Facebook - a popular name among those who are so into it. Individuals who have an account in Facebook are now using more of their time to socialize with other people amidst the distance and lack of time. And even if a community like Facebook serves numerous advantages, it also proves to have certain disadvantages as well. There are now series of improvements in the system just to make up with the shortcomings. Arguments regarding the different advantages and disadvantages of Facebook are stated below.
Advantages
· Allows user search for new and old friends
· Accessible to chosen universities having a high level of security
· Makes it less awkward when communicating with strangers or people you are not familiar with
· Love attraction - can be used as a dating service system
· Makes it easier to join groups having similar likes and dislikes
· Allows members to check students who are taking the same class, living within the same area, or coming from the same academy
Disadvantages
· Overcrowding
· Weakening long distance relationship
· Unsupported by physical adjacency
· Contributes wide-range procrastination
· Rampant addiction
· Stalking is possible
· Acquaintances be labeled as friends
Surely, the disadvantages don't pose a threat to you just by merely looking at it. Someone else has to prove that what users do with their profile is directly in proportion with what can happen to them. A user must understand what he is trying to give out otherwise things might get messy and people will mistook them as someone else.
It is quite obvious that a trade off is happening between the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook. While it increases the communication and connection between friends and the online community it also increases the risk of procrastination and makes it easier for others to stalk a user. Worse, some are actually punished for what they put on their profile and would claim that it was there only for fun.
Despite the above mentioned advantages and disadvantages of an online networking service, it still is gaining demand and popularity among the young crowd. There are about 10,000 students (professionals and young professionals not yet included) who are joining into Facebook every day. This is regardless of the age, race and country. Some are now trying to criticize the status of professionalism of this site whether it's just another fad like other online networking services are.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorna_H._Findlay
How To Use Facebook To Create Online Income
Facebook is quite simply massive. Last count there were 350 million registered users with 175 million of those logging on each day.
Do you think you can make money with that sort of traffic? Of course you can!
Below are several methods which people use successfully. All you need to do is add the all important ideas for the subject matter.
Create a popular Facebook page or group
First, create a page or a group in Facebook.
You need to make it interesting, popular and "viral worthy". Think outside the box, try and work out what is going to be popular. The hard bit is, you need lots and lots of followers (2000+). Start by inviting all your friends and asking them to invite their friends. If you've chosen your subject well, it has a unique (and popular) angle, it will go viral and hopefully snowball in numbers.
Once you have this following you can advertise in a number of ways but a favourite is too use the My Stuff Ap application to create an advertising box where you can promote affiliate products or sell advertising directly.
Using social ads to sell goods directly or through affiliate links.
Facebook Social ads allow advertising on Facebook by targeting. For example if you had a golf e-book to promote you would target people who had entered golf as one of their interests.
You can also use demographics such as age, gender and relationship status. If we take relationship status as an example if you were selling membership to a dating site you'd target people whose relationship status was single. If you were selling a 'how to organise the perfect wedding' ebook you'd target people that had a status of engaged.
The great thing is you don't need your own product, or your own website, you can direct your ad to an affiliate link and get commission from each sale.
Sell items on Facebook marketplace
You can sell a product directly through market place to your friends or, more excitingly from a money making perspective, to people on the same network as you. Using the golf eBook as an example you'd join as many golfing networks as possible to try and get the largest exposure for your product.
Create a popular game or application.
Facebook games such as Mafia Wars and Farmville have got millions of players. They are usually free to join but players pay to get upgrades and advance quicker.
To do this you either need to be a programmer with skills such as HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL API, FBML. If that is daunting....... you'll need to pay someone or more likely a group to do this for you.
Apps (short for applications) such as the 'my stuff' Ap can be sold for money or more often given away free to create massive traffic to your Facebook page. You then sell advertising on this page.
Paul Middleton is a successful Internet entrepreneur. He shares some of his secrets on his website where he shows how anyone can make money online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Middleton
Do you think you can make money with that sort of traffic? Of course you can!
Below are several methods which people use successfully. All you need to do is add the all important ideas for the subject matter.
Create a popular Facebook page or group
First, create a page or a group in Facebook.
You need to make it interesting, popular and "viral worthy". Think outside the box, try and work out what is going to be popular. The hard bit is, you need lots and lots of followers (2000+). Start by inviting all your friends and asking them to invite their friends. If you've chosen your subject well, it has a unique (and popular) angle, it will go viral and hopefully snowball in numbers.
Once you have this following you can advertise in a number of ways but a favourite is too use the My Stuff Ap application to create an advertising box where you can promote affiliate products or sell advertising directly.
Using social ads to sell goods directly or through affiliate links.
Facebook Social ads allow advertising on Facebook by targeting. For example if you had a golf e-book to promote you would target people who had entered golf as one of their interests.
You can also use demographics such as age, gender and relationship status. If we take relationship status as an example if you were selling membership to a dating site you'd target people whose relationship status was single. If you were selling a 'how to organise the perfect wedding' ebook you'd target people that had a status of engaged.
