I'm writing this blog post because of an interesting, passionate discussion in a women's business network, about how to get new and repeat business with Facebook Pages.

I'm not selling a sales program here. I'm interested in valuable networking with other business people---and may eventually write a small biz marketing book. I wrote this in a sort of "flood" of information, with no outline.

My Facebook Page has allowed me to turn a self published book, into a product that has been paying my bills from home, for the past year. I'm earning many times over the income of the average author, with a Ukrainian cultural history and cook book. It's a highly competitive market, with a fairly limited audience.

Selling online is vital to me, as I am now physically disabled.

I know where my sales are coming from by using an analytics program on my website. I won't cover that here; your own website designer can tell you how.

My posts get hundreds of Likes and dozens of Shares. More importantly, those interactions turn into sales.

I come from an entrepreneurial family, have diplomas in Small Business Management from the Federal Business Development Bank and Reger, and was a successful Elizabeth Arden sales rep (until I found out about their animal testing) but I learned about online marketing through trial and error---and also observing how successful people create income through Facebook. I've come up with these tips. Online marketing is different than face to face sales, believe me:

▪ Create entertaining and educational content. Noone wants to read continual ads for your product. I follow the TV commercial rule: 45 minutes of pure entertainment for every 15 minutes of commercial. Otherwise, people tune out!

I post funny, news worthy and interesting posts 3-5 days a week. Then I post a product ad.

Create posts that have a broad appeal to your target audience. You want not just Page Likes, but Post Likes, Comments and Shares. Why? Facebook now shows your Friends what posts you have engaged with. Which puts your Page in many peoples' faces.

It doesn't matter that my book is about Ukrainian culture, not cats. We all know the joke: cat vids are the most popular item on Facebook. So now and then, I post a cat vid! It draws Likes and Comments. Bunnies and dogs also work. The key is "now and then."

I've found that many, many women LOVE posts about female empowerment, especially if it's profound or funny.

▪ Change your cover photo often. That's the large photo banner across the top of your page. This shows up in your Page Fans' News Feed. Facebook provides your Page name and a link---you don't have to create "sales-y" graphics all the time. If you keep the photos mainly non-commercial and appealing, people will visit and Like. This is opposite to the advice I've seen on most marketing blogs; they tell you to create those sales-y cover photos. Not for my strategy of changing photos frequently.

For example, if you sell natural cosmetics, post cover photos of beautiful ingredients, such as fruit and honey. If you sell candles, post cover photos of not just candles, but photos of gorgeous, candle lit rooms and other romantic settings. I alternate a series of humorous photos with Ukrainian art.

Think of your cover photo as a very slow slide show that keeps people interested! Again, you Page name and link are automatically attached.

▪ Exchange Page Likes judiciously with other business owners. Be sure you want their Page to show up on your personal profile, where your Friends will see that you support them. Page posts also show up routinely in your News Feed.

Exchanging Likes can be beneficial when your Pages complement each other, but a detriment when they don't reflect your values and interests. For example, I will not Like a page that has animal-tested products. This means I painstakingly research their testing policies to maintain my integrity.

▪ Create jpegs with your website address and email. Facebook will limit post views in others' News Feeds if you provide a link to an outside, commercial website inside a "naked" post text box. They want to sell you ad space, and keep people on Facebook.

You can get around this by creating a jpeg photo that includes your website address, in an editing program. Create an entertaining post with your address in smaller print at the bottom. I use Google's free Picasa program, haven't figured out Photoshop yet. GIMP is a free editing program that is similar to the pricey PS.

Where do I get photos? Pixabay and Wiki Commons have millions of quality public domain and Creative Commons license photos. Public domain photos may be used without credit or payment. CC photos require simply posting the photographer's name. Be sure to read the terms under the photo. Some may be used commercially, some may not. Or, buy photos from stock photo sites like Shutterstock and Dreamstime.

▪ Utilize Facebook's Contact Us, Website and Shop Now buttons to send people to your website. If you let Contact Us send you personal messages via Facebook's system, you're going to lose some potential customers. Their messaging system is very glitchy. I found messages in a folder called Other, that I'd not seen for over a year! I responded immediately, but I'd already lost those customers.

Remember: most people don't understand the intricacies of Facebook, and customers don't want to hear excuses.

Send people to your website, and provide an email address. To avoid spammers, also write your email address inside the jpeg photo. Again, ask your website developer how to link to these buttons.

▪ Ban trolls mercilessly. It's your Page. Your turf. A troll is someone who shows up just to create negativity. They don't have to spew obscenities or personally insult anyone to do this. YOU get to decide what defines a troll. If you are naturally witty and can say something to a troll that gets you a bunch of Likes, do it. It's not easy.

