Greetings and Salutations!

I thought today we'd talk about Facebook. Every social network has its own "atmosphere". What works well on one social network doesn't necessarily work as well on another. The key is to master the feel for a given network so your time invested gives you as much reward as possible. It's extremely easy to be "busy". Anybody can be "busy". What you want to aim for is to NOT be busy - and to be highly efficient at getting results. That way you have oodles of free time and you also easily have the life / goals you want.

So, how do you get the best results from Facebook?

Where many other social networks thrive on a "call to action", Facebook thrives on *conversation*. It's a completely different vibe. Think of it as comparing an air traffic controller with a therapist. An air traffic controller is there to direct you to do something. They are aiming to have you go left, or move up, or whatever. A therapist is there to *listen*. They want *you* to do the talking.

So here are some examples.

Call to Action: Did you know that avocados are sodium and cholesterol free?

Discussion: I'm trying to learn to like avocados. Do you guys like avocados? What are your favorite recipes?

The first one, the call to action, feels like a promotion or sales pitch. That is the type of thing you'd find on a promo page, and in fact that is on the California Avocado promo website :). Anything starting with "did you know" is textbook marketing-speak. It's leading the customer into a call to action. It's purpose is to cause the user to do something or to take your information.

The second one is both personal and discussion-drawing. Its purpose is to hear their view. You are drawing FROM Them. You are drawing them into the conversation. The post is not about me the author. It is about they the reader. Readers like that. Readers like to be the center of attention and to have their opinion solicited.

So let's see some examples.

My computer gaming site is primarily call to action style posts. They are information, yes, but they are not discussions. They are me telling the users things.

http://www.facebook.com/BellaOnlineVideoGames

You see that few people are responding. I did start trying to add in discussion style posts, but that will take a while to draw in responses, since for so long it's been solely call to action.

Next, let's look at my low carb site which was always aimed towards discussion -

http://www.facebook.com/bellaonlinelowcarb

You'll see that even though my low carb website gets far less traffic than my gaming sites, I get far more interaction on the facebook fan page here. People thrive on the discussions. When I post a call to action style post, like the pomegranate vinaigrette review, nobody responds to it. But they do *see* it, which is the key. You want to occasionally interject those in with the steady stream of discussion.

What you are doing here is building the community, brand, and trust in you as an expert. That way when you do occasionally mention a call to action they follow it. But that needs to be only part of what you're doing.

As a "product" example, for those of you who have non-BellaOnline pages for products or businesses, here is my page for my medieval novels -

http://www.facebook.com/LisaSheaAuthor

Again you'll see that most of it is discussion. When I post discussion questions I get a lot of interaction. If I post a call to action style post, where I am presenting them with information, I get far less interaction.

I do occasionally post about my latest book, but the key here is that people grow to know and enjoy me, and that way when I do post a new book, everyone is actively paying attention to my "messages in their stream" so they see it and forward it to friends and so on. I need to build that trust and interest first, through the discussions, to then have them serve as my "happy marketing squad" when a call to action style item comes along.

Here's a thread in the Blogs forum for brainstorming about discussion topics -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/775745#Post775745

Come on by and let us know what topics you need help brainstorming for! We'll all help out!


Lisa Shea, owner
BellaOnline.com

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