The great thing is you don't need your own product, or your own website, you can direct your ad to an affiliate link and get commission from each sale.
Sell items on Facebook marketplace
You can sell a product directly through market place to your friends or, more excitingly from a money making perspective, to people on the same network as you. Using the golf eBook as an example you'd join as many golfing networks as possible to try and get the largest exposure for your product.
Create a popular game or application.
Facebook games such as Mafia Wars and Farmville have got millions of players. They are usually free to join but players pay to get upgrades and advance quicker.
To do this you either need to be a programmer with skills such as HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL API, FBML. If that is daunting....... you'll need to pay someone or more likely a group to do this for you.
Apps (short for applications) such as the 'my stuff' Ap can be sold for money or more often given away free to create massive traffic to your Facebook page. You then sell advertising on this page.
Paul Middleton is a successful Internet entrepreneur. He shares some of his secrets on his website where he shows how anyone can make money online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Middleton
Ecommerce Facebook Integration
Facebook, once only known for social gatherings and connecting with friends on the web, is starting to look more and more like a huge online marketplace. Retailers are scrambling to reach the enormous audience that Facebook draws in daily and turn users into paying customers. It started with the Facebook Fan Pages, which allowed businesses to create a presence for their brand on the social media site. They are allowed an unlimited number of fans to follow their fan page, and many big name retailers have already successfully created a large following. Recently Facebook has been linked to e-commerce on an even bigger scale. Many of these businesses which were already well integrated with Facebook are beginning to create their own e-commerce apps, allowing them to sell their products to their fans directly through Facebook.
If you own an online business or are thinking of starting one and you have not tried Facebook marketing yet then you better get started. The first thing you must do is create a Facebook Fan Page. It's quick and easy, just look for the link on their site and fill out the information. Once you have done that, it's time to really begin customizing the page in a fun way that will draw people in and get them to become fans. Here is a list of features on the fan page and how you can use it to promote your business.
Wall - get your fans to leave comments in this area, share their thoughts, help make suggestions, ask a question, etc.
Info - write a description of your business, make it clever and remember to speak to your audience in a way that they will like
Notes - share the latest news on your e-commerce business, announce promotions, etc.
FBML - create up to 10 customized html display areas where you can add anything you can think of
Photos - add photos of your products and you can allow your fans to share theirs
Discussions - get the conversation started, have your fans give you feedback
Videos - add videos to promote your products and demonstrate how to use them, you can also allow your fans to share their videos
Events - announce special upcoming events or promotions
Reviews - have your fans rate your products or services
Others - add other applications created by third party developers that are meant for use on the fan page
Once you have your fan page set up you can start focusing on how to attract traffic. Your page does not have to be perfect, it's one of those things where the more participation you are able to get, the better the content. So start small and watch it grow and develop over time. Once you are able to reach the pulse of your fans, you can think more creatively about what to offer them on your Facebook fan page. You can create exclusive coupons just for them. You can also start a fun contest for your fans as part of a promotional campaign where the winner receives something for free. Try to think of as many creative and fun Facebook marketing ideas to increase the amount of interaction on your fan page.
Ads are another great Facebook marketing tactic to get people to take notice. However Facebook ads are in a lot of ways very different from other types of ads. The advertisements on Facebook cannot focus on direct sales like Google AdWords ads can. The reason for this is that they each have a completely different type of audience. The people on Facebook are there to socialize whereas the people on Google tend to already know what they want and actively search for it. When you are trying to reach a Facebook user, you cannot push your products on them. You must first give them a reason to become a fan and then build a relationship with them. Once the relationship is there, you can find interactive ways to keep your products and your brand fresh in their mind, and the chances of them becoming a customer is far greater. So apply to become an advertiser on the Facebook network and create banner ads that link to your Facebook Fan Page instead of your e-commerce site.
One of the more recent Facebook marketing techniques is direct selling. Since selling directly through Facebook is now all the rage, there is no reason for you not to do it too. The big name retailers are just starting to make their fan pages even more interactive by listing their products on there. The ones that have already built a large community are finding that merging e-commerce with Facebook can be very profitable.
How would you like to automatically list your products on your Facebook Fan Page? Sell your products directly to people who are clearly interested in what you have to offer. It can easily be done using integrated Facebook marketing, a feature that merges your e-commerce site with Facebook seamlessly.
Core Commerce is a full service all-in-one hosting, design, and marketing software made specifically for e-commerce businesses. You can set up your store in minutes, and with powerful tools to help with SEO, product marketing and mobile commerce, it's no wonder they are rated one of the best e-commerce solutions. Click here to try it absolutely free for 15 days, no credit card required!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amy_B_Xu
If you own an online business or are thinking of starting one and you have not tried Facebook marketing yet then you better get started. The first thing you must do is create a Facebook Fan Page. It's quick and easy, just look for the link on their site and fill out the information. Once you have done that, it's time to really begin customizing the page in a fun way that will draw people in and get them to become fans. Here is a list of features on the fan page and how you can use it to promote your business.
