by jginsberg on July 15, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
I have been waiting for Reviews on FaceBook Pages to be socialized (ranked in the newsfeed) for 2 years, today I saw the first sign of life. Recommend This Place. Now live on the left hand side of some Pages, you can write a recommendation that hits your newsfeed, promoting the Page. Essentially this acts as a Status Update! Are you ready to see FaceBook Socialize Reviews?
by jginsberg on July 5, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Events on FaceBook and LinkedIn have been huge, looking at the networks – we are in the early stages of a major revolution. What do I see coming down the pipeline? How about Events on FaceBook that you can pay for with FaceBook Credits? How about integrating your EventBrite Page with FaceBook? EventBrite claims to have sold over 32 million tickets to events and attributes $12 of revenue for each Share of your Event on FaceBook. How many people do you want to Share your next event? How about creating an incentive for people to check-in at your event on FaceBook – what is this worth to you? The hardest part of Social Events is getting people to invite their friends to your Event, unlock this mystery box and you are sitting on a gold mine.
Social Reviews? Yes, reviews are huge. Google indexes them and attaches them to your Google Place Page. Depending on your industry, you may want to use a service like DemandForce, that will solicit reviews from your customer and publish them in a Tab on FaceBook as well as to a searchable resource such as your Google Place Page increasing your SEO ranking. LinkedIn enabled reviews/recommendations for services and products on Company Pages on LinkedIn. This may be the missing link companies have been waiting for to find value in their company Pages on LinkedIn. Are you getting ready for 2012?
by jginsberg on June 29, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Is it official? MySpace is finally Dead? With a sale at the rumored 35-40 million, it appears so. Why? Because MySpace has been filled with dirty noisy spam for years. Yes, everybody wants to customize their Page and yes, most pages I saw were ugly. Will Bands still use it? Yes, but they will have to think about why they are not using FaceBook more and SoundCloud. Great example? Friend and client Wade Morissette is using SoundCloud to give away music he is testing and experimenting with. Why would he go to the ghetto of MySpace when he can have amazing resources to share his music with the largest community in the world? If you are a musician or band, build your community on FaceBook and feed them with music on SoundCloud and videos on YouTube!
What could MySpace have done? Keep it Clean!!! Note to FaceBook: You are managing your community well, keep up the good work!
by jginsberg on May 30, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
You’ve got a Page on FaceBook for your business. You have started Suggesting the Page to your friends and even gotten a few friends to Share your Page. You are doing the basics, like including links to your Page in your email newsletter and printing the link on all of your collateral, but your Page is not growing fast enough. What’s next? FaceBook Advertising!
Set up an Ad on FaceBook for your Page. Keep the traffic directing to your Page and limit the Ads to friends of your Page. Why? Because a referral in business from a friend is invaluable. When people see your Ad, you want them to see that one of their friends has already liked your Page. This is the equivalent of a business referral.
What else? Tie in a Sponsored Story. This is a long tail Ad that will be purely Social (only friends of people who like the Page will see it). Why do you want this second Ad running? As you get people liking your Page, you will want to reach out to their friends. This Sponsored Story will be promoted in the news feeds of the friends of the new people liking your Page. This is Hot!
What are you waiting for, start your Advertising campaign today!!!
by jginsberg on May 24, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
I like to say that FaceBook has the secret copy of ” How To Build a Closed Network” by AOL. As the site evolves, it appears to be more and more like AOL circa 1997, AWESOME!!! What has got me really excited recently is FaceBook Email. The latest upgrade is big, no it’s huge. You can claim your email, bridging the gap between social and private email. Yes, all the basics are there, attachments, forwards and a spam box. For FaceBook to become your default email, it has to play nicely with other email systems. The new FaceBook email is a true coming of age product. Tell me again why you are on AOL, Hotmail or Yahoo?
by jginsberg on May 10, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
I make fun of the Cleveland Clinic a lot in the world of Social Media. Why? Because they are the GIANT company in Cleveland and their Page on FaceBook has less people liking them than they have employees. A few months ago FaceBook “viralized” a new feature, Questions. This means, if you use the new feature, you will create a larger wave on FaceBook. Use Questions, it is a brilliant FaceBook feature. Plus, you can limit the potential answers via radio buttons, reducing potentially brand damaging answers.
