Should I hire someone to handle my Facebook Page....

I was recently asked by a local businessman asking me why he cannot get as much interaction on his Facebook page as I can on mine and if he should consider hiring a marketing firm to handle his social media.

I quickly explained to him that social media should be handled by someone that is dedicated to your business,  you need to think of social media as your personality being presented to your customer 27/7.... I think I had the poor man scratching his head...so I later emailed him a list of answers to help him out!

I feel for small businesses in today's time, especially those owned by an older generation and are trying to stay up with the newer generation.  There is the risk of being to "hip" for your older clients and not hip enough for the younger generation.

Here is what I later answered the local businessman:

Marketing firms are great, I think they could get your Facebook page up and going, but I would look closely to who you hire.  I would want someone that would be at my beck and call, someone that would take the time to sit down and explain how to use Facebook, someone that would spend some time in your business getting to know YOU and YOUR CUSTOMER!

I then told him to consider this for his Facebook Page:  his business was located in a town with a population of less than 900, his local school more than likely had a business club or something of that sort.  Look for a teenager that is pursuing a career in marketing, media, or just loves to be on Facebook.   Get with them, talk it out with them and see if you can slip them some money for helping you with your Facebook.

No Luck there....then look for a local blogger, or social media guru (like me), someone that he (or his wife) follows on Facebook  and talk to them.  Many folks love to make a few extra bucks and lets face it running a Facebook Page is not that hard (I secretly admin several).

If still no luck, look within his own business, maybe he could purchase a book on Facebook and someone with his own business could take control over his Facebook.

Then I explained if all else fails then I would consider hiring a marketing firm to handle his Facebook account.

Of course this left him standing with tons of questions, like how much to pay, what do I have them post, how do I know if they are doing a good job.

Pay for Facebook????  Everyone charges a different fee, some charge by the month, some charge by the post.  I personally charge both ways depending on each individual page I am running, some pages are high maintenance and some just want me to look over the page and make a few post here and there.

What do they Post????  Here is the real trick to Facebook, what do they post.  The key to success with

Sample Post I did for the Town of Marquand, Missouri.
To see video click here:  http://youtu.be/7ro6VVXtRC0

Facebook is the person making your post has to LOVE your business as much as you do.  They have to be able to portray YOUR PERSONALITY 24 hours a day.   I have personally became so mad at local businesses for the sheer fact that they come off as buttheads in their Facebook post and I know they really are not....I often have to remind myself that someone other than the owner is running their Facebook Page.
When I am hired to work on a Facebook Page I take a few days to get to know the person I am working for, I then look back over their past social media presence, and then I begin to write some post.  My goal is to always put the business first, even if I know I am going to work harder than what I paid to work.  I know many local and small business owners don't have the money to put out in marketing that large companies do.  In fact many of them can barely afford a newspaper ad let alone to hire a marketing firm to do all their advertising.

Statistics for Visit Bollinger County -
A Facebook Page I started on 07/23/13

How do I know they are doing their job????  The first thing is to NEVER lose power over your Facebook, make sure they leave you on as an administrator and do not hire them unless they are willing to take the time to TEACH you how to operate and understand your Facebook including where to find your stats.  In your insights you will be able to see the number of people being reached, the number of likes, new likes, and interactions....Here is where you better be getting what you paid for.  If you are not seeing drastic changes in your Facebook after you have hired someone (especially within the first few weeks) then you better rethink your plan.  I have seen people hire someone and pay good money for them to run their Facebook and the page only increase likes by 10 or 15 over a few months time.....that is BAD.

My last and most important piece of advice is DO WHAT YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH.....your gut instinct it far more important than my advice.  I never want anyone to make the mistake of doing what they are not comfortable doing.

Have a Social Day :-)

~Becky

Using Social Media in your neighborhood....

I hate to tell someone to ditch all the expert advice, because truly all social media specialist have good advice, but does that advice completely fit your needs. 

I was bombarded with questions last week by a fellow blogger that was asking how to get readers to their blog post.  To be brutally honest, I had no clue what to answer back, I have learned that I must process everything to have a true solution. 

To my fellow blogger, here is what might help….

It is not what you say, but how you say it!  Unless you are bitterly angry, person negativity is normally not, what you want to hear.  So watch your tone on your social media post! 

Do you have conversations with your readers?  I keep my both personal and business Facebook page public, so readers feel they can communicate with me.  The key to my success is being there for them, I get email, messages, and comments all the time asking for advice. 

Know your target area!  I cannot SCREAM this enough, know your target audience.  If you are local and are trying to reach local readers, understand that local readers do not always enjoy the same conversations as folks 1000 miles away.  This is where you have to be very careful about what “advice” you take from the experts.  I follow many social media and blogging experts; I read their post and many I agree with.  However, I also believe I have convert that advice to reach my readers…..I am local and must speak like a local.  (note…I love my local people).

