by Roger Silen
Posted on December 14, 2009
In the last article on Facebook we looked at the 7 Fatal Sins that will Kill your Facebook Marketing Strategy. In this article I am going to talk about things that You need to focus on to build out a super successful network of people who listen to and respect you. Following is my list of 7 Must Do's to Maximize your Facebook Marketing experience... use them and prosper!
1. Relationship first / Business Second - Get this one wrong and you will never build significant influence and your time will be better spent somewhere else.. Your primary goal on Facebook MUST be to build relationships and to build rapport with your new friends. So how do you do this? Simple; comment on their stuff, interact with them, get to know them and read their profile etc. Just show genuine interest
2. Concentrate on Quality not Quantity - Many folks get on Facebook and try to add as many people as possible. Instead slow down and be sure to build rapport with your new friends. A smaller more connected group will outperform and more importantly out value a larger less connected following. Please do not underestimate or try to circumvent this part of the process. A good idea is to start with a very small Core group of people that are 'Influencers' in your niche. Build a relationship with them and then build out from there.
3. Protect your Reputation at all Costs - Your most valuable asset in Social Media is your Reputation. Make sure you rise up as the go to person in your industry or niche. 67% of people will consult with social media sites for recommendations BEFORE they buy anything, so you want to build the reputation of someone that people trust and go to for advice. Don't give into the allure of spamming for a quick buck. Not only it doesn't work, but you'll kill your reputation and a bad reputation is very, very hard to turn around.
4. Be Authentic - Be a real person. It's ok to be vulnerable and to show your shortcomings; this tells people that you are truthful and genuine. People will be able to connect with you at a deeper level and the trust will build exponentially. In other words you do not need to be nor should you be Perfect. Be yourself; like attracts like. Believe in YOU.
5. Transparency is Paramount - There is nowhere to hide online anymore so don't try to. If you don't like a product or service don't Promote it just to make a quick buck as it will come back to haunt you. You'll slowly lose your influence and your social power will disappear. You will find less and less response and interaction as people realize that you are not always sharing the full story. Shadiness will lead to mis-trust.
6. Follow Through - When you set out to do something follow through with it. If you make a statement make sure you see it through. People are watching you. The great thing is 9 out of 10 people will never see anything through so you jump above 90% by just seeing your task through to the end. It is very important in the eyes of your followers. Be a man or woman of your word.
7. Be Interested not Interesting - The most important person in the world to your follower is YOUR FOLLOWER! So what does that mean? Be interested in them! Listen more and preach less. People are most interested in themselves so indulge a little. Ask people Where are you from / What do you do / Who do you know. This will expose commonalities, connections and similar interests. Think of benefits for THEM in your communication.
The above 7 items will ensure you build significant influence. By taking the time to do things right you will be enriching the lives of others and in doing so enriching your own. This represents the mindset you need to have to build a mutually beneficial relationship with your expanding Facebook Network. In future articles I will get in to the details of exactly what you can do to market yourself on Facebook. Just keep in mind that the preceding points should govern everything else you do there.
1. Relationship first / Business Second - Get this one wrong and you will never build significant influence and your time will be better spent somewhere else.. Your primary goal on Facebook MUST be to build relationships and to build rapport with your new friends. So how do you do this? Simple; comment on their stuff, interact with them, get to know them and read their profile etc. Just show genuine interest
2. Concentrate on Quality not Quantity - Many folks get on Facebook and try to add as many people as possible. Instead slow down and be sure to build rapport with your new friends. A smaller more connected group will outperform and more importantly out value a larger less connected following. Please do not underestimate or try to circumvent this part of the process. A good idea is to start with a very small Core group of people that are 'Influencers' in your niche. Build a relationship with them and then build out from there.
3. Protect your Reputation at all Costs - Your most valuable asset in Social Media is your Reputation. Make sure you rise up as the go to person in your industry or niche. 67% of people will consult with social media sites for recommendations BEFORE they buy anything, so you want to build the reputation of someone that people trust and go to for advice. Don't give into the allure of spamming for a quick buck. Not only it doesn't work, but you'll kill your reputation and a bad reputation is very, very hard to turn around.
