Facebook is a source of frustration and guilt for many smaller business owners and solo entrepreneurs, who wonder how to make it work for their business.

In the Forbes article ‘Why Small Businesses Are Losing On Social Media” author Meghan Casserly interviewed social media guru Ted Rubin who noted “if an expert or strategist tries to sell you on the notion that setting up a Facebook page . . . will open the floodgates to an Internet’s worth of sales leads, they’re selling you some bad medicine.”

Rubin goes on to say, “Social actually can be a powerful lead generator,” but not in the way most small business owners think. “Jumping online to check in on Facebook once a day or posting current sales deals isn’t going to bring the business in.”

Social media generally and Facebook specifically is one arrow in the marketing quiver. It isn’t a quick fix and it isn’t traditional media. It’s value lies in being part of an overall integrated marketing strategy that incorporates a website, traditional media, excellent customer service and solid products/services as part of the package that builds brand recognition, customer loyalty and leads.

The average person is on Facebook to connect with family and friends. But when brands understand this and tailor their content to their fans, so that fans find the content interesting, inspirational, informative, valuable and/or helpful, then fans will remember them and are then more likely to begin to like, share and comment on their posts. This then helps build brand name recognition and loyalty, which in turn can help fuel potential sales opportunities down the road.

This though is not an easy task or a quick fix  for a number of reasons. For one, those who have liked your page and may also like your content, may never actually see what you post on your Facebook page. It may never make it into their news feed! Facebook determines what makes it into the various news feeds and, according to an Infographic from PostRocket, “it’s almost 30x easier to get into Harvard than it is to get into Facebook’s news feed.”

So how do you get into the news feed of those who have liked your page?

Promoted Posts are one way to get your posts into the news feed of more people. Paying to promote specific posts helps ensure a larger number of your fans have an opportunity to see a particular post. These same Promoted Posts can be used to help build your fan base too by targeting specific cities, provinces, states and countries.

One of our clients recently ran for office in a local election. His Facebook page was relatively new and he had a small number of fans and minimal engagement. We designed a Facebook Ad campaign and switched the image up three times during the course of the campaign in an attempt to gain some traction with the ad. One of the issues was a huge piece of the text was taken up with a required by law one liner.

Part way through the campaign we began to use some of the budget for Promoted Posts. The difference was dramatic! The Promoted Posts achieved far more exposure than the Facebook Ads, or a regular post, in a much shorter period of time and for a small overall cost.

Similarly, we have been using Promoted Posts with a client who is a real estate agent. For several months now when she obtains a new listing we set it up as a Promoted Post and not only have more people viewed the ad but, as with the political campaign, it has generated new fans for her page.

While Facebook is technically free, for small businesses looking to seriously utilize this platform to help build their brand, loyalty and reach, an integrated strategy along with a serious investment of time is needed. Oh yes, and an investment of cash!

“Social media has become one’s essential voice. In order to say something important, users flock to sites especially Facebook and use it to stay connected. The social media giant may indeed provide a platform but it also is a potentially harmful playground where information can be misused.

Teens are the most targeted, most of them suffering from cyber-bullying, stalking and sexual predator manipulation. Employers come in a close second as employee Facebook activities can prove detrimental to the company’s reputation. Statistics paint an alarming picture; Facebook is integral yet can be very harmful.”

Source: MobiStealth

iAcquire Search Behavior Study

The reality is Facebook Pages are no longer really free, and haven’t been for some time, not if you are intentional about using your Page to build your brand’s reach. This may not be true for all businesses but it’s true for most.

But the logic behind Facebook’s ‘Policy’ for Promoted Posts, or as they call it ‘Ad Images’ in News Feeds, escapes me.

This one in particular, “Policy: Ads and sponsored stories in News Feed may not include images comprised of more than 20% text.” (emphasis mine)

Under the heading ‘How are we enforcing?’ Facebook goes on to say this “We have created a new grid-based detection tool that is the standard for determining the percentage of text that appears in any image. This tool should ensure consistent and objective enforcement of the policy”.

Facebook then uses sample images of what is ‘acceptable’ and what is ‘unacceptable’.

I have to say, I feel like I’m dealing with a government bureaucracy when I see the terminology and the policy they’re using!

Having bumped up against the ad enforcement arm of Facebook recently I can’t help but wonder as to the rationale behind this policy.

Here’s part of what I received via email when a Promoted Post didn’t quite fit the grid system:

“The content of your Ad or Sponsored Story violates our Ad Guidelines (emphasis mine). Ads and sponsored stories in News Feed may not include images with more than 20% text. We’ve created a deck that clarifies this new policy for ad images. Download the deck here: http://fbrep.com//SMB/TextPolicy.pdf“

I agree people seem to love photos in their news feed, but they also seem to like inspirational quotes. Ooops, too bad, inspirational quotes are mainly text.

To be accurate, Facebook does make an exception to text if it is part of the product. For instance, they mention that a can of Red Bull that says Red Bull on it is okay. Phew!

But, they go on to say, a “Photo of a product where the image is zoomed in just to promote the logo or brand or is not a clear product shot must meet the 20% rule.” Sheesh!!

The language and the policy leave a lot to be desired.

In fact, maybe they’re not really looking to increase their profitability, because this type of policy certainly won’t help them in that regard.

Does anyone else out there think this is crazy?

Wondering whether you should be investing time and energy in LinkedIn? Consider this statement made in a February article in the Financial Post: “LinkedIn Corp., the business-oriented service for recruiters, job seekers and corporate networking, is showing investors the sort of promise from a social networking stock that many had hoped to find in rival Facebook Inc.”

And success on the profit side means that LinkedIn is doing something right and, according to this article and others, the growth is far from over.

As mentioned last week in LinkedIn: 5 Important and Often Neglected Profile Areas, “LinkedIn is one of the most important social networks for new business owners looking to build their reputation, brand awareness, influence and network of contacts, particularly for business-to-business companies and those whose clientele tend to be white-collar”.

Last week’s article provided five important and often neglected tips to setting up your LinkedIn profile:

1. Create ‘Your public profile URL’
2. Use a Professional Photo
3. Customize the Professional Headline that shows below your name
4. Add three ‘websites’ and Twitter to your profile
5. Write a Background overview/summary role that is interesting, informative, concise and typo-free

Now that you’ve got the bare bones of your profile set up, here a few other areas to pay attention to as you develop your LinkedIn profile and online reputation.

(Asking for) Recommendations
When people don’t know us they rely on what others say about us. Recommendations are an important part of building our reputation online.

We can say anything we like about ourselves but when other people speak highly of us and are willing to put their recommendations in their own words this, obviously, has much more impact.

LinkedIn recommendations added to your profile must come from the person making the recommendation. They can’t be added by you in any other way and this adds even more weight to them.

While some suggest ‘waiting’ for others to send you their recommendation, a more proactive approach is often needed. Under ‘Profile’ in the LinkedIn navigation bar, click on ‘Recommendations’. This will take you to the area where you can request a recommendation. You will also manage and approve your recommendations through this area.

You then choose the role you’d like to be recommended for, the name of the connection you would like a recommendation from along with a place to create your request. LinkedIn provides a template that is best customized, both the subject and the content. (see below)

The Personal Touch
While LinkedIn provides a pre-completed template for you to use to request recommendations, it is better to personalize these. It will (my guess) increase the likelihood of a positive response to your recommendation request and may even increase the quality of the recommendation.

The personal touch is best in almost all cases when you ask someone to connect with you, endorse you or recommend you.

List your Experience & Accomplishments
The more information you provide, the more people will find reasons to connect with you. Think broadly about all your experience and training and think of your audience and what they might want to know as you’re completing these areas.

Add Your Skills & Expertise
Click on the ‘More’ button in the top navigation bar to find the ‘Skills & Expertise’ link where you can add these to your profile. Or, click on ‘Profile’, then ‘Edit Profile’, scroll down to the ‘Skills & Expertise’ area and click on the pencil icon.

Enter your skill or expertise in the box provided and click enter each time one so that each will show up as an individual item. LinkedIn will prompt you with standard terms and these are best used, unless they don’t fit. In some cases, you may need to create your own.

This article by Nicky Kriel goes into more detail on how to Sharpen your Skill Sets on LinkedIn.

As your connections are now able to add their endorsement to your skills and expertise, essentially agreeing you possess the skills you say you do, this area is important. That said, there is concern that the new endorsements feature may be undermining the value of the Skills & Expertise area. That’s a whole other topic! For now this area is still important as it helps people get an overall sense of your abilities.

Promote Your LinkedIn Profile Online & In Print
Add your LinkedIn profile to your email signature, your business cards, letterhead and other marketing/print materials, and to your website and social networks. Make it easy for people to find you on LinkedIn, and of course this includes creating a distinct URL or personal profile URL.

Check out our article 6 Ways To Make It Easier For People To Find You On Social Networks for other suggestions.

Connecting With Others
If you’re new to LinkedIn the first place to start is with those you know. Start by searching for those you know or by connecting with someone you know who is also connected to many of the people you know. You can also send an invitation to those you’re connected to through email by importing your email address book into LinkedIn.

Inviting people to connect with you who have no clue who you are isn’t usually good form. In some cases individuals may encourage others who don’t know them to connect with them and then that is fine. But when asking to connect with those who do not know you, a personal and tactful approach is needed. In these cases, don’t use the standard LinkedIn connect request!

Personalize your request and rather than “I’d like to add you to my professional network” tell them why you’d like to add them and/or how you know them or know of them.  An honest and professional approach to making contact is much more likely to result in a new connection than an impersonal and unprofessional approach.

One final tip, think carefully about inviting the connections of your connections to connect with you. If you discover one of your connections is connected to someone who you would like to connect with ask for an introduction or for permission to invite their connections to connect with you.

Share Interesting Stuff
As a professional network what you share on LinkedIn will be quite different from what you share on Facebook.

People are more likely to watch for your name and read your content when what you post is helpful, interesting and relevant to them.

There are many people sharing activity on LinkedIn but Richard Young, the Director of EMEA at Nimble happens to be one of the ones I pay attention to when I’m scrolling through my news feed. Why? Because Richard posts articles I haven’t necessarily seen and his posts are helpful, interesting and relevant for me.  He will occasionally promote Nimble expressly but mostly he just shares good content. The result, when I see Richard’s name come up I also think of Nimble. He is promoting the brand indirectly even when he is not mentioning their name.

As a small business owner myself, one of the first places I turn to when looking to find out more about another business or professional person, known or unknown, is LinkedIn. Often this is because when I search for them online, and if they have a LinkedIn profile, one of the first results that appears is their LinkedIn profile. This can be good news or bad news, depending on what is (or isn’t) on their profile!

The value of LinkedIn, to not only job seekers and recruiters but to small business owners and business professionals, has increased exponentially as the use of social networks has grown. Don’t neglect this important opportunity to build your online reputation and influence!

They went on to share “This attack is well organized and again very, very distributed; we have seen over 90,000 IP addresses involved in this attack.”

HostGator is recommending that you log into your WordPress website “and change the password you have to something that meets the security requirements specified on the WordPress website.

These requirements are fairly typical of a secure password: upper and lowercase letters, at least eight characters long, and including “special” characters (^%$#&@*).”

You can do this by following hte following steps:

Log in to your WordPress website (the wp-admin site) Dashboard

1. Look for the ‘Users’ link located on the left hand side of the Dashboard.
2. Click on your Username to edit.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the Username information and locate the words ‘New Password’.
4. Create a new password that includes upper and lowercase letters, is at least eight characters long, and has at least a few “special” characters (^%$#&@*).
5. Click ‘Update Profile’.

Other Account Security
While we’re on the topic of security, HostGator recently posted the following additional important information about Account Security:

“Did you know that one of the most common causes for a hosting account to become hacked, or otherwise compromised, is also the most easily preventable cause as well?  If you use WordPress, Drupal, Joomla or any other PHP-script, database-driven CMS then it is vitally important that you keep these scripts up-to-date.  Failure to do so is literally an open door inviting hackers to gain access to your account.  Updating these scripts is as simple as logging into the back-end and clicking on any “update” notification that appears therein.”

LinkedIn is one of the most important social networks for new business owners looking to build their reputation, brand awareness, influence and network of contacts, particularly for business-to-business companies and those whose clientele tend to be white-collar.

