Day 3: Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing? "Posting to YOUR WALL and News Feed"

Here we are, Day 3 of "Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing?"  On Day 1 we went over mis-using the cr-apps, Day 2 we went over mis-using Private Messages and Private Chats... Today we will go over mis-use of  "The Wall" and the "News Feed"  Plus you get a Bonus Lesson on HOW to use the News Feed to benefit your online business prescence...

This is where my little quote  "you could be broadcasting your activity to hundreds of thousands of persons." comes in!

Whatever YOU post  where it says "What's on your mind?"   enters the News Feed of every single dingle person on your friend list (assuming they've not hidden your posts due to SPAM that is)

Remember as we discussed before, people who are using Facebook as a tool to build a business need to build relationships.  This involves posting messages about "what is on your mind".   Now if you are ONLY posting about your company, including links to your website, how it is a ground floor opportunity, the phone number to tonight's opportunity call, how you sponsored 20 people this week... well, you are not providing anything of VALUE to your readers.  You simply are posting AD after AD after AD after AD odds are you'll be 'hidden' or 'deleted'....

No one has an opportunity to get to know WHO you are when all you are posting is about only YOUR business.   Remember, you could be broadcasting your activity to hundreds of thousands of persons...

Your goal is to post information of value, as each person who does read your post has the opportunity to comment on your posting.  When they comment, this automatically goes on to THEIR wall.  So all of a sudden your message has just reached even MORE people, people that are NOT on YOUR friend list.

Each person also has the opportunity when viewing your message to 'share' your posting, if they choose to share your message of VALUE, this will not only be on THEIR wall, it will also be broadcast into the News Feed of EVERYONE on THEIR friend lists....

There is a lot of cross over on Facebook, a GREAT post of VALUE could quickly be shared by someone, who shares it with someone else who then shares it with someone else.  Who then tweets it, and then is retweeted, then someone finds your page because they are curious about who you are, then they ask about your opportunity....

You see, using Facebook for online marketing is SO so much deeper than posting a link.  Let people know WHO you are.  Are you working at home today?  Are you taking the kids to the park?   Are you cooking a brand new recipe for dinner?Add in some little teasers so people will see you as a person, someone with a life, a family, goals.... 

I'm not saying NOT to talk about your business, just do it right.  Maybe one day share that your new company newsletter came out and post a link.  Another day share that a team member hit a goal. Share that you are getting ready to head out for a home party. The key is s * p * r * i * n * k * l * e the business info in every so often.

Another tip, don't go CRAZY with the personal stuff either, s * p * r * i * n * k * l * e!

You'll soon find that you are PASSING on Facebook with Flying Colors and your grade F will fall to the wayside as your relationships grow.  People will be adding YOU as a friend, your credibility will grow and people will be curious about WHO you are AND your business too....

Alethea Anderson
Straight As

Day 2: Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing? "Private Message and Private Chat"

Here we are, day 2 of the series "Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing?"   Yesterday we went over intentional and unintentional App abuse (a term I've coined as cr-app)  Today we will be going over how NOT to use use Private Messaging and Chat.

Private Messages

A very tempting way to send a private, personal message.  Some think they'll have a captive audience as all it takes is 'just a second' for someone to read about your BEST OPPORTUNITY on the face of the planet... But there is a time and a place.  Remember as I said yesterday "you could be broadcasting your activity to hundreds of thousands of persons".  I'm going to show you how this will BENEFIT you, but not yet.  First the nitty dirty gritty of what you are doing WRONG.

Bad Scenario Number 1:  You request friendship and are accepted, you send your new friend a Private Message and you say "Thank you for adding me!  Have you seen this new ground floor opportunity yet?" with your link attached.  You are GOING to have your message DELETED.  Also keep and eye out where your friend count just went UP one it may go DOWN 1.

Bad Scenario Number 2:  Someone requested YOUR friendship and you accepted, you send your new friend a Private Message and you say "Thank you for the friend request!  I can help you grow your MLM with this amazing automated system!"  See above and watch your friend count DROP.

Bad Scenario Number 3:  You have a new friend, you see they are in the same industry, you decide to ask them a question "are you open to looking at other opportunties"

Bad Scenario Number 4:  You have a new friend, you see they are in the same industry, you write them a note "I see you are with Company X, that looks really interesting, could you tell me more?"  However your INTENT is that you DON'T CARE, you just want a reason to talk about YOUR opportunity.

Private Chat

Bad Scenario Number 1:  Hi.... hi.... hi.... you keep persisting and get no answer.  Let it go, they don't want to talk to you.  Or they are away from their computer.

Bad Scenario Number 2:  "How are you?  Do you like Chocolate?"

Bad Scenario Number 3:  "Could I ask you a favor?"  leading to a request to 'watch a quick video...

Bad Scenario Number 4:  "Hey, will you give me your honest opinion?"   Come on, we all know where it is going...

