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Share Michael, you sound like you have found the value of Facebook for social marketing, so maybe you can give me some advice. I have a personal account and a fan page for my business. I have FB "friends" who I am really connected to because of my company fan page but because you can't be a "FB friend" with a fan page - only a fan - personal and business gets intermingled even though I try to keep them separate. Is there a way to keep your private FB profile separate from your fan page - is there something I am missing? I know my real friends do enjoy seeing photos of my tiny pup but somehow I don't think my fan page "FB friends" are really that interested :) Any advice?
Very helpful
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Facebook Mistakes to Avoid
Facebook users love using the social media site because it allows them to communicate with people in their network whenever they want. However, with all that Facebook has to offer, there are bound to be mistakes associated with using it.
Written Feb 16, 2010, read 2080 times since then.
Facebook users love using the social media site because it allows them to communicate with people in their network whenever they want to. However, with all that Facebook has to offer, there are bound to be mistakes associated with using it.
Here are some mistakes that you should try to avoid:
You don’t take full advantage of the features of Facebook
The most common use of Facebook is to communicate with your fans and to be kept current with what is happening in their worlds. People also use it commonly to share graphic images. Facebook’s capabilities with graphics go beyond merely uploading.
After you have uploaded graphics to your Facebook fan page, you should take time to make them perfect. You should give your graphic image album a description. It is helpful to fans because they will have a much clearer sense of what they are looking at. After you have done that, you should add a description or caption to each individual graphic so that your viewers know what each graphic image is. Share the significance of each image with your fans.
After you have finished labeling the images, you should tag them. You can tag the images by selecting each image within the larger image and clicking on the individual images.
Finally, pay attention to the privacy setting. When you open your graphic image album and select “Edit Info,” you are able to choose to have everyone, only your fans, your network only, or no one to view that graphic image album.
You are limiting your search for fans
Graphic images add a wonderful, professional touch to your Facebook fan page. However, the most important part of your Facebook page is the fans. The greater the number of fans that you have, the more extensive networking you will be able to accomplish. The worst thing that you can do is to create an account and then not use it.
There are many ways that you can find fans on Facebook and add them to your network. You can search for fans through your Email accounts to find people who are already connected to Facebook and to those who are not yet connected.
Once you have added fans to your Facebook account, You can search for fans of fans based on those with whom you have already connected. Additionally, through Facebook you can search all networks that you choose in order to find fans in specific groups around the world.
The hard sell
Please remember that the “social” in “social media” means that you need to socialize with people, let them get to know you and allow them to understand that you have value to contribute before they even take a look at your business. The way that you achieve this is by being consistent and by having a strong online presence in the communities that you choose to be a part of.
When it comes to using social media, you don’t want to push your business to the forefront. The easiest way to lose your followers and possibly be banned by some sites is to inundate people with information about your business’ goods and services.
Your goal is to get noticed by giving free value to your followers with no strings attached. Smacking people over the head to get them to pay attention to your offerings will never work in social media.
The follow-up link
Where you are sending your followers for more information from your site is something that you need to be very mindful of. If you direct your Facebook or Twitter followers to your blog, you are opening the door for them to be able to get to know you better. Of course, in your blog, you should make sure to have a link or page regarding your business.
Remember, sending your followers directly to your business page will only end badly. You need to get your followers to trust you and to consider you credible before they will think about buying anything from you.
Michael Cohn is the founder and CTO of CompuKol Communications. CompuKol Communications LLC consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility.
Learn more about the author, Michael Cohn.
Comment on this article
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Posted by Brenda Miller , Seattle, Washington |Feb 18, 2010 Thanks for taking the time to share this info, Michael.
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Posted by Michael Cohn, Butler, New Jersey |Feb 18, 2010 Julie, you can set your Facebook privacy settings in such way that only "friends" can access your regular FB. This way FB Fans that are not "Friends" will not have access to your personal FB. This way you keep separate lists of "Friends" and "Fans".