Wall - get your fans to leave comments in this area, share their thoughts, help make suggestions, ask a question, etc.
Info - write a description of your business, make it clever and remember to speak to your audience in a way that they will like
Notes - share the latest news on your e-commerce business, announce promotions, etc.
FBML - create up to 10 customized html display areas where you can add anything you can think of
Photos - add photos of your products and you can allow your fans to share theirs
Discussions - get the conversation started, have your fans give you feedback
Videos - add videos to promote your products and demonstrate how to use them, you can also allow your fans to share their videos
Events - announce special upcoming events or promotions
Reviews - have your fans rate your products or services
Others - add other applications created by third party developers that are meant for use on the fan page
Once you have your fan page set up you can start focusing on how to attract traffic. Your page does not have to be perfect, it's one of those things where the more participation you are able to get, the better the content. So start small and watch it grow and develop over time. Once you are able to reach the pulse of your fans, you can think more creatively about what to offer them on your Facebook fan page. You can create exclusive coupons just for them. You can also start a fun contest for your fans as part of a promotional campaign where the winner receives something for free. Try to think of as many creative and fun Facebook marketing ideas to increase the amount of interaction on your fan page.
Ads are another great Facebook marketing tactic to get people to take notice. However Facebook ads are in a lot of ways very different from other types of ads. The advertisements on Facebook cannot focus on direct sales like Google AdWords ads can. The reason for this is that they each have a completely different type of audience. The people on Facebook are there to socialize whereas the people on Google tend to already know what they want and actively search for it. When you are trying to reach a Facebook user, you cannot push your products on them. You must first give them a reason to become a fan and then build a relationship with them. Once the relationship is there, you can find interactive ways to keep your products and your brand fresh in their mind, and the chances of them becoming a customer is far greater. So apply to become an advertiser on the Facebook network and create banner ads that link to your Facebook Fan Page instead of your e-commerce site.
One of the more recent Facebook marketing techniques is direct selling. Since selling directly through Facebook is now all the rage, there is no reason for you not to do it too. The big name retailers are just starting to make their fan pages even more interactive by listing their products on there. The ones that have already built a large community are finding that merging e-commerce with Facebook can be very profitable.
How would you like to automatically list your products on your Facebook Fan Page? Sell your products directly to people who are clearly interested in what you have to offer. It can easily be done using integrated Facebook marketing, a feature that merges your e-commerce site with Facebook seamlessly.
Core Commerce is a full service all-in-one hosting, design, and marketing software made specifically for e-commerce businesses. You can set up your store in minutes, and with powerful tools to help with SEO, product marketing and mobile commerce, it's no wonder they are rated one of the best e-commerce solutions. Click here to try it absolutely free for 15 days, no credit card required!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amy_B_Xu
How Can You Capitalize on Facebook Traffic?
I want to talk to you a little bit about the importance of Facebook and capitalizing on the traffic that this site creates. This social network giant has some very incredible growth numbers, and there is a lot of free, and paid, traffic to capitalize on here. If you already have a personal Facebook page I strongly recommend creating a fan page. This separates your social site with your business, and it is a lot more professional. It also gives a better feel to your friends, because they don't feel like your always promoting your business on your personal Facebook site.
It's very easy to create a page if you don't already have one. Go to your Facebook page and scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on the link labeled "advertising" and than click the middle icon that says "pages". The next page will ask you if you want to create a page. You than put in the name you want to be on this page and the rest of the info that they ask you for and your up and running!!
Once your page is created and you have uploaded a picture and the rest of your information, send an invitation to all your friends to "like your fan page. Also promote it on twitter. Use this url shortner. http://bit.ly/
If you have a blog than you can copy and paste the code of your like button to your blog as well. Make sure you also put your blog url on this page for backlinking.
Now just a little bit on the paid traffic of Facebook. It's called Facebook pay per click advertising.
If you are building your list and want to add more people to it this is a great way to do that.
Go to the Facebook applications and get the fbml application. Copy and paste your web form from your autoresponder here, and your logo or promotional text or video if you have them. Make this the landing page for your Facebook ppc campaign.
If you want to drive traffic to a site outside Facebook, like your blog, just put that URL as the landing page URL. Its really quite simple. Of course as with any ppc campaign you need to be testing your ads for better conversions.
Let me know if this helps.
Making money online is really simple if you just have the right strategies to follow; unfortunately many people never experience the success they desire because they don't have a guide to show them the way. Sign up for Jason Graber's FREE 7 Day "Online Marketing Video Boot Camp" to discover how to use the internet and turn your computer into a cash gushing machine - Go here: http://www.jasongraber.com/marketing-tips/facebook/.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Graber
It's very easy to create a page if you don't already have one. Go to your Facebook page and scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on the link labeled "advertising" and than click the middle icon that says "pages". The next page will ask you if you want to create a page. You than put in the name you want to be on this page and the rest of the info that they ask you for and your up and running!!
