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Solo's blog provides the resources that microbusinesses, solopreneurs, freelancers, and other super-small businesses need to start, operate, and grow.

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In this article:\nWhat is Facebook Marketplace?\nWays to use Facebook Marketplace for business\nHow to list your inventory\nHow to sell individual items\nHow to set up a shop on Facebook\nFacebook isn’t just for funny memes and old-time friends anymore. It is a powerful marketing tool that businesses, sole proprietors, solopreneurs, microbusinesses, and all types of side-hustlers can and should take full advantage of. And a large part of that includes the Facebook Marketplace. \nWhat is Facebook Marketplace?\nFacebook Marketplace is a platform where individuals and businesses can buy and sell items via Messenger. Users can look to the Marketplace for specific items they are in search of (like a new vehicle, furniture, or clothing item) using filters and selecting categories, or they can browse the entire Marketplace. \nSellers have the ability to add the price and details of each product so that they are placed in front of those who are searching for it.   \nWays your business can use Facebook Marketplace\nUsing Facebook Marketplace is just another avenue to get your products and inventory out in front of customers in a place that they are spending a lot of time. With almost 2 billion daily active users, it’s worth the effort. \nThere are a few ways that businesses can use Facebook Marketplace to list their products or inventory:\nSpecific types of businesses, like auto dealerships, event venues, and real estate agents, can list their inventory on Facebook Marketplace by working with a Marketplace listing partner\nYou can advertise your store or specific items in the Marketplace, even if you aren’t directly posting there\nEligible sellers can also display items on their Facebook Page shop and add them to the Marketplace for free. If you’re not able to share your shop items in the Marketplace, you’ll need to contact Facebook’s support team to see if you are eligible\nHow to list your inventory in Facebook Marketplace\nIf you have an online retail store, it may already have the ability to integrate with the Facebook Marketplace. A number of ecommerce solutions can help you add the products from your online store to the Marketplace. \nHere’s the list of ecommerce listing partners that Facebook currently works with:\nadMixt\nBigCommerce\nCedCommerce\nChannelAdvisor\nCommerceHub\nDataCaciques\nFeedonomics\nProductsup\nQuipt\nShipStation\nShopify\nZentail\nIf you use any of these solutions, find out what their capabilities are for integrating your products with the Marketplace. \nNote, as of September 13, 2021, Facebook Marketplace has discontinued the distribution of vehicle, home rentals, and homes for sale listings from partner catalog feeds. Listings provided to Facebook via partner catalogs will not be displayed on Marketplace, including the homepage, category pages, browse experience or in search results. \nRead more\n.\nHow to set up a shop on your Facebook page\nYou can set up a shop on your Facebook page and then share those items to the Marketplace (if your business is eligible). \nWe’ll walk you through setting up your shop first. \nStep 1: Go to your Facebook page and click “Manage Shop” and move on to Step 3. If you don’t have the “Manage Shop” option, then go to “Settings” and follow Step 2. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: After clicking on “Settings,” click on “Templates and Tabs” in the left menu bar. Make sure that the “Shop” option is toggled on. Go back to your page and click “Manage Shop.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Click “Start Shop Setup”.\n(Image)\n\nStep 4: Choose where you want customers to complete their purchases: your website, Facebook or Instagram, or direct message. You also have the option to use a partner platform (like Shopify or BigCommerce) or an API. Click “Get Started.”\n(Image)\n\n \nStep 5: Create your shop. Go through Facebook’s shop creator. Choose the business page you want your shop to be on, choose or create a business manager account that will connect to the shop, choose the visibility you want your shop to have, and add your items. \n(Image)\n\n \nHow to sell an individual item on Facebook Marketplace\nIf your business isn’t eligible for adding a shop or you can’t connect with an inventory partner, you can always share products from your individual Facebook page. \nEvery Facebook user has the ability to add items to the Marketplace. Just make sure that you are following Facebook’s \ncommerce guidelines\n if you want your products to show up. \nStep 1: Log in to Facebook and go to Marketplace. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: Click on “Create New Listing.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Choose your listing type: item for sale, vehicle for sale, or home for sale or rent.\n(Image)\n\nStep 4: Add your photos and product details, including title, price, category, condition, description, and tags. \n(Image)\n\nStep 5: Choose your delivery method. Some items may be eligible for shipping. But you can also just have the customer pick up the product at your store. \n(Image)\n\nStep 6: Choose the groups that you want to list your item in and publish it! You can share your product to any buy/sell/trade groups that you are a member of. \nNow you can sit back and wait for someone to reach out about that product! 

