Top 15 Facebook Post Writing Tips

(c) dotJenna – The Marketing Shop.com – All Rights Reserved

The posts you make on Facebook serve as the script for your own “Facebook Show.” Each post helps to endear you to your audience, attract new readers and keep them interested and hungry for more. Get maximum impact from your posts with theses “Top 15 Facebook Writing Tips.”

I am a Social Media Sales Coach. I help small businesses, sales people, entrepreneurs and real estate agents generate buzz, sell product and get famous among their target markets using social media. I train people one-on-one and also offer monthly social media services for those who are too busy to do it themselves. These are my recommendations for perfect posts on Facebook. These conventions may also apply to Twitter, however, Twitter needs its own article, which I’m presently writing and will offer at my FREE TWITTER SEMINAR in Denton on April 22nd. (Hope you join us!)

Writing Techniques for Facebook Posts

1. Keep posts brief, under 140 characters (even on Facebook). Long posts look like work (a huge turn-off), especially when its a stinking ad for a product. People are scanning Facebook, not reading it. Unless you have a vast readership and your content is mega-valuable and relevant to your audience (like if you’re a preacher or a therapist, or money manager)–you may annoy the bejeebers out of your friends with long, unedited posts. This includes long descriptions for the houses you’re hawking. Facebook is not Craigslist or the MLS. Give links to long text, or use notes or your blog for topics needing over 140 (or so) characters.

2. Give details, details, details. Give details about what you’re posting. If you’re going to the store, tell us what store. If you’re washing your dog, tell us your dog’s name. If you are going to dinner with your hubby, share his name and perhaps mention where you’re going, or at least the type of food you’re having. Answer when, what, where and why. This tip goes all the way back to the paragraph format in middle school. Make your statement, give a reason, then give examples. Don’t forget this writing principal–it will help people like you more.

3. Do not type in all caps. Writing in all caps means the same as yelling. It’s okay to emphasize a few words with caps, but don’t use all caps in your posts (unless you mean to yell).

4. Consider your audience. As with any type of writing, you must consider your audience. The posts you make on Facebook go to everyone on your friend list. Make sure you draw people into what you are saying by asking questions, editing and revising with the audience in mind.

5. Write to one person, not a group. Think that you are talking to a person, not a group. Even though you are speaking to your entire network, only one person reads your words at a time. Keep your posts conversational by using personal pronouns and contractions and maintain a relaxed, friendly tone.

6. Avoid vague posts. Write posts that are clear, concise and contain enough details to orient the reader. Vague posts are confusing and irritating. There are better ways to create mystery than to say, “I’m about to be starting something.” If such vague posts fit within your existing content strategy, that’s one thing, but they should be used sparingly, or better yet, not at all.

7. Use proper punctuation. Put periods at the end of sentences. Watch your apostrophes. Steer clear of run-on-sentences. Your post content is a reflection of who you are, and a first impression to many.

8. Go easy on the exclamation points. Do not use exclamation points after every sentence. If absolutely necessary, include one ! per post, but only if it truly adds to the content. If you are really happy about a post, you can add multiple exclamations like this: !!! – Just please don’t put them after every sentence! Like this! Because it looks weird! Makes you look like you’re hiding the truth! What I’m saying is really not exciting! I’m trying to trick you!

9. Ask questions. The best way to get the attention of your readers is to ask questions, or draw them into the topic in some way. Questions make people think and respond with comments–the ultimate goal of any successful social media sales strategy.

10. Tell us how it makes you feel. When you post something on Facebook, such as the fact that your son is getting his first haircut, don’t forget to tell us how that makes you feel. Share your feelings if you wish to come to life and not appear one-dimensional. The more feelings you share, the more real and authentic you’ll appear, and this is irresistibly attractive. Remember, people buy from people they know and like.

11. Don’t show off. It’s okay if you want to tell us how great you are some of the time, but if you overdo it by sharing how rich you are, how thin you are, and overdo how great you are, it makes you look insecure, and turns off the audience.

12. Don’t post about your disdain for others. If you’re mad at your ex-husband, it may make you appear bitter if you post about it too often. If you are truly seeking support, it may be okay to be yourself and share this info with others occasionally, just know that it makes you look bitter, and the goal is to build people up, not make them feel like crap. Avoid turning your network into a toxic waste dump.