I recommend treating a disruptive commentator the same way I'd treat a stranger who showed up drunk and abusive in my living room. Kick them out. They suck your energy and make things unpleasant for your genuine Page Fans. Women can be empathetic to our own detriment. Focus. You're running a Page to earn income, not provide a Free Speech platform for the world!

▪ Respond to people who merit a response. I don't have time to Like every comment on my Page. And stats show that doing this can come off as insincere. I Like comments that I genuinely like, and then some random ones.

If someone asks you a direct question, you can either let another Fan answer it, or you can jump in. Allow room for people to converse. Why? I've found that this can result in someone giving a glowing testimonial about my work, which is more powerful than my doing so.

Some people visit my page almost daily to engage in social conversation with like minded others. As Martha would say, it's a good thing.

Also, never ignore a genuine concern or complaint. Unless it's a troll. Otherwise, address the concern honestly and sincerely. NEVER ignore these, in any facet of your business. You can win or lose clients by how you respond. You never know who is reading your Page. Facebook Pages couldn't be more public!

▪ Occasionally, post testimonials. I frame them inside a jpeg with a coloured background to make them stand out and make them more Shareable. Express your appreciation with, "Here are some lovely words from..." or the like. Make sure the testimonial came from a public posting. If someone gave you a compliment in private, ask permission first. Respect privacy. The online world has created some very blurry lines. That doesn't mean you get to be blurry.


▪ Use Page Settings for your own comfort. Once my Page hit 1000 Likes, it began attracting all kinds of spam. People will literally post anything to your Page, and I was using precious time to read and delete them. You can set your Page to not accept others' posts.

I do welcome relevant and interesting posts. I find that people who genuinely wish to connect in this way, take the time to visit my website and email me. In that process, well, they're visiting my website. Win-Win-Win!

▪ Exchange not just Page Likes with complementary businesses and hobbyists, but offer to post their Page header as a personal recommendation. And Share relevant posts. Ask them to do the same for you.

To post a Page header, copy and paste their address from your address bar.

I do such exchanges with Ukrainian nonprofits, artists and small businesses. Event announcements, interesting posts, etc. I leave the link to their Page intact---a feature Facebook allows you to remove. Be kind and honest with this. I do a slow burn when some people continually Share my well researched posts and remove any credit! It's the online equivalent of a coworker taking credit for your ideas.

▪ Offer a free newsletter. Again, here's where linking your Page buttons all to your website comes in handy. Your website's home page should have a subscription form. Create a monthly newsletter with the same formula as for Facebook Pages: 75% entertainment and education, 25% or less commercial. will look forward to your newsletter---as long as your subscribers feel you are providing interesting and valuable information.

Facebook Pages have a Subscribe button! You can post your subscription form right on Facebook. I love this.

I knew I was hitting that mark when I started receiving frustrated emails from people who'd not gotten their newsletter yet! I announce mail outs on my Facebook page, you see, another benefit. I also use Facebook to remind subscribers how to whitelist my email address and find the newsletter when it's gone missing in their email program.

For example: If you sell real estate, create a newsletter with genuinely useful tips for potential buyers. I've received too many that are just one listing after another. Instant delete.

My mortage broker friend Scott Ko is brilliant. His newsletter tells you HOW to get an affordable mortage. He gives tantalizing facts about the Vancouver housing market. He suggests creative ways to obtain a property you thought you couldn't afford. Along with very appealing photos. His newsletter reflects his personality: when I needed posters tacked up for a workshop, Scott was eager to help.

Be that person.

▪ Occasionally, post a personal tidbit. Not, puh-leez, "I have the most awful cramps," or similar over shares. That's a turn off, and all you'll get is a long thread of similar complaints and unwanted medical advice!

I mean: post an anecdote about something crazy that happened on the way to a sales meeting (as long as it doesn't involve embarrassing someone else), your strategy for balancing home, work, child and pet care, your fitness (or non fitness) routine, something cool that happened at a sports practice or in yoga class, a blurb about how you started your business, something amazing you saw on your Nature walk.

If many people have told you you are genuinely funny, you can even be a bit risque. Be careful with this. Humour writing is hard.

People do like glimpses of the person behind the business. But just tasteful glimpses, please. Speaking of which:

▪ Make brief videos for your Page. I do this with a webcam set up at my desk and either natural or lamp lighting. No need for elaborate video skills! You can make it as simple as introducing yourself, or tell a very short anecdote.

I rarely talk about my products in my videos. Instead, I paste in a final frame with again, an easily created jpeg that shows my book cover and website address. I do this with Windows Movie Maker, which you likely also have on your computer.

