THE POWER OF FACEBOOK GROUPS

In a saturated social media environment, you may be struggling to build meaningful relationships with your clients or customers, create brand loyalty or make your followers feel super special. Well, I have two words for you… Facebook groups!

As a small business owner, it can be challenging to find enough hours in the week to dedicate to your online marketing, and without a clear content strategy, engagement can dwindle over time. But, did you know, and this is straight from the horse’s mouth, that Facebook’s algorithms prioritise content from groups that users frequently engage with?!

Private communities are huge right now, with consumers wanting to connect with like-minded people and engage directly with brands they know and love. This unique opportunity to connect and create a community aligned with your brand can’t be overlooked.

Here are my top 5 tips for getting your content seen and making the most out of your Facebook group.

1. Establish your community mission!

To create a welcoming space for your members, it’s essential to set your community mission! Dig deep with this to find out within yourself what the collective mission is. Notice I don’t say your mission. A Facebook group in my opinion shouldn’t be about you. It’s about the sense of community. To help you get started, I recommend spending time thinking about your goals. What do you want to achieve

with your Facebook group? How do you want your members to engage and post? What do you want your members to ask from your group? You can then make your community and connection aims nice and clear in your group description, so everyone knows what the community is all about. It needs to be clear about what it is and who it is for.

2. Kick start conversations

If someone joins your group, they’re interested in your community ethos and want to hear from you! To get your members talking and interacting, and create a community that people return to time after time, they’ll need a helping hand from you.

Creating regular content can be daunting but there are ways to make life easier. Many groups choose regular topics such as Motivation Monday, Top Tip Tuesday, Wednesday Wisdom or Friday Fun. This helps to give things a little structure but don’t be too rigid about your format or things could become stale quickly. Remember to mix things up a little!

To maximise engagement, post when your members are most active, you can see this information in your group engagement stats when you have over 100 members in the group. Research articles show that the best times to post are between 9am and 1pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The lowest engagement is on a Saturday.

3. Listen but don’t talk too much

It’s tempting to involve yourself in every single conversation. On the one hand, it shows that you’re actively listening but give your members room to chat without you peering over their shoulder all the time! This creates the friendships within the group that keeps people coming back as it’s not just revolving around one person. A great group feels like home on the internet for members. So people need to feel comfortable in the group.

A private group has the potential to add real value to your clients or customers, so create the perfect environment but let them have their freedom to shape it too.

Facebook Group Planner (Printable)

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4. Avoid the hard sell

You may be wondering how a Facebook group differs from a regular page. Think of your business page as a tool for direct marketing and broadcasting what you’re up to, like your shop window, and your private group as a space for conversations, getting to really know your community and subtle advertising through value-driven content.

If you’ve promotions or blogs to share, instead of just posting the links, add context and education with helpful tips. Explain why you’re sharing them and how your members can benefit from the information.

Consider the “look” of your group. An eye-catching cover photo and top-notch group info such as relevant keywords, the benefits of your group and the all-important call-to-action will promote and sell your group for you. It will also make it crystal-clear to your members what they can get out of being in your group.

5. Experiment with your content

Experiment with the format of your content to keep things fresh and exciting, and to help you plan future content:

User-generated content, such as asking members to upload photos or videos is excellent for getting to know your audience better

• Facebook Live is a fantastic way for your members to find out more about YOU and your authority on how you can help. For top tips on going live on social media, take a look at my previous blog.

• Polls are great for gathering all-important business information to help inform your content planning, blogs and offers.

• Everyone loves a little light-hearted fun with gifs and memes!

Power up your Facebook group!

If you’re ready to take your Facebook group from Dead to Dedicated Fans and Clients!, check out the Facebook G.R.O.U.P.S™ Membership where you will learn my unique G.R.O.U.P.S™ system. You can see the info here.

'ALWAYS ON' CULTURE - GUEST BLOG

It’s almost 1:00 AM, and you suddenly get a message from a potential new client in your FB group saying, “Hey! I have been following you for a while, I would love to chat to you in the morning about working with you.” While the timing of message will annoy you, it’s something you have to respond to, because after all, it’s a potential new customer.

The ‘always on’ culture refers to the practice of staying online that renders you available to other people. More often than not, it’s your professional contacts, clients or potential clients who’d want to take advantage of it. While the culture ensures greater productivity from some, for most, it’s a curse, as it has the potential to take our limited but valuable time away from our businesses, and the time we spend with our families. In the worst, it leads to burnout.

Negatives of the ‘always on’ culture

Stress: You’re done with your day’s work, but all of a sudden, you get a message at means you take on another task. In such a situation, your emotional response would be one of stress, and if you know what stress does to you physically and mentally, you wouldn’t want it.

