5 rules to help you NOT be spam-ish on your facebook page

i recently wrote a post that gave 5 rules for not being spam-ish on facebook – which focused on how you promote your biz on other pages. this is part 2 of that post – how to not be spam-ish on your own facebook page.

remember… spam is anything that is unsolicited, indiscriminate, repetitive, impersonal

#1 - quality not quantity

this post from marketing magazine states that 44% of users will ‘unlike’ you for overposting. the last thing you want to do is lose the likers you have!  the question is what is the right amount to post?

the answer is completely dependent on your biz and your right people. i tell people not to worry about the quantity so much as the quality of your posts. if you are providing the thing that your people really want from you then they will be thrilled to see your post come up in their newsfeed.

the best kind of post, the right number (and the right time of day) is different for each business. it will take some trial and error to figure it out, but keep track of when you get the most engagement, and the type of post you have made to get it.

a good rule of thumb is to spread your posts out and vary the type of post you make. no matter how often you do end up posting, never post a large number of items in a row. filling a newsfeed with 10 posts from your biz one minute after the other screams spam-ish, no matter how awesome those posts are!

#2 - selling your thing

stop selling your thing. seriously. look, I get that this is your business, and clearly you need to sell your thing. but not on facebook ALL THE TIME. imagine facebook as being like the local community fair and your page is one booth there. sure, some of the people are there to buy stuff. but some are there just to browse, to say hi, or say nice stuff. some are only there to socialize with their friends and gossip about the neighborhood. that entire crowd DOES NOT want to hear you shouting out about your fabulous sale all freaking day long! that’s not why they hang out on facebook.

I won’t go on about this too much because I already wrote a post explaining why you need to stop selling your thing. definitely have a read,  have a totally different argument over there that doesn’t involve fairs or gossip.

the rule of thumb is this: for every one post you make promoting your thing make at least 5 posts that aren’t about you tooting your product horn.

this goes back to quality of posts… what else can you post about? well think about what your right people, your true fans need from you. share helpful links, ask questions that fit your niche and product, share helpful tips, hints & suggestions, be funny or witty or controversial even.  be helpful!! oh, have i mentioned that already?

#3 - be helpful

i believe in this so much that i am adding it as a rule. whenever i post about spam-ish behavior on facebook i inevitably get a comment along the lines of “well how am i supposed to promote my business and get likers then?”

this is my answer. and i have mentioned it a number of times so maybe you have heard me say this before. but this is my "huge secret" to success.

i have nearly 3000 fans for my facebook page, in just one year.

not because i shout out, or tag, or promote myself on other pages, or sell my thing constantly, or stop by pages and like in return for a like, or have referral contests or giveaways.

i provide my true fans with something they need. when i am helpful they share my links, give me a shout out, or tag my page – without me ever asking for them to do so.

so that is what you use facebook for – connect with your right people, find out all of the little ways you can help them, and then do it. and do it well. become the go-to person for whatever your little niche is. be helpful and genuine and engaging and just plain awesome.

your new facebook rule: be awesome.

#4 - tagging

tagging  can be a super way to engage with other pages, but in my opinion there is a right way and a wrong way. the wrong way is spam-ish and can result in you losing your likers, but also pissing off a whole heap of pages you are trying to engage with.

rule of thumb – in your post tag ONE business and then give a reason for the shout out. a shout out to 6 random businesses for no real reason will mostly get ignored. a ‘hey check out my thing’ type posts with 6 businesses tagged at the end is purely spam-ish.  

reasons to tag? a genuine shout out to a biz you want to share with your likers, and the reason why your fans should check them out. a credit to a page that where you found a link, image, tip etc.  a thank you to a biz or page that you connected with or was helpful to you.

