Monetize Monday ~ For most of us Monday is the start of our “work week”.  What is better than starting your week off by generating revenue?  For a lot of us this can mean finishing the details on a “contract” or “proposal” calling in on some “outstanding invoices” or “sending invoices to request payment but to all of us taking the time to really build solid relationships with our clients and potential clients is an INVESTMENT that will always give you a return (not just monetarily but personally too!)

Let’s look at Facebook for your Business…

I am often asked by potential clients and people I am consulting with  “Is it important that I have a Facebook Page for my business?”  My answer is a resounding YES!  Do you have a Facebook Page set up for your business?  If you do stayed tuned this week for tips on what you should have on your Facebook page and things you can do to “spruce it up” along with connecting it with your website/blog site.  If you don’t have a Facebook Page yet read on and I will help explain the why and where to get started.

Question:  Do you have a presence on Facebook at all yet?  Do you at least  have a Facebook personal profile set up?  IF you do not, please go to Facebook and register – Facebook allows us one account in your own name, secure it if you have not yet.

A lot of people did not want to start a Facebook profile because they were unsure of the security settings and who and why you would connect with people.  Facebook has made several changes over the past couple of years, some great and some not so good, but all in all – they have made it more “user” friendly and easier to secure your content if you wanted.

With your Facebook personal profile, you should decide are you going to only use that to connect with friends and family OR are you going to intermingle business contacts as well?  I think you should mingle your “friends” on your Facebook profile to maximize your “personal relationships” with customers and clients, in addition it is easier to maintain while you get started.

The trick to using your Facebook personal profile for both audiences is to set up your Facebook settings for this and to create Facebook Friends lists – your “friends” will not know what list name they are on but by assigning them to a list allows you through security settings what is shared to who plus you can also choose when you are creating a status update which list of peeps, if not everyone, your message goes to.  The list aspect of your Facebook profile is awesome!

First let’s look at your Facebook settings – these are some suggestions for profile settings for your personal profile to start:

First go to “edit” (found on your Facebook “home page”  next to your profile image in the upper left) – you will open a page with this menu on the left:

FacebookPlease be aware that when you make some changes to this area in the Green like  relationship status, updating your profile picture and bio information – your Facebook friends will be notified in their news feed.

You have choices on the information you share with others in Facebook and itl can be managed here:

  • Your Birth date: You have to enter a birthday to start your profile – Facebook gives you the options to share your entire birth date (month, day, and year), share only month and day (I RECOMMEND THIS SETTING), or not to share it all at (you can find the choices in a drop down menu under where your birthday is listed in the edit Facebook profile section)
  • Your Relationship Status: The Facebook settings gives you several choices for this section.  You can choose from them or leave it blank if you wish not to share this about yourself.  (I RECOMMEND if you are married or in a relationship, that it is listed, this IS a big part of who you are and one level of personalizing you to them, it is no different then wearing a wedding ring or chit chatting with your clients about your pending wedding plans ~ if you are “looking” or choose”It’s Complicated” I would recommend you do not use your personal profile for business at all)
  • Your Profile Pic: Facebook gives you the ability to change and update your profile pic as often as you wish – I RECOMMEND you choose an image that is professional and personable – this will be branding you and who you are.  Do not choose to use a logo or image that is NOT you (like your child or animal)  I also RECOMMEND you don’t change it often, UNLESS you are altering your main image to represent something important to you, and you leave it up for a short period of time.  You should always be reconizable.
  • Your Bio:  Facebook has a couple places you can enter information about you that can be considered your BIO – one is the “about me” section and the other is the mini bio area that is under your profile pic on the left side of your profile page.  Be clear in these sections.  I also RECOMMEND you enter a way for people to reach you in the mini profile area, this allows your “reader” to not have to hunt for it.
  • Other Facebook Profile areas: the balance of the areas are pretty simple to go through and get filled out.  Please be aware that Facebook users and advertisers use this information primarily in your “activities and interests” to connect to YOU so be strategic when filling this area out.

Setting up your Facebook Friends List~

Setting up your Facebook friends lists as early as possible is best, but for some of us who this feature came after we built our “friends” lists organizing can take a bit of time – BUT remember once it is done you only have maintenance from this point forward so do not delay cleaning this up.

  1. First, go to your Facebook “account” drop down area in the upper right side – the first choice is “Edit Friends” – choose that.
  2. Then above your “friends” to the upper right is  CREATE A LIST – choose that – type in a list name.  You can make this as detailed or basic as you want – it is YOUR list. Then your entire group of Facebook friends are listed in the box below, choose those who would be on THIS list you are creating.

Be aware Facebook limits you to 100 lists and up to 1000 people to any given list, you might ask how can you have so many “friends” when Facebook limits you to 5000 peeps on your personal profile – this is because you can have people on multiple lists.  This gives you the ability to target your message to people!  Use this feature to benefit you and be organized in “marketing” and sharing your messages. (ideas: friends, family, out of state, clients, home owners, hostess, partner, employees, assistants, customer and so on, use topics that speak to you in relations to your business)

You can use these lists later to monitor activity in your news feed page (on your home page) –  After you set up your Facebook friends lists, go to your “home page” look at the left side – see where it says “friends” click on that and you will see your lists you created, you can filter what you read in your news feed to see what the people in that specific list are doing and saying.  How cool is that?  You can communicate with business people directly keeping up with what is going on easier!  Maybe it is ab older customer that just bought a new house, OR a new partner that just had a baby OR someone has posted a question on Facebook regarding a problem or a person they would like to meet and you can help out!

Facebook is a great tool to market and get out there.  To build relationships, build your clientele and to build your business foundation stronger!  Don’t miss the boat on maximizing this tool… we will continue to look at Facebook and Social Media in general through this week…. as always we invite you to comment or contact us if you have any questions…