How and why to set up a Facebook Business Page

Whilst working with business owners on their social media I often get resistance to using Facebook. Of course Facebook is not for everyone or every business, however, many businesses use Facebook and get great results. So, as businesses that do not use Facebook may be missing out on opportunities, this post is designed to help people take the plunge!

Just some of the reasons to be on Facebook

• Customers are on social media and expect to find you there
• It is a great way to promote your business/brand
• It is a good way to monitor what your clients/customers are saying
• To promote your products/services and offers

So, firstly let’s consider possible starting points

• No existing on line presence or the user does not ‘do’ social media
• Facebook is not appropriate for the business type
• The user does not have a personal Facebook profile
• The user has a personal Facebook page and wishes to keep their personal and business separate

Taking these points in turn

1) Having an on line presence is becoming vital for almost all businesses and social media is an effective means of achieving and supporting this.  Many businesses have a website and social media can used to compliment the website or, in some cases,t o replace it

2) Facebook is particularly good for B2C businesses; it is a great way for small businesses to promote themselves. If your potential customers are not on Facebook it might not be worthwhile using it. For example if you are B2B LinkedIn might be more apropriate

4) it is important (and good practice) to distinguish between personal and business profiles. Facebook requires people to register for a person page before they can create a Business profile. it is easy to create a person profile by signing up here  https://www.facebook.com  You only need an email address and to give your date of birth and whether male or female; all other information is optional.

Once you have  a person profile you can set up your business page – see below. Business pages are separate from your personal page so you do not have to worry about your personal information being open to your  business contacts (although it might be a good idea to check your personal privacy setting)

To help you set up a business page have a look at the video

http://youtu.be/PJutsHB4DUg

A beginners guide to social media for Business

If you are in business you probably know the value of networking face to face and building relationships with customers and colleagues, but do you make use of social media to promote your business. Using social media means that you can network even when you cannot make an event – you do not have to wait until the next event to promote your business. You can use social media to extend your network, cement existing relationships and build your profile, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that Facebook and Twitter are just fun for kids or publicity for celebrities etc. It is true that they CAN be those things, but they are also a great means of staying in touch, getting support from others and maybe even finding a job, building a business or attracting customers!

Combining social media with mobile technology (smartphones etc.) means that you can network virtually anywhere and at any time so don’t miss out and get left behind. Remember, if you are not on social networks and your competitors probably are, when potential clients are looking on social media they will not even know that you exist but they will see your competitors.

There are hundreds of social media platforms, the main ones used by business are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook

In addition to having a ‘personal’ profile on Facebook you can set up a separate business page. This is useful to keep your person and business posts separate and so, even if you don’t use Facebook as a personal, private network, your business can still have a presence on it.

The main difference between personal pages and business pages is that Instead of having friends, business pages have ‘Likes’. When someone likes your page their friends will see that and also whenever you post anything it will update their news feed   You can see what others are doing, raise your own profile and keep a look out for opportunities. In addition, posting, commenting and ‘liking’ other people’s posts will raise your profile further.

You can be as private as you want (ask about security settings if you are really worried) although the more you post, comment and ‘like’ the more visible your business will be to others. If you click on account you can change account setting (your person details) and privacy setting (what information you are willing to share and with whom).  Just a final word about ‘security’ don’t post person details and only accept friend requests from people you know and trust.

Twitter

The first time you go on Twitter you might not be able to understand any of the posts as they do seem to use a foreign language! This is often because there is a 140 character limit on the posts so people use abbreviations and links. I can let you have some guidelines to help decipher the codes if you need it!

Start by following people who will make you laugh or whose opinions you respect. Every day I have a look for posts and know that if there are any they will make me smile and best of all they are usually easy to understand as they are just short funny comments or a simple title and link. You can also follow people or businesses you want to work with, people whose opinions you value, thought leaders or just to keep up with developments in your professional community. Because Twitter is constantly updated you can use it to get immediate feedback and also to spread news and ideas quickly.

LinkedIn

I love LinkedIn! Use it a bit like Facebook and similar rules apply about privacy, but also remember it is about career and professionalism so make sure you give the right impression. A  professional photograph is essential and your profile should be carefully drafted to project the correct image of professional persona.

Did did you know that LinkedIn is fully searchable by Google?

Type in Catherine Jones Training and (at the time of writing)  the top answer is a link to my LinkedIn page. If I had a name other than Jones I might not even need to give the word ‘Training’ I have tried it for some of my colleagues with more unusual names and got them without any further information in the search. If you are on LinkedIn give it a try. It is also worth thinking about that when you put any information on, that will aid peoples searches and what they might use.

So as it is all about business/professionalism/career obviously the focus is different to Facebook.  I would definitely put a photograph on as people are more likely to contact you and unlike Facebook you might what to connect to people you have never met in person so it makes that a little easier.  There is no need to put any updates at all but I find it very useful to follow discussions and contribute if relevant. It is also a great opportunity to make contacts all over the world and discuss common interests. I would recommend joining relevant groups and follow discussions, comment and build relationships.

Google+ and Pinterest are also becoming more influential and will be covered in a later blog

If you would like help with social media find me on social media www.onepageprofile.co.uk/people/catherinejones/

Don’t blame Social Media

Many people avoid using social media because they worry about the effects of ‘getting it wrong’

Some time ago I wrote a blog on what was wrong with blame culture and why making mistakes is a good thing. – What’s wrong with Blame Culture?

So when I recently saw the following tweet with a quote attributed to Zig Ziglar it made me think about it again about how this applies to social media.

 ‘Statistics, when customers complain, business owners ought to get excited. The complaining customer represents more business’

Because sometimes it is not just a fear of failure prevents people taking action it is the fear not being perfect – making mistakes, making a fool of themselves etc.

As a social media coach one of the things which makes businesses nervous about putting themselves ‘out there’ is the potential of complaints or negative comments. Even though they understand the need and benefit of social media they worry about such things as

• What if no one follows/likes/connects with me?
• What if I post something stupid?
• What if some one hacks my account and makes me looks bad?
• What about if a customer complains on social media – everyone will see it?

To name a few!

As a coach I have to reassure clients and if required I give them the skills and knowledge to handle things when they do go wrong.

Firstly, I explain that social media is not a numbers game; it is about making real connections i.e. its quality not quantity. By understanding the different platforms and your audience you can define goals and strategies to make the connections which are of value. Think carefully before posting and ask yourself it is appropriate.

Before you hit post

Hacking – it can happen, so you need to understand the security features of your social media, passwords, access etc. If the worse should happen have a response ready and act quickly.

See customer complaints as an opportunity to improve! Your customers will talk about you whether or not you are aware of it. This is valuable feedback, demonstrate that you listening and care about putting things right. DO NOT get involved in a public argument even if the complaint is unreasonable. Respond publicly acknowledging that you have seen the complaint and would like to so resolve, so that everyone will see that you are addressing the issues and give the option to take it offline.  If customers see you responding in a reasonable and professional manner to complaints it will balance the effects of negative comments.

Finally, remember there are no mistakes, just opportunities to learn!

So, now what’s stopping you?