Even so, small business owners often don’t grasp the importance of having a personal profile on LinkedIn. They may have heard “you need to be on LinkedIn” and then sign up for an account, but once they “join” – in other words get a username and password – not much more seems to happen. They’re not sure where to start.

Here are five very basic but important and often neglected tips to setting up your LinkedIn profile so that it can begin to work for you:

1. Create ‘Your public profile URL’

When you sign up for LinkedIn your assigned public profile URL will look something like this: linkedin.com/pub/johndoe/40/263/205 (Try putting THAT on a business card!)

Adding your LinkedIn profile to your business card, email signature, your social networking sites and any marketing material is difficult if you don’t have your own distinct URL. It doesn’t look professional and is not easy to remember, for you or those you hope to reach.

Fortunately, LinkedIn allows you to customize your public profile URL to one that works better for you. Let’s face it linkedin.com/in/JohnDoe will look a lot better on your business card and other promotional material than linkedin.com/pub/johndoe/40/263/205

To create your public profile URL, go to Profile > Edit Profile > then look in the area underneath your picture to locate your LinkedIn assigned URL. To the right of the URL find and click on the word ‘edit’ (in blue).

A new page will open. Look for the words ‘Customize your public profile URL’ (in blue) on the right side of the page. Type in your name and click save. If your first name choice isn’t available you’ll need to consider other options like a middle initial, a middle name, etc.

2. Professional Photo

A picture is worth a thousand words. If your photo is non-existent (like the one on the right) or not good quality people may not dig any further to find out the more important stuff about you. Consciously or not, the quality of your photo will add or detract from your perceived credibility

Photo Tips:

• Head or head and shoulders shot.
• Have a pleasant expression on your face. Professional and friendly.
• Use a simple or plain background.
• Wear clothing appropriate for your field of work.
• Solid colors work better than patterns for clothing.

3. Customize the Professional Headline that shows below your name

Your job title is the default for Your Professional Headline. Change it to something that showcases your expertise clearly and specifically. You have 120 characters to let people know what you do, what you really do! Don’t miss this opportunity!!

If you are an Architect and only list this title along with a bunch of letters after your name, will I know what your specialty is? Do you design houses, commercial buildings, multi-family complexes or?

Think about the audience you want to attract, use keywords that your customers are using to search for your type of business and write a headline that speaks to this group.

Adding a bit more detail to your professional headline can separate you from the pack and make it easier for those searching for your services to find you.

4. Add three ‘websites’ and Twitter to your profile

LinkedIn allows you to add your Twitter username plus three URLs or websites to your profile. Use the three links to add your website, your blog, your business Facebook Page and/or your business focused Pinterest profile or Page, etc. You’re limited to three so choose wisely.

5. Write a Background overview/summary role that is interesting, informative, concise and typo-free

The summary introduces people to who you are and your current role, once they’ve seen your photo and your professional headline. It’s a place where you can go into a bit more detail (but not too much) about who you are, what you do and why you do it.

Provide enough information that people will get a sense of who you are but not so much that they will only read it part way through, because it’s either boring, too long or lacks substance.

Use keywords as these are the words people are using to search for you, but don’t go overboard. Bottom line, you’re writing for people not search engines.

Ultimately, it’s important that your profile is as complete as possible, but you have to start somewhere. The tips above are bare minimums for getting up and running on LinkedIn.

Next week I’ll look at some of the other key areas of a profile including skills and expertise, asking for recommendations and connecting with others.

‘Region’ statistic projections used are interesting with North America projected to remain flat (49.7% in 2012 down to 48.9%); Western Europe showing a decline (24.6% in 2012 down to 20.9% in 2014) and Asia-Pacific showing increase (up from up from 20.6% in 2012 to 23.7% in 2014).

The OLD rules told us that Facebook Cover images “may not include”:

• images with more than 20% text;
• price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”;
• contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section;
• references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features; or
• calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”

In typical Facebook fashion, they seem to have changed the rules quietly and without fanfare. Facebook watchers Mari Smith, Inside Facebook and others heard about the change and began ‘sharing the love’ with the rest of us. (Thanks guys!!)

Here are the new and improved ‘terms’ for what you can include on your Facebook Cover Image:

• All covers are public. This means that anyone who visits your Page will be able to see your cover. Covers can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines. Covers may not include images with more than 20% text.

For the full picture see the Facebook Page Terms.

Quite a difference, eh?! And, about time too! As a prime piece of real estate for brands, the old rules concerning the cover image didn’t make sense. The restriction on having only 20% of the image in text is manageable.

Facebook cover images, are a bit like a billboard for business pages. They’re the first thing people see when visiting your Page and, after they’ve visited your Page once, chances are they won’t be back again – unless you give them a reason to return. They’ll like your Page or not, rarely if every to return again.

The opportunity to include a ‘Call to Action’ in your cover image makes the space far more valuable for encouraging people to not only ‘like’ your Page but to return periodically to check out “what’s new”.

For instance:

• sharing specials (20% off this week on)
• promoting specific events
• promoting a special product – free or paid
• include contact info such as your phone number and/or your website

While most Facebook Pages are visited once, at the time we’re deciding whether to like them or not, having the ability to add something a bit juicier to our cover image that might entice people to ‘like’ us, phone us, visit our website, visit our store, sign for our free event, product, ebook or whatever is important.

Guess what I’m going to take care of today?!

Let’s face it, a big business like Facebook doesn’t make these decisions lightly; without a lot of thought, research, testing and such. Yes, they’ll likely get some flack from this change. Some of us like change more than others. And, hey, that’s what makes the world interesting.

But I happen to like what I’ve seen of the change so far. I’m thinking that the change may be a big improvement for business Pages, most of whom struggle to find interesting content to share that also, at least occasionally, promotes their business and makes it into the Facebook news feed.

Yes, Facebook is a social platform and fans do not want to be barraged non-stop with advertising messages. That said, brands – small and large – use social media to build name recognition, relationships with potential clients and to improve their bottom line. As much as we might like to do it just for fun, few of us can afford to do so.

So how will this change be an improvement for business?

The layout of the news feed provides a variety of options for people to choose to view what they would like to see, one of which is ‘Following’, in other words ‘Pages’.

Why is that good? Here’s why: the ‘Following’ tab will be listed, along with all the other options, in the drop down menu at the top of the page for fans to choose.

The menu (listed below) is one that regular Facebook users are likely to use when signed in, if they want to choose anything other than the default (Facebook ‘Top Stories’ sorted) News Feed:

• News Feed (the default)
• Most Recent
• All Friends
• Photos
• Music
• Following
• Games
• Groups
• See All

When one of the menu items, other than default is chosen, it looks like Facebook will include all posts in that grouping in the order they were posted. In other words, they won’t be screened by Facebook (at least yet) to determine whether they should or shouldn’t show in a fans’ news feeds. This will continue to happen in the main news feed but not in these others, from what I’ve seen so far.

Assuming this is the case, brand Pages are more likely to be seen by those who have ‘liked’ their Pages. They now have two shots at appearing in the news feed:

1. Chosen as a ‘Top Story’ by Facebook based on their criteria
2. In with the crowd, unsorted, on the ‘Following’ Page

Of course, none of this guarantees brands will be more successful with Facebook but it will remove the ability to blame Facebook for not giving us enough exposure in the news feed. We’ll now have two opportunities to get in front of our audience and it’s up to each brand to do their homework and deliver to their fans what they’re looking for in order to gain a following.

Facebook is touting this new look as:

• Goodbye Clutter | Hello bright, beautiful stories
• Bursting With Color | Vibrant new visuals bring your News Feed to life.
• Fresh Feeds | Get Facebook just how you want it with your choice of feeds.
• Everywhere You Go | See the same clean look wherever you use Facebook – on mobile, tablet, or web.

From first glance, I think it may be a winner!

Sign up to get on the waiting list and find out more about the news feed by clicking here.

The concern seems to be tied to ‘mixing business with pleasure’, sort of, or having no interest in being on the giant social network personally.

While the concern is natural for those who are new to social networks, it is not accurate. One’s personal Facebook profile is separate and distinct from one’s Page for business. While they are linked together for convenience sake, you are the only one who has access to both. The convenience of combining them from the outset makes it possible for you to access either one with one login, rather than having to login separately for each.

How about friends and fans?

Those who have liked your business Page are not able to view your personal profile, unless:

• They are both fans of your business Page and friends on your personal profile
• You have made your personal profile and some or all of what you post available to the public (your settings).

How about if I create a Facebook Page now and decide to add a personal profile later?

Of course, you can create a business Page first and THEN add a personal profile later, but you’ll lose out on some of the benefits of having both. For one, you won’t be able to ‘like’ other Pages from your Page (according to those who have done this, information like this is often difficult to find and confirm in Facebook’s help section). And this is an important loss, especially when you’re building relationships with other businesses who have Facebook Pages that they would like you to like.

I created a Facebook Page BEFORE I created a personal Facebook profile. How do I combine them together?

If you have a Facebook Page and, after the fact, you create a personal Facebook profile, you will end up with with two distinct sets of login credentials (i.e. usernames and passwords). The steps below will help you combine everything so that your personal login gives you full access to your business Page and the other login (the one for your Page only) is no longer available.

1. Open two separate browser windows (e.g. Safari and Firefox, or Chrome and Safari)
2. In one browser window open your personal Facebook profile. In the other browser window open your Facebook Page. (The browsers need to be different as you will be using the separate login credentials for your Page and for your personal profile – if you try to open both in one browser window you will only open one or the other but not both.)
3. Once your business Page is open, locate the Facebook address (URL)  for your business Page and copy it into the other browser window tab, where your personal profile is open, and click enter to open the link.
4. When your business Page opens in the browser tab where your personal profile is open, click the ‘like’ button to LIKE the Page personally. (You will be seeing the public view of your business Page from within your personal profile. You will be ‘liking’ your business Page using your personal profile, which you must do for the rest of this process to work.)
5. Now, return to the other browser window, where your business Page is open (not the window where you opened your personal profile).
6. Look for the ‘Admin Panel’ at the top of your business Page (remember, you should be back in the browser window where you first opened your business Page as an Administrator).
7. As soon as the notification that someone has liked your Page (that would be you!) shows up in the Admin Panel of your Facebook Page you’re now ready for the next step.
8. From the Admin Panel on your business Page click on ‘Edit Page’. Then, from the list that pops up, scroll down and click on ‘Admin Roles’.
9. In the area provided, type in the email address that you use to login to your PERSONAL Facebook profile and hit your keyboard enter key. (The setting ‘Manager’ should be visible just below where you are typing in your email address.)
10. You will be prompted to enter in your password – enter your business Page password and hit enter.
11. Your personal Facebook profile name should now appear as a ‘Manager’ for your Facebook business Page.
12. Next, go back to your PERSONAL Facebook profile and click on the ‘Home’ link in the blue band at the top of your screen.
13. Once the ‘Home’ page of your personal profile opens, scan the column that runs down the left side of the page. You should see your business Page name listed there. Click on the Page name/link (from within your personal profile) to go to your Facebook Page view as a Manager.
14. Next, return to the browser window where you first logged into your business Page (not the browser window where your personal profile and NOW your business Page can both be accessed).
15. Log out of your business Facebook Page – not your personal Facebook profile. Once you do this, your business Page should only be available/open from the window where your personal profile is open.
16. Next, from your Facebook Page accessible within your personal profile, open the Admin Panel at the top of your business Page.
17. From the Admin Panel on your Page, click on ‘Edit Page’, scroll down and click on ‘Admin Roles’.
18. Identify the Manager profile that you used to create the Page originally (the one that is NOT your personal Facebook profile) and delete the profile by clicking on the ‘x’ to the right of it.  Be sure you don’t delete your personal profile here or you’ll have to redo this process to be added back on as a Manager.

Once you’ve gone through this process (fun, eh?), your Page access will be exclusively through your personal profile. Once you delete the profile of the Manager (you) who originally set up the Page, you will only be able to access the Page through your personal profile. There are a number of benefits to having everything ‘under one roof’ so to speak. That’s for another soon to be written article.

IMPORTANT:

You do not need to remove your ability to access your Facebook Page through the originally created profile. This information is for those who want to combine both their Page and profile under one profile and eliminate the earlier separate access to their Page. If you would like to keep access to your Facebook Page using both usernames and passwords, follow steps 1 through 13 only.

