Facebook pages..can you grow them by thousands of “Likes” in a matter of a few months? The answer is a simple yes!

My method of doing this for so many of my clients, takes time, patience, a good formula and understanding of your targeted client and of course a little $$$.

Fans as we used to call them, can be won, earned and purchased.
We can win over new friends on a business page by having a lucky stroke of being involved with a product that everyone already knows and loves, in this case, friends will flock to you “liking” your page every step of the way.

You can also earn friends by creating real life relationships and then of course telling the world about your facebook page. In that case, if you made a lasting impression, they may look you up, pull out their smartphone and “like” you right there, or in many cases, forget about your facebook page altogether making your entire networking experience a waste of time.

Make up business cards, put your facebook page on the address line. I found not many people use the physical address when producing relationship building and networking business cards, however, the facebook social networking touch is a nice addition. People will find that a call, email, and now finding you on facebook and Twitter is much easier than coming to visit a physical location.

It has been said that as much as 85% of all facebook friends have come from what else? Facebook ads of course! When beginning facebook ads, train yourself on how to write an ad, how to geographically find your targeted consumer and last but not least, test out the beginning ads for your brands page by posting several different visual looks and messages. Not all people will respond the same and you would be surprised how some ads get attention while others never even get a click!

So in the end, can facebook pages grow by thousands and thousands of friends? The answer is definitely yes. It is all a matter of like anything else, how much effort you place into your goal, how much you learn about how to target your intended audience and then of course, mastering the art of facebook ads.

When will the average person learn that this method never works and becomes only a nuisance to the rest of the facebook community? Many people are on facebook to learn, network, and keep in touch with others. No one wants to be bogged down with pointless directive statements telling you what to buy, click on or do.

This had become such a nuisance to me that I had to clean up my friends list eliminating over 200 connections that were spamming my wall.

I wonder how much of this is affecting other peoples profiles and now, pages. If anyone knows if facebook has a policy on this spamming, let me know.

By Roxanne Rives

I spoke with Mitch Joel, named as Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media, one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and recipient of Canada’s highly-prestigious Top 40 Under 40. His agency, Twist Image, was named one of the Top Ten agencies according to Marketing Magazine (and the only pure-play Digital Marketing agency to make the list) in 2009.

See what this amazing author and social media expert has to say as he gives us his “Twist” on Internet Marketing & Social Media.

Q: What can Social Media do for someone that traditional marketing (magazine,newspaper,television) can’t?

It’s not a zero sum game. One of the core things I believe (and that I preach throughout the book) is that everything is “with” not “instead of.” Too many brands think that doing great at Social Media means that they can kill their TV ad spend. That’s not the case. Social Media starts with sharing. Sharing information, how you think, why you think a certain way, etc… After sharing, Social Media allows you to create content and context in text, images, audio and video. The amazing thing is that you can publish it (for free and without the permission of traditional mass media). Once you’re publishing, you can also engage in the conversation (which may be about your brand or the industry you serve). Overall, I think Social Media moves marketing back to a place where brands can have real interactions with real human beings. That’s what makes me excited about it. That’s what I hope to make brands excited about.

Q: If someone has no clue on how to use social media, what do you suggest they do to learn?

Beyond buying my book? I do recommend listening and paying attention. You can do this through some simple searches on Twitter or even with Google Alerts. Those who are more brave can bring in-house some of the many Social Media monitoring tools. Beyond Six Pixels of Separation, there are many other amazing books on the topic (Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt, The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, Tribes by Seth Godin, Join The Conversation by Joseph Jaffe. The Cluetrain Manifesto, and on and on). Ad Age also has a great list of marketing and communications Blogs called, The Power 150. Listening and deep learning are a great place to start. From there experts will arise and insights as to what you should be doing as your next steps will become more obvious. Once you are listening and learning stat thinking about developing a strong business strategy that is directly tied to your business objectives.

Q: Is it true that you need to be on as many social media sites as possible to get good coverage, or should someone just be on Facebook?

No. I do not believe that to be true at all. I think it all comes down to one key: the strategy.

When it comes to building anything in the Digital Marketing channels, instead of asking, “what are we doing on Facebook (or insert any other online social network here)?” ask, “why should we be on Facebook (or insert any other online social network here)?” Remember, “what” is a tactic and “why” is the strategy. Tying your strategy into your over-arching business goals will drive real results (and yes, that will make you money).

If more individuals or businesses asked “why are we doing this?” I believe the net result would be that much more successful. Focus on the strategy, how it ties into the brand and the corporate goals. From there, the rest will simply fall into place.

It’s not about which channel you’re on: it’s about using the channels to help you reach your business objectives and then understanding who you are connecting to.

Q: What’s the best social media tool to start with? (Blog? Facebook? LinkedIn?)

Listening tools are the places to start (Google Alerts, Google Blog Search, Twitter Search, etc…). Don’t start with the tool or tactic, start with the strategy (please go back and read the answer to the last question Once the strategy is defined figure out the type of content your team might be better at publishing (text? Images? Audio? Video?) this will also dictact where your time might be best served.