Because I make fun of the Cleveland Clinic, I also offer them FREE unsolicited advice, see the picture below.
by jginsberg on May 2, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, Twitter
Are you willing to wait for the morning Paper to find out what has happened in the world? The face of news is changing quickly. From FaceBook to Twitter we are seeing breaking news spread like wild fire. Why? Because we are not the passive generation of the past. We are the generation that wants to Share news and Discuss news. We are the generation that will discuss Bin Laden’s death, not simply here that he died. Your friends on FaceBook and Twitter have opinions and they are more interesting than those of the TV personalities who are censored from saying what they really believe (even though nobody believes the news is politically neutral today).
If you want breaking news, stay tuned on FaceBook and Twitter. If you want to find out what happened yesterday, subscribe to a newspaper.
by jginsberg on April 30, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn
Now that you have built up your natural social network, what do you do with it? Get Coffee!!! For real, to harvest that Pot of Gold you have to get together with people. In person! Your local coffee shop or even bar for drinks. Get on your mobile phone and schedule meetings with the people in your network. Be a resource to them, help their business grow. Lend your talents to what they are working on, or simply listen! The Pot of Gold is right in front of you, Dig In!!!
by jginsberg on April 26, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Creating Lists in FaceBook is the key to staying up to date with all of your friends on FaceBook. Why is this useful? You can click Most Recent on your NewsFeed and filter your feed by the Lists of Friends you have created. This how I check the updates from my Yoga friends and my localized networks such as New York City, the Bay Area and Cleveland. I keep a few more Lists to cover College, High School and a few other smaller hobbies. Why else are Lists GREAT on FaceBook? You can Suggest a Page to a “Group,” Select your List as a network and invite all of the people you have put on your List. Note: This feature (Select All) is not available unless you have put them in a List or they are in a college network.
How do you create a List for your friends on FaceBook? Start by clicking Account (top right), the Edit Friends and finally Create List on the Top right of your newsfeed. You can either add people to the List on the spot or back up and create a few more Lists.Already have some Lists? Click here to figure out which friends are not on Lists and easily put them on Lists.
by jginsberg on April 25, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Do you like to save money? Maybe get a complimentary cup of coffee when you check-in at a restaurant like fire? FaceBook is letting you subscribe to localized Deals within your city/zipcode. Is this hot? Judging by the success of Groupon, Americans love to save money. Now you can find out where there is an incentive encouraging you to check-in. Exciting? Yeah, this is going to encourage competition and that is good for everybody. Competition? Yeah, Competition. Businesses are going to look at what their competition is offering as a deal and you the people of FaceBook are going to be rewarded with better deals.
Want to get in on the action? Subscribe to your local deals on FaceBook here. Update: Nice looks like Techcrunch and the NY Times are reporting this also 
by jginsberg on April 24, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Last night I was talking with Jill Jankowski at the House of Blues where we saw The New Pornagraphers (Great Band). Jill pointed out the transition FaceBook has made into the world of marketing by asking the question “What if there was no FaceBook?” This is a brilliant question we all need to ask! Contrast this question with “What if there was no newspaper?” Did you know the Detroit Free Press doesn’t deliver during the week anymore? The answer is simple, nobody will care when newspapers stop printing. The newspaper is dead.
FaceBook is alive and kicking. People have said to me recently, “yeah FaceBook is boring and people are losing interest.” I remind you, we are FaceBook. If it is boring, you either need to make some new friends or start contributing more. FaceBook is here to stay! When I think about Jill’s question, I realize I can’t imagine a world without FaceBook. I would deeply miss my old friends who I have reconnected with, the updates from bands and pages I “like” and all of the people I have met and connected with who I get to know on FaceBook. The transition is complete, FaceBook is the medium communications classes should be studying and copy writers should be focusing on for figuring out how to communicate with people on behalf of the Brands they write for.
If FaceBook shut down tomorrow, would you care?
by jginsberg on April 21, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Social Media enables us to reach more people faster than ever before. You can share more effectively and reach the entire world, for free. Sounds great right? What’s the catch? There is not enough of you to go around and you need to go around a lot more.
We are not chasing Rainbows here…we are looking for the Pot of Gold. Get in your car, buy your plane tickets, take the train or bus. Get together with your people in person and develop the deeper personal relationship that makes your social media come alive. This is going to take time, money and a commitment to being authentic in everything you do. Are you ready?
by jginsberg on April 7, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, Video
I propose there are officially 6 national networks for media. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, YouTube and FaceBook. Huh? YouTube and FaceBook? Yeah. For Real. Think about the numbers. 2 Billion views a day on YouTube. People spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on FaceBook. How about that more content is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than was created by the 3 major US TV networks in over 60 years.