Here are six ways to make it easier for people to find us on our social networks:

1. Include social media icons on your website

Including Social Media icons that link through to your social networks is pretty basic but sometimes forgotten.

As important, and often missed, is to code the links for your social media icons so that they open in a NEW browser tab when clicked. If this isn’t done your website closes and your social network opens.

If your online visitors are at all like me, they’ll feel frustrated that your website closed when they clicked on the social media icon. When all they really wanted to do was have a ‘peek’ at your social network(s) before returning to your website. If that’s the case, chances are they’re onto a new website rather than returning to yours.

2. Add social plug-ins or widgets to your website

Particularly for those who are new to your website, possibly checking you out, incorporating a feed that shows some of your activity on Twitter or your Facebook Page may help give visitors a sense of your business.

This also provides an easy way for people to ‘like’ your Facebook Page and ‘follow’ you on Twitter, without leaving your website.

For more information and the appropriate code:

• Look for the ‘Like Box’ social plugin and others available from Facebook on their Developers page.

• Look for ‘Resources and Widgets’ under the ‘Businesses’ link on Twitter.

3. Include links to your social networks and website on all of your social networks

Look for opportunities to include your website address and the distinct or vanity URL for your social networks in as many places as possible.

This subtly reminds people where they can connect with you online and makes it easy for them to do so.

This raises the next point . . .

4. Use a distinct Vanity URL for each of your social networks

Having your own branded and distinct Vanity URLs for each of your social networks is important. Most of the top social networks like Twitter, Pinterest and more recently Facebook have you create this distinct URL when you sign up for a new social network, but not all do.

Different networks use different names for these Vanity URLs:  Username, Address, Public Profile, etc. Essentially they are branded/distinct/Vanity URLs that make your social networks easier to remember and share in print. For instance …

LINKEDIN

LinkedIn provides a URL something like this linkedin.com/pub/sue-cockburn/80/293/303/ rather than linkedin.com/in/SueCockburn. The former is not user friendly nor will it be easy to print on a business card. You can however go into your profile and create your own Vanity URL. LinkedIn calls this a Public Profile URL.

To create your Public Profile URL:

1. Click on ‘Profile’ then on ‘edit profile’.
2. Look beneath your photo on the left side of the page for your existing URL.
3. Click on the ‘edit’ link to the right of your name
4. On the page that opens up go to the right side of the page and look for ‘Customize your public profile URL’.
5. Create your distinct/branded Public Profile URL.

GOOGLE+

For most of us, Google+ doesn’t allow you to create a distinct Username or Vanity URL, at this time, when you create your account. The URL they provide is more like this: plus.google.com/u/0/104293957075840180131

To make an easy to remember path/distinct URL to your Google+ account consider one of these options:

• Create website link that forwards to your Google+ account (i.e. gplus.GeorgeSmith.com) – not ideal but it works
• Use a service like gplus.to to create a Vanity URL gplus.to/JohnSmith

OLDER FACEBOOK PAGES

Facebook now has you create a Facebook Address or vanity URL when you create your business Page.

BUT, if you’ve had a Page for more than a few months, and haven’t already gone into your “Basic Information” settings and created a distinct username or vanity URL, you should do so now.

1. Open up the ‘Admin Panel’ on your Page
2. Click on ‘Edit Page’ and then ‘Update Info’
3. Look for ‘Username’ and click on the link to the right of it that walks you through the process of creating your Facebook Address

If you haven’t already created a Facebook Address (Username) for your Page, then it is likely something like this: facebook.com/pages/Marys-Spa/173089451105629?fref=pb.

Good luck trying to print that on a business card!

Distinct or Vanity URLs are important as:

• They help make it easier for people to find you on social networks
• They make your social network names simpler to remember and less difficult to find, for you and others
• They can be printed on a business card or other print material – assuming you haven’t used a really long name in the branded portion!

A note about Title Casing

It’s a good idea to title case your brand specific information in your Vanity URL. Doing so makes it stand out, easier to read and potentially remember.

Consider this facebook.com/suessimplestitches as opposed to this facebook.com/SuesSimpleStitches or twitter.com/bobsautoshop or twitter.com/BobsAutoShop.

Title casing can make the branded portion of your URLs readable at a glance.

5. Add your social networks as clickable links to your email signature

This allows people to see the social networks you’re on and connect with you, or check you out. Good for them and good for you.

6. Include your social network addresses on your print material

Share your major social networks on your print material: business cards, invoices, letterhead, in-store and mail out fliers, brochures, newspaper ads. Of course, it goes without saying, these should all be added to any eNewsletters you send out too – as clickable links.

As social media becomes more and more mainstream, these basics will become more and more important.

This article also appears in Social Media Today

Web video is rapidly becoming the most important element of a companies’ online portal. And one of the most effective and cost-efficient styles of web video is the simple “meet-our-people” on-camera conversation. This involves a representative of the company talking directly to the viewer, by way of the camera.

But even though it is simple, it still needs to be well-done if it is going to convey a compelling message about the quality of your company and its offerings. Which doesn’t mean that your chosen on-camera person needs to be a skilled actor. It means that they have to be a real person, and comfortable with conveying their message.

There is nothing more unnerving than having to pose, let alone speak in front of a camera. As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, these web videos are one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your web site.

But how do you get over that fear and present yourself and your business with confidence on camera? Have no fear. We have found that by following a few simple tips you can shine in your next performance.

1) Relax – Everyone likes to deal with people who are friendly and easy to talk to. Video’s message is both verbal and nonverbal. Use your hands to articulate a point. Look into the camera as if it you were talking to a person. Smile, when appropriate and sincere. By demonstrating a confident and relaxed demeanor your message will be better received and encourage the viewer to become more engaged with your product and company.

2) Preparation – People are busy. If you want them to spend some time looking at your video you had better make it worth their while. Take the time to think through what it is that you want to say to your audience. Use language that is easily understood and not full of industry jargon. Remember the whole purpose of video is for the viewer to get to know your company and all it has to offer.

3) Length – Keep your message simple and on track. Nobody wants to listen to someone drone on and on about themselves. Make sure that what you are saying is relevant to your viewer and is providing them with something they want and not used as a soapbox to preach about how wonderful you and your organization are.

4) Be sincere – There is nothing more off-putting than someone who comes across as arrogant and condescending. Treat your viewer as an intelligent, free thinking individual who is giving you the opportunity to talk to them about something they might need. Think of the video as the first contact someone has with your company. For instance, when you walk into a company the receptionist is the first person you encounter, setting the tone and feel for the rest of the office. If that person is rude or unprofessional you will think twice about doing business with that company. The same can be said of a video.

5) Have fun – Smile, relax and enjoy the experience. The camera will pick up on your energy and it will translate into a better video. Remember that you are offering something of value and that what you have to share is important.

We hope these pointers have helped to demystify the on-camera experience and that you are ready to step into the limelight. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover a whole new calling. I am sure your company has lots to talk about, and lots of potential prospects who want to listen.

Author’s Bio:

John Durrant owns Backlot Media. Backlot Media provides affordable video solutions for companies that want to maximize their advertising and online activities to bring in more business. They have experience and expertise to create and manage the highest quality advertising and content and work with clients of all sizes.

Earlier in the year, we conducted a survey of website owners and managers to understand their online business. We wanted to learn something about the real issues that online business owners face when making decisions about their online advertising budget. Is social media marketing really free? Is it an important investment? The feedback may surprise you! As much as 35% of website owners are not spending on any marketing or advertising at all.

The Infographic was designed by AnieAjamian

Historically, one of the best ways to receive contact information from individuals is to offer them something in exchange for it. It’s a quid pro quo kind of deal here, with both parties receiving something of worth.

For the contact, they’re receiving a great prize. For the business, they’re receiving a lead to throw into the funnel. If a business plays its cards right, they’ll end up with a lot of new customers.

Facebook has become the biggest social networking site in the world, and those out there with a business Facebook page naturally hold different promotions in order to increase their contacts.

If you’ve been thinking about starting up a Facebook promotion, here are the essential steps to help you pull it off without a hitch.

A Successful Facebook Promotion in 5 Steps

1: Define Your Purpose
First and foremost, you should define your purpose – the reason for holding the promotion. Do you want to spread your brand’s name throughout the social atmosphere, or do you want to generate business leads for future customers?

Defining your purpose is going to help you when creating the promotion and selecting the prize to give away. It also allows you to develop a strategy. Example: If you’re just spreading brand awareness, your target market can be more general, whereas acquiring leads will require a narrower focus.

2: Know the Rules
Facebook has a lot of different rules in place across the board, some of which affect your advertising on Facebook cost figures, and others that will hinder the promotional ideas you’re conceiving.

Learn the rules and regulations Facebook has in place and make sure you’re not stepping outside of them. A failure to adhere to the rules can have your promotion rendered null and void. Knowing that you can’t contact winners of a promotion through Facebook or that you’ll need a third-party app for using “likes” as an entry are important rules.

3: Select Your Prize
What exactly are you planning on giving away? A prize should be very appealing to the audience you’re after. Think about something that is a genuine prize.

Think about holding a contest rather than simply offering people a discount on a product or some “secret” information that they couldn’t have learned about otherwise. Movie tickets, free iTunes downloads, electronics, etc – these are all great prizes to consider to draw in big crowds.

4: Step Outside of Facebook
Facebook isn’t the only place you can advertise your promotion. Once you’ve checked up on the rules, conceived of your general idea and have a prize in place, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll market this promotion.

You can use your blog, Twitter, YouTube, your main website, and dozens of other methods to draw traffic to your promotion. Just because you’re holding your promotion via your Facebook page doesn’t mean it has to be affiliated solely with Facebook. This is where a lot of people make a mistake. Advertise across the net.

5: Select the Right App
The only way to successfully carry out a Facebook promotion is to use a third-party app to build it. One of the best on the market to use is Wildfire. This will allow you to easily create a promotion by providing you with a lot of different templates and options to select from.
After you have everything situated and built, the only thing left to do is launch the promotion and catalog the contact information. Just remember that promotions can run as long as you want them to, but it’s better to instill a sense of urgency. Have all your steps in place before the final launch. Everything’s going to move quickly once it’s set up.

Author’s Bio:
Eric Taylor is a social media enthusiast, business developer and a freelance writer for Qwaya,  a Facebook ad campaign tool that focuses on developing and building tools for social media marketing most specifically for Facebook. Qwaya also provides quality information, tools and up-to-date news and trends about Facebook marketing strategies. The company aims to create one of a kind tools with powerful features that are user-friendly and inexpensive for online advertisers and marketers world wide.

• to promote your products and services, or a specific item or special
• to create a contest  to help build your fan base
• to create gated pages that only fans can view

. . . then check out Shortstack.

You’ll find a step by step guide in “How to Create a Facebook App in Shortstack” here and more information and help on the Shortstack website.

I decided to expand on the “If Not Facebook, Then Who?” article that appeared on this website and wrote an exclusive for SocialMediaToday titled “Small Business: If Not Facebook, Then Who?”.

Click here to read “Will Facebook Lose Small Business?” in SocialMediaToday

Click here to read “Small Business: If Not Facebook, Then Who?” in SocialMediaToday

“Simply having a Facebook Page and Twitter account doesn’t mean a business is necessarily effectively connecting with customers, partners or employees through social media – let alone being leaders in their industry.”

So true!

According to Dachis Group’s Social Business Index, the 20 companies shown in the Infographic below are apparently doing something right.

Source: Social Business Power Rankings

The majority of CEOs and entrepreneurs still think that yesterday’s aggressive, cold-calling, hard-sell methods are still working. The truth is, using these tactics is more likely to irritate and repel your customer than to make them want to buy from you. How do customers want to be contacted? We answer this question in Part 3 of our 4-part series debunking common marketing and selling myths. If you arrived late to the party, here are Part 1 (How Customers Decide to Buy) and Part 2 (How Customers Choose a Product).

You just sat down to dinner. Your phone rings. You answer it, and a motor-mouth, angry-sounding recorded voice starts yelling in your ear, telling you that “you have been chosen,” or that “your credit rating may be in danger,” or that “[So-and-So Candidate] has an urgent message for you!” Click. Back to dinner.

Who on earth are they selling to? Forrest Gump? Someone who will patiently wait through the entire message, and then innocently give his credit card information to a call-out-of-the-blue telemarketer? It’s hard to believe there are people that gullible left in the world.

