When I first started out with a Facebook page for my business, I thought, “This is gonna be so easy. I have no problem using it for my personal life, so it should work the same way for a business, right?” But then when it came time to post new content, I’d draw a blank. Was I supposed to stay professional? Keep my personality out of it? All of a sudden, I had no idea what would be interesting to followers. Did they really care about the stuff I did?

So I made the mistake a lot of people make: I gave up and just made it an advertisement for my new products or even worse, I just forgot all about it for awhile. Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve struggled with the same thoughts. How do all of these other businesses keep up with daily posts and keep people coming back? Why is it so hard to think of great stuff to share?

Recently, I did a little research and have been learning from a bunch of people who are way smarter than me on how to make a successful fan page. Since I’m just learning and starting to put these things into practice too, let’s team up and work on them together. Ready? Here are a few things the experts did….

Create a Community

The goal is to be able to carry on conversations with your followers, getting input and feedback. You want to make it a place where they want to return again and again because they want to know what you have to share. When you post, you want to give your audience something to talk about, something to be excited about, or a chance to get to know the “you” behind your business. No one wants their news feed filled up with a list of your products or your most recent pictures with no story behind them. How is that any different than your website or store? You can take advantage of the features of Facebook and Twitter by creating an atmosphere and a place where your followers can see behind the scenes.

Teach or Share

Have a throwback to Kindergarten and do some show and tell. What has inspired you lately in your work? What made you decide to take the approach you did to your service or product? Do you have any great articles, resources or images you liked that someone else might like too? Mix it up – add in a video, host a giveaway contest, share a quote. Whatever is meaningful to you and your work is probably going to be meaningful to your target audience. Even if you don’t feel like an expert, chances are you know a few things that others would like to know. Give your fans something to connect with.

Stay Connected with Regular Content

Don’t let yourself draw a blank and forget all about your page. Even if you are posting something seemingly insignificant like a song that inspired you today, it’s so much better than not posting anything at all. If you drop off the face of the earth for awhile, your followers will probably stop coming back too. Would you keep going back to a store whose hours kept changing and were closed a lot of the time? In the same way, you want to be reliable and always connected in. Even if your content doesn’t “wow” them every time, they will stick around because they know that more great stuff is coming soon.

Follow Up

This can be hard because obviously running a business takes time and we can’t just chat on Facebook all day. But if a follower takes the time to comment on something you said or ask a question, you should really take some time to get back to them. As much as you can, try to answer questions, carry on the conversation and thank them for their input. People will be all the more willing to share your stuff and advertise for you if they feel like they can relate and know that you care about them. Plus you will probably get to know some really cool people in the process. Win-win:)

I realize a lot of this stuff takes hard work and requires you to be intentional about everything you do. But looking at the experts and their outcomes, I’m thinking the payoff will be worth it.

Okay, if you’re still feeling like, “Yeah…but what do I say? How do I think up new stuff to post every day?” I put together a Rock Your Facebook PDF with more tips and a pretty fun schedule for Facebook posting that will help generate new ideas on a daily basis. For a limited time, the PDF will be included with my new Social Media Kits so you will have all you need to get started! Good luck!

Do you have any more expert tips for me? What works for you when it comes to Facebook posting?