Are you on FB Group Overload? I was too – until I did a recent FB Group Audit!
FB Groups are uber-popular and are fast becoming the #1 way to connect with like-minded people, entrepreneurs, and potential clients. It just makes good business sense to build or join a community around niche as you grow your business. As a group moderator, one of the things I pay attention to when adding someone to one of my groups is how many groups that person is already in. You’d be amazed! Last week, a woman requested membership in my group and she was already a member of 950 other groups!
That really blew my mind! I tried to figure out how anyone can gain value out of being in that many Facebook groups at the same time. My brain quickly went into over-drive trying to do the math. I stopped. I had a headache just thinking about it. FB Friends can add you to groups with or without your permission and add those groups to the ones you choose to join and before you know it, you’re in dozens of groups! Being a member of 100+ or even 50+ FB groups is not only overwhelming, it’s counter-productive and life draining! Whether you add yourself to that many groups or you find you’ve been ‘grouped’ unbeknownst to you, getting it under control is a must if you want to keep your sanity.
So, back to my own personal audit – I created a system that helps me keep it all manageable. Here’s what I did:
The very first thing I did was categorize my groups into 3 buckets – Sow Groups, Reap Groups, & Equity Groups.
Sow Groups are the groups that I consistently sow into. I regularly post information that will help the members with challenges they face. These post might be about Money Manifestation, Entrepreneurship, Overcoming Domestic Violence, or Personal Finance.
Reap Groups are the groups where my #1 priority is learning everything I can to grow and develop my businesses or in my personal life. I’m in these groups to soak up every bit of knowledge and receive the support I need in business or life. Don’t be confused, I do make contributions to these groups as well, but typically these groups have members and a group leader who’s much further ahead in the game than I am, so I consume more than contribute in these spaces.
And Finally,
Equity Groups are groups which I manage or co-moderate and have been created to serve my current clients and target market. In today’s business climate, you have to be online if you want to be successful in business. Identifying your target clients and getting the visibility you need to grow your business is a tough undertaking. If you can successfully gather your ideal clients in a single online space, you’ve made your job of selling your products and services so much easier. Yes, it takes effort and attention, but I promise you it’s worth it! You can check out 2 of my groups here:
Personal Finance – A Woman and Her Wallet™ or Entrepreneurship – Straight Talk for Entrepreneurial Women™ to see what I mean.
Doing this first step, provides a structure to work within and makes it easy to start pruning your groups.
Now that you’ve made this decision, you can handle the tangible tasks:
1. Open the Groups App on Facebook.
2. Your Equity Groups will show up in a section call “Groups You Manage”. This is automatically created by FB for you. (That was Easy).
3. There is another section created by FB called “Favorites”. Go into the settings of each of the groups in this section and click “Remove from Favorites”. This will give you a clean slate to work with.
4. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the Groups page. The groups that you visit the least are at the bottom. Look through these groups. If you haven’t visited and posted in the group in more than 2 weeks, right click the settings button and Leave the Group. Do not open the group up to see what’s happening in there. You haven’t visited recently anyway, so no need to muddy things up now. Just leave the group. Do this for all groups that you haven’t visited in the past few weeks.
5. It’s time for another decision. Of the remaining groups, decide how many groups you can REALISTICALLY participate in and either provide value for or get value from. For me – I allow myself 5/6 Sow Groups and 3 Reap Groups.
6. Select your groups and leave ALL the others! To help me decide, I open the groups and actually read the rules of engagement posted by the group admin. I check out the admins and make sure that their values align with my own. I also scan the most recent 5-10 posts and check out things like engagement, post topics, & degree of difficulty. Knowing these things help me gauge whether it’s a group I’m really interested in or not.
7. Mark your Reap Groups as Favorites. Once you do this, you should have 3 sections on your Groups Page – Favorites, Groups You Manage, & Your Groups. The groups you’ve marked as Favorites will also be included in the Your Groups section, but it makes it easier to find them.
8. Decide your posting schedule for your Sow Groups. I post at least 4-5x per week in each of my Sow Groups. The posts might be long form, article sharing, or responding to someone else’s post/query. I visit my Reap Groups at least 1-2x per week but am not always posting or replying. Sometimes, I’m just consuming and that’s ok.
9. Every month, I review my Sow Groups and use a set of benchmarks that works for me to determine if I’m going to remain a member of the group or if I need to replace it with a different group. I only add groups when I’ve deleted another one. My rule is 1 for 1 trades only! I am a dictator when it comes to keeping the number of Sow/Reap Groups I belong to under 10 these days!
10. Last note: I am a member of several groups that support my inner-circle of colleagues. I don’t always post in these groups, but I’m there in spirit to help my closest friends in business (and to chime in when they need a bit of extra support). This is a sacred stand alone space that doesn’t fit into the categories above, but that I wouldn’t dream of changing. To each her own, and if you choose to stay in groups that you deem sacred for one reason or another, just be sure that you have set boundaries for these groups as well.
So, how are you managing your FB Groups or are they still managing you? Share your best tips in the comment section below.
Kemberli Stephenson is The Pr
ofit Sherpa™ & works with emerging women entrepreneurs and small business owner and helps those who are looking to impact their bottom line, increase profit margins and grow a successful business. Kemberli empowers women, specifically women entrepreneurs, to be financially independent by teaching them to discover their danger zones and blind spots, and develop and implement profit strategies that will grow as their organizations grow. Follow her @ProfitSherpa on all social media channels.
ofit Sherpa™ & works with emerging women entrepreneurs and small business owner and helps those who are looking to impact their bottom line, increase profit margins and grow a successful business. Kemberli empowers women, specifically women entrepreneurs, to be financially independent by teaching them to discover their danger zones and blind spots, and develop and implement profit strategies that will grow as their organizations grow. Follow her @ProfitSherpa on all social media channels.