Your wife has a FaceBook account, but you don’t? You have an account but only 35 friends? You look at pictures but never comment? Get out of the stone ages!!! If you are not on FaceBook you are missing the revolution. Hyper local news is happening right now. Checking your newsfeed on FaceBook is more interesting than cutting thru the advertising pages of a newspaper to find the few pieces of legitimate content they post. 35 friends, stop being so cheap with your friendship. Seriously, get over yourself. Give a little bit of your life and see what you get in return.
We are naturally social creatures. We are resources to each other. You make my life better by being in it. The question isn’t “what have you done for me?” It is, “what can I do for you?” If knowledge is power, than we all NEED FaceBook - the collective power of your universe is ready and willing to help you.
Still don’t believe the revolution will be on FaceBook and YouTube? Ask the people of Egypt what they think…
by jginsberg on April 5, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Do you want to see who you have invited to FaceBook? Maybe DELETE some Invites that have not been accepted? This is the link you want! Check your Invite History and clean it up! Why? because if someone has been invited to be your friend and they have not accepted, they can still access your profile. If they haven’t accepted your friendship, why should you let them into your profile? If they decide they want to connect with you, they can friend you!
You must control access to your profile, cleaning up your Invite History is part of controlling your presence. What else should you do? Check your privacy settings! I suggest all of your settings should be FRIENDS ONLY, except for Pictures and Photos which should include Friends of Friends. Keep your Privacy exclusive and you can comfortably share with all of your friends!!!
by jginsberg on April 5, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, Twitter
I have been thinking about this post for too long and haven’t shared it. Make sure you catch the last bit on Questions.
As you post content on FaceBook and Twitter, ask yourself “Am I being a Shmuck?” Are you Educating or are you Selling? How can you sell if you haven’t educated the customer? are you pretending to educate? If you are, forget about it. We see right thru it, you are just being a shmuck.
What should you do? Develop quality authentic content that educates people. Let your competition be the Shmuck (I have a better word here that I like to use in conversation that starts with a D and sounds like Swoosh, but it is inappropriate and for some reason I think Shmuck is o.k).
Do you want a piece of Gold today? Your Page MUST start using FaceBook questions. This is a GREAT feature that is Viral by Nature (Like Naughty By Nature, but not a rap group). Why? When you Post a Question on FaceBook (Note this is a feature right above the status bar), the answers are seen by the friends of the people who “Like” your Page. If they answer the Question, they will see your Page and be exposed to your brand.
*Tip – Use your name or brand in the Question, it will be more visible!
Educate More = Sell More.
by jginsberg on March 28, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Laying on the beach this week (Spring Break rules), I watched a tall built guy spray sun screen on the attractive woman in a bikini next to him. For the first time in my entire technology loving life, my heart sank. In the old days, this guy would have been rubbing the cream into her skin, an intimate experience worthy of envy. Even more intimate and far more accesible for most of us, is the hug. Whether you are a 30 second bear hug person like my old college friend Ross, or a single shoulder lean pat on the back kind of person, we all need to hug more.
How can you use technology to create more intimate relationships, rather than create space and barriers between us? I am convinced FaceBook is the cream we all need to rub on more, the hug that is personal and engaging without being inappropriate. How do you hug more people on FaceBook?
Start with high fives. These are easy forms of personal contact that will not invade your space or make you feel uncomfortable. High fives are fun, quick little bursts of energy that will motivate you and somebody else. What is a high five on FaceBook? The “Like” button. Go ahead, try it. Clicking Like on one of your friend’s posts is easy and let’s them know you are there and you hear them. It is the most basic acknowledgement of your mutual existence, it is a high five.
If you are high fiving with ease, try hugging. What is a hug on FaceBook? It is a comment!!! Commenting on FaceBook is the way we create conversation, it is a longer touch that opens the door to deeper insight into each other, it is the Hug. Comment on basic banal details of life, from “I love that restaurant” to “I can’t wait for the sun to come out.” Commenting on the little boring details of life turns our black and white pictures into kodachrome. These gentle hugs are the glue that binds us together.
