One of the most recent changes in Facebook is the modification of the “become a fan” to “like” on pages, and the integration of “liking” other sites you find on the web. I am not really sure what prompted the change, or why facebook felt it was necessary, but they did and it got me thinking. When facebook pages had “fans”, it felt like the people were involved. Fans are people who absolutely love something – being a fan of something takes commitment. It means that you really appreciate it and would go out of your way for it. Now that the pages have moved to just “liking” something, it’s a downward movement. “Liking” means you have some emotion, but not much. You wouldn’t really do a whole lot for it and you definitely appreciate other things above it. I believe this change was meant to make things easier for facebook, but it has also removed some of its strength. I would much rather have fans of my business than people who just “like” my business.

What do you think of the “like” vs “fan” issue?

If you’ve been thinking about making the leap into social media, here are the first four things you need to do for each of the social networking tools we recommend:

Twitter

• Create a custom twitter background that matches your website
• Determine the types of followers that you want to find
• Create a strong profile, biography and use a quality picture
• Monitor company name, key terms for the business, sales words for the company

Facebook

• Create a personal page and a fan page
• Add Facebook fan link in email signature, on the blog, and on linkedin. Give people an easy way to connect with you.
• Invite members from the Orange County networking groups to join as fans, this can be done through twitter
• Connect it to the blog so your posts automatically update on your fan page and your personal page

LinkedIn

• Create a personal profile
• Create a company profile
• Connect your blog posts to both the status and the profile
• Put together an online acceptable plan for all new employees – how they participate, what they say about their job etc so if people ask them questions about what they do, etc

Blogging

• Set up wordpress on your site (including the design)
• Determine categories/tags, and the topics you want covered on the site
• Organize a monthly posting calendar w/ 3-5 posts per week
• Promote it out to your social networks

We get questions from our clients all the time about social media – why you need it, what it does and how to make it effective. There are thousands of different social tools, but most are very specific or unique to an industry. To avoid the specifics, the social media tools I will be talking about are twitter, facebook and a blog. I will refer to them in general as “social media” although each has its own role in the overall strategy.

As far as answering the questions…none of them have simple answers,  but there are a few ‘in generals’ that we want to share:

1. In general, social media provides an outlet for conversation between you and your potential customers. They can ask questions, share experiences and learn more about your services in a less pressure filled environment.
2. In general, social media builds stronger SEO for your website and your brand. There are more people talking about you, more pages to your site and more links to you.
3. In general, people want to talk with real people and creating social media platforms to allow them to do so will improve your customer service.
4. In general, social media will expand the number of people who know about your services and your company as well as who you are as a person.
5. In general, social media is like a conference. People know that you are there to sell something but don’t want it shoved in their face. If they want to know, they will ask.
6. In general, social media can help any business with exposure in their local market.
7. In general, social media can help any business with exposure on the global scale.
8. In general, social media can provide answers to questions, a testing ground for new ideas and a live version of a focus group for online programs in beta.
9. In general, people involved in social media are more likely to look for services or companies through recommendations from their online friends rather than real life friends.
10. In general, social media is here to stay, and businesses who start participating sooner will have the edge over companies who don’t.

While some of these will fit, others won’t. For a more detailed analysis on the point of social media for your company, contact us today!

What other generalities about social media can you share?

Are you on Facebook? 250 million people are, and you should be too. If you aren’t, get signed up now…and then come back and read the rest of this blog. Already on Facebook? Read on:

Use a current profile picture
You can have as many photos as you want on Facebook – in your albums and that you are tagged in. But, you only get one profile picture. So, your profile picture should be professional, match the rest of your social media icons and be a clear picture of your face. You want people to be able to find you easily and recognize you when they see you. Oh and while the funny meme’s and changing your picture to fit the mood of the masses can seem fun, it makes it difficult to find you if you are constantly changing your picture. And, unless you plan on keeping your profile 100% private, do not use a photo that is inappropriate for business.

Make your interests honest
Do you adore Voltaire and volunteer to save dogs, elderly and plants in your off time? No? Then don’t put that in your interests! You need to be honest in your interests if they are going to work well and give people a true view of who you are. Remember, this can be changed, so if you grow, learn or add new interests, you can update it here.

Write on the Walls
Sharing conversations on Facebook is one of the easiest ways to build stronger relationships, and writing on walls is a fast way to get these conversations started. People like feeling special and involved, and leaving your friends and business contacts quick notes is a great way to provide this feeling. But, if you plan on sharing personal information (phone numbers, addresses, inappropriate discussions), you should reserve those for messages or email.

Update your status
There is no perfect rule for when or how to update your status, but you should try to update it at least once a day (assuming you aren’t just updating it for the sake of updating it). We all have something to say, ask or discuss…say it, ask it, or discuss it here! But one note of warning, please do not tell us your every detail or be assured we will tell you how little we care.

Access Facebook from your phone
Working without a computer? Doesn’t mean you can’t check facebook, respond to comments and send messages. Just like Twitter and other applications, you can have Facebook on your phone too. Make sure you do, and know how to use it. If you can’t find an application, you can still access the more phone friendly Facebook through their mobile site at m.facebook.com.

What other tips do you have to add for Facebook? Tomorrow, we will cover 5 tips for Twitter!

