Blog

About

Careers

Contact

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

Blog for starting, running, and growing your business | Solo.co

Blog - All Posts

In this article:\nWhat is a chamber of commerce?\nWhat does it mean to join a chamber of commerce?\nHow can a chamber of commerce help your small business?\nAre there any downsides to joining a chamber of commerce as a business?\nHow to join your local chamber of commerce\nHow to make the most out of your membership in the chamber of commerce\nOther local marketing opportunities\nChambers of commerce are an amazing local resource that small businesses should be aware of in their community. From networking to marketing, your local chamber of commerce can provide your business some great benefits. \nThroughout this article we’ll guide you through the chamber of commerce system, how they can help your small business, and whether or not you should join your local chamber of commerce. \nWhat is a chamber of commerce? What do they do?\nA chamber of commerce is essentially a network of local businesses. It is an organized group of business owners and professionals who seek to help other businesses grow through networking, marketing resources, financial assistance, guidance, and more. \nChambers usually take on several community functions, including:\nTourist information center\nBusiness spokesperson\nEconomic planner and developer\nGovernment relations\nHuman resources adviser\nPublic relations adviser\nEconomic counselor\nThrough these functions, chambers work to serve local businesses and keep the local economy strong. \nChamber of commerce members\nThe members of the chamber of commerce are the individuals, businesses, and organizations that volunteer their time to help improve the socioeconomic climate their community. When joined together, this group of people have a much stronger voice than they would as individuals. \n\nAnyone who chooses to get involved in their local chamber of commerce can become a member. \nEach chamber of commerce is run by its members. They will elect a board of directors to help set policies and determine specific goals to work towards. The chief officer will preside over all meetings, while day-to-day operations are typically handled by a professional manager (this is often a paid position). \nChamber of commerce objectives\nMembers are often split into committees to help organize and more efficiently accomplish the chamber’s objectives. \nThe general objectives of every chamber of commerce are as follows:\nIncrease local job opportunities\nHelp local business grow and thrive\nEncourage expansion of the community in an efficient and organized manner\nContribute to the economic stability of the community\nPromote a free market economy through assisting of private businesses and organizations\nWhat does it mean to join a chamber of commerce?\nJoining a chamber of commerce can provide several benefits for your business and individually. The chamber is often a powerful influence in the community, and your joining it will give you a voice in important community development projects. \nThere are a couple different ways to get involved with your local chamber of commerce. You can go all in and join the board (if you’re elected) to have a wider influence in the community, or you can simply join your local chamber, representing your business, and take part in networking opportunities and board meetings without the additional responsibilities of being an officer on the board. \nchamber of commerce members voting\n\nWhat are the responsibilities of chamber members?\nLet’s break this down into your typical chamber members and board members. \nResponsibilities of the average chamber member usually involve the following:\nPaying specific dues (you can look at it as an investment in your local chamber)\nInvolving senior level employees in the work of the chamber\nParticipating and helping further the goals of the chamber of commerce\nYour specific chamber of commerce may delegate tasks to your business and employees and assign you to various committees as participants in the chamber. Be ready and available to assist with these where possible.\nChamber board members have a few additional responsibilities:\nRecruiting new members\nAttending board meetings\nVoting (on by-laws, budgets, new member requests, and other important board decisions)\nHiring and searching for a chamber president (this doesn’t occur frequently, but it is the board members’ duty to take this on)\nRewriting by-laws when necessary\nSelling tickets to chamber events\nGoverning and legislative initiatives\nLeading committees\nRibbon cuttings and public appearances\nRepresenting the chamber at all times\nBecoming a board member is no small task, so make sure you’re up for the responsibilities and can devote the time to your community before taking this on. \nHow can a chamber of commerce help your small business?\nJoining a chamber of commerce can provide many and varied benefits to your small business. Determine if these benefits will ultimately help your business grow, and think about all of the good that you’ll be able to do within your community. \nResources\nChambers of commerce seek to help businesses in their community grow and thrive. Therefore, they provide resources and opportunities to help with just that. From marketing tips and materials to advice about day-to-day operations, you can gain invaluable knowledge from just being a part of your local chamber. \nNetworking\nMost chambers hold networking events for their members to connect and learn from one another. At these events you can start some valuable relationships with other business owners in the community. \nDiscounts\nOften at chamber events, there are giveaways, fun discounts, and freebies that you can take part in. Also, networking with chamber members may provide you with some coupons or discounts to their businesses. \nMailing lists\nEvery chamber of commerce has a directory of their members that is available to chamber members and non-members alike. Being a member just gives you that extra edge when reaching out to other members on this list. \nMore exposure\nBeing a member of a chamber can give your business more exposure within your community. The chamber will provide a link to your website on theirs (hello, \nsmall business SEO\n!) and point people in your direction when someone knew in the community is looking for your services or products. \nCredibility\nParticipating in a chamber of commerce gives you and your business additional credibility with members of your community (and other members of the chamber). \nAre there any downsides to joining a chamber of commerce as a business?