#170: How a Facebook Group Can Catapult Your Business
Want to see how a Facebook group can catapult your business?
Check out this new Blogger Genius Podcast episode with business growth strategist, Christina Jandali, as she shares how to set up a complete Facebook group marketing strategy.
We dive into:
- Why you want to invest in a Facebook group and not your page for your business
- How much time you’ll need to dedicate to your Facebook group
- How to measure engagement
- Why you need a business strategy for your Facebook group
- The different roles people play in your group
- And how to move people from engagers to buyers of your own products and services
I found this episode filled with Facebook group marketing tips I’d never thought of before! I think you’ll find this episode eye-opening too as a way to market successfully to your ideal audience!
Table of Contents
Show Notes
- MiloTree
- Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group
- My 4 Biggest Takeways newsletter
- MiloTree Membership Group
- The Blogger Genius Podcast episodes
- Catch My Party
- The Blogger Genius Podcast on iTunes
- Christina Jandali
- Perfect Naming Blueprint
Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast:
Intro 0:04
Welcome to the Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here’s your host, Jillian Leslie.
Christina Jandali 0:11
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Blogger Genius Podcast. I’m your host, Jillian Leslie. I am also founder with my husband, David of Catch My Party, the largest party ideas site on the web, and the MiloTree pop-up app.
Jillian Leslie 0:27
I’m also a business coach and as I like to call myself a business translator, so I take what’s working in online business, break it down. So, you can use these strategies to grow your own businesses find success and make more money.
For today’s episode, I have Christina Jandali on the show. And she teaches people how to grow Facebook groups. So, before we launch into that, I have to talk about my own Facebook group, which I welcome you to join.
It is called the Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group. And I have to say, it’s my happy place. It’s really where I like to hang out on the internet and interact with all these other bloggers and online entrepreneurs.
I go live in there at least once a week. It is such a positive space. So, please head to Facebook, look for Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group and please join. I would love to welcome you in there. This is a really cool episode because I recorded it live on Clubhouse.
So, listen to it and let me know what you think. In this episode, Christina and I talk all about how to grow your membership in your Facebook group. How to grow your engagement, and how to sell to the people you are serving in your Facebook group.
So, without further delay, here is my interview with Christina Jandali. Christina, welcome to the show.
Christina Jandali 2:02
Hey, Jillian, so great to be here with you.
Jillian Leslie 2:05
So, would you share your entrepreneurial journey and how you became a business growth strategist? And what that even means and where you are today? Because I know we’re going to talk about Facebook groups. So, how did you get into this?
Christina Jandali 2:23
Today, I’m fortunate to be the founder of deliveryourgenius.com. I’m known by many as the go to expert on Facebook groups and I run a seven figure, online education coaching company, but it actually started.
My background, I actually used to work in the financial market. So, I used to invest wealthy people’s money, which was a fun thing, because starting I didn’t have a whole lot of money but I learned a lot. And I spent years working in that industry.
It wasn’t until my daughter was born, that I realized that there was something missing. If you’ve ever had that experience, where it feels like you’re checking off all the boxes. I had a husband, I had a good job, I had a house, I had money in the bank.
And like all the things that you think that you want to have in life, and yet, there was still a piece of me that just felt like something was missing. And I didn’t know what it was.
When my daughter was born, and I brought her home from the hospital, and I was snuggling up with her and cradling her on the couch.
And just looking into her eyes, just wanting all the world of possibility for her. For her to live the best life ever.
Jillian Leslie 3:31
And smelling her. That was the thing that I think with my daughter just smelling her.
Christina Jandali 3:39
I know and it’s like that, yeah, the baby smell and just like so much love for this little human being.
Jillian Leslie 3:45
Yes.
Becoming a Mother Inspired Her to Go After Her Dream
Christina Jandali 3:46
And wanting everything for her. And I just realized who was I to want her to go after her dreams and to live her best life if I wasn’t living that for myself.
How could I want that for her and not show her and demonstrate and lead by example of what that would look like.
So, I promised her. I made a promise to her and I made a promise to me that I was going to pave the way of possibility and demonstrate for her what it was like her mom a woman to go after her dreams, no matter what.
And, I’d love to say that everything changed but quite honestly, it took me a few years to actually get the courage to cross the start line and actually get started. And once I did things just didn’t happen as fast as I expected.
And so, I got little clients here and there but there’s nothing really consistent and I felt like I was missing something and I had one of those hard moments. I remember looking down. I was sitting down at my kitchen table. And on one sheet of paper.
Anyone like planning? I love planning so I’d have my plans. I’m going to sell this many spots in this program and I was going to do this and then I have a plan on one sheet of paper.
And on the other sheet of paper, I had what my actual numbers were in my business and they were nowhere even close to being the same. And I just remember, it really hit me. It just felt hard. It felt like I was missing something.
