Promoting Your Business on Facebook

Promoting Your Business on Facebook

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Many people think they can easily promote their business on Facebook. It’s true that it’s just a few steps to get a basic ad produced and online, but there are more steps involved.

Facebook has different ad purposes like lead generation, web traffic, etc.

Lead generation has a Facebook form people fill out when they click your ad. Web Traffic increases your website traffic by pointing to your site when someone clicks.

When creating your ad, you’ll create an image. I do this in PowerPoint because it’s easy.

You’ll need to create it a specific size and there are plenty of ad specifications to keep in mind. Here’s a spec post to tell you more about that. https://blog.bufferapp.com/facebook-ad-specs

You’ll want to create several types with different headings and different words, with different pictures. This is because, once you launch your ads, some may not be approved. And, you need to monitor how effective they are. Once you see how successful each ad is, how many leads or clicks and what it’s costing you, you’ll turn off the ones that aren’t productive. But, be careful. You must allow time for the ads to run. The price comes down the longer it runs and things even out after a few weeks. So it’s a good idea to let all ads run for 6 weeks and then make your decisions from the data at that point.

Don’t rush. This is not a sprint…it’s a marathon.

Use the specs I linked to and start creating a handful of ads. Post them, see what’s accepted, set a daily budget and let it run for 6 weeks.

I think you’ll have some frustrations along the way, but stick with it and you’ll have some steady traffic or leads, depending on your purposes.

Happy advertising. 🙂

 

May 19, 2018 |

Praise vs Reprimand: How to Treat Employees

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So how are you supposed to treat employees? Many people feel that keeping your employees down will keep them from asking for raises, or seeking other employment. But this cannot be farther from the truth. Praising your employees helps their morale it helps their demeanor and it helps them feel better about coming to work.
I’ve been on both sides of this topic. As an employer I always lean towards praising employees and sometimes too much. I have experienced employees leaving because I pumped up there or ego so much that they overvalued themselves and thought they could make more elsewhere. However, I find that their morale is much higher in their production is much higher. I would rather train and give opportunities to people who have a high morale and a high productivity and then just be happy with who sticks. Otherwise, you’re left with the staff who feels bad about themselves, unsure about their job, does not like coming to work, feels undervalued and under appreciated, and will probably leave because of a low self-esteem.
The old methods of kiss kick kiss work but they must be done properly. For instance, when you meet with an employee praise the job that they’re doing offer some constructive criticism and then give them another pat on the back to help them look forward to the next promotion or some other award. Always leave employees striving to do better but not because they don’t feel they can please you. It’s the same with kids. If your kids never feel that they can please you, they do strive to please you but they are never really happy and they do not feel fulfilled in the relationship.So next time you’re wondering should I praise someone who did a good job? The answer is. Yes. Praise when you need to, reprimand when you need to, and edify when it’s warranted. Treating people the way that you would want to be treated is always the best advice.

May 17, 2018 |

The number 1 tip for top search engine ranking

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Top search engine ranking is to post often. Many people think that to rank on the search engines you need to pay for a service hire someone or use Google paper click. But that can’t be farther from the truth. The best way to break in Google Bing Yahoo or other search engine is to post unique content daily and, if possible, add a video.
Posting often gives your website fresh content that Google can index and lets the search engines know that you are an active website and something that they can reference to people who search things on the Internet.
The services that you might hire cannot achieve this for you you have to achieve it for yourself so searching the Internet will come up with more and more of your listings instead of someone else’s. You don’t have to spend a lot of time writing your article, you just need to write it. Writing often is easy. To write a post often you just need to think up a story and tell it by writing it down.
There is a science to it and something that you can optimize your articles with. To optimize your articles you just need to go to the Google ad words keyword tool and just start brainstorming. Type in anything you’re thinking about riding and see how popular that term is for that phrase is. Also, if you use word press, you can use the plug-in called Joe’s and optimize your article for your specific keywords or phrases. But the main thing is to post often and post daily.

May 16, 2018 |

Is Facebook Advertising Worth All The Hassle?

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Facebook Advertising has gained popularity, no thanks to the Facebook policy makers. The overbearing and complicated ads system is littered with rules and political correctness, along with tons of seemingly meaningless regulations. Some of these really have merit. Some don’t. But, the bottom line is Facebook is still worth using for advertising because it works. I’m not positive it works well enough to pay what they inevitably charge, but it’s not all that bad.

Facebook has a very ambiguous method of determining what to charge, fraught with a network of tunnels to navigate. For instance, trying to get an ad approved is sometimes easy and sometimes tough. It depends on….well….nobody knows. Recently, I tried to post several ads for over a week, only to learn that they didn’t like the picture. It may or may not have portrayed politically evil competition where one side won over the other. What? One wins and the other doesn’t. Blasphemy!

It’s true that social platforms are all liberal in nature, and it’s also true that they are bias against good old fashioned hard work, sales pitches, and winning over anyone else. Unless, it’s them winning billions over any other social platform. It’s blatantly hypocritical, but it is what it is and we must deal with it.

Ok, that was my soap box. Now, on to constructive information.