\nWe wouldn’t necessarily call these items the downsides of joining a chamber of commerce, but an investment in the benefits that you and your chamber can generate for your business and the community. \nMembership fees\nEach chamber of commerce has membership fees that every involved business must pay. This varies between chambers, but it can be significant. \nSometimes you can even join a group of chambers and pay just one membership fee for all of those groups rather than having several different fees to pay. \nAsk your local chamber about discounted or sponsored memberships or other promotions.\nROI isn’t immediate\nLike with most investments, you won’t likely see immediate ROI from your participation with your local chamber. It takes time. \nBut the more you participate in networking events and gain exposure in your community, the more opportunities your business will have to grow strong and gain revenue. \n\nTime investment\nJoining a chamber can result in a good amount of time invested, whether from you individually or your employees. \nFrom participating in local community events to help further to goals of the chamber and build the community to networking events to help grow your business, you can be volunteering a decent amount of your time. \nFor busy small business owners this can be difficult, but the benefits can make this sacrifice worth it.\nConflicts with competition\nYou aren’t going to be the only business in your industry that gets involved with a local chamber. You may have competitors that are members of the same chamber. \nStay civil and remember that you are all working towards a common goal, and can grow your businesses and community together.\nHow to join your local chamber of commerce\nIt isn’t difficult to join a local chamber of commerce, but there is a little bit of work involved to get to that point. \nResearch \nFirst, you need to do your research to determine what chambers are relevant and active in your area. Some communities have several different chambers of commerce that work towards different goals. \nThere are also often regional or state-wide chambers as well as city-level chambers. Determine which chamber (or chambers) you will want to join, and get involved!\nContact\nOnce you have decided on a chamber or two that you want to join, contact them to determine next steps. \nThe process for joining each chamber can vary a little, so you’ll want to reach out and make sure you get the right information. \nAsk for membership packets\nReview the info and become familiar with your chamber\nAsk lots of questions to learn more about the process and the chamber itself\nAsk if they have an established political stance so you don’t get yourself stuck in an organization that you don’t agree with\nAttend an event\nChamber events are great opportunities for you to talk to current members to see what they think about their membership, the benefits they receive, and the work they do for the community. \nSet up your membership\nOnce you’ve made your decision, it’s time to set up your membership. The following steps are typical for most chambers:\nMeet with the director to look over membership levels and payment options.\nFill out your application. Some chambers will accept your membership immediately while others may want some time to review your application. \nHold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to announce your membership in the chamber of commerce. \nsmall business chamber of commerce ribbon cutting\n\nHow to make the most out of your membership in the chamber of commerce\nOnce you’ve joined a chamber of commerce it’s up to you to make sure you get the most out of your experience and reap the benefits that it can offer. \nIf you follow each of these steps, you are sure to gain a valuable experience as well contribute well to your community. \nAttend chamber events regularly\nGet a calendar of events from your chamber and start planning the events that you and your employees will be able to attend. \nFrom seminars that teach more about running and managing a business to networking events with other businesses, you can gain expert knowledge and meaningful relationships to help your business succeed. \nHost your own event\nYou aren’t limited to attending events hosted by the chamber and other businesses. You can put on your own networking event or seminar and invite chamber and community members alike to attend. \nThis helps you provide more value to the community and gives you some great exposure.  \nVolunteer\nYour chamber will likely have several committees working on different projects at any given point. Volunteer your time to help a specific committee that is right up your alley. Meet new people and gain more exposure in the community as you volunteer. \nAttend ribbon cuttings\nShow your support to other local businesses by attending their ribbon cutting ceremonies. If you can’t make it, reach out and congratulate that organization on their membership and be a support to them in that regard. \nOther local marketing opportunities\nBeyond local chambers of commerce, there are several ways that you can market your business for a low cost (or even for free).\nCheck out this guide:  \n25 free local advertising ideas for small businesses\n