Once your page is created and you have uploaded a picture and the rest of your information, send an invitation to all your friends to "like your fan page. Also promote it on twitter. Use this url shortner. http://bit.ly/
If you have a blog than you can copy and paste the code of your like button to your blog as well. Make sure you also put your blog url on this page for backlinking.
Now just a little bit on the paid traffic of Facebook. It's called Facebook pay per click advertising.
If you are building your list and want to add more people to it this is a great way to do that.
Go to the Facebook applications and get the fbml application. Copy and paste your web form from your autoresponder here, and your logo or promotional text or video if you have them. Make this the landing page for your Facebook ppc campaign.
If you want to drive traffic to a site outside Facebook, like your blog, just put that URL as the landing page URL. Its really quite simple. Of course as with any ppc campaign you need to be testing your ads for better conversions.
Let me know if this helps.
Making money online is really simple if you just have the right strategies to follow; unfortunately many people never experience the success they desire because they don't have a guide to show them the way. Sign up for Jason Graber's FREE 7 Day "Online Marketing Video Boot Camp" to discover how to use the internet and turn your computer into a cash gushing machine - Go here: http://www.jasongraber.com/marketing-tips/facebook/.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Graber
How to Make Your Facebook Business Page More Appealing
Facebook is the most popular social media site on the Internet, which makes having a page for your business a necessity. This is an ideal way to promote brand awareness and reach millions of potential consumers.
People tend to confuse Facebook groups and pages, so let's talk for a minute about the difference between Facebook Pages and Groups.
Facebook Groups vs Facebook Pages
A Facebook Group is like a club. Groups provide a way for people to communicate on common interests and can be created for just about any purpose from gaming strategy to an altruistic cause.
A Facebook Page is similar to a profile, but designed for a business, brand, celebrity, or other public entity. Anyone can become a fan of a page simply by clicking the "like" button. Pages are ideal for businesses because they allow for "updates" to be posted directly to fans, increasing visibility. Pages are also indexed by external search engines, allowing for greater accessibility and higher rankings for your business.
It is not enough to create a page for your business and then hope for fans to click the "like" button. Your page needs to stand out and be appealing. Once the "like" button has been clicked your page must stay relevant. Making your page engaging through applications is a sure fire way to generate and keep the interest of "fans".
The number of applications to make your Facebook Page more engaging grows daily, and some are better than others.
Application for Facebook Pages
Here are some applications that can enhance the appeal of your business page on Facebook:
• Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) which allows you to customize tabs and content on your page, is one of the best applications for a business page. Customization is what will set your page apart and make it distinctive. Using this application, you can set the default tab for visitors to "land on" instead of the wall, which is the default tab. This is a great way to highlight a particular product, service, event, etc.
• Installing a Twitter application is a good way to allow people to keep up with your tweets via Facebook, and is another way to keep content fresh on your page.
• A Blog RSS Feed Reader is another way to beef-up the stream of your page feed by pulling from your blog. Again, this keeps content fresh and keeps your fans informed.
• Including Fan Appz is a good choice for social media marketing as it has features like polls, sweepstakes, promotions, coupons, and others that utilize viral engagement.
• Publicize events with apps like Eventbrite is a great way to generate awareness. This app also can handle ticket sales for your event.
Other features to consider are the use of creative and distinctive images. It is also increasingly more important to interact with fans. People like it when their comments are recognized. Engaging in the conversations that take place on the wall or in the discussions section of your page is a good way to keep interest.
A few business pages that have appeal utilizing applications are Victoria's Secret and Mont Blanc, both of which not only have nice images and customized tabs, but they both have visitors land on an interesting tab.
One not so great example is Walmart, which dumps visitors directly onto their wall, and does not have as engaging features or appealing images.
Veronica Ibarra is a freelance SEO writer. Perez-Simons Web Studios provides web design services in the Greensboro, NC area.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Veronica_Ibarra
People tend to confuse Facebook groups and pages, so let's talk for a minute about the difference between Facebook Pages and Groups.
Facebook Groups vs Facebook Pages
A Facebook Group is like a club. Groups provide a way for people to communicate on common interests and can be created for just about any purpose from gaming strategy to an altruistic cause.
A Facebook Page is similar to a profile, but designed for a business, brand, celebrity, or other public entity. Anyone can become a fan of a page simply by clicking the "like" button. Pages are ideal for businesses because they allow for "updates" to be posted directly to fans, increasing visibility. Pages are also indexed by external search engines, allowing for greater accessibility and higher rankings for your business.
It is not enough to create a page for your business and then hope for fans to click the "like" button. Your page needs to stand out and be appealing. Once the "like" button has been clicked your page must stay relevant. Making your page engaging through applications is a sure fire way to generate and keep the interest of "fans".