13. Share positive emotion in your posts. Good friendships are based on positive emotions. Have you ever had a friend in real life who drained you? Chances are that person brought more negative energy into the friendship than positive. Be a good Facebook friend by keeping the negative aspects of your life between you and your therapist. There are exceptions to this rule, but not many.

14. Keep variety in your posts. Don’t post about the same thing every time, especially if no one is responding or interacting. Use all the posting tools at your fingertips: text, links, photos, videos. Mix up your text posts too, some personal, some value-content, some fun, some current events.

15. If you’re not getting comments, take heed. If you have a lot of friends and are posting regularly on Facebook, but not getting any comments or “likes,” then you may need to reevaluate your posts. Are they interesting? Are they clear and concise? Do they convey emotion? Do they invite interaction? Are they engaging, positive, warm and inviting? The level of engagement you are getting is the best grader of the quality of your posts.

Social media is like a glass window into your character;
if you’re greedy, seedy or needy, we’ll all know it. ~ dotJenna

Do these tips make sense to you? Let me know which is news to you, that you didn’t know about. Maybe something I said seems wrong? Let me know. Also, take a moment to share any rules you’ve made for yourself.

Thanks for reading!

dotJenna
Your Social Media Sales Coach
http://twitter.com/dotjenna
http://www.facebook.com/dotjennafans

Facebook Facts & Figures.

Want to make a buck? We’ll pay you $50 if you send a referral our way that ends up becoming a client in any way, shape or form. All you have to do is make sure that the person tells us that you are the reason they contacted us. Don’t be shy. Spread the word about dotJenna and The Marketing Shop.com and make a buck, or two, or fifty!

The Hot Sheets tool allows you to easily create pre-fabricated searches based upon a wide-variety of criteria. It’s good to use Hot Sheets because it provides an easy way for your website visitors to see listings on your site, without having to enter in search data (which is time consuming and cumbersome for some visitors). The more you break processes down for your visitors, and the less you require them to do to find what they need, the better.

1. Click the “Controls” link (found in footer of your website).
2. Click the “Login to iHomefinder Control Panel” link.
3. The login info is the same for iHomefinder as it is for The Marketing Shop.com.
4. Under the Listings Tab on the horizontal drop-down menu, click “Hot Sheets.” (Click photo to see full size)



5. Here you can either “Create a Hot Sheet,” or “Manage Existing Hot Sheets.”
6. Select “Create a Hot Sheet.”
7. Scroll down on the “Add Hot Sheet” page to the Name area. (Click photo to see full size)



8. Enter the Name, Description and Intro (not seen by search engines)
9. Click: Go to Next Section.
10. You have many options for populating your Hot Sheet with Listings. Choose the one that is right for you.
    • Basic MLS Search
    • Advanced MLS Search
    • MLS #
11. If you want to pull from a specific city, select “Advanced MLS Search.”
12. Click “Go to Next Step.”
13. From the Advanced MLS Search page, choose the city for which you want to show listings.



14. Click “Go to Next Step”
15. Scroll down the page and you will see the listings.
16. Click, “Go to Next Section.”
17. Scroll down to midway of the page, click on “Preview”
18. You will see a page of listings as shown below. (Click on image to see full-size.)



19. Leave that page up in a browser.
20. Go back to your WordPress blog. Create a page for inserting these listings. Make sure it’s a page and not a blog post.
21. In the white space for adding content, insert the following code:


<iframe src="HOT SHEET URL GOES HERE" width="550" height="750px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> If you can see this, your browser doesn't <br>
understand IFRAME. </iframe>


22. Go back to the Hot Sheet you created and copy the URL. (Click on image below to see full size.)



23. Go back to the page, and insert the Hot List URL into the code in the text area. Look at the code above. The URL for your new Hot Sheet goes into the iframe code where it says, “URL GOES HERE.”
24. Publish the web page. You should see your Hot Sheet Listings neatly ordered on the page of your website.

If you have questions or issues, please contact The Marketing Shop.com support.

If you cannot see the video below, click here to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UQ5vHv_KiA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UQ5vHv_KiA

These instructions are for dotJenna’s Coaching Clients at The Marketing Shop.com.

