The dark side of Facebook fan pages
Picture this: I’m working away in a cramped London hotel room. I’m there for SES London, along with many other of my geeky SEO friends.
Suddenly, I get a Facebook fan page request from a person who shall remain nameless.
And then I got another. And another. All from the same person.
At the end of the deluge, this person had sent out about eight “become a fan” requests (it could have been more, actually,) all within five minutes.
A few minutes later, I head downstairs for dinner. One person checks his iPhone and groans about all the “become a fan” requests. Another person checks his email and makes the same comment. We compare notes and realize, yup, these requests were:
- All from the same person, who was…
- In our industry, so he was probably…
- Setting up Facebook fan pages for his clients (most of which were local to this man, and therefore, we had never even heard of the companies) and…
- Sending out bulk “become a fan” email requests to everyone in his Facebook network on behalf of his clients. You know, the companies that none of his Facebook friends had ever heard of.
Within five minutes, this person was “unfriended” by five people. Probably more – I’m sure we weren’t the only folks in his network to feel this way.
Folks, I am all for Facebook fan pages. I think they offer businesses a fantastic way to reach customers and engage in a two-way dialogue. Heck, even I have a SEO copywriting Facebook page.
But when it comes to promoting your fan page (or your client’s), please, please use some common sense. Sending out client fan requests to everyone on your friend network is just plain irritating. How could I have any kind of “connection” to a company that’s across the U.S. from me? How is that targeted? It reflects poorly upon the marketer and poorly upon the company.
If you’re cringing a bit because you’ve done the same thing, I know you meant well. You really did. Heck, I’m sure the guy who sent out all the Facebook notifications meant well. I’m sure he wanted to build up his client’s fan network and show some initial success. The thought was nice. But there are other ways to reach that goal.
So, before you send out “bulk-fan” notifications, ask yourself:
1. Does my friend have any connection to the company that I’m promoting? If you’re promoting your own company, it may be appropriate to email more folks within your network (although Kenny Hyder says no in this funny and spot-on post.) But if you know that your friend lives in California, and you’re asking them to become a fan of a small, local Vermont-based business, you probably aren’t going to get much play.
2. Do I have a page that’s worthy of fandom? If it’s a brand-new fan page without much interaction, consider bulking up your content before trolling for fans. Otherwise, you’re asking folks to fan (otherwise known as “recommend”) a page that’s not even ready for prime-time.
3. How would I feel if I received this fan request? Just because people can easily ignore a request doesn’t mean that you should make them spend the time to do so. If you’re on the fence, don’t send it.
Friends don’t let friends send spammy Facebook spam requests, m-kay? Think about it.



Just hire a content marketing strategist, already!
February 25, 2010 • posted by Heather
No, the reason didn’t have anything to do with what the client would pay (the money was pretty good, actually.) Nor did it have anything to do with what I’d be writing about (the content was fairly interesting.)
The reason I turned down the gig was because there was no content strategy in place – and although I could easily write the copy and take the client’s money, I knew that what I’d be doing wouldn’t help them. Yes, I can write articles. Yes, those articles can easily have keyphrases. But to write 80 articles all focused around one keyword each…well…that’s not a content marketing strategy. That’s a step closer to Spamville.
What’s hard is explaining this to the client, who learned about this “content marketing strategy” from their marketing agency. The agency explained to the client that if having one article on their site is good, 80 is better – especially when each article has a specific keyword density (can you SEE me rolling my eyes…argh!). What’s more, the agency told the client that HOW the article was written really didn’t make much of a difference. It was all about focusing the article around one lone keyword.
Ouch. What makes it worse is that I know the agency the prospect was working with. And I know that – every month – these poor folks are paying about 20K/month for advice like that. For some of us, 20K/month would mean a new car. Or a partial down payment on a house. You know, something that would be useful…
I’ve seen this same problem manifest in different ways, some more “SEO dangerous” than others. Sometimes, the issue would qualify as a “stupid strategy” That is, it’s a strategy that won’t really help a client and shows that the SEO doesn’t know anything about content marketing (although they could be a fantastic technical SEO.) Other times, I hear of weird content interlinking and keyword-stuffing strategies that are painful to hear about – and would be even more painful to implement. During times like these, it’s hard to keep my mouth shut and not say, “Um, WTF is your agency thinking?” (And for folks who know me personally, you know that, yes, I DO ask that question. I can’t help it. It’s how I roll.)