But you don't have to get that elaborate. Facebook has brilliantly provided a box to create a website link for you when you post your video! I write: Click Here for Free Newsletter. Viewer clicks the vid, and boom! They're on my website Sales page. This link appears in big fat letters as soon as your vid ends.

One of my 1.5 minute, homemade vids attracted 13,000 views and resulted in a sharp sales spike. I've provided a link below. The vid isn't perfect. The lighting is too dim, and I fall out of the frame for a few seconds. No one cares. It's funny and entirely relevant to my audience, my Page and my product!

▪ Get a website. Now. If you're in business, you must have one. It's as essential as a biz card at a networking event. On several occasions, I've been genuinely interested in a product or service. Clicked on the link, only to find it led me back to their Facebook Page. I didn't pursue. I figure that if someone can't be bothered to slap up the simplest website, they're not serious about their business. Unfair? Maybe. But they lost their sale to me.

I've heard people say, "Oh, my style is very people-oriented. I like it when my customers interact with me one by one, chat socially, you know."

Well, if your main goal is to chat with people, that's awesome. Use Facebook and other social media to keep peoples' attention in a way a static website can't. But your website is probably where you'll make the sale. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Some businesses do okay with just one or two pages!

You can satisfy your need for longer interactions with people who feel likewise, and also sell to people who don't.

On a low start up budget? There are several DIY website programs, like Wix and Yola. And please, invest the money to buy your own domain name and remove their banner ads. It's another turn off to pursue a cool product/service, then see that "Get YOUR free website, too!" scrolled across the bottom.

Inexplicably, I've seen those ad banners and loooong, unmemorable free domain names on websites advertising high end services and products. Yuck.

I built my two websites with 0 programming knowledge. In total, they cost me less than $200 annually to maintain, including my domain names.

Having a website allows you to do both direct sales and utilize wonderful instant payment options like Paypal.

Here's the Golden Rule: you keep people interested and engaged with your constantly entertaining and informative Facebook Page. This DRIVES them to your website---where you make your sales.

▪ An important point of Facebook etiquette: someone interacting with you on a Page or in a Group, does not mean they want to Friend you. Don't be offended if you reach out and get no response. Many people reserve their Friends list for "real life" friends and family---or at least people with whom they have certain strong interests in common.

I've had novice biz owners ream me out on public pages for not accepting their Friend request, a really unprofessional move that guarantees they will never be in my network.

If you enjoy reading someone's post, do them the courtesy of dropping a note to say so, and telling them briefly why you think you should be Friends. If they don't reply, drop it. The availability of contact due to social media and cell phones is overwhelming. Setting limits is a healthy thing.

▪ Dump unpopular posts. Fast. More often than I'd like, I post a dud. The previous post may have had 150 Likes and three dozen Shares, but this one is sitting there glumly, like a bad penny. I may LOVE this post. It may be a picture that took me three hours of waiting around in the heat to photograph, or a joke that makes my belly ache from laughing.

I remind myself: every post on my Page has the potential of being circulated in thousands of News Feeds. Do I want the latest impression of my product to be a stinker? I wince, hit Delete and find a substitute.

▪ Link your Facebook Page to Twitter. Every time you post on Facebook, a Tweet is sent automatically to Twitter! I forget I even have a Twitter account, until I receive an email saying someone has reTweeted my post. Love it.


▪ Save time and energy with Scheduled Posts. At the bottom of your post, beside the Publish button, is an arrow. Click on that arrow and you'll see Scheduled Posts. Before I discovered this, I was exhausted by feeling I had to visit FB several times daily to make posts.

Not necessary. You can allot a certain amount of time to create interesting material, then schedule your posts to appear at any time of day. You can schedule an entire week or month, if you like! It doesn't work with Shared posts, but is awesome if you create your own material.

As I said re: dumping unpopular material, check on your Scheduled Posts as well.

I hope these Facebook marketing tips will help you Strike Gold. I'm thrilled about how mainly free services are working for me to sell my book.

Below, I've pasted links to my own Page, as well as an example of a 1.5 minute, webcam video that attracted 13,000 views, and created a sharp spike in website visits and sales immediately. I speak as the Baba character (Ukrainian grandma) who narrates my books.

I wish you much success with your own small business. It is truly satisfying to create your own marketing plan and Strike Gold!

Warm regards,
Raisa Stone
Author of BABA'S KITCHEN: UKRAINIAN SOUL FOOD
Bestselling Ukrainian Culture and Cook Book of 2014
and traditional Ukrainian ANIMAL COMMUNICATOR