In many ways Facebook has revolutionized the world we live in…and that goes for business too. But many business owners are skeptical about the benefits of social media.
Can you actually make money on Facebook?
The answer is yes! And you can do it in several different ways. But before you get started making money on Facebook , there are a few things you will need in place.
What do you need to do to make money on Facebook?
You need to have an online business.
I mean, it should go without saying…but to really make money, you need to be more than a hobby. You need to be a real business. Do you have your business checking account? Have you set up your business with the right legal structure and tax needs? Do you have a way to accept payment for your products? Get your business ducks in a row and making money on Facebook will be a much more simple process.
You need consistency.
When you use Facebook you need to be consistent. Facebook uses an algorithm to decide who they will show your posts to. If you aren’t consistent, then Facebook simply won’t show your posts to anyone, even the people who’ve said they want to see them.
You need social proof.
When someone buys something from you, and sends you a message, posts a review, or shares a photo, those bits of social proof make it easier for you to sell to other people. It proves that you are a real business. And that you can be trusted.
You need to engage with your audience.
This is the big one, the most important one. It is first and foremost. You can’t post a picture with a price and expect to get sales after sales. This just isn’t how Facebook works, but you can make money from pictures. How do I do that Ashley without posting a link because we know Facebook doesn’t like links, I am so glad you asked.
Ways to Make Money on Facebook
Each of these ways can earn sales for you on Facebook. It takes some experimenting to know how your audience will react to these methods. But it also takes some time to train your people on the ways that they can purchase from you. Live video gets more reach on Facebook, so consider going live to talk about or create products before you try all of these methods or to help teach your customers how they will be able to purchase from you.
#1. Post a product.
Honestly, once you have engaged shoppers on your page you have done the hard part. Posting a product with engaging copy that goes with it can lead to sales on your Facebook page. Take a look at this recent post I did…
As you can see I simply posted a product without any type of call to action or price attached to it. It was more of a personal, informative post, just a picture of my husband with a new metal design we created. This piece even till needed some work but then what do we see? A customer responding to say she needs to order two. When this happens, make sure you respond.
And did you see that new feature Facebook is giving my business page? The customer can now send a message directly from the post. Oh Facebook! You do love business pages again don’t you? Facebook is putting such an emphasis on communicating and making it easier for us as business owners. Always remember engagement is key on your pages!
Pros and Cons of posting a product for sale on Facebook
Pros: Posting is an easy way to get a product out there and try to make a sale. You can make sure these are items that are easy to replicate or recreate or even can be custom orders depending on your preference.
Cons: You have to be careful about using salesy words in your posts or Facebook won’t show them very well. Because of the way the algorithm works, posting multiple posts in a row or in an album does not work well on a business page.
#2. Have a live sale.
It will come as no secret if you have followed me for any amount of time that I love doing Lives. Okay, so maybe I don’t love them as much as I am addicted to them. So of course , having a live sale is kind of my jam. But girls, I am here to tell you this is an amazing way to bring in revenue to your business.
On your lives don’t be that copper pot seller. Be engaged and excited about your product. Have new things to offer. Make sure you start posting and preparing for your sale.
One of the common mistakes that I see is people who first start out doing these might only mention the Live sale one or two times.
Now if you have done this for a while, you have it on the same night every month or week and your customers are used to live sales, then you have already done your job with marketing and you don’t have to hit the announcing and re-announcing as hard.
But if you are just getting started it is a must to mention the live sale as much as possible leading up to it.
Pros and Cons of having a live sale to make money on Facebook.
Pros: Lives get tons of engagement. You can get a lot of product in front of your audience in a short time. As you see what sells on your lives, you will know what would be best to list on Etsy or Amazon Handmade.
Cons: If you don’t have an engaged audience then a live can leave you with leftover product. And if you haven’t gotten your people at least a little used to you going live, and prepped them for what the live sale will look like, then it won’t be as successful.
