Do you ever feel like something has changed every time you log in to Facebook? Lately, I have. Not only does my status bar now ask me, "What's on your mind?", but the layout of my page has transformed multiple times in the past few weeks, as have my privacy settings (without my knowledge). I sometimes wonder if Facebook is daily becoming more and more creepy. However, if you can get past some of the idiosyncrasies of social media, you may also find that it is becoming more and more useful, especially when you are trying to gain followers.
What do I mean by that? In a recent blog, I talked about how you can add a site meter to your blog to find out who is reading your posts. As I mentioned, you cannot see the actual names of your readers, but you can gather much information about them by reading their demographics.
If you do not have a blog or are simply interested in gaining more followers via Facebook, your best option is to create a page which is used solely for promoting your business or freelance work. Creating a page allows you to post status updates, videos, images, links, blogs, and other information that is immediately visible to everyone who is "a fan" of your page. Once you have established the page, you'll want to encourage as many of your friends as possible to "like" it. (This is called your organic following.) The more fans you can gather initially, the better (obviously).
As mentioned in the video below, your own opinion of yourself matters very little. The opinion of your organic website following (your friends/fans) is a little more important than your opinion. But when it comes to promoting your business, writing, or online film distribution, the opinion of people you don't know (viral reach) is what matters the most. Let's be real: No one cares if you think your own work is awesome.
One of Facebook's new features that is available when you create a page is the ability to see how many of your followers are organic followers and how many are viral followers. (Viral followers are the people who have found your page or post through one of your friends' posts, "shares," comments, or "likes.") The bigger the organic base that you can build, the more far-reaching your influence will be. If you're writing or filming great stuff, your friends and fans will want to "share" it, thereby generating a more viral fan base for you.
Is it creepy that Facebook makes all of that information available to you at no cost? Maybe a little. Is it helpful? Most definitely. Hopefully this has given you a few tips on how to make Facebook work for you in gaining more followers. Good luck getting your name out there!
(Check out this and other videos on My WebTV at http://webtvs.filmannex.com/MaryRachelFenrick.)
