If you are like me, you are trying to juggle many things in life – home, work, family, friends… and while you have heard how powerful Facebook can be you are still not clear on how your page can help you in business.

I am still learning and exploring Facebook, and I thought it might be a good way to end this week with my 5 fun tips for Facebooking more effectively.

1. You can create your business profile page easily by logging in as yourself, and doing a search in the search bar at the top pf the page for “Create a Page“ – it will lead you through your choices and it is pretty easy to set up.  If you are a serial entrepreneur with multiple businesses, you will be happy to know that you can have multiple pages all tied to your personal account (and you can keep that tidbit private on those pages, if you don’t want the world – or your boss – to know that the XYZ Candle Maker is you).

2. Once you have created your page, and have “liked” other businesses or people’s pages that are pertinent to your page, you can choose up to 5 of those to be anchored in your page’s list of likes – rather than letting Facebook randomly rotate them.  This is good if you have a reciprocal business agreement with a complimentary entity as you and they can cross promote this way.

Or if you have multiple pages, you may wish to “like” and anchor them to each other.  For example, if you are a writer and have set up a page per book, as well as an Author’s page – you can “like”and Anchor the pages to each other.

3.  If you use an opt-in email tool, such as iContact, Constant Contact or MailChimp (there are many others but these three are the ones that come to mind) – don’t forget to generate a “Join My Mailing List” link and add it to your fan page in the Info Tab or create a new Tab for it.

4. Looking for leads?  Using quotes at the start and finish of key words in the Search Box at the top will get you half way there, once you have the results – look at the left side menu options and click on public posts – you’ll get people who have used your key words in their posts whether you are connected to them or not.

You can comment back to them with advice or a link back to your website.  So if you are making XYZ candles and do a search on “i love candles” – be careful to read the context and then craft a nice intro comment to let them know about your candles.  Remember to do the searches while you are using the Facebook page that you want to represent so your comments will be from the page you want them to see!  If you forget and notice while you are crafting the best ever response – just add a tag to your Facebook Page in the body of your comment.

5. Did you know that you can drive traffic to your Facebook page by advertising that people “like”your page by texting to Facebook?  On your marketing materials suggest that cell phone users “fan”your Facebook page by texting “Fan -insert name of your page” to 32665.

Example:  Text “Fan myEZWebpro “to 32665.

If you are a speaker or presenter – this would make a great final slide.  If you are a band or theatrical group, add it to your posters and other promo material.  Put it on the back of your business cards.

If you have questions about these tips or if you have tips to share, please add as a comment to the blog, and I’ll get back to you – or share your tip in a future post.

Have a great weekend!

Today my friend wanted to talk more about business-oriented writing services rather than our usual creative novel-writing pursuits. Like many experienced writers she is learning to transition from traditional marketing to the new age of social media, with all its complexities.  We had a great brain-storming session and she left with some good ideas about how to promote her work.  She wants a website, so my suggestion was to use WordPress as her starting point, because it is intuitive, easy to use, and free or low-cost, depending upon the options chosen.  I encouraged her to set up a LinkedIn profile, but I’m not sure she is ready to do so.  I also showed her a blog post by Carol Tice, whose blog and website I’ve found both practical and thought-provoking.  Carol is a successful free-lance writer and award-winning blogger who recently wrote about where her writing business came from in 2011.

There are other options, of course.  Using the telephone to contact her targeted customers is one possibility, with a follow-up letter and/or email.  She might consider doing a newsletters using an online tool like ConstantContact, iContact, or AWeber, but a traditional printed newsletter might be an option for her, also.  She can do it on her computer and have it printed at an office supply store like Office Depot.  We also discussed magazines that use free-lance writers and would be interested in her travel-writing skills.   Please note that the advice I gave her was geared to someone who is not yet comfortable with social media.  It’s about dangling one’s legs in the water and adjusting at a slower pace rather than diving in headfirst.

I’m eager to see where my friend goes from here.  J. has many years of experience in writing, ghost-writing, travel writing, resume writing and editing books and marketing materials for all kinds of businesses, so I know she’ll do well with her writing endeavors.  I’m also hoping to see her pursue her dream of self-publishing the mystery novels she has written, since she’s one of the best writers I’ve ever read – honestly – and her work should be out there for readers to find.  She’s a published writer already, but she doesn’t currently have an agent or publisher.  That shouldn’t hold her back.  Lots of writers are finding success by self-publishing.  It’s a brave new world, and everyone – writers, publishers, agents, and even readers – is learning to swim in unfamiliar waters without any floaties.

I’ll keep you posted once she gets her online presence in place.  And I guarantee you, her books will not begin with “It was a dark and stormy night….” and they will keep you perched on the edge of your easy chair, reading long past your bedtime.

But what if you are one of the aforementioned lone or small business?  How do you manage to attend to your Social Wellbeing then?

Extend your concept of team.

For example: the postal employee that delivers your daily mail – make a point of introducing yourself and saying “hi”; do the same at the library or the office supply shop.  Get to know your “extended team mates”, they contribute to your success, don’t they?

