Thread: How have you made Facebook work for you?

OK - I *know* I'm behind the times. And a little dense about things like this - but I need some advice from fellow Bhuzzers who have made Facebook work for them. I think I've seen threads about this pass by in the distance before, so if you'd like to point me to an old thread, please do!

I have a personal Facebook account, but I'd like to start promoting my work via Facebook too. As far as I can tell I can either do this via my personal account (which seems to mean a lot of putting different people on different lists) or start a fan page.

I'd rather not use my personal account for business stuff...just to keep some element of separation. But I guess I don't fully 'get' the fanpage thing. If I set up a fan page can I also do things such as 'friend' other people, take part in groups, etc, via the fan page? Or do I need to do that through my personal account? Will the fan page be linked to my personal account?

I think I'm just imagining this will all be a dense thicket and need someone to point out the path for me,r:;

I'd really like to hear how other people have managed this...

Thanks in advance
..g.:

I think the secret to making today's social media work for you is never to forget the "social" component. The number one mistake most businesses make, whether they're a one-woman show or a huge corporate entity, is to blatantly market on Facebook.

I've seen quite a few dancers who strictly use FB to blast out gratuitous invites to their events, and I feel that this isn't an optimal way to use social media. Invites and event listings are only part of FB's marketing capabilities. Facebook, for me, is a relationship-building and relationship-maintaining tool. My friends, fans and former/current clients are on there. And I reach out to them frequently and genuinely, even if only to comment on or "like" their status. The beauty of Facebook is that it's kinda like Six Degrees of Separation - everyone knows someone who knows someone. Therefore, it's so easy to generate referrals. A lot of nightclub promoters and restaurant owners I've worked with are on there, and have passed my info along to their friends.

The beauty of social media is that it adds a "real" face to your business. People have hired me explicitly because they got to know me on FB, or because they got a warm, fuzzy, approachable vibe from seeing my blog and Tweets front and center on my website. In essence, it sort of warms up the "cool, distant mystery woman" vibe most BDers project, and gives a sense of intimacy and tangibility to your overall presentation. A little bit of warmth goes a long way - in your prospect's eyes, this transforms you from a purchase to a partner, if that makes any sense ;) Hope this helped!

I am rambling a lot! Whew!

One more thing - I just have a regular page, under my dance name. Fan pages kinda weird me out for some reason, maybe because I'm only a rock star in one small pocket of Connecticut ,r:;

I'd feel better having "fans" if I were a huge public figure or a Jillina-caliber dancer. But that's all psychological! ..l;,

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I'd feel better having "fans" if I were a huge public figure or a Jillina-caliber dancer. But that's all psychological! ..l;,

Well, since I'm big-time; I have a fan page
j/k

I did recently make one, though I haven't really promoted it yet. Mainly because my FB page had a bit more personal stuff than I'd want for someone directed to FB from my main website to come across. But I use my FB pretty much like Satin does to maintain relationships I've already made. I don't think I've gotten any business from FB directly (though I have from myspace a handful of times) But then again, I'm in a different line of work than most of you ladies on this site; so who knows.

MySpace has definitely gotten me more direct business in the past, but this year, it's been dead for me. Statistics suggest that there's been a gradual migration to FB in the past year or so. This is worth noting

I've been on Facebook for about 6 months and it's gradually beginning to gel for me. Getting tons of referrals, which is really, really nice. Should be interesting to see how many conversions I generate...

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

MySpace has definitely gotten me more direct business in the past, but this year, it's been dead for me. Statistics suggest that there's been a gradual migration to FB in the past year or so. This is worth noting

I've been on Facebook for about 6 months and it's gradually beginning to gel for me. Getting tons of referrals, which is really, really nice. Should be interesting to see how many conversions I generate...

Yea, I have had MySpace die off for me in the last year as well. And Facebook has started to grow a bit. It just seems harder to network from scratch on Facebook vs. MySpace, but we'll see how the fanpage thing helps.