#5 - adding photos

rule of thumb – do not add one photo to your sales/product album at a time, multiple times in a row. this is a rule i added after a number of people commented that they found this incredibly spam-ish.

add a chunk of images to one album at once, and wait until a later date to add more, or just add one photo in one night because you want to highlight that product for some reason.

a newsfeed clogged with 15 of your images added one by one feels spam-ish . people will likely skim over the entire thing, or worse hide or unlike your page.

have a plan

i mentioned this in part one of the post, so it is not a new rule. but I will just remind you again. create a plan for marketing your biz on facebook.

decide what you want to accomplish with your page: are you trying to find out what your people need so you can come up with new product ideas? are you trying to show that you are an expert in your field? are you trying to find a way to engage with your customers & show them how much you adore them? are you trying to stand out amongst the crowd?

i hope i have convinced you that your plan should not just be ‘sell your thing’. facebook is called social media for a reason. it is not called ‘a place to sell things’ – notice the differences between ebay and facebook? use those differences to your advantage. put the social back into your facebook page.

bottom line...

i the end, not everyone will agree on what is indeed spam-ish on facebook. one person’s spam is another person’s secret to success. whether you agree with my take on being spam-ish or not, that is not the point. the point is, what do YOUR TRUE FANS think is spam-ish? you might have the best intentions in the world, but if your page feels spam-ish to a liker, then say good-bye.  don’t you think your fans are worth keeping?

further reading:

• 5 rules for not being spam-ish on other facebook pages
• stop selling your thing
• use your blog to help me out (just substitute blog with page)

5 rules to help you NOT be spam-ish on other facebook pages

last week we had a big chat on the build a little biz facebook page about facebook after i shared this article about facebook seagulls who are “someone who likes your page then craps on your wall.”

best. analogy. ever.

100+ comments on my facebook wall led me to the conclusion that this is a topic worth exploring. i have compiled the tipss and advice into one handy post that i hope will help you use facebook to promote your biz in a more effective and ethical way.

spam-ish

lets just start with a reminder about what makes something spam-ish. i wrote a whole post on this, so do go check that out, but the key ingredients to spam are these:

• unsolicited
• indiscriminate
• repetitive
• impersonal

you need to keep those points in mind. if you are doing those things, then you are being spam-ish. stop now, and do better from now on. okay?

rule #1 – imagine the page is a shop

it has become common practice on facebook to say ‘hi’ on another biz page, asking for a like in return for yours, as a way to grow your fan base. i received some mixed opinions about this practice when i asked, with some people saying |no way. it’s rude and i hate when people do that to me”, some saying “as long as they are just saying hi and not promoting their biz on my page” and some saying “how else are you supposed to promote your biz?”.

we’ll get back to that last opinion later, but i would like to suggest a rule of thumb. if you wouldn’t walk into someone’s shop and do it, don’t do it on their page.

• if you had a shop and you noticed a great new shop just opened up down the street, you may in fact pop in and have a look around and say hi to the owner. introducing yourself, saying your shop is just down the street, and telling the owner what you love about their shop would be reasonable.

• you wouldn’t walk in and shout: hi i like your shop, so like mine too!!  umm. that feels awkward just to type, i can’t actually imagine saying that to a store owner in person. so why would you do it on facebook.

• you wouldn’t walk in and shout: hi everyone! i am having a huge sale in my shop. everyone come over to my store now. when i get 50 people in there i will give away a prize! can you imagine? would someone actually have the balls to do that in real life? yah, don’t do that on someone’s page. it is rude to use someone else’s business to promote yours.

rule #2 –  follow the example on the page

there are some pages that have the purpose of promoting businesses on facebook. so if what you want is a place to shout ‘hey i’m having a sale’, a contest or whatever, then find one of those pages to do that. market me has a great list of facebook pages that are good for this sort of promoting.

for every other page you visit, here is another rule of thumb. have a good look around the page before adding a comment.

• what does the purpose of the page appear to be?
• what does the page owner seem to comment on/respond to?
• what do the fans seem to comment on/respond to?

this will give you an idea of what type of post would be welcome on that page, and what type will actually result in a real interaction with the people there.

rule #3 – be genuine

i think part of the reason people are starting to be so sick of the spam-ish posting and tagging on facebook is that sooooooo many people are doing it now. it used to be ok for the odd self promoting post to show up on a wall but now it is just too much. it is almost as though people have that ‘well everyone is doing it’ mentality so everyone just keeps doing it. 

just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it ok, and certainly doesn’t mean it works. 

facebook works best when it is used for truly engaging with people. it is called ‘social’ media for a reason. so here is another rule of thumb for you:  be engaging. be personal. actually attempt to make a real connection with people.

