Before I get started in on this post, I want to leave a little disclaimer. Many of the “mistakes” I mention here are merely my personal opinion, and there are totally exceptions to the rules, I’m sure. So take this blog post as more of a set of guidelines that you should probably try to follow if you’re looking to get clients from Facebook groups.
4Â Mistakes Not to Make in Facebook Groups
Mistake #1: Posting the Same Thing into Multiple Groups
I’m going to go ahead and assume that when most people think about “mistakes in Facebook groups,” this is one of the first things that pops into their head! There is nothing more annoying than scrolling down your Facebook home feed, and then coming across a huge chunk of the exact same post that someone shared in multiple different Facebook groups.
For me, in almost all circumstances, this is something that screams “spammy” to me. When someone does this, it just kind of seems like they want to get a bunch of eyes on what they have to say, and they don’t care about the consequences.
It also kind of makes me think that this person is a lazy Facebook group member. They didn’t want to take the time to craft separate posts for each group, so they just cross-posted one thing to all of their groups instead.
There are a few exceptions to this rule. One big one that comes to mind is if you have a really important question, and you want an answer NOW. In that circumstance, I could definitely forgive cross-posting. And I’ll care even less if you actually disclose in the post that you’ve cross-posted it in other places. That gets my respect!
Another exception would be a job posting. You want to spread the love around and make sure all qualified people have seen your post! That’s legit. And, again, is even more respected by me when it’s been disclosed that it’s a cross-post.
What to Do Instead
Girl, did you think I was going to leave you hanging? I’d never outright recommend that you absolutely not do something without having a really great alternative for you!
If you’re someone that does want to save time and energy by cross-posting to multiple groups, just make sure that you do it in a way that limits the amount of people who will see it more than once.
The bad thing about cross-posting is that it chunks up all together in people’s home feeds when they belong to multiple of the same groups as you. So here’s how you can make sure that that doesn’t happen!
Slightly alter the text of your post. Because each group is different, it’s actually kind of nice to make a few small changes to your copy so that it’s 100% geared towards each specific Facebook group audience. Maybe in one group, you can refer to people as “fellow moms,” and in another group, “fellow lady bosses.”
To reduce the likelihood of the same people seeing your post multiple times even more, keep a log of your Facebook group posts. Write down that you posted a certain question in a group on Monday, and then wait a few days and repost it (with modified text) in a different group on Friday.
Mistake #2: Keeping Your Personal Page on Private
I totally understand the hesitation to let creepy people stalk all over your profile. But keeping your Facebook personal page on private is basically asking for nobody to ever be able to figure out who you are.
I mean, seriously, it’s the difference between this and this:
Letting people view your personal Facebook page allows them to be able to see and find your business page by hovering their mouse over your name in Facebook groups! If there’s nothing there when the preview window pops up, I can’t help but automatically assume that you don’t have a business, or even a blog. It’s just a big blank…nothing!
What to Do Instead
If you’re seriously concerned about your safety and have dealt with serious stalker issues in the past, of course you can (and probably should!) choose to keep any and all information on your personal page private. Nobody is going to blame you for that.
But it does mean that you’ll have to work extra hard to get people to find and click over to your site, because they’ll probably have to Google your name in order to find it (and people are lazy).
If you feel comfortable with getting a little less private, it’s totally possible to edit your settings so that only crucial information like your “Work” information shows up, and nothing else. All of your posts, comments, and other information can be hidden, but it’ll still allow people to click over to your business page, and ultimately head over to your website from there.
To make your “Work” section public, simply click the “Update Info” button on your cover image, go down to “Work and Education” on the lefthand side, and then click the globe icon next to your workplace. A window will pop up and you can change your preferred audience for that information only from private to public!
Mistake #3: Not Listing Your Facebook Business Page as Your Place of Work
To go along with the previous mistake, this is another biggie! In order for people to easily be able to find your Facebook business page when they come across you on Facebook, you need to have it in that little “pop up” that comes up when someone hovers over your name.
What shows up in the pop-up? Your place of work!
So, whether or not you’re actually making money from your blog or consider it your full-time job, still add it as your primary workplace so that it will definitely show up when people view your profile pop-up.
If it’s not there, people will most likely assume that you don’t have a blog or website!
Another key component of this is to not make the mistake of forgetting to include your website URL on your business page! It should be one of the first things a viewer sees on the righthand sidebar of your page.
What to Do Instead
Back in an older blog post about how to get clients from Facebook without being sleazy, I mentioned this point — that including your blog as your place is work is essential in order to get clients in Facebook groups. I 100% stand by this…it’s a huge piece of the marketing puzzle.
But someone brought up a really good point in the comments! What if you have a full-time “day job” and don’t want to make it know that you also consider your blog a “job,” because they would know that you are probably considering leaving? Or if you freelance in the same field as your current job and you don’t want your boss to know.
This is a great question and a completely legitimate concern. In that case, yes, maybe you do want to avoid putting your blog or business Facebook page as your workplace. Another option would be to add the URL to your “intro” section.
Or — and, fair warning, you might think I am crazy for suggesting this, but  — you could create a brand-new personal Facebook account that you only use for your business. Add business contacts as friends, join biz-related Facebook groups, and proudly showcase your blog as your workplace only on that account. You can even fiddle with the settings so that your secondary profile doesn’t come up in searches (so no IRL friends will accidentally stumble across it!).
Mistake #4: Not Introducing Yourself When You Join a New Group
If you’ve read my post about how to conquer Facebook groups and attract new clients, you know that I am a huge fan of the “strategic introduction.”
When done right, introducing yourself when you join a new Facebook group can have so many awesome benefits. And it’s doesn’t have to be all about promoting yourself, either! Really, it’s about establishing a foundation for the relationships that you will start to build with the members of that new group.
Ready to introduce yourself right now? Don’t miss out on my 5-Day Client Challenge!
Making the time to introduce yourself to a new group, allows you to help familiarize the group members with yourself and your business. They’ll understand what you do and who you help, and if you make a deep enough impression, they’ll actually remember that stuff!
What to Do Instead
Not a huge fan of introducing yourself? Work up to it! Try a short and sweet post like “Hey I’m new here! Just wanted to introduce myself and let you guys know that I’m super excited to be a part of this group.”
You don’t have to go crazy or follow every single thing I lay out in the Facebook Group Introductory Blueprint and Template (available as part of my 5-Day Client Challenge). Just give yourself a little shoutout! And over time, try to get a little bit more confident about telling that world that you’re here and ready to party!
