Facebook Group Ettiquette

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Today has been a wonderful day. As I was going through my daily tasks, I came across a comment on my Facebook group that really struck me as an “aha” moment. Let me first preface this by saying that as my group has grown to over 200 members, I have been working hard to encourage participation rather than simply having members post their affiliate ads alone. Here’s the post I received and the comments that followed:

A Facebook Group Conversation

Post: I am leaving this group because I only see people dropping their business links, and not sharing value. No one ever joins just from a link, but they do join from a relationship
“This post was liked by three of my members”

Comment 1: Why not start your own group and teach others..
“Posted by member 1″

Comment 2: send me a friend request…
“Posted by member 1″

Comment 3: As much as I hate to say you’re right “post author” because I would love to see this group grow, you are right. I can’t agree with you more… perhaps we can work together by creating a group that really supports the theory of building and developing relationships! “Posted by Jaime”

Comment 4: Jaime, I run a group like that, but I keep it deliberately small and invite only. It gets more action than the groups I’m in with thousands of members, and people do a ton of business in there. You need to lay down very strict rules at the start of a Facebook group, and be vigilant about imposing them, for it to work. When it does… it rocks! That’s because everyone’s doing business, but nobody is ‘selling’ anyone because everyone views everyone else as a unique human being with valuable properties. Elsewhere people aren’t even people… they’re just leads or affiliate sales. Nah. Not how I roll.
“Posted by member 2″

Comment 5: I am working on the parameters for another group that I will slowly build over time that will be based more on the above values… thank you for your feedback…
“Comment by Jaime”

Choose the Right Members for Your Facebook Group

As you can tell, this particular post affected me. However, not in the way you might think. This post motivated me to develop a better Facebook Group. Fortunately, I had two conversations on Facebook’s private message chat following this development that helped me move forward.

Building a Facebook properly from the start will Save you a bunch of heartache later.Image Credit: johnhaydon.com
The first conversation I had was with an experienced internet marketing professional asking me to join their coaching group. I was excited that someone took an interest in me; however, as the conversation developed, I mentioned I was currently working with a team and I didn’t want to leave them as I admire and trust them. Although this person was cordial, they conversation ended after I politely declined their offer.

A little later, I was contacted by another mentor/coaching group administrator. This conversation went in a completely different direction. I wasn’t asked to do anything during our short, but dynamic conversation. Quickly, I discovered the thin line between achieving success (the 1%) and working to find the solution to success (the 99%). This short conversation, along with an invitation to learn more from this group provided me with the answers to make an easy decision.

Don’t get me wrong, there is something to be said for hard work and consistency, but if you aren’t doing the right things and continue to do so, well… that’s the very definition of insanity. In order to grow, you must be willing to accept criticism with an open mind. Of course, not all criticism is necessarily good, but if you are open to learning eventually you will be able to take what works from you and what doesn’t.

The above scenario is a great example of talking to two separate professionals in their given field, having a conversation with them and ultimately deciding which direction to go, and deciding what works best for you. Information is one of the most important facets of building a Facebook Group, or any entity or community for that matter; however, where you disseminate your information from should be carefully considered as this will ultimately provide you with the direction in which you proceed.

Rules of a Facebook Group

First things first, if you have already started a Facebook group, you can’t change the rules midstream… You will lose all your members. Instead, come up with a set of rules prior to launching your group and don’t worry about having a small group. Remember, quality not quantity.

Do the research. Make sure to check out other groups within your niche and check out the quality of the posts and comments. See how many other members are participating in the posts and read their comments. If you see poor quality content and a bunch of members simply clicking “like” on the posts or members are posting affiliate links with no videos or images, then chances are this is not going to be producing quality members.

Next, check the menu tabs at the top of the group. First, click on the “About” tab and see what the administrator has written about the group. This is typically where you’ll find the do’s and don’ts of the group. Next, familiarize yourself with any events that the members may be organizing by clicking on the “Events” tab. This will help you become, not only a better participant, but provide you with another opportunity to check out the quality of the group and whether or not it is a group you would be interested in joining.

Next is the “Photo” tab… this is where your members should post photos about fun and work both… if there aren’t any photos there, it’s not that big of a deal, but most disciplined groups will direct their members to post photos there to support a well-organized group. The last tab is the “Files” tab. This tab is the most important because if the administrator has taken the time to properly set up a group prior to launching it, they will have included a document or documents with a detailed description for the operation of the group as well as training tips, etc. If the admin doesn’t have any files, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad group, but the group may not be as organized as it should be.

The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll realize just what you’ve been missing out on, and see all of the internet marketing opportunities available. I would like to give credit to TrafficBlogCafe.com with any questions.

Feel free to visit them on Facebook, +mmania2012 (Google+) or send them a tweet with a question or just to say hi. Thank you.