Facebook Marketplace step by step: how to get set up and list items

In this article:\nWhy add your business to the BBB\nHow to create and claim your BBB listing\nWhat to do next\nThe Better Business Bureau (BBB) aims to provide consumers and businesses with a directory that promotes the trustworthiness of businesses. \nAdding your business to BBB will help convey to consumers and other shops that they can trust you and your business. \nWhy add your business to the Better Business Bureau\nBBB’s mission is to be a source of trust for consumers and businesses. \nBeyond the huge trust signals that BBB sends to consumers and other businesses, BBB is another online directory that helps improve your business’s online visibility. \nIt’s important to add your business to as many reputable online directories as possible in order to show up better in the local search engine results. \nGo deeper: \n25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on\nHow to create and claim your BBB listing\nLet’s get your business listed on Better Business Bureau!\nStep 1: Create a BBB account\nGo to \nbbb.org\n and click “Login.” \nYou can add your business to BBB without a login, but you won’t be able to claim it unless you have an account. \n(Image)\n\nNext, go to the box on the right where it says “Create My BBB Login Account.”\n(Image)\n\nEnter your email and click “Email me Now.” If your email is not in BBB’s records, you will need to fill out your Name, Title, Email, Business name, and Zip code. Click “Register with BBB”. It will take up to 2 days for BBB to email you your password and instructions to finish setting up your account. \n(Image)\n\nWatch for an email from BBB, be sure to check your junk folder. When your email arrives, follow the instructions to set up your password and go to bbb.org and log in. \n(Image)\n\nIn the meantime, proceed to the following steps to see if your business is in BBB’s directory or if you need to add it. \nStep 2: Search for your business\nSearch to see if your business already exists in BBB’s directory. \n(Image)\n\nIf you see your business listed, proceed to Step 3 (Option 1). \nIf you can’t find your business, proceed to Step 3 (Option 2). \nStep 3 (Option 1): Claim your existing BBB business listing\nIf your business does show up on BBB’s directory, click on it. And then scroll down to the section that allows you to “Claim your listing.”\n(Image)\n\nThis is where you will need to be able to log in, so if you are still waiting for an email from the BBB you may need to wait a day or two to finish claiming your listing. \nAfter clicking “Claim your listing” when you are logged in, you will be brought to a page where you can verify your association with your business. \n(Image)\n\nYou can verify your business by phone or email. Choose the option you wish to use and click “Verify.”\nOn the new screen, you’ll have a place to enter your verification code that you received via phone or email. Enter your verification code and click “Claim.”\n(Image)\n\nNow you have successfully claimed your listing on BBB and will have full access to edit and make changes to it. \nStep 3 (Option 2): Add your business to BBB\nIf your business does not show up in BBB’s directory, click “Submit a request to add it to our directory.”\n(Image)\n\nYou’ll then be redirected to a form to add in all of your business information, including:\nBusiness name\nType of business\nBusiness start date\nAddress\nBusiness phone number\nWebsite\nBusiness email\nAny notes you have\nYour name\nYour contact email\nYour phone number\nClick “Submit your request.” It may take up to a week for BBB to approve your request. At that point, you will be able to go through the process of claiming your business. Go back to Step 3 (Option 1) to claim your business listing. \n(Image)\nAnd you're done!

