Online Marketing Business

How To Create A Facebook Business Page

Everyone knows that having a social media profile is pretty much a must have for any online business.

In fact, many business will have multiple profiles across multiple platforms. This is fine if you have the time to manage them all (this is why social media tools such as Content Studio are so popular to streamline posting to multiple platforms).

But, if you happen to be short on time (and who isn’t, right?) then the most important platform to focus on for the vast majority of marketers would still be Facebook.

It is pretty simple to set up a Facebook page, but you want to optimise it so it will perform as well as it possibly can.

So, with that being said, if you want an engaging Facebook business page, here are 15 things you need to know to get the best results:

1: Don’t Confuse Business Pages With Personal Profiles

If you create a personal profile for your brand instead of a Facebook Business Page, you’re going to miss out on content creation tools, analytics and paid promotional opportunities.

Worse yet, people will have to send you a friend request before they can actually engage with you.

Business pages are there for a reason; to engage potential customers and encourage them to take some kind of action, so don’t make the mistake of trying to use a personal profile for your business.

Of course, you can share content from your page on your personal timeline, and promote your page on there too so you can get more folks to your business page and you should be doing this, although do it sparingly.

2: Don’t Create A ‘Professional Profile’ Associated With Your Business

Let’s say you have a personal profile on Facebook and you want a second profile for professional reasons.

This goes against Facebook’s terms of service and could get you in trouble.

Yes, there are marketers who have multiple personal Facebook profiles, but if they get caught they could be booted off the platform so the risk isn’t worth it.

And why do it anyway? Facebook pages are free, so there really is no reason to try to use multiple personal profiles.

The only reason I can see people doing this is because Facebook does have a tendency to reduce the organic reach of posts from business pages because they want you to spend money on ads and boosting posts.

3: Choose A Friendly, Engaging Cover Photo

This cover photo takes up most of the room above the fold on your Page, so you’ll want a high-quality image that attracts and holds your visitors’ attention.

You might consider hiring a professional to create this image for you.

Keep words in the image brief and to the point.

Faces work well at holding attention, and bright colors are good, too.

You can also use video on your cover too so this may be a way to showcase your products and/or brand.

4: Use A Profile Picture That’s Easy To Recognize

It could be your logo or your headshot if you’re the face of your company.

Being recognizable is important to getting found and liked, so choose your picture carefully and then use it consistently.

Don’t get too caught up on whether to use your face or a brand logo; the key is to be consistent.

Personally, I think most would do well to at least start out with a brand and design a recognisable logo for it.

Personal branding works for some, but if you look at most traditional business, they are full of logos rather than personalities.

Whatever you choose to do in your business, keep doing it so people will be able to associate it with your business brand.

5: Fill Out Your ‘About’ Section

This isn’t visible anymore when visitors arrive on your page, yet it’s still one of the most clicked-on items when they want more information about your business.

Put in your general description, company information, your story or whatever fits for your business at a bare minimum, but the more you fill in the better.

Visitors will want to know about your business so give them the information they are looking for. If they can’t find it, they may decide to look elsewhere.

The internet is awash with potential competitors for your business so you need to make people trust you and being transparent and giving them as much information about your business as possible will help them to start building that trust.

6: Add A Call-To-Action Button

This is a great way to drive traffic to your website and build your list.

Your call-to-action button might be to have visitors watch a video, sign up to your list and so forth.

All your posts will ideally have some kind of call-to-action, whether that is to go and read a blog post or to visit a sales/squeeze page.

Getting people off Facebook onto a platform you own is a smart move as you have much more control on your own websites.

7: Post Often, But Not Too Often

If you don’t post for months at a time, then your business does not look professional. Heck, you don’t even appear to be in business anymore.

However, if you post non-stop, you’ll likely annoy people.

It’s a matter of finding that happy medium, and that can vary from one business to another.

You can post your own content, motivational quotes, funny memes etc. but you can also post other people’s content.

This is known as content curation and if you do this, you should always give the original author credit but it is a good way to be posting content on your page without you doing all the writing.

