Selling on Facebook (A Plan for Facebook Group Admins)

If you're looking to promote an online course, you're likely need to have an audience. It's best to not have to wait until after the creation of your course to begin building your crowd. One thing I've learned through my experiences as an entrepreneur, it's that creating a product and then going seeking out the right people to market it to, is like placing the cart in front of the horse. The best approach is to establish a network first. Find out the needs of their members, then sell them the product.

Making a course is an excellent way to build an audience for your online courses. Better yet though, it can help you build a community of leads and customers who will give you an insight into what they are looking for, want and are likely to purchase. Within Facebook Groups, Facebook Group you can watch posts and gain insight into the desires of your followers, their language, and gaps where they're not being met and give them the exactwhat they're looking for, in less time than doing it by yourself.

In this article I'll teach you how to establish a community using Facebook Groups. Facebook Group, tap into that group for what they want, and before creating the group.

  A grave error to steer clear  

As I've worked for years doing consulting as well as online course launches, I've seen one fatal error that I'd like assist you in avoiding. The mistake you make is to launch an online course without having the community.

Perhaps you've witnessed this happening in the past, or perhaps you've witnessed it for yourself. You put in a lot of time and effort to build your online course. Your heart is set to make sales and serve and you work on the course's online version with great passion - and then you release that course open to the general public...

... crickets.

Nobody buys.

It's hard to believe, but it's true. It's also true that it's much more frequently than the course creators are willing to admit.

Instead of focusing on what may or may not sell the product, concentrate on creating your own community first. When you become the head of your community, you'll find it's very easy to sell and make income from coaching, courses and anything else you wish to provide.

When I first started building my company, I had to struggle to figure out a method to create a community around it. Happily, I placed the focus on the Facebook group than just about anything other than podcasting. When I think back what helped me sell my online course with such incredible power, it was my Facebook group. That group became a strong leader for networking, contacts as well as socializing. It also tapped to what an existing audience was looking for.

  Form A Community Around Your Subject  

If you plan to offer your online course to participants in the Facebook Group, you first need to build the group in a way that's pertinent to your business and its niche.

As for me, I've built various groups. One of the most profitable ones for me has been my Podcasters Secret Weapon group, as well as the Paid2Podcast Group (the latter is an paid group). A group that is specifically designed for podcasters has allowed me to make sales to individuals within the field of podcasting.

If I had created groups dedicated to fasting, weightlifting, diets or something else unrelated to my niche I'd be able to build a community of people that wouldn't be interested in my on-line classes on podcasting.

So, if you haven't previously done so, log into Facebook and set up a newly created Facebook Group. Once you do this, you'll be asked to choose a title for the group. That is the reason for my next idea:

  Make Your Facebook Group Name for SEO  

If a lot of people join a group, they try to come up with catchy names. On Facebook this doesn't go so well. If you consider Facebook as a sort of search engine, you'll realize that it's not very adept at crawling for specifics - it instead uses words that are more literal.

For example, if your group was named "Fantastic Beasts" and it's a group dedicated to gym lovers, Facebook doesn't know that. Make your group's name, "The Weight Room" or "Gym Enthusiasts - Who Want To Get Ripped." Use the search term "Gymnasium" for your group's name.

If the group you're in is one intended for social media marketers or users, then put these keywords into the group's title. The only reason you'd do better to think about fancy names is if you've got a strong following and can direct a good stream of people to the group. If you've established a strong following and large following (like Lewis Howes or Hal Elrod as an example) it's well to use your name as the title. However, if you don't have a lot of fans who will likely search for your name in Facebook or contact via mailers, ads, podcast and other mediums - use the keywords which reflect the subject of your class in your group name.

  You Have A Goal for The Facebook Group  

Similar to my previous idea of forming a group that is niche-specific and is relevant to your intended audience for your online course Your group should also be able to have a mission.

The goal of your group isn't offer products (including online courses) for its members. You'll use the group to generate leads for your , get clients and to sell more courses, - but don't position it that in a way that isn't logical.

An excellent illustration of a community that has solid purpose can be found in A great example of a community with a strong purpose is the Order Of Man Facebook Group. With more than 40 thousand active members Ryan Michler's page has grown into an online community which is unique to other online communities. Many posts in that group range from fifty comments to hundreds. A clear goal helps men connect, discuss a clear topic: being a man and how to grow as a man.

When you start your own Facebook Group to build a community of your target audience Make sure that your Facebook Group has a clear focus. As you've seen that all of the groups I've mentioned are highly focused and have a strong goal. Having this strong focus will assist you when it comes time to promote your program to the community you're in.

  Invite People to join your Facebook Group  

It's laborious. In the event that you do not already have a community in another location, you'll need invest some time and effort in this - but in the end, the effort will pay off. As Arne Giske is one of the Facebook Group Growth Hacker told me in the Thriving launch Podcast: "At first it'll need a lot of hard work. If you're just starting out, you'll need be required to work hard at the process. But once you have this community, you'll be able to sell what you have. In addition, you'll have a community who will tell you what they'd like and you can just build it and sell them that."

The work required upfront is worth the time and effort for the end result.

One of the first methods to build that community is by simply creating Facebook posts. This is the method my customer Tim Hoover did with his Elite Fitness Group. Without an email address and no community yet the group was set up by Tim Hoover of just making posts and inviting people to join his fitness group. Now, he's has over 500 extremely active members. This is exactly the way I approached it when I first started and in a short period of time I stopped inviting members to join since my group members started to recommend and add their friends.

