Why does no one like my stuff on Facebook?

We’ve all been picked last in gym class (I’m sure that wasn’t just me? I’m really bad with a soccer ball). As humans the need to be liked is ingrained in us. And just when we think society is moving away from the obsession with being liked and fitting in; just when we think we’re done with that high school bullshit; just when we start to realize we’re adults, and we are awesome, and who the fuck cares if people like us or not…. along comes social media and throws our whole operation for a loop.

And social media when you’re starting a business – don’t even get me started. It’s bad enough for the everyday person who uses it to compare their lives to all of their high school friends (and constantly finds themselves falling short). But add business to the mix and the level of not-good-enough stoops to  whole new level of UGH.

Here’s how it usually goes down when you’re starting to play around with social media in your business:

1. Create a Facebook page.

2. Ask all your friends and family to ‘like’ it.

3. Spend hours agonizing over what to post, trying to find the perfect background image for your obsessively thought-out photo quote

4. Share your post in every Facebook group you can think of, hoping it will lead people back to your page and praying they will like it, and you.

Then you wait. And obsess. And check over and over again how many likes your posts are getting.

And then they barely get any and you convince yourself that you are doomed to fail and you will never be a part of the cool inner circle of online business, and you decide you may as well pack up shop right now because no one is ever going to care what you have to say.

Ok, so first off – the fact that I am writing this means that you are NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THIS HAPPENS TO. I think this is important to be aware of.

In fact – it happens to me too. I’ll post something and 50 people will like it… which may seem like a lot, but when you have 5.5k+ fans on your Facebook page, it’s peanuts. Actually, it’s about 1%. So basically, Facebook is shitting the bed when it comes to actually showing your people your posts (unless you pay for it through ads). This means that you can post all you want and only a fraction of the people who like your page will even see the post show up in their newsfeed, and an even smaller fraction of them will take the time to “like” it or comment.

Now, this 1% is not an official stat – the algorithm is changing all the time and I’m not sure exactly how they decide how many people to show stuff to. It used to be based on engagement, but that doesn’t even seem to be making a difference these days. But let’s assume that about 1% of your people are liking your posts…. if you have 200 FB likes, that’s 2 post likes.

Sound about on par with what you’re seeing on your page? Great then – you’re right on track.

On the opposite side of the coin, I know MANY businesses who have 50k+ fans on their Facebook page and their stuff gets shared hundreds of times and they have comments for days… but guess what? Their businesses are struggling.

I have some good news though that will make all of this irrelevant. As much as we all love Facebook, Facebook is NOT your business.

If you were my client, I wouldn’t give two shits about how many people are liking your posts. It’s not something I EVER even look at with my clients, because social media is not your business.

You know what IS your business?

Your clients.

Your email list.

Your content marketing strategy.

Helping real people with real problems in the real world.

I’ll repeat it again because it’s worth repeating – Social media is not your business. The number of likes you get on your cute photo quotes tells you nothing about how much people need what you are offering, and it definitely isn’t an indication of whether your business will succeed or fail.

I am amazed at how many times I work with clients who are launching new programs or trying to get more traction in their business, and I ask them what they are trying, and their answer consists of exasperated cries about how they posted it on Facebook and twitter and got NO replies. Then I ask the what else they have done, and I get blank stares.

There’s something else you can do OTHER than post on Facebook??

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The worst part is that these folks often have an existing email list – people who have said “Yes please I want to hear from you!” – and they haven’t emailed them yet. Or they have send one email and no one bit so they gave up and went back to Facebook.

If the above sounds like you – don’t feel bad! No one teaches you this shit when you’re just starting out, so you look at what everyone else is doing and figure posting on Facebook must be the way to fill your client spots.

But Facebook is not your business. Say it with me: “Facebook is not your business!”

You can still rock the fuck out of your business even if no one likes or comments on your Facebook posts.

Ahhhhh. That’s the sound of a sigh of relief that just came out of your mouth, right?

Focus on the things that matter and you’ll soon be raking in enough money that you can run Facebook ads and start actually using Facebook in a way that works!

And click here for a checklist of what those things that matter ARE. I’ve created a detailed course to walk you through the first 3 months of business, so you know you’re staying on track and you can stop obsessing about making more quotes in Canva and crying because you feel like you’re getting picked last in the social media equivalent of gym class.

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