Linknet Forum

Networked Blogs Still Works with Facebook

rick — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:58:09 +0000

I’ve been so immersed in Facebook Pages that I have been ignoring blogging. The plan was to save my blogging efforts for longer articles and “how-to” pieces, but lately it has just seemed redundant to bother when just about anything I have to say about Social Media can be said in my Social Media Facebook Page.

But I do get asked from time to time about automatically sending blog posts directly to a Facebook Page. This used to be possible using FB “Notes”, but that capability seems to have disappeared.

However, Networked Blogs seems to work with the “new” Facebook just as it always has. Sign up for Networked Blogs, register your blog, and then tell it which of your FB Pages you want your blog posts to show up on.

NWB will create a tab inside your FB Page where your blog posts will be listed, along with thumbnails. It can also send your posts as “syndicated posts” to Facebook personal profiles, business pages, and Twitter accounts.

Pretty slick.

Notes on the New FB Business Page Format

rick — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:34:37 +0000

The new format being rolled out for Facebook Business Pages will be fully implemented on March 30, 2012. So if you have a Facebook Page you might as well start the conversion process now.

Most Important Changes…

1. New Cover Photo – This is the large photo at the top of your page. If you don’t use this properly you are missing out on the major “branding” opportunity presented by this format change.

Size: up to 851px x 351px, Minimum size: 399px wide.

Limitations:
- No pricing or special offer info (e.g., “40% Off” or “Download it at our website”)
- No contact info – web addresses, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers. According to FB this is supposed to go in the “About” section of your page.
- No “calls to action” like “Get it Now”, “Like this Page”, “Tell your friends”
- Yes, you can include your logo
- Yes, you can include a slogan or short headline (as long is it does not break the previously listed rules.)

2. New Format for Profile Photo – Your profile photo is now reduced to a smaller space. FB recommends a photo 180px square. I am not sure what can be included here. For instance, could you make your Profile photo say “50% Off”? Not sure. From what I can tell, FB will continue to use your already uploaded profile pic, and you can choose which portion of it you want to show (just as you previously could with the thumbnail.)

3. New Position for Custom Apps (Tabs) – These have been moved from the previous (rather lame) location in the left column under the old profile pic. They are now placed in “tiles” under the Cover Pic. You should “optimize” your list of apps to show the most important in the top row, and those of less importance in rows below. Visitors will have to expand the section to see more than the first row. You can now change the image to be more striking. I have found an image 250px x 165px fills the area quite nicely (after FB reduces it). Changing it has been problematic in some cases. You click on the little pencil in the top right of the image (after mousing over it), then click on “Edit Settings” to bring up a dialogue where you can change the image and the App title. But I have found that dialogue sometimes will not come up. Anyone who knows why this is happening, please leave a comment.

4. Bigger, Better Looking App Pages – The 520px width limitation is essentially gone (although you can – so far – still choose to limit your display page to that width). The new app pages (what you see when you click on the app link) can now be as wide as 810px, and can include whatever you want it to include, since it is still loading into an IFrame from a web page somewhere else. You can include more information in a wider format, and, as far as I can tell so far, you can also link to web pages (so they load into the same frame) that do not reside on secured sites (https). This may change of course, but so far seems to give developers more flexibility. For example, rather than sending a visitor to the “property search” page on your website, you can load that page right into the frame. I will have to test this quite a bit more to properly confirm this…

5. No more default landing tab – Facebook wants to reduce the attempt by businesses and marketers to make these pages like website replacements. They want to focus on “engagement” and “conversation” rather than selling stuff.

6. Post Pinning – Facebook now allows you to pin a post to the top of your timeline. I haven’t experimented with this yet, but in principle it could partially compensate for the removal of the default landing page. In fact it might be better, since the default landing page was only seen by new visitors (non-likers). The pinned post will be seen by everyone (I think.)

