Tucson Social Media Lab

Facebook Unveils New Security Setting

Tucson Social Media Lab — Fri, 13 May 2011 23:43:26 +0000

Facebook has unveiled a new security setting aimed at preventing the hijacking of Facebook pages or malware. We have all seen the post that says, “See who has viewed your profile.” or “See who has unfriended you.” The goal is to get you to click the link which will plant malware or even viruses on your computer.

Another common post is one that says “Check out the video (or Pics) you were tagged in.” Always exercise caution when you see any link. If you don’t know the source, beware.

The video below will show you how to change your account settings.

Website vs. Facebook

Tucson Social Media Lab — Sun, 08 May 2011 20:34:23 +0000

While teaching a Facebook for Business class last week, I went around the room and asked why everyone was there. I was amazed at the number of people (at least a third of the group) that were there because they didn’t have a website and thought Facebook would do the trick.

I immediately pulled out my soapbox and carefully climbed on top. You’re trying to market online with no website?!? In today’s connected world, it’s a snap to pop on your computer or smart phone and do a quick search for any business. Without a website, how are you going to get found? And assuming someone accidentally stumbles upon your Facebook page, just exactly how much information are they going to get to make their buying decision. Plus, my totally un-scientific observations tells me that if someone doesn’t have a website, there’s a pretty good chance they don’t have a customized Facebook page either.

Short of suggesting a Facebook business page to friends (which recent changes to Facebook severely restricted), how are you going to drive traffic to your business page? A “Follow Us On Facebook” link on your website can help drive traffic back to your FB page where you can begin an interactive dialog with your potential customers/clients.

Online marketing is like a big funnel. At the top of the funnel is Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These are like the card tables in the grocery store on Saturday where you can get a taste of new food product. If you like it, you will go find the product so you can have more. When people read your 140 character bites and want more, where are they going to go?

Fresh and timely content that showcase your expertise is where you want them going. And the source for that is your blog. A blog should give a reader just the right portion for them to digest. Like the story of the new country preacher on his first Sunday. With all the preparations made, he’s standing at the door waiting to welcome everyone. But to his dismay, only one old farmer shows up. He asks the farmer what he should do and the farmer replies, “Well son. If I only have one cow in the barn, I feed it.” So the young preacher launches into his service complete with a 45 minute sermon and 2 alter calls. As he is standing by the door after the service he asks the farmer what he thought, to which he replied, “Well, I would feed the one cow, but I wouldn’t give him the whole barn full.” We are an impatient society. We don’t want the whole barn full in your blog post, just a nice, digestable portion.

Your blog is the bridge to your call to action which should be your website. (If your website doesn’t tell the browser what action to take, that’s the subject of another post.)

Whether your business is a brick and mortar business, home based business or internet business, having a website is a crucial component that adds legitimacy. It’s the anchor point of your marketing program, where the efforts poured into the top of your funnel come rushing out.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz Online Marketing Solutions specialize in web site design, search engine optimization, social media marketing and text message marketing. Need to know how to better use social media — check out Social Media Lab, providing step-by-step instructional videos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging.

What Were You Thinking — Social Media Faux Pas’

Tucson Social Media Lab — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:29:51 +0000

As more and more small businesses move into the social media space, the demand for a “Dr. Phil” intervention has increased as well. It takes a lot of restraint on my part to keep from saying “What were you thinking?” Here are some of the “oh no you didn’t ” moments to avoid.

Just this weekend, I received a Facebook friend request. The request came from a business, not a person. What were you thinking? I don’t want to be friends with a business. My business is built on working with local businesses, but never once have I been contacted by a business. I’ve been contacted by the business owner, manager or decision maker, but never the business. I actively look for opportunities to recommend local businesses to my network. But the recommendation is based on the people – the owners, the managers and employees.

Facebook personal pages are designed for individuals. Even if you and your business are one and the same (as my business is), keep business and personal pages separate. That’s not to say that you never post anything business related on your personal page, but it should be VERY limited.

This same friend request had a second faux pas. While the sender did take the time to write a personal note (not the standard friend request message), the message was the problem. Their message started out good, we have a mutual friend and I would like to connect with you. Had they stopped there, it would have been fine. However the next sentence was “I hope you will become an outstanding customer.” What were you thinking?

Why not just come out and say “Prepare to be bombarded with my sales message”? Social Media Rule #1 — It’s not about you! Why, when we go to a car lot or furniture store, is the first words out of our mouths, “I’m just looking”? We don’t want to be sold but we like to buy.

Social media (as in any sales opportunity) is like a piggy bank. As a business, you make social capital deposits into your customer’s piggy bank. When their bank get’s full enough, they will cash it in and buy from you. And how do you make deposits? By providing valuable information. If you customer would say, “Thanks. That was a great idea.” then you have just made a deposit in their bank.

