Selling on Facebook (A Plan for Facebook Group owners)

If you're looking to promote your online courses, you're going require an audience. And ideally, you don't delay until the moment the course has been created before you begin to build that audience. There's something I've learned from my experience as an entrepreneur - building a product and then going in search of a community to promote it to is like making the cart go before the horse. Better is to establish a network first. Find out what they are looking for, then sell them that.

Making a course is an excellent method to create an audience for your online courses. Better yet though, it can help you build a community of potential customers and leads who will give you the insight they want, need and want to buy. Through Facebook Groups, Facebook Group you can watch posts and tap into your audience's desires, languages, and areas where they're not being met - then give them preciselywhat they're looking for, in less time than having to work out the details by yourself.

In this article, I will teach you how to create an online community with Facebook Groups. Facebook Group, tap into this group for the things they need, and then before creating it.

  A grave error to steer clear  

As I've worked for years doing consultation and launching online courses I've observed one fatal oversight that I'd like guide you away from. The mistake you make is to launch a course before you have a community.

You may have witnessed it happen and, perhaps, you've experienced it yourself. It takes you a long time to create your online course. You're excited to sell and serve, and you process your course online with awe-inspiring passion - and then you release that course open to the general public...

... crickets.

Nobody buys.

It's sad. And unfortunately it happens far more often than course designers want to admit.

Instead of focusing on what could or won't sell, I recommend you invest your energy in developing your community first. If you are the leader of a community, you'll find it's very easy to make income from coaching, courses, and whatever else you want to offer.

When I first started building my business, I struggled to find a solid way to build a community around the business. It was a blessing that I decided to put my attention on the Facebook group over everything else, including and podcasting. As I look back on the factors that helped me promote my online course with incredible force - it was definitely my Facebook community. The group was a powerful lead for contacts, networking as well as socializing. It also tapped into what an already-built audience desired.

  Create A Community around Your Course Subject  

If you are planning to market your course online to the members of your Facebook Group, you first need to build a group that is highly pertinent to your business and its niche.

As for me I've created several groups, one of the most profitable ones for me has been my Secret Weapon for Podcasters group, as well as the Paid2Podcast group (the latter being one that is paid for). A group that is specifically designed that is specifically for podcasters has enabled me to market to those within the field of podcasting.

If I had created groups dedicated to fasting, weightlifting, dieting or anything other than my specialty - I'd have a community of people that wouldn't be interested in my on-line training on podcasting.

So, if you haven't already, I recommend you login to Facebook and set up a new Facebook Group. After you've done this, you'll be asked to choose the name of your group, which leads me to my second idea:

  Name Your Facebook Group For SEO  

If a lot of people join an organization, they are trying to make catchy titles. On Facebook it doesn't always work well. If you imagine Facebook like a search engine, you'll know that it's not super savvy in crawling for information - rather, it employs words that are more literal.

If, for instance, you have named your group "Fantastic Beasts" and your group is 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." You can use the name when searching for your topic in your group name.

If you're a group for digital marketers or Instagrams users, put the keywords in the beginning of the title of your group. The only reason you'd do well to get fancy with names is if you've got a strong following and are able to direct a steady stream of people to your group. If you've established a strong following and large following (like Lewis Howes or Hal Elrod such as), then you'd do well to use your name in the name. However, if you don't have a large number of followers that are likely to search for your name on Facebook or who you can contact via mailers, ads, podcast and other mediums Use the words that reflect your course topic in the name of your group.

  Have A Clear The Goals On The Facebook Group  

Akin to my first idea of forming groups that are niche-specific and pertinent to the target audience for your online course Your group should also be able to have a purpose.

The goal of your group should not be solely offer products (including online courses) to its members. Sure, you'll be using the group to generate leads for your , get clients and to make more courses available, but do not frame it this the way.

An excellent example of a community with an important 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 forty thousand active members, and growing Ryan Michler's page has become an online community which is unique to other online communities. There are many posts within the group that are between fifty and more typically in the hundreds. A clear goal helps men connect, discuss an issue that is clear: what it means to be a man as well as how to grow as a man.

When you create an Facebook Group to build a group of people ensure that the group has a clear focus. If you've noticed by now that all of the groups I've mentioned are highly focused and have a strong purpose. Having this strong focus will assist you when it comes time to promote your training course to your local community.

  Ask People To Sign Up To the Facebook Group  

Building your community is laborious. In the event that you do not have an already existing community in another location, you'll need work hard at it, but in the end, the effort will pay off. Like Arne Giske who is one of the Facebook Group Growth Hacker told me during the Thriving Launch Podcast: "At first it'll need a lot of hard work. If you're new you're going be required to work hard at the process. However, once you've established that community you'll get a community that will buy what you have. Not only that, you'll have a community who will tell you what they'd like and you'll be able to build it and market to them."

The initial work involved is well worth the effort for the end result.

One of the most effective ways you can build the community you want is to start by creating Facebook posts. That's exactly how my client Tim Hoover did with his Elite Fitness Group. There was no list of email addresses and a community that was not yet established Tim Hoover made use of this strategy of just making posts and asking his community to join his fitness group. He's has over 500 extremely involved members. Similar to the way I approached it at first, but after a short amount of time I stopped requesting people to join because my members began to refer and join their friends.

