me. It sounds amazing and articulate enough through an ungodly amount of fuzz.
Since this is a Jazzmaster, it seemed natural to go with a Mastery bridge and tremolo. I’m not normally a big wiggle-stick guy, but it’s fun to give things a bit of warbly flavor every now and then. It’s probably not the first choice for most metal players, and it initially felt a little strange palm-muting, but it works for me. It stays in tune, and it’s way less fiddly than a Floyd. Mastery makes that awesome space-age-looking tremolo arm tip, too, which I think really sets this thing off.
Reader and guitar designer Erik Sheppard.
“I think the cool kids use even heavier strings, but these work fine, and I stopped being cool a long time ago anyway.”
I added some standard pots and knobs and Schaller strap locks, and it was done. I’ve got Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky .012–.056 strings on there (since the guitar lives in C standard), which are just fat enough to not be floppy, without feeling like telephone lines. I think the cool kids use even heavier strings, but these work fine, and I stopped being cool a long time ago anyway.
The whole thing cost about 2,300 bucks, including a few hundred for some help from the folks at Strait Music here in Austin, who are always amazing. I was a bit paranoid about drilling into the body and potentially screwing up the finish, so I enlisted the pros.
My only complaint is that this thing is an absolute beast, at about 11 pounds, which is a lot heavier than I’d prefer, but a wide Levy’s strap makes it a bit easier to shoulder. It looks, sounds, and plays exactly as I wanted it to, so I’m quite happy with how it turned out.Featuring 100% sustainable hardwood bodies and Soulfire’s own hand-wired pickups, the guitars are crafted with the just the right balance of modern and traditional building techniques.
All three models feature 25” scale length necks with Richlite fretboards, nickel frets, and a classic D neck profile. The carved American cherry bodies are fitted with optional maple tops. In addition to the solid body SR-1, players can choose between two semi-hollow models: the SF-1 brandishes signature “Flame” f-holes, and the HB-1 sports “Broken Heart” f-holes.
In keeping with the company’s lean-and-mean ethos, the instruments are loaded with one of Soulfire’sproprietary pickups: players can choose the “Wicked Mojo” humbuckers or “Angry Dog” P90s.
Features include:
- House-made “Wicked Mojo” Humbuckers - 12 adjustable poles. DC resistance average 7.94k-8.2k. A5 magnets
- “Angry Dog” P90 pickups - DC resistance 8.25k-8.4K. A5 magnets
- Genuine silver plated and antiqued headstock emblem/truss rod cover
- Signature black machined volume knob
- Optional B7 Bigsby
Pricing for Soulfire’s semi-hollow lineup - the SF-1 and HB-1 – starts at $3400. Solid-body models are priced starting at $3000 (for true solid) and $3200 (chambered body). All models are sold exclusively through the website and come with Premium Gig Bags.
For more information, please visit soulfireguitarworks.com.