So you've set up a business page for your company on Facebook, but it just looks like every other page there. Maybe you'd like to customize your Facebook page to be a little less generic looking.
Customizing Your Tabs
You're limited to 6 total tabs, and you can't change or remove the first two, "Wall" and "Info". As for the remaining 4, you can choose from a list of optional tabs like Discussions, Photo Albums, or tabs that feature your Twitter or Flickr pages, or you can make a tab with your own custom facebook page. To find these options, click on "Edit Page" right below your profile image, and this brings you into your Page Manager.
To add a "custom" tab, you'll need to get this FBML app and follow the instructions to install it in your account. Now go into your Page Manager and scroll down to find the FBML tab, then click "edit". You'll be brought to a form where you can give your new tab a custom name and add some HTML code. 
Don't get scared away yet; there are thousands of code bits and tips you can find in an online search, but here we're all for keeping it simple.
Pagetender's Facebook page features a "mini-version" of our company website which links back to Pagetender.com.
If you want to give it a try, here's what we did:
- Name the tab whatever you'd like in "Box Title."
- Take a screenshot of your company's Home page (or whatever you want) and upload the image to an online photo management site (we used Flickr.com)
- In Flickr, there's a button in the topright corner, "Share This", that has an option to "Grab the HTML" for your image.
Just copy that block of code and paste it into the body field of your Facebook FBML page.
- At the beginning of the code it reads "a href=http.www..."; delete everything between the quotation marks, and replace it with a copy/paste of your own website address out of your browser bar. This will make your custom Facebook page one big image shot of your company website, that fans in Facebook can click on and be brought right your site!
- One last thing, if you want you can make this "Custom" tab your "Home" page in Facebook. Go back to your "Wall" page and under "Edit Page"/ "Wall Settings" click on "Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else"; then choose the tab which you want new visitors to land on first. (People who are already fans of your page always see your "Wall" first.)
While Facebook doesn't make it easy, there are a few spots where there's room to add a little of your own touch to make your company stand out from the other 500 million blue-on-white pages.
Recently Facebook (finally) made available the feature to be able to change your Facebook username to something more meaningful. Up until this update, the URL of your profile or business/fan page looked something like this:
Not exactly memorable, and not something you want to have to write down or give to someone over the phone. Now you can choose your own "Vanity URL", like most other social media sites already offer:
Easier to pass along and easier to remember; much more personal and definitely looks better on a business card than the 22 digit code.
Changing your username in Facebook is actually pretty simple. Once you're logged in, just go to the Account tab in the top right corner and click on "Account Settings." (Or, just type "username" after the "facebook.com/" in the browser bar.)
Click on "Username" - "Change", and the window will expand something like this:
Facebook will give you some suggestions for a username, or you can type in your own idea in the text field. As of now, you can only use letters, numbers (A-Z, 0-9) and periods, no hyphens, slashes or underscores. You can use capital letters, but don't type in all caps, please.
Choose carefully! You can't change or edit your Facebook Username once you've created it; it's yours for good, no deposit, no return. Keeping it as your name or close to may be your best bet, and if it's for a business page, obviously the more professional the better. You can have a different Vanity URL for your personal page and each and every business page (if you have more than one).
Once you think you're ready, click "Check Availability" to see if any of the other 5 billion Facebook users on the planet might have already grabbed your choice already. If you want your business name, the sooner you get this done, the better!
If your first choice is taken, consider various combinations and click to see if they work, but again, choose carefully, because once it's set, it's set!
And now you can get your business cards reprinted with all your social media links just the way you want them.
For everyone who's asked "Do I have to blog?" here are a few of the best excuses not to:
1. I don't know how to blog.
It may have been a long time since those elementary school book reports, but don't worry, no one is going to grade you on grammar and punctuation. It can be something simple and informal; try to keep it somewhat professional and interesting.
2. I don't have any time to blog.
Getting started is always the hardest part of any new endeavor: quitting smoking, going to the gym and blogging. While finding the time (literally and mentally) seems impossible at first, once it becomes part of your routine you won't even miss what you used to be doing when you could have been blogging and promoting your business. And try to keep it regular, shoot for once a week, so when readers like what you have to say, they'll want to check back and see what you'll have next.
3. I don't have anything to write about.
It can't be all that hard to think of any subject matter when you're sitting in front of a machine connected to the internet - where you can type in any word that comes to mind, and you are returned with a hundred million search result topics - times infinity. There must be something out there you could talk about, and depending what topic you typed in your search, you'll have an idea from the number of search engine results how many others out there are interested in the same topic.