Furthermore, you can use a different account for your FB Fan page creating a complete separation between the Friends and Fans.
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Posted by Audeliz Angie Perez, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey |Feb 18, 2010 @Julie, I know that the settings have changed were you can share updates or photos with specific people or a customized list.
Ex: Type the update or upload, click on lock icon next to the share button before you share it. On the drop down menu, choose customize. Then the name of your list, Friends, Fans of your business name, co-workers, etc.
I have a question for you though, Julie. Why would you want to take the social out of social marketing?
I agree with Michael. You should monitor your updates about your business and be social on occasion.
Personally, when I met people face to face, finding out if they have pets is usually an ice breaker for me. In fact, I remember a having difficult closing (I'm a Realtor) yeara ago and the only way to bring some relief to a tense situation was to talk about our pets. Even the attorneys at the closing joined in and showed pictures of their dogs. It was purely by accident that we even got onto the topic of pets, but it got us through a difficult time.
The same is true in the online world. People want to connect with you and it may not always be about your business but it somehow leads to business.
If you are overtly professional on FB or blast your contacts with info about your business, your contacts may HIDE your updates, which is counterproductive to your cause or even remove themselves from your fan page.
Just my thoughts. Hope it Helps!
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Posted by Julie Weishaar, Nanuet, New York |Feb 18, 2010 Thanks Michael and Audeliz for the tips. I already have my settings to friends only so that is taken care of. When I send fan page updates, I do only send them to fans. I really don't want ANOTHER account - have so many different ones as we all do :). Audeliz, I don't want to take the social out of social marketing - believe me - I am a big advocate of "socializing" :) and I definitely agree with all your points. Maybe my concerns are more of I am not seeing any activity from a business perspective. Again, I am sure it has something to do with what I am or am not doing. My fan page is static - no activity at all on it - yet I am posting relevant, helpful and even funny info on it. What do you both do to encourage engagement on your fan pages?
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Posted by Audeliz Angie Perez, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey |
Feb 18, 2010 So, I become a your fan. Just to see what updates you post over the next few weeks.
Question for you: Are your fans really fans or FB friends who became your fan? You need both in my opinion: your friends and actual fans.
Do you have a personalize url for the page? I couldn't tell.
I tried facebook.com/newhorizons and facebook.com/newhorizon123.
I went to your website and that's where I would spend my time. Your site needs work.
Micheal was the one who helped me with my site and well it still needs works. (My site: http://www.njretoday.com). But it's better because of his suggestions.
If I was looking for an internet marketing company and I came across your site, I don't think I would be a customer. I say that not to be harsh, but to help you understand where the disconnect might be.
I'll email you some suggestions on how to engage your FB Fans.
Oh, here's how I am working to get my fans involved: http://www.njretoday.com/blog/cgse on my blog and even my fan page.
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Posted by Julie Weishaar, Nanuet, New York |
Feb 18, 2010 Hi Audeliz. Thanks for your help. The answer to your question about are my fans - what do you think? LOL - started with friends and is starting to include fans. I am just starting out here (only about two months) so I realize these things take time. I tried to visit your website which is re-directed to Yahoo and a link on the page to your site. It also takes a long time to load. You might want to check this out - don't know if it is a temporary server issue or a permanent issue.
I look forward to your email and thanks again.
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Posted by Audeliz Angie Perez, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey |
Feb 18, 2010 Yeah, I'm not happy with Godaddy hosting, which is what I am using. Plus, I might have plugins on my wordpress blogsite that are clashing or causing the site to run slowly, which I hate.
I think the link doesn't work because I typed .com to the end of the parenthesis.
I started my site in August, so it's a learning process for me as well.
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Posted by Michael Cohn, Butler, New Jersey |
Feb 18, 2010 Please keep the discussion relevant to the topic.
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Posted by Julie Weishaar, Nanuet, New York |
Feb 18, 2010 Sorry Michael. We will take this offline for non-Facebook topics. Thanks again for your help about Facebook :)
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