Chamber of commerce basics: what they do and why you should join

In this article:\nThe problem with Facebook ads\nCreate and claim your Facebook business page\nTry boosting Facebook posts before you pay for ads\n“You should get some ads running on Facebook!” How many times have you heard that from your friends or business associates? Facebook is astonishingly popular for private individuals as well as businesses, and it’s understandable to want to boost your business’s presence there. But there are some little-known issues you need to be aware of. Here’s what you need to know before you advertise your small business on Facebook.\nThe problem with advertising on Facebook\nFacebook’s massive popularity is also a potential sticky wicket for small businesses. 7 of 10 US adults (roughly 240 million Americans) use Facebook, and 74% of them check the site at least once every day. 97% of business-to-consumer marketers use Facebook. In short, pretty much \neveryone\n uses the platform. \nWhy is that a potential problem? It’s a huge market and it’s hugely crowded. That’s a lot of eyes and a lot of high-value, fast-spending businesses clamoring for customers’ attention. Simply throwing “an ad” up “on Facebook” isn’t going to get you any local customers, unless you’re extremely lucky.\nIn fact, 62% of small business owners feel their paid Facebook ads don’t work. In another poll, half of small business owners don’t feel the time they invest in Facebook is worth it.\nHow can you help ensure the time and money you spend on Facebook will pay off? First, define your expectations, and have a plan.\nMake sure you have a plan\nFirst, think hard about what you actually hope to accomplish with your Facebook ads. Are you trying to build brand awareness? Convert more customers from your website? Get more in-store visits? Build customer loyalty for valuable repeat visits? Spread the word about a big sale?\nPaying for Facebook ads with no plan for tracking goals, measuring success, or creating specific messaging for the result you are seeking is literally throwing money away. Facebook overall doesn’t have a stellar conversion rate (meaning how many “viewers” of ads actually end up purchasing). So you need to really think about what you are trying to accomplish, and have distinct ways to track and measure the success of your efforts.\nIf you don’t feel like you know exactly what you’re hoping to accomplish, or you aren’t sure which groups of customers you should be targeting in the first place, you might consider hiring a social media marketing expert or firm to get the ball rolling until you learn the ropes.\nTry “boosting” Facebook posts first, before paying for ads\nIt might be a good idea to try “boosting” your company Facebook posts for a while to improve views and engagement, rather than spending on Facebook ads specifically. The most successful small businesses know how to use social media as “free advertising.” This can only happen once they have a large, loyal following.\nWhen you pay Facebook to boost a post, you are essentially creating an advertisement that gets shown in the Facebook feeds of audiences you select. \nHave you seen “sponsored” posts in your online news feed? These are frequently boosted Facebook posts. \nWith boosting, you choose a specific audience with location targeting, gender, age, financial profile, and interests. Then you set your total or daily budget, length of the boosting, and add in your payment information. It’s pretty easy and not very expensive. \nIt can be useful to spend a little of your marketing budget boosting your posts to win more followers as a first step, and then use quality, high-interest, high-value Facebook posts as the primary means of “advertising” on the platform.\nCreate a Facebook business page\nObviously the first thing you need to do is create a business page on Facebook if you haven’t already. You will need to have your own Facebook profile to get your business page created. Here’s a \nquick tutorial\n to get you started. \nMake sure you include:\nYour store’s name (this should be the same as what you list on your \nGoogle\n and \nYelp\n business profiles)\nStore address\nPhone number\nOpen hours (including any special holiday hours)\nDescription of your store\nWebpage\nEmail address\nProfile picture \nCover photo or video (a picture of your storefront or product spread would be perfect)\nProduct types and price range \nCreate your own ad campaigns with Facebook Ads Manager\nWhen you’re ready to try Facebook ads, you can either pay an outside marketing firm to create and manage the ad campaigns for you, or you can try it yourself first with Facebook Ads Manager. \nAds Manager allows you to choose a goal for your campaign (like brand awareness, increased reach, getting more traffic, lead generation, conversions, or  store visits). Then you can set up your own ad with your created messaging, images, video, etc., and choose a target audience for the ad campaign. \nThe budget is set in a similar way to boosting your posts. You can set a spend limit based on clicks, impressions, or by date.\n\nSet up your Ads Manager account\n with these simple instructions. \nSources:\n
\nhttps://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-stats-for-marketers/\n
\nhttps://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/01/facts-about-americans-and-facebook/\n
\nhttps://www.manta.com/resources/small-business-research/poll-business-owners-devote-little-time-facebook-april-2017/\n
\nhttps://smallbiztrends.com/2017/01/do-facebook-ads-work.html\n
\nhttps://neilpatel.com/blog/small-business-facebook-ads/\n\n


Facebook ads for local business: Read this first!

