Connectivity
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Facebook has finally included an opportunity (and instructions) for people who mistakenly set up Facebook user profiles as Facebook Business Pages. I have expressed my frustration, disappointment and amazement on this topic many times. When we have taken on a few of our customers social media activities we have been in the sad position to give them the unfortunate news that the ‘page’ they have been building followers on is not a business page at all and is actually a break in the Facebook rules and guidelines. (Facebook doesn’t allow personal profiles to act as a business or be called a business name. You can tell the difference when you visit the page for the first time. If it asks you to “Like” the pages it is a business page of some form. If it says you need to be a friend of them to view the content, it is a personal profile.
So if you are one of those who have accumulated a whole mess of followers on a personal profile, Facebook just made it easier to convert the profile to a page with just a few clicks of the button. It also transfers your existing followers – yes!!!! You will lose the content you have posted thus far, but that is typically old news. It most important to create a legitimate business page and keep the followers you have accumulated. Go here and it will walk you through it.
You will also gain so much more value by having a page instead of a proifle. Fans can automaticaly like your page without having to get your permsission, you can add custom apps to your Facebook fan page, you can use iFrames to add custom graphics, post your services and products – so many more benefits that a personal profiles doesn’t allow.
Good luck, call us if you need help. Connection Grpahics is loving the flexibility of the new iframes features by building mini-sites on our customer Facebook business pages. Let us help you brand your page in style.
Stay connected!
Customize the photo stream at the top of your Facebook Fan Page or Facebook Personal Page.
Since Facebook updated their page platform the photos that came up in the stream at the top of the Connection Group fan page were not optimal in my opinion. Facebook’s default is to select photos from your wall posts images to display in the top photo ribbon, or ones you have been tagged in by yourself or others. On the Connection Group Facebook fan page some of the photos were infographics that weren’t clear when reduced to the size to fit the stream. As a marketing firm specializing in graphic design and website design the best way to utilize this stream is to highlight some of our custom work.
Even if you or your company doesn’t offer design or art services you can customize your photo stream to feature photos of your products, pictures of you that you like (not the ones others have tagged you in where your head is cut off or your back’s to the camera.)
You can choose photos you have taken and that you have access to on your computer. You can also go to stock photography sites and purchase inexpensive images. Just choose the small web resolution options – this will help keep their cost low. You can even call Connection Group, we can create custom images applicable to your company product or service too! Please be cautious about using any photos you do not own of do not have permission to use – this is a breech in copyright law.
Facebook’s default is to select photos from your wall posts images to display in the top photo ribbon. Once you have images you would like to feature, log into your page and begin posting them from your wall.
Click on a photo and choose Upload a Photo. Don’t choose ‘Create an Album’, this will not work. Find where the photo is located on your computer and select it.
When you post them as photos to your page, you can add information about the photo and then click share.
Facebook doesn’t allow you to upload them all at once but that’s okay. By adding them separately you will get more exposure for them by them on your wall! Once you have posted all the photos you want to add hit the reload button in your browser and wa-la! you will see the photos you just posted in your photo stream. If you are reading the post shortly after it was posted you can visit the Connection graphics Facebook fan page and see the order in which I posted updated images. Click on the like us button on the welcome page and it will take you to the wall. Scroll to see the step by step entries and note the photo ribbon at the top.
BTW, If you don’t want a photo or graphic to appear in the photo stream, roll over the photo and click the “x” in the top-right corner. This won’t delete your photo it just keeps it from being in the feed. (You can open your photo album and delete it from there if you want to completely remove it.)
Good luck! Let us know if you have any questions. Stay connected!
While on FB, look at your URL address (in the very top box on your screen.) See graphic below:
If you see “http:” instead of “https:” as shown above then you DO NOT have a secure session and you can be hacked!
Go to Account- Account Settings-
Next go to Account Security and click Change.
Check the box(es) and click save. (Remember to click save!)
If you don’t change it, Facebook automatically has it on the non-secure setting and you will continually be exposed to hackers and have to change your password again, and again, and again…
Please share this with others (and select LIKE to pass it along on Facebook see buttons above this post) – if your Facebook friends are hacked you can be effected also!
Save browsing!