The number of applications to make your Facebook Page more engaging grows daily, and some are better than others.
Application for Facebook Pages
Here are some applications that can enhance the appeal of your business page on Facebook:
• Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) which allows you to customize tabs and content on your page, is one of the best applications for a business page. Customization is what will set your page apart and make it distinctive. Using this application, you can set the default tab for visitors to "land on" instead of the wall, which is the default tab. This is a great way to highlight a particular product, service, event, etc.
• Installing a Twitter application is a good way to allow people to keep up with your tweets via Facebook, and is another way to keep content fresh on your page.
• A Blog RSS Feed Reader is another way to beef-up the stream of your page feed by pulling from your blog. Again, this keeps content fresh and keeps your fans informed.
• Including Fan Appz is a good choice for social media marketing as it has features like polls, sweepstakes, promotions, coupons, and others that utilize viral engagement.
• Publicize events with apps like Eventbrite is a great way to generate awareness. This app also can handle ticket sales for your event.
Other features to consider are the use of creative and distinctive images. It is also increasingly more important to interact with fans. People like it when their comments are recognized. Engaging in the conversations that take place on the wall or in the discussions section of your page is a good way to keep interest.
A few business pages that have appeal utilizing applications are Victoria's Secret and Mont Blanc, both of which not only have nice images and customized tabs, but they both have visitors land on an interesting tab.
One not so great example is Walmart, which dumps visitors directly onto their wall, and does not have as engaging features or appealing images.
Veronica Ibarra is a freelance SEO writer. Perez-Simons Web Studios provides web design services in the Greensboro, NC area.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Veronica_Ibarra
Social Media Setup - How to Optimize Your Profiles
What do you need to optimize your Social Media Profiles - a good foundation and a several accounts to help you manage your social networking more effectively. These are the main accounts and formats I follow when setting up social media profiles for clients and what I recommend to students in training classes as well.
PROFILE SETUP:
• Choose a keyword rich BIO - use terms people will think of when looking to search for someone like you online. Not your technical terms, words the average Joe or Jane would use when looking to find a solution to their problem online.
• Profile Picture - unless you are a major franchise do not use your business logo - want people to get to know you, they want to see your face.
• Website - if you have none yet, use Linked In or Fanpage, not personal facebook.
• Brand it - get a twitter background (quick and free at twitbacks.com)
• Facebook Page - Choose page type as local business, professional service to get hours and company info or if business hours are not important use Page type then use Brand, Organizations and professional service to get best info area possible.
• Facebook Page - Welcome tab. Use Static FBML App to create a landing tab and optin tab. This is not a simple task - it needs to be created in html and convert to Facebook's fbml to make work. If you cannot do this then add lots of info on your info tab and use the settings option on the wall to make this the default landing page for new visitors to your Facebook Page.
ACCOUNTS TO SETUP:
• Gmail or other email - and use different password here than on networks. Keeps your main email safe from hackers and phishing scams.
• Social Oomph for AUTO DM's to new followers. You can rotate your auto DM as well, just follow the format in their notes. Use this also to setup alerts to send a daily digest of topics of interest. You receive an email with people mentioning those words and you can respond to them. Social Oomph can now shorten and track urls as well.
• Bit.ly acct or other url shortener to use to shorten urls as well and to use when tracking targeted links you use on regular basis.
• Twitterfeed will help you auto post blogs as published to twitter, fanpage, facebook but can also do with hootsuite.
• Hootsuite (or Tweetdeck or Seesmic) to use to manage accounts and contacts as you grow.
- Create groups/lists - or import them from twitter - to easily keep tabs on everything.
- Schedule posts on all networks - twitter, fanpage, facebook, linked in, ping)
- Uses ow.ly / ht.ly url shortener and you can see stats on links even on each tweet.
- Can add RSS feeds to follow and automate
• Twellow is a great place to register your profile and then find new people to follow - especially when starting out. You can find contacts in your own area which makes it easier to kickstart some conversation if you have met the person in real life. Start local, then go global with followers.
I invite you to receive a free copy of my Social Media DO's and DOn'ts Guide - Perfect for Beginners! You can access this at Social Media VA Resources.
If you are new to Social Media, join our Facebook Page to network and learn tips and tricks to use on your Social Media networks.
From Kathy Colaiacovo, Social Media Virtual Assistant
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathy_Colaiacovo
PROFILE SETUP:
• Choose a keyword rich BIO - use terms people will think of when looking to search for someone like you online. Not your technical terms, words the average Joe or Jane would use when looking to find a solution to their problem online.
• Profile Picture - unless you are a major franchise do not use your business logo - want people to get to know you, they want to see your face.
• Website - if you have none yet, use Linked In or Fanpage, not personal facebook.
• Brand it - get a twitter background (quick and free at twitbacks.com)
• Facebook Page - Choose page type as local business, professional service to get hours and company info or if business hours are not important use Page type then use Brand, Organizations and professional service to get best info area possible.
