What Works. Do’s and Don’ts S O C I A L M E D I A:
There are several things to consider about running a “social media” business: First of all, people can’t buy product from you or join your team if they don’t know what you’re doing, and the fastest (and cheapest!) way to get the word out to a lot of people is to post on Social Media. There are SO MANY social media platforms out there that it can be overwhelming! Just know that it’s important to present YOUR BRAND consistently. This means, BE AWARE of what you are posting that might be viewed as negative or controversial (politics, religion, sex, vulgarity, etc.) People don’t buy what you sell…they buy YOU!
FREQUENCY: The social media experts will tell you to post a few times a WEEK but the RF teams that are growing so quickly post every single DAY….sometimes multiple times a day! You will need to find the balance that works for you but remember to mix up personal and business posts and keep things light and positive. A picture says a thousand words so before and after pics are super important!
You need to mix in a lot of personal things PLUS lifestyle posts. Try to ask some questions (what’s your favorite dry shampoo?) and post things that are likely to draw out comments. The more people interact with you on FB (and vice versa!), the more of your posts they will see. . . Use #hashtags to track your posts and DO NOT COPY AND PASTE from other people. If I see something I love on someone’s page, I try to LIKE AND COMMENT (good FB etiquette) and then MODIFY THE POST to sound like me and then I generally will schedule it for a different day. REMEMBER, people buy YOU not what you sell so be authentic and it’s not important to be the first one to post. Think about the message you want to send and schedule things via Cinchshare or Hootsuite. (Great option when you will be traveling as well!) SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR – I think a social media calendar is CRITICAL.
You need to be adding value and not just selling. So, whether on a personal page or a biz page, it’s good to have a plan. Here’s a sample schedule that a lot of people use but make up what works for you: Makeover Monday OR Motivational Monday (Quote) Transformation Tuesday – before and after pics or biz success stories Wrinkle Free Wednesday – post great skin care tips Thankful Thursday – post lifestyle post about something you are thankful for doing b/c of biz Freebie Friday – post specials and discounts, etc. I’ve signed 4 consultants and a lot of PCs based on my Facebook posts. Their comments ranged from “You look like you are having so much fun. I need to find out more!” to “I’ve been watching your FB posts and you seem to be doing really well with this RF thing. My friend was raving about the products. I want to give it a try!”
Remember, people are WATCHING but might not be interacting! That’s okay. They ARE watching! Some people watch for weeks or months….even years! Just know they are watching even if they don’t comment so keep posting. #consistencychangeslives One of my favorite stories involved a speech pathologist at my boys’ school. I didn’t know her very well and only saw her periodically. One day, I saw her and she quickly puts her hands behind her back and says “Don’t look at my hands!” I looked confused and she said “I saw your post about how our hands show our true age!” Keep in mind, she had never liked anything I’d posted and we had never discussed my biz. But, I had struck a nerve which was the perfect opportunity to swoop in and show her how our products could help!
It takes people 8-12 times of exposure before people are ready to commit. I’m embarrassed to say that none of the 4 Consultants that joined my team from Facebook posts were on my radar and I’m thankful they reached out to me. That’s not typically how it’s happening. If you are posting on social media and NOT picking up the phone, then guess what? You are serving as third party validation for SOMEONE ELSE who will snatch up your potential biz partners (or PCs)! (MORE ON THIS DURING THE FOLLOW UP SEGMENT IN A FEW DAYS) BUSINESS PAGE VERSUS PERSONAL – Facebook algorithms are constantly changing so I’m less and less inclined to have a biz page because if you aren’t boosting or doing ads you aren’t likely getting a lot of traffic on your page HOWEVER, it’s a great place to post a lot of information that can be shared back to your personal timeline and prospects can go and look through your biz page and not have to filter through a ton of personal stuff.
A business page on FB can be worthwhile but it’s a lot of work! If you are newer to the business, you are better served posting consistently on a couple of social media platforms and spending the majority of your time in direct prospecting mode! You will get better results more quickly by picking up the phone but social media is a critical component in being “open for business”. It’s FREE marketing! P I N T E R E S T: I like Pinterest because the pins stay forever. It’s a great platform for driving people to your website, FB page, Blog, etc. Content value increases over time! 80% of what’s on Pinterest are RE-PINS! This is great because people are looking for good content and can share your pins (and website!) EVERY image should be directed somewhere! Link to the exact ordering item on your website OR to your Facebook posts, personal website/blog, etc. You need at least 5-10 boards on Pinterest (not all R+F). Each needs at least 4 pictures….Cover pic needs to be bigger and appealing. TITLES need to be things people would search (I need to clean mine up! “Favorite finds” isn’t as popular of a search topic as Acne.) “Above the Fold” – This is the first row or two – what people see when they go to your boards – so make those top ones appealing. Long Skinny Images are more eye catching. I use Pic Monkey I N S T A G R A M and O T H E R S
Instagram – your audience is there…particularly the younger crowd! You need to be there, too! Twitter and LinkedIn are still popular and LinkedIn is becoming critical for the biz crowd. To me, Twitter isn’t as relevant because the material is gone so quickly and it’s hard to follow. Google+ – Great place to be as we go global.
SnapChat – GREAT filters! I don’t use snap chat for business but (thanks to my college kids) will now pop on to get a fun filter. Word Swag is a great app for creating your own graphics:)
S E T A T I M E R: You need to be interacting with people on your “prospect” list by liking and commenting on their pages periodically but WATCH THE CLOCK or you can get sucked in to social media and think you are “working” when you aren’t doing true income producing activity. Birthdays are a great and easy way to remember to connect with people and get back in their newsfeed:)