8: If You Have The Time To Respond, Then Let Fans Message You Privately

It’s an awesome idea to let your customers and fans send you private messages – this can result in better customer service, fewer complaints made publicly and even more sales.

However, if you don’t have time to respond to these private messages then it might be best not to enable private messaging.

The good thing about using something like Facebook Messenger is that prospects are highly responsive so it is definitely worth considering if you have the time.

You can also use platforms like Mobile Monkey or ManyChat to create an automated sequence that will automatically respond to your prospects when they message you. If you want to make the most of this kind of automation, consider picking up this excellent training course on chatbot marketing by JayKay Dowdall called Destiny.

9: Monitor Your Page And Respond To Comments Promptly

You can monitor and respond to comments using the ‘notifications’ tab at the top of the page.

If people are taking the time to comment on your posts, it means that they like what you are doing, so really make the effort to respond to any comments that are being posted.

This also has an effect on the Facebook algorithm and may even make your page posts more visible to people who like and follow your page so a win-win situation all round.

10: Pin Important Posts To The Top Of The Page

As you post, older posts get pushed down and buried. But there are times when you want a post to remain at the top, even after you’ve published new posts.

You can pin one post at a time and use these to promote events, offers and announcements.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good pinned post. Make it a strong one with a clear call-to-action as it will be the first post that your new visitors will see when they visit your page and you need to grab their attention and grab it fast!

11: Post Visual Content In Your Timeline

Photos and videos are up to 40 times more likely to get shared on social media, so take advantage of this fact and share lots of visual content.

Memes, GIF’s and motivational posts are always good content to post on your page, and if they are good, they may get shared and this will get more eyeballs to your page.

Video content can be particularly engaging for your viewers. Just try to keep them short and sweet; 2 minutes or under tend to work best on social media.

12: Consider Using Live Video

People typically spend more than three times more time watching a Facebook Live video than they do a recorded video.

You can even use tools to let your followers know that you intend to go live at a particular time.

Let them know in advance what the topic will be so they can come with their questions. This can be super engaging and Facebook puts a lot of emphasis on viewer engagement and will push your livestream out to more people.

13: Use Facebook’s Targeting Tools

You can target certain audiences with tailor-made updates.

Segment by age, gender, relationship, location and so forth, and then send highly targeted messages to those groups for a greater response.

These tools can be really powerful but may take a bit of getting used to.

However, it really is worth getting to know your audience so you can tailor your content to their needs.

14: Promote Your Page. A Lot

Create an ad to promote your page, choose your target audience and choose your budget. Make sure your ad is directly targeted to your ideal customer and test.

This is where knowing your audience comes into play, as you can get really targeted ads to a highly specific audience to maximise your ad spend.

You might also consider boosting a post once a week as this will again push your page into your followers newsfeeds so they don’t forget about you!

15: Measure Your Success

Dig into your page’s insights to track Facebook-specific engagement metrics.

Analyze and adjust as needed.

It might all sound complicated, but you’ll quickly get the hang of everything here.

So, there you have it. 15 ways to optimise and get the most out of your Facebook business page. If you only implement a few of these I’m sure it will make a difference but imagine what a difference it would make if you managed to implement them all!!

For more information on creating a Facebook business Page, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/business/products/pages

How To Get Traffic To Your Blog With Content Marketing

Blogging has truly revolutionized the way one experiences the digital age. There is apparently no limit to what you can do with the help of blogs. Even the smallest aspect of your daily personal life like recording journal entries has been given an entirely new dimension.

Going on from there, there is a lot of scope for picking up interesting debates and discussions through blogs. You can even start some of these discussions yourself.

And another great thing about running your own blog is that you can monetise it and actually make money by writing about things you are passionate about!

And it is easier to do than you might think. Honestly, it isn’t rocket science; you don’t need to be a scientist who posts revolutionary details about his latest experiments.

If you blog well, i.e. if you are engaging enough that people want to come and read it, you have a really good chance of making some money, by just going about your daily activity of posting blogs on areas that interest your readers in your niche!