How to get your business listed with the BBB

In this article:\nWhy use Crunchbase\nHow to create and claim your Crunchbase business listing\nWhat to do next\nCrunchbase is a platform where professionals can discover new technologies and innovative companies, connect with other like-minded professionals, and pursue new opportunities.  \nThey have a free online directory which you should add your business to. \nWhy add your business to Crunchbase\nFirst, adding your business to multiple online directories is super helpful for improving your online visibility and local SEO. \nGo deeper: \n15 free tips to improve your local SEO\nSecond, once you’ve added your business to Crunchbase, they have some awesome features that you can take advantage of:\nCrunchbase Pro to access company, investor, and funding data\nTools to identify new prospects and improve lead generation\nAccess to their market research to stay on top of the latest market trends in your industry\nThese additional features aren’t free, but they definitely have their appeal. \nHow to create and claim your Crunchbase listing\nLet’s get started!\nStep 1: Create a Crunchbase account \nThe first thing you need to do is set up a new account on Crunchbase. Go to crunchbase.com and click “Log in” in the header. \n(Image)\n\nThen click “Register” on the new window that opens and fill in your email address, first and last name, and password. \n(Image)\n\nClick “Register” and you’re done! Crunchbase will take you to a new page that helps you fill out your profile more in-depth, so you can continue that process or go back to crunchbase.com. \nStep 2: Authenticate your Crunchbase account\nWhen you are logged into Crunchbase, go to the top right corner and click your profile icon, then select “My Account.” \n(Image)\n\nThis will take you to your account where you will then click on “Social Authentication.” Crunchbase just wants to verify that you are a real person before allowing you to create a company profile. \n(Image)\n\nChoose at least one social network that you are on in order to authenticate yourself. When you click the profile you choose to use, Crunchbase will open a window for you to log in to that social account and allow them to access your information. Click “Allow” and then click “Done.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Check to see if your company exists on Crunchbase\nSometimes online directories like this pull information from other databases or someone else created a profile for your company without your knowledge. \nSo it’s always a good idea to check to see if your company exists in any online directory before adding it. \nSimply go to the search bar in the top navigation and type in your company’s name. \n(Image)\n\nIf your company shows up in the list, proceed to Step 4 (Option 1). If your company is not in the Crunchbase directory, proceed to Step 4 (Option 2). \nStep 4 (Option 1): Edit your Crunchbase listing\nIf your company does exist in Crunchbase’s directory, click on it and select “Edit.” This will allow you to update all of your company’s information. \n(Image)\n\nA form like will appear that has some of your information already filled out. If anything is incorrect, be sure to update it, and also add any missing information like your website or customer contact information. \n(Image)\n\nWhen done, click “Save All Edits.”\n(Image)\n\nAfter that, you’ll see the following message: “Your edits have been submitted. They may take a few minutes to appear.” And your edits will be live. \n(Image)\n\nStep 4 (Option 2): Add your company profile to Crunchbase\nIf your company is not on Crunchbase, click on the menu icon in the top left of your screen and then click “Add New Profile.”\n(Image)\n\nSelect the type of profile you are adding to Crunchbase (this will likely be a “company” if you are doing this for your small business.)\n(Image)\n\nGo through the form on the next page and fill out all of the following information for your business:\nBusiness name\nDescription\nAlso known as (other names that your business goes by)\nLegal name\nFounded date\nNumber of employees\nCompany type\nWebsite\nSocial profiles\nContact email\nPhone number\nDetailed description\n(Image)\n\nAfter the form there are several additional types of information you can add to better complete your company profile. Fill out any that apply to you. At the very least, be sure to add your “Categories.”\n(Image)\n\nClick “Save all edits” and your profile will be added to Crunchbase. \n(Image)\n\nCrunchbase will make all of your information live after a few minutes, and there are no additional steps to claim or verify your business profile. \nNow that you claimed your Crunchbase business listing, what’s next?\nWhen you’ve completed your Crunchbase company profile, be sure to continue adding your business to other online directories. This will help improve your business’s online visibility and provide you with more opportunities to get found by customers. \nCheck out our list of \n25 free sites that every small business should be listed on\n. 

