Facebook Business Page – Get One.

If you are a business owner, and don’t yet have a Facebook Business or fan page, I bet you hear all the time about how you need one. In fact, we just told you. (Bazinga!)

Do you know why? Well, besides that everyone else has one?

With no further ado, here are our Top Three Reasons you are really missing out if you have not taken their advice yet.

Over 1.86 Billion Users. You Heard Me.

Those are April 2017 numbers folks, straight from Zephoria Digital Marketing (see the article here) That is mind-boggling.

Where else do you have an opportunity to get exposure to that many people, for the awesome price of completely FREE?

Think about that for a moment. Think about the times you have spent money on advertising. What did you pay for the ability to touch how many people? Hmmmmm.

That alone should have everyone wanting their own business page. That is, if you are serious about reaching the people who care about what you sell.

Facebook Offers Super Cool Free Stuff to Match the Audience.

When you have a Facebook business page, you are supplied with a wealth of knowledge, things you cannot access as a public user.

Wondering when your people are online, where they live, what they like, how old they are? Done.

Don’t know the engagement rate on your posts? You will when you have a professional page.

Between Facebook’s Audience Insights feature and the insights available in your page management area, you are well equipped to serve your followers.

However, we feel the real gem of having a strong presence on Facebook is this…

Facebook Gives You The Opportunity to Know Your Audience.

In turn, they get to know YOU better. If your focus is one-sided and you want to know them better, without revealing who you are, you’re missing a huge part of why Facebook is so important.

People buy from those they trust. They trust those they know. Let them know you, the real you. Be active on your own page, even if somebody else is managing it for you. Reply to comments, start conversations when it feels right and mingle with your fans. Reply to messages and share those little glimpses into your personal life; Allow your own personality shine.

Just be sure that what you are sharing is REAL. Don’t even bother trying to be anyone other than yourself. It will eventually all implode on you. Besides, isn’t it so much easier to simply be who you are, than it is to create a “better” public person and then keep it up? Your time and energy are so much better spent in other areas.

If the real you isn’t someone you are proud of, clean up the areas of your life that bother you, then proceed. You certainly don’t need to be perfect to be authentic though. In fact, humans recognize, understand, and CONNECT with imperfections and therefore lends to your authentic self-image. So don’t hide out on the sidelines waiting until you feel “good” enough to make your presence known.

Instead, share the struggle.

It will encourage those going through similar times. It will draw those who are like you and they will become your biggest fans. It also shows just how real you are. Done well, it points to your personal integrity. Without integrity, no business will last.

(We recently wrote a post on integrity and its importance to your business. Missed it? That’s okay – you can read it here: “Is Your Integrity Showing? Your Greatest Business Asset Might Not Be What You Think It Is!”)

The point is, Facebook gives you an ideal environment to not only find your audience by just being you, but get to know them; Not just through statistics, but also, one-on-one. You will develop a feel for what they need, what motivates them, what turns them off. You can find that offer or product that they cannot resist, because it so perfectly fulfills their needs. If you are smart you can then focus on giving them exactly that and over-deliver.

Kabam! You now have rabid fans, who bonded with you on a more personal level because you dared to be authentic and put yourself out there and they felt your vibe. It matched theirs. They trust you. If you honor that trust and never betray it, they will be turning all their friends on to you as well. That’s the power of social media and nobody does it better than Facebook.

Now, I can almost hear you thinking…

“Can’t I Just Use my Personal Profile for Business Activities?”

Glad you asked! 😉

First and foremost, because Facebook says so, and as people of integrity, we follow rules, unless they violate our conscience. The fact is, they can, and do, close accounts, if they get complaints about you doing business on your personal profile. If you irritate too many somebodies, you could wake up one day to find yourself locked out of your account.

There is another good reason too.

When you use your personal Facebook account as you should, you’re using it to attract your “tribe”, then guide them to groups and pages that help fill their needs. You only have one personal profile, but you can have as many pages and groups as you need.

To illustrate what I am talking about, I’ll use myself as an example…

Among my 1200 or so friends on my personal page, and roughly 500 followers, there are large groups of people with things in common. I have a very large number of business contacts in the areas of internet marketing, writing, and entrepreneurship. So, I do a good number of posts, and share others, that are related to them and help them somehow.

I also have a big following of women in my audience who have survived domestic abuse, so I post a lot on topics related to that.

A third group I attract a lot of are the hippies. I was born a free spirited, tree hugging nature lover who still dresses and talks the part. So, I share and create posts that appeal to them too.    

This is Where it Gets Beautiful.

I spend time mingling with them, on my page, as well as on theirs. I’ve gotten to know a lot of them well. I care about them, so when I have something that can help meet a need they have, I hook them up. They are used to that from me. Sometimes I hook them up by just creating a post and hoping they catch it. Sometimes, I will tag them, or message them personally to tell them about it. It’s rare that I hook them up with something I get any compensation for; i.e. affiliate links, something I sell etc. Usually, I do it just because I feel it is a fit and I hope it helps. That develops trust.

What do you think happens when I see a need that can be filled by one of my pages or groups, and I ask if they’d like to join, or if they’d like my page?

I bet you guessed correctly! Most of the time, they are happy to be asked to join the group and don’t hesitate to like my page. That is the first step towards us having a professional relationship as well as a friendship.

They already know they can trust me and have a feel for who I am. We already have a relationship of sorts, even if it is not very intimate. I’ve just added another dimension to it where I am helping them directly instead of referring them elsewhere.

That is the power of Facebook pages. Use your personal profile to shine as your authentic self. Get to know the people who click with you and are becoming your fans. When you find out what their needs are, start supplying them, and eventually offer them your stuff too, from your well-designed page.

It’s Real. It’s Genuine.

It’s a natural extension of a relationship you built through social media. It works.

Now that you see the power behind having your own professional Facebook page, what will keep you from pursuing it with a passion? We’d love to hear what your issues might be so together we can find solutions.

Also, we are doing a short series on using Facebook for business, so you can look forward to more information you can use to get YOUR page up and flourishing. You want to stay tuned!

Questions? We love them at Sassy Lasses – hit us up or comment!

DON’T WANT TO WAIT?

Have we lit a fire under your entrepreneurial… assets?