Here’s one more. Okay, you’ve decided that social media is something you need to do. Now you are ready to start building your connections. But your profile has no picture or a picture of your dog. What were you thinking?

Regardless of how cute your dog is, I’m not connecting with it. I want to connect with you. When I see a profile with no photo, it tells me you don’t take social media seriously and are probably not a good connection.

Another instant “no connect” sign is having an incomplete or hidden profile. For some, it’s about how many friends/followers/connection you can get. But if you’re social media plan calls for building relationships, those relationships will be a targeted demographic, not the masses. When a profile isn’t visible, there is no way to tell if you’re a serious business minded person, if there is any reason for me to connect with you. Once you make the choice to be in business, you’re now a public figure so you profile should give me an insight into who you are, what you do and why I should connect with you.

To keep Dr. Phil at bay, treat social media as you would any networking opportunity — build and cultivate relationships that lead to long term business.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz.com specialize in online marketing solutions, including web site design, search engine optimization, social media marketing and mobile text message marketing.

10 Reasons You’re Not Getting Followers on Twitter

Tucson Social Media Lab — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:30:46 +0000

Twitter thrives on the relationship between you and your followers. And yet many small businesses struggle to gain a following and end up abandoning their profiles due to fundamental errors in the way they manage them. This often boils down to a lack of understanding of Twitter as a social channel and an inability or unwillingness to invest the time to learn. But the secret to success is simple: put yourself in your followers’ shoes and consider what you’re adding to their lives. There are some common mistakes that I see again and again on Twitter, and encountering one or more of these on a profile significantly decreases the chances of me following and/or increases the chances of me unfollowing or blocking.

1. Incomplete Profile

Setting up a Twitter profile is so quick and easy that any time I encounter one without an avatar or with a non-existent biography it just says to me: I couldn’t be bothered. If I’m going to follow you I want to know a little about you both professionally and personally. Don’t be shy, we’re all friends here…

2. Selling on Your Profile

One of my personal bugbears is people who describe themselves as ‘guru’ or ‘expert’. Maybe you are, but please have some humility! I’ve also come to despise overly corporate or salesy custom backgrounds. By all means customise your background (in fact, I recommend it), but please don’t try to sell to me before I’ve even made contact.

3. Indiscriminate Follows

Several times a week I get followed by seemingly random people or organisations, and sometimes I don’t have the faintest idea where they’ve found me or why they’re following me. Generally, if I don’t follow back they unfollow me within a few days. So if I can’t even figure out why you’re following me in the first place, why would I follow you back?

4. Imbalanced Follower/Following Lists

It’s not that I have a problem with individuals following more people than follow them. But if you’re not relevant to me (see point 3) and you follow significantly more people than are following you, it suggests you use an automated follower tool and are after numbers. Unless your annual bonus is linked to follower numbers, there’s no point.

5. Automated Tweets

Let me be clear that I’m not talking about scheduling handwritten tweets using Hootsuite. I’m talking about an obviously automated stream from a news service or from a Facebook page. If I wanted an automated stream I’d sign up to your RSS feed or your Facebook page. On Twitter this is nothing but noise; it’s like someone screaming in your ear. And I don’t much like that.

6. Unbalanced Twitter Stream

The ideal Twitter profile should consist of about 30% conversational @replies, 30% retweets and 40% interesting broadcast tweets, hopefully with an opinion or link, of which only about 25% (10% of total tweets) are self-promotional. This tells me that a) you’re trying to add value, b) you’re reading others’ content, and c) you’re conversing and aren’t all “me, me, me”. It’s worth noting that all @reply conversation can be as bad as all broadcast, so try and stay balanced.

7. Automated Welcome Messages

So I think you seem cool and interesting and decide to follow you. It could be the shortest following in history if seconds later I receive an automated direct message that thanks me and directs me to your website/blog/Facebook page. Auto responses are from the dinosaur age of Twitter and, just like the T-Rex, should be extinct.

8. Repetitive Tweeting

Once I’ve been following someone a while, there are three main reasons I will unfollow or block someone. The first is if you keep broadcasting the same tweet or link repeatedly. A couple of times for a blog entry or something relevant/cool is fine, but any more than that on a regular basis looks like you’re trying to sell something. Unless you’ve discovered the cure for cancer, leave it be.

9. Packing ‘em In

The second unfollow golden rule is not send half a dozen tweets in 30 seconds and then nothing for four hours, and then another burst of six tweets. This is especially true when combined with point 8 above. Use a tool like Hootsuite to spread out your tweets across the day/week – you’ll touch more people anyway.

10. Please Add Value

I’m demanding, I admit it; this list is pretty challenging. But then most others on Twitter are demanding too. If I’m not providing you with interesting links or conversation or sharing your content, there’s no point in following me, right? The same goes for me and for others: make your Twitter stream relevant and focused and your follower numbers will grow and continue to grow.