4. I tried it once but I didn't notice anything different.
That's like saying I went to the gym once, but didn't lose any weight. One of the best reasons to blog is that it's the perfect way to keep adding fresh and relevant content to your website without major technical modifications; search engines reward you with a better rankings for not having the same-old stale, out-of-date pages. Plus, think about it, if your site never has anything new on it, why would anyone ever come back to it? New customers are great, but regular customers are even better!
5. No one's going to find my blog anyway, let alone read it.
"Why should I blog - If I can't even find my homepage in Google, how will anyone ever get to the blog page?" Remember, search engines are indexing ALL your pages individually, not just as one site. And even better, every blog article you post gets treated as its own page in the search engines; not just as one blog page. That means each and every blog you write has the chance of being found by people who are looking for info on that subject...AND if they like what you have to say, they'll check out the rest of your website...AND if they see that you add new, updated content on a regular basis, they just might keep coming back to see what else you have to offer!
...But, with all these new leads and new customers you have from the FREE advertising you got just for doing a little homework, you may run out out of reasons not to blog!
In your online travels you've probably heard about or seen the new Facebook "Like" button, or the more professional-sounding version, "Recommend" button. Not seemingly much of a big deal at first, "Like" was a replacement for "Become a Fan of..." - good for Facebook Business pages to gain popularity from other users only within Facebook. The new Like Button breaks out of the Facebook realm, allowing all that traffic to head right to your site.
You don't have to be signed up on Facebook to add a Like button on your website. It is very simple to do, and Facebook provides a generator on their Facebook Social Plugins page that allows you to create and customize your own button (shown at right). You can easily copy/paste the button code on the page or pages where you think it would work best.
If you're not logged into Facebook, the button on your page looks like this:
When someone who is logged into facebook, the button on your page will look like this:
Facebook pages aren't indexed in search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo, so all these new links won't help your rankings in search engine page results. But as Facebook continues to grow at ludicrous speed, even if you're not signed up, you probably know a few dozen people who are, who know a few thousand, and so on.
That's hundreds of thousands of potential Facebook walls that could have a link to your website for all their friends and relatives to click on and visit your business:
See one in action on our homepage, www.Pagetender.com...and if this was helpful at all, please give it a click!
I recently attended a presentation "From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: Social Media and the Church" given by Pastor Keith Anderson, pastor of Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Woburn, MA. Pastor Keith is a dynamic speaker and, being a social media devotee, I really enjoyed it. I am not sure that the majority of the crowd was sold on the concept, however.
The Q&A segment began with a question I have heard over and over from companies who are not sold on social media either. The question relates to whether social media is too time consuming and if it will distract people from other work that needs doing. People who do not see the value in social media seem to see it as a "guilty pleasure" and a waste of otherwise productive time.
What benefits can be derived by the use of social media by organizations, be they companies or religious organizations? Community building with Facebook and Linkedin Groups comes go mind. Outreach is another. Surely education too. So why do people consider it a waste of time? I really think it comes down to resistance to change.
In the context of the church, parishioners are used to the Pastor coming to visit when they are sick, and the hard copy newsletter mailed monthly as the primary means of communication. They rely on signs posted in town, vacation bible school, a preschool, or word of mouth to bring in new members. I am a Christian and when I was a child there was no need for the church to reach out to my family. We went to church every Sunday and Sunday school was something everyone did. Contact with a priest or pastor outside of church meant someone was in need of comfort or in trouble. Times have changed. Just as companies are having to change from tradition marketing to Inbound Marketing to reach prospects, I believe that the church needs to use new technologies to reach out as well.
The majority of people in the US use the Internet, email, and social media sites to get information and stay connected to the things they care about. Google is now a verb, not just a company or search engine. Churches (religious organizations of all faiths) in the US are experiencing declining attendance and financial pressures. Why not use social media to reach out and build communities outside the scope of their church building or physical community? Why not use the Internet technologies such as email newsletters to cut mailing costs? Why not use social media to reach out to teens who consider themselves too cool to attend service on Sunday or the busy family two-income family who doesn't attend services each week because they are overwhelmed with responsibilities and demands on their time. Why not reach out every day in some small way instead of waiting for the sabbath. Why not?
