3 Tips for Facebook Groups with Karen Seymour
Branding with Friends | Episode 25
Featuring Expert Guest: Social Media and Facebook Expert, Karen Seymour
Watch or listen to the video interview below or scroll down to read the transcription.
Meet Karen Seymour, Social Media and Facebook Expert
Annie: Today I'm super excited to introduce you to one of my new friends in the business world. If you have been thinking about Facebook and how you can use Facebook to grow your coaching or consulting practice you are going to love my guest today Karen Seymour. Karen, welcome. I'm so glad you're here.
Karen: Thank you so much for having me. Hi, everybody.
Annie: Hi, for those of you who don't know Karen, Karen Seymour is the founder and social media strategist at Karen J. Seymour digital marketing based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her practice was created in 2017. After a 10 year career as a consultant and project manager, Karen combined her extensive experience in business and her love for entrepreneurship to create a service that helps business owners navigate the ever-evolving landscape of social media marketing. She specializes in growth on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, partnering with her clients to make success on social media both easy and attainable for business owners, Karen grows audiences and creates communities of loyal raving fans and customers. Awesome. We need you. That's why you're here. I'm so glad you could come on brandy with friends, Karen.
Karen: Thanks for having me.
Annie: Absolutely, Karen. So we know a little bit more about you. And I brought you on because you know, we do lots of different episodes on Branding with Friends about different areas of things. And Facebook is one of those things I'm always getting questions about, I have my own theories about how it should or shouldn't work. But tell me a little bit more about your work on Facebook in particular, and where you have found it to be most valuable for you and your clients.
Karen: Work is one of those things that I like to call a necessary evil. You can't have a business without Facebook. But nobody really enjoys Facebook. But it is one of those things. It's where everybody is. It's the biggest social media network in the world. And if you are looking to work with clients, if you're looking to have customers, if you have any sort of business at all, you need to have a presence and an active presence on Facebook.
Annie: Well, that's a passionate stance, that's a good standing that I'm like, I don't know, I'm weird, because I don’t really like Facebook personally. Honestly, I don't like any social media for business. It doesn't come naturally to me. I don't want everyone to know what I have for dinner, for example, and make that a part of my business. And it takes that strong consistency. I've turned that into systems. I teach a lot of systems like batching and things like that. But I get so many questions about Facebook. And I think, you know, you make a great point about how large it is and the reach of it.
I know you're going to talk more about that today. So if you've never watched any of my Branding with Friends episodes before, all our experts offer three action tips. And Karen is no different. She is offering three great tips for you of how you can use Facebook to grow your practice. So we're going to go through those first two, as we always do, and then Karen's got something special for you. And we've got that third tip right at the end. So if you want to get as much great knowledge about Facebook today, stay all the way to the end of the episode. So with that said, You've told us a little bit about why Facebook, tell us more about where we should start. So if we know Facebook is where we need to be for our practice, what's the first thing we need to consider?
#1 Action TIP
Think About Who Your Audience Is
Karen: So the first thing I talk about with my clients, and this is whether you're on LinkedIn, you're on Instagram, you're on Tik Tok, whatever platform you choose, always think about who your audience is. That's the first step that is such an important part. And I feel like as business owners, when we get started, we have so many moving parts. We have so many things going on, so many things to consider. But, you know, actually sitting down and taking your moment and really thinking about who you're serving, what your services are, actually the transformation they're providing and who they're providing it for is absolutely essential.
Annie: We need to rename this whole show strategy, because that's the ticket already.
Karen: I think we could talk for several hours about making sure that our clients are really focusing on that first that ideal client avatar. And I think when people hear that the first thing they think of is well, I don't have one ideal client, I serve as all these different people. And that's true and creating that ideal client avatar and that that buyer persona doesn't cut off everybody else, it doesn't mean you're not serving anybody who doesn't fall into that category. But what it does do is help you when you're creating content. And, you know, when it comes to Facebook, you can post anywhere, right, but who are you speaking to? What do you want them to do when they read it? All things that you really have to start considering. So really think about what does that person look like? What are they looking for that I can help them with?