- Have a plan. What kind of information will bring value to your customers? What information will encourage them to follow you, and keep you foremost in their mind when they need your product or service?
- Have a Professional Website. Social media is about building relationships – your website needs to close the sale make sure it is relevant and current. Your website is what holds your brand messaging, value and calls to action. (Make sure you are using consistent branding elements, logos, etc. in all media.)
- Start a business blog. Blogging is a great method for interacting with your current and potential clients. Additionally, search engines love to index blog content. Frequency of posting depends on your plans for the blog. If you are a writer or a speaker blog daily, most businesses can get a way with posting less frequently as little as once a month.
- Create LinkedIN and Facebook Page for business. Go where your customer is! LinkedIn and Facebook Pages are free and allow you to communicate regularly with people who follow your page. Encourage customers to like your page by offering incentives like giveaways, contests, discounts, etc.
- Have a Twitter account. Engage it’s easy, fun and free. Before you launch your Twitter account think about what you tweet and how often? Consider following established Twitter users and learn from them.
- Secure vanity URLS on all the major social media sites. Try and use the same name on every site. (and the same profile image!) Even if your plan is to focus on Facebook and Twitter right now and you will get to the other add-ons later, secure your name before others do.
- Get your business listed on Google Maps. Go to Google Places for Business and register your business. Google will confirm that you are legitimate with a phone call. While you are it, do it for Yahoo and Bing too.
- Create and Post Youtube videos. Videos can be easily embedded on websites, social networking profiles, email them, email links, etc. YouTube is the second largest search engine right now – get your company name in there. Reach the population who want to watch and not read. For those who want to read, transcribe the video content and add it as a linked page or as a blog entry (receive a bonus for additional search engine indexing).
- Get a Flickr or Picasa account. Do you have photos of your business, products, staff, or samples of work you have completed? Let people get to know your staff and your products by posting them. This makes it easy for sales people to retrieve them while they are on the road too.
- Interact and update often. Add relevant events, sales, services, news, photos and articles of note regularly. Stay engaged in your social media outlets. This helps customers and prospects see you are staying active, helps increase your rankings in search engines and helps keep you alert of achievements and industry trends.
Other Options that are helpful:
- Build accounts on social bookmarking sites: Slideshare, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Delicious, etc. Add your best presentations, blog posts on these sites so other people will see the value of your work then they promote it to others.
- Get on Foursquare. For businesses with brick and mortar stores Foursquare allows your customers to “check-in” via their mobile devices. Check ins generate exposure for your business. Each check in blasts to all their friends and shows their entire following that your business has something of value to offer customers. To promote use, offer incentives to your customers to check-in more frequently (discounts if they check in, free item after 10 check ins, etc.).
- QR codes. Used similar to Foursquare ins some case. The benefits of QR codes is they can be added to print promotions, signage, websites, etc. and they can serve multiple purposes. When a customer scans it with their mobile device they can capture all your contact information, website, phone number, Facebook page, etc. and now there are codes where the visitor can literally window shop with their mobile devise and purchase the item in you store front while your store is closed. So many possibilities with this as the technology increases.
There is much confusion expressed by clients and friends of Connection Group who are just immersing themselves in social media. Since Facebook Groups and Facebook Pages look so similar, and indeed have many similar features, some companies have created a Facebook Group instead of a Facebook Page which would serve their goals better. The two essentially serve different purposes on Facebook and it is important to know the features of each before jumping in.
The purpose of a Group is to encourage interaction of members.
They are typically built around a particular topic or cause. Members can brainstorm ideas, group chat, post new information, photos, videos and links, etc. Whenever a new entry is made by a member the entire group is notified via email (unless a group member has specified to opt out of emails) and it will be added under the notifications tab. This is one of the best features of the Group option. Another is the ability to restrict access and create an invite only group. This keeps the correspondence in the group directed to group members online – not posted to the public News feed. Keep in mind however messages are restricted once a group reaches 5000 members.
Create a Page when you want to build an official company, public entity or brand page.