• if you are truly wanting to ‘pop into a shop’ and introduce yourself then post as yourself not your business. certainly mention your business, but posting as you shows the owner that YOU are the one who likes their page. you like what they do.

• posting as your business has a place, definitely. but if you are trying to connect with people, consider that it might work better to post as you. if you do post as your business then leave your name as well. it is a lot easier to say hi back to a person then it is to say hi to a business name.

• take some time to look around at the page and make a comment about why you like their stuff, or ask a question for their expertise, or share a compliment that you heard about them. again, imagine you are in their shop and trying to strike up a conversation!

• and leave the excessive symbols and embellishments off of your posts. even if you have genuine intentions to make a connection, it makes you look spam-ish. just sayin’.

rule #4 – decide what you want

another thing you should consider is this: what is your ultimate goal here? are you trying to get likers (just higher numbers) or true fans ( people who LOVE your stuff and purchase from your biz)? i wrote about likers vs true fans before so i do recommend you read that post too.

my next rule is to have a plan in mind before you go off posting on other people’s pages.

consider it this way, if you had a shop selling women’s fashion would you be more inclined to pop in to the neighboring auto supply shop or the designer shoe store? where would you rather place your efforts in making connections and building relationships?

it is the same on facebook. decide what it is you hope to accomplish by visiting business pages and ‘saying hi’. are you looking to create a synergistic relationship with a business owner in a complimentary field? or perhaps you would like to develop a mentorship with someone in the same field as you? or perhaps you want to find out where your target market is hanging out?

rule #5 – what you think doesn’t matter

you might be thinking “other people are doing it, why shouldn’t i?” or perhaps you are thinking “i just stopped in to say hi? that’s not spam, why was it deleted?” or maybe you are thinking “how else am i supposed to grow my page. that is what facebook is for!” whatever your arguments are, forget them.

my last rule is this: if others perceive your posts as being spam-ish, then that’s what they are.

it doesn’t really matter what your motivation is, your intentions with your post or your feelings about spam… a page owner doesn’t know or frankly care about any of that. if they see your post as spam then your post will be marked as spam. you might even be blocked or reported. they will be protective of their page and their business and will do whatever they need to do to keep their fans happy.

so it is better to worry less about your intentions and more about how your actions are being perceived by others. if you follow the 5 rules you should be fine – if you are behaving as you would if you walked into a shop and struck up a conversation and if you are being genuine and engaging with the purpose of building real connections then that will come across.

generally, a page owner can sniff out a poster that has the sole purpose of shamelessly promoting their stuff. it’s yucky and it makes you spam-ish. so stop trying to sell your stuff all the time, think about how your posts look to others, and keep it real. if you do, people will ‘like’ you because they actually like you. imagine that!

we're not done...

this post has focused on how you interact on other facebook pages but there is a whole other side to the coin – and that is what you use your own page for. that is a topic for another post: how not to be spam-ish on your own facebook page.

do you have advice to add to this list? how do you interact on other  pages without being spam-ish? what would you tell page owners about their ‘spam-ish’ posts on your page?

additional reading:

• i just invented the word spam-ish. find out what it means…
• do you want likers or true fans?

{selling your thing} i just invented the word spam-ish. find out what i mean...

if you have a facebook page for your biz you may have noticed a new spot on your wall for ‘spam’. i just spent a few minutes reading through all of the posts facebook decided were spam, and moving them back to the wall. the new automatic spam filter isn’t perfect, but it did get me thinking about spam.

from Wikipedia:

Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. While the most widely recognized form of spam is email spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media.

from the freedictionary.com 

Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.

from spamabuse.net 

Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. 

some spam is obvious (the nonsense comments that end up on my blog from fake Louis Vitton and the emails on ways to increase my penis size come to mind) but i am guessing if you are reading this blog you are a one woman operation with a very little business and NOT partaking in this obvious definition of spam.

what i would like to suggest is that you look at the way you are promoting your biz via social media sites such as facebook and twitter, blogging and even sending emails or personal messages. i have seen actions and read comments by people who have had experiences that can be construed as spam-ish. and the thing is, if it is turning people off, is it really worth it?

