Six Ways to Market on Facebook

By Steve Petersen in Social Networks, Web 2.0

Marketing on social networks is not always that successful as Todd has pointed out, but there are sly ways to garner some success. Facebook has an interesting feature — the news feed. Depending upon members’ privacy settings, it will chronicle their activities and broadcast them to their friends.

While some Facebook denizens loathe this feature, it enables people to find out what their friends are up to. From a promotion point of view, the news feed is a great channel for others to advertise a person’s or organization’s cause. As Facebook denizens interact with such entities, the news feed can broadcast such action to their friends. Further, they are also indirectly vouching for a cause making it more appealing, important, or hip for their buddies.

Here are some tips on how to harness the news feed for peddling a product, person, or cause that will coax people to do things that are visible to others:

(1) Create a profile

-People cannot befriend anyone who doesn’t have a profile. Further, create one for your “mascot.” Many of my friends have added such icons to their buddy lists. I’ve searched Facebook, and Smokey the Bear doesn’t have a profile. Why?

(2) Host an event and post it

-How about a costume party with a competition to see who can cross dress better than Rudy Giuliani?

(3) Share a funny video or picture

-Blendtec’s viral “Will It Blend?” video series lends itself well to this tip. It even makes high-end blenders hip to younger folk. In fact, I like the one when glow sticks are liquified, and my Bivings colleague Erin brought it to my attention by sharing it via Facebook.

-How about a reel of bloopers from TV commercials?

(4) Post pictures

-These could include candid shots of products, people, or other silly related items. If Facebook users are in these photos, either they or their friends can tag them, and these tags can show up on the news feed.

(5) Post news articles

-Offbeat news involving a person or organization is a great item to share. For instance, a lost dog was returned to its owners four years after it was MIA by a shelter about 1,100 miles away from its owners since they had a microchip idenfitification chip implanted in the pooch. The Associated Press article profiling this news even mentions the chip maker, Avid. If Avid had a Facebook profile, it should share this article via the site.

(6) Write a note

-This is a great way to directly communicate with people sans the filters of journalists and spin doctors.

It is very important to note that people can, have, and are creating groups, sharing media, and writing notes about people, organizations, and causes (for example, the “One Million Strong for Barack” group in anticipation for the 2008 US Presidential Election). There is nothing stopping organizations from entering the fray to get their voice heard as well.

There are a plethora of social networks other than Facebook, but not all have a feature like the news feed. However, these tips are also applicable to marketing on other sites.

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On LinkedIn, Size Does Matter

Posted 4-19-09 Great article I found…read on

On LinkedIn, Size Does Matter
Monday, February 16th, 2009 | job search, recruitment | Konstantinos Kasekas – 2K

Whether as a recruiter or a job seeker, or simply an avid networker, there is quite a bit of merit to using LinkedIn (32 million users and growing) . Every user has joined with the understanding of the value of networking for business relationships. Quite simply it’s a game changer – a disruptive technology that has changed the way people recruit, are recruited, and search for jobs.

Just as in “real life” networking, virtual networking is completely dependent on your visibility to others who are worth connecting to. No one will use your services if they don’t know you exist, and you cannot ultimately see the people in your network if you are not connected to them. In other words – on LinkedIn – size of your network DOES matter. Big network = greater possibility of success.

So, what does this mean for you? Grow your network, unconditionally. Personally, I add anywhere from 50 – 100 people to my LinkedIn network weekly. Remember, the LinkedIn User Agreement stipulates that you only add people to your network that you know. As a result, I cannot condone or recommend that you invite people to your network that you don’t know.

This is a list of some easy ways to increase the size and visibility of your profile within your desired network.

1. Create A Detailed Profile – Remember, your profile is searchable via Google. A detailed profile will allow for people that were looking for you or people like you, to find you more effectively. Be sure to use keywords that best represent your skill-set and experiences.

2. Select A “FULL” Public Profile – That way everyone can see you via a search engine. Adjust your account settings accordingly.

3. Accept all LinkedIn Invitations – This includes people you know or don’t know. You may not think that you need to be connected to a Technical Analyst in India, but, you don’t know who s/he is connected to, you may need their contacts one day.

4. Add All Of Your Contacts – LinkedIn allows you to import your contacts from a number of email and address book programs. USE THIS FEATURE! Invite your friends/colleagues/acquaintances.

5. Join Groups – Make sure they reflect your professional goals. The “People” search function also allows you to see members of the groups you join. You are allowed to be a member of 50 groups, so join 50 groups. This is the fastest way to grow your network, exponentially.

6. Join The Largest Group you Can Find – More members, means more people in your own network. “GroupLinked” is a great example!

7. Become a LinkedIn LION – This is a group of “LinkedIn Open Networkers”. They are a group of users that agree to either accept all invitations, OR if they do not accept, they will at least NOT hit the infamous “I don’t know” button on your invitation. To join go to The Lion’s Lair and follow the instructions. There is a list of all the LIONs on this site that you can upload to your contacts. Then, once you do that, join the LinkedIn Group “LIONs” managed and owned by John L evans. There are over 15,000 members in this group.