7. Like Gating still works (for now) – The technique used for hiding content until the “like” button is clicked still works. But in general Facebook is gradually changing their approach to the whole “like” thing. They are introducing new ways of tracking engagement by visitors and de-emphasizing the importance of “likes”.

I’m sure there are more things worth commenting on – the “company history” thing, for example. The new format lets you (encourages you to) upload information (photos, videos, etc.) about your company history. I’m not sure this is quite as important to prospective customers as FB makes it out to be. A lot of smaller companies, individual entrepreneurs, and newer companies either don’t have much of a history, or don’t see it as being particularly relevant to what they have to offer the world. But I guess there’s a small chance I could be wrong about that

My Take…

Most of these changes are for the better. There is more room for creative branding. Important apps can be given the priority they deserve. App pages are much more flexible and attractive. The “Wall” looks much less clinical.

No Related Posts

Removing Likes from your FB Page

rick — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:08:25 +0000

I occasionally have clients ask me why links to other pages appear in the bottom left column of their Facebook Pages, as in the image below:

Answer: This is where the pages you have “liked” show up. If these show up on your FB Page it is because you have liked those pages when “using Facebook as your page” (not your personal ID).

Removing likes from your Page

First, if you have liked these pages using your Page ID, that’s the ID you have to use when removing them. Assuming you are logged in, go up to the top right menu and click on the little downward pointing wedge. Where it says “Use Facebook as”, click on the name of your page…

Now go down to the “Unlike” link at the bottom of the left column, and then click “Unlike”. You’re done.

Telling people to get lost

rick — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:21:40 +0000

You’ve scrambled to get people to come to your Facebook Page. Now when they get there the first thing they see are links pointing somewhere else – somebody’s blog, or your website. Or your page is plastered with links pointing to your own website.

Does this make sense?

It depends.

If there are things on your website that you can’t put on your FB Page, then sending them away makes sense. They are still in your brand territory.

If there is an interesting article or post somewhere else outside of your brand territory – one that your community will find interesting – then occasionally sending them there makes sense. But just be aware that they may not be back for quite a while. Maybe never.

Some “Rules of Thumb” (which, of course, not everyone will agree with)

1. Build as much useful functionality into your FB Page as you can. Try to keep people there. For example, if you can display current special offers, product descriptions, or order pages right within your FB Page, why bother sending them to your website?

2. Keep people within your “brand territory”. If you must send people elsewhere, send them to your own blog or website (not someone else’s).

Counter Points

To the first suggestion above I’m sure some will say, “I’ve spent all this time and money building an interesting website. Why shouldn’t I send people there? Why should I duplicate stuff that is on my website on my FB Page?”

Answer: Traditional websites are becoming more and more passe. Most importantly, they lack interactivity – ways to interact with your visitors and fans. A Facebook Page is not just another web page to support your main website. It is better than your normal website and has the potential to completely replace it.

Five or six years ago we were bombarded with SEO propaganda (“The most important thing you can do is get good ranking in Google”). But this thinking is already out of date. Those days are gone. SEO-thinking is stuck in 2008. Trying to drive traffic to a static website (one that just sits there) is like inviting your friends to last night’s party.

Do you “get” Facebook?

rick — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:52:51 +0000

It is pretty hard to miss the tremendous influence of Facebook these days. We see references to it everywhere.

But the truth is, many business people just don’t “get” Facebook. Part of the reason is they correctly think Facebook is mostly about sharing unimportant details of our day-to-day lives. And they just don’t see the point. They have better things to do with their time.

This is another way of saying they don’t think Facebook is very business-oriented. It was originally designed for people to interact with friends and family, share greetings, photos, videos, links, etc., and let friends know what they are up to.

Those of us who have personal Facebook accounts, and who have tried using our personal accounts to “soft” promote our businesses usually find it a frustrating experience. It’s sort of like meeting an acquaintance at the supermarket and saying, “Hi Bill, need some insurance?”, or “Hey Mary, thought about selling your home lately?”, or “Hi there Amad, are you looking for a good lawn maintenance company?”.