While I've currently yanked my profile down for awhile (facebook is addicting and there is a very seductive element to "sharing" with people.) I maintain a personal page and a fan page.

Yes I only have about 70 fans or so, but some are complete strangers, I do not friend strangers on my personal page. In fact there are times I go through my personal page and delete people if I feel there is no reason to keep them on my facebook.

My fan page is super tongue in cheek, but maybe so am I. I put it up in a fit of boredom one night and was surprised how well it was received. I feel better promoting on that page then my personal page because there is something so impersonal about blasting to your "friends" about a show you're doing or a place you will attend.

Again my page is a personal one, and I've had it for at least 3 years (back when facebook was only for college students and you needed a college email to even be allowed on.)

I've seen the format change, and now many people use it as a marketing tool, I personally am not comfortable marketing myself in general, so I don't know I guess to summarize, do what feels comfortable for you.

Satinworship I TOTALLY agree!

Yeah, I agree as well. I have a personal profile as well as a fan page for my event.

As an event promoter, my only real wish for facebook would be that I had a way to promote events more effectively on other people's fan pages. As an example, on tribe, it was really easy to announce that Karim Nagi was coming to the Intensive on the Karim Nagi tribe. But on Facebook, this isn't so easily done. You can post on their wall, or post as a fan, but it isn't as effective. They have to do it themselves, and as artists...they are busy doing what they do best (which is their art!), not necessarily promoting the events they are attending.

I don't use FB as a dancer, but in my 9to5 (a non-profit) we use it quite a bit. We've been researching and testing online engagement for the past two years now. Satinworship is correct. You have to remember that it's a social space, not a business bulletin board. So while we do on occassion create stand alone pages for special events, we move most of our work through the individual pages of coworkers, allies, and friends. Your communications can't just be about advertising your latest event or video. You need to add what some may consider "fluff" convo or other little tidbits about yourself (or at least your dance life) as well.

Kathryn Ozma Robarts, Tanya Popovich and Jeanine Adina Wilson are bellydances who do a pretty good job of this on their FB pages. A good group page is Ranya Renee Baladi Study Group page. It's clearly a promotional page, but the discussion boards and wall posts are fairly active with members talking about their experience with the dvd. Like a website, if you don't tend to it at least daily, traffic decreases. Kathry, Tanya and Jeanine post every day, often several times a day.

It's very likely that FB will go the way of Myspace after a time. That's just the lifecycle of online social networks. So it's good to have a fluid strategy that's about using that space for the moment (while constantly develping your own website in a way that is more user friendly and engaging.) So while you and your base may hop from network to network, your home base (website) is growing and becoming more adapt at capturing and keeping traffic as well.

Shimmy on!

T

"I think the secret to making today's social media work for you is never to forget the "social" component."

Very true. This is why I don't just add any old person who wants to be my friend. OK, I have a lousy memory for names, and often people have profile pictures on which you can't recognize them.
So I usually write: "thanks for your invitation, have we met before?"

This way I often actually start a conversation with people - which is much more useful than just hitting the "accept" button.

I have a group for my Bollywood Dance workshops where I post the dates of upcoming classes. I guess I should be a bit more active there...

MEISSOUN

I have a fan page for my belly dance work and my nonprofit work. My belly dance page gets a lot more action. I used mainly as a way to keep students involved, not to get gigs. I find it is fairly successful and the main benefits are that 1) you don't need a separate facebook account (some people have two profiles, one for personal and one for belly dance) and 2) you can track stats.

I use it for networking, mostly to find out what's going on in my local (and not so local) bellydance community. I've also gotten in touch with a couple of people from my childhood but for the most part, it has kept my finger on the pulse of what's going on.