And I didn’t know what I was missing. And when I really gave myself the opportunity to look at it, what I found was that I was missing the relationships and connection with the audience.
The audience that I was building and I send out an email and it felt really cold. I’d send an email and I wait to hear back and no one would respond. So, how can I create that connection online?
Using a Facebook Group to Grow Your Business
And that’s when I realized I could do it through a free Facebook group. And when I did that, I had a $30,000 a month, my first month in my Facebook group. And I really knew I was onto something because before that I hadn’t even had $10,000 month.
So, to hit $30,000 in one month, I was completely blown away. And I knew I was up to something. Within a few months, people started saying, “Christina, what are you doing?”
Jillian Leslie 5:55
Couple questions. What year was this? And what was this community you were building around investing? What was it?
Christina Jandali 6:06
It was in 2015.
Jillian Leslie 6:07
Okay.
Christina Jandali 6:08
The end of 2015. And my first Facebook group was called the Sassy Successful Entrepreneurs Facebook group, but I just wanted to create a community for women.
At the time really wanted to create a community for women where there was support, collaboration and connection for women in business. So, it really started with the vision of just wanting to create a container and a community for those women.
Jillian Leslie 6:31
And what were you selling?
Christina Jandali 6:36
At the time, I was selling private coaching. So, I was working with private coaching clients. I was serving two different markets. But I focused my group on one of the markets because it seems too complicated serving two different markets.
I was working with financial advisors, and helping them build out their teams on one aspect. And then my vision for that Facebook group and the women that I wanted to serve in there were entrepreneurial women.
That weren’t in the confines of limitations of working in the financial industry but wanting to start their own.
So, really transferring their skill-set from corporate. Which is what my background in starting their own transformational journey, starting their own business, starting their own personal brand.
Jillian Leslie 7:21
Got it. Okay, so I too, have a Facebook group, and it is called the Become a Blogger Genius Facebook group. It’s really an extension of the podcast and it hasn’t grown as quickly.
I want to talk about how to grow it because I feel like it’s growing but growing slowly. However, what I really like about it is I can pose a question in the Facebook group and get real responses.
You were saying, If I send an email, I don’t know, people will email me back but not in the way in which we’re starting a conversation. What’s great about the Facebook group is I can pop-up.
So, tomorrow, I’m going live with a podcast episode about Facebook and Instagram ads. And I was like, huh, who’s using ads and how are they using them? And boom, I just put up a question and said, who’s using Facebook and Instagram ads and how?
I haven’t checked yet to see what the responses are. But usually, people will respond. And so, it’s great, because I can have a one-on-one conversation. And then people can talk to each other.
And I haven’t found that on Instagram or through email or anything like that. That has been the power of my Facebook group.
Your Facebook Page is Like a Storefront Not a Community
Christina Jandali 8:44
Yeah, 100%. I think, what I like as I look at it, all of the social media platforms that we’re on. Instagram, or Clubhouse, your business page. And one of the things, it’s like your storefront. It’s like where people have that first taste test of you.
That first experience of you where they get to have an idea, if they want to go deeper with you. So, it’s kind of like the storefront but your group is like your digital living room or like come on inside the store. Let’s hang out. It’s your digital living room.
Oftentimes people have backwards thinking, like I need to be in authority, I need to have it all figured out. I need to have this ramp up business before I can start to build a community.
The fact is, you get to build a community for other people, you get to bring your people together. And as a result of building your community, you establish and create your level of authority. And it takes the pressure off.
Christina Jandali
It’s not about you having all the right answers and you knowing everything. It’s really about how do you bring your people together and create that community and connection.
Let’s be real with what’s going on in the world right now. People are craving that more than ever.
Jillian Leslie 9:46
Absolutely. I think of myself as the master of ceremonies. So, I might start something but then people run with it.
Establish Your Authority by Leading Your Facebook Group
Christina Jandali 9:55
So true. You’re leading, which is, establishing your authority, but you’re inviting people and you’re bringing them together. You’re inviting them to run with it and connect with each other.
And, that’s what people want. They want to be in a room with other people that are just like them. And that’s the power of a group is like, you look around, you’re like, am I in the right place? These are my peeps.
Absolutely. I like to do this one thing, and I will probably do it this Friday, especially during the winter, when we’re all locked in. I would go let’s have a dance party. And just put your favorite dancing GIF in there.
Jillian Leslie 10:35
And just like, let’s just do this. And it would just make me so happy to see people add people dancing. And like there was something really special. That’s when I went, oh, I get this, I get the power of a Facebook group.
Christina Jandali 10:51
I love it dance party. You can hold them live too and have everyone coming up and dancing too. But I love it.
