Facebook Advertising Decisions
It may seem a bit ridiculous to start blogging about creating Meta (Facebook) Advertising for authors when I am still learning how to do it.
But I decided sharing my journey might be helpful to others even if it shows that I am an absolute beginner.
For anyone wanting to do their own Facebook advertising you might get some tips here. Even if it’s more along the line of what not to do!
I am not a total newbie with Facebook ads as I have experimented in the past with them. Took a couple courses but I never got to the point where I actually knew what I was doing. Never got to the point where I actually sold “anything” using Facebook ads.
Still for my local guidebook I sort of knew deep down inside that it probably was the best way for me to actually sell books to a wider audience. Just had a lot of resistance to overcome.
Getting Serious about Facebook Advertising
In December of 2024 though when I learned that the bookstore where I was working part time was going to close for two weeks over the holidays, I decided I was going to try Facebook Advertising again.
I made up my mind I was was going to get serious about it.
Enough that I made the resolution that 2025 was going to be my year to get solid with Facebook and Facebook Advertising.
So I took the plunge and signed up with Coursera to become a Digital Marketing Specialist and get Meta certified.
It is a six month course but since I was not working for two weeks I was able to put a lot of time into it to see what kind of progress I could make.
Turned out by spending most of the day watching videos, taking notes and trying to figure things out, I made great strides forward.
Then it turned out that the two weeks of my job hiatus spread out into one day and sometimes just a half day a week.
It was starting to look like my job might not be something I could count on for the future. My part time job is at a small bookstore for a National Park, Fort Vancouver NHS. In early 2025 the national park system along with every other federal agency was facing serious cuts.
Meta Facebook Certification
I finished the Coursera course in two months and in February took the Meta Certification test which I passed with the first try, but barely. This was after studying to the point of being obsessive. I took the practice tests over 100 times, relistened to videos I didn’t get solid with, made flash cards and studied them, etc. All that practicing helped me to get better with the “theory” of Meta advertising but not actual practice.
Kind of like studying for your driving license without actually spending much time behind the wheel.
More Meta Advertising Coursework with Udemy
So my next move was to take a course from Udemy, Facebook Ads & Facebook Marketing Masterclass 2025
Two weeks into the course (about halfway) and with repeated attempts to create an ad I finally felt solid enough to hit, “PUBLISH!”
Won’t sugar coat it, I came close to looking for a bridge to jump off but it finally clicked enough that I could throw $35 to the wind and try an ad.
Note: With Meta advertising you don’t really expect results for about six weeks until all the algorithms and testing gets solid. You have to be able to spend some “learning” money every time you want to try a new Ad Campaign.
That was yesterday.
Today, I already see bits of movement with it in less than 24 hours. This is giving me confidence I am on the right track.
Eight people have actually clicked through to my Amazon page to check my book out. It will take days before I see if anyone actually bought a book through Amazon stats but I am excited to see some movement at all.
This is my Vancouver Washington Guidebook that I am experimenting with.
Back to Studying
From what I can tell the first six modules of the current course are the most important to getting started. After that it looks like repeat stuff. Will finish it though and see if that is true.
