Facebook Training Whitley Bay

I have delivered Facebook Training for many businesses in Whitley Bay mainly through the program at The Business Factory in North Shields.

There are some fantastic new businesses about in Whitley Bay, have you seen them opening?

I am proud to say that I am now the only person in the North East of England who is qualified to delivery Facebook Training!  That’s right, I took and exam, attending a 2 day train the trainer session with Facebook and am now a Lead Trainer.

Businesses in Whitley Bay – Facebook Training

Gail from Happy Planet Creative Arts CIC in Whitley Bay, attended my Facebook Workshop in North Shields and then had some 121 training.

In the first instance there was no way she wanted to use Facebook.  She hated Facebook (and she is not alone).

Facebook Confidence

By attending course and training Gail’s confidence grew. Understanding Facebook, it’s complex mechanism, how the software actually works, started to give her the confidence she need.

Facebook is a fantastic tool for marketing. If you understand how Facebook works, you’ll then be able to create engaging posts.  You’ll get the interaction you need to get your desired reach.

Look how fantastic Gail’s page is now.

She has over 600 people who have like her Facebook Page and fabulous Interaction.

This lovely  lot came to my blogging workshop today.

They have very patiently sat, while I demonstrated to them, how to create a blog and optimize it.

I’m really looking forward to seeing all their updates and hope they share them with me.

When you are out and about in Whitley Bay make sure you check out these other fabulous businesses.  They have all had Facebook Training.

Whitley Bay have some fantastic new businesses.

Businesses based in North Tyneside you may be able to access these courses funded by North Tyneside Council.  If you are out of region please sign up to receive details of my upcoming Facebook Workshops.

Do you have the ability yet to Live Stream from your Facebook Business Page, not just through a mobile device, but through your laptop or desktop?

What are the benefits of Live Streaming from your Facebook Business Page?

If you’re a scaredy-cat and keep thinking about using Facebook Live, but you keep chickening out, now is the time to embrace it! Start live streaming from your Facebook Business Page.

Live video is raw, pretty much unrehearsed – having said that you can plan your stream and many people follow notes throughout – bullet points to remind them what point it is that they want to get across.  Facebook is giving priority to Live Streaming updates – ensuring that as many people as possible are notified that you are currently Live Streaming and the reach is fantastic.

Live streaming will help you to grow your audience organically – increasing your likes on your Facebook Business Page,  without having to pay for it!  Live streaming from your Facebook Business Page will make your audience feel like they are connecting with you – putting a face to the name, showing them that there is a real person behind the business. It’s the start of enabling people to feel like they know you, trust you, want to do business with you!

The fact that you can now Live Stream from your Facebook Business Page directly from your laptop or desktop will really help people, those that worry the screen would be too shaky (yes I’ve heard that as an excuse), if they had to hold their phone, pointing it at themselves, whilst streaming. Many people are happier, sitting at their desks, talking to their webcam, as let’s face it, many people are used to this speaking on Skype.

So, now is the time to check to see whether or not you have the facility to Live Stream from your Facebook Business Page from your laptop or desktop. This is what you are looking for –

You may need to click on the button that says “see all” to find the tab. If nothing is displaying at the moment, sit tight, it’s on its way!

Best Tips & Tricks for Live Streaming From Your Facebook Business Page

Now I could list the tips & tricks for you, for there are many, but instead, I will direct you to the wonderful Facebook Help Section which lists them all for you!

By the way, when you have completed your Live Stream on Facebook, and saved it to your Facebook Business Page, you could always embed it in to your website too – just a thought….

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=1228359400527796

Hello there. I am often asked about blocking on Facebook. This along with many other questions on my Facebook Business Page  .

What I love about these questions is the fact that they give me content for my Social Media blog! I’ve realised if someone does ask a question, there may well be other thinking about the same thing so I may as well create a blog with the answer. So here we go with a frequent question:-

Blocking on Facebook – How do you block someone from a Facebook Page?