As you comunicate more on FaceBook, it will be easier to comment on more personal posts and even to make your own status updates. This is where we can engage in public conversation and share our thoughts. Stop waving at people and start hugging people more.Get to know each other better today. I don’t want to be the guy spraying sun screen on my wife at the beach, I want the physical connection of rubbing the cream into her back. I don’t want to be the friend you wave at either, give me a high five or better yet a hug.
Be Social, Hug More People.
by jginsberg on March 23, 2011 in Best Practices
After reading on TechCrunch about the new mobile app Color, I had to give it a try. What does Color do? It let’s you take social photos and see photos being taken around you. it has the same strange excessively public quality that Twitter has. Is it easy to use? Yes. I signed in and had taken my first picture in under a minute. There isn’t a lot of functionality right now, but I appreciate the simplicity of design. It has a certain elegance to it…
Will I use this much? Maybe. It will be fun at things like conferences, meetings and events. Places where you see a lot of people you might kind of know. Is it the next FaceBook? No. I’d rather look at any of the 62 Billion photos on FaceBook, then at the shaky photo from an event. However, I think the younger bar going crowd will really enjoy Color, the application lends itself to the young and uncommitted. Should you check it out? Yeah, photos are fun. Will FaceBook be doing this? Yeah…they kind of already are doing this with Checking In and Who is Here Now. Still this is a simple application without the baggage of FaceBook. Did I mention it is free?
by jginsberg on March 4, 2011 in Best Practices, LinkedIn
Do you have a daily LinkedIn Practice? Start with the 2 minute drill.
- Log-in to LinkedIn and scroll down, look at your newsfeed. If you see anything interesting “Like” it or Comment on it.
- Spend 1 minute looking for a new contact.
Why do this daily? It is a simple GREAT habit. You will stay current with the news on LinkedIn directly from your network. If you do this Monday – Frday, you will easily add 250 connections into your network.
Want to be more Aggressive? Do the 2 minute drill 2-3 times a day. Do the 2 minute drill on FaceBook 2-3 times a day. What are you waiting for?
by jginsberg on February 22, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, Twitter
The Twitter In Box is Dead. If you have more than 20 followers you have been spammed into abandoning your Twitter Direct Message system. It is strange that this potentially useful means of private communication has been rendered useless by spammers who auto Direct Message you.
In the early days of FaceBook, I sent multiple people the same message trying to promote software we had developed. After 10 messages FaceBook popped up a warning and told me if I continued to send repeat messages my account would be suspended. I sent two more messages and my account was suspended. Did I learn my lesson? Yes! It was quite humbling to send an email apologizing to FaceBook and requesting reinstatement. What am I suggesting here? The obvious. Twitter needs to shut the spammers down and make the private DM system useful. Until then, FaceBook’s email system will continue to grow and Twitter’s DM system will continue to wither….
by jginsberg on February 10, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
The Official FaceBook Page upgrade is coming, and if you don’t do the optional upgrade now, it will be done Automatically for you on March 10, 2011. Don’t wait, don’t complain – The Upgrade kicks @$$!!! Why? (see screen shots below).
- The ability to change your settings so you can comment on your Page again personally. This is nice if you are a member of your community!!!
- FINALLY – Get email notification when someone comments on your Page. Thank You FaceBook (Jamie bowing in deference).
- Greater control over communicating what Pages you “Like” and “Featured Page Owners” – This is is an opportunity to cross promote and build some social capital. Kind of like you might do when you link to someone’s website or Blog on your site.
by jginsberg on February 4, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Video
As you evaluate your current state of marketing, social media is an exciting potential part of your plan. How should you get started?
1) Adopt a social media policy – This will give you guidelines to protect your staff and organization.
2) Select the Tools that are right for you – Every plan today HAS to include FaceBook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter. Depending on the content you are creating you should also consider a Blog (This is a BIG Tool).
3) Develop Goals – You have to be able to measure success and return on your investment. Goals will help you monitor and adjust.
4) Create your messaging/content – Wow! Step 4 may be the most dangerous step! You are not creating “Advertising.” You are feeding a community! Put on your creative hat and figure out what your community wants to eat!!!
