Finding Customers on Facebook

We are continuing our social media for small business series with Deb Brown…aka "Debworks" on the internet. Deb works with small businesses,creating social media plans that work for them. She is an in-demand speaker on the topics of community, shopping local, Facebook, Twitter, blogging and the internet. You'll find advice from her on her website, Need A Little Advice.

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 Hear Deb Brown talk with George & Mary-Lynn about Facebook for small business on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [5:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Let's say I'm a small business owner and I've just set up my Facebook Fan Page. Who should I ask to "like" me?

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Well I'd like to take a step back, Mary-Lynn. Do you already have a personal page set up on Facebook?

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Yes I do.

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Are they your friends and family?

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Friends, family, and people in my network.

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Are there also people that work in your local community?

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Definitely!

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Then those are the people you reach out to.

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Well that was easy!

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People forget that is simply the old party-line concept. I live in a town with only 144 people, but I live closer to the town with 4,000 people, and everybody knows what everybody is doing because they are all on Facebook! So if you have a small business, make friends with other small businesses in your local and surrounding community.

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I think people get intimidated by Facebook because you go in and there are so many people…facebook is suggesting friends, friends are suggesting friends and pages. But instead of becoming overwhelmed by it all, just start by reaching out to the people you already know.

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And keep this in mind, if you make a friend with someone and they start to make you crazy like a couple of tele-marketers I've picked up…

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Are you talking about me, Deb?

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I actually like you! But you can always unfriend somebody, so you don' t have to be afraid of making friends with someone you don't know.

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So I've got my Fan Page, I've reached out to my friends, family members and colleagues, but my page is bland. I've tried to be engaging on my page, but no one is responding. How I can turn that around?

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Let's take a step back once again. Is your business the same way?

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Hmmm, sure I'll say I'm boring.

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It's very important to look at that because things show up everywhere in your life, they don't just show up in one aspect. So if you find out your Fan Page is not working the way you think it should, take a look at what's going on in your business. Take a look at your involvement in the community. Are you a volunteer? Do you give back?

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What a great way to spice up your page, by talking about your community along with sharing the way you are involved!

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That's right. And it is also very important for a small business on their fan page to not only talk about their business, but talk about other people too. Share links to other places. It's all about sharing the love!

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That's a great point, and it's also important to keep in mind that networking isn't only face-to-face or only online. The real power comes from combining the two.

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Absolutely!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00586-051710.mp3