With Facebook, you need to decide on the type of ad. Do you want your Facebook advertising to yield leads, drive traffic to your website or page, encourage views of  your video, or what? Think carefully and determine exactly what your purpose truly is. I think it’s easy, once you really think about what you want to achieve. Are you in sales? Then you want leads. Are you a blogger or YouTuber, then you want to drive traffic. Are you trying to use a video to sell your product and provide a call to action? Then, perhaps a video view campaign is what you want.

Now, I hope you’re taking notes.

You’ll need a way to capture and drip on your leads, if that’s what you chose to do. You can use Mail Chimp, or any number of other services to do that.

Zapier is worth a look. It ties a myriad of services together, allowing you to communicate your Facebook leads to your CRM, etc. It automates literally thousands of things and ties them together beautifully. Definitely check them out when you get time. It’s truly genius.

So, your ad needs an image. The image is everything! It should grab attention and portray your campaign without a word, if possible. Studies show that ads with pictures that do not have any words on them do better. So Facebook advertising doesn’t want images with tons of words on it. They consider that to be clutter and will shut it off if they catch it.

Make sure to read their very strict policy on things you can’t say. Think, George Orwell’s 1984, if you know what that reference means. It’s all a PC world now, and I don’t mean Personal Computer. Political Correctness has gone hog wild! Oh, I’m sorry. That was derogatory towards hogs. Oh wait, I can’t call them hogs. I have to call them artiodactyl mammals of the Suidae family. Of course I’m kidding, but it has gotten a bit out of control. Anyway, be careful you aren’t offending anyone if you can help it. Facebook advertising policies will be followed to the letter, if not erring on the strict side of any judgement calls. So, be aware of what you’re doing.

A friend of mine, who is definitely a nationally recognized guru of all things web marketing, says to just develop 10 ads with a variety of imaging. Set them each to $5 a day and let things run for a while.

Keep in mind that you’re paying per impression. But, soon enough, you’ll see analytics that will tell you which ads are working and which ones to cut. Don’t touch anything once you place the ad. If you do, it will go back into review and possibly get rejected for no reason whatsoever.

Once you determine which ads are working, let them run. You’ll see your costs get more and more efficient, as Facebook learns the best way to promote it. Keep it on automatic. Don’t think you know better than their algorithms.  You don’t.

Now you can slowly raise the budget per day. From $5 to $10, etc. but only go up a little per week. If you say you’ll spend $100 per day right off the bat, they’ll certainly take your money. But you won’t get as much from it as you would going slower. This should be a long-term strategy for you. Take your time and learn from it each week. Look at the numbers and it will begin to paint a picture for you. Try some new ads and see if they outperform old ones. And have fun with it.

One last bit of advice. Don’t place too many filters on your ads. If you only want to advertise to 18 to 24 year old people in Denver, you’ll pay out the nose and won’t get many. I mean it could be a few hundred bucks per lead. Instead, open up the net. To everyone, everywhere, if possible. Then, you’ll keep your cost per lead down. The bigger the net, the lower the cost. Remember, you pay a premium for specializing. Another friend of mine says to advertise EVERYWHERE to EVERYONE. He pays pennies compared to others who load up the filters, don’t get results, waste a ton of money, and end up quitting because it didn’t work.

So, is Facebook advertising worth the hassle? Yes, I believe it is. But, to the Facebook people I’d like to say that, “It doesn’t need to be as big of a hassle as you make it”. There, now I’m done. See my article about Twitter here.

April 14, 2018 |

Use Common Sense When Describing Your Business in Advertising

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Most people think they need to prepare crafty descriptions for their business, especially when preparing a script for radio or television ads. I will describe why this is not needed, a waste of time, and could even hurt how effective your ad could be.
These days people are very picky about advertising. I’m the first to make fun of ads I hear in the radio. Some of them really leave me rolling my eyes because the business owner tried so hard and that showed. But what also showed is that they are obviously stuck in the past with old tactics that don’t work anymore.
Using terms like, “folks”, “fast friendly service”, “quality materials”, “attention to detail”, “quality workmanship”, and “chuck in a truck” to describe your competitors should be used with caution or not at all.
Yes, using terms that you might use in a flyer or business description are taboo in radio advertising in particular. The reason radio is so touchy is that your audience can only base their opinions of your business upon what they hear. If your voice is annoying at all, you should hire a professional. And a marketing or sales expert should edit your script or come up with an original one from scratch.
People are wise to anything that sounds too good or blows away every competitor out there. Sure you’re proud of your business. But, even if you do blow away your competitors, you shouldn’t come right out and say that.
Instead, try being a bit humble and speak from the heart. Tell the story and endear people to you based on your heart. Consumers will put up with all kinds of bad service if they believe in your mission and how it affects you and your family. So promise good honest service and competitive prices, but let them know what you are trying to build and why. If you are building your company to hand off to your kids one day, then talk about that. If you are wanting to build your business to the point where you can support some other mission or charity, then talk about that. Give people something real to grasp.
I’m building TopLocal.org to benefit small business owners with my knowledge and experience. Lord knows I’ve been through the wringer and made plenty of mistakes. Perhaps I can help others with that knowledge and ways to circumvent problems that I had.
I’m also building TopLocal.org for retirement and to provide a good job for my son, nephew, and friends who are all great talent but who have all struggled for many years.
I’m building a platform where business owners can come together and have some fun promoting each other effortlessly.
That’s why I’m doing this. So why are you doing what you do?

March 7, 2018 |
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