11 Tips to Make Money on Facebook
Depending on your type of business, the jury might still be out over whether Facebook can you help you make money by making the cash register ring. But advertisers are increasingly investng in Facebook.
Websitemagazine.com is a must-read for any Internet entrepreneur. Its newsfeed on May 23, 2011 included Facebook’s 10 optimization tips for merchants and reasons to use Facebook’s “like” button. I have to agree.
Thanks to Website Magazine, here are the first 10 of the 11 promised optimization tips:
1. Allowing users to add comments will significantly increase the number of clicks on the Like button
2. Display Like buttons at both the top and bottom of your posted content
3. Clicks increase dramatically when Like buttons appear near videos, images, infographics and other visual content
4. Like buttons that display thumbnail images of friends will receive three to five times more clicks than versions that don’t
5. Ask questions of users on your Fan pages, such as “Would you like …?” and “Would you prefer … ?”
6. Post fun and interactive content such as games, trivia questions and polls
7. Incorporate coupons and discounts on your Wall
8. Post time-sensitive content and relate to current events
9. Post videos
10. Include links to additional content
The Website Magazine feed also mentioned Buddy Media, a Facebook advertising platform. Buddy Media has raised some serious venture capital – $40 million.
Buddy Media licenses its software to ad agencies. The average fee for its 650 ad agency customers is $3000 per month. When you consider the licensing fee is on top of the advertising budget, that’s some serious advertising coin being diverted to Facebook spending.
VatorNews is another interesting trade publication. Reporter Bambi Francisco Roizen interviewed Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazarow for some interesting insights. (Buddy Media accounts for 10% of Facebook ads?)
My 11th tip to profit from Facebook is from VatorNews: Update your Facebook wall on Tuesdays.
Websitemagazine also published Buddy Media’s list of success stories.
Webpronews.com also has some interesting insights on Facebook and traffic.
From the Coach’s Corner, before you jump entirely on the Facebook bandwagon, make sure you read this cautionary Biz Coach column: Winners and Losers in Facebook’s Invasion of Google’s Turf.
“The Internet is the trailer park for the soul.”
-Marilyn Manson
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Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Facebook’s Popularity Drops in U.S., Canada and Europe, but Inches Toward Highly Valued IPO
Updated – June 14, 2011
Many analysts believe Facebook is now set to go with its widely anticipated initial public offering in Q1 2012. What’s astounding is Facebook has lost ground in North America and Europe, but analysts are predicting a valuation as high as $100 billion.
A Web site, www.insidefacebook.com, reported the irony regarding Facebook’s popularity in this article: “Facebook Sees Big Traffic Drops in US and Canada as It Nears 700 Million Users Worldwide.”
It explained where and why Facebook lost members in the month of May:
- U.S. lost almost 6 million down to 149.4 million
- Canada dropped by 1.52 million to 16.6 million
- UK, Norway and Russia each lost more than 100,000
Ostensibly, Facebook’s privacy issues are having an impact.
So, why is Facebook growing? Inside Facebook indicates the site gained 11.8 million users among Third World populations that have recently started warming up to the thought of using the social networking site.
Meantime, many marketers started allocating more of their budgets for Facebook ads, according to a report in Website Magazine, www.websitemagazine.com, as early as Aug. 2010.
“Two years ago the big brands were experimenting with us,” Website Magazine’s senior editor Mike Phillips quotes Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. “They started buying with us a year ago. Now, they’re going big.”
Mr. Phillips writes that she claims the social medium’s top advertisers are now investing 10 to 20 times more dollars.
“Facebook appears to be positioning itself for an IPO in 2012,” confirms Francis Gaskins, a widely quoted and respected IPO expert. “Here’s an interesting article.”
If Facebook is inching toward its initial public offering in 2012, shouldn’t it show it’s making profits from ads.
So, what about Facebook as a marketing tool?
“For most companies, it’s not yet completely clear whether Facebook ads are truly effective at generating quality leads or increased conversions/revenue,” Mr. Phillips astutely points out. “What is clear, however, is that Facebook continues to grow its user base.”
He says research firm comScore reports Facebook has overtaken Yahoo as the nation’s No.1 display advertiser.
“Now might be the time to get involved in Facebook advertising,” suggests Mr. Phillips. “Prices have remained steady, the website is still the hottest property online and you can expect those prices to increase sooner than later. You can run a few simple campaigns on the cheap, look for results and optimize in no time at all. There is plenty to gain here.”
As a business-performance consultant, I concur. To quote my good friend, Cork Platts, now a retired Los Angeles marketing guru, a basic marketing tenet is “test, test, test.”