• Facebook Page - Welcome tab. Use Static FBML App to create a landing tab and optin tab. This is not a simple task - it needs to be created in html and convert to Facebook's fbml to make work. If you cannot do this then add lots of info on your info tab and use the settings option on the wall to make this the default landing page for new visitors to your Facebook Page.
ACCOUNTS TO SETUP:
• Gmail or other email - and use different password here than on networks. Keeps your main email safe from hackers and phishing scams.
• Social Oomph for AUTO DM's to new followers. You can rotate your auto DM as well, just follow the format in their notes. Use this also to setup alerts to send a daily digest of topics of interest. You receive an email with people mentioning those words and you can respond to them. Social Oomph can now shorten and track urls as well.
• Bit.ly acct or other url shortener to use to shorten urls as well and to use when tracking targeted links you use on regular basis.
• Twitterfeed will help you auto post blogs as published to twitter, fanpage, facebook but can also do with hootsuite.
• Hootsuite (or Tweetdeck or Seesmic) to use to manage accounts and contacts as you grow.
- Create groups/lists - or import them from twitter - to easily keep tabs on everything.
- Schedule posts on all networks - twitter, fanpage, facebook, linked in, ping)
- Uses ow.ly / ht.ly url shortener and you can see stats on links even on each tweet.
- Can add RSS feeds to follow and automate
• Twellow is a great place to register your profile and then find new people to follow - especially when starting out. You can find contacts in your own area which makes it easier to kickstart some conversation if you have met the person in real life. Start local, then go global with followers.
I invite you to receive a free copy of my Social Media DO's and DOn'ts Guide - Perfect for Beginners! You can access this at Social Media VA Resources.
If you are new to Social Media, join our Facebook Page to network and learn tips and tricks to use on your Social Media networks.
From Kathy Colaiacovo, Social Media Virtual Assistant
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathy_Colaiacovo
Secret to Convert Facebook Friends to Fans With a Fan Badge on Your Profile Linking to Your Page
It is hard to underestimate the impact that social networking has had upon the music industry. The entire market is being reinvented with the demise of traditional record companies, and the ascendancy of direct band-to-fan marketing. While a successful marketing campaign would use multiple outlets, it seems clear that the most important social media site at this time is Facebook. With over 350 Million active users, and a six month growth of 70% in the first half of 2009, Facebook is destined to be the dominant social media site for some time.
Personal Profile vs. Band Page
Individuals register a personal profile with Facebook. Publicly-known brands, companies, figures, and most germanely musicians, can also register a Page. A Page is similar to a profile, but comes with some additional benefits. Among these benefits are the ability to advertise the page, and a relatively unrestricted number of fans (as opposed to the hard limit of the number of friends any given profile accommodates). Other benefits of the Page include:
info tab tailored to your business type
additional widgets such as a music player
review section
ability to share page administration tasks
analytics on page interactions
Making others aware
Most bands and musicians are probably aware of the value of pages as opposed to profiles. Accordingly, most musicians maintain pages in addition to their personal profiles. But Facebook does not automatically make others aware that a personal profile may also be related to a fan page. How does one create an awareness of a page's existence? A person can become a fan of a given page. In doing so, Facebook will by default display this linkage upon the Pages section of the Info tab of the profile. However, there is no way to force Facebook to display an artist's own page in preference to the other pages which are displayed therein. What is displayed there is a small random selection from all the pages of which one is a fan. As such, there is no guarantee that the artist's own page will be selected for display at all.
The process I describe herein will allow the artist to permanently and prominently display a link to a given page from your profile. Further, this link will appear in the profile's sidebar, so it can be seen whether the Wall tab or the Info tab is currently being displayed. Better yet, the link will also contain the page's 'profile' picture, leading to recognition for your page's graphical brand.
Two elements
There are two elements to pull together to obtain this benefit. The first is that we need the ability to place arbitrary content on our profile's sidebar. The second is to create the desired linkage to place in the sidebar. The former we will accomplish with an application called Custom Profile Box. The latter we will accomplish with a native Facebook tool called a Fan Badge. The following is a step-by-step tutorial on these objectives.
Custom Profile Box
Our first objective is to add the application 'Custom Profile Box'. This application will create an element that we can fill with arbitrary content. We will later fill this element with our page link Fan Badge, and then move it to our profile sidebar.
From your personal profile, on the lower left select 'Applications', then select 'Browse More Applications'.
In the 'Search Applications' field, enter "Custom Profile Box".
Click on the desired 'Custom Profile Box' application in the search results.
From the application's Fan page, click 'Go To Application'.
Click the 'Allow' button.
Go back to your profile wall.
Below your status entry box, click 'Options', then click 'Settings'.
Click the link 'applications settings page'.
On the list of apps, a drop down 'Show' menu select 'Authorized' to show all the apps authorised to access your profile data.
Click on 'Edit Settings' link next to 'Custom Profile Box'.