In this article:\nWhat is an online forum?\nFind top-quality groups to participate in\nCheck back often and follow up\nAvoid spammy practices\nChoose discussions wisely\nStand out from the crowd\nOnline forums have been around for a couple of decades, but people are starting to rely more on these sites for answers to their questions as they dive into internet searches. This creates a good opportunity for small businesses to stand out and market themselves effectively.\nIn most online forums, anyone can ask a question that they are seeking the answer to, and then, generally speaking, anyone with an answer will respond. \nYour business can develop an online persona via which you can be answering questions that are relevant to your industry. \nYou can help guide consumers toward your business as an online resource and start to stand out as an authority in your market.\nLet’s go over what online forums are and how you can best utilize them for your business. \nWhat is an online forum and why should you care?\nAn online or internet forum is a website where people can have discussions about various topics. \nOften a forum will be specialized to one particular area of interest, such as Mopar automobiles, Sonoran cuisine, Pudelpointer dogs, vintage Apple computers, Finnish death metal, or whatever else you can think of.\nCurrent forums are the descendants of the early dialup bulletin board systems and Usenet groups of the 1970s and 80s, but are far more robust in features and usability.\nIn your industry specifically, there may be several websites or forums dedicated to online discussions relevant to industry news and topics. You name it, there’s probably a forum dedicated to it.\nFurthermore, there are huge, more general forums where you can find “subforums” or groups dedicated specifically to your industry.\nkeyboard with forum button for small business marketing\n\nSome examples of popular, large, diverse forums include Reddit and Quora. Even within broad forums such as these, you can often find topics related to your industry that you can get involved with.  \nContributing to the conversation on these forums is a great way to help spread your brand awareness and establish your business as a leader in the industry. We’ll guide you through some best practices to help you along the way. \nFind a few “top-quality” groups\nAs you are making the business decision to start participating in industry forums, you need to decide which forums you will participate in. There are tons and tons of forum sites out there, so don’t spread yourself too thin by trying to participate in every one possible. \nInstead, pick a select few that seem like good options for your business. Do your research to determine which forums are the most relevant to your industry. \nAsk these questions to help you decide which forums to use:\nWhat is their visitor traffic like?\nAre people asking questions relevant to your business and industry?\nWhat forums are your competitors participating on?\nWhat forums are other industry laters conducting discussions on?\nTop-quality forums will have a lot of traffic with people asking all of the questions that you know how to answer well, and other industry leaders and businesses will be active on those sites. \nOf course, if your business is very esoteric or specialized, there may only be one or two “main” forums relating to your particular specialty (such as the tongue-in-cheek \nmongolian underwater basket weaving forum\n), so modify this advice as appropriate.\nAnd if there isn’t an existing forum relating to your particular industry, perhaps you should consider starting one!\nCheck back often and follow up\nWhen you start engaging with industry forums, it’s important to keep that engagement up. You don’t want to go through the trouble of getting your forum membership approved and answer someone’s question and then find out three months later that they asked a followup question that you neglected to respond to (or even worse, one of your competitors responded to it). \nThat’s why it’s important to check back on the forums that you engage with often and follow up with the people you’ve had discussions with to see if you were able to solve their problem. \nOn most forum sites you can set up email notifications to be informed when someone comments on one of your posts or engages with one of your comments. Set up these notifications so you can promptly reply. \nAlong the lines of checking back often, you should also set yourself up to receive notifications when new questions or relevant posts are published so that you can be Johnny-on-the-spot and get the first response to these posts. \nDon’t be spammy; be forthcoming\nNo one likes spammy practices, so just don’t do it. One of the most common ways that people are spammy on forums is by posting links in the comments (usually to their own websites). This used to be a common practice to help websites get backlinks to their websites for SEO purposes. They would just spam links in the comments of forum discussions to get more links to their site. \nWell, our advice is to not do that. It makes your business look spammy, it doesn’t reflect well for your online reputation, and it doesn’t help you rank better in the search engines. Google can see right through spammy practices like this. \nWhat’s more, this type of practice is often frowned upon by forum administrators, moderators, and members.\nThat doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t ever post a link in a comment or forum post. When you have some valuable information or resources that are relevant to the discussion, then by all means, share it. Just be careful about the number of links you are sharing as you get involved in these discussions, and don’t just provide the same rote answer to every question. \nTake some time and actually participate in the forum and develop relationships of trust with members.\nIn addition, we recommend you be forthcoming about your business, including your forum “avatar” and persona. Make it very clear that you own a business and include links and info about it in your forum profile.\nYou will be much more likely to be accepted and recommended by long-time forum members if you are up-front about your business purposes rather than get exposed as a “company shill.”\nMany forums prohibit blatant commercial posting, but many also allow forum sponsorship, and/or provide additional posting privileges to businesses who sponsor the forum.\nSome even provide dedicated sub-forums for businesses who are authorized forum sponsors. This can be an effective method of advertising to your specific audience, particularly for businesses that sell goods and services online.\nChoose your forum discussions wisely\nJust like you should choose the forum websites that you participate on wisely, you should also be smart about the specific discussions that you choose to engage with. \nOne thing to look for is how active and recent the discussions are. If there’s a discussion with a question that you could easily answer, but it was posted several months (or years!) ago and the discussion has died off, then you won’t want to waste your time with that one. \nIf you just run a global forum search and start “bumping” old threads that are related to your business solutions, you’ll anger the membership and get banned quickly.\nbanned stamp from industry forums for small business\n\nFocus on discussions that currently have active participants so that your company is gaining good exposure and actually providing value to the conversation. \nSet yourself apart as an authority in your industry\nAs you participate in discussions with a lot of participants and activity, it will be important to make sure your comments stand out from the rest. If people are not reading, liking, and/or upvoting your comments, then they will fall to the bottom of the list and won’t be as likely to be seen. \nMake sure your contributions offer some unique value to the conversation, whether that’s a differing perspective than everyone else or a new solution that is proprietary to your company. \nEvery business and person that comments on any discussion wants their comments to stand out so you’ll have a lot of competition here, especially on high-traffic forums. Do your best to set yourself apart from the crowd so that you can become a thought-leader for your industry. \nClaim your online business profiles and participate in related forums\nSeveral \nonline business listings\n host their own online forums. As you are setting up your online business profiles, check out the additional features offered on those sites. Will their online forums be of value to your business and relevant to your industry? If so, then use them!


