Work It Wednesday ~ You can make it!  We have hit the middle of the week, the tough two days are behind you and the weekend is looking straight at you!  Take today to crunch through the little business tasks (well and some that are not so little), you know the ones…. they are the ones that stack up easy like returning phone calls, filing paperwork, forms that need to be filled out and so on… put your head down and “get’r done”!  Start by choosing 3, complete those and pick another 3 – momentum builds as you are crossing them off your list and then you are that much closer to Finish It Friday!  Don’t forget if you need help organizing your business tasks, check out the Tickler File, it is working great for our team!

Facebook Business Pages, is “pretty” a strategy?

Everyone has seen a Facebook Business Page that has knocked our socks off with the “look” – how it was customized with HTML pages, special tabs and such – but the reality is 96% of the people who LIKE your page will not return to it again after liking it – (this could be different for business pages that allow people to post directly to the wall and self promote) but overall people who LIKE your page will follow most of the information given through their home page and news feeds.  You can do things to encourage them to return but if there is No Call To Action and Reason for them to be there WHY should they take the time to go their?  My point being do not NOT get your Facebook Business page going because yours is not “tricked out” get it going.

Do you have a Strategy for using Facebook with your Small Business or Direct Selling Business?

By now you should have your Facebook Personal Profile set up – and on Monday we discussed some items you should be sure to have in there to help with your business.  On Tuesday, we discussed your Facebook Business Page and a little bit about strategy… let’s get more into strategy suggestions today…

If you have a Small Business or a Direct Selling Business, Facebook and other Social Media outlets can help you build a reputation, build relationships, and a stronger foundation when used correctly.  Some of the strategies used will be the same but there are some that will be very different from one business owner group to the other.

Strategies for Small Businesses & Direct Sellers alike:

• Be clear on your message of who you are and what you are about – you don’t want to send mixed messages like you run a health food store (or represent a health food supplement) and then have posts of out “partying” and not taking care of yourself.  The things on your personal profile will and can be seen just as easy as your information on your business page – so post smart!
• Do NOT post negative comments, Do NOT go on rants in your posts – again this should not be an outlet to vent.  Your negativity can damage your reputation.  NOW let me take a side bar here on this strategy – some business owners are known for “telling it like it is” for being “abrupt” and “in your face” and also known to “rant” and they are very popular – true some people can pull it off – they are very strong confident people and have built their business over years with that behavior.  It is who they are everyday, if that is you be strong and go for it.  IF your everyday actions are not that personality the “every so often” gripe will be just that and will be looked at in a bad light.
• Interact with people – when you are getting started building your name & business, search Facebook for key terms that relate to what you do or know about and comment back to people.  Share your knowledge without any expectations back.  Be kind and helpful – read through your news feed and encourage people.  Join in a discussion in a couple groups you belong to – be SOCIAL.
• Pay attention to people’s birthdays – Facebook will let you know who of your “friends” are having a birthday.  It is on your home page on the upper right side under Upcoming Events.  Suggestion when saying Happy Birthday, don’t go to their wall and say Happy Birthday – go to YOURS and tag them in the comment saying Happy Birthday – this adds to your news feed and your friends see it too and he helps others get to know you as a nice person.  Tip: if you see a friend has wished someone a Happy Birthday while reading your home page, jump in and say Happy Birthday to that person as well – check out their page – maybe request a friendship if that person seems interesting to you.
• When people ask you to be friends and you accept them… go write a comment on their wall thanking them for the connection – if you have a business page invite them to check it out as well.  Do take a second to read through their profile and if they have a business page check it out too – go to LIKE it and write a positive comment there about THEIR business.
• Post often – but do not be obnoxious with it.  You need to post on your personal profile, but be cautious abut this – start posting personal things (only how personal you feel comfortable with) – share information about your travels, an award, some personal insight and such.  DO remember to talk about your business page and an update from time to time, you can tag your business page in your comment – this helps your friends know/remember you have a business page in case they have not LIKED it yet.  Keep your Business Page to have posts about your business and tips, tricks, suggestions there – this helps with the clean message about your business practices.
• Be careful of duplicate posts – when you post on your Business page, your personal profile page and other groups – your friends will end up with duplicate posts very close to one another on their home page in their news feed – space these out and limit them as much as possible.
• Know from the start if you will allow others to post on your wall of your Business Page – and share with peeps from time to time how they can share info inviting them to do so.
• Monitor your Business Wall daily, this is your brand and you do not want a different image of you or your business out there. Be sure to remove any posts that do not meat your standards or are soliciting for others.

Strategies for Small Business unlike a Direct Seller:

Your Facebook Business Page will be centered around your company name or business name.  This goes for brick & motor shops along with a private home based business like VA-a-GoGo.  It is the company or business that will be building the reputation.  The set up should be with that logo and and the message around the business.  Attracting people to your business for your services is your main goal and it is your business that needs to build the reputation. This online reputation and following is an asset if you were to ever sell it.

You can have your staff or team interact with your Facebook Business Page and answer questions.

You can offer discounts and incentives to buy more through your Business Page.

You can set up an entire page dedicated to selling your products with images and check out links.

Strategies for Direct Sellers unlike Small Business:

Your Facebook Business Page will be centered around YOU not your product or the company you distribute for.  Why you might ask? Two very good reasons: 1) Most direct selling companies have policies about the use of blogging and social media and if you are breaking any of them, you can have your check pulled from you – (the one I consider even more important) 2) YOU want the reputation as the go to person, the expert about your product topic ie: health, home decor, cooking, kitchen ease, apparel, accessories and so on.  Just think about it most marketers do not stay with a company for LIFE, they build a team and move to another company and build another team – most of the time staying in the same genre so your reputation as the go to person would still apply.  You are your biggest asset in your Direct Selling Network Marketing business  NOT your company or product.  People are buying in to be part of your team or be using your products.  Spend your time promoting YOU as the go to person and you will attract people wanting to do business with you!

You will be the one doing all of the posts.  They need to be in your words as people are buying into you.

Due to regulations from your network marketing/direct selling company you probably cannot offer incentives or list products to buy on your Facebook Business Page.

You can however share that you have information on a monthly special not mention it specifically and point them to your replicated website for more info.

Tomorrow popular tools for Facebook and Social Media…