Last week we launched a “share the know-how” series on our Facebook page. It’s our way to get the conversation going around using social media for marketing and help get “real” examples of what is working for businesses on Facebook. It’s also a fun way to showcase YOUR knowledge and experiences.

Our first “share the know-how” was a rather broad fill-in the blank: 

I grew my business on Facebook by ___________ 

A simple question, but it’s one I get asked the most, so I thought I’d start with that one!

Here are some of the great responses we received, and links to the wonderful folks willing to share their know-how (in order of response):

Michelle Quinn: A social media strategist, Facebook marketer and fan page designer at Fan Page Focus.

Find her at: FanPageFocus, @fanpagefocus

Ana Flores: A top Latina blogger who runs a very successful Latina blogger outreach service and is a real community leader.

Find her at: @laflowers, www.spanglishbaby.com, www.latinabloggersconnect.com

Nellie DeBruyn :  An app developer focused on local event and travel guide apps. Apps include St. Paul Spot and Santa Fe Wow.

Find her: @stpaulspot, http://stpaulspot.com/, @santafewowapp and http://www.santafewow.com/

Joel Libava: Known as the Franchise king, Joel is very generous with his advice and expertise online via his blog, guest blogging, public speaking and his social media accounts. And he has a new book coming out, Become a Franchise Owner!

Find Joel at: The Franchise King, @FranchiseKing, TheFranchiseKing on FaceBook

Natascha Otero: A social media savvy PR specialist who gets how to build community. I recently covered her approach for creating super fans at Jimmy’Z Kitchen.

Find Natascha: @NataschaOS, NOSCommunications

My top takeaways from the responses:

Be authentic: It’s been said before but be real and even “a bit flawed” to get a real connection going on social media networks. Try posting some insider info about your business and share some wins, and even some struggles. Tell folks whats happening with you and your business.

Add value: There is information overload so if you aren’t making some one laugh or cry I recommend sharing useful information. How to start?  Focus on “what would people ask you about in real life”. For example, no one ever asks me for fashion advice so I stay away from that! Try creating unique content, organizing an event or doing community building (let’s all do x). I have seen that really work for many brands in many industries.

Persistence: A month of getting started with social media and your Facebook page is a dessert or you feel you are tweeting to yourself. Don’t give up, try something new. Start with creating a big message to work off (we are here to help you with x ) and then focus your content on delivering that. Then go out and make new friends (find new #hashtags to explore, try a chat, spread the comment love). And don’t forget to experiment on how to make it rewarding to engage with your business (e.g., deals, prizes, exclusive content, recognition or plain fun!)

A big thank you to our “share the know-how”contributors.

Stay-tuned as we will do a share your know how poll every 2 weeks!

What do you think our next share know how question should be?