By the way, if you are serious and want to take your blogging to the next level, check out the Rapid Blogging Blueprint. This is a premium level training that takes you through each and every step of setting up your own highly profitable blog and profiting from it. You can check it out here.

Here are some of the things you can do to make sure that your blogging activities get rewarded by more than just comments and praises:

You could get yourself registered with a search engine. Doing this will virtually guarantee that your blog will get a great deal of free, organic traffic, and traffic is the lifeblood of any blog/business.

In this way, the higher the ranking your blog achieves, the more you are likely to get paid because more people will be able to find your content quickly.

While writing your blog articles you also need to keep a few things in mind. This is not only to ensure that you get a steady flow of traffic, but also for the fact that your blog readership can increase so that the ranking of your blog with search engines go higher.

Here are a few tips to help you with your blog content:

Reader Friendly Content: At all costs keep your content – articles, poems, photographs, videos – reader friendly, that is to say, it should keep more and more readers interested. Your reader must be at the center of you post in a way that your reader must feel that he is gaining something out of reading your post. This is the basic rule in marketing.
Make It Worthwhile: Never let the reader feel that he has been tricked into reading your post or clicking on your blog link. You are thwarting all your long term chances of that reader coming back to your blog, in which case your blog rankings over the long term are in a dicey position.
Check For Errors: Making grammatical and spelling errors can be a major put off for many readers. They may not visit your blog again simply because the errors that you make are too high. Always proof read your blog. A small typo here and there can be understood, but make sure you don’t make any major errors.
KISS: Or, Keep It Short and Simple. This is the thumb rule you must follow at all point. Long winding posts tend to get boring. And it may contain nothing that is interesting to the reader. Also no one has the time enough for your blog, no matter how well you write. In fact, your blog will be much more appreciated if you put your thoughts simply and shortly.
Make It Interesting: Make sure that you hold your reader’s attention by making your posts snazzy. They must not be written in a tone that is tiring to read. Write short sentences and keep then crisp and precise. Always hit the point immediately in the course of your article.
Link: Keep linking the blogs you read to yours in order to build a network those people will be in turn encouraged to link you. Remember, linking increases rankings.
Keywords: Using the keywords of your posts frequently increases the search ability of that particular article of yours which in turn leads more people to visit your blog.
Clear Thoughts: Make sure you put your thought clearly before the readers so that it does not become tedious for them to read.
Colloquialism: You can write in a friendly tone. Avoid using too many slang words, but otherwise, if your post demands it, you can be colloquial.
Post Title: A catchy post title or headline is half your business solved. It can glue a reader to your post almost immediately. However, do not put misleading post titles, or you will lose creditability.
Always Have A Call To Action: Writing an engaging blog post is great but remember that you want to make money from your content, so always have a call to action to click on a link that either goes to one of your own products or an affiliate offer where you will get a commission. You can see below that I have added several calls to action in this post, just like the one below where I am giving away a free checklist to keep you on track when setting up your blog, so click on the image below or click here if you want 🙂

So, be consistent with your blog content and watch the traffic start flowing in to your blog!

How To Create The Most Powerful Lead Magnet

Everyone probably knows the power of giving away something for free to encourage visitors to give you their email address.

But your lead magnet has to be a real no-brainer offer as people are more suspicious and untrusting than ever as they are constantly being bombarded with marketing from all angles and your free gift has to be incredibly valuable and, more importantly, useful, if they are going to be tempted to part with their valuable email address.

I’m going to use the online marketing niche as our example to explain this technique, but keep in mind this could work equally well in other niches, too.

Consider this: When people have a specific problem that’s driving them crazy, they’ll do almost anything to fix that problem NOW.

For example, a bride-to-be has an acne outbreak the day before her wedding – what wouldn’t she do to fix her problem?

A woman is in immediate danger of losing her job – what wouldn’t she do to convince her boss not to fire her?

