Facebook as a Marketing Tool

As you may know by now, I make a decent amount of side income through both passive income streams as well as doing online and offline work. My favorite side income stream is, of course, my passive income endeavours, but I’m still always trying to find ways to make more money, so I can use that income to generate even more passive income.

All of my side jobs are service based. I staff and ghost write, offer blog commenting and consulting services, and make some decent affiliate income from my blogs. However, lately, I’ve been looking at product based side businesses as a way to diversify my income and also give me something fun and new to do.

I’ve made a few hundred dollars from re-finishing and flipping furniture, and while I have fun with that, it’s not my product-based side income idea; my idea is something else entirely, that would rely almost 100% on online sales.

Facebook as a Marketing Tool

I am getting married in just a few months, and that’s how my side business idea came to me. I was doing something wedding related, which it turns out I have quite the knack for.

I posted the finished product to a social media site, to show off the craft, and I got a lot of positive feedback.

I thought “what if I could make this into a viable side business?”. I haven’t dabbled in product based businesses in years, so before I jumped on the perceived opportunity, I did my research into the different marketing tools (free or otherwise) available on the web.

When I opened my mind to it, I noticed how strong of a tool Facebook can be for certain niches, and weddings is one of those niches.

Building Personal Relationships

As a small side business, building personal relationships with clients is a huge deal. Facebook definitely helps with that.

I’ve seen businesses (specifically the ones that my Facebook friends have started) really take off because of Facebook. I’ve actually seen Facebook based businesses – their website is their Facebook page and people buy things, or services, right off of Facebook.

I think people like to know who they are buying their products and services from; specifically if it’s for a special occasion, such as a wedding, birthday party, or another special event. In the example below, I was not only able to look at a portfolio of examples, but also get to know who it was that was offering the service.

You’re able to build personal relationships on Facebook so much easier than just having a website, for instance.

Facebook and Word of Mouth Marketing

I came across the power of Facebook for word of mouth marketing accidently. I am a member of a wedding buy/sell/swap group, and I put out a message to the other members (about 2,500 people) to find a good hair dresser.

I quickly got dozens of responses from women in my own and neighboring towns, suggesting people and showing me pictures of their own hair that their favorite hair dresser did.

They were sending me links to Facebook fan pages, the hair dresser’s Facebook pages, and their own (as examples). I got to window shop before I picked the hair dresser that I went with.

This just touches on the power of Facebook as a marketing tool. Shopify digs deeper into Facebook strategy and promoting your business on Facebook. If you have a business that could benefit from Facebook (and it surely could), make sure to take advantage of the powerful tool.

What is Peer to Peer Lending?

Peer to Peer lending (also known as P2P lending, or person to person lending) has been discussed on this website before . Peer to peer lending is really just the act of, well, lending to your peers.

Image via https://smallbiztrends.com

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. Think of it this way:

Peer to peer lending cuts out the middle man and makes the lenders (you, me, the guy next door) money on interest, instead of the banks. Banks traditionally loan money to individuals and businesses, charging an interest rate to make money. You then go and make a deposit to your bank. Maybe it’s your paycheck. You deposit $2,000 into your bank account. The bank then ‘borrows’ your money (and charges you for it through account fees) to lend to other people.

This is an over-simplistic way of putting it, but this is essentially what happens when it comes to traditional lending.

P2P lending, on the other hand, removes the bank. There are platforms that will let you both invest your money in person to person lending opportunities, and borrow from your peers. Prosper (a favorite in the personal finance community) is one such platform, and many people have made a nice profit as investors from it.

It can be a great way to make passive income, and a great way for companies or individuals to get loans (albeit higher interest loans) while bypassing the traditional bank and borrower model.

As to the borrowers, the interest rates are higher than those of traditional banks. Often, though, the banks terms and your ability to get a loan may be impacted by things that wouldn’t necessarily impact your ability to borrow from a peer.

I’ll be discussing different ways of making passive income and perhaps some more untraditional investing methods more often. P2P lending is one that has been getting some attention lately so deserved a mention.

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Investment Tips for Thirty-Somethings

So, your thirties are here and you’ve nailed this whole managing your finances thing! Where do you go from here? Your thirties are about consolidating your finances and making your money work harder for you. You’ll probably have a family during this decade, and you’ll either be taking your first step on the property ladder or moving up it. There are a few things you can do to get yourself ready!

The first thing to do is pay off non-mortgage debt – credit cards, student loans, car loans. Long-term loans and credit cards can be just as (if not more) damaging to your financial stability and credit score than running into late payments with payday loan lenders so get your foundation set up correctly before you start looking into what capital you have to invest with.

Think about how much money you save each month by no longer paying these debts, and save all or some of it for big-ticket items. Say you’re saving £200 a month because you’ve cleared your credit card. Don’t fritter this £200 and end up using your card again to buy a fancy holiday – save up that £200 every month and pay for your break outright.

Your thirties is the time when you think seriously about retirement. Your career is probably settled now, and hopefully you were squirreling away a few quid every month during your twenties. Now you need to think about how much more you can stash each month and how you can achieve your magical retirement figure. There are lots of calculators that can help you to do the maths.

Work out when you want to retire and how much dosh you want to have by that time. When you’re in your thirties you still have a lot of time – don’t leave it until your forties.

One common mistake is to set aside money for your children’s college expenses. Think about it – if the worst comes to the worst, they can get a loan. There are no loans for retirement!

Look at your investments, and make sure they’re diversified. You need to put your eggs in all sorts of baskets so that you’re buffered from the effects of one basket crashing to the floor.

You need to have between 50 and 55 per cent of your portfolio in big companies, 20 to 25 per cent in smaller companies and the remainder in foreign companies. Make an even split between growth and existing value. Have a look at Kiplinger’s Fund Finder to seek out funds that suit you.

Invest in yourself – don’t stop learning. Go on as many training and personal development courses as you can, as it can lead to pay rises or better jobs.

Make sure that your existing assets are protected – homeowner’s insurance, disability insurance and life cover. You should also by now have a big emergency fund – enough to cover a year’s expenses, so you don’t have to use Wonga.com.

Get a will and make sure people know about it. This becomes especially important when you have children, as you need to nominate guardians. You really need life insurance – get a policy that will at least pay off the mortgage if something happens to you. Shop around, as life insurance can be surprisingly cheap.