Tired of the Google Shuffle? Maybe it's time to give Facebook a try.

With the latest set of changes to Google's search algorithm (Penguin, Panda, the recent EMD + new Panda Update), some people heavily reliant on SEO for traffic have been struggling quite a bit. For some folks, it seems like it's a never ending seesaw of:

Google Search Change --> search rank drop --> new techniques to compensate --> search rank rise --> Google Search Change --> search rank drop --> new techniques to compensate --> ... ad infinitum

If you're one of the folks trapped in this nefarious cycle, it may be time to try another venue for making money -- namely, Facebook. Mind you, not all monetization schemes translate into Facebook, but for those that do, dabbling in the Facebook market can be fairly lucrative. And, better yet, even if you're happy with your SEO-based business, adding Facebook as an adjunct to your monetization projects doesn't hurt.

The Facebook Opportunity Mindset

Just as with any IM enterprise, there are several approaches to making money within Facebook. For instance,

• some people use Facebook as (a viral) part of the sales funnel into their website,
• some people use Facebook ads to direct people to highly-converting offers (this can be a bit tricky),
• some people get recurring income from Facebook community sales through F-Commerce platforms,
• some people even use Facebook to just keep their "brand" top-of-mind,
• etc.

Irrespective of how you plan on engaging Facebook for your business, here are a few tips for you to keep in mind:

• fans are golden

  If you're a list builder, treat the fans on your fanpage as you would your list members.
  If you're a brick and mortar store owner, think of fans as the community consisting of your potential customers/referrers (i.e., a big portion of a typical business' "goodwill").
  Your fanpage is the base you need to build up, the folks you want to keep engaged. They pave the way for other business opportunities so keep them happy and give them what they want. NO SPAM please!

• focus is important

  You need to ensure that your fanpage/community is tightly focused on the niche you've created the page/community for. It can be tempting sometimes to build communities without direction (e.g., posting random funny pictures will almost always net you new fans) but, if you've only been posting content appropriate for your niche (e.g., posting Labrador Retriever pictures for a Labrador-Retriever-oriented page), you'll be rewarded with higher conversions later on.

• think push vs. pull

  In Facebook, instead of waiting for visitors to come and drop by (from, say, a search result link), you PUSH messages to your fans. You push messages that keep fans engaged, messages that you think they'll share with their friends so you grow your fanbase, messages that translate into sales (and, therefore, money in the bank). The good news is,

  • Facebook posts on fanpages are FREE.
  • As long as you're not posting spam, you're encouraged to post as much as you want. Recent research has shown that the more you post quality posts, the more your fans get engaged, the faster your fanpage grows. Furthermore, fans are still (positively) engaged even with relatively large amounts of posts per day. In effect, assuming you've built up your fanbase properly, you have now taken the reins of how visible your message/product is. That is, instead of relying on an unpredictable search algorithm to get folks to visit you, you control how many folks you invite to visit. Again, think push vs. pull.

• think viral

  Your goal is to convey messages to your fans that are "share-worthy". That is, think of posts (and/or products) that have enough "wow" factor for fans to press the like, share, etc buttons. Once they do, your message (and/or products) get fed into the newsfeed of their friends. And if their friends like what they see, they too can press those buttons...
  As much as possible, always post with the intent of getting your post viral.

And that's it for now.

Happy Selling!
The SWAG.IO team
to learn more about making money on Facebook using our free platform: Swag.io
to just jump right in (a Facebook page is a prerequisite): Swagmatic on Facebook | Facebook
to create a Facebook page (you need to be logged into Facebook): Create a Page | Facebook