Yeah, you think GIFs to be able to express their feelings and celebrating and it stirs up emotion. It stirs up fun. People want to have fun. They don’t want to be serious all the time.
So, here are a couple questions. The first is, if I want to start a Facebook group, how much attention do I need to give my group? So, people ask me, “Should I start a Facebook group?”
Jillian Leslie 11:28
And I say, if you have the bandwidth to really be there and be a contributor and an emcee and a leader, and create conversation, I think it’s great.
But if you think you’re going to just start it and then kind of check in every so often, I just don’t think you’re going to have success with it.
And then my second question is, how do you grow it once you’ve started?
How Much Time to Commit to a Facebook Group?
Christina Jandali 11:54
So, I think time is important to tune into. And I would say that, when it comes to your Facebook group, one of the things that I teach my students is how to manage their group in 30 minutes a day or less on an ongoing basis.
And I think as long as you’re clear as to the intention of going in. Otherwise, if you have your notifications up, and you’re responding to every single thing as they’re coming up, my goodness, you’re going to get exhausted by the time that you build up your group.
So, you don’t need to be on all the time. But yes, you need to be active and checking in. And yes, you need to be, letting members in and creating an experience for them. I like to look at it from this perspective with your Facebook group.
Think about like, you’ve ever seen this example where someone has a jar, and if they put sand and fill the jar up with sand. There’s not going to be any room to fill in pebbles or rocks on top of that, because the space has been filled up with the sand.
On the flip side, think about you have a jar and you fill in rocks first, and then you put some pebbles in there and shake it about and then pour in sand, the volume of what you can fit in there is going to be significantly more.
So, I like to look at the way that you’re running your group is that your sales campaigns, your launches, your main events and main experiences that you’re creating for your group are your rocks.
And so, you want to lock those in and really take a look at what’s the experience you want to create for your members in there.
And then from that, you’re working backwards so that your day-to-day content is evoking demand and desire for that free event that free experience. That launch that you’re going to bring people through that’s going to create the buyers for you.
So, where a lot of people go backwards is they focus on the day-to-day content and just creating conversation and connection with people day-to-day. But we’re in a business for profit, which means that we do need to generate sales.
Which means that we do need to create buyers, which means that we want to be moving people down the line to be making that buying decision while also creating community and connection.
What is a Facebook Group Engagement Bubble?
So, I think that’s like a shift of perspective of recognizing, okay, we can simplify it. And oftentimes people get stuck in what I call the engagement bubble where they’re pumping out loads of content. And I know that I used to live in this.
And if you’re listening to this right now, and you’ve been in this experience, I get you. So, when people are in the engagement bubble, it’s like they’re pouring out a lot of content because they want to deliver value.
And you tend to want to give tips and tricks and how to value. And so, you’re pouring out a lot of value thinking if I just give more, people are going to see my value and they’re going to want to work with me.
They’re going to want to invest with me, they’re going to want to buy from me. And that’s just simply not the case.
What happens is when we’re doing that, we end up stacking so much information on our people that they’re overwhelmed, they’re exhausted, they don’t even know where to go.
They’re like oh my gosh, can I drag myself up out of this? Can I pull myself up out of this? And what your people really want is they crave clarity.
So, less is more, less is more. And you really want to be strategic with what you are doing in your group so that you are helping define the path for your people.
You’re helping them gain clarity and you’re not overwhelming them or yourself by just pouring out more information. Trying to get those likes or those comments or the reaction. So, that’s what I would probably say in regards to timing.
Jillian Leslie 15:22
Okay. So, I know that you just went through a big launch for your Facebook group teaching. Right?
Christina Jandali 15:30
That’s right. Yeah.
Jillian Leslie 15:31
So, can we break that down? And can you share how you did it using your Facebook?
Christina Jandali 15:38
Yeah, 100%. So, one of the things that I’ve realized through many of my students, and through my own launches was that, typically, if you’re running a launch, you’re going to see a certain result.
Use Your Facebook Group to Move People to Become Buyers not Just Engagers
And when you’re running the experience, through a free Facebook group, your conversion rate, the number of people that are coming in, that become buyers, significantly increases.
Because you’re able to create connection, you’re able to pivot real time, and to be able to make adjustments or adaptations to meet more people. I’ll give you an example of this.
I run a Grow your Group training series. It’s a free training series, and we’re talking about like, what are the foundation for your group and how to start growth and getting those members coming into your group.
And, as we’re talking about this, as people come into the group, you can ask three questions, three questions for people to join your group.
And one of the questions that I encourage you always to put in there to ask is, what’s the number one question that you have as it relates to insert your area of expertise, your topic.
So, for me, I would say, what’s the number one question that you have as it relates to your Facebook group. It wasn’t this launch, but I just want to give you an example.
