I receive many emails a week asking how to do certain things so I’ve decided to dedicate a page to answering all these questions in one place. I hope you’ll find this to be a useful resource!
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What’s the concept behind Support a WAHP? The idea behind Support a WAHP is to support work at home parents by offering free and low cost advertising via our website, Facebook page, Business Directory and Top Listed WAH Businesses List (Topsites). Work at home parents don’t usually have a huge budget to use towards advertising so I offer a free or inexpensive way to get the word out about your business, unless you pay a small fee for advertising on our website.
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How do I get my business name out there? A great place to start is by ‘liking’ our Facebook page. This page now has thousands of fans and the way it works is by you posting your business details on the Wall (including @tagging your Facebook page if you have one) which may then be given a “shoutout” that goes out to all fans. The idea is that our fans then visit your page from our link and become a fan themselves, boosting your fan numbers and hopefully your sales with them! Remember though, if we @tag your business name in a shoutout, it will also appear on your business page.
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Do I need a Facebook page to participate in Support a WAHP? You don’t need a Facebook page to be a part of Support a WAHP but it does make it easier to spread the word about your business if we can @tag your page direct. We can always just mention your website if you have one.
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How do I tag a page, group or person in a status update?
You can link people direct to your Facebook page or group by using the @tag available in Facebook. Simply type the @ symbol followed by the name of the page/person you want to link to (no space after the @). Once you start typing the name, a dropdown list will appear and you can select the name from there. You’ll know if the tag worked because it will appear in blue in your status. This only works in new status updates, new posts on a wall or when posting a link/image. It doesn’t work in comments or when leaving a ‘Review’.
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How can I promote my business with Support a WAHP? Apart from our Facebook page, we also have a business directory, an online forum, a top 100 list and several paid advertising options. You can add your business listing in our Directory in to up
to three (3) categories. Remember to be as descriptive as you can as people often search the directory for certain words and you want your listing to appear in their search. We have our new Top 100 WAH Businesses List or Topsites for short. This website works on a ranking system. When you register, you receive a code to add to your website which displays a Support a WAHP logo. When people click on this logo from your website, they are essentially ‘voting’ for your site and that adds to your daily hits, bumping you up the list to the top. Obviously the top listed businesses are the ones that are going to be seen first so that’s where you want your business to be! You can read more about our Topsites here.
To receive the full benefits of Support a WAHP, you need to participate regularly by posting details of your business or sales, specials or promotions on our Facebook page Wall but remember to abide by the posting rules that you’ll find in the Introductions
tab on the Facebook page.
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How does the posting process on the Support a WAHP Facebook page work? In an attempt to have some order about the
Support a WAHP Facebook page, we’ve introduced a new process for posting on the wall. In the past, the wall has been to open to all businesses to post their details on any day but the new process involves businesses only posting on the wall for the day that relates to their business type. You can view the categories for each day on the Introductions tab on our Facebook page. In order for this to work properly though, there are certain rules you must abide by to be fair to all other businesses. You’ll also find these rules on the Introductions tab.
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What is a shoutout and how do I get one for my business? Shoutouts are the term given to the mentions that your page receives from a Support a WAHP Facebook page status update. These updates are sent to all fans of the Support a WAHP page via their Newsfeed and also appear on the Wall. Shoutouts will only be given to the businesses that fall into that days categories and only when the page administrators have the time to do them. Shoutouts are not guaranteed every day. With literally hundreds of businesses posting their details daily, sometimes pages are missed and therefore don’t receive a shoutout.
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How do I create a Facebook Page for my Business?
To create a Facebook Page for your own business, click here and follow the instructions. Be sure to enter the correct page name as you won’t be able to change it once the page it’s published.
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How do I make the most of my Facebook Page?
For many businesses, their Facebook page is their sole online presence so you want it to make a good first impression. One way to achieve this is to have a custom “Welcome Page”. A Welcome Page is a landing platform for new, potential fans which gives them an instant feel for your business and a brief overview of what you do and what you offer. It’s the very first impression people will have of your business. You want this page to attract the potential client and draw them in to want to become a fan of your page.
The more people that are fans of your page, the further word will spread about your business. Joining websites that support work at home businesses like yours such as Support a WAHP, mwwah.com.au & WAHM Network Australia for example, will also help to boost your fan base. Ask your friends to suggest your page to their friends by clicking on Suggest to Friends on the upper left side of your page. This sends an invitation out to your friend’s friend’s to join your page. They can in turn suggest to their friends and so on, hopefully sending your fan numbers skyward!
In the text box below your logo, make sure you add a clickable link to your external website if you have one. Even though your website is probably already listed in the Info tab, it’s not visible all the time. You want to give potential clients easy access to your products. By clickable, I mean make sure it has the http:// at the front of the URL. Without this, it means people will have to copy and paste your link into their browser and some might think that’s just too much work and be turned away from your page – not good!
Ensure you make regular status updates letting your fans know about new products, sale items, what you’re working on, anything that can relate to your fan base but remember, don’t go overboard!! I know from experience that people don’t like their live feed clogged up with post after post after POST from the same page. This usually leads to a) them removing themselves from your page or b) them blocking your feed so they can’t see any updates unless they visit your page.
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How do I set up a username for my Facebook page?
The standard URL given when you create a Facebook Page is lengthy and ugly, for example, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Your-Page-Name/276852589493?ref=ts. Instead of having to constantly refer to this URL, you can quickly and easily create a ‘username’ for your Facebook Page but going to http://www.facebook.com/username and entering the name you’d like to use. Be sure that your spelling is correct as you’re unable to change it later on. Now, isn’t it easier only having to remember http://www.facebook.com/YourPageName instead?
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How do I add another page to my page’s favourites?
You can show your support for another page (and have easier access to them) by adding them as a favourite of your own page. To do this, click on ‘Add to my page’s favourites’ underneath the logo on the left of that page.
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If you have any further questions, feel free to email me!
