A. Not having a target market in mind-: Having a defined
target market is one of the first steps to building a successful business. And
Facebook business opportunities are no exception. Whether you want to set up a
Facebook fan page or you want to develop a Facebook app, you need to define
your target market. Who will your fans be? Who will be using your Facebook app?
Clearly defining your target market will help you achieve
your goals and know what to focus your promotion efforts on. For example, if
your goal is to make money from posting direct adverts on your Facebook page,
you will achieve that goal only if you have a targeted audience, since
advertisers prefer that.
B. Not fulfilling a need-: As with any other business, your
Facebook business must fill a need to give people strong reasons to play along
with you. If you are setting up a Facebook fan page, you need to provide people
with helpful information that will solve their problems and answer their
questions. And if you are going to develop a Facebook app, it must solve problems
that many Facebook users are battling with.
C. Too much promotion-: To build a successful Facebook page,
you need to offer share valuable information with your fans. Although you need
to promote products and services if you really want to make money from your
page, you should do less of this.
Bombarding your Facebook fans with adverts after adverts
will only prompt them to use the ‘Unlike‘ button. To avoid, this you need to
ensure a good mix of valuable content and promotional stuff. A good strategy is
to post one advert after at least three informational posts.
D. Spamming-: Some people, in a desperate bid to increase
their Facebook followership, go about the Internet, dumping the link to their
Facebook page. You probably would have seen such links on blogs, forums, and
even on other Facebook pages.
Aside that this strategy is silly, it’s usually
counterproductive—or unproductive, at best. So, if you want to make money on
Facebook, you must avoid spamming in any form. Adopt proven strategies, and you
will get long-term positive results.
E. Scanty posting-: If you are looking to attract several
thousands to millions of fans to your Facebook page, you need to share valuable
updates at regular intervals. This will help your fans continue to resonate with
you. But if you post at scanty intervals, you won’t achieve this goal. And if
you do, it will take you several years (yes, years!).
F. Obnoxious posting-: Yes, your followers “Like” your page
because they enjoy the valuable information your share and they hope to
continue getting more of it. However, you will do yourself more harm than good
if you publish too frequently. No matter how much your fans love the stuff you
share, if it gets too much, they will use the ‘Unlike’ button. And it doesn’t
matter if you publish the same posts repeatedly of share fresh posts. Keep
things moderate.
G. Not encouraging interaction-: Encouraging interaction is
one of the smartest ways to increase your Facebook followership. In fact,
interaction can help grow your page faster than valuable content will. Why? The
reason is because Facebook was originally built for unrestricted interaction.
So, if you are only churning out updates without welcoming or encouraging
feedback and comments from your followers or fans, you will lose them gradually
with time.
H. Not tracking fan activity-: Another key to building a
successful Facebook page is keeping track of fans’ activities. By using the
Facebook analytics tool, you will be able to know which type of posts your fans
enjoy and share the most. You will be able to know which adverts really
appealed to them. And you will be able to know which of your strategies are
working as expected.
I. Trying to plunge into too many channels at once-: There
are many ways to make money on Facebook. These include building Facebook apps,
publishing sponsored posts and ads, offering Facebook marketing services, and
many others.
When starting out, you should focus on only one of these
options. Only when you have achieved success with one option should you
consider expanding your scope. Trying to go into multiple channels at once is a
recipe for failure.
J. Being desperate to make money quickly-: Making money on
Facebook is just like making money from any other venture; it takes time and
effort. If you are looking for a business that will start fetching you five to
six figures within a few weeks, then no Facebook business will give you such.
If you have the mindset to make money quickly, you will resort to using
unethical strategies. And even if you achieve success with those, you will get
busted after a short while.