8. Join TopLinked.com – TopLinked is another open networker group. This group lists the LinkedIn users based on the size of their network. Ron Bates is the most connected user on LinkedIn he is listed at the top of this list with over 44,000 1st contacts. Connect to him, and your network will increase by the millions, in one shot. He is an open networker and accepts all invitations. Even President Obama is listed!

9. Tell Your Friends – Ask everyone you know to join your LinkedIn group. Add your profile to your email signature, with an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, put your LinkedIn url on your business or call card.

10. Connect To Me – I am no Ron Bates, but I do accept all LinkedIn invitations.

So remember, how you grow your network is up to you so pick and choose the tips that you feel best fit your own goals. Los, if you try to add too many people that choose the “I Don’t Know” button on your LinkedIn invitation your account may be limited, suspended or even removed…So tread carefully!

Gone Virtual Yet? Going Green in Your Meetings and Events

In the current economic culture, companies are trying to balance the need to cut costs while still embracing green initiatives. One way to do this is by examining how the company is conducting meetings and events. There are many virtual options available, yet I find that many companies haven’t done the research to determine whether these can save the company money and time.

By embracing technological advances in the meetings and events industry we can limit our ecological footprint by reducing travel and paper waste. Going green seems to be the current trend in the last few years with good reason. We are all responsible to do our part in creating a green world to leave to our children and grandchildren. The great thing about going green with meetings is that it doesn’t cost the company, it saves the company money.

Let’s go over some of the current options available so that you can determine whether they would be a good fit for your company. First, let’s look at web-conferencing. This is the most widely used virtual meeting option today. Examples would be WebEx, GoToMeeting, or Microsoft Live Meetings.

Web-conferencing can be highly collaborative. It is ideal for a small group of people who want to be able to interact through the use of polling, white-boarding, chat rooms, and document sharing. Although it is most often done by combining your computer and telephone via a conference call, it can also use VoIP or webcams. When trying to decide whether web-conferencing can be applied to any upcoming events first evaluate any meetings where the participants are meeting for less than 2 hours. Take into account traveling to the meeting, even if it is in town, and a web-conference may be a perfect fit to save both time and money.

Webcasting is another popular virtual option. Webcasting is video streamed over the internet, either live or on-demand, often combining video plus content. It is ideal for medium to massive audiences, and described as a solution for “one to many.” If a company wants to say something once and have it used many times or sent to many people, webcasting can be the most efficient way to do it. Examples include annual meetings, new employee orientation, or training presentations to name a few.

Another thing to consider is whether your meeting or event can be used as a source of revenue generation. Pay-per-click and banner ads are viable options that can be combined with webcasting to underwrite the cost and increase your ROI.

If you haven’t incorporated virtual components into your meetings, training sessions or events there is no better time than the present. Contact me for a free assessment and I’ll be happy to help you determine whether virtual meetings are a good fit for you. You can reach me at april@speakinup.org or 904.589.1234.

Facebook….for Business or Pleasure?

I love Facebook, let’s get that out of the way right now. There are a lot of Social Media sites that I am involved in and receive benefit from, but Facebook is my current favorite. Of course, with the active users coming in at 175 million and growing at the rate of over 260,000 a day, I am obviously not alone.

I admit that when I started using Facebook it was purely for personal connections, friends and family. However, I have seen the light now, and have opened it up to my professional connections as well. Most Facebooker’s are not aware that you can actually place your “Friends” into lists and decide what in your profile they get to see. If you have been thinking that you don’t want your professional contacts to have access to the pictures you post or what is written on your wall, a solution has arrived.

With a few clicks you can set up lists, and determine what the people in those lists are able to view on your page. Here is how…

First, go into your friends tab and click on the “Make a List” tab in the left hand column. Choose the name of your list. Make it simple by creating three lists; friends, family, and professional.

Once you create a list, you can go through your current friend list and select people to include in the list. From now on out though, you place Friends in the lists as soon as you send or accept an invite to become a Friend.

 

Next, you will need to go into the privacy settings to customize what people can see. Go to the settings tab at the top of your screen and click on privacy settings. Then click on Profile. You can now set the parameters for your lists.

For instance, if you don’t want anyone from your “Professional” list seeing your pictures. Go to the Photos Tagged of You drop down menu and click customize. On the bottom of the pop up window you will see an Except These People , choose whichever lists you would like to prohibit from seeing your tagged pictures. I think everyone should place some level of security on tagged photos of themselves, because these are pictures other people may have posted and tagged you in. Their discretion may not be in line with yours.

If you would like to prevent people from seeing the pictures in your photo album, just click on the Edit Photo Album Privacy Settings and then determine who sees each album.

Don’t let fears of what others might see on your profile prevent you from growing your network if that is your desire. Remember, the control is in your hands.