A question asked of Pastor Keith may explain some of the reluctance. Will parishioners feel that they need not come to services and will they stop contributing to the church? His church added a Paypal button for people to contribute on line by the way; great idea. What I wanted to say to these people was that change has happened and is happening and it won't be stopped. The real danger, in my opinion, is that the church may NOT embrace new ways to reach people, build communities, and shore up their bottom lines. They may use the fact that that not everyone wants to use computers and social media to justify ignoring it. Of course we need to mail newsletters to those without computers and reach out to them in traditional ways. Social media will not replace Pastoral visits to the sick and needy. It doesn't have to be an either-or situation.
I have already met with my Pastor to discuss Pastor Keith's presentation which she also attended. Visit the link to Pastor Keith's blog about and take a look at his slides. Perhaps you should forward the link to your church council or governing body. Become a Fan of his congregation on Facebook to learn more. Thanks to forward thinking Pastors and congregations willing to lead the way perhaps the church as we know it will not only continue, it just may thrive.
When I signed up for a Facebook account several years ago, I was definately not the average Facebook user. I made a bargain with my then tween daughter that she could be on Facebook as long as we were friends and I could monitor her. However, it wasn't long before Facebook became part of my daily life. I am an Inbound Marketing Consultant and social media is an important part of my job. However, what has surprised me is how many other baby boomers have become Facebook users recently.
Companies are using social media for marketing purposes these days so a friend request from business associate or peer is common place. Surprising are requests from my friends and relatives in their 50s or older who have always rolled their eyes at my "geekiness". Facebook has become a strange mixture of work and every day life. Invitations to family events, the birth of my new nephew mixed in with messages about Inbound Marketing University and conversations with clients. It is both wonderful and a bit unsettling.
My kids say that we have ruined Facebook. It was a place for students to share their experiences and talk to friends. We've turned it into a business marketing tool, a family bulletin board and can now embarrass them in real-time. Truth be told I feel a bit bad for them. It was a lot easier to fly under the radar when I was a teen. My message to them is be careful what you post. Your next employer or your mother... not to mention the Pastor... may be reading and commenting on what you did last Saturday night. I'm sure the kids will find a new way to communicate without us looking over their shoulders but don't think they will have privacy for long. Social media is here to stay...for all of us!
No, this is not a negative post about social media. It is rather a post about the power of using social media for marketing purposes. I attended a session at MacWorld 2009 hosted by David Pogue who is, in my opinion, one of the funniest people on the planet. One of guests was Matt Harding of 'Where the Hell is Matt?' fame. If you are not familiar with Matt, a YouTube.com superstar, he made videos of himself dancing in front of various landmarks around the world. His videos went viral and he became an internet star. If you haven't seen any of them, take a look at this example and then visit YouTube.com to view the rest. They are a lot of fun to watch.
The reason for Matt's visit was to set the record straight. In an attempt to be funny, Matt gave a presentation telling the audience that he had been caught red handed by viewers of the viral videos and announced that his videos were faked and he was, in fact, an actor playing a role and a fraud.
Apparently Matt had been given really good advice by a friend who told him to make the facts that proved he was a fake totally absurd so every one would get the joke. He claimed that instead of being a not so great computer game programmer, he was working as an actor for an ad agency. The viral videos were all done with Photoshop, green screens and robots. You would think that folks might have at least questioned the robot part and get the joke. Well, they did at the conference for the most part but the story took on a life of its own and Matt has been labeled a fraud and a cheat. View the video below and judge for yourself. Joke or confession?
The problem it appears is not that folks thought this video was factual but that people commenting and reporting on video did not take the time to watch it. Beware when using social media. As my mother used to say "be careful what you wish for". Yes, there are gullible people out there and lazy ones as well. In the words of David Pogue, "live by social media, die by social media" (a very funny comment at the time). I am sure the word has gotten out that Matt is not a fraud. The message for the lazy folks who didn't bother to check the facts, shame on you! For any of the truly gullible who might have thought his presentation was true, I have a great business deal for you. Together we can make millions, overnight! I am the owner of the ad agency that Matt was working for and I can make you the next YouTube.com star ;) I AM ONLY JOKING!
The folks at HubSpot are very bright and hard working. You wouldn't suspect how hard they work if you saw one of their videos though. They seem to have so much fun! They are all about inbound marketing - internet marketing may be a term you are more familiar with. What is it exactly? Inbound marketing leverages internet technologies such as your website and social media to draw potential clients to you. Traditional outbound marketing pushes information about your products or services to the marketplace hoping that the right people notice. There is no one better at describing inbound marketing than the marketing team at HubSpot. They just released a new video titled "You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing. If you haven't seen it, check it out here and then go to YouTube to see their other videos. They are all very entertaining...at least to us internet marketing geeks.
More HubSpot Internet Marketing Videos