5) Implementation and Training – Some of this is easy, some will take some research and resources. Your distribution and/or publishing platform must work cohesively and your team must become experts. This is where training is critical to your success.
by jginsberg on February 3, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn
Today, I was fortunate to work with 2 classes of PR and Marketing students at John Carroll University. Today, as I do at the end of each presentation I do, I give out my contact information. Suddenly, I feel like the naked guy in front of the room. Why? Because if you can reach me via FaceBook, LinkedIn or Twitter or even my phone – you will see my entire life. Social Media empowers you to lead a very transparent life. This transparency is the key to our success. Why? Because it is the only way we will get to know each other better. Social Media is only interesting if we are sharing the relevant to banal details of our life. Start living more transparently today.
by jginsberg on January 30, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn
Why do you want more friends on FaceBook and more connections on LinkedIn? Because as your network reaches a critical mass these sites become more interesting. On FaceBook your News Feed will become more engaging as you cross 450 Friends. Your local network will be large enough to have more action happening in it. On LinkedIn, as your connections grow your search improves (more first and second degree connections) – you should know at least 500 people in the world on LinkedIn.
Now that we have some goals, What are the top 3 ways to find more friends/connections?
1) Check your email monthly – new people you are emailing will be picked up by the filters.
2) Participate in the activity on the network. “Liking” content and commenting on Posts and Updates will expose your name to a host of new people. If the conversation is interesting enough you will make new friends! At the very least, you will become one step closer to your second degree network (friends of friends).
3) Live with the 24 hour rule. Connect up with someone within 24 hours of meeting them in the real world. If you are not meeting new people in the real world, take steps to increase your odds of meeting people. From coffee shop meetings, to breakfast, lunch and dinner – if you get out and socialize you will find people you like and want to get to know better.
by jginsberg on January 4, 2011 in Best Practices, FaceBook
I may be the only one who cares, but FaceBook has unofficially eclipsed 50 Billion Photos. Don’t believe me? Check the Math!
They Officially reported 17 billion photos and growing at 2.5 billion per month as of January 2010….with 400 million users!
That would equal 30 billion photos added in 2010.
17 Billion plus 30 Billion = 47 Billion Photos!
But wait there is more!!!!
Should we account for the growth to 500 Million plus people (25% growth at the least!!!) a conservative number…Do you think that the network grew by more than 25% and the amount of photos uploaded stayed flat? If photos grew just a little that could be an extra 8 Billion Photos!!!!
How about FaceBook reporting today that 750 Million picture were uploaded over New Years Eve? A new record, but note that is 3/4′s of a Billion Photos over a weekend. Are you kidding me?
I think the new number is really 55 Billion Photos. What are you doing? You should be uploading 200 photos to an album today!
by jginsberg on December 30, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Video
2011 is going to be a great year for social media as the perfect storm of audience and content mix together. Are you ready?
Top 7 Social Media Tips for 2011
- Clean up you personal FaceBook Page. Start by doing an inventory of your security and privacy settings, then edit your friend list. Delete some dead weight that you can not remember why you are friends with them, add each and every friend to at least one List.
- Review your LinkedIn Profile. Is your job description accurate, have you taken on any new skills or projects that are not listed in your profile? Have you joined any organizations? Are you missing any jobs that should be included?
- Delete anybody not following you back on Twitter. Really, cut the Fat. Anybody that is offended by this can start following you, at which point you can follow them back. The people that do not follow you back will not see your content, lose them.
- Get your YouTube Channel on!!! Put a little effort into adding in the details, flush out your profile and subscribe to some channels. If you have a Twitter account, integrate it in. Make 2011 the year you “Like” videos on YouTube and share them on FaceBook!!! Better yet, start making your own videos or hire my company Cleveland Groove to make you engaging and very “Shareable” videos. Video is the future and the light is getting closer, catch this train!
- Upgrade your Mobiles access to your network. Learn how to use that smart phone (or buy one), download applications that enable you to update your network and view what is going on. You MUST have applications for FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter loaded on your phone and easy to access. Start “checking in” on FaceBook, comment and Like more pictures and updates. Interact with your network, do not simply lurk. Mobile makes it easy!
- Share more pictures. January of 2010 we had 17 Billion photos on FaceBook, growing at 2.5 Billion Photos per months with 400 million people on FaceBook. If those numbers held steady, we have at least 47 Billion Photos on FaceBook. My guess is as we grew to 500 million FaceBook users and beyond, we added more than 2.5 Billion photos per month. Are you contributing to that massive collection of 47 Billion + photos on FaceBook? Are you setting up logical album names and maxing out the 200 photos per album like you should be? Are you getting people tagged in your photos?