Going through this, I thought, okay, great, I’m going to help them with growing their group. We’re going to go through a five-day challenge. And we’re going to go through growing your group.
And then after that, they’re going to need to be able to learn how to sell and monetize their group. So, I’m going to help highlight some case, here’s how you start to get members.
Next, you’ll have the opportunity to join me in my Facebook group program, and that’s where I will help you with the monetization.
But as I was starting to see the responses to those questions. What I realized was, there was a very, very small percentage of people that actually had their number one question that that related to monetization.
Most of them were talking about engagement. And during that launch, I had to shift my positioning and my message to meet people where they’re at, and really speak about engagement, because that’s what they’re looking for.
Sell them what they want, and give them what they need. So, I had to shift and pivot my messaging in order to meet them where they were. And that’s what converted into a six-figure launch.
And another one of my clients, Selena. Selena Stew, I was supporting her through her launch through the pandemic last year, and she was already having seven figure launches, but she’d never used a Facebook group.
And what she found was that launching in the pandemic, obviously unexpected, she’s launching once a year, that she’s gearing up for this and as people were coming in, they were sharing their experiences and what was going on in the world.
And she was able to pivot with her messaging slightly and make that deeper connection with her audience. Which she felt was like the game changer that really saved her launch to not only create a record breaking launch, but even to be able to move people forward.
And when we’re not using a Facebook group for that real time feedback, we’re missing the opportunity to see what’s going on in the moment that we’re in.
And making the changes and the shifts as we need it to see people through all the way to the finish line. Does that make sense?
Yeah. So, let me say it back to you. You started with a five-day free challenge to teach people how to grow engagement in their Facebook groups with the intention of a part two where you would monetize the solution of how to monetize.
Jillian Leslie 19:08
But what you were seeing is people weren’t even thinking about monetizing their Facebook groups, they were interested in learning how to grow engagement. So therefore, how did you pivot your paid product around engagement over monetization?
Christina Jandali 19:24
Great question. So, the conversation just started coming up in regards to engagement. So, what I realized was, I needed to help highlight to people like what is their measure of engagement?
And that’s the thing that we see so often. We want an outcome, we want a desire, sometimes we don’t know like, how do you measure success in that. And so, as I started asking people questions, well, how do you know when your group is engaged?
How to Measure Engagement in your Facebook Group?
What does that mean to you? Because I wanted to find out like, well, what’s that measure of success for them? What is it that they’re thinking? And what I found was most people didn’t know even how to measure engagement in their group.
And so, what they were doing was they were looking at likes and comments. And typically, we might think that. Oh, it’s based on likes and comments, but that’s not true.
Your active members in your group are the people that are liking, they’re commenting, they’re reading your posts. They’re clicking to read more; they’re opening up and watching your videos.
And so, you can get your active members, ranking numbers in your group insights. And so, helping them actually see that, speaking into seeing, like, Okay, what is your actual true measure of engagement.
And what a lot of people realized was, there was a lot of people in their group that they’re not likers, they’re not outwardly engaging, but they’re still watching. They’re still consuming, they’re still out there tuning in and paying attention.
And if you’re stopping and starting with your content, based on the outward engagement of those likers, and commenters, you’re losing and breaking trust with the lurkers.
And so, I was teaching them about the different roles that people play as members of your Facebook group, and helping them see that they need all of them. And helping them recognize where their buyers are coming from.
And, so we still tied it into the monetization piece. Because people do need to have that, but help them get a better frame of reference around the engagement and the gaps with creating that engagement.
The Different Roles People Play Inside a Facebook Group
- Likers
- Lurkers
- Cheerleaders
- Connectors
- Policers
So, for example, there are roles that people play inside your group, there’re people that are likers, they’re liking, they’re commenting. There’re people that are lurkers that are just consuming, they’re actually taking a lot of notes. They’re taking everything in.
They’re behind the scenes, but maybe they don’t feel like they have a good enough question to ask, or they just don’t want to be seen. So, there are lurkers.
There are cheerleaders. People that are cheering people on, like, go for it. And they’re supporting the people inside the group. There are connectors who are connecting people with each other.
Like, oh, you need to know this person, or here’s the person, here’s the recommendation I have for this. You have the policers, who are actually managing the group and they’re the first to say, if someone’s not going by the rules and reporting the post.
So, you have all these different elements of these roles that are playing. And when you open up someone’s possibility, rather than looking at black and white, there’s either people that are outwardly engaging or not.
And helping them see there’s all these roles to fill, it gives them a new perspective of how they get to really create a team, because let’s face it, if you’re, playing football, and you have a team of all quarterbacks, is that really a team?
No, you’re going to need different people playing different positions in order to have a team and that’s what ultimately, you’re building with your Facebook group.
