Recently I wrote a series about communicating effectively on Facebook for business applications. It seemed to resonate with many of my readers — especially on Facebook. In the articles, I shared some errant strategies I observed on Facebook, involving friends’ networks and policies. Each situation blatantly exhibited circumstances not applying ‘best practices’ for social networking. The series focused more on the relational aspect of Facebook connections. This article goes a step further, by taking a Big Picture-view…
Perspective is everything — in life, in work, on Facebook. Reframing things to look a little bit different increases the flow of creativity and embues a more positive feel. But a slanted view of Facebook supported by misuse of the popular social media platform and you might discover you are not winning-over more friends or influencing anyone in a positive way — unless that’s what you want. It’s all in how you look at it, isn’t it?
In my early days on Facebook, I remember a Friend who was in reality an Old School Internet Marketer. Although he fully embraced Web 2.0 technology, he remained steeped in his heavy-handed IM sales approach. When we first connected he insisted he wanted to “network” with me. If you replace the phrase ‘network with’ with the words “sell you/(me),” you would have a clear idea of his true intention. His idea of ‘networking’ was anyone in his network of Facebook Friends was his customer. In fact, he even treated his Facebook profile as if it were a static sales mini-site, removing any unwanted comments and leaving up only his product information. To be fair, he did share helpful information (though obviously slanted toward his product) by creating a couple of Facebook Groups which he managed and groomed meticulously with a fine-toothed comb, deleting most everyone else’s comments and questions from the group forums.
A few more months on down the road in my early days on Facebook, another gentleman carped in a cryptic note left for me that “no one was making any money on Facebook,” and indicated he could build an incredibly large network faster than anyone. A couple of years later, he has in fact built some large networks through Facebook Groups and Pages. At this point, it’s not totally clear what he’s selling to “make money on Facebook,” or elsewhere, but he has built community and garnered some attention.
Almost a year ago, I received a Friend invitation from a man who turned out to be a politician from Orange County, California. His rationale for building his network became all-too clear very soon, when I received an invitation to join his Facebook Fan Page. As I am not a resident of California, Orange County, nor contemplating a move any time soon, I did not see that as relevant to either of us. When I did not join his political bandwagon, he dropped me as a Friend.
Sometimes, folks will utilize Facebook as a means of building their sales organizations and multi-level marketing entities offline. About 6 months ago, I received an introductory email from a new Facebook Friend telling me about his exciting business opportunity, encouraging me to take a look at it — and wasn’t I interested? I respectfully declined, feeling sure if he visited my Facebook profile and spent 5 minutes to get to ‘know’ me (important when adding new associates, I think), he would see I couldn’t fit in one more thing. Upon receipt of my (polite) response, he dropped me as a Friend.
In analyzing each of these situations, it is clear why “no one is making any money on Facebook,” if they are employing these Old School-never-worked-anyway strategies! Each of the folks referenced had their eyes glued on the prize — to make money-now or get elected-soon, with blinders on — ignoring the Big Picture-view of what the Facebook social networking platform is all about. The message does not fit the medium!
Facebook is about:
Connection
Building relationships
Sharing information (various)
From the beginning, you must get clear on your reason for being on Facebook. Then you must get clear that Facebook Friends are your network of contacts, not prospects. You agreed to connect with them on Facebook. The platform employs social networking, as a means of communication. In the process of networking through social media platforms such as Facebook, you build relationships. Just as in offline networking, through building relationships you may make a sale, meet a new client, or win an election. However it is not an overnight process, and likely not totally resulting from your connection on the platform.
The simple truth is most people who “make money” through social networking do so off the platform. There are ways to ‘monetize’ efforts on Facebook and other platforms, through various apps and links. While there may be a percentage of your total network that might be a potential customer or client, the majority likely are not. Social networking can take a powerful lot of time, so if you are looking for immediate ROI, you may throw in the towel early-on when you realize actual time spent.
In the process of social networking, if you win a contract or an election, make a sale or expand your multi-level sales organization, it is likely more to do with the total package you are offering, and how you are communicating.
Now — to set the record straight — the 3 cases cited in my previous series on effective communication on Facebook were users with large, growing networks. All positioned themselves as ’social media experts’ and go-to gals for state-of-the-art training. I sincerely believe as humans all are apt to err, but an “expert” is held to higher standards, and is paid to provide the rest of us their esteemed knowledge and guidance, based upon actual relevant expertise. Folks learn by example, and we all learn from our mistakes. I make mistakes too — as most humans do — and am reminded daily of my humanness. Related to this, in one of the articles I said:
I believe just as a mistake can be made, so can a faux pas be orchestrated by either a male or female on Facebook or on any other social networking platform. I don’t celebrate the greater advantage or abilities of one gender over another as related to social networking, sales, marketing, communication, or generally in the workplace or life – a mindset so beyond Old School.
The 4 examples cited in this article involve misapplication of the Facebook platform by male contacts in their quest for a sale.
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One of the best ways to build your brand and increase your visibility is to establish a blog. Unfortunately, blogging has received an unfavorable rap by some, due to the perceived time and attention given to maintaining a site. To be effective, writing entries on a regular basis is necessary to harness the powerful potential of this communications vehicle — the key benefit of a blog versus a static website.