- Go Out More. Really. Make plans with people or simply show up and make a new friend. This is the Gold at the end of the Social Media Rainbow!!! Connect up with people you meet out in the real world on LinkedIn or FaceBook, get to know them, include them in your world!
Follow these simple tips for 2011 and you will have an engaging and interesting year.
by jginsberg on December 23, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Are you still using AOL? If so, you need this post!!! The world of email has evolved a lot in the last 15 years. Yes, you were an early adopter when you signed up for dial-up, or that Yahoo account or even Hotmail. The future of email is somewhere between FaceBook and Gmail. It is hard to knock gmail , with amazing search capability and seemingly always on access. Still FaceBook is slowly becoming a contender.
Why? Because your friends are on FaceBook. 200 million people plus are accessing FaceBook from their phones, interpret that to mean they can probably get your email anytime. For non smart phone users, FaceBook email can be texted, this enables you to get your FaceBook email even in San Francisco on the ATT network (yes, I am complaining about the embarrassingly poor quality of ATT’s network in one of the most advanced cities in the world).
You can add photos or even a video taken on the spot to your email and even dynamic links FaceBook style. This is not the FaceBook email of 3 years ago. This is a mature email program that need to stabialize and become reliable to truly take off. If you are not checking FaceBook email daily, you MUST turn on notifications and get your FaceBook email forwarded to you via email or even texted to you. In 2011, FaceBook email is going to become a professional tool for you. Use It.
by jginsberg on December 22, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
FaceBook has enabled you to Filter your News feed, significantly empowering you to select just Status Updates or Links of posts from Pages. This is a pre-emptive strike against the massive influx of poor content from commercial Pages (content from Pages must improve in 2011 or people will filter them out).
We have “Liked” so many Pages over the year, our news feed has become glutted with junk bordering on Spam (yeah, I went there). Simply clicking in the top right of your news feed on Most recent and selecting an option for your filter changes the content in your news feed dramatically.
What else is nice about this? My Lists also show up at the bottom, improving navigation. If you haven’t taken the time to put every one of your friends on appropriate Lists, maybe this motivates you. I have Lists for locations I have lots of friends from, time periods in my life, associations I am in. Rather than simply getting status updates, see the updates from within a grouping of your choice. My Lists vary from the Bay Area to Michigan to Cleveland to NYC, including my high school and fraternity – almost everybody fits on to one of my 7 Lists. Now you are playing with Power.
by jginsberg on December 13, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn
Your second degree network is magical. Pick someone, whether it is a co-worker, friend, partner or spouse – look thru their friends and connections. You will find a few familiar faces and/or names you should be connected to. This is a “best practice” and a “good habit” that you should do monthly. The FaceBook friend finder is a great tool and blows away the LinkedIn tools. That said, nothing beats hunting and pecking – find the gold in your second degree network.
by jginsberg on December 10, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
You have built out a presence on FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. Now What? The real dirty work begins. Is there an easy button to click that will build your community? No. Can you communicate with the entire world or your local city tomorrow morning? No. Does that mean you shouldn’t try? NO!!!
Building your community takes time. Start by seeding your content, show people what you will be sharing with them. When they come to your Page on FaceBook or YouTube, show them you are providing useful information they want, not simply advertising to them non-stop. Start inviting your friends and family into your community. These are your ambassadors, you need and want them.
Next, reach out into your second degree network. Tapping into your second degree network is critical to finding the community that really cares about your content. Do this one person at a time. Go thru your first degree network, friends and family – encouraging and enabling them to share your content. Most will not know how, they want to help you – help them – help you. Walk them thru sharing your content or your Page, and show your appreciation.
Developing your community on FaceBook to YouTube takes time, creativity and perseverance. Nike…Just Do It.
by jginsberg on December 1, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Finally there is a use for those emails you have been collecting for the last decade. Now you can upload them into your Fan Page and send emails directly from FaceBook, inviting people to “Like” your Page.
What is the catch?
- Contact files are limited to 5,000 contacts per file in the following formats Outlook, Constant Contact, .csv etc.
- These contacts must have opted in to receiving emails from you.
What would I like to see?
- The ability to see which of these people are already on FaceBook and only invite them. I see why FaceBook doesn’t find that exciting.