Not good…

Mixing promotional blurbs for your company with normal Facebook conversations has never been a very smart strategy. Unless your Facebook “friends” are all business acquaintances they will probably not take very kindly to your promotional messages. In fact, those messages will probably do more harm than good.

Facebook Business Pages

Which brings us to Facebook Pages (previously called “fan pages”, and often called “business pages” – they’re all the same thing.)

The purpose of Facebook Pages is to give companies, organizations, clubs, bands, sports teams, and celebrities, a place within Facebook to promote their unique brand. The difference between these Pages and ordinary Facebook profiles is striking. Personal Facebook profiles are for interacting with “friends” and acquaintances. Business Facebook Pages are for self-promotion – for highlighting products or accomplishments – for basically “tooting your own horn”.

If this was all you could do with a Facebook Page it wouldn’t be much more than just another web page. But a Facebook Page is more than just another piece of self-promotion. It is a place where you can interact with “fans” – people who have an interest in your products or activities – who find it interesting and who “like” what you have to offer.

I have helped many, many business people develop Facebook Pages and would have to say the “interactive” aspect of Facebook Pages is the thing they least understand and appreciate. It’s too bad, because this is the very thing that makes Facebook Pages unique, and the thing that makes them most powerful as marketing tools.

Punch Up Your Row of Pics

rick — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:06:30 +0000

One of the things often overlooked when creating a Facebook Business Page is the “row of pics” along the top of your Wall.

Your FB Page will display the last five images you have uploaded, and will display them in random order every time someone looks at your page.

If you upload an image it will automatically appear in the row until you remove it (hide it). As in the example below, I’ve uploaded the “Demo” image and you can see how it appears in the row. You can also see how to hide it. This won’t “remove” the photo, just make it so it doesn’t appear in the row.

Here are some other tips:
1. Get attractive images. You can get images from a stock photo site like istockphoto.com or bigstockphoto.com

2. Add text to your photo if you can. You want these images to “say something”. One way is to make them into small display ads with a two or three word headline. You’ll need a program like Photoshop to do this.

3. Upload them in proportion and at a larger size than they will appear. I am not exactly sure how FB crops these images, but I have had success uploading them at 4x the display size. These photos will appear at approximately 97px wide by 68px high. I recommend uploading them at about 4 times this size (388 x 372) so that when someone clicks on a photo it will appear at the larger size.

4. Add a description to each photo. This can be explanatory text, or you can even do a bit of selling in the description.

5. Add a link to your description, if you want to send your people to a specific page or special offer.

Completing Your Facebook Page

Sharing Posts to Your FB Business Page

rick — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:35:35 +0000

Let’s say you go to someone else’s Facebook Page Wall and you see something you want to share on your own FB Business Page. Normally when you click on the “Share” link that item will be shared (posted) to your personal profile. But is there a way to have it posted on your Business Page?

Yes, there is. You just need to “Use Facebook as” your the Business Page you want the post to appear on. Here’s how…

Step 1 – Click on the downward pointing wedge at the very top right of your profile page. You should see something like below (with a list of the FB pages you are the admin of):

Select the page you want the post to appear on.

Step 2 – Click on the “Share” link below the post you want to re-post (share):

Step 3 – Add your own comment or description:

Then click the “Share” button.

Step 4 – Now when you go to your target page – the one you are “using Facebook as”, you should see the shared post:

That’s it!

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Confused about Facebook Business Pages?

rick — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:32:39 +0000

An open letter to those of you who don’t understand how Facebook Business Pages work…

Hello Arthur/Sam/Mary/Syed/Phyllis/Megan/etc.

You mentioned that you are not sure how Facebook works. Here is a (very) brief explanation:

1. Everyone who is on Facebook has a personal profile (account). You can’t be on Facebook without a personal profile (account).

2. Anyone who has a personal profile (account) can create a Facebook Business Page.

3. Any Facebook member can create any number of FB Business Pages. For example, if own more than one business, or if your business is creating FB Business pages, you can create hundreds of them.

