Random Ramblings

Happy Day Everyone.

 Just wanted to post some random thoughts today. Mostly our views about networking on Facebook. We've made some interesting observations when people and small businesses attempt to network.

- The first is the arguments we see about getting likes. There are numerous pages now that do events to help people build their fan bases (get likes). We do it as well with our "Cruises" (silent tagging). We do these "lists" so that the people that join can go and 'like' each other to increase the number on their business pages. We require everyone on the list to like everyone else. Unfortunately it's not a perfect world and people don't get a 100% return on what they give. In theory, if there are 100 people on the list, you should give 99 likes and get 99 back. In reality we've seen about a 25% return. We've found that the larger the lists are, the less return you get. We started limiting our lists to between 25 and 40 and have seen the return % raise to as much as 50%. Why don't we get 100% return? We spend our time liking ALL the other pages and only get a quarter or if we are lucky, half the likes back. Well, here are some reasons:
1.Some people "tag and run". They put their business page on the list, then leave and not participate. We've seen it happen. It the the worst offense to commit on these events. These are people that want but don't want to give back. They will grow their fan bases, but we believe that eventually this will reflect on their business. No one wants to do business with someone who is unfair.
2. Some may aleady be a fan of your page. They may have already liked your page another time.
3. Some may accidently skip over your tag. These events can be confusing and hectic. It happens.
4. Some may not be clear how the event works. Newcomers to fb or these types of events can be confused.
5. Some join, then have to leave suddenly. Some people get on the list with all intentions of staying and liking everyone else. But, the phone rings, or a knock at the door, a child needs something, etc. They have to leave for whatever reason and they haven't like everyone, but their page stays on the list. These aren't unfair people, they had good intentions, but just couldn't stay. This is another reason we run smaller lists and leave them up for shorter periods of time.
These are just some of what we've seen that limit the return on likes that people give.

Heres an argument thats really hard to discuss on fb comments.
Q-"I don't want to like certain businesses on the list because I'm not interested in what they sell".
A-My question back is, "what if they ARE interested in what you sell"? The object of these lists is really to network not pick and choose. And aren't we all there to increase our business?

Q-We've had people say "This is just a numbers game, not real networking".
A-Networking IS a numbers game. These "numbers" are people. Networking is people helping people. The more people you have helping you, the better the odds that you'll succeed in whatever you do.

Q- I don't get on the lists because I only want "True Fans".
A- What is the definition of a "True Fan"? Is it a fan that is a customer? If this is the case, then if you have 100 likes and you are lucky, you may have 2 "True Fans". Thats about the percentage of people that could turn in to customers if you are a good salesperson. A "True Fan" to us is one that likes us, tells their friends about us and stops by once and a while to say hi :) They may not be interested in what I make or what service I provide, but maybe they know someone who would be. I may not care for a business that sells rocks (example), but what if the PERSON that sells those rocks is mother that has babies and I sell diapers? Or, I have a friend that needs rocks for the beautiful rock garden she's putting in? The point is, look past the business and see the PERSON behind it. Thats networking, people helping people.

Bottom line: Yes we are ALL here to make that almighty 'Like" number to grow. But it isn't a bad thing, its a good thing. That like number is an actual measurable. It tells you how successful you are at networking. How hard you work at it and how serious you are about your business. Networking isn't easy and takes work. But we are talking about running businesses here. It takes hard work for anyone to make a business successful. The more people you have helping you, the easier it gets. The more people you help, the more you'll have helping you. Network, network, network!!!! Play fair and you'll grow, grOW, GROW !!!

Have a great week ahead friends,
TCS