Parents are losing their child to alcohol – what wouldn’t they do to save their child?

Pay Attention!

Their need is great and immediate. Do you think they might pay to find the solution? Of course. Do you think they would enter their email address into an opt-in form to get the solution? You bet they would!

So how do we use this knowledge in a niche such as online marketing? Simple: If you pay attention to forums and blogs, you’ll notice there’s always some sort of online marketing crisis.

For example, Google just changed how they rank websites, and now thousands of online marketers are losing tons of money. Think they might like the solution?

Paypal is suddenly seizing accounts without warning and freezing the funds. Would the account owners like an answer on how to unfreeze their accounts? Would everyone else like to know how NOT to get their accounts frozen? You bet.

Facebook just changed (fill in the blank) and now marketers are unable to (fill in the blank) or maybe they’re banned, or…

Aweber just did the unthinkable, and marketers everywhere are freaking out.

XYZ hosting site just got hacked, big time. Websites are down and backups are missing – what to do?

The list goes on and on. Keep tabs on the forums and you’ll find a new crisis every month and often every week.

Offer The Latest Solution

As you’ve probably already guessed, your lead magnet is going to offer the solution to the latest marketing crisis.

Just imagine how fast marketers will give you their email address when you have the answer they desperately want NOW.

Right about now you’re asking, “But how am I going to find the solution when they can’t?”

Good old-fashioned research, that’s how.

Go to the help sections of the websites involved in the latest crisis and find out everything you can.

If possible, call the website and ask all the questions you need to ask.

Hit the chatrooms and forums and glean all the helpful info that is available. If you find an expert who knows what s/he’s talking about, do a quick phone interview.

Act Fast

Timing is everything on this, and you have got to act fast.

If the crisis hits on Monday, ideally you want your lead magnet up no later than Tuesday to take full advantage of the tsunami of new leads you’re going to get.

And by the way, when you’ve got the solution everyone is desperately looking for, what does that make you?

The trusted expert and authority, that’s who.

Do you think people will open and read your future emails? You bet your life they will.

Spread Your Net Wisely!

Now here’s the trick to getting your squeeze page in front of as many of these marketers as possible:

Outsource people to search out forums and threads where marketers are talking about this problem. If someone is looking for help, that’s where you want a link to your solution.

Have your outsourcers post a link to your squeeze page offering them the answer they seek.

Yes, it’s that easy.

Oftentimes that thread and even your post offering your lead magnet will end up on page one of Google for that particular search.

Not bad, right?

Oftentimes that thread and even your post offering your lead magnet will end up on page one of Google for that particular search.

Not bad, right?

And here’s the best part – your opt-in rate will be sky high. It will almost certainly top any squeeze page you currently have.

One more thing – if you want to take this just one step further, it can blow wide open.

Get On Record!

Get podcasters to interview you and do guest posts on as many blogs as possible.

Think about it – this problem is all over the online marketing community. What podcaster or blog owner doesn’t want to have someone with the solution to offer their listeners and readers?

Just one post on a major blog or podcast can result in a thousand subscribers in 48 hours.

Remember to position your solution not just as the answer to the problem, but also as the way to AVOID the problem for all those who aren’t already experiencing it.

This way you’ll be able to grab not only the marketers looking for a solution, but also everyone else who wants to avoid this headache.

Wealth loves speed. Now go find the latest crisis, research the solution and start building that list.

A side benefit of doing all this research is that you will always be on the cutting edge of whatever is going on in your niche and this is a great place to be.

Too many marketers rest on their laurels and regurgitate the same tired old tactics even though the marketplace has evolved and many of the tactics may no longer work, although the underlying strategy probably does.

Keeping yourself informed will help you to constantly be on the lookout for new trends in your niche and you can jump on these fast as you will become aware of them quickly, so don’t underestimate the power of being “in the know” as it can keep you way ahead of the competition.

Use Your Thank You Page To Boost Profits!

Someone joins your list and what do they see?

“You are subscribed. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking this link. Thank you.”