Annie: Absolutely. And I think that that this is where the heart and soul of Branding with Friends is - making the point that branding, though you may not understand it right now, or you may not have a deep understanding of it, touches everything you do. And this first tip is all about, what do you want to be known for, which is another way of saying what's your brand stand for?
So who is it for? It's not for everybody. It is so important because it helps you cut down, it's really meant to be a tool for you, a thing that's going to make your life easier and better and your business make more money. If you'll come along with us and trust us on this is to know before you jump into anything like Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn, some of these tools that you teach about knowing what you want to get out of it. And knowing who you want to reach and connect with. Not you don't want to meet everybody. Like I often say picking a primary ideal client comes with permission to work with anybody you want. It's but it's really about getting the people who you need, you can help the most to find you more quickly, more easily, and be ready to work with you. Who doesn't want that? So I'm really glad I promised that if you've watched other episodes, I don't put people up to this. This is their first tip, I literally just say, hey, what are your best three tips? And almost everybody starts with some form of what are you trying to do? And who are you trying to reach? So thank you for playing right into my strategy deck here.
And I also want to point out to you that I think you sort of made this point. But to add to it, that Facebook itself is just a tool. It can be powerful, it can be a disaster, it can be no results or great results. The difference-maker is knowing what you want to get out of it and being smart and strategic and savvy with how you use it. And that's why Karen's here today, right?
Karen: Yes. I don't want to say that Facebook itself is evil. So I'll go back to the first one, I'm sure. Unnecessary evil is a little different. So learn how to use it. Like with everything. But it's just that Facebook is the oldest and it's one of the ones that changes fairly rapidly. In terms of how they're delivering people's messages and business messages as well. A lot of my clients say, I am sick and tired of Facebook, I don't understand the changes all the time. That was the thing – I was speaking to somebody yesterday and they were like, I don't want to deal with this. But, it's one of those things for the thing.
Annie: So that's the first step, right? We've talked about, it's important to know, if you're jumping in something like Facebook, why are you there? Who are you trying to talk to? Who do you help? Where can you find them? What are they interested in? That's the first step, what is the next thing we need to do as a coach or consultant?
#2 ACTION TIP
Start Joining Facebook Groups
Karen: The next thing to do, and one of the easiest ways to really ramp up engagement, and to start creating your community, especially if you're new to Facebook, is to start joining Facebook Groups. And there is literally probably 10 groups on Facebook for anything that you can think of. There is a group for anything. We've all seen those ads that Facebook puts out where you can, you know, whatever your hobby is, whatever your interest is, whatever your business is, whoever type of friends you're looking for, whatever TV shows you watch, you can find a group of people who are interested in the same thing.
And this, again, is where knowing your audience comes back into play. Because if you know who your audience is, know what their interests are, and you know what types of things they're looking for, then you can figure out what types of groups you should be in as well. And, you know, an important thing to think about when you're joining Facebook groups. Well, one of the things to think about is engagement levels. You know, you don't want to join a Facebook Group that nobody's participating in, right? That's not going to help you move the needle in any way, because you're going to be posting into the ether, again, which defeats the purpose, you want to find a group of engaged users.
So once you start finding those groups, and you find groups that have that level of engagement that you're interested in, the key is not to go in there and sell, sell, sell. You're not going to pop in and be like, hey, guess what, guys, I do XYZ, right? Call me. That's not the purpose, the purpose is to go in there and create a community. So, you know, think really carefully about what you're sharing in these groups. And think about the types of content that you're putting out. I always tell people, when you're creating content, no matter where you're putting it, whenever you're creating content, think about your audience, and think about ways to create content that entertains them, that creates real relatability. Or creates bonds with them. Something that informs and educates.
Annie: Yeah, add value,
Karen: Right, adding value in some way. And that's going to look different, depending on what your industry is, or what type of coaching you're doing. But it's important to add value and make people feel like you are interesting, that you are relatable, so that you can inspire somebody and be somebody that they can speak to, and that they can create a relationship with, because that's what we're all looking for.
