At Big West Marketing I handle all the Social Media sites. Joe doesn’t care to be that involved in Facebook and frankly he doesn’t even have the time if he wanted to. There has been lots of talk about how to use it and what works and it’s extremely hard if you’re a carpet cleaner. I’m going to go over some things that’s worked for me and some things I notice that you guys can do if you have time.
Groups:
Engaging in groups is a “yes” as a business owner you should always network with other people because the more contacts you create the more likely you’ll be recommended and talked about. Referrals are always an excellent source of getting a job. We do recommend that everyone spend at least 15 minutes out of his or her day and network on Facebook. Don’t spend hours upon hours though because there are better things you can do to spend your time on like going to a park during an event and handing out coupons to random people for an example. If you don’t like Facebook ask your spouse or receptionist to do it.
A lot of people maybe attempting to get jobs from Facebook Groups because maybe they put “ISO A Great Carpet Cleaner” and here’s your chance! Here is the problem with that…
The problem with group pages:
1) Hundreds are posted throughout the day (And that’s just in a small area like ours in Missoula MT) so it would take a lot of time to search through all the posts that day trying to find someone that might have posted “ISO A Great Carpet Cleaner”. Maybe you just spent an hour looking through all the Group Posts and NO ONE posted anything about Carpet Cleaning, which is most likely what will happen.
2) The majority of Groups really frown upon advertising and I believe that a more effective way to interact in Group Pages On Facebook is networking with other people in your same industry. I will have an example of this shortly.
3) Let’s say someone in a Group Page posted “ISO A Great Carpet Cleaner”…you think “Here’s My Chance!” You write, “I’m a Great Carpet Cleaner! 555-5555 Call Me!” Let that sit for a bit. Then ask yourself this, “Does a referral work best coming from the business (“I’m a great carpet cleaner!”) or does a referral work better if it comes from an unknown whom says, “I used Magic Carpet Cleaning and I had a stain that I thought would never come out but some how they did it! Super nice guys too!” Which referral is more effective?
Using Group Pages To Your Advantage:
I am a wedding photographer on the side and I market my business a lot on Facebook and Pinterest this is something that works well for photographers because it’s visual. I am a part of a group called “Montana Photographers Rock” in this group photographs will ask questions like “What’s the best way to sharpen an image in Photoshop?” We respond to each other and then sometimes people post “I am booked July 4th is any available to do a wedding that day?” And boom I send my info and website and she’s talked with me a few times on the Group Page and now she calls the bride and recommends me.
Think of this in Carpet Cleaning Terms. Say you’re just starting out and you join a group for Carpet Cleaners. You guys are posting in there the best methods to get out certain spots and lets say you’re active and do it. You post pictures of a stain before and after and then explain how you did that. So, now you are becoming established to others, as “this guy seems to know what he is doing”. So, lets say someone calls and needs their carpets cleaned that day and he is already booked. Well, maybe he remembers you from the Group Page you guys are a part of and he says well call “Magic Carpet Cleaning” they’re pretty good. Now you have a referral and if you do a good job you may have a client for life.
Here’s some example of how I try to get conversations started and how I try to establish myself as “I know what I’m doing” in the photography world.
Using Your Facebook Business Page To Get More Likes & More People To See You without having to Pay:
So, I have been a photographer for 10 years and I have never received one bad review. So, I received my first one and no matter what industry you’re in it hurts! So, I decided to not get mad and to turn around and give something away. This was the post I posted below:
So, in this competition that I ran for over a week several people e-mailed/messaged me a photograph of their dog. I’d post them on my Business Page then they’d share it on their page and then others liked it and shared it. I received 20 new likes on my page and if you look at the “Reach Statistics” over 1,000 people saw my post and my company’s name. Why this is more effective than running an ad? I’ll tell you because people see that it’s coming from their friend and their friend might get a chance to win something so of course they’re going to help out their friend by “Liking it” and then the person is thinking “well, I have a cute dog” then they enter and it’s like a
Pandora’s box of goodness.
Why wouldn’t this work for Carpet Cleaners? Let’s say you run a $5 ad on Facebook for a month that’s $150. You’re happy that you received 10 Likes, but “Man, I don’t think I got one job out of it…” Have you said this before??? So, everyone says I want my customers to get engaged in my Facebook Page…
The Truth!
I’m writing this from me personally…I hope you do not get offended.
I don’t care about Carpet Cleaning when I log into my Facebook Account. I like pictures of cute dogs, I like funny pictures with a saying like “Beer, It makes things not suck!” Heck I share that stuff because it makes me giggle. You post a picture of a dirty carpet and then a clean carpet I think, “who cares stupid ads” and move on to the funny picture that my friend shared (he always shares good stuff) and it’s a group of people having fun and it’s captioned “It’s no coincidence that beer rhymes with cheer.” I giggle and share that with my friends. That’s how much thought I have when I log into my personal Facebook page.
When would I actually get involved in a carpet cleaning page?
“Send Us a pic of your cute dog and whomever gets the most LIKES wins and gets a free carpet cleaning!”
Now you have my attention! I have the cutest dog ever! And he pees on my carpets dang it!” I’m sending you a pic and I’m sharing that with everyone! Boom! You just made the “Facebook User” Advertise your business without them even knowing it.
“Send us a pic of your carpet and let us know why you need it cleaned and whomever gets the most Likes wins a free carpet cleaning!”
The possibilities are endless with this. The whole point is you got a job. Even if it’s Free if you do a good job that person is going to say good things about you and will call you the next time they need a cleaning. The possibilities are endless and this is so much better than putting an Ad on the side bar in my opinion because when a Friend sees it and Shares it you are more likely to take notice. If you look at the Likes, Shares and People I reach for FREE I think you will see why this was more effective than doing an Ad.
Welp, that’s my take on Facebook!
The Free Photo Shoot I did was an Engagement Shoot so I also booked the wedding!
It was worth doing it!
Have a Good Day & Good Luck!