As an interactive agency, we manage many Facebook pages, so we must stay informed on a wide variety of issues. As an individual, I “like” certain pages because I am interested in specific services, products or issues. I am particularly passionate about politics. My party affiliation— while no secret—does not define me, but this is because I prefer to stay open-minded. For this reason, I subscribe to or “like” both Democratic and Republican Facebook Pages and, for that matter, Democratic and Republican people. It’s not that I straddle the political fence; I just like to see both sides of important issues.

This week I read a post written by a Democratic Senator in Alabama about an Elder Abuse Prevention Act that was removed from the calendar. Initially I was upset that the Act, which I considered to be important, was rejected after the good, hard work that went into getting it ready to present. My first impulse was to write a post in support of the Senator’s post, but I decided to review some of the GOP pages to get a better perspective. What I read was equally upsetting.

A bill was proposed and rejected to increase funding for domestic violence shelters. Filibustering was used to stall funding for the Kidney Foundation as well as to delay discussions regarding a bill for battered women. One Senator questioned aid for kids and another boldly stated he would simply “talk all night.” I’m not even sure why filibustering is allowed; to me, it seems a pure waste of everyone’s time.

For those of you that follow this blog and are not familiar with Alabama politics, here’s a quick history lesion: The Democrats were in control of the Senate for decades. (I apologize for the broad, undefined timeframe as I did not confirm the exact number of years.) Now the Republicans are in the majority, and it seems that “what’s good for the goose” is being played out on the Senate floor in Montgomery.

When we went to the polls, we voted for adults—hopefully smart, compassionate, and fair-minded adults. But let’s face it, shamefully childish games are being played out on the Senate floor. Acts and Bills related to many important issues are being drafted and introduced. While most of them have merit and whether they are introduced by Democratic Senators or Republican Senators, most are also asking for funding; and at the end of the day, as we should all know, it all boils down to money!

So, if proposed bills are good for the people AND we, as the people/government, can afford to fund them, then they should be seriously considered no matter who presents them. And if an Act or a Bill for a good cause is not approved, it may not be because it didn’t have merit or that the other side didn’t believe it in, but ultimately if may be that we cannot afford it at this time. So let me replace the political overtone of elderly abuse or battered women which are both equally good causes that should be supported, with an example everyone can relate: fruits & vegetables. If both fruits and vegetables are good for my children and I only have enough money for one—which do I choose? And if I choose veggies, is it right for anyone to promote that I choose not to feed my children fruit?

The question isn’t can you, the question is do you want to and how important is it to you? Look around your neighborhood. There are varying degrees of lawn maintenance. Some yards are professional managed. Every week a crew shows up for an hour or so, mows, edges, weeds, blows away and hauls off debris.  Others choose to have a neighborhood kid mow the yard for them. They pay less for the service and they don’t expect it to look professional, but they do expect it to be done in a timely manner based on agreements made. Others choose to mow their own yard.  They may be disciplined enough to be consistent and mow it the same day and time every week, they may skip a week if they simply don’t have enough time, they may or may not choose to edge, weed, and blow off debris, but they are much more tolerant of their own management then if they were paying someone to do it.

What ever option the homeowner chooses they general get what they pay for or for which they may choose not to pay.  Facebook is no different.  Pages that garner the most “likes” generally are those that are well managed. The type of management a page needs depends on the business. Many, many, many business pages are started and the Admin is very enthusiastic. They make several posts the first few days, but eventually the newness wears off and then it just becomes another chore, kind of like a company newsletter.  In order for either to be successful you need content and that content needs to be fresh; much easier said than done.

So think like a consumer, when you visit other pages, what is your bench mark? If the company hasn’t made a post in a week or so or if you notice they generally make a post once in a blue moon, is that a site you wish to subscribe? If the page’s last post was made several months ago, do you assume the page has been abandoned? If a yard hadn’t been mowed all summer would you assume no one lived there or that no one cared?

So as previously stated, managing Facebook isn’t any harder than mowing your grass and it’s so easy that children are doing it. Businesses are busy taking care of clients and running the daily operations of their business. Stopping to make thoughtful posts doesn’t always make it on the priority list for the day nor does tracking posts and comments to see which ones garner the most interaction. That’s why our company, like many others offer Social Marketing management through www.connexionswork.com. We manage dozens of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages. Packages start as low as $150 per month – about what you’d pay to have a small yard mowed each week and it takes about the same amount of time. If you need some help give us a shout.

Other services offered are:
SEO – search engine optimization
SEM – search engine marketing
Keyword and keyword string managment
Page rank management
W3C compliance
Google places managment