Annie: I love that you made that point. And that's something that I'm working on and trying to talk to more people about is that, you know, people see all this social media growth, and they think everything's about social media, but you just pointed out, it's actually relationship building. And relationships are not happening because someone just clicks something on Google or on Facebook, they're happening, because of the conversation, because of what's happening in direct messages, or on Zoom calls that happen afterward. That's how these collaborations happen. That's how people grow businesses now. But don't lose sight of that. Relationships that used to build in person are now happening online. But they're not going to happen with a click, they happen because you're adding value. I love that you said, be interesting, but I would add to that be interested in helping someone else.
And so it's this sort of adding value, showing up as an expert, but not to pitch yourself that has a funny way of, you know, if you do it, people tend to go well, what do you do? I need to know. Tell me more about what you do, because I need your help. And suddenly, they're coming to you to solve a problem versus you going, do you have a problem? Hey, over here, yeah, you get it. And we were just having this chat before we got started talking. And I love how you're talking about joining groups and how it's, you know about mutual interests and really adding value and doing it in a genuine, authentic way, just kind of coming in to solve problems, not expecting anything in return, that is a great way to run business in general, you know, let alone in a Facebook Group.
I want to talk a little bit about what I call the race to the bottom, that happens in Facebook Groups. So this may happen to you, you may have already been there. But I do clear, consistent branding, part of what I do for that is logo design. So it's you know, will happen from time to time, there will be I will be in a networking group for women, someone will go I need a logo, who does logos? Then suddenly before you breathe, there were 50 responses in the in the comments and I call this the race to the bottom. People go I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. By the end, you get like, hey, I'll pay you $10 to do your logo for you. And it's like, well, I know that can feel really defeating when you kind of see that going on. So what would you say to that? How do we avoid the race to the bottom? How can you still be a high quality high ticket valuable coach or consultant with that kind of stuff going on?
Karen: My answer to that is and I'm sure we're on the same page with that, there's really no positive outcome to participating in that type of list because there's 50 other people who were doing exactly what you're bidding to do and it's not even really a bid right? You're literally begging somebody to do something. And that is very tempting, especially when you're first starting out. It's super tempting because you're like, please I just need clients. I don't care. I get it. But if you really want to level up and you want to keep growing your business, them instead of looking at posts like that where somebody is like literally asking for a logo which, like you said is part of what you do, but it's not your specialty. Your specialty is branding, right? Which is a more holistic approach, you're not just putting together a logo and saying, here's some colors and fonts.. It's an actual approach to branding, you're creating a brand voice, you're doing the whole shebang. So if you know already, like no, like, okay, logos are part of what I do, but that's not it, then don't fall into that trap where you're, you're running around from pillar to post, as my mother would say, trying to fit yourself into, into kind of be all things to all people and to all requests.
Annie: I think that that's so valuable. And I'm glad that you can speak to it. Because I see this go on, I often say like, those fish aren't your fish.
Karen: Right, you're sort of you're just forcing yourself into something. That's not what you're looking for. Those aren't the people that you're looking for. The people that you're looking for are looking for somebody to do their branding, the people I'm looking for are looking for somebody who can come in and help them with their marketing, and their marketing message, not just somebody who can write a couple captions and disappear,
Annie: Right? I need captions for my Instagram, like that might be part of what you do. And a problem you realize, all right. But I think it's also that race to the bottom is one of the things that I'm trying to teach you about it is that for the most part, when people are posting about those things, that means they've gone out to their network, they can't find people where they ask personally. So they're going in a Facebook Group to get recommendations, and they’re price shopping. And there's nothing wrong with price shopping. But if you are a high value high ticket professional, like you're not going to win a pricing war, right? Because there are people just starting out. And that's wonderful. There's a place for that in your career and a time for that. But if you're really growing, and you want to get those solid clients, like you're not going to get them by bidding with 50 other people for the cheapest thing, you want people to seek you out, because you're you want what you want to “get paid for who you are, not what you do” (quote by: Rich Schefren), right? And that's what it's all about. So that's, you know, I think I love that you're teaching us how to use Facebook in a way that's genuine, that won't get us trapped in sort of some of the necessary evil things that we see happening on now.
Karen: Right? And to your point, which you said earlier, being interested, not just interesting. Maybe the person said, I'm getting ready to look for somebody to do a logo, maybe your response could be, well, branding is not just about a logo, and you can actually add value to what they're saying, and maybe help somebody out. Yes, by providing your expertise and sharing some of your experience. And that way, again, you're turning it around, and you're still adding value to what they're saying and what they're asking for. Right? Hopefully, your people are seeing that and they’re like, oh, she knows about XYZ that's aligned with what my thinking.
