In today’s world, people are on social media day and night all over the world and it is of valuable importance to connect with people on social media. Did you know Facebook has over a billion users and it is still growing? “Facebook is a reality that we have to embrace,” recognized Jamie Shanker. It can become vital to your business because you can use Facebook to connect with existing customers and attracting new customers all the while covering a large audience. You can demonstrate competency, search your competition, and gather and share new ideas on your page and these are just some of the components of ways to use your Facebook page in valuable ways that works for you, your business, and even your audience. Research and explore your data and statistics on your Facebook to see what is working and what is not and follow those trends that are growing and building loyalty onto your page. In fact, use your page as a reminder of your services and webpage.

In order to know how to get started it is of vital understanding that you create an account so that way you can create your business page, add your cover photo along with your main photo, and fill your profile information. In addition, invite friends; follow/like community members and other relevant pages that may be of value to you and your business and sharing content are just some initial ingredients of getting started. Remember as discussed in the seminar that it is of significance to have good quality pictures on your page and keep up with your privacy settings in accordance with how you want to set up your page and who you want your audience to be. “Build your community on your Facebook before asking potential members to join yours,” Jamie Shanker pointed out. As mentioned in the seminar, you must keep up with see pages feed on your page because by clicking here you can get your business news feed and you can see news feed from other businesses, your competition as well, and you can use this resource to engage and connect with your competition. So what kind of content should you share and what kind should you not share? To answer this question, Jamie Shanker described many important ingredients that should go into sharing effective and valuable content and the ingredients that should not go into sharing effective and valuable content. To list a few ingredients to share are the following: vendor events, sales (Special, One day Only, New products, and etc.), and interesting news articles. On the other hand, to list a few ingredients to not share are the following: do not sell through Facebook because remember people want to trust you and value you before they decide to become your customers, no politics, no negatively, and no complaints’; especially about customers because these ingredients will ruin your reputation and keep customers and or audience away.

You want your customers and or potential customers to know what your business is doing, what it has to offer, where it is headed and much more, right? Then a really valuable ingredient here is to post on your page. Jamie Shanker went over many posting ideas when you are going over what to post; some of which are: pictures, stories, advice, share deals, ads and specials for holidays/occasions, photos of happy customers/ products, industry trends, and videos including Facebook Live. “Pictures and videos get a lot more engagement; especially with Instragram getting more popular people actually expect pictures, videos, or a visual now,” Jamie Shanker revealed, “When it comes to using Facebook Live, remember that longer videos get more notification because it will give people time to know you are going live and to actually go to it. Facebook Live video should be at least 5 minutes long.” However, an essential reminder is to act natural because that is what customers and or audience like.

Keep track of your posts and your engagement so you know what people or your audience likes because this will help you build more loyalty and engagement on your Facebook Page. Etiquette and engagement is an important ingredient when it comes to being active to receive on your Facebook page. “In order for people to like and engage with you. You have to like and engage with people,” Jamie Shaker explained. Also of vital importance remember to use the insights on your Facebook page because this shows who engages on your page and knowing that is essential for many reasons; some being what to post, what to share, and when to post and or share. At this point you might be thinking that as an entrepreneur you have a lot of hats to wear throughout your day and that you don’t have time to post on your Facebook page. Well the solution to that dilemma is scheduling. You can schedule your posts on your Facebook page ahead of time and to start off, why not pick one night a week and schedule posts ahead of time so that way you do not miss those opportunities on social media that occur everyday and are always in the loop of what is going on with your audience and or potential customers, your competition, in your industry, and on a broader basis the entrepreneurial world? Some vital tools that are of essence for Facebook and or social media are: (1) Hootsuite.com, when it comes to managing many accounts at once and keeping track of all your social media accounts together, (2) Marketingsolved.com, which provides you with 31 days of social media content, (3) Canva, where you can design presentations. In addition, if you need extra help- make an appointment to come work at LAEDA’s computer lab, visit- laedawbc.com and or call 856-338-1177. So how do you think your Facebook page can become a magnet for your industry and for attracting potential customers while creating that customer foundation for long-term loyal relationships?

LAEDA and LAEDA WBC host numerous seminars on a wide range of business topics. Seminars coming up include: LAEDA’s Seminar- The Bottom Line: Understanding Financial Statements on June 15, 2017 at 6:00 PM and LAEDA's Seminar- Quick Start Series En Español - ABC’s of Starting a Small Business
On June 20, 2017 at 6:00 PM. For details visit our calendar of events.

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