(btw spam-ish is my new word. you might not be sending those penis enlarging emails but your posts still have that hint of spamminess about them. not true spam maybe, but spam-ish nonetheless.)

blog comments

so you visit a great blog or read a fantastic blog post, and decide to leave a comment (which we bloggers LOVE byt the way!)

1. thanks for the great post! i sell widgets and i really like your point about xyz. it is totally going to help my biz. 
2. i am having a sale on my widgets. 50% off. come check it out.

you probably wouldn’t dream of leaving comment 2 -  it is pretty spam-ish - so i am going to assume you have the whole commenting on blogs thing down pat. but the same rule applies to facebook.

facebook page wall posts

yes, facebook is a great place to find fans and network. most of the time if you like someone’s page and leave a friendly comment they will follow you back. but sometimes the types of posts you leave on a page can feel spam-ish.

1. hi my name is karen and i sell widgets @widgets’R’us. i love your page, thanks for sharing such useful stuff!
2. hi my name is karen. i have a super duper sale on widgets this month. tell your friends.

comment 1 will probably get you a ‘like’ back. comment 2 will likely be deleted. most biz owners don’t want you using their page to sell your thing.

tagging on facebook

a lot of people are now using the tagging function (add an @ before you type the name of a page) as a way to post on another page’s wall or give a shout out. a true shout out is a welcome thing for a page (i adore getting a shout out), but sometimes tagging can be spam-ish.

1. widgets’R’us would like to give a shout out to some awesome local pages – we love your stuff! tag @bizA @bizB @biz C
2. widgets’R’us is having a super duper sale – 50% off everything! tag @bizA @bizB @bizC

comment 1 is a lovely shout out and will probably get your biz a shout out right back someday. comment 2 is kinda spam-ish, no? you are trying to sell your thing and just tagging my page randomly. delete.

besides, it is counter-intuitive: the only people who will see comment 2 are probably the owner of the page and a few people who happen to stop by when it is showing on the wall. but if the page owner likes your shout out and gives you one back, that shows up in the news stream of all of their likers. wouldn’t that be so much better for promoting your biz?

match your post to the purpose of the page

i have a biz ‘tips & help’ page. my fans are looking for tips & help. they are not looking to buy widgets, at least not on this particular page.  try to add a post that matches the purpose of the page you are visiting.

1. hi there, i love your page! i have a biz called widgets’R’us and i found this awesome site which tells you how to make your own welcome page. thought folks here might like to check it out.
2. hi there, i love your page! i am having a sale on my widgets, 50% off for today only. check it out. better yet, let me show you how you can make billions selling widgets.

i love a post that is a tip or a question or advice or a resource! i would probably give you a shout out to show my appreciation for your participation. i might even remember your awesomeness and buy something from you. but if you only ever post to tell us all about your super duper sale, that doesn’t really match the purpose of my page. kinda spam-ish.

there are lots of pages whose purpose IS to promote your page. they want you to add a post about your super duper sale. go find those pages for those types of posts! try:  Promoting Australian Small Business, Promote My Fan Page, The Mummy Tree Mall - Promote Your Products Here, Wahm Connect , Australian Fanpage Shoutouts, WAHM Canada , It's Your Shout... 

frequency of sales pitches

if every post you send out on twitter, facebook, email etc. is an attempt to get people to buy something from you, that starts to feel a bit spam-ish after awhile.

1. promote your widgets. ask a question. comment on a post. share a useful link. share a funny anecdote. help another biz owner. give a shout out. comment on a photo. say thanks to someone helpful. tell someone you love their thing.
2. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets. promote your widgets.

see what i mean? option 2 is annoying. i have mentioned this before, so i won’t go on about it again, but you should read this post: stop selling your thing. i explain why it gets tiresome and give you ideas for other types of posts you can make.  good rule of thumb – for every one post to sell your thing make 10 posts of the other variety.

social media is ultimately about connecting with people. selling your thing might be a result of those connections (that’s what we hope for, anyhow) but people can’t connect with a sales pitch if that is all you ever do.

be real. be present. be personal.

people want connections. they want to feel like they are valued clients/potential customers. so write posts and send messages that are personal and that you have taken the time to write yourself.

