How do I network on Facebook when there is so much noise?
*Disclaimer: I am not a Facebook expert, strategist or promoter, I’m just a girl who loves to connect, add value and serve people genuinely, and Facebook has provided me space to do this in a virtual world.
Hola! I’m writing this post because I have been asked a lot lately by people, how do you network online? Things just seem to be happening for you. How do you get noticed in a sea of shiny objects? I just don’t get it. I feel pushy or salesy when I’m trying to network. Sound familiar?
People that are frustrated and overwhelmed by what to do next or just don’t know the how. I wanted to do a quick post on what has worked for me in hopes that it will benefit someone out there who is struggling to grow their business and establish their space in a busy virtual world and be recognized for what they have to offer.
Virtual Networking
Virtual ‘networking’ has been one of my biggest successes in growing my business and growing my audience online organically. It’s a lot of fun, you meet amazing people, you have opportunity to share what you do, collaborate with others, and establish your authority or expertise in a space of a million experts. This is your opportunity to shine, share why someone should choose you over another business in the same niche. There is no cost to you, no overhead charges (unless you want to sign up for a paid group) you can build the time into your schedule (make sure you set a timer, you can go down a deeeeep rabbit hole and be there for hours too, which is not beneficial to your precious time) and do from your phone while watching TV, taking the bus/train to your 9-5, in the tub, etc…
But first I want to be clear, there is no magic wand, silver bullet or secret sauce, and I can’t promise that you will go from 0 followers to 4k overnight. However, I am going to make a promise to you, the magic is in the strategy you create. I know, shocker right!? I’m going to share with you the strategy and tactics to make the magic, like a gourmet recipe that is as quick as making Kraft Dinner.
The magic, are you ready, it’s going to blow your mind! It’s in the work you do. Yep that’s it, the tracking, trial and error, testing and measurement, research and a few other things that you need to do before you find your groove and start to rinse and repeat.
I also want to be completely transparent, networking in person is also easy for me, and I know it’s not for many others, so when I had to go virtual in 2020, I had no problems meeting new people and engaging online. If you’re wanting to know more about networking in general, comment below and I would be happy to share easy things you can do to make networking in general a fun thing instead of a scary thing.
Facebook Groups: Are They Worth It & How To Choose The best One(s) For My Biz
Short answer is YES! Especially in the early years of your business when you are trying to grow and get recognized. Facebook groups are an amazing place to network, there are endless groups on endless topics and endless niches. If you search a group you can find one on almost anything, they have private, public, pop-up groups, etc… and this is where your journey should start.
I’m going to assume you have your niche (business idea) picked out, who you want to serve (ideal client/customer) and how (although may not be fully developed) you want to serve them (online courses, 1:1, drop shipping, e-books, you get the idea). I’m also going to assume that you have no audience or a small audience that you want to grow, or a product you want to launch or sell or low engagement on your posts. You want to join Facebook groups for a reason, it is outlined in your strategy and links clearly to achieving the outcomes. Now you just want to know how to make it happen.
I don’t know about you, but I follow a lot of Facebook Groups, and there is nothing that irritates me more than “click-bait”. If you don’t know what that is, simply, it’s making an inflated promise that someone can do something to get you to like, follow, engage, purchase from/with them. This is not to say some of those big bold promises you see out there aren’t true, they just may be streeeeetched just a tad, and the timelines a bit skewed. Let’s face it, if I made a bright shiny post that said, “I might help you grow your audience, comment below/follow me to find out more”, would you jump up and down and say pick me, pick me? Uh, hard no! There are ways to change your messaging to be bright and shiny, but also truthful and authentic, we will chat more about that another day, I promise.
Before we get into the how of networking, lets make sure that you have joined groups that are actually beneficial to you / your business goals and is going to get you an ROI or return on investment for the time you are going to put in.
- Choosing a group:
- search for groups that are in your niche using different key words – read what the group is about to see if it’s a fit
- see how many people are in the group – join groups with 10,000 or less members to increase your visibility. Large groups are great but remember the more people the less likely they are going to see when you add value or contribute to the group
- see how often people post in the group – active groups are the best you don’t want to be in a group where there is only one post a week it won’t be worth your time or effort
- choose groups that will potentially help you grow your business (people asking for how to do xxxx?), sharing content, opportunities for you to add value and conversation
- groups that allow self-promotion either on certain days/all the time
- Bartering/exchange for service – you need help, and someone needs you too, work together, receive testimonials, get things done at no cost – win/win
- limit to the number of groups you can manage following – you can always increase and decrease as you get familiar with the groups
- Tracking your groups:
- Turn on all notifications in the setting so you can see all posts that are being added to the group
- Create a tracking document – name of group, how many people in group, what comment you posted on, what you posted, number of engagements or DM from the post (freebie, website, comment, market research etc..) – Don’t do this after you started it will be too hard to track and manage. Take off groups and archive information for later use if you are no longer subscribed
- Create a schedule – what groups are you going to post/monitor what days – you don’t have to do them all every single day but show up consistently. How many posts are you going to respond to? Don’t spam or your will get booted out or froze out by Facebook thinking you are a bot. Always add value and change up what you are posting.
- Analyze the ROI – unfollow any groups that you are not actively engaging with, adding value to, receiving value from, aren’t aligned with your niche, aren’t aligned with your current goal/strategy, aren’t where your people are hanging out.
