Should New Beachbody Coaches Start a Facebook Business Page?

Ah yes….Facebook! What would we do without it?

If you’re a new Beachbody coach (or even if you’re still on the fence about the whole idea), you’re probably wondering how you can utilize Facebook to build your business. The thing is, Facebook is changing all the time (this can be good and bad) so it’s important to keep on top of these things.

A lot of new coaches ask me whether or not they should use a personal profile or a business page to build their business. Great question!

First of all, to make sure we’re all on the same page we need to make sure we understand what the difference is between a personal profile and a business page on Facebook:

1. Your personal profile is what you use to log into Facebook. This is where you follow all your “friends”.
2. A business page is also referred to as a LIKE page. In order for people to follow you they need to click LIKE on your business page.

Besides the LIKE button, business pages and personal profiles look pretty much the same (although I’m pretty sure this will be changing soon).

SIDENOTE: If you want the semi-Clif notes version of this article feel free to scroll down and watch the video below. Although to be quite honest, I’m not the greatest at making videos (I’m getting better though) so you might get a clearer picture by reading through this entire post.

Either way, feel free to make fun of the fact that it looks like I need to go poop during several occasions throughout the video. Seriously…there’s a reason why I like to write! haha But I am trying to lead by example for my team and have been stepping outside my comfy zone a little more.

But I digress…

My advice if you’re a NEW Beachbody coach is to just stick with your personal profile for now. The main reason is when you’re first starting off you need to connect with the people who already know you and trust you. In case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, these people are your FB friends! Right??

You need to reach out to these people one-on-one through private messages (or on the phone, or in person…whatever you prefer). Hopefully your upline has training on how to do that and exactly what to say. If not, check out the book GoPRO by Eric Worre. It will definitely help you out! I’m a fan of the “indirect” approach to avoid sounding all weird and salesy…but you need to tweak each message to make it personal.

You already have a HUGE head start on your personal profile so why not take advantage of that?? Also, on your personal profile you already have some engagement and popularity that has already been built up so more people will see what you post. On a business page you’re starting from scratch and that can be really frustrating when you’re first starting out. Especially now, Facebook is making it REALLY hard for business pages to be seen in the main news feed. As a new coach we want you to experience the feeling of success as fast as possible. It’s kind of like starting a new workout program…you know it’s going to be a long and hard road, but it’s nice to experience some results when you first come out of the gate! That gives you the momentum you need to keep going.

Another thing I see is that when new coaches start a business page all it really does is distract them from more important tasks. It becomes “busy work”. Your main focus during the lifetime of your coaching career is to build those one-on-one relationships. A lot of this is done through private messages on Facebook, not dinking around trying to make your Facebook page look nice and shiny. Also, it can become confusing trying to figure out what to post where and when. If you just stick with your personal profile it will make life MUCH easier for you, especially when there is so much stuff you need to learn as a new coach!

And if you’re totally weirded out by posting certain things on Facebook you can change your post settings so only certain groups or “lists” of friends can see your posts.

Here’s how to choose who to share with: https://www.facebook.com/help/459934584025324/

And here’s how to get started with lists: https://www.facebook.com/help/www/135312293276793/

Like I mentioned, Facebook has made some changes lately to cut down on spam and it’s harder for business pages to be seen in the main News Feed now. And if you want to grow your audience and expand your network, you’re gonna need to invest time and resources into doing Facebook ads and promoted posts. And unlike a personal page where you can get away with posting 3-4 times a day, on a business page you’re gonna need to double that in order to be seen.

Business pages DO have some perks though. If you have a free offer you can put an opt-in form on your page and collect email addresses for your weekly newsletter, and there are certain other things that you can do. But really, I wouldn’t put time and resources into that until you’ve already build a solid foundation for your business.

Another thing to keep in mind: Facebook doesn’t want us doing business from our personal profile. It’s stated in their terms of service. However, if you’re doing things the RIGHT way this shouldn’t be a huge problem. Obviously, you don’t want to be posting your website links all over the place. That’s just tacky and spammy and you can bet if you start doing that you’re friends are going to unfollow you.

So AGAIN, if you’re a new coach…what I recommend is just sticking with your personal profile and following your upline’s suggestion on what to post to get your friends interested in what you’re doing without being salesy and spammy and flagging down the Facebook police. Make that list of 100 or 200 people and start sending them private messages. THAT my friends is going to get you to EMERALD and DIAMOND way faster than a business page is gonna do. OK?

And once you reach diamond and star diamond you can start thinking about starting that business page. Sound good?

If you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments section below.