1. hi karen. thanks for following me. i see you have your own biz and like to drink beer, me too! fun to meet you here.
2. hi karen. thanks for following me. i sell widgets. check my page and get 50% off!

comment 2 is spam-ish, especially if it is sent as an automatic direct message on twitter. yes, it is nice to say thanks for following me, but take the time to type it out yourself and actually see who i am. impersonal, autoresponder types stuff feels a lot like traditional auto-generated spam, so best to not lean towards that type of action.

email

because you are a diligent biz owner, you may have managed to collect every email address of every person who ever bought or admired your widgets. do you...

1. send an email to your customer when you think she has run out of widgets to see if she would like to order more
2. send an email to your entire address book every time you have a 50% off sale.

even if people gave you their email address willingly, option 2 is still spam-ish. for all of your biz news, updates, sale information, special offers etc. that you want to share with customers take the time to set up a proper email list which people can opt in for, which also means they can unsubscribe if they no longer wish to get your emails. i set up my email lists with mailchimp (which i find to be way easier and more convenient than keeping track of email addresses and opt ins and unsubscribes myself.)

think before you post

so that is my run down of biz behaviour that i find to be kind of spam-ish and some alternative things you can do instead. take a look back at those definitions of spam and ask yourself this:

is your message...

• unsolicited
• indiscriminate
• repetitive
• impersonal

if so, then it is probably a spam-ish sort of message.

try instead to...

• have an opt in
• match the purpose of the site you are posting on
• mix it up with different types of posts
• connect with people

isn't it worth it if it means your posts actually get read, shared, tagged and enjoyed instead of DELETED?

what do you think? am i being too harsh here? do you find these sorts of posts to be spam-ish as well or do you welcome them? have you had someone call your post spam? were you offended or could you see their point? do you have other types of spam-ish behaviour that you could add to this post? please leave a comment, i would love to hear from you!

{marketing} - stop selling your thing!

yes. this post is titled stop selling your thing. seems like a dumb bit of advice from someone who is trying to help people grow their little biz, right? keep reading. i don’t want you to stop selling your thing forever. just sometimes, in some places.

right now: i have 219 friends on my facebook profile, i like 161 facebook pages, i belong to 127 facebook groups, i follow 136 twitter profiles, i am on about 20 newsletter lists, and i have about 30 blogs i follow on my reader. and that is actually not that much (do you know you can have a maximum of 4000 friends on facebook? yikes!). and i haven’t even counted the online games people play... that adds a whole other element!

my point, and i do have one, is that i represent the average person on your feed. this is a lot of information passing across my laptop screen each day. and i am online pretty well all day, so i mostly keep up. but a lot of people are only online for an hour or so after they put their kids to bed. so you can imagine – if every post/tweet/update from a biz or a person is trying to sell us something, we are going to tune them out after a while.

i am actually pretty good at skimming over this constant information stream to find the good stuff. what is the good stuff? mostly when someone is sharing something helpful for free, but i also like stuff that is entertaining, newsworthy, informative, funny or shocking. and i am pretty good at recognizing the people/businesses that do this consistently and skimming over the ones that do not. (i am sure you do this with your own friend feeds on facebook, right?)

so here is my suggestion to you. stop selling your thing... constantly. instead, for every post/tweet/comment/update/email/etc. you send out to promote yourself (essentially trying to sell something), send out 5 that are the other variety: share some helpful tips, be funny or entertaining, pass on something you know someone would like, generate conversation and interaction, say thank you to someone who has helped you.

instead of being that annoying guy that just pushes stuff a person's nose so they will buy it, be that awesome guy that is helpful and funny and charming and helpful and kind and entertaining and helpful. yes, i said helpful 3 times – if you give away free, helpful, useful stuff consistently, you will remain on people’s radar. i.e. they won’t skim over your posts, they will stop to read every single time. just sayin’.... 

what do you think? do you agree or disagree? what kind of information do you like best from the people and businesses you follow? please add a comment below!