Best practices for small business participation on industry forums

In this article:\nBest local resources for Washington, DC businesses\nThe nice thing about starting your own business (besides the obvious benefits of working for yourself and setting your own hours) is that there are numerous resources available to help small business owners and entrepreneurs like you find success.\nIn Washington, DC, several community-based organizations have been built with the premise of helping small businesses get started and grow. We’ll provide a bunch of the best resources within this article. \nYou’ll find these resources broken down into five broad categories:\nComprehensive resources\nBusiness classes and mentors\nFinancial assistance\nChambers of commerce\nHiring and employment resources\nComprehensive resources\nThese comprehensive business resources can help your DC-area business with anything from offering advice to helping you secure the proper funding to get started. \nSmall Business Administration (SBA)\nThe SBA is a national organization that was created to help small businesses access the resources they need to find success and thrive in their local communities. The SBA can help you choose your business name and get it registered, find access to funding, connect you with business mentors, give you more information about contracting and legal compliance, and much more. \nThey are your all-in-one local business resource for anything that you might need as a business owner. \nContact the Washington DC office for more information about local resources:\nWashington Metropolitan Area District Office
409 3rd Street SW, Floor 2
Washington, DC\nPhone: (202) 205-8800
Website: \nsba.gov\nDepartment of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD)\nWhether you are just starting your small business or have a fully operational business, the DSLBD has the resources you need. With trainings, seminars, workshops, one-on-one technical help and more, this organization can help you strengthen and grow your business. \nConnect with the DSLBD:\nDept. of Small & Local Business Development
441 4th Street, NW, Suite 850 
North, Washington, DC 20001\nPhone: (202) 727-3900
Email: dslbd@dc.gov
Website: \ndslbd.dc.gov\nlong exposure image of Washington monument and traffic for small business resources\n\nBusiness classes and mentors\nSometimes all you need to strengthen your business is a little additional knowledge. Through advisors and business courses that are available in your community, you can do just that. Here are a couple of great places to start in Washington, DC. \nSCORE\nSCORE is a national organization that provides free mentoring to small businesses. They have a Washington, DC branch that provides workshops and one-on-one counseling services to help you gain the additional skillsets you need to take your business to the next level. \nVisit their website below to see the workshop schedule or to find a mentor that fits your needs. \nWashington DC SCORE Office
409 3rd Street, SW Suite 100a
Washington, DC, 20024\nPhone: (202) 619-1000
Email: help@score.org
Website: \nwashingtondc.score.org\nWashington DC Women’s Business Center (DCWBC)\nDCWBC proudly provides training and consulting to women entrepreneurs in the DC area. This organization is partially funded by the Small Business Administration in order to provide the best training opportunities to women entrepreneurs, particularly those who are at a social or economic disadvantage. \nContact the DCWBC:\nThe Washington, DC Women’s Business Center
740 15th Street, NW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20005\nPhone: (202) 393-8307
Email: info@dcwbc.org
Website: \nwww.dcwbc.org\n\nNew Horizons Computer Learning Centers\nNew Horizons offers business education and technical courses to help business owners and individuals in the community, from specific certifications you may need to application courses that to help you learn basic skills. \nAreas that New Horizons focuses their business courses on include:\nBusiness analysis\nBusiness skills\nProject management\nSAP\nSix Sigma\nContact New Horizons for more information about their courses:\nNew Horizons of Washington, D.C.
2010 Corporate Ridge, Suite 200
McLean, Virginia 22102\nPhone: (703) 749-4030
Email: info@newhorizons.com
Website: \nwww.dcnewhorizons.com\nFinancial assistance\nIt can be difficult to secure the funds to get a business going. These resources can help your Washington DC business acquire the capital your business needs. \nWashington, DC GrantWatch\nGrantWatch is a website that keeps track of upcoming business grants in your area. Find public, private, and state grants for specific types of companies and work. \nGo to \nwashingtondc.grantwatch.com\n to see grants that may apply to your business. \nWashington DC view from Georgetown for small business resources\nChambers of commerce\nChambers of commerce are networks of local business owners that seek to help grow their community and further economic development in their area. As a member of a chamber of commerce you’ll have unnumbered networking opportunities, marketing resources, financial assistance, and more. \nLearn more: \nChamber of commerce basics: what they do and why you should join\nTwo main chambers exist in the DC area. \nDC Chamber of Commerce\n1133 21st Street, NW, Suite M200
Washington, DC 20036\nPhone: (202) 347-7201
Email: info@dcchamber.org
Website: \nhttps://dcchamber.org/\n\nU.S. Chamber of Commerce\n1615 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20062-2000\nPhone: (202) 659-6000
Website: \nhttps://www.uschamber.com/\nHiring and employment resources\nWhen you are ready to start growing your business and hire employees, there are several hiring resources and staffing agencies available in Washington DC. \nDepartment of Employment Services (DOES)\nThe Department of Employment Services can help you with everything from making a hire to understanding worker’s comp and foreign labor laws. This department is your go-to resource when you need to know anything about employment laws and what your responsibilities will be as an employer. \nFor more information, contact DOES.\nDepartment of Employment Services
4058 Minnesota Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20019\nPhone: (202) 724-7000
Email: does@dc.gov
Website: \ndoes.dc.gov\n

