Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that FaceBook has recently added several new ways to help you interact with your friends and business associates. Recently, I interviewed Dan Zarrella, co-author of The Facebook Marketing Book
In this 30-minute podcast, I quizzed Dan about the 3 things I think are most important for small business owners to use FaceBook effectively: marketing a business, marketing a self and using photographs to do both. To get all good stuff, scroll to the bottom of this post, turn up the volume and don't miss a second of Dan's advice. You can also download the podcast to your favorite mobile device or on iTunes. If you prefer to read, here is some of what Dan told me, with time stamps so you can easily find what interests you most.
- Market your business (1:47). Now that we can interact on FaceBook as our businesses or our personal selves, Dan says that the most important thing to do is make sure that your marketing efforts are focused from a Business Page and not from a profile page. All the “cool tools” for businesses are available through Business Pages only, so if you're not using Business Pagae, you may miss out on some positive marketing benefits. Dan also discusses (at 5:50) that you can set up a Business Page without a Profile Page, but there are some drawbacks to doing so.
- Market yourself (9:23). If you want to create a personal brand beyond the products you sell, in addition to a profile page and a Business Page, follow Dan's (and my) example by setting up a Business Page in your name. For example, Dan has a Business Page for his book, a Profile Page for his friends and family members, and a self-branded Business Page for him. This is a really good way to brand yourself if you want to expand your business beyond products, to things like books, consulting or speaking engagements.
- Market with photos (16:20). Dan says that while FaceBook limits the display of photos atop Business Pages, you can use the five photos you have to “draw out” what your brand stands for. This is a super way to give your brand visual personality. Studies show that when people see their friends take an action, they often believe that action to be correct. So as you share photos of yourself connecting with customers and business colleagues, you increase the positive images of you and your business.
In line with point number 3, consider how I use photos at the top of my three main Business Pages. The top of the INDIE Business Page features photos of my IBN members. The top of the INDIE Beauty Network Page features photos of IBN member products. The top of the Donna Maria Business Page features photos of me as a speaker, advocate, and collaborator. (The latter page is actually part of a recent experiment.) I also maintain a Profile Page where I connect with personal friends and family members. This 4-pronged set-up is meant to be dynamic and will change as my business evolves, but you get the idea. The same sort of logic can be applied to your business.
About Dan Zarrella
Dan Zarrella is an award-winning social, search, and viral marketing scientist at HubSpot and author of author of The Facebook Marketing Book
How to Listen to the Show
This post contains my paraphrases of the information Dan shared. To hear it from the horse's mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:
- Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
- Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
- Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.
Question: How can you employ Dan's simple tips for using FaceBook to attract more people into your sphere of influence?
