Facebook Business Page - Yes or No?

One of my favorite instructor-of-instructors, Lawrence Biscontini, recently asked me a very good question:

 

Should I have a business page on Facebook, or is my personal Facebook page good enough?

It's a good question for every fitness instructor, and a bit more complex when YOU are your business.

My Answer: Yes, you need a business page. Absolutely.

Why:

1) Because you won’t lose anything by creating one. Prior to FB making the changes they did earlier this year (Timeline, etc), you had to “migrate” your friends when you created a business page and basically start your fan base from zero. You don’t have to “lose” anyone when you create a business page now.

WARNING: When you Google “FB business page” or anything close to this, you’ll find hundreds of well-written, credible blog posts telling you how to do this in the OLD Facebook formats. You’ll also see warnings about losing friends. That was prior to the winter of 2012 – old news now and no longer accurate. I had to go to the 3^rd page of Google results to find current info on this topic!

You won’t “lose” your friends because you can set up your business page within your personal page. Notice the graphic below: this is my personal Facebook page and my business page is posting to it.
So all my personal friends always see my Marketing Well posts – I didn’t have to ask them to “Like” another page. You can do that, and there are good reasons to, but the point here is that you will NOT lose any exposure by setting up a business page.

That was the "old days" – six months ago.  :)



2) The second reason to create a business page is that you can promote posts. This is a more authentic means of marketing than just advertising your page. I’ve done both, and promoting the posts has worked well for me in building audiences. It is more strategic than just hoping your friends share or comment and it feels less intrusive than advertising.
Advertising on Facebook offers remarkable targeting though. You can target 30 – 35 year old readers of Shape magazine in Tennessee -- it’s that specific and personal. Great potential for workshops and your retreats in Puerto Rico! And you can spend as little as $5 to advertise.

3) Even if you don’t want to use the paid promotion and advertising options that FB offers business pages, you can get terrific promotional mileage out of the “Events” and other buttons and tabs in the views and apps toolbar. You can put free things, student “case studies,” photos and even create a “Training” button. You can also highlight “Milestones” on your business page, which is a terrific way to create custom brand for yourself with new friends.

4) Ok, even if you aren’t going to use the free marketing tools on FB business pages, the “Insights” are really helpful to know how many people viewed different posts. I don’t go to the trouble of tracking statistics in any scientific way, but I can get an immediate sense of what my “Friends” are interested in. For example, I find many more trainers read posts that I put up late at night or early in the morning than in mid-day.

5) The most important reason – at the end of the day, Facebook owns this page, not you. Facebook can change it’s formats or options anytime (and have proven that they will). So you want them thinking of your page as a business, even if you are your business.
Most people will tell you that you should have a business page because they offer the chance to have more Friends, etc, but the reasons above are why I believe health and wellness professionals should have a business page on Facebook.

cross-posted from Marketing Well

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Facebook marketing
Angela Broderick Bedell
Personal training marketing. Angela Broderick Bedell

10 Ways You Do NOT Want to Describe Yourself

A recent Forbes post lists some words that are great when used by other people to describe you, but you should never use to describe yourself.  Here they are, with a few subtle edits by Angela (verified by the "school of hard knocks"):

"Authority."

If you have to say you're an authority, you aren't.

Show your expertise instead. "Presenter at SXSW" or "Delivered TED Talk at Long Beach 2010" indicates a level of authority. Unless you can prove it, "social media marketing authority" just means you spend a ton of time on Twitter.

"Global"

The vast majority of businesses can sell goods or services worldwide; the ones that can't--like restaurants--are obvious. Only use "global" if that capability is not assumed or obvious; otherwise you just sound like a really small company trying to appear really big.

"Innovative."

Most people claim to be innovative. Most are not. That's okay, because innovation isn't a requirement for success.

If you are innovative, don't say it. Prove it. Describe the products you've developed. Describe the processes you've modified. Give us something real so your innovation is unspoken but evident... which is always the best kind of evident to be.

"Creative."

See particular words often enough and they no longer make an impact. "Creative" is one of them. (Go to LinkedIn and check out some profiles; "creative" will appear in the majority.)
"Creative" is just one example. Others include extensive, effective, proven, dynamic, influential, team player, collaborative... some of those terms truly may describe you, but since they're also being used to describe everyone else they've lost their impact.

"Curator."
Museums have curators. Libraries have curators. Tweeting links to stuff you find interesting doesn't make you a curator... or an authority or a guru.

"Passionate."
Say you're incredibly passionate about incorporating an elegant design aesthetic in everyday objects and--to me at least--you sound a little scary. Same if you're passionate about developing long-term customer solutions. Try focus, concentration, or specialization instead. Save the passion for your loved one.

"Unique."
Fingerprints are unique. Snowflakes are unique.   "Better" matters more than "unique."  Show how you're better than the competition and in the minds of customers you will be unique.

"Guru."
People who try to be clever for the sake of being clever are anything but. Don't be a self-proclaimed ninja, sage, connoisseur, guerilla, wonk, egghead... it's awesome when your customers affectionately describe you in that way, but when you do it it's apparent you're trying way too hard.

"Incredibly..."
Check out some random bios and you'll find plenty of further-modified descriptors: "Incredibly passionate," "profoundly insightful," "extremely captivating..." isn't it enough to be insightful or captivating? Do you have to be incredibly passionate?
If you must use over-the-top adjectives to describe yourself, at least spare us the further modification. Trust us; we already get it.

Good information, Forbes, but that is the easy part.  It's always simpler to know what NOT to do.

But what DO you say?

Here are a couple ideas:

"Curious."    It sounds like you will seek out solutions.

"Healthy".   Taking care of yourself is en vogue (FINALLY!).

"A Dreamer."   Sounds like you want good things for yourself and your projects.  (And yes, this could just be an Angela thing.)

Angela Broderick Bedell