So, it was opening up and helping educate, to see things from any perspective and also recognize that buyers are often coming from people that are lurking, that are watching that might not be outwardly engaging.
That likers and comments is not a direct reflection of your sales numbers. And most people thought that having more engagement, outwardly would equal more sales.
And so, it was helping them to find and realize that wasn’t necessarily the way of getting their piece of it. But how do you really, truly create that true engagement and take care of all of your team members knowing that they’re playing different roles?
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Top Free and Paid Tips for Growing a Facebook Group
Jillian Leslie 24:08
What are your top tips for growing your Facebook group?
Christina Jandali 24:12
So, growth. Yes, growth is incredibly important. I want you to think about it this way, when it comes to growing your group, you have three methods of traffic. So, traffic is where you’re getting in front of people.
You’ve got free methods of traffic. So, free would be places like where I’m right now on Clubhouse, and in your bio, you could have a link for generating free traffic coming in, you can invite people to your Facebook group.
So, free methods, would include social media, it could include podcast, it could include all the different elements that you’re going to be doing for free. It could be free media; it could be blogging. We have lots of different avenues for free.
Then we’ve got paid advertising, which is you’re paying suppliers. Typically, people are using Facebook ads or potentially Google ads as well. Those would probably be the top two.
But for Facebook ads, don’t you need to lead somebody to a landing page. You can’t go like, “Hey, go join my group, here’s the link.”
So, there’s work around. Facebook does not want you advertising direct to a link to a Facebook group. So, you can send them to a landing page first. Typically, what we do is we have a free gift.
And on the thank you page, we’ll invite them to the Facebook group. But you can have a Facebook ad that does say welcome to the community, send them to a landing page. So, they opt in, you capture their email move forward.
Or you can say come to the group, and then you just have a redirect link that has a few seconds delay. There’s a little hack, you do that you say come join the community, and you have a redirect link that points to your Facebook group.
You can have a workaround, though, so, you can do it.
Jillian Leslie 25:50
That’s good to know.
Christina Jandali 25:54
Yes. But typically, you’ll invite them to a free gift, or free signup or free experience or free event on the thank you page, you’re directing them back to the Facebook group.
Jillian Leslie 26:03
Okay. So, the first way, then is like where you mentioned it everywhere, in your footer, in your email, and you go on other places, and you talk about it, I talked about it on my podcast, that kind of thing and invite people.
And the second way is through paid ads predominantly on Facebook or Google. And what is the third way?
Grow Your Facebook Group by Collaborating
Christina Jandali 26:25
The third is one of my favorites and that’s joint venture traffic. This is where you get to have collaboration with other people. So, this could be like an online summit, where you’re doing an interview series with people over a period of time.
This could be an online giveaway, where you have a whole bunch of people that are coming together. And they’re all giving away a free gift of some sort and creates an experience or an event around that.
It could be in the form of affiliate traffic or introduction or referral traffic, where you’re doing cross swap interviews with another Facebook group host.
And you’re going and doing a training in their group and you’re swapping with them, and you’re promoting for each other. So, joint venture traffic is super warm traffic, because it’s through introduction.
It’s like, “Hey, here’s my friend, here’s this person.” And so, there’s an automatic carryover of trust authority that carries over. So, joint venture traffic is incredibly valuable.
Give People a Reason to Join
So, either way, whether it’s a free or it’s paid, or joint venture traffic we’ve got to have a hook for them to come in, we’ve got to have a reason for them to join. So, you’ve got to be offering a free gift, a free experience.
Something that’s going to answer a top-of-mind question or create an experience for them, that’s going to give them a reason to be like, “Yes, I want that.” And then where they go pick it up or where they get it is inside the group.
We don’t see the same level of results that they’re once used to be when Facebook groups were new by just saying, “Hey, I’ve got this community for these incredible people that if you’re, female business owner building an online business come join.”
That’s not going to move people as much as like, hey, if you’re looking to, and just as we’re on this recording right now.
If I was going to say, “Hey, do you want to get a checklist to get your first 1,000 Facebook group members come over my group, and you’ll pick it up inside the group.”
Now there’s a reason it’s like, oh, yeah, I want that thing. So, I’m going to come join. So, no matter what method of traffic, you do get to give them a gift that’s going to entice them to want to come into the group.
Jillian Leslie 28:35
Got it. Okay. So, one thing that I hear you saying is to not build your Facebook group first, and then think about how to monetize it, second, because you can get caught in this engagement trap.
But that to be very strategic and intentional, knowing what you’re going to offer, and then build your group to support your offer and what you’re selling.
Christina Jandali 29:03
Yes, so good. And so true. And I would say most often for people that is the case every now and then sometimes you might be in a place where, I’m not 100% sure on my niche, not 100% sure of my offer.