Reprinted from Social Media Today

The New Facebook Privacy Settings

Tucson Social Media Lab — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:47:57 +0000

After receiving a multitude of complaints regarding Facebook’s lack of privacy, they have instituted new privacy settings. Those settings are now available. But before accepting them as they are, you should review each one to make sure they fit you and the way you use Facebook.

Facebook Privacy Settings

So the first step is to go to privacy settings under your account tab in your Facebook account. The first thing to review is the basic directory information. To begin, click on view setting. The things you’ll find here are the basic information that you want to make public. For example, whether you want to allow people to search for you on Facebook, send you friend requests and messages, or see your friend list. By default, these are set for everyone to see and probably you won’t need to change these. If someone that you want to connect with searches for you on Facebook, this will allow them to find you and request you become friends. The next sections under the basic directory information are your work and education, your current city and hometown, and your interests and other pages. Once again, this is your choice, with your interests and other pages being the most questionable.

With the integration of Facebook and the search engines, your interests and the pages that you like can be used to design targeted advertising for you. While this isn’t new, it will become more prominent in years to come. Other websites you visit and searches you perform, may accumulate information about you and your patterns and habits so that marketers can laser target your interests. For example, let’s say you went on a website like BestBuy.com to shop for a 52 inch HD TV. A few days later, while reading an article on CNN.com, an ad appears for a 52 inch HD TV on sale in your area. Or maybe a text message gets sent to your phone with that sale. Instead of shopping for products or services, products and services will find you in the future.

Okay, so we covered the basic directory information. The next section on your privacy settings is “Sharing on Facebook.” You have the choice of allowing everyone, friends only, friends of friends, or customizing, who can see your information. There is also a recommended setting. What the recommended setting does is allow everyone to see your status, photos and posts, your bio, and your friends and relationships. It allows friends of friends to see your birthday, religious and political views, and photos and videos your tag in. And it allows friends only to post to your wall, to see your e-mail address, your phone number, and any other address or IM name.

In my case, the settings are not ones that fit my needs. Since my Facebook profile contains my business information, I want my contact information available to everyone. So I chose the custom option which allows me to pick and choose who sees my information. At the bottom of the list, you will see a pencil with the words “Customize Settings” beside it. That will bring up the menu list of the things you share, as well as what others can share plus your contact information. For me, I want my website, my phone number and my e-mail address visible to everyone.

If you have younger children, you should probably choose to make family only visible to friends. If you are a parent of teenage kids, you probably want to monitor their Facebook page, but not have others see who your kids are.

Another setting on this same page is your album privacy. Click the “edit album privacy” link to open all your photo albums. Once again, if you have small children, you probably don’t want pictures of the family vacation visible for everyone to see. But you don’t care if your friends see them. After all, that’s why you shared them. So change this setting for each album as you need.

The next section is applications, games and websites. Applications such as Farmville, Mafia wars, and the various quizzes, polls and other activities, all are created by third-party developers. They are not associated with Facebook. But, you agree, when you set up the application, to their terms and conditions, which means they have access to all of your profile information. But what is even more intrusive is the fact that these applications have access to your friend’s profiles as well. So even though I don’t take any of the polls, play Farmville, or send hugs or hearts, my profile information is available from my friends sites that do.

With the new privacy settings, you have the option to control what information is available to applications and websites when your friends use them. I chose to make none of my information available to third-party applications. You also have the ability to easily remove applications and websites. I recommend removing any application that you no longer use.

Under the same applications section, you have the option for instant personalization. On Facebook partner sites like Pandora and Yelp (with more being added all the time), your profile information can be pulled in to help design your browsing experience on that site. For example, you login to Pandora, and when it retrieves your Facebook likes and sees you are a fan of 60s rock, it can customize the music it serves up to you. By disabling the instant personalization you eliminate that.

Public search is another choice under applications and websites. This determines whether your Facebook profile is available for search engines like Google to read. Once again, in my case, I don’t have a problem with my profile being searchable. My company information is already all over the web. Also, from the search engine optimization standpoint, my profile provides another inbound link to my website, which improves search engine positioning. However, you may choose to be less visible online, and if so, disable the public search feature.

Do you have a friend that continually sends you invites for applications? While you don’t want to block the user, you now have the choice to block an invites that come from that friend. To do so, choose the Block Lists section at the very bottom. Here you have the option to block users by name or e-mail or to block invites from a friend.

One privacy issue that was already available is the publication of your birth date. While it’s okay to show your birthday (everyone likes to get the birthday wishes), you should display only the month and date, not the year. You can change this in your profile page and click on edit profile (right under your picture.) Next to your birthday, there is a dropdown box that gives you the choice of showing your full birthday, the month & day only or not showing it at all.