The person asked “How do I block someone from my business page? I can only seem to do it through my personal profile, so will this also cover the business page? Kind Regards J”

Well the first thing to understand is if you do ban someone from your business page, it will just stop them from being able to write on your page, or like and comment on your post. It will stop them from being able to privately message you too –  it WILL NOT however block them from seeing what you are posting, unfortunately, neither will it block them from being able to share your post elsewhere on Facebook.

Your Facebook Business Page is Public, and to be honest, even if it did work in such a way that you were able to block someone so that they couldn’t see your content, they would always be able to log on to someone else’s account and access your information that way.

So your options on Facebook are to either …..

Remove or ban someone from your Facebook Page

If you were to remove someone from your page, they would no longer “like” your page, but that wouldn’t stop them from “liking” it again. Why would you remove someone? Well quite simply it would stop your status updates and posts appearing in their News Feeds or the News Feeds of their friends. But, as I mentioned above, your page is public, so if they realise they no longer “like” your page, they can like it once again.

What happens when I ban someone?

If you ban someone from your page, it will stop them from interacting with you, as I mentioned above. Banning is particularly useful if you have someone who continually tries to spam on your page, sell their products/services etc without your permission. Banning them will stop them from being able to do this.

In answer to the question as to whether blocking someone from your personal profile also blocks them from your business page I’m afraid the answer is NO.

So here’s how you do it (you have a couple of options).

Firstly, click on settings and then choose People and Other Pages in the left column.

Click the small box to the left of the person you want to ban and then click the cog on the right hand side, which gives you the option of what to do with this person.

Your options here are to a) Assign a Page Role (ie make Admin) b) Remove from Page Likes (as mentioned above) or c) Ban from page. If you click on Ban from Page a box will appear with the person’s name for you to confirm your action.

You can also carry out this same action, i.e. banning or blocking someone from your page, from your Page if the person has commented – click the downward arrow next to the post and click hide post, then choose the option to ban. Likewise, from the same downward arrow  you can ban people from your message centre or Visitor Posts.  You have the option to ban them anywhere.

Blocking on Facebook – Conclusion

So in conclusion, blocking on Facebook will stop the person from interacting with your posts, but wll not stop them from seeing what you do.

I am sure this answer wasn’t exactly the answer you wanted, but at least you are now aware.

Take a look at my other blogs and see if they answer any of your questions, or maybe even answer things you hadn’t even thought about.

Please feel free to ask any Social Media questions you may have on my Facebook Page. It really does help me with blog content!

Have you started to use Facebook Live for your business yet?  If not, why not? What’s stopping you?

A quick zoom in on the map and look how many people are live. Every single one of those dots represent an account Live at the moment. It’s a Wednesday morning, just after 11am. Look in the North East of England – we’re missing a trick here! So how are you going to incorporate it in to your marketing?

Facebook Live For Business

The idea of live streaming is that it really connects you with your audience. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s un-rehearsed. Things can go wrong, but so what? We’re only human. Use it to truly connect with your audience. Talk about things you believe will interest them.  Offer a Q&A session.  Teach them something they might find useful. Give them an insight in to your personal life.  The choice is yours. But one thing is for sure – don’t OVER THINK it!

As you may know already, Facebook are giving priority to posts that contain video – particularly Facebook Live!  When you stream, your Live stream will appear in the newsfeed of your connections, so they can click on the video and join in.

Top Tips for Facebook Live For Business

1. First of all tell people – let them know you are going to be doing a Live stream. Yes Facebook will push the post and ensure more people will see it in their news feeds, but it will be even more effective if you let people know first.

How to tell them? Email them, put a post on Facebook, send out lots of tweets stating that you are going to be Live at whatever time on such a day.  The more you tell, the more will join you

2. Secondly make sure your title is exciting, attention grabbing. Status updates like “I’m going live now” isn’t exactly going to attract that audience. Choose a title that will make people really want to tune in to your stream.