Use Your Group to Gain Clarity on Your Niche
And if that’s you, I actually think that you can use the group to gain clarity on what exactly that is. I remember one of my students, Tara, she did this. She was a counselor, and she wanted to build a group.
And she wanted to get into coaching and she wasn’t sure what type of coaching but she just had recently had a baby. So, she decided I need to build a group for new moms. I just want to build a group for new moms.
I’m not sure what I’m going to offer but I’m going to bring them together. So she built this group for new moms.
And it was through the group that she built, she started talking with people and using what I call purposeful engagement to find out what they really wanted and what they were looking for.
And she found that most of them really wanted help with losing the baby weight after having the baby. So, she created a coaching program to help these women lose weight after having the baby.
So, she used the group to do the market research to build the community to refine them and figure out what she was going to offer to create that first made offering. So, yes, 100% of you know what your offer is reverse engineer and work backwards.
And if you don’t, you have the capacity to be able to build your group, for a type of person that you want to bring together, and then use your group to find out what they want and what they’re looking for. So, you can craft your offer around that.
I agree. So, I do think everything that I feel like I teach is all about intention. I think that if you want to use your Facebook group as a way to listen, and to figure out what people are struggling with, you have to know that and think about it.
Jillian Leslie 30:48
For example, I went to business school, and I feel like people went to business school to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives.
However, you can get so wrapped up in your classes, and being social and whatever, that you spin out two years later going, “Oh, no, I forgot to figure it out.”
Christina Jandali 31:07
Yeah. It’s true, it’s very true. You don’t want to end up there.
You want to be actively, put a post-it on your computer, on your laptop that says figure out what my product is, or figure out what I can sell. Rather than just getting wrapped up in doing and not listening and really stepping back and seeing the larger context.
I love what you just said there in regards to listening, because I think that is the most important piece over anything. This is the phrase I always say is, “You want to seek to understand versus seek to be understood.”
And what that really looks like is when you’re building that group is, we want to understand your people, you want to get into their heart, you want to get into their head, you want to get into their thinking.
You want to see like, you’re a problem solver, you’re a business owner, which means you solve problems, you get paid to solve problems. And so, the volume and the capacity in which you can still solve problems, it’s going to be related to the level of income that you have.
And so, when you really seek to understand you’re curious about them, you want to get to know them, you want to understand them. You want to find out what makes them move, what holds them back.
What’s preventing them from getting the outcomes that they’re looking for. So, that you can really figure out where you get to come into play to really help support them. Have a win. Have a transformation.
Create Transformations for Your Audience They Can’t Create on Their Own
Have that outcome create a result that they haven’t been able to themselves. But if we’re too busy trying to prove ourselves trying to get people to get us. Want people to understand us, want people to see the value we can bring and trying to prove that.
We really create this connection with our audience. And, our deepest human need is to feel like we’re valued, to feel like we’re important, to feel like we’re seeing, to feel like we’re heard.
And when you create that experience for your people, you’ve got lifelong followers. That’s really where you start to create those raving fans.
Now let’s talk about selling in your Facebook group. Are you selling directly in your Facebook group? Or is your Facebook group a way to get people on your email list, so that you can sell more personally through email?
How to Sell in Your Group
Yes, you are selling in your group. And yes, you are selling in email. I want you to think about the average touch points, you can use different stats, some people say between 10 and 15 times that someone needs to see something before they’re going to move forward.
So, you want your group to be building your email list and your email list should be building your group, they should be feeding each other. But if you market in your group, and you’re marketing to your people on your email list.
You’ve got two points of contact to be able to connect with your people and to present your offer and for it to land in different ways. So, it’s about consistency throughout your platforms that you have the opportunity to build that out.
So yes, you want people to go through your email. Let’s say for example, you’re going to run a five-day challenge and you’re going to open up your offer and go into your sales sequence.
So, you’d run your five-day challenge within your group, creating and connecting with your members. And then say you run it for five days. On day five, you open up your program for enrollment.
You open up that enrollment in the Facebook group, let them know it’s open, you update the banner, you do a post in there letting them know what the bonuses are. The cart is open and you’re doing it on your email.
So, they’re seeing it from both perspectives. So, I think that’s really important to really take a look at is that you only ask that when it’s on your email list. And as much as I love Facebook groups love social media. You always want to own the asset.
Which means that you have their emails so that you can continue to market to them at any point in time, no matter what platform changes or anything changes.
But if you want to create that deeper connection with your audience, and that deeper level of intimacy, it really is going to come through your community which is your group.
Got it. Okay, so you start with a five-day challenge, and you promote the five-day challenge, I’m assuming in email and in your Facebook group, and you say, “Hey, come on this journey with me.”
