Beware of "Support Local" Social Pages

I recently wrote this as a blog article, but I wanted to share the information with you guys as well.

This is good information to have if you're using Facebook, Twitter, etc. to promote your company. If you're doing offline consultations (like I do) this also is a great tool to check with your clients. These are the types of things that a business really needs help to be "protected" from. I've had to help a few of my clients get away from this, and it left them VERY happy.

Beware of Support Pages


I’m starting to see an increase in "Support" pages on social media platforms for businesses, and wanted to give a warning to all of you about these types of pages.

Now, don’t be confused. This isn’t referring to pages like "Dell Tech Support…"

I refer to Support Pages as any type of social networking account that is set up to "better" a community. For example, you may see something like "Support Businesses in the Dallas Area" or "Support Your Local Insurance Agents"

I started running into these types of things when I did music, and I’m seeing it transfer over for businesses.

On the surface, these pages seem great. The owner has set up a page to draw support for all the local businesses in their area, offering them a place to "feature" businesses or offer free postings/advertisements on the business page.

Seems like a great thing to be apart of right?

Not necessarily.

One of the things I found out early on in my music career was that a lot of these pages can easily are a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

In the beginning, the pages are more than open to having you post things, and being involved in your postings and pages. You then generally go down 1-2 paths:

Path #1
On this road, nothing much happens to your business. You spend the time and effort into promoting and marketing, but no one is reading it. Your information is lost among others who are promoting and marketing.

Path #2 (The Dangerous One)
Later, however, they come back with an open hand expecting some sort of compensation or promotion for their efforts.

For example, they "like" you on Facebook and ask you to post on their page promoting your store. Simple enough right? You post on the page and notice that not much (if anything) comes from the post. Or, you may see a little return on the post and get a few more fans. They helped your business!

Then, a few weeks later, you get an emailing asking that YOU promote either their page or an affiliated page of theirs. You check that page, and respond with a "no," since it’s not something you even come close to believing in. This is not received well by the Support Page, and you are sent a nasty little message on how horrible you are for not reciprocating their trust. In some cases, this page will even go on to smear you online.
These types of scenarios are very common. People don’t generally start support pages without a secret interest in mind, or to try and promote their own endeavors.

It’s pretty easy to snuff these kinds of people out. If you are approached by a community page, or something similar, start asking a lot of questions before you get into their "free offer." Find out who they are, why they are doing this, and what gain they are getting from the page. An ethical person would have no problem letting you know. Some people really are just helping the community, and some people are using it as a platform for ethically promoting their company as well. These types of people will respond and let you know exactly what they’re doing, as they have nothing to hide.

Right now I use a three step method before participating in these types of things:

Is this legit? Take the steps above, and find out if it is a legit operation or not. A simple email asking for more information on the page will generally be all that you need to

Is it ethical? Partnering with the above step, make sure it is an ethical way to reach people, and that this company isn’t trying to strong-arm others into promoting/following YOU.

Does it benefit me? A lot of these pages are good in theory, but have no benefit to certain niches. Make sure this is something that fits into your online marketing plan, before continuing.


Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please leave a response below and I’ll get back to you!