From Farming to Facebook: Ten Lessons Learned

1. The world wants to farm. Everybody secretly wants to be a farmer (consider the popularity of Farmville), and Facebook lets you bring your farm to them.

2. Pictures tell a great story. Always carry a camera; take photos with bold shapes and contrasts. Tag your friends.

3. The text should be short and clear. If posts are too long, they will be skipped. "This weekend, our wine club members have an opportunity to pick up their shipments at the Six Sigma tasting room..." is too long. Better is: "Come pick up your wine club shipment tomorrow."

4. Small talk wins fans. Fan interaction creates visibility, and visibility wins fans. "It's freezing cold in Asbill Valley this morning. How is your weather?"

5. A few posts per week work well. Too many posts can over-load your fans (but posting too infrequently is no good either). Overloaded fans quit following you.

6. Superfans need love. When fans interact with your page often, they should be encouraged.

7. Third-party endorsements are much more valuable than what we say about ourselves.

8. Your fans are your friends. Share content with your fans that you would share with your friends.

9. Keep it fun and positive. Facebook is not the place for criticism or grumpiness.

10. Promote your page! (wink, wink)

Christian Ahlmann, Six Sigma Ranch, Lake County
Facebook.com/SixSigmaRanch
http://www.sixsigmaranch.com

Links:

Constant Contact: http://www.constantcontact.com/
HootSuite: http://hootsuite.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/

Resources from Grown in Marin Workshop:
http://ucanr.org/sites/Grown_in_Marin/GIM_Workshops/Social_Media_Workshop-6_1_11/