In the pop-up window, make sure the 'Profile' tab is highlighted. *
Next to the "Box" item is the word 'Add'. Click on this to add a box to your profile for this app.
Decide and modify the Privacy -- I suggest setting this to "Everyone".
You are done setting up the app.
* There have been reported cases where there is no 'Profile' tab on the popup at this point. Further reports indicate that this may be alleviated by editing the Box, and adding some content, then returning to this step of the process. More as it develops.
Generate a Fan Badge
We have so far installed the 'Custom Profile Box' into our profile. Next we need to generate a Fan Badge for our page. Later we will place this Fan Badge in our Custom Profile Box and move the Custom Profile Box to our profile sidebar. Oddly, to make a Page Badge, you need to travel through your (personal) Profile's Profile Badge link. The code for the Fan Badge will be copied and pasted into the Custom Profile Box's editor. Accordingly, it may be easiest if you open another browser tab for this next bit.
Go to your personal page's Info tab.
Near bottom left is a link entitled 'Create Profile Badge'. Click it to go to the Profile Badge page.
On the Profile Badge screen there is a column where you can choose what type of badge you want. Choose 'Fan Badges'. This will take you to the Fan Badges Widget screen.
On the Fan Badges Widget screen, find the dropdown entitled 'Select a Page'. From that dropdown, select the page for which you wish to create a badge. Note that you must first be a fan of that page.
From the 2nd field on the Fan Badges Widget screen, copy the HTML code for your Fan Badge.
Place the Fan Badge in the Custom Profile Box
At this point, we have installed the Custom Profile Box application, and created a Fan Badge for our destination page. The code for the Fan Badge is in out buffer. We next need to paste this into the Custom Profile Box. Later, we will move the Custom Profile Box to our profile's sidebar. Go back to your earlier browser tab.
Click on the 'Applications' status bar menu and select the app from the pop up window.
An editor will load, and takes 30 secs or so on busy connection.
On the editors toolbar, click the button named 'Source'. This allows you to enter raw FBML code.
In the editor window paste the (FBML) code for the Fan Badge, which should be in your buffer from the earlier objective.
To save your creation to the app box, click on the 'Update' button. If all is well your box should appear in the boxes section of your profile.
Click on your profile, and select the boxes tab. See your app box and your creation in it.
You can drag your box to any desired location on the page by left clicking the box and dragging around.
Move it to the profile sidebar
OK, we have added the Custom Profile Box application, generated a Fan Badge for our destination page, and placed the fan badge in the Custom Profile Box. The last step is to move our Custom Profile Box from our profile's Boxes tab to the sidebar.
Go to your profile
Select the Boxes tab
Locate the Custom Profile Box on the Boxes tab
There is a pencil at the upper right corner of the Custom Profile Box. Click it.
Select 'Move to Wall tab'.
Go to your wall. You should see the Custom Profile Box, with your Fan Badge linking to your artist page, in the sidebar. You can change the location of this sidebar element by left-clicking and dragging it where you want it. There is however, the restriction that it cannot appear higher in the sidebar than the standard Facebook sidebar elements.
Collect more fans!
That's it. Now all visitors to your personal profile will be met with a graphically branded link to your artist page. By making it easier for people to find your page, you should collect new legions of fans.
You can see an example of this on the left sidebar of my personal Facebook profile at http://www.facebook.com/JoeBear.net.
Got a facebook topic you would like to see covered? Let me know in the discussions section of my Facebook page!
Joe Bear has been making music for several decades on a commercially-successful basis. Bands and solo acts; live and in the studio; rock, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass, pop, and others; guitar, voice, keys, bass, drums, mandolin, and other instruments; singer, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist, teacher, engineer. With the demise of the traditional recording industry, and the plethora of new outlets for enterprising musicians opened by new technologies, he has been focusing upon these new markets. Always a believer in extending a hand down to help the next person up, he is now sharing the knowledge he has gained in this uncharted territory.
Please visit his blog at http://MetaverseMusician.com/blog/about, and join in the conversation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Bear
Personal Profile vs. Band Page
Individuals register a personal profile with Facebook. Publicly-known brands, companies, figures, and most germanely musicians, can also register a Page. A Page is similar to a profile, but comes with some additional benefits. Among these benefits are the ability to advertise the page, and a relatively unrestricted number of fans (as opposed to the hard limit of the number of friends any given profile accommodates). Other benefits of the Page include:
info tab tailored to your business type
additional widgets such as a music player
review section
ability to share page administration tasks
analytics on page interactions
Making others aware
Most bands and musicians are probably aware of the value of pages as opposed to profiles. Accordingly, most musicians maintain pages in addition to their personal profiles. But Facebook does not automatically make others aware that a personal profile may also be related to a fan page. How does one create an awareness of a page's existence? A person can become a fan of a given page. In doing so, Facebook will by default display this linkage upon the Pages section of the Info tab of the profile. However, there is no way to force Facebook to display an artist's own page in preference to the other pages which are displayed therein. What is displayed there is a small random selection from all the pages of which one is a fan. As such, there is no guarantee that the artist's own page will be selected for display at all.