Most people find these pre-recorded, loud-mouth calls to be irritating, intrusive, and unconvincing. The chances of anyone responding positively to this kind of in-your-face approach are very slim indeed. But even the less-intrusive cold calls are not welcome, according to the customers I interview for my clients. They are all saying that they do not want to be contacted this way, and that they will even avoid doing business with any company that does contact them using these outdated methods.

Many marketers would prefer to use less intrusive, more sophisticated methods to contact customers, which is good. But whatever method they use, they always want the method to result in a fuller pipeline and higher conversions. That is the whole point of what they do, after all.

Too bad your customer doesn’t care about your pipeline. The customer is only interested in whatever the customer is interested in, and ignores everything else. He doesn’t mind being contacted, but it better be relevant. That means, at the very least, that you better know what they’re interested in.

How do you find this out? You ask them, via phone conversations, as I describe in my book, Roadmap to Revenue. The best questions for finding out what interests them is to ask, “What are your biggest challenges right now?” And, “What are your goals?” If you ask them properly, they will tell you what they’re struggling with, which tells you what they will want to hear about. Ask this of your customers, whose challenges are similar to your prospective customers.

What if you’re trying to introduce a new product to a new market? Then you need to find prospective customers and ask them the same questions. Their answers won’t be as helpful, because they haven’t actually gone through the buying process with you, but you will still be further from “guessing” and closer to “knowing” than you would have been if you had not asked.

You’ll also need to know where they would expect to find this information. “What sources do you depend on for information?” is the right question to ask. “Do you use social channels at all? Do you subscribe to any newsletters or participate in any groups?” “If we had new information on that subject, would you like to hear about it? What would be the best way?”

Answers to these questions will ensure that you don’t waste a lot of time, energy, or resources on off-target content and channels.You will be contacting them in the manner they prefer, with information they will find interesting. You will also contact them as frequently as they prefer, so that they continue to look forward to your content, are not irritated by too many messages, and so you don’t look desperate.

How often you contact them depends partly on the nature of the industry you’re in. For example, companies selling to marketing people assume that marketers are constantly searching for new methods, and are eager to see what others in their profession are doing. Daily, meaty-but-short contact would not be unwelcome. On the other hand, a design engineer would become irritated by daily contact; it would be more appropriate to send something once a month.

When you send the information or post it, it’s best to be as un-salesy as possible. The subject line should describe exactly what they will find in the email or article, and the content should be instructional or educational, not a pitch.

People pay attention to things that matter to them. If you think you know what matters to them, you’ll be doing what everyone else does – irritating them with useless information. If you find out what matters to them specifically, you will be able to make sure your content addresses those concerns, in a relevant way.

Ask your current customers the questions I describe in Roadmap to Revenue, in chapter 3, and you will know exactly how to proceed.

Here’s my response:

I don’t think there are any true alternative social media networks to Facebook, at this time, including Google+. This is largely due to the numbers of fans in the Facebook network, how entrenched those fans are, the diversity of the fans in the network (demographics), etc.

The one possible contender for the ‘alternative SM networks’ role is Pinterest. It has huge potential for businesses and just last week announced  Pinterest for businesses. Many small businesses, and larger ones, had already discovered the benefits of having an active presence on Pinterest and setting up a business profile simply opens the door wider.  The network offers huge potential for those able to use visuals to share information, tell their story, and sell their products and services.

Social networks, like Pinterest, seem to be impacting how much time some users, especially women (although the number of men is growing!), are spending on Facebook.  Facebook users who are also active on Pinterest spend, my guess, more time on on Pinterest when they’re logged in, scrolling through images of fashion, beauty, inspirational quotes, recipes, home decor, crafts, interior design, gift ideas, travel, etc.  Most Pinterest users would say there is an addictive quality to it!

Anything that can be shared using a visually appealing image is ripe for Pinterest. And these images can be linked back to your website, your e-commerce site (to make a purchase), any place with a URL.

From a small business point of view, Facebook is losing some of its lustre as a place to invest a lot of time and energy for often meagre results. Social networks like Pinterest are opening up new opportunities for small business.

Facebook may make changes that reinforce it as an important place for small business to be. Even so, Pinterest is gaining traction with users and has huge potential for businesses, assuming they don’t mess too much with the status quo.

Google+ is a different animal compared to Facebook. It doesn’t seem to have the huge buy-in, usage and time spend that Facebook does. It does have large fan numbers, considering how long Google+ has been around, but the amount of time users spend on the network isn’t impressive.

According to an article in Search Engine Journal earlier this year, comScore shared this “breakdown regarding the average number of minutes users spend on each of the major social networking sites”:

Facebook: 405 minutes
Pinterest/Tumblr: 98 minutes
Twitter: 21 minutes
LinkedIn: 17
MySpace: 8
Google+: 3

Watch for the time spent on Pinterest to rise, possibly at the expense of Facebook.

Read the full article on SocialMediaToday by clicking here.

A few tidbits from the Infographic:

• Teens sometimes get tired of being wired – 43% wish they could unplug sometimes
• 21% of teens wish their parents spent less time with their cell phones and other devices
• 49% of teens prefer face-to-face time (despite being avid social media users)
• 1 in 4 teens say that social networking sites make them feel less shy
• 86% sought advice from parents about their online behaviour

One of the most cost-effective marketing tools for cultivating and growing word-of-mouth advertising today is social media.

It isn’t a slam dunk to growing your business. Far from it! But with a serious commitment, a clear strategy and a long-term commitment that is focused on the wants and needs of clients and potential clients, the potential to build brand loyalty, develop brand ambassadors and build one’s client base and business is significant.

Avoiding an online presence, including social media, unless you are set to retire your business next year, is almost suicidal in today’s economy. Waiting will only put one further behind with more catching up to do down the road.

Consider these statistics:

• In Canada, 82% of the population (28 million people) use the internet and 62% of these (17 million people) are on Facebook
• In the United States, 78% of the population (245 million people) use the internet and 64% of these (157 million people) are on Facebook

Facebook, as the largest social network, both in terms of the number of users and time spent on the site, is the most ‘social’ of the top five networks.

Those on Facebook are much more likely to be on the site to connect with family and friends, in a more personal way, than they are on some of the other top networks like LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter.

Even Google+ has not captured the same type of user as Facebook, yet.

This makes Facebook a challenge and an opportunity for small businesses and brands.

A challenge because social media requires a different way of thinking about how to grow one’s business. Push-style advertising that is all about our business (similar to ‘it’s all about me’ kind of thinking) doesn’t work.

So, how do you build a base of fans and brand advocates on Facebook when the main reason they are online has nothing to do with you and your business?

The answer isn’t all that complicated, but it isn’t a simple fix either.

What are some of the things families and friends talk about/share – in person and online?

• life and relationships
• pets, restaurants, recipes, cars, clothes, TV shows, movies, computers, sports, games, activities, bargains, etc.

And here lies the opportunity!

Because businesses are in business to meet these kinds of needs and wants, those that learn how to share their knowledge and expertise in ways that:

• add value to people’s lives by focusing on their interests, wants and needs
• are helpful, valuable, interesting and/or thought-provoking (i.e. tips, information and inspiration)
• are not overtly advertisements
• link back to their website where appropriate (and at least periodically)

These are the ones that (long-term) will build their brand image, influence and reputation, and win new Facebook fans and ultimately new business, from existing clients and new clients.

Customer service has always been the best form of marketing. And social media provides a new opportunity to serve your customers and grow your business. But it doesn’t happen overnight.

The challenge for most business owners is whether we will take the time and energy needed, along with the changes needed, to make it happen.

** IMPORTANT NOTE ADDED NOVEMBER 15, 2012 **

One other challenge Facebook Pages are experiencing of late is tied to changes announced September 20, 2012 to Facebook’s algorithm.

These changes are proving to be a challenge for brands as only a small percentage of their posts are actually making it into the newsfeed of fans, unless brands pay to have this happen through promoted posts and sponsored stories.

And Facebook sponsored stories have their challenges! According to a recent statistic shared in an eMarketer Webinar roughly 57% of fans find advertising that uses sponsored stories misleading – and this can have blowback on the brand using the sponsored stories. More on that in another post.

To understand the recent changes made by Facebook, check out two articles on the topic of the changes below:

• Has Your Facebook Page Reach Decreased? This Might Explain It
• Responding To Facebook Page Reach Decrease

According to the preamble to this Infographic published by OPENforum.com (American Express) and discovered on Visual.ly:

Your desk is supposed to be the place where you are at your productive zenith. But is your reality that you get more done at the kitchen table, living room couch sitting up in bed with your laptop?

Take a look at your desk; it could be destroying your productivity with clutter, junk and non-essential items competing for space and your attention. Here is a look at the most common productivity stealers that lurk on many desks and how to banish them.

This Infographic shares 4 Ways Your Desk Destroys Your Productivity and includes tips on how to combat the problems.

Although Google+ has a huge number of people signed up on their network they don’t tend to be very active, as compared to other networks like Facebook Twitter and Pinterest. That said, as the top dog in search engines, Google adds SEO weight (apparently) to websites having the +1 symbol.

If you’d like to add a +1 button to your website visit the brand guidelines page at Google+ by clicking here.

Here’s the code for a simple G+ button:

<div class=”g-plusone” data-annotation=”inline” data-width=”300″></div>

<!– Place this tag after the last +1 button tag. –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
(function() {
var po = document.createElement(‘script’); po.type = ‘text/javascript’; po.async = true;
po.src = ‘https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
})();
</script>

“How to Optimize Your Site for Search Without Actually Doing SEO” shares 4 tips that make sense. Here they are (more details in the article itself):

1. Create killer content
2. Include your keywords in your articles and titles
3. Incorporate social media share buttons on your site
4. Offer expert advice on other websites

Levy includes this comment that is worth hearing loud and clear:

“One thing to remember is that Google likes sites and content that other people enjoy, find useful and share with others. When was the last time you shared a site that felt like spam or had little content on it?”

Food for thought and good advice for those looking to optimize their website with old school SEO tactics.

As the Infographic points out, Social Media plays an important role in Search Engine Optimization. When done well, Social Media results in more people (traffic) to your website, presumably from a good number of your posts including links to pertinent (helpful/interesting) information on your website.

Apparently so according to this Infographic that also provides a concise definition of what WordPress themes, plug-ins and widgets are.

Apparently, 22% of all new websites worldwide are created using a WordPress platform too. And, there are more than 11 million WordPress websites!

As a business that creates Content Management System websites pretty much exclusively on the WordPress platform, the information/stats in this Infographic simply confirm what we already believe. WordPress ROCKS!

(Looking for sometime to design your website? Click here to visit our website information page. This page will stay open after you click.)

An Infographic by Indusnet, self-proclaimed to be “India’s #1 IT site now in UK” states that “SEO beats PPC & SMM for Lead Generation”.

The numbers shared are global and this is important as, according to a March 2012 article by eMarketer, social media penetration in early 2012 looked something like this:

• the United States ranked first globally at 49.9% of the population
• Canada ranked second globally at 49.3% of the population (in 2011 Canada ranked first)

The eMarketer article put Worldwide social media penetration at an estimated 20.4%.

In the overall scheme of things, I think the Infographic highlights the importance of ‘not putting all your eggs in one basket’. It’s not a matter of only focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), or on Pay Per Click (PPC) ads, or Social Media (SM). Most businesses probably need to have an integrated marketing strategy that addresses all three areas.

Each business is unique and needs to evaluate where their clients/potential clients are spending time and what their budget (time and money) is for reaching them.

SEO is, I think, overrated and underrated at the same time (more on that another day). The same is likely true for PPC advertising and Social Media.

If I had to choose one to start with, it would be SEO. I’d then add Social Media into the mix and then Pay Per Click ads.

The operative word here is ‘could’.

Each business is different so consider:

• Who is your Target Audience?
• When is your Target Audience online (there are apps that can help you determine best times – this isn’t an exact science)?
• What are you posting and how effective is it?

Obviously, simply tweeting on Saturdays and including links in your tweets will not increase your click through rate!

Are your tweets worded in such a way that they attract people? So that when people see and read the tweet they want to click on a link included?

Not all of your posts are likely to contain links. If they do, great. If they don’t, your goal is the same – attract attention to the tweet by providing something that is interesting for people to read, or inspires people to click on the link included.