Plus, the socializing helps to spread the word about your small business – you can get practice in, explaining what you do and getting additional “word of mouth” exposure.

Let me know how this works for you (yes, emails and chatting count as socializing).

But sometimes we need a little push… a budget for a special project.  That is where Kickstarter comes in.

First let me tell you what it is NOT – it is NOT a fundraising site –  it is NOT for people trying to fund their business start-up and it is NOT a donate for someone’s lifestyle concept.

So what is it?

Kickstarter.com is a site where you can propose your project and the amount of money it will take to do your project – and people who are interested in your project can pledge an amount towards the budget you proposed.  If the amount needed is not reached – for example you may say you need $2,000 to print and publish your original graphic novel – and you only get $1900 in pledges before the time is up on the proposal – then you do not get the money and no one gets charged for their participation.

What’s in it for the investors?

You determine what kind of perks you are going to give in return for the range of dollars an individual donates.   It might be a permanent ” Thank You” on your website – or a copy of the graphic novel, or an autographed copy or several copies.  If it is your project, then you figure out what you would give to sweeten the pot.

What kinds of businesses or areas can I submit a project for?

The categories include:  Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film and Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, and Theater.

Recently I participated in support of a gardening book to be published.  I have seen tech inventions, theatrical productions and art installations proposed on the site.

How can I submit a project?

Go to the Kickstarter Guidelines page on their site, all the information is there.

Or peruse the projects and see what interests you as an investment – you can invest as little as $1 or perhaps the whole shebang if the project really rings your bell!

The thing is – this is a wonderful way of getting your project launched and getting exposure to a wider audience (since most artistic projects are financed locally – this expands your reach).

Hope this is helpful – let me know!

It is always a good idea to look at the interview from the perspective of the hiring side – do some research – what kind of people do they have on their team already?  How will you fit in? What would you like to learn more about their business?

This article at INC give more details.  Click Here.

If you are a member of Linkedin, you can initiate a group.  Or even on Facebook.   Or find a forum in your field (either of business or profession) and start a conversation there.  Do something small and new and kick-start your job search, or search for new business leads.

Another mini-marketing strategy is to ask for advice – often it will lead to referrals or new ideas that will help you.

Let me know what specific strategies work for you and I will share them here! Thanks and make it a great day.

Why am I reading up on how to influence people?  I am trying my hand at sales, and like many people I have some bad experiences that have colored my perception of what it means to be a sales person.

I know it needn’t be true for me, and I know I need to get over the hurdle or I will have failed before starting.  What I know and what I feel about it are not in synch and this is a problem.

The thing is that I am fine until someone puts a label “Sales”on what I am doing.  I influence people all the time – what movie shall we see; where should we go for lunch; should we go for a walk?  But if I call it Sales I freeze up and suddenly feel as though I am trying to squeeze my round self into a square space.

Does anyone out there have any advice?  If so, please share it and I will post it here.

Thanks!

1.  A resume is not just an introduction to a potential employer, it is a screening tool.   More often it is used to rule out a candidate rather than a flag that says “here is the perfect candidate – hire him/her now”.  This is why you will see the more savvy experienced applicant leaving off some of his/her experience unless it is specifically germane to the job at hand, so that the employer will not screen them out for age or “over”qualification.

2. Knowing someone personally or having a reference that is personally known to the potential employer is helpful.  If you are one of those folks who believes that jobs are awarded by merit, and not by a few other various and sundry criteria, then you need to go find a good therapist because you probably are still hung up on how unfair life is….yes, I know that sounds harsh but reality is that humans are looking for humans that they feel good about to hire, whether that is because of trust in a third party’s opinion, or the fact that you go to the same church, or went to the same college or know the same golfing buddies – all people are looking for someone they can relate to as well as if you can do the job.  Obviously this can be distressing if you are a rocket scientist and you know that there are few rocket scientists with your credentials, but I assure you that unless you are the ONLY one with your credentials and they meet perfectly what the employer is looking for,  you will need at least one more item in your favor.

3. I know that in many cases of desperation, we are all willing to take ANY job.  The great frustration about this is that employers are not always willing to hire us for a position they think we will get bored in, or is less than our previous salary….it is an awful position to be in, and I have been in it.  This is where we all have to be creative, and know when to walk away and find something else to apply for, which is often one of the hardest things to do.  I am going to be 55 this year… I don’t feel old, but I know some employers see me that way because at my age – benefits are more expensive, the potential for illness and time off are more probable, and younger employees and clients may have difficulty relating to me and I to them.  The point here is to not fixate on the jobs you cannot get, but to continue to search for ones you can get, or to find ways to be entrepreneurial and either work or sell for yourself.

I fully believe that the next big thing will be cottage industries – especially with the trend to buy locally to alleviate dependence on oil, help conserve resources, and to be greener.  People who find ways to help others be green, upcycle old items, organize recycling where it really makes sense – those are the folks who will help re-establish small businesses and therefore create jobs.

Good luck out there.  If you are self-employed because of unemployment or underemployment – drop me a note and share your experience. We all learn from each other.  Thanks!