Remember when you were in middle school and you finally got the guts to say, "Hi" to that cute classmate you'd been crushing on all year?  Remember that feeling you had when he didn't say "Hi" back? Ugh! I feel the pit in my stomach just writing that! ‍

Here's my point. Doesn't it kind of feels the same way when we post on social media and get ZERO response? No one likes to put themselves out there to be met with silence.

Good news‼ Over the last 9 years of working with thousands of small business owners I've figured out why so many people feel the sting of silence from their efforts.

You're either taking the wrong steps OR you are taking them out of order.

Let me help you walk through this awkward period in your online presence.

Step 1: The Warm Up

This period can feel drawn out and super lonely.  Your job is to begin teaching your followers how you want them to engage by asking questions, rewarding their responses with your quick response and slowly, ever so...

You’re back from your national conference with great ideas and inspiration swirling around in your head. Plus you have a NEW catalog, new products and you are BURSTING at the seams to book some parties and sell some of these fabulous new products!

Before you go hog wild filling up your social media sites with post after post, let’s gather ourselves and do it in a way that isn’t spammy, desperate and off putting.

Let’s also AVOID having Facebook targeting your posts as spam. Over the years many direct sales companies have felt the collective sting of being targeted by FB due to the high volume of posts, links and (let’s be honest), SPAMMY behavior that ramps up after a conference. Your first step is going to be NOT to post links to your shopping cart, catalog, and so on, in your post.  Currently, Facebook is flagging those, removing the post and then making a decision if it can go back up.  Considering they USED to just delete the entire FB...

You’ve worked hard to get your fans to your business page. Are you doing enough to keep them interested in coming back?  Can you think of a few Facebook fan pages off the top of your head that irritate you with their postings or don’t give you any reason to interact?  Don’t be the owner of that page!

Picture this: Your fan page is a place that people seek out. They jump in to participate when you ask questions.  Your content gets shared and you have new fans 'liking’ the page daily.  Your wall has various requests for party bookings, as well as requests for more information about joining your team. You notice that your website is getting orders while you sleep!

The only problem is that many small businesses, including direct sellers and party planners, simply do not know what to do to engage their followers.

Five Ways To Not Be Boring On Your Facebook Fan Page

1. Enough about you. It has to be about them....

First, if you aren't familiar with the acronym RBF if stands for Resting Bitch Face. RBF is a face that, when at ease, is perceived as angry, irritated or simply expressionless. 

Being the owner of an RBF as well as being an introvert who spends lots of my day in deep thought, I am more than qualified to speak on the subject.  I also learned a valuable lesson of judging other RBFs out in the world.  The day I stopped doing it was the day my business TOOK off. 

This is what YOU think they are thinking:

But...This is what they are ACTUALLY thinking: 

 I did a Facebook live on the subject you can watch the replay here:

I can’t do it any longer.  I can’t sit back and cringe and bite my tongue for even one more minute.  You’ve heard, “When people know better, they DO better.”  The sad part is that many of you have had people tell you to use these methods of getting better exposure on social media.

I’m here to boldly tell you, these are legit CRAPTASTIC, SMARMY methods of getting engagement.

So, after this, no more excuses. You all should KNOW better!

IF you have that friend who is funneling the company Kool-Aid right now you might share this post to your wall in hopes that she sees it.  Many new business owners are simply punch drunk on what I call Desperation Kool-Aid. It comes from an overriding passion and enthusiasm for their business, it clouds all good, sane marketing principles, but comes across as desperate to outsiders.

Or, if you are a REALLY good friend you’ll just private message her the url.  (If you are reading this...

Work for yourself and happen to have children under the age of 5? I bet you can relate to trying to carry on a business call while someone pulls on your leg, begs for cookies or discreetly pulls every last bit of toilet paper from the roll.

We’ve all been guilty of plopping a child in front of a video (educational of course) just to eeek out a few minutes to get some work done, right?

Imagine using a simple timer set for a maximum of 25 minutes at a stretch to get your work done as well as spend quality play time with your child!

25 minutes of uninterrupted work time can actually allow you to get MORE done than sitting at your desk for hours on end.

 You can use:

• e.ggtimer.com for your timer if you are working on a computer
• the timer on your microwave
• a cellphone timer

Have you heard of the Pomodoro technique? The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility. I have tweaked it to include focused play time with your...