The biggest thing to remember about Facebook is that people are not friending your blog. They're friending, and “liking” you. The vast majority of people don't view Facebook as a professional persona. Instead, they think of it as a simple mouthpiece to rave, rant, share, complain, or past the time. More than anything else, people look for sincerity.
Create Two Facebook Pages
In 2015, you may want to consider two Facebook pages to promote yourself: one for business and one for personal use. Your personal page can be set up with your email. You can limit access to family and friends, or you can expand it to include others. You can use a nickname, or any name that suits you. Business Facebook profiles should be made public, and you should use your real name. You should make it crystal clear that both profiles are separate. Leave out anything that's controversial on both profiles.
Now, setting up a Facebook page is crucial. Your Facebook profile is much like an online business card. The only thing is it's much more detailed. Your Facebook profile will often be the first contact that people have with you. To avoid the trolls, you may want to consider leaving the politics and religion section blank on your page. Unless, of course, politics and religion are a part of what you're promoting. Include your email and phone number on your professional profile. If you're running a business, you'll want to make sure people can reach you. Friends can easily connect along with old friends who may have lost your information.
Engage Your Facebook Fans Like There's No Tomorrow
If you're on a set budget, engaging fans, organically, can pay big dividends. Engagement is your trump card. True engagement is when people like, share, comment and click on your post's links. If users aren't doing all four, Facebook's algorithm assumes you're not as popular as you may have believed.
Increasing the engagement by posting interesting things is a strategy that can bring customers to your front door. Your topics may include things about real estate training or acquiring a real estate license. Engagement increases the chances of success with your product, service or information. Likes, shares and clicks elicit action, and action serves to strengthen your reach. Strengthening your reach means you're more likely to show up on news feeds. The key is to build reach through non-promotional posts, which will open the door for business when you do decide to post for promotions.
Action-Worthy Posts
Action-Worth posts are those that get like, shares, comments, and clicks. Content that sparks an emotion or nostalgia are those posts that receive action. These are the posts that encourage others to subscribe to your news feed. These are the posts where your “likes” will skyrocket. Your posts should include images that fans can sink their teeth into. The more casual and friendly your tone on Facebook, the better.
On Facebook, your tone is extremely important. It might seem a bit forward, but “ask” for your audience's engagement. Ask them to like your post. They're respond, especially so if your posts' make them laugh. If your topic is real estate training, post jokes or comical anecdotes. The same can apply to getting a real estate license. Just remember to keep it light and professional.
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This guest post comes courtesy of REAA, Brisbane's real estate licensing, training and certification specialists.