Wow! That really built some rapport now didn’t it! I tell you, I am so fired up about being on another list that I could just… well… actually I’m not, and I think I will unsubscribe. Thank you.

If the above example is anything like your thank you page, then you’re blowing it.

Your thank you page is an excellent place to build rapport and get your new subscriber to become even more invested in your budding relationship.

With that in mind, here are 6.5 ideas of what you can do with your thank you page that won’t have new subscribers turning away in boredom, annoyance or revulsion:

Learn More About Your New Subscriber

They just gave you their email address and maybe their name – now ask something that will help you with your marketing and show that you are interested in them.

You should always be asking your subscribers questions to find out what makes them tick and what kinds of problems they are facing.

Examples of good questions to ask are:

What do they most want to learn about ___?
What is their number one goal?
What is the biggest challenge they face right now?

Ask Them To Share And Get Even More Subscribers

Ask them to invite their friends through social media to get your incentive or lead magnet.

In return, you’ll reward them with something even better than the initial offer that made them sign up in the first place.

Social media is an incredibly powerful place to grow subscribers and if people are finding you by word of mouth, they are much more likely to take a look at you and your offer because you have been referred by someone they already trust.

And giving highly valuable incentives to share your offer with their friends is a really great way to build a relationship with your subscribers.

Build Authority And Credibility

Demonstrate that they made a wise decision in joining your list by showing the previous reviews and testimonials from your biggest fans.

Social proof goes an incredibly log way to building trust and you need to reinforce that your new subscribers made a good choice when signing up with you.

Any evidence that you can provide will help to gain your subscribers confidence and can turn a subscriber into a raving fan.

Why not link out to a case study if you have one showing how your customers are getting results with your products or services?

“Sell” Your Lead Magnet – Again!

Done correctly, your lead magnet is an excellent representation of your expertise. But it won’t do your new subscribers any good if they don’t consume it.

So, remind them of what they’re about to discover by using short, snappy bullets like this:

“Congrats on getting your copy of “Hidden Traffic Strategies.”
You can download it from the link below.
When you do, you’ll discover:
The toilet paper method to getting traffic on demand – page 6
The annoying email that doubles referrals – page 12
The surprising way to triple your traffic every week, like clockwork – page 15

If you can persuade them to consume your gift and act upon what they have learnt, they will be much more likely to see results.

And if they get results, they are much more likely to share it with their friends as they know it works.

So many people download free gifts and never use them as they haven’t had to pay for them and so they sit on their hard drive.

You must keep pushing them to actually consume the content and to take action, and encourage them to ask questions if they get stuck.

All this will reinforce the KLT (Know, Like and Trust) factor that is so important for online business these days.

Send Them To Your Blog/Website

Or send them to your most popular video. Or…

The key here is to get them invested in you, so they can begin using what you teach to get real results in their life.

By giving away a lot of great actionable content for free, whether via your blog, YouTube channel etc. you are showing them that you know what you are talking about and that you have a genuine interest in their success.

When they realise this, they’ll be back for more.

Promote An Offer

Make them an offer they can’t refuse. This is an especially great time to offer that year old $197 course of yours for, “Just $11, One Time Only, Grab it Now.”

Build the value as though you are selling it for $197, and they will buy it.

When they do, you have something much more important than $11 – you have gotten them to become your customer, your buyer, and potentially a raving fan who promotes you on social media and buys everything you offer.

Or at least purchases a product now and then.

Don’t underestimate the power of turning a prospect/subscriber into a paying customer; this is a big deal.

Also, once they have become a paying customer, you must treat them differently. Lavish them with other free training, keep building rapport and you will definitely reap the rewards.

Remember that this requires a long-term focus.

Be Yourself!

Regardless of which of the above six possibilities you use on your thank you page, I would encourage you to also show your personality.

If it fits you and your business, inject some humor. Use a funny photo or cartoon to express just how appreciative you are that they subscribed.

But don’t try to fake it; just be yourself. After all, they came to you for a reason.