- The ability to send them a “Page Suggestion” easily.
Either way, this is a huge step for FaceBook and our Pages. Get ready for some serious growth.
by jginsberg on November 29, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn
Is your network growth feeling stagnant? Start the month off by checking for new connections on LinkedIn and FaceBook. This is a great habit to implement the first Monday of every month. Let LinkedIn and FaceBook check your email or contacts for new potential connections. Add a few new people and open up the activity in your network. Set yourself a goal for December, “I will add 10 new connections on LinkedIn and FaceBook.” Do It.
by jginsberg on November 22, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Discussing Events on FaceBook today and how to optimize them for effectiveness and reach, the topic of experimentation came up today. I was reminded of the importance of “Practice.” As with any Social Science, we have to experiment – push the limits, figure out what works, then “practice it.” FaceBook Events are a great example of an extremely viral function on FaceBook. If your Event has not been an effective tool, look at what you are doing and “play” a little. Try using a different approach, focus in on an idea and then try a different idea. When you have some success, try and replicate it – then continue to develop that vein. FaceBook Events can be the most effective way of reaching your audience, the key is Practice, you’ll get better – I promise.
by jginsberg on November 17, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter
You’ve just received an invitation to connect on FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter – from someone you do not know. What should you do?
1) Research. Click on their profile. If you know them (recognize their picture or have a significant number of mutual friends) on FaceBook or LinkedIn, go ahead and accept them. If you are on their LinkedIn profile, check out their website and Twitter account if it is linked to their profile. This should give you the information you need to make an educated decision. Really we are trying to justify why we should not accept them.
2) Twitter – Follow them back. Give them a chance to be annoying. Don’t waste the time researching them unless you are interested by something.
3) FaceBook – Watch out for the surprisingly good looking girl you do not remember from your high school. She is just cute enough that you really would have remembered her. Click on her profile, notice all of the guy friends and odd wall posts like “where do I know you from?” Do Not Accept her as a friend and do NOT write back to her. Be annoying like I am…report her as Spam.
*Build a strong and vibrant RAINBOW of connections if you want to find that large pot of gold!!!
by jginsberg on November 15, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
Avoid Double Posting. You know what I mean. You log-in to FaceBook to update the status of your business Page, then immediately go to your personal Page and make the same exact Status Update. It usually isn’t even that interesting and it is just noise. If you are managing a Page, focus on shareable content. If you are being personal, be personal – save the business updates and make them really count. You know who you are, stop double posting!
by jginsberg on November 3, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
FaceBook Places opened the door to Check-ins at your business. An easy way to tell your friends where you are. As FaceBook merges Places with Pages, they announce Deals. The ability to communicate with people who have visited your Place is one thing, the ability to offer them a “deal,” when they check-in is a whole different ballgame. This is an incentive to someone who is physically at your location, haven’t we been waiting for this since Minority Report?
We are seeing FaceBook incorporate transactions and real sales into the platform quickly this year. From the gaming credit deals with Zynga and EA to the 10,000 pairs of jeans Gap will give away to people who check-in during their promotion day, real world financial transactions are about to become normal on FaceBook. Ads that you can click on are great for FaceBook and your community building efforts. Deals that people can take advantage of as they check-in to a location will drive directed sales.
Six months from now, you will be able to get a special appetizer at your favorite restaurant or a drink promotion or a coupon. You will be “rewarded” for sharing your location with your friends. Businesses will be able to direct specials better than they can when their employees promote the special. Meaning, the chicken is the special, but did the waiter really “sell” the special or just brush past it? FaceBook Deals is going to be a huge feature accelerating commerce on FaceBook. Are you ready for the largest store in the world to open? Did you know you are already an “exclusive member?”
by jginsberg on October 27, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
FaceBook rolled out some new backend functionality to Pages this week. It is now easier to get into some of the features and even limit your Page from certain countries and set a minimum age if you want to keep the kids off of your Page (really, would you keep the kids off of your Page?). If you manage a Page, click on Edit under the logo on your Page and check out some of the new features. Really, everything has just been streamlined for you – but I am checking out the functionality to see if there are any new features that are truly valuable.
