It has not escaped me that my offerings of late have been sparse. I don’t like it when people don’t post for a while, then they come back and write an I’m Sorry post about why they haven’t been posting. So I won’t apologize. What I will do, is encourage you to do two things:
Why You Should Like Blogging Basics 101 on Facebook
Even though I haven’t been posting faithfully over here, I’ve been posting several times a day on Facebook. I’m answering questions, sharing links, and generally enjoying the community of savvy people like you. Why aren’t you over there with us? We really want you to come and join our conversation. I have my Wall set so you can upload relevant pictures (did you attend a blog conference recently? Show us what happened!). You can even link to your own posts if they’re relevant to blogging theory and development. I only ask that your posts not be spammy in nature or too salesy (that hasn’t been a problem so far). I encourage you to come over and share.
Why You Should Sign Up for the Blogging Basics 101 Newsletter
I’ve been teaching some local classes helping businesses understand how to set up and use their Facebook business pages properly. I’ve had more than a few people request an online option for these classes and I’m going to oblige them (I’m hoping to get those going this month!). I’m currently focusing on Facebook business pages, but I’m also developing classes on SEO, analytics, beginning blogging, and several other topics. I’m very excited about this venture because teaching and interacting with you is my favorite part of what I do! If you’re signed up for my newsletter, you’ll be the first to know about which classes are being offered and when. As you complete the Blogging Basics 101 newsletter sign up form, please be sure to fill in as much information as possible. I will never share your information, but, for instance, if you share your city and state with me, then I can exclude you from newsletters that are pertinent to my locally held classes. That way you aren’t inundated with irrelevant information. However, you’re not required to share anything more than your e-mail address and you have the option of unsubscribing at any time.
Finally, I just want to say THANK YOU. Thanks for subscribing to the blog, liking the Facebook page, and subscribing to my newsletter. I appreciate your support.
Do you have a Facebook business page? Leave your Facebook Business page URL in the comments so we can check it out!
I love your Facebook page!!! So pretty and also your site.
The good thing with blogging on FB is cross-promotion. If you have other online accounts, you can cross-post content.
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Hey even people who run “how to run a blog” websites probably get overwhelmed and a little burnt out, and sometimes posting frequency suffers. But I would just like to gently challenge you on something. Isn’t it a “blogging basic” that regular updates to the blog help generate traffic, obtain better search engine results, etc etc? So why on earth would you allow your blog to suffer while moving all your most helpful content over to Facebook? Wouldn’t all those FB questions make great blog posts? Facebook should be used to enhance and promote the blog, not take its place. (What happens if FB disappears, taking all your great content with it?) Seems to me you’re putting your best effort (“several times a day”) someplace else rather than using the opportunity of FB to promote your blog and drive traffic HERE. Just food for thought…
Janet,
Thanks for weighing in with your opinion. By its nature, BB101 is a blog that is mostly found vie SEO. When someone is searching for an answer to a blogging question, they search and they find me. While it’s true there are many posts to write and I have several in draft, my efforts are currently focused on teaching local classes and developing online classes. My blog won’t go away, but it is on hold for the time being. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!
I don’t intend for my Facebook page to take the place of my blog. It is another place for my community to meet (and where many are already hanging out, so why wouldn’t I take advantage of that?). If you’ve visited the page, you’ve seen that I’m not writing long posts over there. Instead I’m sharing links to articles relevant to blogging and social media and encouraging discussion. Because I spend a large portion of every day researching, it is a logical extension of my blog to share the articles I come across with my audience. To do so here would mean a clogged RSS for my subscribers. To do so on Facebook is much easier and more reasonable.
Great recommendations, thanks! As an online entrepreneur I will definitely take into consideration all your instructios in my FaceBook advertising strategy!
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I set up a facebook business page some time ago but haven’t spent any time trying to promote it…. hence, not many likes. I don’t really believe tying to get all of my real life friends to like my business page so I am now finally taking the time to try to figure out how to use facebook to promote my business. Your classes and services look very interesting. My facebook business page is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ArtzyFartzyInvites-Wedding-Invitations-Wedding-Programs-Wedding-Menus/357381936660
Feel free to use me as a case study anytime
Melanie, Thank you for this post. I have a website that I added Facebook “like” buttons to a couple weeks ago. At the time I created the like button I thought I would end up with a fan page for my site, but that didn’t happen. Now I want to create a fan page on Facebook that uses same “like” button I already have on my site (I have 48 likes on my web page which I don’t want to lose). I’ve read through the help pages in Facebook but can’t find information on how to create a fan page after you’ve already got a “like” button. Do you know how it can be done? If you can help me, I’ll gladly pay your consulting fee for assistance.
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Sheila,
The Like button you installed on your blog only pertains to each article you write. When someone clicks the Like button on one of your blog articles, it shows up on their Wall and in their friends’ news feed so others can read the article if they like. This is completely separate from creating a fan page and the Likes you’ll receive on that fan page.
To create a fan page for your website/blog go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. You’ll have to start from scratch with Likes because the Likes you received on your blog for each post aren’t for your fan page, they’re for the article itself. Write a post on your blog telling your readers that you’re on FB now and invite them to Like you over there and join in your new community (and be sure to provide the link to your page so they can click over). Then write a status update on your personal FB profile and invite your friends to Like your fan page as well.
Best,
Melanie
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ground-Beef-Budget/277068325658393 that’s my facebook page address. I have tried and tried to shorten it …it is new but does have over 50 likes. No matter what alternative I have it says the name is taken??? I have read somewhere there is a problem with generic wording and Facebook and I am thinking that may be the issue, I don’t know.