Q: What are the big “dont’s” in social media marketing?

I worry about listing off “don’t’s” because these platforms are new and open, so one person’s terrible strategy might work magically for someone else. I tend to stick with the rules my parents taught me growing up: “take a bath, say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, do your homework and be nice to everyone – even those who aren’t being so kind to you.” Social Media fascinates me because it’s not just broadcasting. It’s a group conversation and expression where communities are built and forged. Taking the time to appreciate this and everything it can offer is much smarter than trying to figure out how to take advantage and/or annoy 500 million people on Facebook.

About Mitch Joel…

When Google wanted to explain online marketing to the top brands in the world, they brought Mitch Joel to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” and called him, “one of North America’s leading digital visionaries.” In 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image – an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency.

Joel has been called a marketing and communications visionary, interactive expert and community leader. He is also a Blogger, Podcaster, passionate entrepreneur and speaker who connects with people worldwide by sharing his marketing insights on digital marketing and personal branding.

In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media, one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and was awarded the highly-prestigious Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (recognizing individuals who have achieved a significant amount of success but have not yet reached the age of 40). His agency, Twist Image, was named one of the Top Ten agencies according to Marketing Magazine (and the only pure-play Digital Marketing agency to make the list) in 2009.

Joel is a Board Member for the Canadian Marketing Association and an executive for the National Advertising Benevolent Society of Quebec. He is also a former Board Member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. He sits on the content committee for both Shop.org and the Web Analytics Association, and is on the advisory council for many businesses and charitable organizations.

Joel speaks frequently to diverse groups like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Microsoft, Procter and Gamble, Hewlett Packard, Unilever and has shared the stage with former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson, Anthony Robbins, Tom Peters and Dr. Phil. As a professional speaker, Mitch is represented exclusively by Greater Talent Network in the U.S. and by Speaker’s Spotlight in Canada.

Joel is frequently called upon to be a subject matter expert for Huffington Post, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Marketing Magazine, Profit, Strategy, Money, The Globe & Mail and many other media outlets. His newspaper business column, New Business – Six Pixels of Separation, runs bi-monthly in both The Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun,. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation (published by Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group), named after his successful Blog and Podcast is a business and marketing best-seller.

Some ways to grow your facebook page is through good old fashioned word of mouth and grassroots marketing. Taking your biggest customers, your most loyal supporters, and the people that have nothing but great things to say can grow your presence of course, but when they are exhausted and you need to keep growing, facebook ads can be the answer for you!

The traffic itself is extremely high, oftentimes better than what can be found on Google itself. The difficult thing with Facebook Advertising has always been getting ad creative and landing pages approved. I have been working diligently in FB ads for the past few months, high success in ads are all about a combination of mathematics, geographical statistics and the actual content on the page.

Advice for first time ad placement..take a few versions of your ad and see what does well and what doesn’t. Using the old marketing A/B split testing experiment, you should do well after a few shots out there on FB. If you have to, try a few different photos with the same content and see the difference in what grabs peoples attention.

Try a few ads out, if you need to know how to place ads, you can go to facebook advertising located on this page.

Happy ad placement!

Let me ask you three quick questions:

Do you want to be more successful in your current business?

Do you want to improve your relationships both personally and professionally?

Do you want to grow a residual income stream so you get paid whether you work or not?

If you answered “yes” to all three questions keep reading as I know you’ll be interested in what I have to say next.

The fastest way to increase your sales and get more referrals is to build personal relationships.

However, building personal relationships when you are time poor is a challenge. We’ve all tried to do it the electronic way as it’s quick and cheap. Building personal relationships the electronic way does not work – in fact it can have the opposite effect. Relying on building a personal relationship electronically speaks volumes about how much you value the relationship.

The solution is http://sendoutcards.com/leonbrown.

With 2010 half through already, you need to ask yourself..have I attended a social media conference yet and should I attend a social media conference?

The answer: If you haven’t gotten to at least one big event where you can mingle with the pros, the marketers, and the everyday business owner that wants to learn about social media, you should go.

Studies show we learn more when we are among peers that have the same interest as we do. Here, I have listed just a few of the upcoming events around the U.S.

If nothing rocks your jollies, just go to Google and do a search for social media conferences with your city name following. If you know of any good one’s be sure to add to the list by leaving a comment below.

August 16th at the University Hilton, A One Day Social Media Conference for Marketers

Social Fresh Charlotte is focused on just that, bringing social media insights to marketers and focusing on business results.

This is not a conference for bloggers or social media consultants or startups. This is a conference where EVERYONE can learn how to leverage social media for business bottom lines.

Got Questions?
Social Fresh LLC, 1205 S Tryon St. #1446, Charlotte, NC 28203
704-350-5033 – info@socialfresh.com

Affiliate Summit East, the premier affiliate marketing conference,August 15-17, 2010 in New York City.

This three day conference includes an exhibit hall with affiliate merchants, vendors, and networks, as well as multiple tracks of educational sessions covering the latest trends and information from affiliate marketing experts.