Here’s the thing: Your content marketing strategy is crucial. You wouldn’t hire a SEO strategist who didn’t understand the technical ins-and-outs of a Website. Nor would you hire an affiliate marketing strategist who knew nothing about affiliate marketing.
But why, oh why, do agencies (and SEO companies) think that it’s not important to have a content marketing strategist on staff? And what’s more – why aren’t clients screaming for this type of expertise?
A content marketing strategist is more than a glorified copywriter who helps makes your content pretty for the search engines. This person is responsible for reviewing your existing content, noticing how it performs, reviewing your customer messaging, and helps build out value-added content your prospects want to read (and yes, helps them convert.) They may be expert SEO practitioners – but their focus is around your messaging and your opportunities. Not to mention, watch-dogging your existing content play to make sure that everything you do fits neatly into best practices.
So, here’s my call to action…
If you are an agency or a SEO company, for goodness sake, just hire a content marketing strategist already. You don’t have to bring them on full-time (although I’d recommend it.) Even having an outsourced content marketing strategist will help. If nothing else, your content marketing strategist may see opportunities that a more “technical” SEO wouldn’t see – and these opportunities can help increase the value of a contract (and more importantly, increase the value to the client.) This way, Mr. Technical SEO or Ms. Agency Marketer, you can focus on what you know and excel with – and the content strategist can do her thing.
If you are a client working with an agency or SEO, ask about their content strategy process. If the agency dances around the whole “content marketing strategist” talk, run. Run away. And run fast. For the most technically-savvy SEO’ed site doesn’t mean a thing without a good content marketing strategy. After all, are people buying from you because your site boasts elegant code and a slammin’ back end? Or because of your content and how it’s presented?
At the end of the day, as Seth Godin said, “The best SEO is great content.” When you work with a specialist, he can make your content great – and help you make content decisions that make sense for your site. It doesn’t get better than that.
Filed under Commentary, In-house SEO copywriting, Working with clients
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8 ways to handle the haters
January 21, 2010 • posted by Heather
15 years ago, I was working for a small-press publisher. After months of begging, I finally got my chance to write my first back-jacket blurb – you know, the promo paragraphs designed to snare you into buying the book? What’s more, it was for a well-known author in the self-help field. Needless to say, I sweated and slaved over every word.
A week after I turned in the copy, the publisher called me into her office. Apparently, not only did the client NOT like the copy, he felt compelled to break down why he didn’t like it on a line-by-line basis. The letter ended with (and no, I’m not making this up,) “I don’t know who this Heather Lloyd-Martin woman thinks she is…”
I was devastated. Looking back, I’m amazed I stayed in the industry. But I did – and this experience taught me a lot.
The reality is, some clients are going to hate what you write. They won’t be satisfied. And they will tell you in no uncertain terms. Here’s how to handle it:
Dealing with unhappy clients can be scary, frustrating and maddening. But remember, if you handle the situation quickly – and take the time to really hear your client’s needs – you can save the gig. Plus – like what happened to me 15 years ago – you may even get more work because the client likes the way you handled the situation. What a great way to transform a stressful problem into a profitable, happy client relationship!
Looking for low-cost SEO copywriting training? Learn more about the SuccessWorks SEO Copywriting Certificate Program, designed for in-house marketing professionals, agencies, SEO shops and copywriters.
Filed under Commentary, Copywriting, Freelance SEO copywriting, Working with clients
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6 ways to handle it when a client changes your copywriting
October 27, 2009 • posted by Heather
You thought what you wrote showcased your best work ever. You expertly followed your client’s content marketing strategy. You chose good keyphrases. And when you finished writing your SEO copywriting masterpiece, you could almost hear the harp music playing softly and feel the sunshine on your face. Your copy didn’t just sound good. It sung.
Then a week later, you see what the client actually uploaded. All of your tricky turn-of-phrases were gone. Your Title was changed from a compelling statement to a list of keyphrases. And your headline…you can’t even look at what they did to your headline. You aren’t just mad. You’re hurt. How could they destroy your copywriting baby like that?
Rule #1 of working with clients. They will change your writing, no matter how good you thought it was. Get over it.
The question is: How to handle it. Here’s what to do:
I
Filed under Content marketing, Copywriting, Freelance SEO copywriting, Working with clients
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Talking about Titles: How to educate your client
June 18, 2008 • posted by Heather
Faced with a SEO-clueless client and need to educate them on the basics? Ramon Eijkemans at Searchwritten discusses how to talk about Titles in his post Title-tags for dummies. Enjoy!
Filed under Working with clients
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