How to create and claim your free Crunchbase business listing

In this article:\nWhat is Nextdoor and why should your business get listed?\nBest practices for your business when using Nextdoor\nDon’ts for using Nextdoor as a business\nAs technology continues to develop and the internet gets more innovative, it’s important that businesses take advantage of as many avenues that could be beneficial to them. Beyond your website and Google, there are tons of general and industry-specific platforms online that can help bring your business leads. One of these is Nextdoor.\nWhat is Nextdoor?\nNextdoor, simply put, is a social network for neighborhoods. Users can join groups for their neighborhoods to learn information about it and get helpful tips from their not-so-distant neighbors. Neighbors share things like the best contractor to use for your kitchen redesign, news about crime, lost and found items, news about upcoming events, and just about any goings-on in your neighborhood. \nNextdoor’s mission is to help neighbors build stronger and safer neighborhoods through technology.\nIt’s also good to note that over 25% of the conversations on Nextdoor revolve around businesses, and 67% of Nextdoor members share business recommendations with their neighbors. \nDos for using Nextdoor as a business\nThere are tons of things your business can take advantage of on Nextdoor. Pay attention to these tips and give them a try to see if you can start to generate some positive talk in the community about your business. \nUpdate and complete your business page\nFirst, you absolutely need to make sure you have a complete business page. Make sure your page is verified so you can create posts and offer local deals. \nFollow our guide to set up your business page: \nHow to claim your listing on Nextdoor (step-by-step walkthrough!)\n \nTips to complete your business page:\nUpload your logo and a cover image\nAdd more photos of your business, products, services\nInclude all of your contact information: address, phone number, website, email, and hours of operation\nAdd as many relevant categories to your business as possible\nJoin your neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods\nBy creating your business profile on Nextdoor, you are automatically placed in your neighborhood’s network. You’ll be able to view the conversations and posts that come up and contribute to them. \nYou can start showing up in nearby neighborhoods by getting recommendations from people in those communities. \nGet Nextdoor recommendations\nGetting recommendations on Nextdoor is kind of like getting a review on Google. Plus, you need to have recommendations from specific neighborhoods to show up in their business directories and searches. \nSide note: to be eligible to show up in a neighborhood, it does have to be within a 50-mile radius of your business. \nTo get recommendations on your Nextdoor business page, you can share it on your social profiles. \nLog into your Nextdoor business account\nGo to “Your Reputation” \nScroll down to your recommendations and click the place that you want to share your business profile (email, Facebook, Twitter, or just copy the link)\nPost your profile and ask for recommendations\n(Image)\n\nThe post generated by Nextdoor doesn’t ask for recommendations, so you’ll want to craft a message that encourages users to visit your profile and recommend you. You may even send the link to current customers to ask them to recommend your business on Nextdoor. \nCreate regular posts from your business\nStart creating posts on Nextdoor. Keep your neighborhood informed by sharing updates about your business: \nNew products that have come in \nNew services you’re offering\nNew menu items\nClosures\nEvents\nSpecial offers you have\nRecommendations for other businesses (maybe you have some community partners that you send referrals to)\nBe sure to follow the \nCommunity Guidelines\n as well as the \nbusiness guidelines for posting\n (more on this in our don’ts section). \nTake advantage of the categories on Nextdoor\nTo see all of the conversations in your neighborhood on Nextdoor, you’ll need to set up a personal profile. Businesses can only see and contribute to the conversations that specifically mention them or that they start. \nFrom your personal account, you can look through the neighborhood categories to see if there is a meaningful way your business can contribute to the neighborhood. Here are the categories that make the most sense for you to post in on behalf of your business. \nSafety: This might include local crime updates about suspicious persons in the area or news about power outages and natural disasters \nLost and found: if something was left at your business, like a wallet or phone, post about it in the lost and found section\nGeneral: Monitor the general section to see if people are asking for recommendations. Introduce yourself to the neighborhood too\nJoin relevant groups\nGroups is another area you can only join with a personal profile, or you could start your own group. See if there are any groups that are relevant to your business or area of expertise. \nIt is important to note that it is against Nextdoor’s policies to promote your business in personal posts, but you can share your advice and build up your personal name in the community, particularly if your name is your brand. \nContribute to popular topics\nThis is the last one that you have to use from your personal account. Look through and follow topics that are relevant to your business and knowledge. Monitor the conversations to see if there are meaningful ways that you can contribute and opportunities to share your advice and maybe even your business (without full-on promoting it). \nMonitor and respond to comments about your business\nAs users recommend and mention your business, you’ll have the opportunity to view and respond to these posts. Be sure to thank those that recommend you and pay attention to the conversations to make sure you are in good standing in your neighborhood. \nRun Local Deal ads or become a Neighborhood Sponsor\nNextdoor allows businesses to run Local Deals or become Neighborhood Sponsors to help get more reach in their neighborhoods and share ads about their businesses. These are both great options for increasing your brand awareness in your immediate community, especially if you’re new to the area. \nTo create a Local Deal, go to “Content” on your business account and select “Create Post or Local Deal.”