Over the last few years I have had some great conversations with all manner of business owners. In some of these conversations, I’ve learnt so much, and in others, I’ve been able to impart some of my knowledge. And in those cases, every time there’s that “look” on either my face or their face of “why hadn’t I thought of that before”!

You know the look.  To put it in emoji terms, it’s the one where someone is either slapping their face or shrugging their shoulders. So, I wanted to share a couple of nuggets of this wisdom with you!

Some of you will read this post and only take away that fact that you’re already awesome and doing some great things … others will come away with that look of why didn’t I think of that before!

Either way, I hope you will enjoy the tips!

I’m going to start with my first tip which I have been the learner in – so someone has taught me this.

POP-UP FACEBOOK GROUPS

We tend to think of Facebook groups as something we need to be constantly nurturing – constantly adding value to and some people are either turned off the idea of a Facebook group because of this or simply because they can’t think of what they would talk about.

Enter a pop-up group!

I’d heard Amy Porterfield talk about pop up groups for course launches and that got me thinking about all sorts of launches but it wasn’t until I was organising my first ever networking event, and reached out to the Beyoncé of networking – Kellie Briggs (who has a podcast I love – Business Networking by Design).

Kellie suggested that I throw all the people coming along to my networking event into a pop up group – so they can get to know each other before coming – that I had the (insert slap face emoji) look of “Why didn’t I think of that”.

Such great advice!

So, turn your thinking about Facebook groups on its head.

What do you do inside your business that a pop-up group would be perfect for?

A pop-up group I would say, would last about 7-30 days – after that, you are going to have to put more thought into why the group exists and be nurturing on another level.

But if you have a VIP sale coming up, have a collaboration with another business coming up, launching a new product or service or just about anything that you think “if I had a closed group of highly engaged people who want to buy or who have bought, I’d be able to … (insert whatever your desired outcome is)” – then give it a go!

Hey if it’s a flop (which it isn’t going to be) – then heck, it was just a pop-up group anyway, so you don’t need to feel bad when you close it down. That said, if you do close it down, you should have somewhere else for these people to go – just don’t slam the door on them!

Let them know what you are doing and what they can do next!

So ask yourself this question right now – can you see a Facebook Pop up group working in your business? And if so – how?

If you can’t think of anything – put it in that safe space for ideas for another day – because believe me, it’ll come to you!

GET YOUR TECH QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Another conversation I often have with people is around tech, especially around programs that people buy and implement in their business.

I’m often asked if I “know how to do this or that” or “if I use x program”.

My biggest piece of advice – if you purchase a program or use a piece of tech in your business, join the Facebook community for that tech!

This was such a great thing when I started doing it. It’s like the  members can’t answer you quick enough with their expertise to look like the biggest expert!

It’s amazing.  Don’t wait in line with call centres or wait for emails – join the group and ask away!

When I email providers to Flodesk, I joined their group. And when I was setting up a workflow – so a series of emails that are triggered by an event – like clicked this link or opened the email etc – I was completely lost.

Put a post-up in the group on a Saturday night (yes, I am THAT boring working on a Saturday night) and boom someone answered – what they said was perfect and it worked, and I was away again in minutes!

(By the way – product plug there – if you want a fabulous email provider that will help your open rate and look amazing and people will ask you, “how did you do that” – have a look at Flodesk. I have a special link – so go to http://bit.ly/loveflodesk and check it out!)

Back on track – I’ve asked questions in the Camtasia group I’m in, the Libsyn group (they are programs I use for my podcasting) – it’s such an untapped resource!

And when people ask me tech questions and I respond with “have you joined the group on Facebook and asked there” the answer is often a look of “why didn’t I think of that” – again, that “look”!

So, next time you have a tech question – look for answers there in that products Facebook group.

And if you belong to the community – give too!  You are bound to know something someone else doesn’t – or maybe you’ve asked the same question before and can help.

It’s what SOCIAL media is all about!

I hope these two simple little tips have lit something in you to think about social media a little bit differently – how you can make your life and business a little bit simpler using social media!

And one final little bonus for you – if you’re struggling with social media, and content creation and ideas, then I have just the thing for you!

My fantastic and every so popular FREE eBook – 108 Social Media Content Creation Ideas?

Simply head here to my website and download it from there.

I would love for you to get it, read it, print it out and look at it all the time, it will change your life (or at least your social thinking challenges life!)

If you want to chat more about these concepts, please head over to my dedicated facebook group for all things business!

It’s called “Like Minded Business Owners” and we have such a great community of people on there – please join in!

Feel free to leave me a DM on Facebook or Instagram with any comments or ideas if you have some great tips to share for maximising your social media.  I absolutely love to get DMs!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenn Donovan is a marketing strategist and social media extraordinaire, coach and mentor to savvy business owners.  Owner and Founder of Social Media & Marketing Australia.

With a passion for making business simple, because it’s isn’t easy but it should be simple or at least simpler, she’s built a reputation for helping other small business owners simplify their marketing and businesses so they can reach their goals, be more profitable and live the dream (finding the freedom they set out to achieve when they started … the illusive small business owner freedom dream …!)

Jenn believes in giving before asking and that’s why she’s the host of the popular Small Business Made Simple Podcast