How to Have Facebook Advertising Success

Lately I have been playing around with Facebook Advertising.  At first it was a little daunting, but once you get in a groove and do it a few times, it is pretty simple.  The key is to keep it short, simple, and sweet -- that's how we've built a business at LearnEASE and it works on Facebook, too. Here are five ways to make Facebook work for you, without rearranging your lunch breaks:

• Use the Facebook Power Editor. Ok, it's a little buggy. But it gives you options that let you track your advertising, set up news feeds and mobile adds, and do bulk editing. It's simple to understand, and there is a nice tutorial, so you won't waste tons of time on the learning curve. 
• Love Content. Share photos. Link to your site or to news or related blogs. Keep it simple. Re-share things your followers have posted, check the morning news, or share things that come across your feed that seem relevant. Fresh, relevant content drives ad conversions. 
• Place ads. If it's in your budget, those ads can make a difference. Target them for certain demographic or geographic sectors (or by likes, connections, interests, etc.), so you're only advertising in areas that work for you. Text ads, display ads with images, or super-hefty Facebook engagement ads are your three options in the Facebook universe. 
• Be organized. From the beginning, set up an organized ad campaign. Know what you want to achieve, so you can measure your results against your goals. Plan how often you'll post content on Facebook or how often you'll set up new ads -- and then stick to that schedule. 
• Minimize time, maximize results. If you only have five minutes a day to spend of Facebooking, make it count. Plan posts in advance so you can cut and paste in two minutes when the day comes, or schedule your posts, then spend three minutes responding to messages. If you only post three days a week, that gives you two other work days to work on ads. It doesn't have to be a headache. 

Expect a learning curve at the beginning, and start in a week when you can build in some extra time to figure out exactly what you're doing. Set aside time once a month to put together a calendar. Once you're conversant with the software you'll find you have plenty of time to do what you need to do without extra stress.

Happy Facebooking!

5 Tips On Becoming SuperWoman

I am super woman.  Yes, that sounds very conceited and I swear that is not my intention.  But I get asked a lot by various clients, colleagues, co-workers, friends, family, “How the heck do you get so much done, do you not sleep”?   Well, since I do sleep, and actually I sleep more than most I think - at least nine hours a

night – I decided maybe I should ponder this question and see if I could figure out why.  Maybe, just maybe,  I have some sneaky tips on what makes me so productive. So here is what I came up with:

#1 Get Plenty of Rest 
I know this is not exactly a productivity tip, I’ll get to a few of those too, but I do firmly believe getting enough rest allows for longer periods of concentration and focus. I’m sure there is some deep rooted science proving this too, but for me it’s based on experience. When I’m rested, I am energized, happy, focused and productive.

#2 Eat well and Eat Often
After I had both of my kids I did weight watchers and I have to say I liked it a lot and it taught me some good eating habits.  I’ve carried those with me and I’ve noticed that when I eat healthy and snack at regular intervals, my energy stays up.

#3 Have a Schedule
I follow the same schedule pretty much every day.  Now there are huge blocks of time that are not, “scheduled” since my work is very busy and always changing, but there are cornerstones throughout the day that stay the same.

For me it falls at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm.  I have specific things I do at these intervals (i.e. check email, log in/post/check social networks, have a snack, check my ToDo list, etc.). This frees my blocks of time up and allows for flexibility in my schedule but still time to get things done.

#4 Make a ToDo list
Prioritize. Stick to It – this is one of my biggest tips.  I do not live out of my email in-boxes (yes I have several).  Every day I make a priority list of what needs to be done and prioritize.  I allow for le-way time for things that do come up in my email and I block out time to get certain things on my list done.  This leads to tip #5:

#5  Block Out Time
Block out specific time on your calendar to get things done.  I cannot tell you how many task/productivity apps I’ve downloaded on my iPad, but there have been a lot, and none work as well as the one I am going to share with you right now.

Now, in case you are hoping I will tell you what the best one is and I am, but don’t get too excited, you might be disappointed.  My biggest productivity application is (drumroll here). Outlook. Yes. Outlook.  Here’s why.  For me I am booked constantly with meetings and calls, so I’ve found that blocking out small chunks of time (15 – 30 minutes) on my calendar throughout the week allows me to get the top priority things done.  This really works well for me, but you definitely have to stick to it and hold yourself accountable.

There you have it, the top 5 things I do to be super woman productive.  What do you do?

Top 6 Reasons To Have A Facebook Business Page

Recently we have really seen a large influx of businesses asking us to design their Facebook Business Page.  I love this!  But it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to share some of the reasons and statistics as to why it is a good idea.  

So here it is, the Top 6 Reasons Why Business' should have a page:

#1.  Your Current Customers and Future Customers are on Facebook

According to GeekyGadgets this week in Technology News, there are 1.1 Billion Monthly Active Users! That's a lot of reach.  That includes 665 million daily active on average in March 2013

#2.  Your Customers are looking for you

I know I do.  When I find a company/service I like, I'm looking to "like" them on Facebook

#3.  It allows you too stay connected with your customers.

You can provide relevant information about your industry and quickly alert your customers of special events, offers and discounts.

#4.  Referrals. Referrals. Referrals.

Posting interesting and relevant content, offers, special events and discounts allows your fans to spread the word to their friends.

#5.  Your Competitors are on Facebook

Over 15 million businesses, companies, and organizations now have a Facebook page

#6.  Search Engines Like Facebook.

Google a few, when searching for a company, if they have a Facebook page, it's near the top of the search

In my mind, Facebook is a marketing vehicle, it's one component of a strategic marketing plan and should be targeted to the business' audience.  All marketing activity should fit together, like a puzzle, to create a whole picture of your business, who you are and what you stand for.  What do you think?