Annie: And you never know, too, when you do those sorts of things. To add to what you are saying when you post about that, and then you say you may not know this, but there's actually a lot more to brands and logos, and I'm a branding expert, and this is what I teach my clients, I would recommend whatever you do getting at least these things, that's not a pitch, that's like, hey, I'm an expert, here's some information that might help you and even if that person doesn't reach out to you, there are going to be other people that might see that. That just happened to me, I got someone to set a consultation with me because somebody posted about me in a Facebook Group. So they saw this went up weeks ago. And then they were looking for a branding person and saw that I was in there like recommended list. So it can be a wonderful, wonderful thing that lives on for you. If you sort of practice this, pay it forward. I'm here to add expert value versus just get you to talk to me strategy.
Karen: And doesn't it feel better to have people reach out to you as opposed to you pursuing clients? It's so good. That's what I love for you. So much of the extra work that you would normally have to do with cold calling or cold pitching, which no one wants to do that. You're already attracting people. You know, one of the first classes I took in marketing was inbound marketing. And that's one of the principles of inbound marketing is you're putting out information and materials to get people to come back to you.
Annie: Because you want people in your inbox that know that they have a problem and are looking to you to solve it.
Karen: 1,000% so you don't have to talk them into like, oh, here's what your problem is. Here's what you should need. They already know. I used to think that was what marketing was all about. But the hard work, but the work that pays off and is rewarding, the thing that takes consistency is networking.
Annie: You know, you and I are getting together other people really meeting people and being very clear about what you do, and making sure that you are consistent about it. So telling everybody the same story, so that sooner or later people start playing a card, you know, I'm going to have somebody awesome in skincare who needs help with social media is going to come across my desk, and I'm going to go, you need to talk to Karen Seymour, because she can do an amazing job for ouy. That's how it all works. And I actually have a free tool for this. So if you're listening or watching Branding with Friends, it's called Your Best Referral Bio. So there's an elevator pitch template in here, but it will help you tell everybody in your network what it is you do clearly. So check it out. And it is free.
Karen, I know you've got your great tip. And you've already been telling us we need to know who our audience is and then we need to go find them and add value in Facebook Groups. We've got one more tip. But before we get to that, I know you've got something special for Branding with Friends folks. So what would you like to share with them today?
Don’t miss this special opportunity for “Branding with Friends” fans…
Grab Karen’s Social Media Strategy Guide at karenjseymour.com/simplified-social-media
Karen: Well, I have created a social media strategy guide. And it helps you through all of the stages of creating your social media strategy, starting with how to find your ideal audience. Get all the way through where you should be posting and how often you should be posting.
Annie: Oh my gosh, will you guys check that out?
So hopefully you get some great value from Karen and check out her amazing social media strategy guide, it's going to be linked to wherever you're watching or listening to this. And if you've been thinking about bringing more clarity and consistency to your brand, or you don't know what you stand for, or who your ideal clients are, you can always set free consultations with me at GreatestStoryCreative.com, just hit the big red button on the website.
And here we are with Karen. So we're wrapping everything up. We were talking about we got to know our audience, we got to go hang out with them in the right Facebook Groups. What is that third thing you want to leave us with that we can take action for Facebook?
#3 Action Tip
Create Your Own Facebook Group
Karen: The third thing I want to say is create your own Facebook Group. This is particularly important in service-based business, consultants, and coaches because all we're doing is building relationships. We've been talking about that all along. We want to create an environment where people feel like they know us. And that doesn't mean you know that you're posting about what you eat for breakfast. People probably don't care about what you eat for breakfast, most of us do something amazing. But you know, they do want to know what your values are. They want to know what's important to you. They want to know why you started your business. And all of that helps people develop a level of trust. And nobody wants to work with somebody that they don’t trust. So if you can build that level of trust and community online, you're golden. And the best, easiest way to do it is through creating your own Facebook Group. Because everybody in your group is already a warm audience, they're already interested in what you have to say. They're already following you, they already believe in you. So you create this community of your own. It lives on Facebook. And you can still have you know, your email list, you can still have your Instagram community, you can still have your other community, your real-life community. Yeah, there's your very own networking group and referral partners.