And don’t try to cater to everyone. Be polarising. It’s okay to repel those that don’t “get you” because you only really want to do business with those that share your values and beliefs.

You can also use your own photo to build rapport. Make it look amazing and memorable with the help of a graphic artist.

Remember, your thank you page is prime real estate for building rapport, so don’t blow it. You already have their attention so make the most of it

Improve Your Productivity: 5 Tips To Clear The Clutter

Is clutter standing in the way of you doing your best work? Likely it is. In fact, it’s one of the biggest challenges to your productivity.

When your environment is filled with clutter, you may feel like you’re constantly reacting rather than responding. You may feel a general sense of unease or anxiety. You may feel mentally exhausted even though you haven’t yet started your workday.

Are you constantly searching for client files, notes, or even something to write with?

Is it a nightmare to find a file on your hard drive or the cloud because you lack an organizational structure and/or an effective file-naming convention?

Do you have a dozen tabs open on your computer at any one time? Yes, that’s a form of clutter, too.

Are there stacks of books, papers, or even coffee cups or dishes sitting on your desk?

Are your file drawers crammed with paperwork that’s no longer needed and which belongs in the trash can?

No wonder it’s hard to focus or get anything done. And, even if you do accomplish anything, you’re probably not feeling your best when you work under these cluttered conditions.

Across the board, clutter is often fueling these uneasy feelings and your lack of productivity. It has a way of sucking the life out of you, distracting you from what’s most important, and derailing your success.

5 Tips To Clear Clutter In Your Workspace

You can’t increase your productivity by reading a book or taking a class. You actually need to take action.

The first thing you need to do is to “set the stage.” Nothing’s going to happen until you do. Setting the stage is all about taking action to clear the clutter.

After that’s done, you’ll start to see the effects — increased productivity.

Let’s focus on some basic components of your work environment.

A cluttered and messy office is no place to expect your best work. And, while some people believe that’s where they get their best work done, imagine what they could accomplish if working in a completely upgraded environment! Here are some simple tips for helping you to create an environment for success.

Put It Away!

Put away everything that belongs in your desk drawers or file cabinet.

If you find things that don’t belong in your office, then take them to wherever they belong and put them away.

If you find things that have “no home” right now, put them in a box with a lid, so you won’t need to look at them. Remember the old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind.” In this case, that’s a good thing!

Bonus tip: Discard anything you haven’t used in the past year. If you haven’t used it in that time, odds are you never will.

Clear It Away!

Clear everything from the top of your desk and wipe it down.

Prior to placing things back on top of your desk, evaluate each item to make sure you actually need it front and center.

If not, then put it away or throw it away. Reduce visual distractions as much as possible.

Bonus tip: Wipe down your desk phone and/or smartphone. They’re a haven for germs.

Review

Gather all your Post-It notes and scraps of paper.

Review all these “notes” and discard what you can. If any tasks can be handled quickly, schedule a time in your planner and get them done during a focused work session.

For the remainder, type them into a digital document for safekeeping.

Bonus tip: If they include items you need to reference, keep the one page document easily accessible on your desktop or stored in a top desk drawer.

Clean Up!

If you have boxes or stacks of items on your office floor, go through them and discard everything you can. Again, if you haven’t used something in the past year, discard it or give it away.

Discarding is the better choice so that it can be recycled.

Bonus tip: Go through your bookcase and get rid of any books you also own digitally.

Box up any others that are outdated and either give them to the library or recycle them.

Remove Digital Distractions

Technology produces its own brand of clutter.

Close down any tabs that you have open on your computer except for those that apply to your current work.

Log out of social media accounts as well as your email. Make a habit of working with minimal tabs open on your screen.

Bonus tip: Turn off any gadgets except the ones you need to do your core work tasks. You’ll get more done faster and easier without added distractions.

By implementing these simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to clearing the clutter in your office and reducing distraction.

You’ll love the result. You’ll be more energized, less anxious, and more focused on your work. Investing a little bit of time today to prepare your work environment will make a noticeable difference in your productivity!