@staciewalker I notice too many people that I only ever get updates from them if they’re pitching business.
A good rule of thumb is to pitch business in only 1 of 7 updates and even then, don’t make it a hard sell, make it sound like more of a mention mixed in with other engaging content.

i do the opposite…on my  facebook page  i do  .about one social post  to  6  pitches, or  at least  posts about my inventory…..  and i have   great  response…and a growing page  and   lots of   really nice  feedback   in person….  do  they really want to hear my  jokes ? @camwilkes

 @krmcgee It is not necessary to visit your FB page again. This advice does not apply to you.

@krmcgee You said the advice does not seem to be working. Then this topic must not apply to you.

@camwilkes  thanks  cam….   or facebook  might   just  not be the  right  venue  for   those  companies…….how  do  you  figure  that one out?   i worked on a  blog  for  about  3  yrs  before it   seeped in  that my  customers  just werent there…..

  you are  right  its a  good  fit  for us…fun stuff  , women and shopping and  their homes…….altho we  do have some of   the  same  things all year  too…  we work it hard because it   gives  us  back so much……..lots of antique  stores  are  struggeling   to get   likes  and  engagement………

@krmcgee I completely agree with  @staciewalker‘s advice.  It’s not flawed advice to say that someone shouldn’t be pushy with sales on social media.  There are many reasons why things don’t work on Facebook.  I think the first thing that you need to do is to focus on growth of the page.  While I totally don’t think that Likes are the end-all-be-all I do think they make a difference with selling.  A portion of your Likes will never buy.  

OK – I heard somebody the other day comparing the internet to a city and Facebook is the trainstation (Linkedin is the airport for all the business peeps out there). Twitter was the cocktail party etc.
When you meet people at a train station you don’t just talk about your business – even when you have a business at the train station. Just imagine that your news agent at the train station never talks to you as a person but only mentions all the magazines and books that they sell.. I’m sure you get bored of it pretty quickly. 

Think about it.. why do you buy a newspaper or a coffee at the trainstation? What makes you come back to that particular cafe? You’re at the train station.. you don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to.

Not sure if it makes sense in this context, but it helps me think more as a communicator to people online, rather than trying to be a pushy marketer/advertiser… irrespective of the channel or medium

i have  little idea of  how you  define pushy.what is pushy marketing, what isnt….its  not a  very  clear  term……i have  tons of   fans….and   some of my posts might  be  called    real pushy…as in…try and come…you  have to see this….its a  big  sale…look at  this  great  deal….see  the  biggest  —in  indiana….be there,  etc etc etc….

mainly   you  have to connect with   others   with your passion   in  the  way  you  think  works….like our  annual   yardsale  coming up….   subtle and  tasteful  just wouldnt  be  the  right  road  to take  for  marketing it….

@bridalletter brenda, do you worry about  copyright  laws  when you   pick up  jokes  and  music  ….from  you tube or the internet?

@moniquej i sure agree with the IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT THEM…how  they  can  benefit  from   the  business….and i  like your point about  being  a hub  for  your  niche….thats a  good  way to  put it….

i think  some  go too far  in the   non  business way tho…. …i  like  a page to  be about the pages  business not their kids or more jokes…. i dont sign up  to   the  sme facebook  page to see jokes, i SIGNED UP TO  maybe   learn something  about   social media……….or i dont sign up  for  my  favorite  resturants page   to see her kids or  more jokes…. i  expect it to  be about  her food   and  events…..

whats  the point of likes if they arent   there  to hear about your  business?

Hi, everyone.  @staciewalker  This topic is so important and is the foundation for our success in social media.  Most of us start in this world by “spamming” our pages or someone elses. 

This is a report that I wrote on this subject.  I came from a year of testing the results with my fans.  It works!   First it was called, “How to Use Your Comments to Sell.  It has evolved. Now it has become:

 How to Use Your Comments to Get Your Fans to Respond, or to Share What You Have to Offer on Other Pages and Groups

I will share the beginning with you so you have an idea of where it will lead.

“Most of us are marketing on social media. To do this, we use our comments in our own communities, or in other groups or business pages.

What do your comments tell people about you?

The problem is that most people, who share what they have to offer on social media, are really spamming both their own pages, and those that they are sharing their “sales comments” on. Sometimes they do this on purpose, other times, this happens because they really do not know the right way to promote and market on social media.

Intentionally or not, other people do not like seeing “sales comments” on their newsfeeds. They consider this “spamming” or “spray and praying”

If you are sharing this type of comments on your page or group, your followers will not respond and will ignore what you say. Your community will be inactive and boring.

If you are sharing those comments on other Facebook business pages or groups, the owners and admins will delete those comments, or block, ban and even report to Facebook that you are spamming their pages.

Now, you will discover the secrets to creating comments that work on social media for promoting your business or service”

Check it out and tell me what you think.  

Randi

I was at a networking meeting this week and someone said they didn’t get much business from their Facebook page.  I had a look at their page and almost every post was an advert for one of their products!  At my next networking meeting when it was time to do my 60 second pitch I held up a magazine I buy on a regular basis and asked the question – ‘Why do I buy this magazine?’  The replies were mostly ‘because you’re interested in the articles and stories it has’.  I said that’s it exactly.  The magazine has 112 pages, only 15 of them have adverts on them.  Would I buy the magazine if it was the other way round?  No I wouldn’t.  So why do we expect people to like our Facebook page if all we give them is adverts?!   I buy my magazine to read things that interest me but I have bought products from the adverts within it because I trust the magazine.  If we post mostly interesting, entertaining, informative, educational things on our FB page, when we do post occasionally post an advert for something people will be more likely to take notice of it because they have grown to know, like and trust us.  We need to think like publishers!

For our business page, we do a pretty simple ratio … we post roughly 10 times throughout the day with questions which lead to engagement with our customers, only 1 or 2 of those posts are in any way self promoting. I also like to do at least one or two humorous posts as well. I work in the camping, survival, preparedness industry, so things can be quite serious at times. I wait until interaction is at it’s peak during the day (usually after a humorous post which gets a high reach) to post something self promoting.