I hope you can see the pattern here, the above methods are not marketing.  They are shoving an opportunity down someone's throat.  I don't know why people do this, or teach this, but the conversion rate is low. 

The key to a place like Facebook is building relationships.  Be HUMAN, be REAL and if people are interested in YOU they will ask YOU for information.

Plainly put, do NOT do to others, what you do NOT want them to do to you.  How would YOU feel if you got those messages in YOUR Private Message Box?  How would you feel with a bait and switch scenario?

That is always one way to gauge your marketing, you must respect others with the same greatness you expect them to respect you with....

Alethea Anderson
Being Respectful of your Greatness

Day 1: Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing? "Application Spamming" = Cr-App

This is just one is a series of 'Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing?"  Do you abuse your Facebook friends?  Do you know how to turn off the 'auto wall posting' settings for your applications?  Read on...

Facebook is an amazing place, a social networking platform that connects long lost friends, high school senior classes, past room mates, people you worked with, family members and beyond.

But Facebook is also a great tool for the online business builder, if and only IF it is used properly.   Unfortunately Facebook has been found by spammers of all sorts.  Some of them have no idea they are even spamming.

This threee day Series of "Do you FLUNK at Facebook-ing?" will offer you some tips on utilizing Facebook the best way to grow your online business.

Now lets start with Applications (aka apps)

I can promise you that if you are filling people's walls with ihearts, kitten smiles and pillow smacks, you are going to lose a few friends.... You see, these are 'cute' when you are connected with a group of 25 people you knew from high school.   Maybe you send 'drinks' to the gals from the office....  Maybe you share angel blessings with your church group.

But if you are here for business reasons, you need to consider a few things...You see, some apps are manual, you have a choice to go in and send Mary a Mai Tai or Bruce a Beer. Those are great as you are selecting each person manually who gets what on a very personal level.

But some apps have a mind of their own and every time you make a kill on Vampire Wars or complete a batch of Buffalo Wings on Cafe World it is broadcast to EVERYONE'S wall on you friend list.  Again, perhaps not bad if you are soley socializing with a group of bunco buddies, but if you are Networking and have a friends list in the hundreds or thousands you could be broadcasting your activity to hundreds of thousands of persons.

Now pay attention to this statement "you could be broadcasting your activity to hundreds of thousands of persons."

Some may think "OH COOL", let me enlighten you.  "This is NOT a good thing if you SPAMMING while attempting to  GROW A BUSINESS ONLINE".

The last thing you want is for an industry great to click 'remove' and wipe you off of his stream, or even worse, delete you as a friend all together.   Your first thought may be "who cares", but let me reiterate.... "you could be broadcasting your activity to hundreds of thousands of persons...."  I will dive deeper into this over the next couple days...  Now you may wonder "WHY would they waste time deleting ME?"  Let me explain....

I am friends with many "big names" in the industry who have maxed out their friend balances (you may have only 5,000 Facebook Friends on your profile) and I am lucky enough to be one of those 5,000.  

Now consider this, what if just 1% of those people had apps on auto pilot?   That is only 50 people, assuming *only* 1% did not change their auto app settings, for just ONE app, that would be 50 automated 'spam' posts per day.   Now what if someone had 5 auto apps, what if 100 people had 5 auto apps?  All of a sudden you are part of a BIG problem clogging up someone's wall with cr-app!

Now your key as a web marketer is to be seen in a positive way, being Mary Mafia or Freddie Farmer in a very public way will certainly lessen your credibility in the Facebook circle, especially if you are making requests for AK-47s and Peach Trees....  So this is what you want to do.  TURN OFF THE AUTO WALL POSTING!

Here's how to edit Facebook App Settings...

Click on the 'Account' tab and a drop down box will fall, then click on 'Application Settings'.  You will see a list of your Applications.  Odds are there will be more here than you even knew about.  Often people join apps on 'accident' and even some of these 'accidental apps' could be spamming your friends' walls.

So first step, delete any app that you do NOT USE.   To delete the app, click the little X to the far right on each line.  Personally I only have 3 Apps, that's it!    Now to edit settings on the apps you use, you'll see next to the app 'edit settings'.  Now go in and click the 'Additional Permissions' and REMOVE the check where it says 'publish recent activity to my wall'. 

Now you also need to utilize the drop down box to the upper right, here you'll see 'recently used' followed by a series of other options, go to every single one on that list and DELETE and EDIT to clean up your applications lists!

Another note, some Apps attempt to bypass their setting by offering you a 'one time' post while in the game, click CANCEL when this happens. i.e you level up in Cafe World and the app asks you 'would you like to share this news with your friends?'  Click CANCEL or else you are SPAMMING!

You are on your way, great work getting rid of the cr-app!  Tomorrow we'll talk about Private Messages and Chats and what NOT to do!

Alethea Anderson
Anti Cr-app