The more interesting/attractive your tweets are, the more often they are likely to stand out when people are scrolling through their Twitter feeds.

Regardless of how many people are online at any given time, what you post will determine whether followers will, or won’t, click on a link. Even then, the volume of Tweets (competition for eyeballs) and how often you’re tweeting (the lifespan of a tweet isn’t that long) will impact your click-through rate.

According to an Infographic appearing on Visual.ly and prepared by Statista, shown at the bottom of this article:

• 80% of Moms use social networks regularly, as opposed to 55% of the general online population
• 42% of Moms have made a purchase as a result of a recommendation on a social networking site, as opposed to 29% of non-Moms
• 59% of Moms recommend companies/brands via social networking sites, as opposed to 44% of non-Moms
• 49% of Moms talk about brands/companies they follow on Facebook, as opposed to 33% of non-Moms

For retailers considering whether or not to use social media to help build their brand online, especially those whose target audience includes Moms, these numbers should not be ignored.

With Christmas fast approaching busy parents, and Moms in particular, will be thinking about all things Christmas. Gifts, decorations, food, recipes, gift cards, wrapping materials, travel plans, clothing and the list goes on and on.

Retailers with virtual stores or physical locations who use social media to provide:

• helpful ideas, tips and information related to making Christmas easier, beautiful and meaningful
• great visuals that go along with the items above, or that stand alone (very important!)
• easy to use links to the places where Moms (and other consumers) can easily make their purchases or find information

. . . will benefit. And retailers that don’t use social media to share helpful/valuable information with customers and potential customers are likely to lose out.

When it comes to online shopping in general, an October 2012 report from Burst Media (ONLINE INSIGHTS, Holiday Spending Season 2012, Shopping Intentions, Attitudes and Behaviors of Online Adults) reports:

“The vast majority—87.2%—of respondents to our survey go online to research and/or shop for holiday products and gifts. This figure is up nearly 10% from our 2011 study (79.5%) and is in-line with an October 2012 report from PriceGrabber. That study also found that consumers plan to spend considerable time online devoted to shopping: 38% plan to spend three to six hours online; 29% plan to spend up to two hours and 19% said they plan to spend over 10 hours.”

In our fast-paced world, Moms, along with most of the rest of us, are looking for ways to make life less stressful and easier.  If you’re a retailer, what are you doing to address this need, and reap the benefits of doing so?

It is simple to do and means we can pre-plan and schedule posts to appear in the upcoming week (month or year).

This is particularly helpful when you have a busy week ahead or are heading off on holidays.

Rather than ignoring your Facebook Page, you can choose ahead of time specific images, helpful links and/or quotes that you’d like to share with your Page fans.

You can then go to your Facebook Page and schedule each one to post to your timeline automatically, on a specific date and at a set time.

The image of the posting box (image right) shows a red arrow pointing  to the location of the button that allows you to schedule your posts, so you can get a sense of the process.

The second ‘View Activity Log’ image shows the confirmation message you’ll see once you’ve scheduled your post.  Click ‘close’, or if you’d like to get an idea of what your post will look like when it’s made,  ’View Activity Log’. (You’ll find your ‘Activity Log’ in your ‘Admin Panel’ under ‘Edit Page’)

Of course, you can also pre-schedule posts using free or paid third party apps like HootSuite and Buffer. The jury is still out on whether Facebook’s algorithm penalizes posts made through third party apps. You may be less likely to be penalized if you use Facebook’s pre-scheduler.

Pre-scheduling involves the same process as making a regular post. The only difference? You’re adding a date and time that you’d like the post to go live.

Here are a few recent posts related to changes to Facebook’s algorithm, for those of you who’d like to know more: Responding to Facebook Page Reach Decrease (in Social Media Today) and Has Your Facebook Page Reach Decreased? This Might Explain It

• Top 10 Challenges Marketers Face in Social Media Marketing
• Why Marketers Prefer Social Media Marketing
• Most Commonly Used Social Media Tools
• How Experienced Are Social Media Marketers
• Weekly Time Spent On Social Media Marketing
• How Marketers Are Planning To Change Their Social Media Efforts In Futures

That said, Facebook is a business, and more recently a publicly traded one. And, like any business a key objective is to make money. As a publicly traded one, it is to thrive and grow it’s profitability, to keep shareholders (and creditors) happy.

This is small consolation for the small business owner working hard to build their brand online using social media.

But, the reality is the reality. Facebook is unlikely to change their algorithm to favour those in business who are, in truth, benefitting from their service at no cost (at least in terms of writing a cheque to Facebook).

And, as a well-written blog on the topic appearing on Social.Ogilvy.com stated “The crux of the change is centered strictly on organic brand page posts, in an effort to de-clutter the amount of posts served up to mobile and tablet users by brands.”

The blog on Ogilvy notes, “The change comes at a time when Facebook is trying to maximize the amount of paid advertising it has on the platform, in an effort to bump its share price after a struggling stock share post-IPO.”

And who can blame them? They are in fact a business, providing a service that is free for most and with an opportunity for businesses to buy further exposure through advertising with or without sponsored stories, and promoted posts.

Even without paying, or using advertising and promoted posts sparingly, small businesses can still benefit from having a Facebook Page.

Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s Director of Product Management Ads, is quoted in a blog by Trevor Dayley as saying, “Organically, you get anywhere from 15 percent to 20 percent of your fans, that you reach organically. In order to reach the remaining 80 to 85 percent, sponsoring posts is important.”

My guess is the average Facebook fan is quite happy to not see a plethora of posts from businesses in their Facebook newsfeed. After all, most are on the site to connect with family and friends not brands. That said, posts that they find interesting and helpful from brands are likely welcomed.

In a nutshell, the old saying “you get what you pay for” is true here. You will get a certain level of exposure without paying for it, but if you want more exposure you’ll have to pony up the dollars.

One caveat, just because you pay for posts won’t mean people will engage with them. Paying for the ad is one thing and ensuring the content you’re promoting is shareable, comment provoking and likeable is something else altogether.

If you’re going to pay for advertising, make sure that when people see your posts on Facebook they’ll be glad they did. Otherwise, you may just be spending money and not seeing any results.

(This article is also published in Social Media Today)

In Did Facebook Decrease Pages’ Reach?, the Edgerank Checker blog shared that since “Facebook announced a drastic change to the EdgeRank algorithm on September 20th, we’ve heard widespread complaints that Page Admins are experiencing a decrease in Reach.”

Edgerank quoted their source as a blog written by Ogilvy and linked to their article Facebook Algorithim to Decrease Reach on Brand Page Posts.

(Check out our response to the Facebook Page reach decrease by clicking here.)

NOTE: The following content is an excerpt from the article by Edgerank titled  Did Facebook Decrease Pages’ Reach? 

What Did We Find?
The typical Facebook Page in our data set was experiencing 26% Organic Reach the week before the 20th. The week after the 20th, these same Pages were experiencing 19.5%. These Pages lost approximately 6.5% of their Reach after the 20th.

Other Page Admins suggested that they have received detrimental losses to their Viral Reach. When examining Viral Reach Per Post Per Fan, we found that before the 20th Pages were experiencing 0.69%. After the 20th, Pages suffered a drop to 0.38%. This resulted in a nearly -45% change for Pages’ Viral Reach. Over the long term, this could have serious negative impact on Pages’ ability to enter Fan’s Friends’ news feeds.

We looked at a few other metrics to provide a bit of perspective. These same pages were experiencing 0.59% Engagement/Fan before the 20th. After the 20th, these Pages’ Engagement/Fan decreased to 0.49%. However, it’s difficult to determine if this loss in Engagement was related to the decrease in Reach.

We also looked at Virality over these same time periods. Before the 20th, pages were seeing 1.91% Virality, and after the 20th, they were seeing 2.04% Virality. As Facebook defines Virality, it implies how your content is able to engage your audience. This change in Virality, which resulted in a slight improvement, seems to imply the content was similar in terms of engaging the people who saw it.

What Does This Mean?
Overall we found that Organic Reach (-25% change), Viral Reach (-45%), and Engagement/Fan decreased (-17%), while Virality marginally increased (+7%). With both Organic and Viral Reach dropping fairly drastically, it seems to indicate that visibility was possibly reduced within the news feed. This decrease in Reach may have also caused the decrease in Engagement/Fan averages. Virality was relatively maintained, which seems to suggest the quality of the content was roughly the same (or was able to engage people who saw it).

It should be noted, that this is a fairly small sample size and should be monitored further. We’ll be monitoring these changes moving forward.

“Today, a handful of users on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can launch a movement that will topple a regime.” (The Hyper Revolution webpage)

As I looked into how it works though, I have to say I’m not overly impressed. Your Header Photo appears behind your profile picture, bio and website address that usually appears to the right of your profile picture.

This seriously limits the ability to be creative and pretty much requires that the center of your image is one colour – if you want your bio, etc. to be readable.

I suppose it’s okay if you’ve added a very bland Header Photo that includes a large blank space in the middle of your image, so that your bio, etc. stand out.

I like change, I really do! And I was looking forward to this new opportunity to be creative with Twitter – a network I really like. But, at least today, I’m disappointed.

A few folks have hinted that Twitter’s new Photo Header is similar to Facebook’s Cover Image. My two cents? It’s nothing like it! At least not yet.

Note: If you’re a celeb or get creative with a photo of you, this could work. Even then, you may have a problem ensuring the text with your other info is readable.

I admit I was skeptical as to how easy it would be to do this. I anticipated waiting several days, if not weeks, to hear back from Facebook after an initial request.

For many businesses, this means seeing the new opportunities social networks offer without recognizing how different social media is from traditional media.

The push-style advertising of traditional media, used to run ads in newspapers and magazines, produce promotional fliers for mass mailing, conduct automated telemarketing calls, advertise on billboards, TV and radio, doesn’t cut-it on social media.

Social media moves talking about products and their benefits to a different level, a whole new game.

This is the stark contrast that social media offers. It is about earning the right to share information and engage with an audience that has given you permission to do so, in the hope of increasing brand awareness, building brand ambassadors and, ultimately, positively impacting your bottom line.

Social media, the newest tool in the marketing arsenal, is revolutionizing how people research, discover and buy products, and how they engage with brands.

Social media is not without risk, as highlighted in a recent report by the Altimeter Group: “Guarding the Social Gates: The Imperative for Social Media Risk Management”.

But ignoring social media doesn’t mitigate this risk! In reality, it may enhance it.

Knowing what is being said about you on social media and being proactive is better than sticking one’s head in the sand and thinking “if I ignore it, it can’t hurt me”.  Not only can it still hurt your business, ignoring social media ensures you are not able to capitalize on it’s potential benefits to your business and may leave you at a competitive disadvantage.

Of course, it’s always easier to improve on something that has already been created, and LoveIt has definitely done that!

And, although Pinterest has experienced exponential growth in the past year, the reality is it is still fairly new and there are millions of potential clients still ‘out there’ who have not signed up, yet.

Unlike moving all your activity from Facebook to some other platform, Pinterest is still quite young and most of us are not as entrenched in the platform as we might be a network like Facebook or Twitter.

In other words, the move to LoveIt wouldn’t be quite so painful.

In fact, when you’re on the LoveIt site you’d almost swear you were on Pinterest. The look and feel of the site is clearly drawn from Pinterest – thus very little learning curve if you were to make a switch.

Here’s what I liked when I signed up for LoveIt this morning:

• A streamlined, easy sign-up process
• No invitation required for signup – anyone can do it. (Until very recently Pinterest required an invite from someone already on Pinterest or one needed to make an email request to join Pinterest.)
• Same options as Pinterest, you can sign up and in with Facebook, Twitter or by creating an email and password
• At sign up you identify your interests from a page of options with images – this can be changed later
• Based on your selected interests, recommendations are made for brands you might want to follow
• Suggestions are made for ‘Collection’ names (the same as ‘Boards’ on Pinterest) you might want to create
• A ‘LoveIt’ button is made available for you to drag and drop on your browser bar for easily sharing items to your LoveIt Collection
• Sharing stuff is super easy and feels very much like Pinterest with a few minor variations
• Once you begin sharing, you can share more than one item at a time from any images that pop up
• When adding an image you don’t need to add text to the comment box (unlike Pinterest where you need to provide at least one character of text before you can save the image to your Board)

LoveIt also allows you to create private Collections viewable only by those you choose to share the images with.  This has applications for business too. “For example”, as the Mashable article notes, “an architect can share plans and concepts with a client in private.”