Jillian Leslie 35:12
And do you deliver the five-day challenge through a series of emails?
Christina Jandali 35:17
So, they get daily emails for it for delivery of the challenge. And then I also host a Facebook Live each day in the group, to speak through their objections to doing the lesson or to the task that’s coming through.
So yes, we deliver email and we deliver in the Facebook group as well.
Got it. So, your cross purposing, you’re using both to drive engagement. I like that. I love when you can use one platform to amplify the other platform, to help really bring people together on different platforms.
Jillian Leslie 35:53
Okay. So, you’ve got your five-day challenge, and then boom, your cart is open, let’s say. But here’s what I find. When I try to directly sell in my Facebook group. I feel like those posts just fall flat.
Because if you aren’t creating a way for people to engage with that content. It’s just like nobody’s interacting with it. And I’m not sure anybody is seeing it.
What If Sales Aren’t Happening in Your Facebook Group?
So, what are your tips to get people to know, I’m selling this thing, this will change your life, you should go to the next step with me and make that engaging content in your Facebook group.
Christina Jandali 36:32
So, one thing to keep in mind is that if you’re doing content content content in your group, and then you’re putting up offer posts in your group, and they’re not aligned, people are confused. They don’t know what to do, and it feels like a disconnection.
But if you’re creating those experiences, and that launch runway of the experience, you’re educating and evoking demand and desire for your offer.
So, that by the time you actually open your offer up for enrollment, people are already hungry, and they want it. So, it’s actually what happens before the offer that creates that demand and desire for it.
And so, it’s like the leading up to it, that’s moving people along the line. And I think this I used to get all the time, like do X number of value posts, and then just do a sales post.
And quite honestly, that’s really limiting and capping your income potential, because it’s not really creating that experience for people. But when you’re going through launch runway experience.
You’re creating the demand, you’re creating the desire, you’re opening it up for enrollment. People are anticipating they want it, they’re hungry for it, and then it closes off from that it’s done.
And then when we close cart, when the offer is closed, we delete and take down all of the launch content, all of the sales, emails, the content that is related to it. So, the experience comes to a conclusion it comes to an end.
Because then I know I get to serve my students that have decided to continue to move on and work with me more closely.
How Long to Open Your Cart?
Jillian Leslie 37:58
Got it. How long is your open cart? So, you do your five-day challenge, boom, right into an open cart. How long is your cart open before you close it? And how often do you run this?
Christina Jandali 38:09
Typically, a cart open for four to five days. And when you say how long do I run that? Do you mean how frequently?
Jillian Leslie 38:17
Yeah, how many times a year?
Christina Jandali 38:18
Yeah, so typically, we’ll do four, sometimes a year per product.
Got it. Okay. So, what you’re saying to me, is that all the pieces have to be aligned. I like this idea of, you’ve got to prime your people to get them excited to know that this product is coming.
Jillian Leslie 38:40
And if you just randomly throw it in there, you’re right. People go, “Wait, what is this? I don’t understand even how to process this.” And therefore, it just kind of falls flat.
So, how long does it take you then to figure out your launch? Like this is not something you’re figuring out the night before?
Christina Jandali 38:58
No. I would say it’s one of the things that I help my students with. And it probably takes, you know, six to eight weeks process to bring it through. But once you create it once, you created assets that you get to have in your company.
Jillian Leslie 39:11
Right, and then you learn and you learn what worked and what didn’t and how to make it better the next time.
Learning from Each Launch
Christina Jandali 39:16
Exactly. So, think about this. I remember the very first time that I launched my course the first time I ran it, and we did $5,000 in sales, and then the next time $55,000. The next time after that $85,000 and then we went backwards.
So, $45,000 before crossing the six figure mark. So, that gets to be created by debriefing. Taking a look where the tweaks get to be made, where can I improve, what can I shift? What can I adapt to really get that bigger result?
And so, it’s about rinsing and repeating, but ultimately, you’re building an asset that you get to use over and over and over again in your company.
Jillian Leslie 39:50
Absolutely. Okay, so what I would like to do is if people would want to ask Christina or me any questions about Facebook, about the power of a Facebook group, please raise your hand and we will call you up on stage. This is like the cool part of doing this live.
Or if you want to share your biggest takeaway or what you’re thinking about in terms of your launch and get our feedback, please, we would love to talk to you. So, I’ll give it just a second to see.
Oh, wait, here we go. Let’s see, Karissa. Great.
Karissa 40:32
Hi, there.
Jillian Leslie 40:32
Welcome back. What is your question for us?
Karissa 40:37
My question is for Christina, and I have appreciated all of the information. It has helped me narrow down some of the areas in which I was getting sucked into that engagement, engagement engagement kind of trap.
What About Using a Facebook Page for Engagement Instead of a Facebook Group?