\n(Image)\n\nTo become a Neighborhood Sponsor, go to “Manage Plan” and search for the zip code that you want to sponsor. You’ll be charged a monthly fee to become a sponsor (this varies by neighborhood).\n(Image)\n\nDon’ts for using Nextdoor as a business\nAs with most platforms, there are guidelines and general best practices that you should adhere to in order to keep your business in good standing. \nDon’t post negatively about competitors\nIt is strictly against Nextdoor’s business guidelines to create negative posts about your competitors. Don’t do it. \nInstead, focus on your business, the awesome service that you provide and share news about your deals and offerings. \nDon’t suggest that Nextdoor endorses your business\nIn your business posts (and personal ones if you have a personal account), do not state that your business is endorsed by Nextdoor. You may be subject to account deletion if you suggest this to your neighborhood on or off of Nextdoor. \nYou can instead share your recommendations to show that users on Nextdoor like your business. \nDon’t promote prohibited goods and services\nNextdoor has a list of goods and services that are prohibited from their platform. Pay attention to this so you don’t unknowingly penalize your account. \nThere is the general no drugs, alcohol, gambling, and adult content rule. That being said, businesses may post references to alcohol (i.e. if it’s in their menu or part of an event), but the posts cannot be solely focused on alcohol. \nOther items that are prohibited:\nLive animal sales (re-homing pets with a small fee is allowed)\nStud services\nItems obtained through government assistance\nFirearms, firearm components, and firearm accessories\nAirsoft, BB/pellet guns\nPepper spray\nChemical weapons\nNon-culinary knives\nCertain items related to COVID preparedness are not allowed to be sold on Nextdoor\nCommercial/medical-grade masks and surgical masks and gloves (homemade and non-medical grade masks are allowed)\nHand sanitizers \nDisinfecting wipes and other cleaning supplies\nKeep track of your activity and reputation on Nextdoor\nWith Nextdoor, as well as all other business-related online platforms, it’s important to be aware of your standing. Stay on top of your reviews and be sure to check in regularly to make sure you're up to date. 

Dos and Don’ts for businesses on Nextdoor (tips and best practices)

In this article:\nCreating and optimizing your business Facebook page\nBest types of Facebook posts\nSetting up a Facebook marketing strategy\nUtilizing Facebook reviews\nMore and more people are turning to Facebook (now Meta, but who are we kidding.... everyone still calls it Facebook) to find businesses they want to shop with. Whether it’s the first point of contact someone makes with your business or they’ve been researching your offerings for a while, it’s important to make sure you have a great Facebook presence and a strategy for getting customers to your business from your Facebook page. \nFacebook has more than 2.5 billion monthly users and over 1.6 billion daily users worldwide. That’s a lot of opportunity to reach more customers and grow your business. \nAnd that’s why we’ve put together this guide. We’ll walk you through the best types of Facebook posts for businesses, how to put together a cohesive Facebook marketing strategy, and how to best utilize your Facebook reviews. \nCreating your business’s Facebook page\nMore goes into managing a Facebook account than simply creating your business page, but that’s definitely where you need to start. \nHere’s a quick overview of how to create your business Facebook page:\nLog into your personal Facebook account or create a dummy account. You’ll need a personal account to manage your business page. \nWhen you are logged in, click “Create” in the top right corner and then click “Page.”\nFollow the prompts to fully set up your page.\nFor a more in-depth look: \nHow to create and claim your Facebook business page\nOptimizing your Facebook page\nOnce you have your page created, it’s important to optimize it to give it the best chance to show up in Facebook search results and to provide an appealing image of your business to customers. \nA few things you need to add to your page to optimize it:\nA cover photo that represents your business well\nA profile photo that is recognizable, like a logo or storefront\nYour website, physical address, and contact information\nAn about section for customers to learn more\nYour services or products and prices (when applicable)\nFrequent posts and customer reviews to show that you are active on Facebook (more on each of these shortly)\nBasically, the more information about your business you can provide, the better. Eliminate as many unknowns as possible so potential customers feel connected to you and like they know you, making it easier for them to reach out. \nPosting on Facebook\nHaving a Facebook page is one thing, but if you aren’t actively posting on it then it won’t do much for you. This doesn’t mean that you need to post multiple times a day–nor should you–but you should have a strategy in place for posting relevant and engaging content that will drive customers to you. \nUnderstanding Facebook’s algorithm\nMuch like Google and other search engines, Facebook has an algorithm that determines