There are two types of pages you can create in your Word Press Blog, a post or a page. This article gives instructions for creating a blog post, but can also be used for creating a web page.

Post Options

• Edit
• Add New
• Post Tags
• Categories

How to Make a Blog Post

• Go to Add Post under the POST tab.
• Enter the Title of the Blog Post
• Enter the content into the Rich Text area
• Edit content using rich text editing tools.

How to Add a Photo to Blog Posts

• Click link to add photo.
• Select Browse.
• Find Photo
• Upload Photo to your Media Library
• Link URL should be blank, Select None – Make sure it is blank
• Choose how you want the photo to appear in the page
• Click “Insert into Post.”
• Preview the Post using the Preview Link

Publishing Your Blog Post

You can choose to save your blog or publish it to the web immediately, or at a specified day and time in the future .

• If you wish to save your blog, click “Save.”
• If you wish to publish your blog, click “Publish.”
• If you wish to publish your blog later, schedule the post by clicking on the date you want on the calendar.”

If you have questions related to posting on your Word Press Blog by dotJenna, please leave a comment below. We will review these daily and answer all questions here. Thanks!

dotJenna

http://www.TheMarketingShop.com/

Written on December 30, 2009

Check your work in

The Importance of Backlinks by dotJenna

Backlinks are the currency of the web,” and are considered vitale for the search engine optimization.
There are other names for backlinks, including:

• Hyperlinks
• Inbound Links
• Text Links
• Anchor Text Links

Backlinks are hyperlinks that point to your website from other website using the keyword anchor text for which you wish to rank in search engines. For example, if you want to rank highly in the Dallas area for widgets, you would use the keyword anchor text of “Dallas Widgets.” Using this keyword phrase as anchor text for inbound links to your website will help achieve top rankings.

Example: Frisco Real Estate

If you want to obtain your own backlinks, you will need to understand a little html code. You may need to use this code when requesting links from others, plus you need to be able to check your links later. Here is the HTML code needed for your anchor text backlink:

Because Google will think that it’s 2 separate websites if you don’t always use the full URL every time. This includes the forward slash.

Why Backlinks are Important
Backlinks are important for SEO as they increase your overall rankings if built correctly. The more backlinks coming into your website, the higher your rankings in search results. The reason for this is twofold:

1. Google sees each inbound link as a “vote” for your website. The more “votes” you have from high-ranking, quality, relevant websites, the higher your rankings will go.

2. Links also bring traffic to your website. The more traffic you have coming into your site, the higher your rankings.

Please visit this site and take some of the personality tests provided.

http://www.similarminds.com/

dotJenna’s Results

Short Test

http://similarminds.com/global5.html

expressive, open, self revealing, loves large parties, loud, social, outgoing, does not like social isolation, assertive, social chameleon, positive, always busy, likes to fit in, likes to stand out, enjoys leadership, brutally honest, trusting, optimistic, desires attention, dominant, aggressive, attachment prone, wants to be understood, realistic

This post describes how to post Non-MLS Featured Listings to your website. It is written for clients of The Marketing Shop.com.

1. Access to the Non-MLS Featured Listings Feature
The “Non-Featured Listings” feature is only available with certain packages. If you are not sure if you have it, please contact your TMS Representative.

2. Login to the TMS Client Control Panel (CCP)

http://www.themarketinghshop.com/clients

3. Go to “Edit Website Tools.”

4. Go to “Featured Listings.”
If you do not have the option to go to Featured Listings, then you do not have the feature with your site. Please Contact Us to see about activating the feature for your site.

5. Select “Add New Listing.”

Enter the data about your listing. The Non-MLS Featured Listings will show up on your Non-MLS Featured Listings page. If you’re not sure where the page is, contact us.

Sample Page:
http://www.conradpropertiesdfw.com/featured-homes

If you have any questions, please call or contact support via email:
http://www.themarketingshop.com/contact/

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SMTP: smtpout.secureserver.net
User Name: Email Address
Password: Password
More Settings:
Outgoing
Server: Make sure this is checked: “My Outgoing Server requires authentication.”
Advanced: Change outgoing port from 25 to 80

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