Top local Washington, DC business resources

In this article:\nCan I remove a Facebook review?\nShould I remove Facebook reviews?\nWhen should I remove Facebook reviews?\nHow do I remove reviews from my Facebook business page?\nBest practices for Facebook reviews\nOnline reviews are an important part of reputation management for any business, including small local businesses. Consumers look to online reviews on Facebook and other sites to see if their friends like your business and what others are saying about you. \nSometimes, however, the reviews that we get on Facebook are less than ideal. Whether they include false claims or come from a disgruntled customer, bad reviews are never fun to get. We’ll walk you through a few different scenarios in which you may want to remove a Facebook review. \nCan I remove a Facebook review?\nLet’s start by answering this question: Is it even possible to remove a Facebook review completely? \nThe answer is yes, but this process doesn’t come without its challenges. Some reviews are easier to remove than others. \nFor example, if the review clearly violates Facebook’s policies, whether it be spam, hate speech, and any other discriminatory content, then Facebook is usually pretty good about removing these right away. \nSometimes false reviews can go undetected though, and that’s where you may need to get involved to take the review down. \nman giving thumbs down gesture for negative facebook reviews\n\nShould I remove Facebook reviews?\nBefore we get into how to remove Facebook reviews, let’s talk about whether or not you should try to remove every bad review that comes across your business’s Facebook page. \nNot all bad reviews are necessarily bad for business. Sometimes a bad review, if legitimate, can even be good for business if you handle it well by responding and resolving the issue with your customer. \nBad reviews can provide valuable feedback, bringing to light issues with your products, services, staff, or facilities that you might not hear about from other sources. \nAnd if you take the opportunity remedy the situation, this often results in a more loyal customer than one who doesn’t leave a review at all. \nSo, to answer the “should I remove negative Facebook reviews?” question: if the review is legit and from a real customer, you should probably not try remove it. \nThis brings us to another good question. \nWhen should I remove Facebook reviews?\nWhen a Facebook review seems suspicious, fake, or spammy, that’s when it is a good idea to try and get it removed. \nHere are some tips for spotting fake Facebook reviews:\nThe description is vague (no specific detail about the business offerings)\nThe reviewer is connected with a competitor\nThe reviewer is connected with a former employee\nRead more: \nHow to spot fake online reviews\nHow do I remove reviews from my Facebook business page?\nThere are two main ways to remove reviews from your Facebook page: reporting the review to Facebook or turning off reviews and recommendations on your Facebook page. \nWe recommend the first option because turning off your reviews completely isn’t going to help your online reputation. Customers expect to be able to read reviews, and if you don’t allow them, it may seem like you’re trying to hide something. \nSo, let’s go over the process of reporting reviews. \nHow to report reviews on your Facebook page\nIf you are fairly certain that a review is fake, then you should definitely report it. To report a review, go to the review on your page and click on the exclamation point in the comment box icon. \n(Image)\n\nFrom there, you will have the option to tell Facebook what about the review goes against their policies:\nNot relevant to the company\nUnfair review\nNudity\nHarassment\nViolence\nSuicide or self-injury\nDrugs\nHate speech\nSpam\nMore often than not, if you are reporting a false review it will fall under “not relevant” or “spam.” Select the reason that fits best, and then click “Send.”\n(Image)\n\nFrom there, Facebook will determine whether or not the review qualifies for removal. And that’s about as far as you can take it on your own. \nIf you personally know who left the review, you can also reach out to them and ask that they remove the review. \nHow to turn reviews off on your Facebook page\nThe other option is to hide your reviews from your Facebook page completely. The benefit of this is that no one can leave false reviews on your Facebook page. The downside is that no one can leave any reviews on your Facebook page. So, if possible, try to avoid this option in order to provide a better experience for consumers who are researching your business. \nTo turn off Facebook reviews, follow these instructions:\nGo to your Facebook page and click Settings. 
\n(Image)\n\nOn the left menu bar, click Templates and Tabs.
\n(Image)\n\nScroll down to the Tabs list and find Reviews. Click Settings. 
\n(Image)\n\nClick the ON switch so it says “OFF” and then click Save. 
\n(Image)\n\nIf you’d like to remove Recommendations from your business page as well, you can follow these same instructions for Recommendations. \nBest practices for Facebook reviews\nThe number one best practice that we can give you for Facebook reviews is to always respond to them. Even if the review is clearly fake, you still need to wait for Facebook to check your report and remove it. In the meantime, respond to the review letting the reviewer (and all who read the review) know that you don’t have a record of them as a customer. \nWhenever a review comes in—good, bad, or fake—leave a prompt response that shows you acknowledged the review and, if bad, are working on fixing the situation. \nLearn more: \nHow to respond to negative reviews\n\nA few easy best practices to keep in mind when it comes to Facebook reviews:\nAlways respond\nRespond quickly\nRemind people that you appreciate their feedback to encourage regular reviews\n