4. Be Authentic - Be a real person. It's ok to be vulnerable and to show your shortcomings; this tells people that you are truthful and genuine. People will be able to connect with you at a deeper level and the trust will build exponentially. In other words you do not need to be nor should you be Perfect. Be yourself; like attracts like. Believe in YOU.
5. Transparency is Paramount - There is nowhere to hide online anymore so don't try to. If you don't like a product or service don't Promote it just to make a quick buck as it will come back to haunt you. You'll slowly lose your influence and your social power will disappear. You will find less and less response and interaction as people realize that you are not always sharing the full story. Shadiness will lead to mis-trust.
6. Follow Through - When you set out to do something follow through with it. If you make a statement make sure you see it through. People are watching you. The great thing is 9 out of 10 people will never see anything through so you jump above 90% by just seeing your task through to the end. It is very important in the eyes of your followers. Be a man or woman of your word.
7. Be Interested not Interesting - The most important person in the world to your follower is YOUR FOLLOWER! So what does that mean? Be interested in them! Listen more and preach less. People are most interested in themselves so indulge a little. Ask people Where are you from / What do you do / Who do you know. This will expose commonalities, connections and similar interests. Think of benefits for THEM in your communication.
The above 7 items will ensure you build significant influence. By taking the time to do things right you will be enriching the lives of others and in doing so enriching your own. This represents the mindset you need to have to build a mutually beneficial relationship with your expanding Facebook Network. In future articles I will get in to the details of exactly what you can do to market yourself on Facebook. Just keep in mind that the preceding points should govern everything else you do there.
To learn the next Facebook Marketing steps, now that you have the Mindset down, visit Facebook Marketing Strategy where I show all my Facebook Marketing Secrets.
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Roger writes: Thanks guys for the kind words... Look forward to sharing more. Social Networking is powerful IF and only If you follow the 'Code'
Best of Success
Roger Silen
20:01:15 Tue Jan 5 2010 CST
Don writes: Good job Roger. 2 additional comments...
1. You can learn from social marketing rules above for your everyday marketing too. Like when you send out newsletters and emails, don't forget to sign with your name, so it's personal.
2. This is for "Charles" who commented on your article "Face book marketing is a waste of time". Charles: Stop and think, if more people follow Roger's advice in this article, we will have less people bothering us with Face book marketing only goals. that makes everyone's experience better. With this article by Roger of site-reference.com, he is making the social media world a little better for us all. :>)
18:37:21 Mon Dec 28 2009 CST
theo writes: not bad stuff
13:02:53 Fri Dec 18 2009 CST
Carl - Web Courses Bangkok writes: " Be Authentic - Be a real person"
I love this, it is what I tell my trainees all the time. If you use Facebook as just a marketing tool people will ignore you. You must be a real person with real ups, downs, activities and weird things to keep people thinking your a person and therefore engaged and communicating with you.
3:32:30 Wed Dec 16 2009 CST
malexmb writes: This is awesome! A complete guide how we can success through social bookmark marketing. Roger, Thank you for sharing. I'm keepin on track for all your post. Thanks again.
7:16:06 Tue Dec 15 2009 CST
Melody writes: These are great tips for social networking. My followers are important to me. I look forward to more tips on social networking. You have given me some real tips to focus and build on. Thank you for letting me know that getting more personal with my followers is okay.
0:03:07 Tue Dec 15 2009 CST
Roxanne writes: Thanks for sharing this article. It really happened to me that I have focused on the number of people that I should add on my FB. Thanks for reminding me. Keepin on track on your posts.
Have a nice day!
22:06:09 Mon Dec 14 2009 CST
Adi writes: You're absolutely right!
Social media is about how we treat other people.
If you plant good seeds you'll get good fruits!
20:02:01 Mon Dec 14 2009 CST
charles writes: Now just as everybody has realised that advertising on Facebook is a complete waste of time we have people producing articles like this.
Sorry guys you cant fool me. Facebook is not the place to do marketing. Readers would be well advised to ignore the content of this article.
15:04:16 Mon Dec 14 2009 CST
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