For me, that’s especially true when it’s an inexpensive marketing investment. But be careful to get a return on your investment, and don’t cannibalize your brand. I wouldn’t want a Facebook presence to trump my Web site. Facebook should merely part of overall marketing. Consider: Winners and Losers in Facebook’s Invasion of Google’s Turf.
Meantime, my biz coach sense is that an IPO with a $100 billion valuation doesn’t make sense for a social networking site that’s lost ground in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe, especially when we’re not sure about its revenue.
Such a high valuation on dubious earnings is reminiscent of all the hype and countless failures in the dot.com bust. Was it that long ago?
From the Coach’s Corner, here are related social-media resource links:
11 Tips to Make Money on Facebook
5 Strategies to Sell More from Your Web Site
Invigorate Sales with Customer Retention, Referral Strategies
Mr. Gaskins’ resource links:
(Note: Mr. Platts is also founder of Consultants West, www.consultantswest.com, an association of veteran consultants that meets regularly in Los Angeles. Mr. Gaskins is also a member, and I’m proud to be associated with them.)
“Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun.”
-Pete Cashmore
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
5 Tips If Your Web Site’s Traffic Slows in Summer Months
Traffic on the Internet slows in the summertime, according to Peter A. Prestipino at Website Magazine. So much so, his article refers to the slowdown as the “Web summer doldrums.” Frankly, I’ve never noticed. But I respect his insights.
From his 10 years experience, he offers five tips for helping your summer Web traffic; they include:
Create 30, 60 and 90-day plans – Mr. Prestipino suggests developing and implementing strategies in 30-day increments.
“The 30-60-90 strategy is ideal as an outline of what you will accomplish, what you want to accomplish, and, finally, what you wish you could accomplish,” he writes.
“In 30 days you will want to have created a media center on your site; in 60 days you will want to have had 10 bloggers written about your website or its products and services, and in 90 days you will want to get coverage from at least one major media news source,” he adds. “There are clearly a lot of steps involved to get there but writing down your plan will get you thinking about how to achieve them. When you plan, you plan to succeed.”
Complete Big Projects – Mr. Prestipino asserts that in the process, you will uncover a challenge that needs to be solved.
“…big projects might be a Website redesign, link building campaigns, conversion testing, etc,” he writes. “When it comes to selecting which big project you want to complete, you’ll need to weigh the potential return against the time commitment and legwork necessary to get the project done.”
He points out the most-complex projects usually don’t provide short-term benefits.
“Decide what would most benefit your business (creating social media campaigns, email marketing campaigns, etc.) and stick with it,” he explains. “When you know what you need and resolve to complete the task, it will make a difference to the bottom line in the near and long term.”
Network until Your Fingers Hurt – He says a good summer-investment of time is working on your connections and contacts.
“If you’ve established a Facebook Fan page, recruit new members,” he writes. “If you’re a LinkedIn user, find colleagues, customers and others in your industry to connect with.”
He believes social media endeavors are vital and it’s important to be uncompromising in your efforts.
“The best place to look might just be in your own customer list and even your own inbox,” he suggests. “Start there and shore up your friend and fan base this summer for long-term Web success.”
Stockpile Information and Ideas – He says even if you want to take easy in the summer, at least start accumulating ideas and information.
“It will undoubtedly be a challenge not to act on the information you encounter on the Web as much of it will probably motivate you to act on the suggestions provided, but doing so will ultimately give you a library of ideas you can leverage in the future,” Mr. Prestipino writes.
He says he always generates about 30 article ideas and another 10 to create revenue for his magazine.
“Stockpiling information and ideas will serve you well when you hit those creative blocks or when you finish one project and want to start another,” he explains. “When you are prepared, your chances of success are that much higher.”
Learn One New Thing – Mr. Prestipino suggests learning at least one new concept.
“Learning is a process,” he philosophizes. “The more you know, the more prepared you are to achieve success — Web success.”
He also invites readers to share their ideas at www.websitemagazine.com.
He deserves a big thumbs-up for his excellent counsel. Actually, his Web site is a must-read if you want timely information.
From the Coach’s Corner, if you haven’t focused on your social-media potential but want to start, why not now?
Search engines incorporate social media activity to assess Web-site relevance, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Business Exchange, Plaxo and Digg, etc.
Whenever possible, synch your social media accounts. Press releases with pictures are beneficial, too.
My salient social links:
Business Exchange: http://cdn.businessweek.com/profile/terry-orbell/tcorbell573/
Tweet: twitter.com/bizcoachinfo
Facebook: www.facebook.com/terry.corbell
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/terrycorbell
More Web strategies:
11 Tips to Make Money on Facebook
Google Insights – 23 Key Questions about Your Web Site
How CRM, SEO Strategies Can Lead to Higher Sales
“Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it’s not going to get the business.”
-Warren Buffett
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Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