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Do's and Don'ts of Virtual Networking
- Your I help statement is GOLD. Refine it, make sure it’s clear and not confusing and doesn’t require any further explanation. One laser focused sentence, 10-12 words, problem, solution, transformation. Make sure that you provide clarity but also provoke curiosity. Give them what they want but leave them wanting more. Also noteworthy, Facebook posts tend to also ask you to describe what you do in two words and others will ask for three words. Some Facebook groups ask what you have to offer under a certain price point $50, $100, $500,…). Have these in your back pocket to use. Keep notes in your phone so you are ready to just copy and past and not have to create something on the fly, this could be your opportunity!
- Show up in the right places at the right times: Do your research! Not like academic research but social research. Is this where your people are hanging out? Is it aligned with your business? Are your adding value to members? Are you receiving value (new skills, strategies tactics that will help you grow, get help, exchange services, collaboration opportunities)? Why are you joining that particular group? What day and what time of days is there most activity in the group?
- Consistently Add Value: You know those rules you agree to when you sign up for a Facebook group – “give more than you take”, yup those ones, do it! When you join a group no one knows you, stop posting your freebie or website and then ghosting. First of all, no one knows you and unless you have the best copy in the world, no one is going to click on it, you won’t gain anything, stop it. But, if you consistently show up in groups, engage with people, answer questions, share who you are and who you help, people will start to know you, they will start to engage with you, and guess what, they may even DM you, and not just to sell you something and spam your inbox, but to actually want to engage with you and your business. When you have an offer people are going to know, like, trust and love you and will buy when you have an offer, when you ask for help they will jump at the chance to help you because you helped them.
- Consistently Show Up: Now this doesn’t mean that you must show up every day, all day, but you do need to show up and add value. Don’t just engage with people asking for help and you offering your service. Engage in polls, fun questions, etc….Show your personality! You are building the know, like, trust and what better way to get to know you other than just adding your business info. Build this into your schedule. Watch your notifications for when people respond directly to you – don’t leave them hanging, you never know who else is watching you and how you do business. It doesn’t mean you have to answer immediately but don’t lose track, make sure you respond if a response is required.
- Ease Your Way In: You don’t know who is in the group and how the group is running when you are brand new. Don’t go in and try to be the smartest person with the most experience and the best solutions in the group. Introduce yourself, like posts and start gently contributing. Don’t go in and get stuck in a hot topic debate….remember: know, like, trust. No one loves a good debate than me, but I’m not joining something new and inserting myself in this right away. Always post tactfully and professionally with respect and without judgement. Don’t go into a group with a mindset of “getting” clients, or selling your thing. Remember you can also move other areas of your business ahead when networking in groups, you may have an opportunity to collaborate on an event, you may be invited to be a guest on a podcast, or guest post in a blog, opportunities are endless if you set yourself up for success.
- Don’t “Cold Call” Direct/Private Message Someone – There is nothing worse than asking a question in a group and 500 people message you saying they can solve your problem and how much their services cost. Read the post and the comments and the authors responses. Add value if you can, don’t repeat what someone else has said and don’t put a link to a freebie or your website. If you can’t add value don’t make it up just to engage. We always here sales don’t happen on social platforms, which is right, however don’t be pushy, salesy or sketchy and end up in someone’s in box without an invitation. There is nothing wrong with adding DM me if you want to chat more and leave it with the person. They may message you, they may respond with a message me, watch the responses. The key here is “hearing” the problem the person is posting about and watching their reactions as people respond to them and position yourself as a unique solution.
- Always be authentic, truthful and don’t forget fun – It’s okay to say you don’t know something, it’s okay to not respond to something outside of your area of expertise/zone of genius. If you don’t have an offer or something in creation don’t say that you do, never over promise and under deliver. People will respect you more for honesty. Don’t stretch the truth, if you don’t have 1,000 followers don’t say so, people will look you up and your reputation and business reputation is in jeopardy.
- Learn ways of posting and asking questions in groups that don’t allow self-promotion or market research – Caution, don’t be deceptive you will get kicked out, but look for opportunities instead. Can you tell your story, before, after and now? Can you stand out on days that allow self-promotion? Can you ask that market research question another way that provokes curiosity and engagement, adds value to the group but still adds value to what you are trying to achieve. Can you DM someone in the group who’s an expert that you’ve built a relationship with to ask the question?
- Use hashtags and the search menu in the group – All groups have a search feature at the top, if you are looking for certain threads use hashtags to find them. Use the search bar to look for key words (help, coaching, website, sales, social media, etc…). Align them with your niche and what you are looking for it will pull posts to the top for you to scan. If someone has asked for help in your niche two months ago you will see it, even if there are lots of responses don’t hesitate to post in the comments and tell them what you do and how you could help. Chances are they don’t have a solution yet (I’ve heard a stat like 70% of people will still have the problem) and it also raises that post back to the top of the group, others may have that problem and see the solution you have to offer.
- Always, always join groups and respond with the end goal in mind – Have a clear strategy with objectives and goals when joining a group, don’t just spend time scrolling and answering, you are trading time for money if you do that. Make sure you are always moving your strategy and business ahead. If you don’t have a reason to be in a group or on Facebook you could be better spending time on that thing in your business you have been putting off.