This is a post based on the generous knowledge Linda Reed-Enever shared at my recent Great Melbourne Blog-in V3.

Guest speaker: Linda Reed-Enever

Linda Reed-Enever: Running a Facebook Group to Support your Business or Blog

Linda Reed-Enever spoke at my very first Great Melbourne Blog-in and I just love her infectious enthusiasm and energy, so I was pleased to welcome her back for some more insights. Linda runs the very popular Business Business Business Facebook Group and I asked her to talk about how to run a successful Facebook group. With more than 16,000 members and still growing, she knows what it takes to set up, manage and sustain a Facebook Group.

Linda says you really need to like people to run a Facebook group. I can imagine why – you’d get to see all sides of humanity – the good, the bad, the ugly and even worse.

I’m not sure I’d have the patience and tolerance for it… But Facebook groups are a great way to bring people together with a common interest, or as a way to provide extra service for people who pay for a membership, course or another kind of program.

The first thing you need to do is work out your reason for setting up a Facebook Group. Consider it a part of diversifying your risks and only one component of your overall marketing activities. A Facebook group doesn’t replace your Facebook page – you should still maintain that (or set one up if you haven’t already).

"A good Facebook group is only as good as its admin" Linda Reed-Enever

Secondly, you need time to admin a Facebook group. You’ve absolutely got to factor in how much time it takes to manage a group well. It can zap hours out of your day. If you’re not prepared for that kind of time investment, hire someone to do it for you, or it might be better to join an established group rather than starting your own.

If you decide to get others to help you admin the group (and you will if your group grows like Business Business Business), you need to choose people who thoroughly understand your philosophy and your guidelines.

Know what the purpose of your group is and make sure people joining it know as well.

As Linda says, “A good Facebook group is only as good as its admin.” As your group grows, you might even need a team of people to help you admin the group.

Know what your guidelines are and keep them in the pinned post – make use of that functionality and it’s easy to direct people there should you need to remind them of the group’s guidelines. Something else to consider is whether or not to have a theme day. Some people love them, others loathe them. Business doesn’t run on a theme day, so Linda’s not so keen on theme days for the Business Business Business group, but can see how they might be useful for other groups.

To run a successful Facebook group, you have to be active, supportive and encouraging. Encourage people to share their wins, ask questions, and respond to other members’ questions.

Know that your group will not be the right fit everyone – and that’s OK. You’re better off seeing those people leave and retaining the people who fit with your community.

Add value by sharing unique content only with group members. You could offer a free webinar or a Facebook Live Q&A session. There are so many different options you could use.

And finally, don’t forget to promote your group – let people know it exists and invite the people you think would be a good fit to join the group to get it up and running.

Linda’s running a ‘Content Creation Tools and Tips course‘ to help you create and promote great content. I’ve signed up for her course – even though I’m a professional writer, I know I can still learn plenty from Linda and I’ll apply what I learn to my wallpaper website and blog, Silk Interiors because I want to revive its dormant social media accounts and ramp up its marketing.

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