Event Launch Strategies

Finding friends: Once you have your profile all nicely set up. Look for people that you already know from your past or present life that are on Facebook. It doesn’t matter whether or not you think they fit your market segments - the bigger your network the better it will be. So, get down to some serious people hunting. Remember not to add people that you don’t already know at this stage or they may report you as a spammer. Your Facebook friends list is your golden egg. It should be people who all know you and will endorse what you represent. I make it a policy to engage in some direct communication with everyone on my Facebook friend list whether through wall to wall chats or direct messages. I qualify them and take time to look at their profiles and websites. I also confirm that each of my contacts have taken the time to do the same for me. I make it a habit to post a comment on the wall of any new friends I connect with, to any new fan who joins one of my pages or groups and on the wall of anyone who comments on one of my notes. This simple tactic publishes my interaction with these people onto their profile page walls where thousands of their connections see it. Now, if my comments are alluring enough people will click through to my profile page which becomes a front door into my social network.

Your list of friends in Facebook as opposed to fans in your groups is the equivalent of launching your own company’s promotional campaign while promoting client’s parties. Your client’s parties are promoted using pages and groups; whereas your own company’s annual Christmas party guest-list should be on your friend’s profile. It’s where you would invite your biggest clients, your friends and supporters. It’s the one party of the year where your company’s endeavours are the focus for all attendees. It’s full of your evangelists, so the best place on earth to pull in big client prospects to mix with (to get a direct feel on your business ethics) are those who know you best. A lot of people use the friends function in Facebook as a numbers game that gives them bragging rights. My policy is that of quality not quantity on this one. Slow down and take time to build a list of your best advocates here. Everyone on your friends list should listen to you when you have something to say. If they don’t, what’s the point of listing them as friends?…

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