Potential Issues

Sharing on Pinterest doesn’t necessarily mean one loves the item. It might mean I really like it but do I love it?  Does this mean people may be more selective (i.e. share less) on LoveIt? Time will tell.

Pinterest will likely look hard at LoveIt and see how they’ve improved on their original idea. If they respond quickly (i.e. like they seem to have done with removing the need for an invitation to join Pinterest) then LoveIt may have a difficult time catching them. Will they continue to grow and become a serious competitor to Pinterest. That may depend on how quickly Pinterest is able to take advantage of and act on any improvements LoveIt has made.

Over the past year or more Pinterest has gained a very committed following. Most of the Pinners who spend serious time on Pinterest would likely say they LOVE Pinterest. These folks will be very hard for LoveIt to win over. Then again, there are lots of others who are not yet on either network, yet.

Only in the past six to nine months has the business applications for Pinterest come more to the forefront. Pinterest has probably not done as much as they could to encourage business to build a presence on the network. And, early on it seemed that this avenue of business was discouraged.

LoveIt appears to have included business applications for their platform from the get-go and how they merge the interests of consumers and business may decide how effective they are in building their network long-term.

Gplus.to makes creating a short and memorable URL for Google+ easy to do. No fuss, no extra information to provide, just enter in the long number that is your Google+ ID (i.e. 104279437441275427868) along with the ‘Nick Name’ (short URL) you’d like and click ‘add’.

That’s it! You’re done.

Now add this handy little URL to your business cards and other print material to make it easy for people to find you on Google+.

Without a distinct URL it’s pretty much impossible to print your Google+ username on your business cards or other print material.

Would you rather have this?

plus.google.com/u/0/104279437441275427868/

OR this?

plus.to/SueCockburn

Granted, having google.com/+SueCockburn would be great but the important piece for now is to have a username that is easy to remember and can be printed on a business card. Of course, if you’re not a serious user of Google+ this may not be important to you.

Time will tell whether Google+ can gain traction and truly become a threat to the likes of Facebook. If the following May 2012 infographic by Go.Gulf  is accurate, Google+ has a long way to go.

According to the infographic time spent by users on the top five social networks each month looks like this:

• Facebook – 405 minutes
• Pinterest – 405 minutes
• Twitter – 89 minutes
• LinkedIn – 21 minutes
• Google+ – 3 minutes

Google+ users apparently spend little time on the site. The image to the right was taken from the infographic. View the full infographic by clicking on the image.

Here’s the excerpt Laird refers to from the Google+Policies & Principles page:

“Custom URLs are free for now, but we may start charging a fee for them,” the terms-of-use page reads. “However, we will tell you before we start charging and give you the choice to stop participating first.”

I find it curious that a social network that is struggling to attract active/regular users on it’s platform, let alone a larger number of registered users, would decide to, in effect, pioneer the idea of users paying for their ‘easy-to-use custom URL’.

In principle, I’m not opposed to the idea of paying for a custom URL. After all, I pay an annual fee for my website domain name and having an easy-to-use custom URL for my social networks makes complete sense to me.

That said, I don’t pay for the service on other social networks that are, at least for now, more important to my business and and are far more popular than Google+ (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter). And, in reality, I already have a custom URL for my Google+ accounts through gplus.to.

All that to say, is this another one of the ways Google+ may be shooting itself in the foot?

Granted, should a Google+ URL be offered I’m not likely to turn it down – even if I have to pay a small amount for it. But, overall, how will this help Google+ in the long term and will it help draw more users to the service? I don’t think so.

]]> http://911smallbiz.com/infographics/apple-most-valuable-company-world/feed 0 http://911smallbiz.com/marketing/role-of-chief-marketing-technology-officer-infographic http://911smallbiz.com/marketing/role-of-chief-marketing-technology-officer-infographic#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:01:31 +0000 Sue Cockburn http://911smallbiz.com/?p=2951 data visualization blog. ]]>

]]> http://911smallbiz.com/marketing/millennial-report-infographic/feed 0 http://911smallbiz.com/email-marketing/steps-effective-email-marketing-infographic http://911smallbiz.com/email-marketing/steps-effective-email-marketing-infographic#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2012 08:34:37 +0000 Sue Cockburn http://911smallbiz.com/?p=2942 Pardot.Learn about data visualization tools.]]>

]]> http://911smallbiz.com/email-marketing/current-state-of-email-marketing/feed 0 http://911smallbiz.com/branding/reasons-rebrand-infographic http://911smallbiz.com/branding/reasons-rebrand-infographic#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:09:30 +0000 Sue Cockburn http://911smallbiz.com/?p=2905 infographics.  ]]>

]]> http://911smallbiz.com/branding/your-brand-really-value-driven-infographic/feed 0 http://911smallbiz.com/social-media/facebook-hits-million-mobile-users http://911smallbiz.com/social-media/facebook-hits-million-mobile-users#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2012 05:40:45 +0000 Sue Cockburn http://911smallbiz.com/?p=2901 data visualization.  ]]>

Is the merging of Google Places with Google Local enough to make you start using Google Plus?

 

Learn about data visualization software.

This is a linear path or timeline followed by a generic social media user. It explores how a user evolves with passage of time.

Your potential customers want to see what you are selling via pictures and samples. They also want to connect with you personally. Seize the opportunity to build your credibility through Guest Blog Posts, Press Releases, Infographics, Personal Blog Posts and E-books Content creation should be high on your list of priorities to build media relationships. Great quality content attracts more customers than large quantities of average work.

Google officially claims 170m users, but commentators say it’s a ghost town. Who’s right?

Browse more data visualizations.

Communication between religious organizations and their followers has blossomed on social media. Many churches have turned to social networks to increase their outreach to spread their teachings. This infographic shows the results of a survey of churches to see how they’re using social media within their organization.

You’ve decided social media is where its at and you’ve not only launched your business on Facebook but you’ve paid someone to design a snazzy new custom branded Facebook Cover Image along with a special Page and Tab where people can find out more about your biz.

Now you’re waiting for that big pay off – more customers to discover you and the fantastic services and products you provide! After all, isn’t social media, in particular Facebook, where it’s at these days?

Before you get too excited about social media – and you should be excited – remember the old saying: don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

While it is important for you to expand your business reach and reputation through the use of social media, and today Facebook is one of the best places to start, Facebook alone will not do it all. At least not for most of us.

With close to one billion people on Facebook, and in Canada more than half of the population, the opportunities Facebook provides for you to grow your brand and business are huge.

That said a significant portion of the population is still NOT on Facebook. And of the ones that are, the vast majority are periodic users checking in only weekly or even monthly.

For small business owners with a limited budget email is another important marketing tool. It can be used to share helpful information, special promotional deals and news with clients and others. And you can set it up so that people can sign up on your website and on Facebook to receive periodic emails.

In fact, in social media findings published by foreseeresults.com, an international online customer satisfaction firm, 64% of the 12,000 visitors to top e-retail websites surveyed indicated they prefer to hear about sales and promotions through ‘Promotional emails’! Only 8% indicated ‘Social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) as their preferred choice.

These statistics don’t mean you should ignore social media but rather that email AND social media are complementary marketing strategies that together can do more for your business than either one can do on their own.

If you’re still not involved with social media, particularly Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and possibly Pinterest, don’t wait to jump in. Get up to speed sooner rather than later and invest in growing and developing your social media involvement. This will give you a head start on many of your competitors, now and down the road, who have yet to take the plunge.

And, it will help introduce you to new people (fans, followers, prospective clients) who, with the right approach coupled with great customer service and a good product, can help expand your brand and build your business.

On the email front, services like Constant Contact’s email marketing (for a small monthly fee with online support) and MailChimp’s email marketing (free for smaller clients but with limited support) are great resources for sending well designed and informative emails to clients and subscribers. They also provide measurement tools that allow you to see if your emails are being opened and if the live links you are including in your emails have been used.

Social media offers huge opportunities for small businesses, and larger ones, and is much more powerful when combined with other marketing strategies, like email.

(Originally written in August 2011, updated in August 2012)

It’s easy for me to assume, when I haven’t heard back from a client, that: they don’t want to deal with me, they’ve got a better quote, my price is too high, I didn’t present the info well, etc. etc.

While occasionally this may be true for the most part it isn’t. And, unless I make the follow-up call, my mind can continue to spin all the reasons why someone hasn’t gotten back to me/doesn’t want to do business with me.

As my business grows follow-up is becoming even more important. Actually, it’s not more important now it’s just more obvious because I have more potential clients.

The value of follow-up was highlighted for me again last week. I had four potential clients that I hadn’t heard back from. Two were new clients that had received proposals. The other two were clients I had done other work for and who had mentioned in conversation other work they might need done.

In all four cases a follow-up phone call resulted in them each confirming their intention to move forward with new business.

Even if only two out of the four had decided to go ahead that still would have been good news. And, here’s why:

• I would KNOW the end result and have an opportunity to ask ‘why’ if they decided to not go forward or to go elsewhere (thus eliminating further stewing and guessing as to any reason).
• I would have an opportunity to EVALUATE my proposal and client interaction to determine if there was anything I could have/should have done differently or if this was simply a matter of ‘you win some and you lose some’.
• I would have information that may prove valuable in PREPARING future client proposals.

All in all, knowing is much better than not knowing.

I’m grateful to my husband who is usually the one that asks me some of the hard questions I don’t always want to hear but need to hear.  Questions like, “Have you followed up with … on the proposal you sent to them?”

I know I shouldn’t NEED to be asked but sometimes I do. And, it’s the same question I ask my clients. It may not always be the question we want to hear but it is often the question we need to hear – and then act on.

Not following up with your clients will lose you business because the competition will likely win it from you when they follow up. And even if the competition doesn’t follow up, great plans and intentions sometimes get shelved ‘for another day’ that never comes when no one follows up with us.

A phone call is usually the best way to connect with clients to get an answer or feedback about a proposal. Where that’s not possible email can work too.

So, bite the bullet and make the time to follow-up. In the overall analysis, it’s an important part of taking good care of our clients and provides important feedback, not to mention potential cash-flow, for our businesses.

• It’s the fastest growing social network!
• Between May 2011 and May 2012 it grew 4377%,  both in unique visitors and search engine clicks.
• Site engagement ranks only behind Facebook and Tumblr, with the average user spending 98 minutes a month on the site.
• In June 2012 Pinterest scored referral traffic that SURPASSED Bing AND Google for the first time: It now ranks behind only Facebook, Yahoo and Google (organic) for referral traffic.

Launched in March 2010, by mid 2011 Pinterest showed a steadily rising growth curve.  Then, after being named one of the “50 Best Websites of 2011″ by Time Magazine in August 2011, its growth rate picked up significantly, in fact, phenomenally! (see the growth chart right, provided by Vitrue during an eMarketer Webinar)

Pinterest by the Numbers | Graph courtesy of Vitrue | eMarketer Webinar

How is it that this relative newcomer to the social networking scene has achieved this kind of success in such a short period of time?

A quick look at Pinterest will give you your first clues!

• It’s visual (a picture IS worth a thousand words),
• It’s easy to use (visit Pinterest.com to see for yourself).
• It’s succinct (description of images is limited to 500 words – and most people only use a fraction of that).
• It’s linkable (you can include a hyperlink with your pinned image so that pinners can click on it and go to your website or the page where more info lives).
• It’s easy to organize (create ‘Boards’ with titles to describe the images you’ve pinned  – a visual filing system).
• It’s easy to follow others and for them to follow you (people and brands, or specific ‘Boards’ of people and brands).
• It’s a great place to get ideas and inspiration (crafts, tips, articles, etc.)
• It can be a virtual store front for home based businesses (Etsy is the most pinned brand on Pinterest!)

Wondering if Pinterest can help grow your business?

According to an article on eCommerceBytes.com, “A Bizrate study found that 25% of respondents who were aware of image-sharing sites such as Pinterest made a purchase through them. The top five categories purchased on Pinterest were: Clothing & Apparel (39%); Jewelry, Handbags & Accessories (23%); Art, Art Supplies & Hobbies (22%); Home, Garden & Pool/Spa (18%); and Health & Beauty (14%).”

