There are hundreds of Facebook Groups specifically focused on writing, authorship and self-publishing. Many of those groups allow you to “advertise” your Kindle book. If you do a rough count of the number of members these groups have, it comes to well over a million. So? Are you going to ignore a million people who you KNOW are interested in books? I hope NOT!

There is a lot of controversy over whether these groups actually work or not. Some people insist that your posts will never be seen because the only reason someone visits a group is to post their own ads. In the larger groups you will see dozens of ads flying by every minute.

I have been posting since early 2013 and admit that much of the time I go ONLY to post. HOWEVER … I have also downloaded free and 99 cent books I’ve come across, and I’ve made some full-price purchases.  In fact, I discovered an author I simply love, and have purchased all 23 of her books. To this day, she continues to advertise her “free” book every week.

I know that my auto posting efforts work. There will be weeks when I only see a small amount of activity, and then there are days that seem magical! It only takes minutes a day and can add SALES to your bottom line.

As with any marketing activity, you have to be prepared to be consistent and persistent. Joining a few Facebook groups, posting a few times and then whining, “it doesn’t work,” simply shows that you don’t understand marketing.  You must be consistent and persistent. 

If you are going to do Facebook Group Posting manually by yourself, don’t join 100 groups! Join maybe 20 and rotate through 10 groups every day. If you are going to assign a manual posting task to your VA … join 50 groups and have your VA rotate and post to 20 groups a day.

If you plan on posting to more than 50 groups on a regular basis, you will run into two things. The first is the cost of posting manually to 50, 100, 200 groups a day is prohibitive — in time (yourself) or in the $amount you will have to pay your VA for this task.   It gets REALLY tedious, really fast … which is why many authors stop before they’ve built an audience.

The second challenge in posting to larger numbers of groups is keeping track of posting rules. This can drive you crazy. For example, some groups allow you to post only FREE books. Other groups allow only 99 cent books and yet other groups are niche specific.

Not only do you need to keep track of what kinds of groups you are posting to, but you need to make sure you aren’t posting too much or too fast. Both of these will land you in the Facebook “sandbox” for up to a week or more. If you are in the sandbox you won’t even be able to post on your own Facebook profile.

The solution to posting to over 50 groups  is to use a program that automatically posts to dozens of Facebook Groups.

Here are several different Auto-Posting programs for you to look at:

The first two are virtually the same. Pilot Poster appears to have a bit more functionality.

TOP PICK — Pilot Poster

Pilot Poster is my TOP pick and after finding and testing it, I wouldn’t use any other program. It is easy, fast and in the clouds… which means your computer does not have to be ON for it to work. You could have posts going out at 5AM in the morning while you are still sleeping or at 3PM when you are on the beach drinking Margaritas!

While I do a lot of group posting, I also have several Fan Pages that I administer.  Every little thing you do in a day, chews up time and when time is scarce, saving a few minutes a day, multiplied by multiple accounts can make a HUGE difference.   Pilot Poster can also be used to set up and schedule both personal profile pages as well as Fan Pages.

I spend half a day setting up 30 posts, schedule them for one a day and then the next month, I just  scramble them up, add a few new posts and I’m done.   NO more having to think about what I’m going to post every day.

Does this “in the clouds” Facebook Group Poster live up to the hype? ABSOLUTELY. Like I said above, this is without a doubt my TOP CHOICE … for both functionality and for price.

Pilot Poster has a really easy to use and intuitive posting process. What I love about it is that you can preview what your posts will look like. With most of the other programs, you are guessing what the post will look like– for me “guessing” has led to some embarrassing moments.

Here are the top four things I love about this program.

1. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the program is in the clouds. You do not have to download anything onto your computer. You do not have to have your computer ON in order for the program to work.  You can simply, log into the program. Set up and schedule your posts, turn off your computer and go to bed.
2. You might have noticed the word SCHEDULE in the previous paragraph. You can schedule one or dozens or even hundreds of posts ahead of time. I love being able to group my activities, so having a three hour period once every few weeks is perfect. I do all my post to groups set-up done and don’t have to think about it for another two weeks or even a month.
3. You can post to dozens or hundreds of groups. While YOU need to be careful not to break the rules of each group, Pilot Poster has sophisticated technology designed to keep you out of Facebook Jail. You are able to spin your post text and send posts with intervals. Each post is given a unique ID number, AND you can send from multiple accounts if you are a heavy power user.
4. This one is REALLY important to me >> yes, you can post to Facebook Groups, but you can also post to your Personal Profile, AND to your own FAN Pages.  You ca actually post to other people’s Fan Pages, but I really advise against that.

And finally … the prices are right.

A single Facebook account plan comes in at a low $39. NOTE:  This is a ONE time payment … NOT a monthly or yearly payment.  ONE TIME PAYMENT!