How to remove Facebook reviews from your local business page

In this article: \nTop free website builders for small businesses\nPros and cons of several popular site builders\nExamples of free templates and features for free site builders\nThere are tons of free website builders that can help you get a start to marketing your business online. These are generally pretty simple to set up, too, so you don’t need a professional web developer or any knowledge of how to code. \nPrebuilt templates and drag and drop features make creating your own business website a breeze. But how do know which website builder is right for your business?\nIn this article we’ll walk you through the pros and cons of the top free website builders so that you can choose the one the suits the needs of your business the best. \nYou may also like: \nAre free website hosting and domains really free?\n\nBest free website builders for small businesses—pros and cons\nLet’s dive right in. Check out these website builders to see which one might be best for your business. \nWix\nWeebly\nJimdo\nSite123\nWordPress.com\nWix\nWix is a widely used free website builder among small businesses. However, generally speaking, most business owners that use Wix have upgraded to a paid plan in order to have their own custom domain on the website (like www.yourbusinessname.com) instead of the free subdomain that Wix gives you (accountname.wix.com/customname).\nPros of Wix’s free plan\nWix has tons of great features and reasons that it can be a good free option for your business. \nHundreds of template options to choose from for all business types\nDrag and drop features to make your website look exactly how you want it to\nOver 100 fonts to choose from and the ability to upload your own fonts\nWix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) can custom design a website for you with the input of a few options from you \nSEO customization\n500MB of free webspace\nCons of Wix’s free plan\nWhile Wix offers tons of features on its free plan and gives you the capabilities to create a beautiful business website, there are some limitations of the free plan. \nYou can’t have your own custom domain\nYour website will have ads on it from Wix\nYou can’t have an online store on a free Wix site\nLimited bandwidth and storage\nBy upgrading to Wix’s Combo plan for $13/month, you can remove the ads from the site and connect a custom domain. This is usually enough for informational websites. \nHowever, if you want to have an online store or accept online payments, you’ll want to look at Wix’s \nbusiness and ecommerce plans\n that start at $23/month. \nExamples of templates and demo sites from Wix\nHave a look at the below to get an idea of some of the templates and features Wix offers: \nhttps://www.wix.com/website/templates\n(Image)\n\nDemo site: \nhttps://www.wix.com/website-template/view/html/2651\n(Image)\n\nFeatures: \nhttps://www.wix.com/features/main\n(Image)\n\nWeebly\nWeebly is a free website building solution that partners with Square for its ecommerce capabilities. They do provide the option to have a free online store, however, that does come with the \ntransaction fees\n of using Square for payment processing. \nPros of Weebly’s free plan\nEcommerce capabilities, including the ability to manage inventory, add coupons, and automatically determine taxes\nMarketing features like SEO, lead captures, and the ability to add your Instagram feed to the website are included\nChat and email support are available\nCons of Weebly’s free plan\nYou can’t add your own custom domain to the free website plan (you’ll have to use customname.weebly.com)\nYou have a limited amount of storage for the website, which can become an issue if you have a lot of pages or products\nSquare ads will be on your website\nA slideout “powered by Weebly” ad will be in the footer of your website\nThere’s a cookie notice that you can’t disable on the free plan\nYou don’t get free phone support\nMost of these cons can be bypassed by upgrading to Weebly’s professional plan, which starts at $12/month. \nExamples of templates and features from Weebly\nHave a look at the below to get an idea of some of the templates and features Weebly offers: \nTemplates: \nhttps://www.weebly.com/themes\n(Image)\n\nHere’s a demo site we created using Weebly:\n(Image)\n\nBelow you can look at the breakdown of Weebly’s pricing and features: \nhttps://www.weebly.com/pricing\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nJimdo\nJimdo is another website builder that is easy to use, and it will allow you to create a simple and professional-looking website for your business. However, the free plan is pretty limited compared to some of the other popular free website builders. \nBeyond a website builder, Jimdo offers some other products (for additional cost) that can help you get your business off the ground: online store, custom domain options, and a custom logo builder. \nPros of Jimdo’s free plan\nYou get 500 