what posts will show up in a user’s news feed. This is no longer based on the time that a post was published, but rather the likelihood that a user will have a positive interaction with that post. \nWith Facebook’s algorithm, even the people who like and follow your business page might not see each post that you put out there. \nFacebook has four factors that go into its algorithm for user posts:\nInventory: all of the posts that are available to show\nSignals: these tell Facebook what the post is, in other words, the actual content of the post\nPredictions: how Facebook thinks a user will react to a post\nFinal score: this is based on all of the above factors and ultimately determines whether or not a post will be shown and how high in a user’s feed it will be\nThis is why it’s important to create engaging content and to have a strategy for your posting. Facebook is becoming more concerned with its user experience to make sure that people keep coming back. When consumers find posts that they like and engage well with, they are more likely to come back. This goes the same for your page and the kind of content that you put out there. \nTypes of Facebook posts that convert\nSo, how do you know what kind of content is right for your business? You want to attract the right customers while providing them with interesting and engaging content that keeps them wanting more. \nThe types of posts that will do well for each business are going to be different. After all, every business has a different audience they are targeting. But the elements that you should have to guide your post creation will be relatively similar to any other business. \nWhen creating your Facebook content, use these elements to guide your posts.\nStunning visuals\nIt’s very difficult to draw attention to a wall of text. Pull in your users with images or videos that speak to your audience and will capture their interest. \nGo deeper: \nHow to get and use professional photos for your business\nCompelling copy\nMuch like your visuals, the actual written content in the post needs to appeal to your audience. It should provide additional information, incentives, or some kind of interest factor to keep their engagement up. \nCall-to-action\nEvery great social media post has a call-to-action that invites a customer to do something. Whether that’s to call your business, check out a blog post on your website, or share a giveaway post is up to you. Drive conversions by inviting specific action. \nIncentive\nPeople want to know what they are going to get by completing your call-to-action. If it’s a Facebook giveaway, then there’s the chance to win a prize. If it’s information about your product, then they may have a problem that your offering will solve. \nWhatever you post, make sure there is some kind of value that the user gets from acting on your invitation. \nTargeting\nYou should know your audience better than anyone else. Use this to your advantage. \nWhen creating content for your Facebook page, use the information you have about your target audience to curate content that appeals to them. \nThese five factors will help you to create posts that engage your audience and convert well. \nYour Facebook marketing strategy in 6 steps\nYour conversion rates and engagement on Facebook are only as good as your marketing strategy. Just like any other marketing platform, you need to have a plan in place to get results. We’ll walk you through six steps of creating a winning Facebook marketing strategy. \nStep 1: Define your audience\nYou can’t perform well if you don’t know and understand your audience. Define who that is so that you can create the content they are likely to engage with. \nThink about these factors:\nAge\nGender\nIncome level\nInterests\nLocation\nWhat motivates them\nWhat problems they face\nStep 2: Set your goals\nWhat do you hope to achieve from your Facebook marketing campaign? Do you want more conversions, more customers, or website visits? Do you simply want to provide more awareness for your company?\nSet specific and measurable goals so that you can track how well your Facebook campaign is performing. \nStep 3: Create a content calendar\nCreate content that appeals to your audience and helps achieve your goals. Schedule out a couple weeks or a month of posts at a time. Determine what kind of posts you think will perform best with your audience and test out a few different options. \nStep 4: Identify Facebook tools you can utilize\nFacebook has several tools that can help enhance your \nsmall business marketing strategy\n. Identify which tools align with your business goals best and how you can use them to your advantage. \nFacebook groups\nYou can join relevant community and topical Facebook groups to help expand your reach. Post in these groups often to keep your name out there, but make sure your content is valuable to the audience of that group. \nFacebook Messenger\nMessenger is Facebook’s chat application. Each business page has its own Messenger that customers can contact you through. Make sure you have someone managing this inbox to ensure that you don’t miss any opportunities. \nYou can even set up automated replies on Messenger to ensure that every customer gets a response. \nBusiness Manager\nFacebook’s Business Manager allows you to create and manage full-featured advertising campaigns. \nFacebook Stories\nUse the Stories feature to post snippets and quick updates that don’t need a permanent post. \nFacebook Live\nEngage your audience by posting live videos that show what you are up to. Whether you are at an event or launching a new product, keep them in the loop. \nStep 5: Facebook advertising\nFacebook has awesome advertising capabilities. It can be as simple as boosting a post for a few dollars or as complex as creating a full-featured advertising campaign. \nAdvertising on Facebook is relatively inexpensive and helps you expand your reach. Remember the Facebook algorithm? Even if you create compelling content, it might not reach all of your followers. \nAnd of course, you want the opportunity to gain even more followers, so you might need to boost a post every now and then to make sure people actually see it. \nCheck out our guide: \nHow to set up Facebook Ads Manager for your small business\nStep 6: Analyze and refine\nAfter your posts have had a couple of weeks to a month to perform, check back on them and analyze the results. What kind of posts performed well with your audience? Did you receive calls, more page likes, high engagement rates?