4. FB Business Pages are NOT specifically identified with any particular personal account. They are separate entities.

5. BUT, whenever a person creates a Business Page they become the “admin” of that page, and have special privileges with respect to that page.

6. As the “admin” of a FB Business Page you can make other FB members “admins” of that Business Page – for example, If I create a Page, I can make you the admin of it (assuming you have a FB personal account).

7. Any “admin” of a page can be removed as an admin – either by another admin, or by themselves – for example. If I create a Page for you, I am the admin. I can make you an admin as well (there can be more than one admin), and then can remove myself as an admin, so you are the only admin at that point. Or, let’s say I create a page for ACME MANUFACTURING.

Initially I am the admin, and I make Jane Doe an admin as well. Eventually I can be removed as the admin and Jane will be the only admin. At that point I have no privileges with respect to that page – even if I initially created it.

8. The other relationship a person can have with an FB Page is to “like” it. Generally speaking, “liking” a page allows you to make comments and post to the page Wall (depending on how the permissions are set up). AND, you will also see posts made on that page showing up on your personal NEWS FEED.

It is very important to understand this last point, and explains WHY YOU WANT TO GET LIKES, and WHY YOU SHOULD POST TO YOUR PAGE ON A REGULAR BASIS. Whenever someone likes your Business Page they will automatically see what you post on your Business Page. This is the FB way of keeping in touch with your “fans” (likes). (This is an oversimplification, but is generally the way it works.)

I hope that helps you understand how FB Business Pages work.

Rick

Sending Your Facebook Updates to Twitter

rick — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:14:23 +0000

There are a couple different ways to integrate Facebook and Twitter. For example, you may want to have your tweets automatically be posted to a specific Facebook profile.

OR, you may want to have your Facebook updates sent to a specific Twitter account.

Which of these you choose to do (if either) will probably depend on which service (FB or Twitter) you consider more important to your social media strategy. In my little world, I consider my FB Page(s) the primary branding and communication vehicles, with Twitter just along for the ride.

So I want to connect my FB Business Page udates for a specific FB business page to a specific Twitter account. Here is how you do it.

1. Log in to the Twitter account you want to link your content to.
2. Go here
3. Select the Business Page you want to link to your account by clicking on “Link to Twitter”
4. Enter your Twitter login id and pw.
5. You’re done.

Now when you post to that specific FB Business Page the post will automatically be sent to Twitter.

Adding a “Contact Me” app to your FB Page

rick — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:41:01 +0000

I’ve always thought there are certain “unnatural” things about the way Facebook is organized, and especially the way it tries to squeeze people into communicating with each other in certain ways.

A good example is the way it just assumes the best way for people on FB to communicate with each other is by using the Wall (or other built-in messaging techniques). Want to send a message to the owner of a FB page? The default is to post a comment on the Wall so everybody else can see it.

Sometimes this is just not appropriate – especially in the case of Business pages when you want to ask a specific question – the type of question I get every day: “How much does your service cost, and what is included?”

It’s hard to beat good old-fashioned email for that kind of question, and the best way I know of for sending an email to the owner of a website is by using a built-in “Contact Me” form.

So I’ve developed a really simple (customized) “Contact Me” app for FB pages, and I’m including it in all new FP page projects – unless, of course, you don’t want it. You can see an example of this on my own FB page here.

Linknet Forum

Networked Blogs Still Works with Facebook

Related Posts:

Notes on the New FB Business Page Format

Related Posts:

Removing Likes from your FB Page

Related Posts:

Telling people to get lost

Related Posts:

Do you “get” Facebook?

Related Posts:

Punch Up Your Row of Pics

Related Posts:

Sharing Posts to Your FB Business Page

Related Posts:

Confused about Facebook Business Pages?

Related Posts:

Sending Your Facebook Updates to Twitter

Related Posts:

Adding a “Contact Me” app to your FB Page

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