It might sound daunting or time consuming to build an audience if you don't already have a following however, we all started with nothing. Consider Arne Giske for instance. When he founded his group he was just 23 years old, living in a basement with his parents in a jobless state, and completely not yet a part of the internet marketing world. He stuck to this approach of continually asking members of his target members to join the group, and today his group boasts nearly fifty thousand attentive members. If you're an Millennial or entrepreneur, you should join his group to see what he's doing so you can replicate his methods to your group.

  Here are some alternatives to tell people about your community:  

• Video advertisements appear on Facebook (if you're just beginning to learn about online ads, go easy on this)
• Send an email to your followers or friends you think would be interested.
• A private Facebook post inviting those you believe would like the group and content
• Link to your group's page from your main menu or content on your website
• Posts on social media with the links to your company
• Make a shout-out on your podcast regarding your organization
• Requesting your friends to share the news with their friends and post on social media about your group

  Increase Group Membership By Offering People Rewards To Join  

You can incentivize membership by giving away giveaways or offering exclusive video tutorials, training materials or other content that aren't released in other areas.

You can also provide a few minutes of additional time with you via the group - time that will not be offered elsewhere. The specialness and exclusivity also helps in establishing you and your team as an authority for top-quality service and knowledge within your area.

  Here are some ideas for giveaways:  

• Special PDF reports
• Hacks you haven't seen or are sought-after by others that are typically given to customers
• Video training and walkthroughs that customers are looking for.
• Courses online for free

This is the kind of stuff that makes people wish to offer their email addresses, time, attention as well as help. This is exactly why people are drawn to become part of a community.

Giving away exclusive prizes and giveaways are exactly what Ryan Levesque did while creating his Next Level Mastermind group (it's part of a paid-for course, but nonetheless he exemplifies this example the best). As he launched his group he offered a slew of tantalizing giveaways. He gave gifts to the members who contributed the most post in the group (which encouraged members to post and they did!). He also offered prizes for affiliates to those who had signed up the most members.

This tactic Ryan Stewman utilized to grow his, sales talk with sales Professionals, group to become the biggest and active sales group on Facebook. Incentivize individuals to sign up. Utilize whatever resources you have. It may initially feel like you're giving away all the artillery you have, but when you grow an army of loyal and grateful members, it will yield dividends.

Offering so much to an unpaid group might be exhausting, but that's what you're doing to attract attention. This is how you'll win admirers. If you're tired of it and you're not used to giving for attention like this take a look at what Gary Vaynerchuck has to say in the video: "I Day trade for Attention." When it comes to the business of selling the importance of attention is paramount. This is the reason Coca-Cola, TMobile, and each of the big corporations invest millions of dollars on advertising and capturing the attention of customers.

The value you are trading for attention and loyalty which can help you build the support of loyal customers and loyal supporters.

Utilize the Facebook Group You're in to Conduct Market Research

We're now getting closer to selling, however we're not at the point of being there. You're currently in a group. It's targeted, it's humming up and people are joining. You're providing value and building the trust of your customers and fostering engagement.

It is next time to ask individuals about their concerns. Find out what they need. Dig into what they're at and learn details about them, all to create an online course that is precisely what they need. This ensures when you go make an offer - they'll buy.

Note their thoughts as well as their struggles, points of pain, and all the essential information to selling a course.

  Here are a few ways you can conduct market research within your organization:  

• Participating in polls with the members of your organization ( here's how to do that)
• Asking questions about pains
• Inviting discussions
• Inciting more dialog

The market doesn't have to be complicated, it's easy as simply asking. Keep track of the things that are spoken about and what the people are looking for.

  Use The Data To Sell Your Course  

I'm not a big advocate of the old-fashioned adage "build it and they will arrive." I would rather let them arrive, gather, and then sell them what they want.

As Russell Brunson has said in his book Dotcom Secrets In the places where people congregate, there are opportunities for business. It was difficult to locate communities to join, you can now tap into them and ethically use them to sell and marketing Facebook Groups enable you to complete this task independently with minimal investment.

When you've tapped into a community you know what they are looking for They trust you and will gladly purchase from them.

The process of pre-selling doesn't have to be difficult because you've already done your homework to establish trust, build communications, and draw the attention of your customers.

Now you'll have to start talking about your desire to build an online course that meets the needs of your audience (which the time you spent with them as well as your research have helped you get the info). With posts and content you'll be able to figure out how to create an online course to assist them in resolving these problems.

Instead of creating the course and falling flat in the event that no sales occur it is possible to sell your course to a set of beta users. Since your course is live and in beta, it's not as expensive or live. It also includes special perks that won't be available at a later date. If you've conducted your research well, you're aware of what your target audience might be looking for from the online courses and the pricing won't be hard to determine.

As you've gained trust and attention - people are going to read your blog and curious about the things you're doing (which is crucial to the sales). As you've offered value free of charge, it's only rational that your pay-per-view content can be even superior and more worth the investment.

In my case I've accomplished this through my Pay2Podcast class and also my ProfitFromFB course. The two courses were validated by actual sales, which then justifies the need to market this course to anyone outside the confines of my Facebook Group.

  Create Your Community Prior to You Create Your Course  

If you adhere to the tips I've offered in this article, there is no reason why you can't build a community of highly active people who are interested in your course subject. If you do this, you'll save yourself from making a course that nobody buys, by confirming their needs prior to making a course that will teach students exactly what they need to learn.

Luis Congdon is a digital marketing expert in business. His work has been featured as well as quoted on the Chicago Tribune, Forbes, JP Morgan, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Huffington Post, Huff Live, Elephant Journal, and several others. To get the free training in digital marketing to increase your sales online visit ThrivingLaunch.com