\nDetermine which types of posts performed the best and use those to guide the creation of future posts. \nIf you set up an advertising campaign, analyze the results for the same reasons. See what kind of potential customers the ads reached and how well they engaged with your posts.  \nFacebook reviews\nFacebook reviews should definitely be a part of your marketing strategy on Facebook, but review management in and of itself is such a large part of customer conversions that it really should have its own strategy in place. \nConsumers rely on reviews to tell them whether they can trust a business or work well with them. You should be working to grow the number of reviews you have on your Facebook page. \nAlong with getting more positive reviews on Facebook, you should be monitoring all reviews and taking action especially if a negative review comes in. \nLearn more: \nHow to remove Facebook reviews from your local business page\n\nSources:\n
\nhttps://tinuiti.com/blog/paid-social/facebook-algorithm/\n
\nhttps://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/\n

The complete guide to Facebook marketing for small businesses

In this article:\nPurpose of the Better Business Bureau\nProcess of filing complaints with the BBB\nWhat you need to do if you get a BBB complaint\nHow to remove a BBB complaint\nCan you remove negative reviews on BBB?\nMany consumers look to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to determine how trustworthy a company is. Another common practice is seeking out businesses on BBB in order to leave a complaint or negative review when a customer feels they have been treated unfairly. \nDue to the nature of how this platform is used by consumers, it can have an impact on your online reputation, and thus your bottom line. Whenever a BBB complaint or review is submitted to your business, it’s important to be proactive to resolve the issue. \nPurpose of the Better Business Bureau\nBBB’s vision is to create “an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other.” Through complaints, reviews, and their accreditation process, BBB can give companies trust ratings to help consumers find businesses they can work with. \nBBB sets the marketplace standards for trust and encourages businesses to engage in ethical best practices. \nBut it’s about more than just having a trustworthy business. You also need to deliver good results in order to get good rating on BBB for your business. \nBBB’s rating system\nBBB doesn’t only rate their accredited businesses. They rate every business on their platform. This trust rating that BBB provides is intended to show how well a business interacts with its customers. \nBBB ratings are a letter grade based on the following criteria:\nHow the business responds to complaints\nTransparency of products and offerings\nTruthful advertising\nThe depth of information BBB has on your business\nBecause of this last criteria, it’s important to make sure you \nfill out your BBB profile\n.\nProcess of filing complaints with the BBB\nWhen a consumer files a complaint with the BBB, there’s a process that this complaint goes through before it impacts your BBB rating. \nWoman complaining about a business for BBB\nLet’s give you a timeline of what that looks like. \nFirst, the complaint is filed by the customer. \nWithin two days of the complaint being filed, the BBB will send you the complaint. \nYou will have 14 days to respond from the date the customer filed the complaint. If no response has been received at that point, a follow-up letter will be sent to you.\nIf you respond to the complaint, the customer will be notified and asked to respond. Likewise, if you don’t respond to the complaint, the customer will also be notified. \nComplaints are closed after 30 days. \n So, what are your obligations during this process and how does it impact your business? \nWhat you need to do if you get a BBB complaint\nBBB takes their complaints seriously and works with the customer and the business to resolve the issue if it is within the scope of problems that they work with. \nComplaints the BBB won’t move forward on:\nPricing\nBusiness policies\nEmployer/employee disputes\nProfessional procedures\nGovernment agencies\nComplaints will only be placed if they are clearly about a business transaction, such as a business not following through on order fulfillments. \nIf a complaint is filed against your business, you should always work to resolve the complaint in order to maintain good standings with the BBB. \nHowever, if your business is not accredited, you have no legal obligation to respond to complaints. This is done on a voluntary basis. Only businesses that have applied and become accredited have made an agreement to respond to all complaints made against them. \nPlease note: research shows that businesses that regularly respond to reviews earn up to 49% more revenue… so it’s definitely in your best interest to respond to complaints and keep current on your review management.