But I’m interested, do you think that same formula for growing and monetizing a Facebook group is equally applicable to a Facebook page or is it really the group is where it’s at?
Christina Jandali 41:07
Great question. So, one thing that I would say is that, your business page is like the storefront and your group is like, come on inside my digital living room.
And so, the strategy for selling and running a challenge and moving people forward, you can absolutely run that on your business page. But your conversions are going to be higher in your group.
Because you have the capacity for people to post. You have the capacity for people to come together to connect.
And so, there’s a different sense of belonging, and togetherness and community that gets to be created in your group that just doesn’t get created from your business page. So yes, you can run the same sequence and be successful with it.
But if you really want to create the best results possible for what you’re putting in, you’re going to see higher conversions inside of your group.
Karissa 41:54
Great, thank you so much.
Jillian Leslie 41:56
I personally find my Facebook group really comforting. It’s a really nice group of people. And I think it has helped me going through the pandemic.
And I don’t know, Christina, if you feel that same way, but it’s given me more than, just a way to sell or a way to get my podcasts out there. It’s like, built my community of warmth during a really cold time.
Christina, do you have a free offer? Or a free gift you’d like to give the audience?
Christina Jandali 42:33
Yes, absolutely. I love that though, too. It’s like you’re talking about through the pandemic, and everything is being able to serve your people and create those relationships with people. So, love you sharing that.
And I think that’s so true. People are craving that connection more than ever. So yes, one of the things when it comes to your free group that makes a difference.
When it comes to growth makes a difference to people really being in the right place and attracting the right people comes with naming. The naming of your group is going to have that moment where people are going to say, “Yes, that’s me. Yes, I want to be part of that.”
And so, I have a naming blueprint, which is fill in the blank that you can go through. That really takes you through a framework that we use to have that perfect, it’s called the Perfect Naming Blueprint.
So, that you have the opportunity to name your group in a way that people immediately get like, yes, this is for me and calls to them. So, I’d love to invite you guys to pick that up.
And, I’m just realizing, because we’re doing the podcast. As we’re going to do the podcast and we’re at the point of recording this on Clubhouse as well. So, Jillian, you’ll get a link for that.
And what I’m just going to say is we’ll do it and my team will get this set up momentarily, but we’ll do deliveryourgenius.com/Jillian, for that.
Jillian Leslie 43:45
Oh, I like that. Awesome. So, Christina, if people want to reach out to you learn more about you discover your Facebook group. What’s the best way?
Christina Jandali 43:56
The best way of course, it’s going to be Facebook, you guys. Of course, it’s going to be Facebook. So, you can find me on Facebook Christina Jandali. You can find me on Facebook for Christina Jandali and then Deliver Your Genius is my company name.
I have got loads of trainings and so on, on Deliver Your Genius on my business page. And when we’re running Facebook groups, we actually go through cycles of doing pop- up groups based for campaigns that we’re doing.
So, depending on the time of the release of this recording. So, I’m going to encourage you to hop over to Deliver Your Genius business page on Facebook and find me there.
And then you can come join us and hang out in our Facebook group depending on which one we have open at the time of the release of this.
Jillian Leslie 44:41
That is terrific. Well, Christina, I want to say thank you for first recording this on Clubhouse and it definitely has a different vibe. It has more of like a live stage vibe. I like it because again, it feels a little bit more like you’re walking a tightrope.
Like you could fall at any moment. So, I’m getting used to it. And I like it. So, I want to thank you totally. When I said, “Do you want to do it on Clubhouse?” And you were like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” So, thank you for that.
And also, really, thank you for sharing all of your great information about Facebook groups. I’m going to take a lot of this into my group. And really thank you for being on the show.
Christina Jandali 45:22
100% Thanks for having me, guys. And those of you guys in the room. If you want to just send me a DM on Instagram, you can get the link in my bio. And Jillian, thank you so much for having me. It was lots of fun.
Jillian Leslie 45:33
I hope you guys liked this episode. For me, the power of Facebook groups is all about getting really close to the people you serve. And I thought Christina had some great tips on how to do that. Let me know what you think of me recording this on Clubhouse.
I would love your feedback. And please join my Facebook group. It’s called the Become a Blogger Genius Facebook group, just head to Facebook and search for it. I would love to have you in there and I will see you here again next week.
Other related Blogger Genius Podcast episodes to listen to:
- Why It’s Worth Growing an Engaged Facebook Audience Right Now with Melanie Ferguson
- The Cheapest Way to Get Started with Facebook Ad with Jessica Gleim and Amy Christie
- How to Grow Enormous Facebook and Instagram Pages in Two Years with Andrea Scalzo Yi
- How To Use Facebook to Really Go Viral With Your Business with Rachel Miller
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