Annie: Obviously, a Facebook Group is not right for every coach or consultant, especially if it doesn't come naturally to you, especially if you've already got other marketing channels and things that are working well for you. But it sounds like a good reason to start a Facebook Group to your point would be if you want to create more opportunities for community if you want to build if your sweet spot is sort of connecting people to each other, and you want to and you don't have a trust container, you don't have something that like Branding with Friends that's establishing who you are and getting people to connect to you. If you don't already have some of that thought leadership opportunity. That's when you would want to create a Facebook Group, right?
Karen: I also have to say, I think it's like an almost a baby step to creating a larger community because it's, you know, a lot of us who are thought leaders are people who are, maybe they're having webinars every month. They're having large-scale events. When you have a Facebook Group, you don't have to do that, the pressure is a little bit less. You can show up in there consistently and you should show up in there. But you can turn on the camera, do a little live talk about a few tips, talk about something that's important, that you think is important for your audience to know. And really start to grow like a little micro-community. I think it's important. I mean, if you're going to be on Facebook, and you're going to be using that channel to connect with people, and really use it to connect with people.
Annie: So you'll have more access to people who are in their group to write than you do from just advertising from your page, especially if you're not paying for ads. Right?
Karen: People are more likely to see what you're posting. And, you know, there's nothing more rewarding than creating a community of people who are talking to each other. It's not just like they're waiting for you. But there's a community of like-minded individuals, and they're helping each other out. And they're talking to each other. And they're bringing questions to the group, that also helps you create content.
Annie: It seems like it's sort of a ladder build today, right? So the first step is, we really need to know what it is we're trying to do, who we're trying to talk to you. And then you can practice the skills of how to connect with them by going into other people's Facebook Groups, and joining and adding value. And then when you're ready, create your own write,
Karen: Also, when you have your own, that doesn't mean that you're not participating in the other groups as well. I don't want this to sound overwhelming, like, oh, okay, so I'm posting on Facebook, eight hours a day. No, do not do that. But you can designate like, Tuesdays between eight and nine. That's my Facebook time I go on there, I have these groups that are particularly interesting. I go on there, see if there's any topics or questions, or maybe I want to post a topic or initiate a conversation or share something, a story that might help or resonate with some people and you go in there and you post. And the same thing with your own group. You know, Tuesdays from three to four, that's my Facebook Group time. And then I go in, and I see what everybody else is saying, how I can participate, how I can help, what information I can add.
Annie: Love it. So I think you know, if you heard Karen, and what you say in batching time and having a system for it, that's a huge system. And your time is probably limited, your resources are limited. You don't have to be everywhere at all times, especially on something like Facebook, it won't be good for your brain. So take her advice, set time if you're going to do this. And you know, batch things where you can. Come up with a system for what you're going to post and how you're going to post it. I'm sure Karen's got great resources on her site. And if you follow her, you're going to learn even more about Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram. Thank you so much, Karen, for being here. I have learned a ton about Facebook, but just hearing it from your zone of genius has been so helpful. Thank you.
Karen: Oh, thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Annie: Absolutely. And we hope you guys enjoyed it yet another episode of Branding with Friends. So many thanks to my special guest, Karen Seymour. Tune in next time when we're going to tackle another project, another topic or branding needs business. And until then, I'm Annie Franceschi of Greatest Story Creative. You can find all of our past episodes, branding resources, that free elevator pitch template and so much more on our website at Greateststorycreative.com Here's your next chapter. guys. Great to see you!
“Branding with Friends” Episode 26
Show Notes + Resources
Here are 3 key tips on how to use Facebook to grow your service business:
Think About Who Your Audience Is
Start Joining Facebook Groups
Create Your Own Facebook Group
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To learn more about Facebook groups or to seek Karen’s help:
• Visit Karen at karenjseymour.com
• Book a free consultation here
• Follow her on Instagram @kjs_marketing, Facebook @KJSMarketing, and LinkedIn @kjseymour
• Grab her social media strategy guide here