\nLet’s get into what your responsibilities are if a BBB complaint does come in. \nResolving customer disputes\nAs you receive a complaint, you should always try to resolve the issue with the customer. You can send your response to the complaint back to the BBB to correspond with the customer, or you can reach out to the customer directly to try to remedy the situation. \nYou have 30 days to resolve the issue before the file is closed on the complaint. \nResolution proposal\nAs part of the resolution process, your business can submit a resolution proposal back to the BBB to give to the customer when a complaint comes in. From there, the customer can decide if your proposal resolves their problem or not. \nIf you feel the complaint is irrelevant to your business or you were not at fault OR the customer isn’t satisfied with your response, then the complaint may be moved to a mediation process or arbitration. \nBBB mediation and arbitration\nDuring the mediation process, a professionally trained mediator will work with both parties to come to a resolution. \nDuring the arbitration process, an arbitrator will look at the evidence on both sides and determine a conclusion. \nIn both scenarios, the BBB will choose a meeting location at a convenient time for both parties to have confidential sessions to resolve the problem. \nResults\nIn order to maintain good standing with the BBB, it is advised to follow through on the resolution process. \nWhen a BBB complaint is closed, these are the possible outcomes that can be posted on your profile:\n“Resolved” means the customer was satisfied with the resolution\n“Answered” means the business addressed the issue but the customer didn’t respond to it or notify the BBB of their satisfaction\n“Unresolved” means the business responded but didn’t make a good effort to resolve the issue\n“Unanswered” means the business didn’t respond at all\n“Unpursuable” means the BBB could not locate the business\nIdeally, any complaint the comes in will show as “resolved” after a good faith effort by your company to help the customer through any issues they had. \nHowever, even if a complaint is resolved, customers can still leave you a negative review on the BBB. More on this later.\nHow to remove a BBB complaint\nThe process of removing a BBB complaint is not an easy one because it requires a little effort from the customer, and customers that have gone through the trouble of filing a complaint with the BBB are often reluctant or indifferent to removing it.\nHowever, if you have gone above and beyond to resolve the issue and impress the customer, this is definitely a route worth pursuing. \nIn order to remove a BBB complaint, the customer will need to fax their original complaint into your local BBB office and send them a request to have the complaint removed. \nTo find your local BBB office, go to BBB.org and scroll to the map near the middle of the page. Type in your location, and click “locate.”\nmap image for BBB complaint resolution\n\nSubmitting and removing negative reviews on BBB\nRecently, the BBB has made some changes and they now allow consumers leave a more common type of “review” on your BBB listing, rather than going through the process of filing an official complaint. You can click to read more about the \nBBB review process\n. \nOne thing to note: A customer cannot file a BBB complaint \nand\n leave a negative review on your BBB profile (at least not using the same email address). \nProcess of submitting a review on BBB\nLeaving a review for a business on BBB is similar to leaving a complaint, but the review process takes less time. \nHere’s a timeline of the BBB review process:\nCustomer submits a review and receives an email to verify their email address (the review will only be submitted for customers who verify their email address)\nThe business is notified of this new BBB review\nThe business has three options to respond: Ignore, Respond, Not My Customer\nIf the business ignores the review, it will be posted in 3-10 days on their BBB profile\nIf the business responds, the review will be posted immediately\nIf the business selects “Not My Customer,” the BBB alerts the reviewer and requires them to prove their interaction with the business\nHow to remove a negative review on BBB\nCurrently, businesses cannot request that the BBB remove a customer review. They can only request that their response to the customer not be published. \nThe only way to remove a negative customer review from your BBB profile is to ask your customer to retract their review. They will need to use the same email address they used to submit the review and email the BBB requesting that their review is removed. \nGenerally speaking, a customer is not going to just remove their review because you asked nicely. You need to work with your customer to resolve the issue that caused them to write the review in the first place. \nWhen they seem satisfied that their problem was fixed, that is a great time to ask them to remove their review. Some customers will be willing to do this, and some won’t.\nRegardless, research shows that what matters most when it comes to reviews is that you \nrespond\n to them, not whether they are “good” or “bad” reviews. \nThis shows other potential customers that you take complaints seriously and work to resolve concerns.\nIn fact, businesses with 100% 5-star reviews actually earn less money than businesses with 3.5-4.5 star ratings. \nYou may also like:\n\nHow to respond to bad reviews\n\nManage your online review platforms\nBBB isn’t the only review platform that your business should be aware of. The most relevant online review platforms for small, local businesses are Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook. \nBe sure to take the time to keep your profiles updated, and respond to your reviews (good and bad) on these platforms as well.\nSources:\n
\nhttps://www.bbb.org/process-of-complaints-and-reviews/complaints\n
\nhttps://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/reviews/about-bbb-customer-reviews/customer-review-f.a.q.s/\n

137 articles found in “Growing your business”

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