It may sound intimidating or time-consuming to create an audience if you don't already have a following - but all of us started with nothing. Take Arne Giske as an example. When he founded his group at the age of 23, he was old, still living in a basement with his parents without a job and brand unfamiliar with the marketing industry. He stuck to this approach of continually asking members of his target public to join his group, and today his group is home to more than fifty thousand active members. If you're a Millennial business owner, join the group and check out how he's working so you can replicate his methods for your own group.

  Here are a few alternatives to tell the world about your community  

• Video ads are available on Facebook (if you're just beginning to learn about advertising on the internet, take it easy on this)
• Email to your audience or friends you think would be interested.
• Private Facebook message inviting people whom you believe might be interested in joining the group and content
• Link to your group's page in your menu bar or content on your website
• Posts on social media with hyperlinks to your organization
• Make a shout-out on your podcast about your group
• Asking friends to tell them about your group and to make posts about your group

  To Increase Membership In Groups By Offering People Rewards To Join  

You can incentivize membership by doing giveaways, offering special pieces of training, videos, and content that aren't released in other areas.

It is also possible to offer a little extra time to you through the group - time that will not be offered anywhere else. The specialness and exclusivity also helps in establishing you and your group as an authority for top-quality treatment and insight on your subject.

  Here are some suggestions for giveaways  

• Special PDF documents
• Unseen or coveted hacks that you typically only give to clients
• Videos for training and walkthroughs are what users are looking for.
• Courses online for free

It's the type of things that make people want to give their emails the time, consideration as well as help. It's precisely why people are drawn to be part of a group.

Giving away exclusive prizes and giveaways precisely what Ryan Levesque was doing when 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 the group, he provided a slew of tantalizing prizes for giveaways. He offered gifts to individuals who made the top content to his group (which made members want to contribute and they were willing to!). In addition, he gave affiliate prizes for those who joined the most people.

This is a tactic Ryan Stewman utilized to grow his Sales Talk with Sales Professionals, group to be the largest and most active sales community on Facebook. Incentivize people to join. Use whatever you can. At first, it'll seem like you're giving away all the artillery you have, but when you grow an army of loyal and happy members - it'll result in dividends.

The value you give for a group that is free may appear exhausting, but it's what you're doing to attract the attention of others. It's how you're winning supporters. If you're thinking it's exhausting and not used to give for attention like this think about what Gary Vaynerchuck is saying in his video: "I Day Give Up Attention." When it comes to the business of selling the importance of attention is paramount. That's the reason why Coca-Cola, TMobile, and all the major corporations spend billions on running ads and getting the attention of customers.

It is a trade in exchange for loyalty and attention - and later that helps you create the support of loyal customers and steadfast fans.

Utilize Your Facebook Group To Conduct Market Research

Now, we're getting closer selling, but we're not at the point of being there. Right now you have the group. It's focused, it's going along and more people are joining. Your contribution is valuable and you're building loyalty and engagement.

It is next time to ask people about their problems. Discuss their concerns with them. Dig into what they're at and learn the details of them to create an online course that is specifically what they're looking for. It will ensure that when you make an offer - they'll buy.

Keep track of their comments and struggles, their pain points, and all the essential information to selling an educational course.

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

• Taking polls inside the members of your organization ( here's how you can do it)
• Asking questions about pains
• Inviting discussions
• Commenting on statuses and inciting deeper dialog

Markets don't need to be difficult, it's just as simple as asking. Take note of what's stated and what's being asked for.

  Make Use of The Data Promote Your Course  

I'm not a huge fan of the old adage "build it and they will come." I would rather have them come, gather, and then offer them the things they need.

As Russell Brunson has said in his book Dotcom Secrets, where people gather there are opportunities for business. Where it used to be difficult to find groups that you could join and legally use them for selling - Facebook Groups enable you to accomplish this independently with minimal investment.

If you've connected to an audience that knows the things they're looking for You're trusted by them and they will be happy to purchase from your.

Pre-selling isn't all that hard as you've put in the effort to create trust, establish the right impression, and get people's attention.

You'll need to begin discussing your desire to build courses that meet the needs of your audience (which your time with them as well as your research have helped you gather the data). With posts and content it is possible to plan how to create an online course to help them solve the issues.

Instead of putting together your course only to fail when no sales happen You can sell the course to a group of beta users. Because your course is live and in beta, it's not as expensive as it is live, and also offers perks which will not be made available until at a later date. If you've conducted your research thoroughly, you'll know exactly what the requirements might be looking for from on-line courses, so your pricing shouldn't be difficult to determine.

As you've gained trust and attention - people will be reading your content and interested in the things you're doing (which is essential to sales). As you've offered value free of charge, you can only assume that the pay-per-view content can be even more valuable and worthwhile.

In my case I've accomplished this through my Paid2Podcast course and also my ProfitFromFB class. The two courses were validated by actual sales, which then made it logical to create a proper way of promoting this course to anyone outside of my Facebook Group.

  Make Your Community a Reality Before You Create Your Course  

If you follow the suggestions I've shared with you in this article, there is nothing to stop you from being able to build a community of highly engaged people that are interested in your course topic. If you do this you'll avoid creating a course that nobody buys, by confirming their needs prior to creating a course that teaches students exactly what they need to know.

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