Guest Post By Travis Pospesel, Owner of The Reptile King

Most people think of Facebook as a hub to keep in touch with friends, and don’t get me wrong; it does a great job at that. But if one digs a little, some truly awesome stuff can be had. ShopTab is among those hidden gems. More on that later….

The herpetological hobby has been around for many years. The thought of owning a snake, a lizard, or even a frog as a pet is still catching on. There are a lot of mysteries involved and care goes far beyond filling a food and water bowl, or a couple trip outside.

One has to think about habitat design, temperature, humidity, specialized diets, Lighting and other variables. To the average person this is too complicated and or a hassle. Our motto at The Reptile King is “We Take The Guesswork Out Of Reptile Care!” This is one of the main reasons we started this company. We want everyone to enjoy this wonderful hobby.

What’s so wonderful about it you ask? Well how would it be to have a piece of Amazon rain forest right in your living room, or a re-creation of a desert in your den? These things are possible and are what fuel this hobby.

There’s nothing more awesome than watching a Veiled Chameleon sitting still on a branch and having its tongue jut across the cage after a cricket! Or a Mossy tail leaf Gecko blend seamlessly into its habitat.  It doesn’t matter if you are young, old, male, or female, there are reptiles for everyone! And guess what? They are an allergy free pet!

Reptiles only make up something like 5% of the pet industry. Tapping into that 5% and gaining ground is a tough thing to do. Big dollar advertising campaigns, newspaper ads, banners, flyers, social networks, and word of mouth are all things that are needed to keep a new business afloat. We have been around since mid 2009. In that time we have utilized every known resource to get ahead, to make some sales, to retain customers.

The one place that has helped us tremendously is Facebook. The use of a Fan page is still a rather new concept, but you know, it works great. I personally feel that the folks who push, push, push product after product on their pages are losing the most important part, interactivity. We use our wall to interact with fans, customers, and future hobbyists. We answer questions, post fun facts, and have the occasional game.  So how do you introduce product sales into a page without being invasive or making fans “hide” you because it seems like spam? The answer, ShopTab!

ShopTab is brilliant and incredibly simple. A tab appears at the top of your page alongside photos, info, and events. It says SHOP. Clicking on this tab pulls up your custom uploaded banner and a list of your products, complete with pictures, descriptions, and a price. There is also a button for Buy It Now. Clicking on this buy now button, sends the potential customer directly to the product page of your website, where they can get additional information on the item. The beauty of ShopTab is the customer /fan chooses whether or not they want to shop.  No more spamming them with the hopes they will click.

The interface is very easy to use. The products can be entered manually, or in bulk using a CVS file uploaded from Excel or similar spreadsheet program. I went from zero to five hundred products in about 10 minute’s time.

Another twenty minutes and I had a custom banner in place on my SHOP tabs site too. Did I mention that all this is only $10 bucks a month! Where out there can you get anything for $10 bucks a month anymore? especially when it comes to promoting a business.

Now let’s talk analytics. One week after installing ShopTab, we saw a 19% increase in page referral from Facebook, and saw a small boost in sales. This is only after one week. With a little more promotion to get fans to realize it’s there, I think this will be even more of a success.

So if you are into Reptiles, Amphibians, or Invertebrates I invite you to come check us out at http://www.facebook.com/thereptileking, we welcome everyone. While you are there see what ShopTab is all about, and if you have any questions about reptiles or ShopTab feel free to ask.

Travis Pospesel, Owner
TheReptileKing.com