Do you know how to tag people in your conversation?  I giggle at this, but I have seen so many post and think why didn't they tag the business they are talking about in their conversation?   On Facebook to tag a business page you must first LIKE the page and then use the @ symbol to tag the page.  Example you want to tag my page:  Go to my business page Adventures Among Us, LIKE my page, then in your status type @Adventures Among Us in the status and my page should be highlighted.  NOTE…this CANNOT be done through a scheduling app; you must do this on Facebook.  Business pages can tag other business pages, but must first LIKE the page as their business page. 

Facebook Revamps News Feed…..WHO CARES?

I have read about a billion plus post today talking about Facebook changes….Facebook does this; Facebook does that, Facebook….blah blah blah. 

By the time, all the post went up by USA Today, Fox, and every other social media expert, Facebook was already planning changes again. 

According to USA Today they quoted Mark Zuckerberg saying “We want to give the world the best personalized newspaper that we can”.  Well there you got it folks; you just learned what Facebook is truly meant to be.  

I am not an expert on Facebook, but I am a social media junkie, I probably check my social networks fifteen times a day.  Every day I see dozens of post, some humor me, some annoy me, and some well I really want to ask WHY THE HECK DID YOU JUST POST THIS?????

People ask me daily what is my best advice for Facebook.  I really cannot give them what the best tips are for them, but I can tell you what has worked for me.

Be HUMBLE – Have a piece of Facebook Humble Pie!  Seriously, who wants to see you constantly bragging about your success?  Are you that successful?  I cannot stand it when I see a business put their statistics up….really we can see how many people like your page and is commenting on your status! 

Be REAL – Computers are not reading your status.  If you want to reach, real people then talk to them as if they are real people!  Hello, how are you doing?  I am so glad you landed on my page, now what can I help you with and please do come back….well that is a good way to make them feel!

Have some HUMOR – I have seen some boring post…I often wonder if people are sleeping when they post.  I am known for crazy photos, often my tongue hanging out, or talking about the crazy things my kids do.  People find humor in my silliness, they connect with how I feel, and well they get a FREE LAUGH! 

Why Your Business Should Instagram

Come on ride the @Dart..woot woot! #tmom #ftcdallas #dart via beckydavenport

A few weeks back I put up my post What the Heck is Instagram and days later I hopped on an Airplane and was off to Dallas Texas for theFamily Travel Conference only to learn more about Social Networking, and what it can do for you. 

I know we sitting here in the Midwest and Social Networking seems to be just too time consuming.  I get it, I just spent the last 20 minutes scheduling my Tweets, and Facebook status updates for the next week.

Back to Instagram and what it can do for you, Instagram is fabulous, or Facebook wouldn’t have just bought it out.  Now what can it do for you?  Well first make your photos look amazing, I discussed that earlier, share them promptly, but as a local business Instagram can really draw people into your business. 

Example (we are after all the “Show Me State”)  say you are running an Antique Store and you happen to have this fabulous whatever it is come in the store, you can snap a picture of this fabulous item, pick your famous #hashtag, and instantly bomb multiple Social Networks with one click!  Bam!  This makes you a Social Networking Diva or Rockstar!   Instagram marks the location, you can gain follower, and guess what you can carry on a conversation…..that is just too fabulous for me! 

Now what if you are not an amazing little Antique Store, well what if you were a clothing store, a jewelry store, a bakery…some of my most famous photos are food!  It does not matter who you are all it matters is that you get creative and you get out there to promote yourself. 

Happy Instagraming!  

~Becky 

Online Survival Guide by Becky

Who needs an office? I have a coffee table! #workfromhome via beckydavenport

After the bazillionth time being asked by an 80-year-old farmer what the heck is a blogger and what do you do?  I have decided to start posting random questions that I get asked and tips that will help our community get social, get attention, and most importantly help bring in revenue to small businesses.

When I started Adventures Among Us, a thousand or so blog post ago, my original goal was to let people know what was going on in our area, where the cool places are, and fun things to do as a family.  I don’t claim success with that, but I do know it is working.  However, from the get go I saw a bigger need than just me telling people.  People need to be able to find the information, understand the information, and get to the source.  Well I live in the most rural area in the world….just kidding, but I do live in an area that is technology challenged.  Many of the areas around me have poor cell service, poor internet service, and just like myself struggle with keeping up on the online world. 

With that said I have expanded my mission, I have been told that it would be crazy to do this for free, but in reality giving a helping hand has a bigger reward in the end.

Now what the heck is my MISSION, I am going to periodically, randomly, sporadically share online tips for businesses, bloggers, readers, and anyone else that works via online world.

I will disclose I AM NOT AN EXPERT…I will be sharing how I screwed up, what I learned from my mistakes, advice I have received from others, why I dislike certain things, and how to’s on things I learned the hard way.   

I had thought about starting a new blog for this, but then that is just more work for me, and well I am LAZY, plus many of my readers are interested in blogging, social networking, and other things, beside my local travel adventures.   So here we go, you will randomly see post with a label Online Survival Guide by Becky this label will link you to other post that I have put up about living a life online. (there is also a link to the left of this post)  

With all that said, I am NOT an expert, so if you have a tip, question, advice, or criticism feel free to share with me….I am game to talk and learn to survive!

Have a good day,

Becky      

Connect with me:  Twitter = @BeckyAdventure Facebook = AdventuresAmongUs 

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