And it’s early days for businesses on Pinterest! It’s really only been in the last six months or so that more businesses have begun to seriously look at Pinterest and how it might build their brand.

While not all businesses may be suited to selling products directly on Pinterest, most can with a bit of thought find a way to build their brand recognition using this platform.

Whether you’re a blogger, a chiropractor, a news media outlet, a construction company, a bakery, a make-up artist, a travel agent or a drug store, there are ways to make Pinterest work for you. It’s all about sharing interesting or thought provoking images that cause people to want to ‘pin’ what you are sharing – and to follow you. And, like all social media, the best ways to engage your target audience is by sharing valuable, interesting and/or helpful information with them.

You still need to either request to join Pinterest or receive an invitation from someone already on the site. If you’d like an invitation send me your email address and I’ll arrange for an invite to be sent to you.

A unique URL is easier to remember, share, and print on your business cards and other marketing materials. The name should work with your website too. It may not be identical to your website but should be easily associated.

And for professional networks like LinkedIn where your profile is based on your personal name, it’s important to secure a unique URL as well. Hopefully, one that is the same as your name and if not exactly as you would like it, at least memorable and easy to share.

To help with the process of deciding on and setting a distinct URL for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google+, we’ve created a downloadable six page guide titled “Making Your Social Network URLs ‘rememberable’ and easy to share online, and off”. The guide looks at  why a distinct URL is important, considerations when choosing a name and how to set up  the three key social networks where this is not done when you create your account.

Once distinct URLs are in place for your various social networks, share them at every opportunity and be sure to include links and/or information in the following areas, to make it easy for people to find you and connect online:

• Website
• Email signature(s)
• Business Cards
• Letterhead, Invoices and other stationary
• eNewsletters and print Newsletters
• List the key social networks on all of your social networks (cross-promote)
• Advertising (print, radio, bus signage, billboards, etc.)
• In-store promotions (i.e. posters, in-store signage)
• Promotional materials like pens, calendars, fridge magnets, note pads, hats, t-shirts, car marketing signage, etc.
• Sales material like catalogues, proposals and quotes
• … and any other place you can think of!

Making it easy for people to remember you and find you online is an important piece in the overall building of your brand.

Are we relying exclusively on traditional methods to build our business? The answer to this question may in reality be ‘yes’ even if we have a website and a few social networking accounts.

What we do with our website and social networking sites, how we use them, will ultimately determine whether we are really taking advantage of these newer mediums and whether or not they will have an impact on our business.

• If our website is fresh, regularly updated and well written
• If we’re really ON the social networks that we’ve decided will work best for reaching our potential customers
• If we regularly post updates that our audience (and potential audience) will find interesting, helpful and engaging (and this isn’t always easy!)
• If we invest time in building a base of ‘likers’, ‘followers’ and/or ‘pinners’
• If we  look for opportunities to engage with those who connect with us (liking, sharing, commenting on their posts)
• If we persevere and don’t give up, and continue to improve our social networking understanding and skills

If we do these things, and assuming we have a good product and service and deliver on our promises, then over time (and yes, it takes time) we can expect to see results.

Social media, like almost all marketing, rarely yields immediate results. But coupled with a good product and service, a fresh and regularly updated website, periodic email marketing along with a strategic approach, a regular investment of time, thought and energy, the potential payoff for small business and businesses of all sizes is, I believe, huge.

Time is a critical component in this equation and for most of us this is the challenge. We want fast results but, as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day! And, it never would have been built if someone hadn’t laid the first stone and then another and another …

Loving the new Voice option on my Facebook Biz Pages!!! I noticed it a few days ago and love it. A huge improvement in allowing one to post either as the Page or as your personal profile. (It used to be very cumbersome!)

If you manage a business Page you can use the Voice option to post as the biz and then switch the Voice to ‘like’ the quote, ‘comment’, etc. personally. A great tool for small business owners as they build their brand.

Interesting discovery last night — Facebook will now let you change your user chosen Facebook Business Pagte username (becomes your distinct URL) a 2nd time! It used to be that once you set it (for those of you who have taken advantage of this important branding tool) you couldn’t change it – no second chances.

From the looks of the message that popped up while creating a distinct URL for a client (see below), it now looks like Facebook has changed this policy. The top line of the NEW message reads:  “You can only change the username … once after you set it the first time.” Implying you can now change it a second time. Woohoo!

Especially good news for those companies who had set their username without much forethought and would now like to make even a small change to their name. Looks like you can now do it!

Thirty-two percent of surveyed consumers have made a purchase after seeing an image on a social image-sharing site.

“Is Pinterest Really Leading To Product Purchases“

 eMarketer article May 31, 2012

The name Pinterest is no longer new to most of us. Although still a relatively new (March 2010) social networking site, its growth has been quite phenomenal, particularly since being named one of the “50 best websites of 2011″ by Time Magazine last August.

It’s described by it’s creators as an online or virtual pinboard and by others as a visual social bookmarking or social photo sharing website.

A February 2012 article in Forbes magazine aptly described it this way:

It’s more like a craft fair where people go to exhibit their wares, check out other vendors’ offerings, or do a bit of both.

Why Pinterest Trumps Facebook at Social Commerce, For Now

Forbes Magazine, February 2012

Small business owners may be asking themselves “How can this possibly help my business?”. In part the answer is, with anywhere between 8 and 12 million users, depending on your source and the month in question, Pinterest is now considered to be one of the top social networking sites.

Forbes magazine reported the following on June 12, 2012:

A recent report by Experian revealed that Pinterest is now the third largest social media site based on the number of site visits in March 2012.

Pinterest Power: How to Use the Third Largest Social Networking Site to Promote Your Business

Forbes Magazine, June 2012

Shortly after signing up for Pinterest in January of this year, I quickly discovered why it holds a fascination for so many. There is an addictive quality to it. It’s primarily visual  – and, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. There is also space at the bottom of each image to write a comment or note to go along with what you’re posting.

Images can be linked, and often are, to an external source like a website or specific webpage where one can obtain more information. A huge opportunity for small businesses and large alike!

In the recent eMarketer article “Is Pinterest Really Leading to Product Purchases?” Pinterest (at 47%) surpasses Facebook (at 33%)  and Twitter (at 31%) when it comes to the percentage of female social network users that have been influenced to make a purchase from site recommendations. Interestingly, blogs (at 61%) surpass Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter in this area.

Most of the active Pinterest users are women (March 2012: 72%) although the number of men using Pinterest is increasing (March 2012: 28% – up from 20% in January 2012). These statistics come from the Infographic ‘Interest in Pinterest‘ produced by TAMBA in the UK.

Several months into using Pinterest, I continue to discover new ways that this interesting and popular tool can work to help grow the brand of a small or larger business.

The personal applications are pretty well known among most users. What is not so obvious or well known (yet) are the significant opportunities available to businesses of all sizes.

Some of the more common uses now include wedding planners, destination vacation planners, home decorators, etc. Here are a few other areas where Pinterest could be hugely beneficial:

• Events – post enticing images and information about your event then link it through to your website for more information.
• Bloggers – posting an image tied to your blog, adding a comment and a link to the blog hosted on your site or elsewhere.
• Bed & Breakfasts – post images of your rooms, views, meals, activities, etc. with links to your website and testimonials
• Realtors – post listings to Pinterest with basic info about the property and link it through to your website where the rest of the details reside.
• Service Professionals – post a photo of you dealing with an interesting/specific project along with a comment and link it through to a page on your website where more information can be found.
• Bakeries, Delis, Restaurants – images of delicious looking food linked to your website where more information is available
• Home Based Businesses  – post images of your products (homemade candles, cards, jams, woodwork, floral arrangements) link it through to where people can place an order or purchase.

The possibilities and opportunities are almost endless! It’s a matter of thinking through how one can use Pinterest for their business, and making sure the photos and images that are shared are interesting and appealing so that people want to find out more … and pin, repin, follow you (find a link to how to use Pinterest at the bottom of this article).

And, as you can see by the quote below, Pinterest is a trusted source of information.

According to February data from BlogHer, 81% of active female Pinterest users trusted the site for information and advice—even more so than Twitter and Facebook. Sites like Pinterest are also fostering a high degree of influence, which may affect product consideration and purchase decisions. The same BlogHer study indicated that 47% of female social network users in the US said a recommendation on Pinterest had influenced a purchase decision.

“Is Pinterest Really Leading To Product Purchases“

eMarketer article May 31, 2012

Of course, one needs to deliver on any business promises made or implied through posting on Pinterest or any other social networking site. If not, the power of negative word-of-mouth online advertising will work against you.

For a good overview on how to get started with Pinterest click here to view the article “Pinterest Power: How to Use the Third Largest Social Media Site to Promote Your Business” in Forbes Magazine.

Your actual Google+ ID (URL) is long and cumbersome! Definitely not suited to print media … or any media where the address needs to literally be spelled out.

That’s where gplus.to comes in. They offer a FREE and easy way to set up a distinct vanity URL (they call it a ‘nick’) for any of your Google+ profiles, making it much easier to share how to find you on Google+… EASILY!

Here’s an example …

My 911SmallBiz Google+ ID is plus.google.com/u/0/116965337080338415782 … go ahead, try to memorize THAT!

My Google+ Vanity URL, thanks to gplus.to, is glpus.to/911SmallBiz! Definitely easier to remember!

And, setting up your vanity URL is SIMPLE!!! Seriously, so simple. As long as you know your Google+ ID and the ‘nick’ or name you want to use, it’s just a matter of going to gplus.to, entering the information and clicking a button.

Don’t believe me? Here’s an image from their home page … (click on it to take action now!)

Of course, this assumes the name you want to use is still available … a good reason for acting now rather than waiting. Like your website address, your Google+ vanity URL is one of a kind!

They’ve likely heard or been told that it is not a slam dunk, a piece of cake, but …

It’s understandable really. With all the talk of social media and its growth, importance, consumer appeal, yada, yada, yada; one would think it was just a matter of planting the seed and watching it grow. But, it ain’t so.

Real progress or growth, in fact any growth for most of us, is a slow, steady and often painful process. It rarely yields immediate results. Did you hear that? Seriously, it rarely yields immediate results.

Like most anything of value, social media requires time, attention and especially perseverance to produce results. And, in today’s world, not investing in social media is probably similar to not taking seriously the impact computers would have on business in the 70s and 80s and the internet in the 90s.

But, it’s not too late to pick up where you may have left off with social media! To begin again with new fervour, commitment, determination AND perseverance.

If you’ve dropped the ball (or feel like you have) here are a few tips to get you going again:

1. Make the commitment! Get going – start again.  Make the decision you’re going to suck it up, and endure the pain – like exercise the pain diminishes as you get in shape (or so I’ve been told).
2. Start with what you’ve got going and build from there. If you have a Facebook Page setup and it makes sense for your business to be on that platform, begin to build on what you started. Make sure you have a profile picture (logo or photo) that represents and is consistent with your brand. Use a cover image that works well for your brand. Start posting and inviting people to connect with you.
3. Establish a schedule – a realistic and challenging one – and stick to it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and thinking you’re going to go from zero to one hundred in a day is likely a recipe for failure. Make it a stretch but a reasonably manageable one. Then again, if you’ve been posting less than once every few weeks you have some work to do. An arbitrary number would be to start posting three times a week (on the platforms that make the most sense for your business) and build from there.
4. Be relational. Social media is ‘social’. And that actually looks different on the various platforms.  Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn are all different. You need to have a basic understanding of each.
5. PERSEVERE! This is probably the most important advice I can give you. Simple, but important. Don’t quit, don’t give up, persevere. And in the process learn, revise, evaluate and strategize for how to improve and do things better – and don’t quit!

Think of social media like planting a garden. You don’t plant a seed one day and expect to see a plant fully grown, or even peaking it’s head out of the soil, the next day.

You know that in order for the seed to grow you have to plant it (usually) in the darkness of the dirt where it will develop a root system before it peaks its tiny head above the surface and begins to grow into a larger plant. In order for it to grow, you need to work and invest time and energy – and all of this means you have to persevere while it grows into maturity and produces fruit … and even then, there is work to be done to maintain it.

Think of social media in a similar way!

Here it is: When you post something on social media assume the whole world may be reading what you are writing – now and in the future.