The Facebook Pages or company fan pages are tools for companies and public figures to connect with their customers and followers. Customers on Facebook can ‘like’ and then interact with a brand by posting Page updates that are fed to your News feed. By liking the page users will then receive the Facebook company fan page posts directly into their News feed which will also then be viewable by that users friend. Facebook Pages have stronger SEO capabilities and the biggest is their ability to include applications. For instance the static FBMI application that allows people to create graphics, custom tabs and code that essentially simulates a website within their company page. Facebook Pages also provide administrators with post insights which are essentially tracking devices to count hits, etc. Official Pages can not be restricted or hidden like the invite only group mentioned above, there is no option to make them private. The whole idea with the business Pages is to increase publicity and draw interested friends. Page administrators can also access a widget that can be posted on their corporate website to promote their fan pages, this is another feature groups do not have currently.
When creating your Facebook custom business page it is wise to get a vanity URL for the page name. Please see my previous blog entry for details.
I tend to use the features of the Facebook business fan pages and use them even with my non-profit businesses and groups. I don’t implement any member restrictions and I have other tools to mass message and send event notices outside of Facebook. The ability to utilize applications and Page Insights out weight using the Group choice for me.
If you have other questions please let me know, I am happy to help. Facebook covers this information very thoroughly also. Otherwise, if you are ready to create a fan page go to facebook.com/pages/create.php.
Stay connected!
Creating a Facebook vanity URL of your Facebook business fan page is one of the first steps you should take while it is under development. A clear and easily linkable URL will aid in your marketing efforts on your website and your print materials and social media promotions.
It’s really very simple to create a vanity url for your Facebook fan page whether it is a Group or a Page. The only prerequisite is that you have at least 25 fans. Hey, if you don’t have 25 customers that have liked it yet, recruit your family and friends!.
Other considerations when choosing your name:
Facebook doesn’t allow common terms such as Hockey or Weather to represent page names. The best approach is to choose a vanity url that is closest to your personal or company name. We were fortunate to secure our actual business name for our Facebook business page facebook.com/connectiongraphics.com. We own the name Connection Group and wanted to secure it quickly so nobody else would. Rules are you are suppose to own the name you choose but some people have been known to try and get around these rules and it is best to protect yourself and secure it.
Keep in mind that a name must only contain letters and numbers, punctuation marks or glyphs do not work (%*^, ) etc. You also want to be very careful with your spelling! Double check your words because there is no going back once it is created and accepted. Check with Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities for more details on all of this information.
Secure your Facebook custom company fan page user name here.
Contact me with any questions, stay connected!
Combining Facebook Fun With Business Building
Since Connection Group has started offering Custom Facebook Landing Tabs and Fan Page Designs we have been receiving a number of questions about creation of Facebook pages. How do you set them up, what are the benefits to having a custom fan page, what types of fan pages are best suited to your clientele, etc. Since there is so much content in Facebook’s help section I will cover a few of the frequently asked questions here. Please feel free to connect for additional questions and visit the help page in Facebook for more in depth instructions.
What is the Difference between Facebook Pages and Facebook Profiles?
Your Facebook profile is a personal account of you as an individual. Facebook Pages are your professional presence as a business, band, organization, etc. Pages can only be set up by the owner or authorized representative of the company. You can not set up a page with the name Motorola Xoom if you are not authorized. You can not set up a group page called Zac Effron if you are not Zac or an authorized representative. I can set up the Facebook.com/connectiongraphics page because I am an owner. My staff can also if they have been given permission.
This is an important decision for a company. If the position responsible for developing these items has a high turn over rate it may be wise to have the page under one of the owners profiles instead of an employee. The updates can always be handled by the employee if desired but the page will always be associated by the company owner or director. In case an employee leaves the company there is no question of control. Keep in mind you can not create a page without already having a facebook profile.
Read more →
A perfect gift for kids and parents this season is this latest book by Deepak Chopra.
Mr. Chopra’s book teaches kids the important messages all parents can share at any age. When kids understand the way the world works from a spiritual point of view, it makes it easier for them to navigate through life with joy, love, and happiness.
The Seven Spiritual Laws for Children
Everything is possible. We all have the gift of creating absolutely anything.
There’s no limit to what we can do or be.
If you want to get something, give it.
Always give with a happy heart. The greatest gift is feeling good.
When you make a choice, you change the future (karma).
Your choices bring about changes. To make good choices, follow your heart.