I have a group page for my Illustration work and one for my dance classes, they have been great so far for keeping in touch and I've also sold work that way. I agree that because FB is a very social sort of place it makes people bristle to be 'sold at'... I have groups because the Fan page thing makes me feel a bit odd for some reason, a group seems more friendly somehow..g.:

I'm not a hard seller, as you have probably guessed! ..l;,

completely agree with Satin on this one..

Thanks for all replies.

OK - maybe I need to be clearer about what I'm asking...I understand that FB is a social networking tool - I have no intention of 'just' promoting on there. I am a small time instructor and performer so am not looking to particularly promote events as such, more to make info available about course times, where I'm performing and *interacting* with students and potential students.

However, I don't really want to mix this sort of thing up with the (I'll admit it - mundane and boring or comprehensible only to *actual* friends) sort of posts I put on my personal page. And I don't particularly want to manage confusing 'lists' of friends cos I know I'm only going to screw that up

So - some people seem to be saying that a fan page is one possibility (if a little inflexible?) but also perhaps groups are a way forward. In which case I need someone to tell me about groups, and about how I manage to keep personal/business separate in that arena too.

FWIW - I have tried to explore the FB 'help' pages and have not found them helpful, hence why I am asking here ..g.:

Thanks for your patience...tell me about groups..g.:

Wow, I'm not used to my full name here! Thanks. This may explain recent additions.

I use my fan page for my costuming side. It's not really about promotion, more about sharing, because I don't have the time or resources to take on many commissions. The reason I like having a fan page for the costumes is because it can be accessed by people who are not on facebook and it creates an easy way to organize my costume projects.

I'm surprised at how many people showed up to the party, frankly.

I made it because people suggested they wanted a way to see all the costuming stuff in one place.

It's not so great for local networking for dance, because Japan hasn't migrated from Mixi to FB, but I have a small local following, in part because they know I'm more likely to make costumes for locals.

My friends who do events prefer to use groups for promo for easy mailings. Good buddy Eshe (Eshe Dance) seems to use facebook pretty well for promo and keeps it separate from her private persona.

Originally Posted by deelybopper

Thanks for all replies.

OK - maybe I need to be clearer about what I'm asking...I understand that FB is a social networking tool - I have no intention of 'just' promoting on there. I am a small time instructor and performer so am not looking to particularly promote events as such, more to make info available about course times, where I'm performing and *interacting* with students and potential students.

However, I don't really want to mix this sort of thing up with the (I'll admit it - mundane and boring or comprehensible only to *actual* friends) sort of posts I put on my personal page. And I don't particularly want to manage confusing 'lists' of friends cos I know I'm only going to screw that up

So - some people seem to be saying that a fan page is one possibility (if a little inflexible?) but also perhaps groups are a way forward. In which case I need someone to tell me about groups, and about how I manage to keep personal/business separate in that arena too.

FWIW - I have tried to explore the FB 'help' pages and have not found them helpful, hence why I am asking here ..g.:

Thanks for your patience...tell me about groups..g.:

If your goal is to interact with students and the community, you are best off making a new profile account for yourself. One drawback of a fan page, is that you can't interact with other people's pages/profiles as your "fan persona" you can only interact with your own fan page.

What I would do is make sure my current and more personal facebook page is locked down pretty tight and I would change the e-mail address to be something your students, etc don't have. Then create new profile as your belly dance persona and use an e-mail address from your Web site or something (dancer @ dancer.net for example).

You're not technically allowed to have two profiles, but I really think this will work best for your needs.

BTW, a group is my least favorite FB option and I would only create a group if I had a belly dance profile already in order.

Ozma, Andalee - thankyou - that was just what I wanted to know!

It's interesting that fanpage personas can't interact *but* the fanpage can be accessed by people outside of FB. Hmmm.

I'll definitely look into creating a second profile - that does make more sense.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

Originally Posted by deelybopper

Ozma, Andalee - thankyou - that was just what I wanted to know!

It's interesting that fanpage personas can't interact *but* the fanpage can be accessed by people outside of FB. Hmmm.

