“How can my client get tons more Facebook likes?,” a colleague recently asked me.
Wow, I thought, I’m surprised you haven’t asked yourself the questions behind the question, such as why they want more likes or where they find most key influencers reside in their community. The problem with questions like the one posed above are that the person asking usually wants a really quick fix, such as ‘Make their logo bigger’ or ‘Add a Like box to their blog’.
You want to know the simplest way to get more likes on your Facebook brand page? Here it is:
ASK PEOPLE TO LIKE YOUR PAGE
Use Facebook’s built-in tools to request more likes and I guarantee they’ll come. Once you’ve reached a certain critical mass, however, then you’ll want to focus on encouraging these fans to become advocates on your behalf by sharing the content you deliver (and attracting a relevant, interested audience instead of people who like your page and never return, putting a dent in your EdgeRank scoring).
eBooks as a Revenue Stream, Proof of Authority and Conference Invite
There are currently more than 63,000,000 eBooks labeled as ‘discovered’ (added to customers ‘To-Read Shelf’). That represents more books than are housed in the combined collections of the Library of Congress, NYPL, and Boston Public Library. Clearly, eBooks are growing in popularity even as amateur publishers become a larger part of the marketplace.
One of my favorite publishers, James Altucher, is a savvy eBook author who charges $0.99 per copy and gains lots of positive reviews (Online reviews are hugely valuable currency as social, mobile and local technologies become more important to digital shoppers). His book, “I Was Blind But Now I See” has 45 mostly positive reviews, more than any of his hardcover editions have achieved.
So how does this help you gain more Facebook fans?
First, you want to make sure the eBook has links to your Facebook brand page and a simple message/enticement encouraging them to do so (i.e. “You can get access to articles and content I share exclusively on Facebook by liking my page).
Next, consider quoting reputable sources in your publication (and providing them a free copy, of course). Then you have an opportunity to ask these folks to share your message with their own Facebook communities. Really, people love to feel important, so this step can’t be underestimated. You might even ask them to contribute to your book prior to publishing so these people have more of an incentive to see your work succeed.
Reviews are important too, so make sure to pre-solicit these contributors to write a favorable review. This is because people will be more inclined to purchase if their peers (or perceived peers) vote for it with 4 or more stars out of a possible 5 star rating. Now that you’ve goten some traction, you’re well ahead of most people who write a blog post or comment on Facebook, since you have been formally (self) published.
Now it’s time to turn your eBook, which takes a couple of hours to write and upload (instructions here), and build social and real currency off it. First, make sure to offer a free sample chapter/s to your Facebook community and those of your co-authors in the interest of helping them solve a problem.
IMPORTANT: You have to solve a real problem or otherwise provide written content that people will want to read and share. This could be showing someone how to identify a potential leak in their fuel lines or giving them a laugh that makes them reflect meaningfully on life.
As you gain more exposure by way of likes, reviews and sales, your ‘Proof of Authority’ gets established and you can use this real-life success in submissions to speak at conferences. Hell, try to get your desired conference gig included in the publication and then ‘@’ mention them in Facebook posts to seed the likelihood they ask you to present.
Isn’t it fun when a question from a friendly colleague inspires a blog post? If you’ve got questions or comments, drop a comment below, which will be posted to Facebook so we can have a discussion.
Tech Obsessed Since Age 5 - Meet Joe Mescher
Joe Mescher is a behavioral advertising professional and Digital Marketing Evangelist, a Michigan State Spartan and half of the team responsible for a set of fraternal twins born October 11, 2012. He lives in Burlington, VT.