How do your choices make you feel?
Don’t say no—go with the flow.
Create peace within by learning acceptance of what is outside our control.
Every time you wish or want, you plant a seed.
Making your wish is like planting a seed and believing that it will grow.
Let nature do the rest.
Be open to life and enjoy the journey.
New ways and new ideas can lead to more happiness.
You are here for a reason.Your dharma is your purpose, path, or vision,
the unique talent that you are here on Earth to share. Your dharma is your happiness.
– Deepak Chopra
Add a few on your gift lists this year. Published and available for purchase at HayHouse.com
On My Way to a Happy Life.
So many opportunities for Michigan Entrepreneurs! Here is a quick list of some I would like to pass along. This first one has a tight deadline if you are interested, act quickly!
Opportunities for Entrepreneurs…
GLEQ Business Plan Competition. Registered participants in the GLEQ Business Plan Competition must submit an Executive Summary by Friday, December 17, 9 p.m. Submissions are entered online and are judged by venture investors that provide written feedback and suggestions. Winners will be awarded cash prizes at ACE’11 on Monday, January 31, 2011.
Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship – ACE’11. Register Today. This is your chance to get in front of 1,000+ attendees as ACE celebrates its 11th year on Monday, January 31. Register now for a display table (the cost goes up as the event date approaches) and a chance to be selected for the ACE’11 Elevator Pitch Competition. During this fast-paced competition with emcee Chris Holman, six entrepreneurs present three-minute pitches to win awards and services. The competition is a highlight of this annual event. You must be registered for an entrepreneur display table to be selected. Use this link to register for a display table: http://ace-event.org/. Learn more about the event at http://www.ace-event.org/.
Momentum 2011. Apply Today. Momentum is a venture incubator that provides seed capital, intellectual capital, and extensive mentorship to internet start-ups. Momentum is looking for great ideas and new technology and it’s creating reasons for you to stay in Michigan. Momentum makes a small investment ($20K) in your venture for a small stake (8%) in your new company. Your team resides in West Michigan for 12 weeks while you have support to develop and launch your product, refine your business strategy, and connect with investors and resources to quickly accelerate your product to market. The application period opened November 4. For additional information e-mail Amanda@momentum-mi.com, or visit http://www.momentum-mi.com/.
NEF – Prepare Your Pitch. If you’re an entrepreneur seeking funding or other resources, New Enterprise Forum can match you with a coaching team and an opportunity to pitch your ten-minute investor presentation to the NEF audience of entrepreneurs and investors. To be considered, contact me at diane@gleq.org. Your NEF coaching team will prepare you to make a polished investor presentation. Get ready for pitch opportunities at ACE’11, Michigan Growth Capital Symposium — and other events. Learn more at http://www.newenterpriseforum.org/.
Blue Water Angels – Boost Michigan. Be one of the early-stage entrepreneurs selected to present to angel and venture capital investors this winter at a Boost Michigan. “Boosts” are informal Pitch Night opportunities to get in front of coaches and mentors that will help you prepare for investor presentations. You’ll talk about your business for two minutes and have the chance to win an impromptu Advisory Board dinner — and the opportunity to present to Blue Water Angels and other investors. Upcoming Boost events are scheduled for December 15, Lansing; January 12, Midland; and March 9, Flint. Check the GLEQ website for details at http://www.gleq.org/ or e-mail contact@gleq.org. For information on Blue Water Angels, contact Chris Moultrup at the MidMichigan Innovation Center (moultrup@mmic.us or 989-839-2336).
This article from Smashing Magazine has an incredible list of time saving applications, blogs, web sites, etc. to increase web designers efficiency. From CodeBurner, testing. bookmarking, checking monitor resolution, browser compatibility, colors, project estimates, readability and conversion tools – our jobs as professional web designers and web developers just got a whole lot easier! Some are just fun, time sucks I must admit – maybe I will download them to the iphone and actually play around with them a bit next time I am co-pilot on a trip. I’ll post further reviews…don’t mark my words though. Between updating corporate branding, logo designs, web site designs, customer meetings, programming, internet marketing, WISE and AMA there is no time fro play right now. Thats okay though and hopefully some of these links from smashingmagazine will help us all!