#3. Create a Facebook Group for selling
It is also no secret I love Facebook Groups. Yes, you can make amazing cash very quickly by having a Facebook group. Facebook is putting a huge emphasis on communities which means more visibility for groups and group posts.
By creating a buying group you can customize special deals for your customers and generate some major cash flow by having perks, sales and even conducting some product research in your group.
I personally have used my Facebook Group to make thousands of dollars a month. My favorite strategy to making money in a group is by having a restock. A restock is just what it sounds like. You are restocking your group with products.
There are a ton of ways to sell in groups, but restocks create a frenzy with my methods. And that frenzy leads to more sales. I would love to help you with that. Inside of the Codebook course I actually have my signature Facebook Selling Course. I walk you through a 6 video series on how to have a killer restock.
Pros and Cons of using a Facebook Group to make money.
Pros: It is easy in a group to build a frenzy around your product. And restock style sales do really well in groups.
Cons: It can take time to build a group and it’s an extra place where you have to provide content for group members. But it’s one of my favorite ways to make money.
#4. Funnel your Facebook traffic to Etsy, Amazon or your website.
Sometimes when people hear funnel they automatically are fearful of the tech that comes with it or don’t fully understand what a funnel is. Now don’t get me wrong, yes you can build a lot of funnels that would be super complicated and way over my tech abilities. Click here and it takes them here and here and here…
But a funnel is basically having a group of people and getting them to go to another place. Look at kind of like a slide. You are that the top and in order to get to the bottom you slide down. There might be some people that don’t want to slide down. But there are others who are excited enough about you and your product that they will. A funnel works much of the same way.
One of the easiest funnels you can have is through your social media. My favorite simple funnel I do is from myFacebook Business page, to my Facebook group, to my website. I am gathering people and funneling them to another offer or another side of my business.
Much like this blog you are reading right now? Did you find me on a platform like Pinterest or Facebook? It lead you here to to my blog. And if you like what you see here, you might click on something else. So funneling from social media gets more eyes to where you need them. Hopefully in time you can make money from the exposure you are gaining.
Pros and Cons of having using a funnel to make money with Facebook.
Pros: Making money with a website can be a frustratingly slow process. Frequently my students ask me why their website isn’t making money. But funneling traffic to your website can increase sales and then also traffic to your website.
Cons: It can take time and relies on you having an engaged Facebook audience to really make it work. Facebook doesn’t like links off platform, so you have to be creative and/or make your engagement stellar.
#5. Run a Facebook Ad
Ads can be scary. It is possible to waste a lot of money if you don’t know what you are doing. But oh my friends if you do? A good Facebook ad selling product can do wonders for your business. Targeting the right people, with good pictures, price points, shipping and having your messaging on point is key to having a good ad!
Pros and Cons of using Facebook Ads to make money on Facebook
Pros: You have very specific targeting options to make sure that the people that see your ad are the most likely to buy your products. And targeted ad spend can bring a great return on how much you invest in the ad.
Cons: It costs money. And learning to use Facebook ads can be a frustrating process if you don’t take some time to learn the basics. We are partial to our course because it has an entire module for learning the basics of facebook ads. With it we eliminate a lot of the trial and error that can come with ads.
Another con of using a Facebook Ad is the risk that if you get your targeting wrong then you will attract the wrong audience to your page or item. But don’t worry. We have you covered in the Creative Codebook Course.
Time for your plan to make money on Facebook.
- Set up your business for success.
- Post consistently
- Build an engaged audience.
- Go live and get customers used to seeing you.
- Gather social proof
- Post items for sale
- Plan a live sale.
- Create a group for selling.
- Funnel your traffic to your website.
- Run ads to gain sales if desired.
This is really the formula to get more sales on Facebook. None of these steps are super difficult to do. Some may take time to see some success. Others may take some learning and some effort on your part. But all of them are possible and profitable no matter how small or large your page is. Focus on posting consistently and building the engagement on your page and you will have created an audience that is primed to buy from you and excited to purchase whatever you have to sell.
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