~ by Haley Lynn Gray ~.

I’ve written general articles in the past on how to get clients using Facebook, but this will be a more comprehensive guide.

Let me preface this by saying that there are several general ways to get clients. But if you aren’t careful about how you approach people on social media, you may end up getting put into Facebook jail. So exercise a bit of caution when using some of these techniques. I will tell you which techniques tend to be abused and which ones can land you in hot water.

1. Personal Facebook Pages. This is by far the most common approach used to get clients and customers. It’s worth noting that this is a violation of Facebook’s terms and conditions. If you are using your personal page heavily for business, Facebook can and will put your account into purgatory.

The way you can get around this is to post only “occasionally” about your business, or to post a wide variety of non-promotional content on your personal page. That means you may have to schedule content to appear on your personal page in addition to the promotional content you publish. It is important that your promotional content is less than 30% or so of your total posts.

You can promote your business, but for best results, you will want to make sure you take time to build relationships. I encourage you to make friends in Facebook groups, and then send them friend requests to continue the discussion.

2. Facebook Business Pages. This is the official way to run ads and get clients and customers via Facebook. These pages are designed to be the public face of your business. The problem is that Facebook has made it harder and harder for your content to be seen by anyone, and organic reach is nearly dead.

Or is it?  

What I’ve learned is that you have to post interesting, engaging content that your clients and customers want to see. That means posting videos, graphics and questions – and taking the time to post interesting and valuable content. The more you focus on drawing people into your conversation, the better your results will likely be.

The other thing you should do is comment on other people’s business pages as your business page. This helps generate more visibility for your business page. Unfortunately, you can’t join a Facebook group as a business page, so any businesses you see as users in groups are actually people who have named their profile after their business. This also is a violation of Facebook’s terms and conditions. Facebook can and will close down your account for doing this.

3. Facebook Groups can be a fantastic way to grow your business. There are a many different types of groups, such as social groups, special interest groups and business groups. Some groups are focused on Buying/Selling/Trading. Just be sure you read, understand, and abide by the rules for each group as they do vary.

Too often people try to be involved in about 25 or 30 different Facebook groups. That can be  utterly overwhelming. The point of many of the social, special interest, or business groups is to build relationships, and of course, engagement. By building relationships, you increase your chances of growing your business. By going into groups and posting and engaging with people every day, you will build a flock of raving fans. It is funny how even when you can’t promote your business, if people know what you do, they will refer to you.

So what ratio do I recommend?

For every one promotional post, engage with others on their threads at least five times on a daily basis. I’ve seen and experienced significant growth and engagement in my own business when I do this.

A word of caution: do not spam groups. You should never only post without ever engaging with others. There are a number of group owners who take offense to this, and they will remove and block you from their groups.

4. Private Messaging can be a great way to find clients on Facebook. By building relationships with people and messaging them via private messenger on Facebook, you can invite them to shop with you even in situations where you can’t post in a group or on your personal page.

A few rules, though. Make sure that you’re taking time to actually engage with people before pitching them your “opportunity”. I blocked one chick who kept messaging about how much I “needed” her for her services. She wanted to charge me $500 to turn my life around and lose weight, because hey, if I lose weight, I’ll be more successful!

If you get blocked too many times and reported, Facebook will shut down your account.  That won’t help your business at all!

Getting clients on Facebook isn’t hard; it’s about building relationships. Ultimately, the more successful you are at building relationships with people and cultivating those relationships, the more successful your business will be. It is far more effective to build solid relationships with a few people than to spread yourself too thin. I’ve been very successful at building a huge following, but it started with focusing on each individual in front of me, and treating each person as if they’re special and real people with real feelings.  

Meet the Author: Haley Lynn Gray

Haley helps female entrepreneurs create a strategy plan for their businesses – so they can make enough money to spend quality time with their family, pay for their children’s dance lessons, pay bills – and not worry about where the next client is coming from.

Haley is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Leadership Girl. She helps other entrepreneurs build their businesses by sharing the benefits of her business education and experience through Business Coaching.

Whether you want to get a new business off the ground or expand an existing business, Haley can assist you.

Connect with Haley:

• Work with Haley: https://leadershipgirl.com/work-with-haley/
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Leadershipgirl
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haleygray