Effective ways to use your Facebook page.
Find local groups and club pages in the area you work. These could be riding clubs, pet clubs, sport clubs hobby clubs etc etc. It’s a good idea to PM the admins of these pages before you post on the wall. I tell them who I am and what we do, and that I would like to post an introduction to see if any of their members are interested in my service.
When they reply saying “Thanks for asking, go ahead” you then need to post something like this:
CARPET & UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Quotes are FREE. Why not join our group for future reference. We work within 40 miles of Blogton. You can call us on 052251 3499 8925 or on our Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=217388302773Or e-mail us at info @ blah blah blah
I’ve got about 20 groups where I post every week at least, on some groups where there is a lot of traffic, you could post more regular than a week, perhaps twice or three times a week. Be sure not to overdo it and end up looking like a spam artist!!!
With a bit of work, you can get quite good at finding groups. Type in your local town in the search box in Facebook and see what comes up. If you have a few friends on Facebook, click on their info page and sometimes you can see what groups they are members of.
After a short time you will have enough groups to advertise in, then your page will get very busy.
When you start to get requests for prices posted on your wall by members, I’ve found the best way to respond is by using the PM facility. As you know, pricing is normally done on site and is difficult to do without seeing the job. I explain this via a PM and post under the request saying “PM’d you” so other members can see I’ve read the request and have reacted.
They can’t see a price and that stops people thinking you are too expensive etc. If you did do a quote, for example a square foot price, people can be shocked or they measure their room incorrectly and expect a huge bill, or even worse, they expect to pay pennies. So to avoid all that, don’t post prices.
I’ve found that within about a week of opening our page, work stated to come in on a regular basis. At the time of writing this, we get about 500 to 1200 pounds worth of work from Facebook requests. So there’s no reason why you can’t get more. The market we target with this is very limited because it’s the English page and is aimed only at Brits living within our area in Germany. I would expect a lot more work if we were using this system in the UK.
PM's. You can't see the Private Message button on your own page. If you click on "Account" at the top left of your page, then copy that link in the browser, you can post on your wall, "To PM me, please follow this link" and paste it.
It's a good idea to keep your business page seperate from your private page, because you don't want your members to see what you chat about with your mates, or that you like to cross dress and be called Mandy at the weekends. So open a new Facebook account for your firms page.
VERY IMPORTANT!!
Noboday is interested in what you post on your wall. When you get members, they wont go to your page every day or every year for that matter. They become members (Or fans) for future reference. It's not twitter. The only thing you need to post on your wall is perhaps a few before and after pictures or your PM link.
You want your wall full of requests for quotes and stuff like that.
The theory that if you post, it will appear on your members "News feed" and generate interest from other people. No it doesn't. People look at a Facebook site for different reasons, only kids and young 13 year old girls watch carefully what their mates have been doing on Facebook, adults generally don't bother.
If people see too many posts on their news feed from you, you could start to get on their nerves and you get your members "Unliking" your page.
As far as I know, I've only picked up new members after I've posted an advert. Never noticed people joining my page by tripping over it, if you know what I mean.
I think that's about covered it. My e-mail is on my profile, and if you wish to donate to the "Keep Cozy in beer for life" fund, just e-mail me for my bank details.
Thank you, I'm here all week.