ASTD Meeting

Today I spoke at ASTD about the virtual options available for meetings. ASTD is the American Society for Training and Development. One of the exciting things ASTD is involved in is Second Life, which is an online 3-D virtual world. In Second Life, you create an avatar of yourself and attend meetings or events happening online. ASTD national has embraced this platform and has an ASTD island with scheduled meet-ups every Wednesday. I encourage ASTD members to explore this opportunity at http://www.astd.org/resources/secondlife/.

I also mentioned today that I would include a link here to some information for job seekers. Go to http://linkedinformarketing.com/ and listen to available podcasts by Jorge Olsen. Best of luck to all those looking for new opportunities right now.

I will post the webcast of our session once I receive the link.

Please feel free to contact me at AprilLBroussard@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.

Fun Apps

Hello All,

I wanted to let you all in on some fun applications I have run across lately. If you are a music lover the first one is perfect for you.  Have you ever been driving down the road and hear a new song that you know is going to shoot to the top of your fave list? Now you can have the song title and artist sent directly to you in a text message with Nabbit.com. If you register your cell number at Nabbit.com all you have to do is text “Nabbit” and the radio station numbers or call sign. For example, I text “Nabbit 88.1″ and whatever is playing at that moment on my station, whether songs or advertisements, will be sent to me in a text message. Best part…it’s FREE!

If you are saying to yourself…”Now, April, I surely don’t text message while I am driving”. Two things; One, you are safer than I am on the roads, and Two, you are going to need this next app. Another fun app is Jott.com. This one sends hands free emails or text messages with your voice. So, in the earlier example, now you wouldn’t need to text your message to Nabbit, instead you would call Jott and tell Jott to send a text message to Nabbit. It’s very simple. Converts your voice into text and off it goes to Nabbit. Hands-free…nice, right? There are obviously a lot more ways to use Jott than just getting your favorite song beamed to you. You may like the ability to update your Twitter by voice or have it compile your To-Do-List (or your To Achieve list as my girlfriend prefers to call it). It’s not free, but close, with plans starting at $4 a month, it’s worth looking into. 

Enjoy your new apps!

Article from Forbes.com

Leadership

Yes, CEOs Should Facebook And Twitter

Matthew Fraser and Soumitra Dutta, 03.11.09, 04:35 PM EDT

Web 2.0 is no longer just for teenagers.

Social networking has clearly reached a tipping point. Sites like MySpace and Facebook boast hundreds of millions of members. Barack Obama’s presidential victory demonstrated that platforms like YouTube and Twitter could transform electoral politics. Yet in corporations where such tools have been expected to bring profound transformations, there has been strong resistance to change.

Many corporate executives either dismiss social networking as a time-wasting distraction or regard it as a risk management problem. Much of their fear has focused on potential risks like security breaches and data privacy.

Web 2.0 evangelists, on the other hand, argue that social software can be used to boost productivity. They say it can facilitate an open-ended corporate culture that values transparency, collaboration and innovation. Most important, it can be an effective way to build a customer-centric organization that not only communicates authentically but also listens to customers and learns from that interaction.

In the current stormy economy, as companies look for new ways to market their products and engage their customers, chief executive officers are finally looking more and more at how social networking tools can extend their brands, create corporate cultures based on listening and learning, and establish their own leadership profiles.

To read the entire story go to http://bit.ly/r8k3j. 

Social Networking in Plain English

Social Networking in Plain English 8:07pm

Source: http://www.youtube.com

 

 

A short explanation of social networking websites and why they are popular. This video comes in an unbranded “presentation quality” version that can be licensed for use in the workplace.http://www.commoncraft.com/store-item/video-social-networking

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I’ll be speaking at…

I’ll be speaking at the ASTD meeting on March 19th covering the topic of how to incorporate virtual components into training sessions. As a former trainer, I really relate to this group and the struggles that they face. I am looking forward to sharing how technology can make their jobs easier and increase their impact.

I will also be speaking on March 26th at The Secrets of Social Media seminar. We have some great talent coming…Starr Hall and Matthew Chamberlin will be speaking. I will be discussing how to use Facebook for business purposes. I am very excited to be a part of it! Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/azu9gf.

Speakin’ Up…it’s about time!

Hello All,

It’s about time I started Speakin’ Up and letting you all know what is going on in this crazy life of mine! I have decided to launch out and reach for the big dreams God placed in my heart years ago. For those of you who have known me for a while it will come as no surprise that writing and speaking are where my heart is. I have been blessed to have opportunities to develop both of those skills this last year and I am looking forward with expectancy for what 2009 will bring.

One of the topics that I speak on is, “The Virtual Meeting: Extending the Reach of Your Meetings and Events,” teaching professionals and businesses about how to incorporate virtual components into their events and increase their ROI. Another topic I am now offering is “Social Media Applications.” This covers how to use popular sites such as Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter to tap into free marketing. I do feel like the opportunities are endless when you are doing something you are truly passionate about. I am excited to keep up with all of you by using this blog.