This doesn’t mean you can’t be authentic or honest. It does mean weighing your words and choosing wisely before clicking the ‘share’ button. And, like with verbal communication, just because you think something doesn’t mean you should speak it – same goes for social media.

When you ‘say’ something on social media imagine yourself standing on a stage and speaking to hundreds of people (at least).

If you’re at all unsure whether you should be posting something or not, ask yourself the following questions:

Would I want …

• my customers to read this?
• my boss (aka the customer) to read this?
• my competition to read this?
• my Mom or Dad to read this?
• my kids to read this?
• a future employer or client to read this?an advertiser to read this?

You get the drift!

To most of us, this seems so obvious but it’s easy to forget, that what you say on social media (personally or professionally) can be read by a lot of people – and has the potential to go viral in an instant.

In fact, wouldn’t we’d all love that? To have something we say go viral? I know I would – assuming, of course, I was happy with what had been said – and what was being said – and that I hadn’t stuck my foot in my mouth with my words :^)

For small businesses, how consumers view us or judge us is often determined, like with people, by outward appearances. Things that are evident right away, before they dig deeper.

This doesn’t mean we (or our business) need to be the best dressed or look like something we are not.

It does mean making sure our image reflects reality in terms of what we do and our values. So that consumers can ‘size us up’ quickly (which they will do anyways) and be drawn to us when they want or need what we have to offer. And, equally important, will keep coming back to us after they have experienced what we have to offer.

How we take care of our customers and how we ‘appear’ on social media  all have an impact on our branding!

To be effective, our image or brand needs to reflect our business both positively and accurately. There’s no point selling our business as one that cares if the products or services we deliver leave customers wanting.

We can spend a great deal of money on advertising, including social media, to bring in first time clients, but if they don’t come back our business costs have just increased exponentially.

Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company and author of the book ‘Loyalty Rules’ points out that the cost of developing a new client is about 6 to 7 times higher than the cost of retaining an existing client. Put another way, that’s 600% higher, and possibly more!

Branding our business is important but it will only do so much. If we are a flash in the pan outfit looking to make a fast buck and then head out-of-town, we might be able to attract new customers in the short-term. But if we plan to be in the game for the long-term we better deliver or branding will backfire on us big time. Phenomenal branding (think traditional marketing and social media) efforts won’t make up for poor products and services!

At the same time, we may offer the best product and the best service known to man or God but unless we are able to get the message of our brand out we will just be another small business with a great service or product that fizzles out due to a lack of customers.

Branding is all about image! But it’s not just a first impression, it’s a lasting impression that builds our business through attracting new clients and then keeps them coming back, and telling others about us – essentially, because we’ve delivered on what we’ve promised. This generates word-of-mouth advertising that money can’t buy.

Great branding will help ‘mark us’ so that people remember us and think of us when they are looking for what we offer. Our advertising, marketing campaigns and social media presence will benefit from our name. Our name will carry weight based on the reality of who we are and what we do. (Think of Apple, Nike, etc.)

If we’re not good at what we do, if we don’t provide good service, if we over promise and under deliver, it will mark us too. And not in a good way!  It will solidify a bad reputation in the marketplace just as easily, and often more so, as a good one.

Social Media offers a whole new world of opportunity for small businesses, and business of all sizes, to help build their brand. In particular, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter as well as LinkedIn, YouTube and other social networking sites. It is still early days for Google+ and while having a presence there won’t hurt you, it may not help you that much either, at this time.

Statistics from NielsenWire show that while people engage in Social Media primarily to connect with friends (89%) and family (88%). The statistics also show people use social media to find out about products and services. In particular, to …

• read consumer feedback (68%)
• learn about products (60%)
• get coupons and promotions (58%)
• give positive feedback (54%)
• give negative feedback (51%).

In today’s world, branding that doesn’t accurately reflect who you are carries with it significant risk for those who don’t deliver on their promises. News about your reputation, your brand, before social networking traveled at a snail’s pace. Today it travels close to the speed of light, comparatively speaking.

This is good news for those businesses that deliver on their brand promises. It’s potentially disastrous news for those who don’t.

“The secret to success in any business is to sell a great, compelling product.” – Michael Hyatt

The above quotes carry pretty much the same message: The results of your marketing efforts, long-term, will rise or fall on the value/quality of your products and services in the eyes of the consumer.

Make it great – we’re not talking perfection here – and give it your best. This alone won’t ensure success but without this effort it may solidify failure.

That has now changed. This is good news for businesses who need some help with managing their Facebook presence online – but who don’t want to give permission to do everything to everyone who is made an administrator!

The image on the right (and the info below) shows the various ‘Admin Roles’ options available when setting people up as administrators on Facebook.

Your choices now include:

MANAGER has full permissions, to do it all, including …

• manage admin roles
• send messages as the Page
• create posts as the Page
• create ads
• view insights.

CONTENT CREATOR can do the following …

• edit the Page
• send messages as the Page
• create posts as the Page
• create ads
• view insights.

The Content Creator can’t manage admin roles.

MODERATOR can do the following …

• respond to and delete comments on the Page
• send messages as the Page
• create ads
• view insights

The Moderator can’t manage admin roles, edit the Page, create posts as the Page.

ADVERTISER can do the following …

• create ads
• view insights

The Advertiser can’t manage admin roles, edit the Page, create posts as the Page, respond to and delete comments on the Page, send messages as the Page.

INSIGHTS ANALYST can do the following …

• view insights

The Insights Analyst can’t can’t manage admin roles, edit the Page, create posts as the Page, respond to and delete comments on the Page, send messages as the Page, create ads.

For a smaller organization this may not be a big deal … although it will be helpful.

For larger organizations this is huge! It makes it possible to more easily add various levels of administrators to the pool of people involved with Facebook, without losing important control over the Page branding and content. It also makes it easier to provide permission to an outside agency to create a Facebook advertising campaign without opening up complete access to the back-end of the Page.

This is likely just the beginning of other changes coming down the line to make Facebook even more user friendly for business. And, there’s a lot of potential advertising and investor dollars riding on it!

Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.

- Zig Ziglar

Early on in my career I discovered the truth of the quote above.

When handling a customer complaint by listening attentively and respectfully to the client, and by doing my best to resolve the situation, the result was usually a stronger relationship with the client – for me as well as the organization I represented.

That said, it didn’t stop me from feeling panicky whenever a customer complained. Largely because I didn’t recognize the impact effectively handling a complaint had on client loyalty.

It took me years to finally see that most of the complaints I handled resulted in a stronger client relationship. Why?  Because my behaviour showed the client that I, and the organization they were dealing with, cared about them and their problem. Our actions demonstrated that we wanted to resolve the complaint to their satisfaction. This built trust and loyalty with the client.

In the short-term this meant that:

• On occasion, we had to own a problem that wasn’t really our fault – without saying so to the customer. (While the customer may not always be right, the customer is pretty much always right.)
• The complaint may have cost us something to remedy – but far less than bad word-of-mouth advertising might have if we hadn’t resolved it promptly, satisfactorily and respectfully.

In the long-term this meant that:

• Our clients felt like we cared (and we did) – we listened carefully, acknowledged the problem and remedied the situation as best we could.
• Our clients stayed with us and often became loyal brand advocates – they didn’t expect us to be perfect, they did expect us to own up to problems and fix them.

Handling customer complaints is not rocket science. It’s really a matter of putting ourselves in our clients’ position. How would we want our complaint handled? How would we want to be listened to, spoken to and dealt with?

If we’re looking to build a profitable business with a loyal client base, giving service that goes above and beyond the average is key. And, it often results in clients becoming brand ambassadors who fan the flames of great word-of-mouth advertising as a bonus.

When a customer complains it is an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the client. They are looking for resolution to their problem and in the process we have the chance to handle it in a way that strengthens both our relationship and our brand with the client.

When clients feel:

• heard and understood (we’ve listened as they tell us about the problem/experience)
• important and respected (our body language, our words and the tone of our voice says we care)

… they are also more likely to be calm and rational about the problem as opposed to emotional and reactionary.

In my experience, most customers don’t like to complain or create a fuss when they experience a problem with a product or service. They just want the issue resolved. But actually confronting the person/business about the problem is uncomfortable for them.

Handling complaints in a positive way is often pleasantly surprising to customers – a surprise they often share with their friends. Of course the reverse is true too. Except that when you handle a complaint poorly your client is likely to tell even more people – and this kind of w0rd-of-mouth advertising most of us can do without.

His new book ‘Platform‘ has just been released. Subtitled ‘How to get noticed in a noisy world’ the book is a ‘step-by-step guide for anyone with something to say or sell’. Seriously, watch for it to become a best seller in the not too distant future.

I bought the book yesterday after receiving an email from leadership guru John Maxwell. Maxwell is a leader I respect and his high regard for the book had me checking it out. To be honest, the bonuses that accompanied the purchase, if I bought before May 26, prompted me to buy the book right away rather than later. I’m SO glad I did.

‘Platform’ is one of those books that is hard to put down. It provides practical steps, inspiration, and solid reasons for why we need to act – if we’re serious about expanding our reach, our influence, and growing our business, or non-profit.

It highlights the opportunities available to pretty much anyone today, because of the internet and social media, to change their business and their world, if not the world. As Hyatt points out, “social media has changed the game” and “marketing as we knew it is largely dead”.

It isn’t news to most of us that social media has changed the game, or even that marketing as we knew it is largely dead. The fact is though, few businesses are seriously acting on this knowledge.

Putting up a Facebook or Google+ Page, a LinkedIn account or Twitter profile, can be nothing more than window dressing and cover up the fact that we really are doing business as usual, but hoping for different results.

Hyatt’s ‘elevator speech’ when he pitched the book for publication stated that the book:

• is designed for anyone who is trying to get attention for his or her product, service or cause
• teaches people how to build a tribe of loyal followers using social media and other new technologies

It concludes by noting that “it has never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now” to build a platform.

A great book with helpful information and inspiration. Definitely worth the $9.99 plus tax I paid for this e-book!

Allworth notes “people don’t buy things because of their demographics — nobody buys something because they’re a 25-30 year old white male with a college degree — but rather, because they go about living their life and some situation arises in which they need to solve a problem… and so they “hire” a product to do the job.”

How does empathy fit in with this?

Well, as the article points out, those businesses who are able to “put themselves in the shoes of their customers.” have a definite competitive advantage. It’s not what you think your customers need that matters. It’s what they think they need that makes the difference.

This can be a challenge to many of us. It’s easy to think we know what people need. But what do they think they need? What are their challenges, the problems they need or want to address, now or in the future? When we tap into this and people know we’re interested in meeting their needs and able to deliver what they’re looking for to meet their needs, our business just may flourish.

As Zig Ziglar says, ” You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” I think it’s true.

Back to Blockbuster and Netflix for a moment. Businesses of all sizes can and do fail. Many “go out of business wanting to sell to customers what they want to sell to customers, rather than what customers want to buy.”

The HBR article is well worth the read. It’s not long but it is chock full of wisdom that can be applied to all areas of life and not just business.

If not, consider creating a unique URL (aka Vanity or username) that is:

• shorter (Twitter allows 15 characters maximum – a good rule of thumb)
• easy to remember (for you and your clients)
• consistent (with your business name, website and other social media sites – it’s easier to remember if they’re all the same or close)
• fits nicely on print material (i.e. business cards, fliers and other marketing and advertising pieces)

Setting your unique URL (username) also ensures you’ve secured the name so that no one else can use it, once you have it secured. (This assumes you aren’t infringing on the legal ownership of a brand or name belonging to someone else.)

When deciding on your unique URL for social networking sites NameChk is a free online service that may be useful in helping you determine if the name you would like to use is available on various sites.

The following image gives you an idea of the type of information available and what a report looks like from NameChk.

Keep in mind that for some social sites, like Facebook, usernames can’t be changed once set. So, be sure you can secure your website domain name (if you don’t already have one) and the username/URL for the key social networking sites first. And, make sure it is one you can to live with long term.

How To Set Custom URLs for Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

To make a short URL to your Google+ profile or pages go to gplus.to. At this time you can’t set a custom URL for your Google+ pages with Google+.

The following two blogs provide the steps for creating distinct URLs for a Facebook Business Page and a personal LinkedIn profile:

• Creating A Customized Business Page URL
• 4 Simple Steps To Creating Your Customized LinkedIn URL