The ‘always on’ culture, can lead to your stress levels skyrocketing. The worst part is that if you refuse to take on the extra work, you feel guilty because you are letting down a client. Unchecked stress can lead to chronic issues that significantly increase the risks associated with heart disease, stroke, and mental health issues.

Being taken for granted: What price tag does your devotion to your business and clients come with? Are you making yourself too available to our clients, if you are they will start taking you for granted.

As business owners we rarely say ‘No,’ to our clients, this leaves us open to being taken advantage of. Whilst such behaviour on the surface level appears to support our business growth, it comes at a BIG cost to our personal lives.

Decreased alone time: Each and every one of us needs time for ourselves and to be with our families. However, the ‘always on’ culture tends to ignore one’s family and personal needs. As more work piles up, we spend more and more time in our business, may that be a sneaky email whilst watching your children play sport or whilst your friend is at the bar ordering you a drink. If you leave this go unchecked you will start to resent your business and friendship may become pushed.

Being overworked and stressed out can have devastating effects on mental health. If it persists, the effects of chronic stress and anxiety can come to the fore, causing problems personally and also for our businesses. If you need time out who is going to keep your business going?

Dependence on mobile devices: No human being was born with a mobile device by his/her side. However, the ‘always on’ culture has made us utterly dependent on our smartphones and tablets. We’re always expecting someone to get in touch with us, and as a result, we’re constantly wired, never letting ourselves relax.

While mobile devices have made our lives more convenient, our dependence on them doesn’t make for good news. Instead of pursuing things that could push our talents to the fore, most of us tend to spend more time with our mobile devices than with ourselves. As a result, we end up scrolling more than putting our talents to use.

Sleep deprivation: It’s said that people who function normally should get at least 6 – 8 hours of sleep. Sleeping is the body’s way of regenerating and rejuvenating. However, when we don’t allow our bodies the time to rest, we deprive it of sleep- one of the human body’s most important functions.

While a day or two of sleep deprivation isn’t a huge cause for concern, it might become one when it lasts for several days. Apart from causing physiological symptoms like headaches and lethargy, sleep deprivation can also cause severe mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression.

How to put a stop to the ‘always on’ culture

Here are a few tips you can use to deal with the ‘always on’ culture:

Learn to say no: When you can’t/don’t want to do something that your client asks you to do, you can simply say no and not care about the consequences. Of course, if the demand is reasonable and your answer is no, you can expect some degree of reprimanding. It is your business, you are the boss, learning to set firm boundaries with yourself is key.

Get clear on your ‘office hours’, between what hours are you willing to take clients calls, when are you willing to respond to client emails. Don’t just limit your boundaries to your interactions with you clients/customers, other activities that you need to do you keep your business running, take time as well – when are you willing to do these?

Work efficiently: A lot of business owners are forced to take work into ‘family / personal time’ simply because they’re not as efficient as they can be. When productivity falls due to inefficient work practices, you don’t have the space to say no. In such a situation, the only thing left to do is improve how you do your work to be more efficient and effective.

Some of the practices that you can adopt to ensure that your work is done more efficiently than before include:

• Schedule your day

• Be clear on your priorities for the day (what MUST be achieved)

• Set yourself up for success, what can you do today, that will support your future self

• Remember, you may work for yourself, but you don’t have to do everything yourself

Stop paying attention to your smartphone after ‘office hours’: If you’ve developed the habit of paying attention to your laptop and/or your mobile devices after office hours for business-related developments, stop right away!

Turn off notification so they do not pop up on your home screen when you have finished for the day. Delate apps you do not need access to 24/7. Pop to Argos and buy an alarm clock to get your phone out of your bedroom.

I dare you to right now, look at your phone usage report – how many hours a day or week are you spending on your phone? How many times are you picking up your phone during the day just to check you have not missed anything?

Start getting intentional with your mobile devices, they can be a massive non-productive time zap.

For me personally, to help with ‘switching-off’ my household has no phone Sundays. It is time we talk together; we connect without technology. I am sure most of us can remember life before the mobile phone, we survived! Businesses were built and succeeded!

In countries such as Canada and France, the ‘always on’ culture has been thoroughly criticized by government officials, and for a good reason too. Officials have recognised that the culture prevents people from enjoying time with themselves and their families and have enforced laws that require companies to expect less of their employees. Yes, working for yourself, employment law does not always come into it, but this approach highlights how important it is to look after yourself. Why did you go into business? Was it to have more time with family or have more free time? Have you achieved that, or are you working more than ever?

How to cope with the ‘always on’ culture

If you are struggling to find the balance that works for your right now, there are certain ways through which you can embrace this ‘always on’ culture until you find a better alternative.