Most author/publishers are going to need the $49 plan which includes 3 Facebook accounts.  You’ll need to use your your Personal Profile account for sending Group Posts and you will also need your own Author Fan Page.    Authors with multiple pseudonyms might need the  7 Facebook accounts plan at $69.

Take a look at Pilot Poster you will not be sorry.

MaherPost

MaherPost is virtually the same as Pilot Poster The only significant diffence I can see is that it might NOT post to Personal Profiles or Fan Pages.   I sent an inquiry in about this to the help desk and will update everyone when that is clarified.

Looks like everything else functions the same and the pricing plan is exactly the some too.  (Might be the same company operating under two different names).

All of the programs below are software programs that need to be installed ON your computer. Your computer has to be ON for them to work.

I used to use some of these, but getting up at 5AM to turn my computer on and start the program was NOT my idea of fun … especially since I raraely go to bed before 2AM.

FB Groups Poster Pro V3

WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING ANY NEW CUSTOMERS AND
WILL NO LONGER DO SO AT ANY POINT IN THE FUTURE

Why am I even mentioning this software if it is dead?  Because there are literally thousands of links in the search engines leading to this software. AND here’s what is really important … a few sales pages are still collecting your money, which you will NOT get back without a BIG hassle.

Facebook Virtual Assistant

This program is easy to use and has some very nice features. The three features I liked the BEST?

1. Search and Gather groups: Simply add a keyword and the software will find groups using that keyword.  If you are looking for groups that authors hang out in, you would search for keywords like: “groups: authors” or “groups: writers.” If you were planning on promoting your FREE book days, you would search for “groups: kindle” or “groups: free books.”

2. The group posting function allows you to spin your messages so that a variety of different messages go out instead of just one.

3. Though I love the fact that the software has a scheduling feature, your computer has to be ON in order for this to work.  So yay for scheduling and nay for having to leave your computer on all night.

Here’s a video that shows you how it works

There are 3 price points to choose from:

$97 for ONE license (one computer) per year.

$147 for THREE licenses (three computers) per year   *** this is perfect if you have a virtual assistant helping out.

$297 for TEN licenses per year. I have no idea why you’d have a need for 10 licenses unless you have an agency promoting dozens of books at the same time.

Facebook Virtual Assistant  has some really nifty features, but since this is the highest priced software with PER YEAR pricing, and the fact that it is NOT in the clouds, my advice is to pass on it.

.

EZ Facebook Group Auto Poster

This is a very simple software program for PC users only. It posts your messages and images to the Facebook groups.

This software is available for one time price of $49.00. Your one-time price does NOT buy you any program updates, which means that if Facebook does any major program changes, the software may cease to work. My experience is that Facebook makes significant changes that could affect this software at least once a year.

Call me what you want, obsessive,  careful and  anal … but there is NOT enough information on the sales page that allows me to make a really informed decision. Sheesh, they don’t even tell you that you need to install this ON your computer and that your computer has to be ON in order for the program to run.

IMPORTANT:  This program is NOT Mac compatible!

Check out EZ Facebook Group Auto Poster here.

Ninja Blaster – Pro Marketing & Facebook Auto Poster

Ninja Blaster looks to have some of the same features as other programs described above plus a few nifty add-ons such as a keyword finder and the ability to post to Twitter and Pinterest.

This program might be a great option to try out if you only need a few weeks to one month of promotions.  Why?  Because Ninja Blaster’s pricing is very flexible.  You can purchase by the month ($9.95) … so if you want to do one month of promotions every six months … just buy a month whenever you need to.

OR you can subscribe monthly for $9.95. You can save a pile of money by purchasing a yearly license for $59  OR a lifetime license for $97.

TEST Ninja Blaster HERE   (find and click on the link to download a 3-day trial)

IMPORTANT NOTE:

I found one FREE auto poster online. I would STRONGLY advise against downloading any FREE autoposters. I could find NO reviews or other mentions of this software which makes me highly SUSPICIOUS. It could be loaded with viruses or malware which will steal information off your computer. Am I paranoid?  YES … for good reason!

My good reason?  It takes talent, time and effort to create this type of software. You see the prices the other folks are charging. Why would someone offer the same thing for free and not tell us why?  Hmmmm! If it is free, there is a reason … it is up to YOU to figure out that reason. And MY opinion is that in this case FREE is dangerous.

My TOP Recommendation? Pilot Poster

It’s in the clouds, working away when you are busy with other things. It enables you to post to your Personal Profile, your Fan Pages and hundreds of Facebook Groups.   You simply cannot BEAT the $49 price tag.

MORE on using Facebook to help promote your books:

Facebook Groups For Authors And Book Promotions
How To Get More Book Reviews with Facebook Groups

Final Note:
Marketing is about persistence and consistency.
Doing something for a whole three days in a row simply does not cut it …
it is what you do month after month after month that produces results.