Turn Your Facebook Profile into a Friend Magnet in 7 Easy Steps

Recently author Janice Curran invited me to participate in a Featured Friend discussion on Facebook. For several hours I had a lively conversation on Janice's Facebook wall with a number of her friends, discussing the best ways to use Twitter for book promotion. In today's guest post, Janice offers tips on how you can create similar events on your own Facebook profile.

More and more writers—both the pros and the aspiring—are turning to social networking services such as Facebook to promote their brands. But if "everybody’s doing it," how do you stand out?

One way is to utilize the service in a manner that’s different from the norm. The manner I use is "Featured Friends."

When you look at your Facebook friend list, what do you see? A collection of names? Or do you see, as I do, a wide range of people with a wide range of expertise—people from whom others can learn?

I built my Facebook Featured Friends program around that concept. Once a month, I host what, in essence, is a live mini blog right on my Facebook wall. The Facebook friend featured posts a quick tip on a topic relevant to writing. Then, for a time-limited period following, my guest replies to comments posted by my Facebook friends.

The shared benefits make for an even exchange. The Featured Friend gets to promote a specific product and/or brand. The host gets to network, make new friends and learn along with the visitors.

With a little imagination, anyone from any industry can host a Featured Friends–type program on Facebook. If you can count to seven, you can, too …

1. “Friend” with a purpose. If your mission is to get your name in front of as many people as possible, friend away! If, like me, you prefer to limit your Facebook community of friends to writers, editors and other industry pros so you can network and offer targeted lessons, friend with that goal in mind.

2. Develop a plan. Do you wish to host a mini blog daily, weekly, monthly? Figure out the time you’d like to invest, then decide. Monthly works best for me. Between guests, I post links on topics of interest to writers. By doing so, I foster the impression that my wall is a writer-friendly place and a unique learning environment.

3. Invite friends to present. Everyone in your friend base is a potential presenter. Identify whom you’d like to feature, then e-mail the friend privately or use the SEND A MESSAGE option on the friend’s profile page to extend your request. Suggest a topic, or invite the presenter to choose. Schedule a date as well as the time the presenter will be available to post his or her lesson and respond to visitor questions. I ask my Featured Friends to post a 150-word tip and set aside two hours for interacting with visitors.

4. Invite other friends to attend. To send an invitation to all or some of your Facebook friends, add an EVENTS tab to your profile page. Click on the tab, then the CREATE EVENT button that appears at the top of the page. Facebook will guide you through the process of creating an event page and issuing invitations.

You’ll need to know the basics before you begin: the presenter’s name, the title of the lesson, a description of the event, the date, the time and the location (your Facebook wall). You can send a photo of your presenter or your presenter’s book with your invitation. You can upload photos, video and Web links to the event page you create.

5. Promote your event. Leading up to the big day, I post COMING SOON notices on my wall daily. On the day of, I also post invitations on the message boards of my online writing groups and my Featured Friend’s wall.

6. Get the ball rolling. It’s showtime. Your work is done—right? Not totally. Visitors are sometimes shy about being the first to participate. Introduce your guest with a brief bio. After the guest posts his or her tip, break the ice with questions that encourage visitors to ask questions of their own.

7. Keep the momentum going. A Featured Friend presentation is the start of a professional relationship that can lead to genuine friendship. I’ve had Featured Friends offer to make return engagements, recommend other friends to feature, suggest their friends become my friends, too. Keep alert for opportunities to help promote your Featured Friends’ endeavors in return. At the heart of the program are real people, working hard to succeed in a challenging industry. Everyone wins when everyone helps pave the way.

Janice Curran is a freelance writer, short story author and aspiring novelist. Her stories have appeared in New Love Stories, True Romance and True Love magazines. Writers and other industry pros are invited to friend her at www.facebook.com/janice.curran.

Comments

[Janice]

Thanks for inviting me to post, Dana!

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks so much for sharing Janice -- this is a great promotional idea!
Dana

[Lynn]

Hey Janice, great post! I stop by and read the Featured Friends wall posts but I'm unable to participate since I'm at the day job during your chat times. I've really enjoyed the material however and learned a lot.

So thanks from a Lurker...
Lynn

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks Lynn. Featured Friends is such a great idea, and as you pointed out people can still read the posts later even if they can't participate.
Cheers,
Dana