If you are an Admin on a Page, you need to start checking your wall more frequently. Besides looking for conversation, you must delete the Spam. I take an extra minute and report the Spam, but I am annoying that way. There is some borderline Spam, that you may decide to leave up. Like when someone you know posts something promoting something unrelated to your Page and does not acknowledge what you are using your Page for. This is one you have to think about and make a judgment call. Anything that is promoting Acai or anything else that looks suspicious, DELETE it! As a Page Admin, you are responsible for keeping your wall clean!
by jginsberg on October 26, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
As we evolve in how we use FaceBook, more and more people are using FaceBook to announce to groups of people events and news in their lives. The core question I am thinking about is “when is it inappropriate to inform people of truly important news via FaceBook?” Think, engagement, baby, party or even divorce/split-up. Do you have to call some people so they will not be offended they were informed along with “the whole world?” Good friends of mine are dealing with a fractured family situation over FaceBook only invites to their child’s birthday. Wait a minute, can’t they invite people to their kid’s party any way they want to? There is no right or wrong in this area, but it is a touchy area that can cause a family to divide and friends to be unfriendly. Be conscious.
I constantly remind myself that not everybody uses FaceBook as much as I do, be sensitive to the idea that some status updates many if not all of your FaceBook Nation will miss. Do you have to call Mom and tell her the big news, or will she be o.k. with finding out on FaceBook? Kids will have less issue with this than the Gen Xers. What is important is that we think about how we share our lives today and appreciate how easy it is to participate in the community – all while remembering who our intended audience is and how they engage with FaceBook.
Why am I thinking about this? Because I am growing a tiny start-up called Cleveland Groove focused on media creation (content is KING again) and I realized that most people outside of my FaceBook Nation do not know what we are doing. How do I tell the “rest of my people” about my new “baby?” Will my family members who do not tune into FaceBook daily know what I am doing or will they be offended I did not reach out privately? Yeah, I want you to know I am also blogging on Cleveland Groove now, but more importantly, I want you to think before you use FaceBook exclusively to share important information. Don’t just carry that mobile phone around in your pocket, look thru your numbers and call the usual suspects. FaceBook is here to stay, but so is the phone, email and of course meeting up in person to share important news. Share. More. Often.
by jginsberg on October 11, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook, Twitter
Looking at a series of websites, I realized that many people are missing out on integrating social media into their website. This is what I consider a mandatory integration. Here are some choices, based on your risk tolerance.
1) Simple static link.
2) Integrated code – show people what you are talking about on FaceBook or Twitter.
3) Posting code – Let people do a status update directly from your site, sharing a link from your site with their network.
All 3 are easy to integrate in to your corporate website. Twitter and FaceBook provide the code for you, all you have to do is copy and paste it into your site. Or have your programmer do it. Why miss out on enabling your web traffic to become a part of your community?
by jginsberg on August 28, 2010 in Best Practices, FaceBook
FaceBook Places is going to change the “face” of FaceBook in an amazing way. Looking out 6-12 months, we are going to have an amazing database of information. You will be able to ask your friends who have check-in at Places what they think of it. Imagine if Reviews on Fan Pages are Tied in with Places and the Fan Pages? This is going to be huge!!!
Until then, this is what you need to know as a business owner directly from FaceBook.
If you are the official representative of your business, please take the following verification steps to claim the Place on Facebook:
1) Search for the Place on Facebook you wish to claim as your business. If no Place exists for your business, you can create a new Place.
2) Once you locate the Place for your business, click the “Is this your business?” link at the bottom of the Place.
Complete the step-by-step verification process to claim your Place.
3) Please keep in mind that only official representatives of a business can claim the Place on Facebook.
Why Claim you Place?
By claiming your Place you can manage your Place’s address, contact information, business hours, profile picture, admins and other settings.
*As you can imagine, FaceBook is also enabling you to promote your Place, hello FaceBook advertising opportunity. If you don’t want to pay for advertising, see my tip below for getting even more valuable engagement.
What else?
Do something very basic, like put up a sign asking people to check-in. This is the best word of mouth advertising you can get. Get more aggressive and ask them to tag you (must be friends) or better yet Tag their friends!
*Think about your business and how you can use Places. Get Creative. Use this as an opportunity to connect with your customers.
Austin: Or...Will it be like Google ______ (what\'s that c...
jginsberg: Excellent! The Spa Trade FaceBook Community is gro...
Kimberlly: Just upgraded last night and I\'m so happy! Exactl...
Mark W Schumann: Jamie, this is good, basic, common sense. I don\'t...
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