The keynote speaker for Monday, August 16 will be Frank Luntz, Political Consultant, Pollster, and Author, and the keynote for Tuesday, August 17 will be Jim Kukral, CEO of JimKukral.com.

Where: Hilton New York
When: August 15-17, 2010
Pricing: $249 to $2200

Deep Fried Social Media

LOL! If you are in Alabama, there is a social media conference there too!
Want to be first to get the info for Social South 2010 (Hint: date will be in the Fall)? Sign up for a membership to the site. They will send exciting announcements and events to members first!

6th annual BlogHer conference

Sounding by the name, this is for the woman blogger!
Building on the momentum of five consecutive sold-out annual conferences, BlogHer 2010 will bring bloggers from every corner of the blogosphere together for hands-on learning, rich discussions, opportunities to meet with the brands that support them and plentiful networking opportunities.

One of the number one reasons we all attend BlogHer every year, whether coming for the first time or as an old-timer, is to meet the online community.

BlogHer 2010 will take place at The Hilton New York. They will kick off on Thursday, August 5 with the 4th annual BlogHer Business Conference, and will continue with the two-day 6th annual BlogHer Annual Conference on Friday and Saturday, August 6 & 7.

The daily growth of the popular social networking site might not always be the best. Since it can be used for anything from keeping in touch with family, friends from the past, to like minded individuals and groups with a common interest; networking with people who share similar interests has always been an attractive feature that facebook has offered me. (In my case it is social media and social media marketing.) BTW..If you want the down low on social media marketing ethics..read Seth Godin’s Book,available on Amazon over there to the left.

Caution arises though, sadly but surely we know that no matter what online product comes out or superpower networking site that hits the web, there will always be a group of poorly educated schmucks that don’t comprehend what social networking is or how to do proper internet marketing that will turn to the dark world. Most likely, to their highest extent, these so called “marketers” try and sell you something that you don’t want, you are not interested in, and you just don’t care. They are the new breed of the 1980s telephone call during your family dinner that would try and sell you a vacuum cleaner! And no matter how many times you hang up and tell them “no thanks” they would purposely call back and push and push until you flipped your top and went ninja on them.

My favorite: the “you can get rich and make a million dollars by working 4 hours a day” lines. Then why are you trying to contact me 5 hours a week??!! LOL. Those are my favorite. I honestly wonder what people are thinking when they send me a friend request with the intention of trying to sell. After all, I gladly accepted them because we have friends in common…MANY friends in common and their facebook page is legit. I thought that their intentions would be relatively close to mine. These are not people that are clearly appearing as slimy online scam or pyramid scheme marketers, these people have a thousand contacts, have pictures of their kids and dogs posted and seem to be good candidates to add to my network.

Unfortunately though, for the past few weeks, I have been getting random IM contact from people I do not know well, (a big social networking no-no) or I will get a post on my wall that says I should “check out their moneymaking program” a note posted in my inbox that invites me to their millionaires club or another one-liner that is downright cheesy and hilarious yet a HUGE turnoff all at once.

I am not sure yet if I want to turn to reprimand these people for their poor behavior and then remove them from my list of friends, or just remove them altogether and feel sorry for them and the poor communication skills that they hold. Or there is always the choice of reporting them for SPAM to my personal contacts at facebook.

One of my everyday jobs of working on facebook is to promote. I do it in a way that is legal. I use FB ads; I build networks through grassroots marketing and follow all of the ways of the professionals. The real people that have 100% proven social media marketing success. Shortcuts can get you lost, or worse, they can get you in trouble!

I have developed a new method now to my friend requests, I check out their page first. If I see ANYTHING about making others rich or helping people become more successful. I hit the big fat IGNORE button.

With all of the competition and everyone jumping on the social media bandwagon, it seems the ones that have the concept of how to use it, the ones with the most frequent tweets and the most enriched blogs; will be the leaders in the social media industry.

But what makes a good social media manager or social media campaign leader? What does it really take to understand and grow a brand using social media?

I got a question in the other day that really inspired me; I would like to share with you.

“Dear Roxanne, do you suggest if someone wants to be a social media professional such as yourself, that they go to school for it; my local college is offering a Master of Arts in social media, what do you think?”
~Linda from Arizona

My Response: Dear Linda, Absolutely not! A good social media understanding comes from years of practice, research, and following the successful professionals that have already been the leaders of the industry. Even after years of journalism, online expertise and marketing, I am still learning more and more everyday. Here are some of my suggestions: subscribing to some social blogs will alays help, see what the big names in the business are saying and what tools are the hot industry trends. Going to an occasional social media conference, trade show, or training class doesn’t hurt either. Social Media is all about doing, practicing and repeating. It is about listening to other people and participating in conversation. By finding out what your targeted audience wants or needs, you should be able to deliver to their satisfaction what they are looking for through social media.

Some educational suggestions for successful social media professionals are communication classes, study of technology and internet tools, and a lot of reading. Subscribing to blogs, searching for trends and tools and listening to what the big names are saying will be just the beginning to a successful career.

I hope this answers your questions on social media professions…Before you know it, you too will have your own social media blog!