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Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to attract clients or a growing brand hoping to funnel some leads, if you’re not using Facebook, then you’re missing out on a critical opportunity.

Not only does Facebook have unparalleled access to like-minded professionals, but what you may not realize is that 23% of users utilize the platform for new contacts, while another 26% are looking for product purchase inspiration (according to Statistica).

Sam Brandon's Inforgraphic on Facebook networking tips.

In a world where face-to-face connection is dwindling and virtual networking skills are paramount, I’ve curated a list of tested Facebook networking tips that will actually help you build relationships and invaluable connections.

Let’s get into this step-by-step guide.

1. Prepare Your Facebook Profile

Before you even consider expanding your professional network online, take a look at your own Facebook page or profile.

What does it look like? If you were a stranger, would you want to engage and network with you?

Samantha Brandon's Facebook Profile Page Example.

If the answer is no, then it’s time to either update your current page or create a “professional” profile for your business outreach.

Note: I highly recommending having separate personal and professional Facebook pages. While I want my grandparents and distant relatives watching a story about my daughter riding her bike for the first time, it’s not something I necessarily need a future client to be privy to.

Creating a Professional (Personal) Page

In order to accomplish this, all you need to do is create a new account. I’m signed into both, so I can easily switch between accounts on both.

Arrow showing where to create a new account on Facebook.

Profile Checklist

  • Be sure to have a professional profile picture (an AI headshot generator works great in a pinch). It’s going to be your first impression, and don’t even think about using anything that doesn’t show your face. People instantly won’t trust you’re a real person with a landscape picture.
  • Update your cover photo to something that reflects your personal brand. If you’re a florist, it may be flowers. If you’re in finance, something a bit more edgy. Make it your own, but tasteful.
  • REVIEW YOUR POSTS. Anything you’re tagged in, anything you post or comment reflects on YOU. Make sure it’s all PC and nothing that could damage your reputation.
  • Polish up your “About Me” Section. This should include anything that you would want a potential client or customer to know about you. Point it to metrics, links to your websites or digital business card, and any pertinent testimonials for some social proof.

There are tons of AI tools that can help you spruce up your page in under thirty minutes; make sure you do this with your other social media pages (like your LinkedIn profile) as well.

Creating a Facebook Business Page

How to Create a Business Page on Facebook

If you’re a business, obtaining new clients or customers via social media platforms is a must. Which means you need a business page.

Note: While you may be using your personal account to create the page, the business page and your profile are still seperate.

With a business page, you can:

  • You can network with new connections without having to send/receive friend requests.
  • Include all of your business information, including contact details, company-hosted events, landing page links, and any other pertinent information you would want your community to have access to.
  • Assign Team members to monitor and interact on the page.
  • Gain access to engagement analytics to help you gain more industry insights.

I could spend hours going into all of the features and ways that a business Facebook page can help you generate leads, but let’s get back to how they can help you network.

2. Join Facebook Groups

Now that your digital presence is on point, you can begin to network within the Facebook community.

Snapshot of Samantha Brandon's Facebook Groups.

And there’s certainly no better way than joining a Facebook group.

A Facebook Group is typically a private group of individuals that come together to share ideas, ask questions, and gain support from other like-minded individuals. There will be responsible moderators to be sure that people aren’t spamming the threads and that will review every post before allowing it to publish.

A. Niche-Specific Groups

If you’re networking, you want to join a niche-specific Facebook group. Simply go up into the search bar, and type in your industry. For instance, I typed in “small business” as if I was looking for a group that was specific to small business owners. I’m looking for my state specifically (AZ). Here’s some of the results that generated.

Example of Small Business Facebook Groups available to join.

You can repeat this process for ANY industry such as:

  • Travel
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Coding
  • Crafts

B. Neighborhood/Local Groups

Every community likely has a local Facebook group to relay local information. Simply type in your city, and you’ll find all sorts of community groups in your areas. Some are more broad like “Gilbert Living”, while others may be a more specific group like one dedicated to Gilbert Moms.

Sam Brandon typing in Gilbert in Facebook to find community groups to join online.

This is a great place to network, as the audience lives next door. And REMEMBER that these are your neighbors; it’s not the place to go off on rants if you’re trying to network within your own community.

Some businesses that really thrive off these groups are:

  • Realtors (but don’t just plaster your name everywhere; people get annoyed).
  • Residential service businesses (electrical, HVAC, plumbing, etc).
  • Small business retail shops.
  • Local restaurants.

By joining these groups, you’ll gain access to potential customers and can flex those networking skills by meeting up acquaintances for coffee.

Note: These are not places for you to just blast your business information to. Oftentimes, there are very strict rules in place to prevent this from happening in the first place. Be sure to read and follow the rules associated with the Facebook Group.

Some other good pointers when networking within these groups are:

  • Do not DM people unless they have asked you to.
  • Not obeying any of these rules can get you permanently banned from the group.
  • Remember… the goal is to actually foster deeper relationships with other group members. Any other intentions, people will attach a negative connotation to you.

Networking is not about just getting your name out there. It’s about growing genuine relationships that are mutually beneficial, not just self-promotion.

3. Better Yet- Establish Your Own Facebook Group

While joining a Facebook group should definitely be one of the first things you do, you’re still limited by the rules and regulations of the administrators. If you’re looking to have a little bit more control or access to the audience, then establishing your own Facebook group may be the way to go.

But believe me. This is something that is much more time-consuming and difficult to successfully achieve.