Practice deep breathing and meditation: Being constantly connected to the internet and notified regarding a variety of developments can take a toll on your mind, making it difficult for you to relax and unwind. In such a scenario, you need to start practicing deep breathing exercises and meditation for keeping yourself as stress-free as possible.

Meditation and deep breathing enable your mind to function calmly. Practicing them, in the long run, can help you avoid health problems caused by chronic stress and anxiety.

Limit the time that you spend on your phone: If you know that your work requires you to be online all the time and you’re still going overboard with your use of your mobile device, it’s time to shake things up!

Make a daily routine to follow and ensure that you have certain hours dedicated to using your mobile devices. In this way, you’ll be able to cope with the demands of your workplace while retaining your sanity.

Exercise: No matter how much you reduce your use of mobile devices, there’s nothing like exercise to let out excess negative energies.

Be it in the gym or out in the park, ensure that you get at least half an hour’s worth of exercise every day. The more you sweat, the more your body releases toxic elements. All in all, exercise leads to better sleep, health, and increase positivity.

The ‘always on’ culture is difficult to accept, but unfortunately, it’s something that the modern world is built and running on. The best way for you to deal with it is to say no, but if you can’t, you’ve got to cope with it.

About our Guest Blogger:

Elizabeth Houghton is a clarity and Career transition coach with an extensive background as a HR Executive. She has had the pleasure of working with leaders and emerging leaders from diverse industries from mining, to retail design, to the car industry, for well over a decade. Elizabeth is passionate about people, individual potential and the opportunity all organisations have of developing people and business alike.

Elizabeth loves working with people to uncover their passion helping them to achieve their professional goals, because when our work brings us satisfaction it impacts positively on all aspects of our lives, our self-confidence, and our wellbeing.

Elizabeth has been featured in several publications discussing modern leadership approaches to create environments where all team members can thrive. She hates to name drop, but here are a few - Yahoo Finance, Home Business Magazine, 35 Thousand, and most recently named in the top 10 Female Life Coaches of Australia 2021.

When she isn’t writing articles or listening to podcasts, she is a typical English tea drinker, even in the middle of the summer in Australia – she believes a cup of tea and a biscuit is the answer to any situation.

You can find out more about Elizabeth over on her website - Sutton Full Potential. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn.

5 CAUSES OF STRESS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Running a small business and no longer working for ‘the man’ is liberating and exciting, but it certainly comes with its own unique struggles!

As April is Stress Awareness Month, I thought it would

be interesting to look at the biggest causes of stress for small business owners, and more importantly, ways to deal with them!

1. Admin

Hands up, who hates paperwork?! From stock control to payroll and the dreaded self-assessment, running a small business comes with a LOT of admin! The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) estimates that SME owners spend nearly 18 hours a week on admin tasks. Eek!

Remember that you don’t have to do it all yourself though. Have you considered delegating to your team or outsourcing to a virtual assistant or financial planning expert? Unburdening yourself of tasks you don’t enjoy can free you up to focus on what you DO enjoy, which will ultimately benefit you and your business.

2. Money, money, money

One of the main reasons small business fail is due to poor cash flow. Depending on your skills and experiences, keeping on top of your business’s financial performance may not come naturally to you. Learning accounting basics will he

lp you make better decisions and give your business the best possible chance of success!

3. Managing customer relationships

Businesses are nothing without their customers! Sometimes customers know this all too well though and keeping them happy and loyal can be a full-time job. What can you do to make your relationships strong and easier to manage? Be crystal-clear on what you offer and manage expectations. Never over-commit, as this will inevitably lead to unnecessary stress and potentially an unhappy customer.

Provide clear channels for communication and encourage customers to give feedback, so they know you’re serious about their experience.

4. Not feeling good enough

Do you ever feel like you’re spinning numerous plates, and at any moment, they’re all going to come crashing down to the floor? Yep, running a small business can be full-on, and sometimes we just don’t feel qualified for what we’re up against!

Often the biggest obstacle is just our inner

voice, whispering that we’re not good enough or that we’re out of our depth. To fix this, acknowledge and accept these feelings of inadequacy. Tell yourself that they’re natural and just part of the learning process. Try not to rely on external validation either. Own who you are and be honest with your co-workers and clients. Most importantly, if you need help, ask for it! There are always people out there ready to support you.

5. Time management and multitasking

We often measure success by how busy we are but working incredibly long hours and multitasking is anything but productive! Studies show that constantly switching between tasks increases stress levels and reduces performance. So, keep an eye on those stress levels and make plenty of time for self-care routines and quality time off.

Simplify and streamline your processes to make your workload more manageable and consider that all-important outsourcing I discussed earlier!

I really hope you’ve found this blog helpful. If you’re interested in joining a network of businesswomen who can empathise with all of these feelings, then come and join us at one of our upcoming meetings. We would love to welcome you!

Emma x