All in all, the new Facebook privacy settings should provide much greater control over your online privacy. But remember, this is only one site. There are hundreds of sites that capture your information, either through cookies, through giveaways or when you register to use the site. So unless you plan to be a web recluse, your information is probably are the out there in dozens of databases all over the web.

I hope this gave you a little insight into how you customize your Facebook privacy and the reasoning behind the vigilance needed to protect yourself online.

June 4 Lab -Learn The Power of YouTube

Tucson Social Media Lab — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 06:36:42 +0000

Learn the power of YouTube to spread your branding message virally. This week’s hands on lab will walk you through the process of creating your YouTube Channel and the secret “Ninja” techniques to get the search engines to view you videos.

Bring Your Laptop and $20. We’ll show you how easy it is to get started.

Friday,… June 4
1 – 4 pm
Spill The Beanz Coffee Shop (I know we said we were moving this week but the Tucson Police Station doesn’t have WiFi after all.)

By the way, Spill the Beanz now has sandwiches if you want to get some lunch while you’re there.

Facebook Fan Page Strategies

Tucson Social Media Lab — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:43:45 +0000

Not so long ago having an Internet presence for your business meant putting up a website. A website, while still an important feature of promoting your business, is no longer enough. To reach customers businesses must go where the customers are. Web 2.0 or the social web, is an essential feature of a successful marketing plan.

Facebook is the leader of the pack of social media. According to TechCrunch in November 2008 more than one in five people who used the Internet visited Facebook. The growth of Facebook has increased ever since. Facebook has become essential for business marketing. This new style of customer contact requires implementing new and innovative ideas about marketing.

Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends and family. But you don’t necessarily want your clients to see the baby pictures your mom posted. Businesses large and small should take care to present a well defined and controlled image of their products and services. Facebook fan pages are an excellent choice for business.

Personal Facebook pages allow you to share information about yourself and to connect with friends and family. Fan pages have many of the same features as personal pages. You can still share articles, photos, videos, and applications, but the fan page is organized around a theme. All of the content on your Fan page is related to your business.

Strategies for making your Fan page a success

Make your Fan page a resource

Consider your customers interests. What information do they need? Post articles and links to useful information on your wall. Your Fan page is an opportunity to showcase yourself as an expert. Provide these things for your customers and they will return to your page again and again.

Connect

Interact with customers. Make use of all of the Facebook tools. Respond to comments. You may not want to list your entire product line. A sample on your fan page could lead new customers to visit your website for more. Spamming is always a bad idea, but targeting offers to customers who show interest can lead to increased customer loyalty.

Be human

Pictures and personal information put a face on a company. As long as you present an image that enhances your business, personalizing your Fan page is a great way to get followers.

Be present

Fill out your profile completely. Keep article, photo and video content current. It’s not enough to throw up a page and be done with it. Make sure to respond to customers who become fans. Create a group for your business. You can also participate in groups related to your business.

Innovate

Facebook moves fast. Don’t be afraid to try the latest thing. Explore webinars, and other interactive media as options to improve business relationships.

Creating Facebook fan page is great first step toward integrating social media into your marketing plan. Don’t forget to provide links from your website to your Fan page. Make sure to connect your Facebook fan page to other social media so your network will grow. In no time your Fan page will be the central hub of your successful online marketing campaign.

Reprint of article in SiteProNews by Anton Pearce

Social Media Overview – June 1

Tucson Social Media Lab — Wed, 19 May 2010 05:39:01 +0000

Social Media Overview

In this 2 hour class, you will learn the importance of social media in building brand awareness. Gary and Michael cover the major social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogs. You will learn the demographics of each social media, top uses for each and strategies to help make the social media work for you.

Social Media Overview
Tuesday, 1 PM
Tucson Police Station – 22nd and Alvernon
Cost $20

Mark your calendar today.

May 21 – Blog Lab

Tucson Social Media Lab — Wed, 19 May 2010 05:30:28 +0000

The topic of the May 21 Social Media Lab is blogging. Blogs are a key component to not only social media, but also search engine optimization.

Google makes an effort to present the most current information available for a search request. The most current information usually isn’t a static website. It’s most often a blog. So by blogging on your site, you are making your site more “relevant”.

This Lab will teach you:

How to setup a blog
How to select and install themes
Plugins and widgets to make your blog work for you
Feeding your blog to your website

Friday, May 21
1 pm to 4 pm (it’s okay to come late or leave early if you need to)
Spill the Beanz Coffee Shop
Plaza Palomino Shopping Center
Ft. Lowell and Swan

Bring your laptop and $20.

If you don’t have a blog already, you might want to go to wordpress.org and create a free blog before the class (if you’re not sure how to do it, make sure you have a way to get to your email at the class)

Another helpful hint – if you are adding your blog to your own website, bring your web server login information with you to the lab.