3. Pick the right time to post – check those insights.  When are the people online who have liked your page?

4. Plan to speak for at least 5 minutes and up to around 20.  Having said that if your interaction is excellent keep it going, which brings me on to my last tip….

5. Interact, Interact, Interact. Invite questions, read the comments, reply to them through your stream and don’t forget to go back and revisit the stream on your Business Page afterwards.  The video will stay there as a status update. People may watch the video afterwards and you will want to respond.

Good Luck!

By all means let me know you are going Live and if I am about I will certainly tune in – infact I most certainly will if I am training to show people how well you are doing!  Most of all, I know it’s business, but have fun. Yes Facebook Live can be fun. Just remember it is Social Media, you are representing your business and Social Media is ALL about engagement.

Pokemon Go Marketing for North East Businesses

Here was me, thinking I was going to have a quiet morning in the office, but oh no, visitors kept on popping in.  Here’s a couple of them – Pidgey and Weedle.

No doubt, by now, you have heard about the game Pokemon Go – the app that not only children, plenty of adults too, are downloading and playing.  The game itself works in conjunction with your mobile’s camera and GPS system, so it tracks where you are walking and when there are Pokemon about up pops your camera and it appears there is a Pokemon in front of you.

To save me giving you a big long tutorial on how to play the game, here’s the first trailer, released over a year ago, explaining how the game works and there are plenty more now where that came from!  Have a look on YouTube if you need any help playing the game.

Now I’m not suggesting you and all your employees download the Pokemon Go up and start to play at work – that could be a nightmare and nothing would get done, however there are ways you can use Pokemon Go in your marketing.

Using Pokemon Go for Marketing

Think about it.  The demographic for people using this app is HUGE.  First of all find out if your building is Pokestop or Gym – if it is you’re laughing.  You will have a stream of people coming to your venue / office to stock up on eggs and energy all things to extend your gameplay. If this is the case make sure you have some signage up. Why not get people to upload a screen capture of the Pokemon they are catching outside your venue (with your signage in the background) – offer an incentive to people who post their images on your Facebook page, or tag their location whilst uploading their image to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Look at some of these fab local North East posts on Twitter

Visitors using our car park are reminded to be careful of the low flying Zubats. #PokemonGOuk #Pokestop pic.twitter.com/BHCUL8IyKB

— The Glasshouse International Centre for Music (@glasshouseicm) July 15, 2016

The @tynesidecinema is a #Pokestop – come and stock up on your #Pokeballs and catch a great film while you're at it. pic.twitter.com/tkTyOE2ooI

— Tyneside Cinema (@tynesidecinema) July 15, 2016

If you aren’t lucky enough to be a Pokestop or Pokegym – there’s still no reason not to join in. Think of other ways you can include the hashtags in your post. Find the nearest point to you and tweet to people, if your visiting the “named” Pokestop today, why not pop in and get “something nice”, we’re only around the corner.

You could always use one of your Lures – they encourage Pokemon in the area to come to you for a period of time! If you are going to use this method, plan it, promote it, make sure everyone knows about it. (You can earn Lures ~ or buy them!)

So, what do you need to think about when coming up with ways of bring this in to your marketing strategy? You need to weigh up the pro’s and cons and really think about this.

1. How are you going to turn the players in to customers?
2. What are you going to offer?
3. Is it safe for your to do this where you are based?  (Businesses on a busy road – potentially attracting children – have a think about it)
4. Will Pokemon players coming to your premises be welcomed or disruptive (have a think about your neighbours)

Pokemon Go Hashtags

#Gottacatchemall #PokemonGo #Pokeballs #Pokestop  and of course if you want to connect with Pokemon users of Twitter near you, search for these hashtags, click on more and then choose “everyone” “near you” and all their tweets will come up.

Good luck with Pokemon Training!