MB of free storage for your website\nYou can start an online store (the free version is capped at 5 products)\nSeveral free templates to choose from, all you need to do is change the fonts and colors to match your brand\nYou can easily embed videos, contact forms, and Google Maps on your website\nBuilt-in tools for social media are included along with share buttons for your pages, products, or blog posts\nCons of Jimdo’s free plan\nYou can only have 5 web pages\nYou can only have up to 5 products in your store\nYou don’t get a custom domain connected to your site (you’ll have customname.jimdosite.com)\nIf you want unlimited products and pages on your website, you’ll have to use Jimdo’s unlimited plan, which starts at $39/month. If you only need a few pages or products, but you want a custom domain, then you could do just fine with their Start plan, which is $9/month. \nExamples of templates and features from Jimdo\nTemplates: \nhttps://www.jimdo.com/examples/\n(Image)\n\nDemo site: \nhttps://amanda-brennan-creative-producer.jimdosite.com/\n(Image)\n\nBelow you can see the pricing and features breakdown of Jimdo: \nhttps://www.jimdo.com/pricing/creator/\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nSite123\nSite123 claims to be the easiest free website builder “by far.” They help you get a website started in just three steps:\nSelect the type of website you want\nAdd your business name\nCreate your account\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nOf course, there’s more to actually building your website, but this is all you need to do to get started in editing and building your new website. \nPros of Site123’s free plan\nFull use of Site123’s website editor with easy drag and drop features and clickable fields to edit content\nTons of professional templates to start from \nEasily add multiple pages\nCons of Site123’s free plan\nYou can’t have a custom domain\nYou won’t have ecommerce capabilities\nThere’s a small banner ad at the bottom of the free sites. Currently it looks like this:\n(Image)\n\nSite123’s Premium plan starts at $12.80/month and eliminates the cons of the free plan. \nExamples of templates and features from Site123\nTemplates: \nhttps://www.site123.com/website-templates\n(Image)\n\nDemo site: \nhttps://www.site123.com/templates/preview/1278915\n(Image)\n\nFeatures: \nhttps://www.site123.com/features\n(Image)\n\n \nWordPress.com\nIf all you need is an informational platform, then WordPress.com can provide a quick, free solution. WordPress.com, \ndifferent from WordPress.org\n, is primarily a blogging platform, but you can use it to provide information about your business services and products in a beautiful and professional way. \nPros of WordPress.com’s free plan\nDozens of free website templates to choose from\nAny content you write on your WordPress.com website remains your property\nEasy-to-use editor that automatically saves your work every few minutes\nCons of WordPress.com’s free plan\nYou won’t be able to use a custom domain\nCustomer support is limited, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan for good support\nStorage space is capped at 3 GB\nSEO capabilities are limited\nYou won’t have access to install plugins for additional functionality on your site (i.e. contact forms, slideshows, online booking, etc.)\nNo ecommerce capabilities\nFor as little as $4/month, you can have your own custom domain, 6 GB of storage, and basic customer support. For additional features, you can check out their other payment plans at \nWordPress.com\n. If you want to have ecommerce capabilities with a WordPress.com website, you will need to upgrade to their Ecommerce plan for $45/month. \nExamples of templates and features from WordPress\nTemplates: \nhttps://wordpress.com/themes\n(Image)\n\nDemo site: \nhttps://wordpress.com/theme/maywood\n(Image)\n\nFeatures: \nhttps://wordpress.com/features/\n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nWhat should you do after your website is published?\nCreating a business website, whether free or not, is only the first step to increasing your online visibility. There are several steps involved, most of which revolve around \nlocal SEO\n and getting reviews to your \nonline business listings\n like Google My Business. 

149 articles found in “Growing your business”

Chamber of commerce basics: what they do and why you should join

Facebook ads for local business: Read this first!

Best practices for small business participation on industry forums

Top local Washington, DC business resources

How to remove Facebook reviews from your local business page

Free site builders: Which one is right for your business? Pros and cons

Recommended

How to spot fake online reviews

25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)

How much does it cost to rent space for a small business?

The 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program

Important market research questions to ask before starting a new business