Resources for Facebook

Here are some rules and resources to help increase your success with Facebook (R) blend your professional and personal online life sanely and build your tribe. As more network marketers actively use social media as a business building method, our professionalism as an industry is paramount.

1) Relationship, relationship, relationship.  Be helpful. Contribute.  Share your secrets once in a while.  As MLMers we are all passionate about our product.  But don’t put your product stuff in every update or every other update.  It’s a form of spam. In the eyes of the general public, if you spam, we are all seen as spammers. Already, the MLM’ers tendency to act as if their business is the most important thing on the planet, is increasing the number of people who tune out any network marketer. Please refrain from over promotion.

2) Don’t add people from your company or other network marketers to your lists in any social media,  unless you want their feeds, comments ads, and updates on your Wall (page).  These people will now have access to your lists.   I only add people from my company on Plaxo or on the Social Media Training Network site from Doug Firebaugh.  Knowing that most of the people from my company are new to using social media, I send a brief note telling them why I’m not adding them, and offering my link to Plaxo or Social Media Training link.

3) Use your Facebook page, not your profile, to overtly promote your business.  You can build a page, also called a fan page, through the Page Manager application.  Do not put your squeeze page (opt-in only page) as your main website link.  It is like a face slap in social media. Let your prospect come to you.  Don’t force it, attract it.

4) Respect your list of friends.  This is not an opt-in email list for you to advertise your business.  I have selectively written individuals with whom I had established some kind of communication, and asked them permission to share what I was doing.  I do however, promote my webinars and podcasts with topics that I feel are of general benefit to everyone even if they don’t use my product or join my company.  I only do this a couple of times a month.  I use my status updates the rest of the time to accomplish this.

5) Don’t over post.  When I log onto my page and see 10 posts in my feed from the same person, I block them.  Their feed crowds out the others. No one needs your status update 10 times a day.  The same on Twitter – tweet too much, and you will get unfollowed.  Better to do a few things in the morning, and later that day.  If you have a lot of content to post, do it in a Facebook (R) Note, or on your blog.

6) Stay focused.  Early in my Web 2.0 life, I joined every single community I could thinking that I was building a “presence”.  What I was building was a list of a thousand log-ins.  If you are using Facebook (R), master it.  Learn all you can.  Personally,  I combine the Big 3- Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In and my blogs.  I have a few others that I touch base with periodically.

Cool Facebook Resources:

Anything by Mari Smith. She is the uncontested leader in Facebook (R) training.  You can sign up for her free tips here.  She has an awesome Facebook for Professionals course (about $500) and for those of you that need to get your feet wet, she has just started a great Social Marketing Method site that is loaded with e-books and learning modules. I found her material very easy to use, even for total beginners.  Put most of your focus here.  Mari has done all the researching for you. Highly Recommended.

Learn how to make a Facebook (R) Page. Great intro on slide share.net

Facebook Marketing Toolbox by Inside CRM

Doug Firebaugh- Network Marketing Training and Passionfire Store.  Doug does a fantastic job of taking all of the social media tips and customizing them specifically for network marketers.  On the Passionfire Store site, look for digital downloads on the top bar.  His Success Storm training is an absolute must for anyone wanting to gain mastery of the social media. At the very least, get on Doug’s Newsletter list!  His seminars are extremely affordable.

Tags: Facebook, Social media