While this article is not about how to start your Facebook group, here’s some things to consider:

  • You need to provide an insane amount of helpful content upfront. It’s the only way to attract people to your group.
  • In order to get others to contribute, you’ll need to offer incentives (giveaways or contests work for this).
  • Engage, Engage, Engage. Every single day.
  • Get the word out about your group via ads, word of mouth, or other groups if permitted.

Growing an organic group takes a lot of time, so don’t expect this one to provide much value for months, even years. But having a booming Facebook group can be one of your most valuable networking assets.

4. Provide Genuinely Helpful Insights

So, you’ve created a great digital profile. You’ve joined all the right groups. Maybe you’ve decided to start growing your own group. Now what?

It’s time to provide REAL value.

You can’t expect a relationship to grow or for others to begin trusting you amid a world of scams if you don’t provide valuable content that actually helps the users in the groups.

I’ve seen lots of people give “vague,” one-line responses. That’s not going to help you.

Example: I’m part of a travel group that I absolutely love. Whenever I post a question, I get so much helpful information from the members. But I also make sure to contribute more than the help I receive. Here’s a clip of information I have provided.

Sam Brandon responding to a group member asking about how to get from Tuscany to Rome and stops in between.

Consider every single comment that you post as a way that you’re presenting yourself to the world. Because that’s honestly what you’re doing. If you want to expand your network, providing super valuable feedback or information is how you build trust with others.

Here are some tips I tend to follow when someone asks a question that I think I can help with:

  • Answer their question in specific detail. No “basics” that anyone could just Google.
  • Demonstrate your expertise, as advice is only as good as where it comes from. This doesn’t need to be boastful, but something like (“I experienced this a few years ago; here’s how I approached it and the outcome…or I own a business that deals exclusively with this problem, we’ve found that the best way to fix the problem is to….”).
  • If they ask follow-up questions, be sure to answer them.
  • Be genuine. If you don’t know the answer, say that you don’t have experience with it. This is a time to speak to them at that personal level.

5. Slide Into Group Members DM’s

Now, I want to caution you on this. Some groups DO NOT allow you to DM for any reason. Others only allow it if you accept the offer on a thread, and I’ve found this to be the case most often.

DO NOT SPAM ON DMs; YOU’LL GET KICKED OFF THE GROUP.

However, starting up that one-on-one conversation via DMs is great if you want to discuss a future partnership or collaboration more. Here are some examples where this may be appropriate.

  • You answer a question on a community post about a service needed and want to gain more personal information or contact exchange to provide a quote (don’t invite someone over to your home unless you’ve properly vetted them for safety).
  • You want to meet up with potential clients and discuss more over coffee. Please only do so in highly public places with lots of safety precautions when meeting someone you don’t know. You never know the intentions or if the other person is a scammer/criminal.

6. Connect At In-Person Events

If you want to grow your Facebook network, why not start by adding people you meet in real life? It’s important to present your high-income skillset to others.

Eventually, you want your “real” network to merge with your virtual business network. Here are some things I do to help foster the combination of the two:

  • At networking events, I use a digital business card which gives any new contacts my social links (including Facebook). I ask them to connect socially so we can continue professional conversations virtually.
  • If I’m presenting, I always include a QR code that people can quickly take pictures of to connect to a Facebook group or business page. This allows me to grow my groups and share a ton of content I may have already curated.

Here’s an example of my end slide to see what this can look like:

As you can see, there’s a Popl QR code that links to a Facebook page for the entire audience to quickly scan (which is GREAT if you’re presenting to hundreds of people).

7. Record on Facebook Live

Okay, I genuinely am not the biggest fan of going Live (and I don’t think a lot of people are either), but hear me out.

For those unaware, Facebook Live is where you start a live recording. People can comment, engage, like, and ask questions about whatever you’re going reason Live for.

And it’s super easy to broadcast an event from your phone anytime and anywhere.

Examples of Facebook Live videos recordings.

Ultimately, going live shows people that you’re a REAL person. This may sound dumb, but we see “personalities” and influencers all day long. But actually, watching a person talk, mess up, trip over the words, and just be a normal human actually fosters more trust and a deeper connection. Many people are well aware that a published post could just be an assistant, and no the person that they’re following.

Here’s some great ideas to go Live for:

  • Business product launches
  • Q&A’s with your group about your specific niche.
  • How-To or Tutorial Demonstrations.
  • Contests or in-person networking events that people couldn’t attend to in-person.

Your imagination is the limit, but I highly recommend holding one at least once a quarter, if not once a month, depending on your industry.

8. Host Facebook Events

Lastly, if you’re holding an event, make sure to add it to the Facebook Event tabs on your page.

These don’t have to be 10,000 attendee events. It can be as simple as a group happy hour to get to know others in your community or a Saturday coffee meetup.

Whenever you do this, it makes your company or business look a lot more “legit,” and people are more willing to attend an event when they can see that dozens of others will be there too. Helps with the “shy” factor.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, these tips will give you some new ideas on how you can advance your business or professional business networking strategy. While short-form video content like Reels and TikTok should also be optimized as part of your networking strategy, FaceBook remains the gold standard for bringing people together thanks to their pages and group features.

Your professional relationships will benefit by:

  • Validating your expertise within your industry groups.
  • Help you expand your reach much more quickly.
  • Allows you to network with other people you may not have had the ability to meet in person.
  • Help direct traffic to your website or other resources you may offer.
  • Learn about new job opportunities if you’re on the job hunt.
  • If someone you know is connected to a new personality, it provides further validation.
  • Generate leads for new clients by showing off your work or brand.

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