I'll definitely look into creating a second profile - that does make more sense.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

And, for the record, while my costume fan page is a solid example of how to use the fan pages...I'd say my actual fb profile is NOT a good example of keeping a professional profile. It's entertaining but I spend way too much time swearing and taking pictures of people sleeping on trains over there. It's also why I don't link much to my general blog.

If you decide to use Facebook, be aware that unless you take extraordinary measures your entire friend's list is now available to whoever is your 'friend'... so if your business mailing list is being used to supply candidates for your FB friends list your mailing list is now their mailing list. Why? Because they want your customers as their customers!

I use Facebook also for fun, friends and networking. It is an amusing diversion that I have gotten addicted to. However, today in someone else's notes, someone called Christians "stupid" because of what they believe. This is unacceptable, to bash others' beliefs just because they are not your own. In fact, anybody who bashes anyone else's beliefs, gender or nationality should not be tolerated. We should all respect each other no matter where we come from or how we believe. I speak for myself as well on this.

I must say that I am so tired of getting event invites that are halfway across the US, or in other countries. It is a pain in the arse to have to keep ignoring stuff or rsvp'ing.

Originally Posted by stardancer

I must say that I am so tired of getting event invites that are halfway across the US, or in other countries. It is a pain in the arse to have to keep ignoring stuff or rsvp'ing.

I agree. Even more than a couple of invites to local events can be a hassle. Or I just tune it out.

Originally Posted by ozma

And, for the record, while my costume fan page is a solid example of how to use the fan pages...I'd say my actual fb profile is NOT a good example of keeping a professional profile. It's entertaining but I spend way too much time swearing and taking pictures of people sleeping on trains over there. It's also why I don't link much to my general blog.

But I love your photos of sleeping peeps! They are interesting.

I think that your personal page makes you seem more personable and real. I still respect you as a dancer after you swear. But then again, I've been swearing like a sailor myself lately, so...

T

Originally Posted by blksunwyn

But I love your photos of sleeping peeps! They are interesting.

I think that your personal page makes you seem more personable and real. I still respect you as a dancer after you swear. But then again, I've been swearing like a sailor myself lately, so...

T

Thank you.

I write a lot about my life. I'm going through 200 pages of blog trying to make some shape of it...I've also contacted a designer about my future dancer-related site (although I am waiting to hear back from her, she's been at the motherhsip lately)

But, I think what makes me personable and appealing to certain general and to those the dance community are not the same things I'd want to be doing to make yourself marketable as a dancer to the GP.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

BTW, a group is my least favorite FB option and I would only create a group if I had a belly dance profile already in order.

I like groups because messages go directly to FB inboxes.

But I think fanpages are more useful for daily posts.

For my studio I like to send monthly messages. I don't post everyday but I do use it for events. I like that someone can go to that single page and see all the events the studio is doing.

Originally Posted by ozma

Thank you.

I write a lot about my life. I'm going through 200 pages of blog trying to make some shape of it...I've also contacted a designer about my future dancer-related site (although I am waiting to hear back from her, she's been at the motherhsip lately)

But, I think what makes me personable and appealing to certain general and to those the dance community are not the same things I'd want to be doing to make yourself marketable as a dancer to the GP.

Yes I think you're unique formula works for you as an individual! But only for you!

And your costuming fan page is super awesome.

And thanks for friending back my students. They are very excited! And they were nervous you'd turn them down.

Originally Posted by maurazebra

If you decide to use Facebook, be aware that unless you take extraordinary measures your entire friend's list is now available to whoever is your 'friend'... so if your business mailing list is being used to supply candidates for your FB friends list your mailing list is now their mailing list. Why? Because they want your customers as their customers!

If you go to Settings > Privacy > Profile you can easily control access to your friend list. I have set up various friend lists and use them to control who sees my activities and "friends" on FB. The lists are also helpful for communication purposes (inviting certain groups to events, targeted mail outs, etc).