Facebook has three main ways that you can choose to participate:

1. Create a profile
2. Create a group
3. Create a fan page

The question we often get is which one(s) are the best for our business and how should we operate them? The first answer is to create a profile, without a profile, you can’t use any of the other facebook services. Once you have created a personal profile, you need to decide between keeping your personal profile private or public – and if you are going to keep it public, you also need to decide whether you want to connect with business contacts or keep it to personal friends and family only? This can be a difficult decision, as we often blend the lines between work and friends. My best recommendation? To combine business with personal – but to only add business contacts whom you have started to build a personal relationship with. This allows you to keep it fairly personal, but also allows you to build closer personal relationships with some of your business contacts. If  you choose to keep it private, and to personal friends only, then next step is to create a small email that you will send to anyone who requests a connection that is a business person. This email should thank them for the connection, but that you keep your personal profile private (this is where the fan page or group comes in) and then you offer them to be a part of your other profile (fan page or group). The email should be personal, and should make the person understand that you value their connection but that you keep business separate.

Okay, so onto group vs fan page. In their own words, “Facebook created Pages when we noticed that people were trying to connect with brands and famous artists in ways that didn’t quite work on Facebook…Not only can you connect with your favorite artists and businesses, but now you also can show your friends what you care about and recommend by adding Pages to your personal profile”. Groups on the other hand, are more like “clubs” in real life…groups have managers that approve new members, and it is more of a social conversation than a corporate one.

So how do you choose? I believe Mashable did a great job explaining the difference and when to choose which:

“Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause. Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal account, and have a need to exceed Facebook’s 5,000 friend cap.”

Which do you use? Do you have all 3?

With the recent acquisition of Friendfeed by Facbook (wonder if they’ll blend the names…maybe FaceFeed?), and the announcement that Facebook is creating a real-time search that rivals the one Twitter has, one can only wonder what changes the social sphere has in store.

Many have reprimanded Facebook for its issues with terms of service, and although they revoked the changes and asked the public for their help in re-writing them, the wounds stayed open. Because of the frustration, many users left Facebook, or at least cut back on their usage. Now, those same problems are being brought to FriendFeed, and leaving people wondering what will happen to its service and whether it will stay the same site.

I can’t help but wonder, will Facebook become better/more powerful or will they attempt to spread themselves too thin, and branch out into arenas they should leave alone? Will Twitter suffer from the new Facebook search and lose its footing as a social media powerhouse? Is Friendfeed going to continue as its own site or will Facebook take their API and combine it into Facebook, removing Friendfeed from existence? And more importantly, will people change the way that they use all three sites?

What do you think about the recent changes? Will those changes affect how you use Facebook and FriendFeed?

Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn…It’s all a bit much isn’t it? At first, it may be, but as with anything, creating a strong social media presence takes time, effort and a plan. Without a strategy behind social media, it is just a time suck that no one can afford. Done right, using these 4 tools can shape a strong marketing strategy with an even stronger ROI.

So, how do you manage them correctly? For each business, it will be slightly different, but here are 5 steps for each tool that we use in our strategy:

Twitter

1. Find 5 new people to add to our followers list every day. Also, look at the people that have followed us and determine whether or not to follow back. There are auto tools that can do this, but we find a personal approach is better in the long run for building a strong network.
2. Reply to at least 5 questions/comments with actual answers, something that adds value to the conversation.
3. Send out 5 interesting links that can benefit our community as a whole. Add my thoughts with the link so that my followers know why I am sharing. Read at least 3 links that are sent out by my followers that are pertinent to my business.
4. Spend a total of 1 hour on chit chat throughout the day to make sure to keep the connections strong
5. Tweet 5 times from my own personal/business thoughts to start conversation

Blogs

1. Write. Jot down ideas and create drafts to work on later. I strive for 3-5 posts per week.
2. Read through your current comments and respond to anyone who has made a strong point or asked a question
3. Comment on 3 other blogs that you read, with genuine thoughts, not just “good post”.
4. Stumble/Digg/Share at least 1 interesting post from another blog author
5. Look for 1 new blog to subscribe to. Remember, it is okay to subscribe to some blogs just for fun.

Facebook

1. Check if any of your friends are having birthdays. I recommend sending a tweet or email, it shows you took a little extra effort
2. Update your business page with any new information or changes
3. Respond to any new wall posts – make sure that it is a quality response.
4. Send a message to at least one connection whom deserves special notice
5. Comment on at least 5 status updates

LinkedIn

1. Comment on at least 1 status update
2. Answer at least 2 questions that are pertinent to you. Pose 1 question per week.
3. Look through recommended connections and add anyone who is interesting
4. Check on the forums in your group and respond to any inquiries
5. Update your own status.

If this list seems like a lot of work – it is. Nothing worth doing is easy, and it is definitely worth doing right. Remember, just doing it for the sake of doing it doesn’t benefit anyone. It needs to be done right, participated in correctly, and planned accordingly. It is as easy to ruin a brand in social media as it is to improve it, especially with the number of people watching. But, the work is worth it when it pays of with a strong community network that not only respects you, but can turn into prospective clients.

What strategy do you use to manage your social media – or are you still missing that piece?