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Published: March 31, 2019, 9 p.m.

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Facebook Groups. They\\u2019re fast-paced, they\\u2019re full of people buying, selling, coaching, communicating and more. But people with businesses are ruining them. So here\\u2019s what NOT to do on a Facebook Group.

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This is Clickstarter, I\\u2019m Dante St James. This is episode 35, but also Day 1 of my daily series, April Foolproof Your Business where this month, I\\u2019ll cover a bunch of quick, useful tools, strategies, marketing methods and ideas to give your small business a pre-Dry Season tidy-up (if you\\u2019re up in the north of Australia) or a Autumn clean if you\\u2019re down south.

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Today, Facebook Groups. Have you been in one of those Buy, Sell & Swap groups or perhaps one of those Local Business groups on Facebook where you\\u2019re happily browsing the memorabilia and cast-off furniture only to be assaulted by a bunch of posts from people trying to sell their Scentsy wax melts, or their PHATT meal plan or their personal training that is gonna strip fat and build muscle or some Make $10,000 in 30 Days work from home scam?

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While network marketing rogues are quickly wiped from the groups fairly quickly, it doesn\\u2019t take long for the local businesses and digital marketers to fill the gap with their special website packages and mindset coaching plans\\u2026 or even their super special on Greek sweets!

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But is pitching your business a big no no on Facebook Groups? Well, not necessarily.

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An example of where it has worked, is with a particular local pest controller who posts his service offering once a week into the Darwin Buy, Sell & Swap groups. The result has been additional likes to his page, additional jobs being booked directly due to those posts, and the creation of an effective new sales channel for him.

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Similarly, a client of mine, another pest controller, but this time on the Gold Coast, has been posting little bits of info about various pests that are found in their neighbourhood to their local neighbourhood info page on Facebook. They too, as a local in the neighbourhood, have seen significant take-up of their services as a result. And while their ads haven\\u2019t been ads, their presence and participation in that group on other things aside from their business, have made them the go-to pest controller in their suburb.

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But examples of where this doesn\\u2019t work, is where you are grabbing some graphics from the network marketing company you\\u2019re a part of, posting them 2, 4 or 6 at a time with a copy and paste job full of emojis and extraordinary claims about how much weight you\\u2019ll lose, how much more energy you\\u2019ll feel, how much money you\\u2019ll make or how some herb or supplement will cure cancer, alkalise your blood or some other physiological claim that isn\\u2019t backed by any kind of science apart from a flyer from the network marketing company.

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Or where it\\u2019s the kind of group that is about community, conversation and specific topics, rather than buying, selling and swapping. Those who can tell the difference, like my examples earlier, seem to be doing pretty well.

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Got a topic this month to cover in these shorter, daily versions of the podcast? Email darwin@clickstarter.com.au or drop a message via facebook.com/clickstarter

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I\\u2019ll catch you tomorrow as we continue to help your small business to get known, get found and stay known.

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