The process I describe herein will allow the artist to permanently and prominently display a link to a given page from your profile. Further, this link will appear in the profile's sidebar, so it can be seen whether the Wall tab or the Info tab is currently being displayed. Better yet, the link will also contain the page's 'profile' picture, leading to recognition for your page's graphical brand.
Two elements
There are two elements to pull together to obtain this benefit. The first is that we need the ability to place arbitrary content on our profile's sidebar. The second is to create the desired linkage to place in the sidebar. The former we will accomplish with an application called Custom Profile Box. The latter we will accomplish with a native Facebook tool called a Fan Badge. The following is a step-by-step tutorial on these objectives.
Custom Profile Box
Our first objective is to add the application 'Custom Profile Box'. This application will create an element that we can fill with arbitrary content. We will later fill this element with our page link Fan Badge, and then move it to our profile sidebar.
From your personal profile, on the lower left select 'Applications', then select 'Browse More Applications'.
In the 'Search Applications' field, enter "Custom Profile Box".
Click on the desired 'Custom Profile Box' application in the search results.
From the application's Fan page, click 'Go To Application'.
Click the 'Allow' button.
Go back to your profile wall.
Below your status entry box, click 'Options', then click 'Settings'.
Click the link 'applications settings page'.
On the list of apps, a drop down 'Show' menu select 'Authorized' to show all the apps authorised to access your profile data.
Click on 'Edit Settings' link next to 'Custom Profile Box'.
In the pop-up window, make sure the 'Profile' tab is highlighted. *
Next to the "Box" item is the word 'Add'. Click on this to add a box to your profile for this app.
Decide and modify the Privacy -- I suggest setting this to "Everyone".
You are done setting up the app.
* There have been reported cases where there is no 'Profile' tab on the popup at this point. Further reports indicate that this may be alleviated by editing the Box, and adding some content, then returning to this step of the process. More as it develops.
Generate a Fan Badge
We have so far installed the 'Custom Profile Box' into our profile. Next we need to generate a Fan Badge for our page. Later we will place this Fan Badge in our Custom Profile Box and move the Custom Profile Box to our profile sidebar. Oddly, to make a Page Badge, you need to travel through your (personal) Profile's Profile Badge link. The code for the Fan Badge will be copied and pasted into the Custom Profile Box's editor. Accordingly, it may be easiest if you open another browser tab for this next bit.
Go to your personal page's Info tab.
Near bottom left is a link entitled 'Create Profile Badge'. Click it to go to the Profile Badge page.
On the Profile Badge screen there is a column where you can choose what type of badge you want. Choose 'Fan Badges'. This will take you to the Fan Badges Widget screen.
On the Fan Badges Widget screen, find the dropdown entitled 'Select a Page'. From that dropdown, select the page for which you wish to create a badge. Note that you must first be a fan of that page.
From the 2nd field on the Fan Badges Widget screen, copy the HTML code for your Fan Badge.
Place the Fan Badge in the Custom Profile Box
At this point, we have installed the Custom Profile Box application, and created a Fan Badge for our destination page. The code for the Fan Badge is in out buffer. We next need to paste this into the Custom Profile Box. Later, we will move the Custom Profile Box to our profile's sidebar. Go back to your earlier browser tab.
Click on the 'Applications' status bar menu and select the app from the pop up window.
An editor will load, and takes 30 secs or so on busy connection.
On the editors toolbar, click the button named 'Source'. This allows you to enter raw FBML code.
In the editor window paste the (FBML) code for the Fan Badge, which should be in your buffer from the earlier objective.
To save your creation to the app box, click on the 'Update' button. If all is well your box should appear in the boxes section of your profile.
Click on your profile, and select the boxes tab. See your app box and your creation in it.
You can drag your box to any desired location on the page by left clicking the box and dragging around.
Move it to the profile sidebar
OK, we have added the Custom Profile Box application, generated a Fan Badge for our destination page, and placed the fan badge in the Custom Profile Box. The last step is to move our Custom Profile Box from our profile's Boxes tab to the sidebar.
Go to your profile
Select the Boxes tab
Locate the Custom Profile Box on the Boxes tab
There is a pencil at the upper right corner of the Custom Profile Box. Click it.
Select 'Move to Wall tab'.
Go to your wall. You should see the Custom Profile Box, with your Fan Badge linking to your artist page, in the sidebar. You can change the location of this sidebar element by left-clicking and dragging it where you want it. There is however, the restriction that it cannot appear higher in the sidebar than the standard Facebook sidebar elements.
Collect more fans!
That's it. Now all visitors to your personal profile will be met with a graphically branded link to your artist page. By making it easier for people to find your page, you should collect new legions of fans.
You can see an example of this on the left sidebar of my personal Facebook profile at http://www.facebook.com/JoeBear.net.
Got a facebook topic you would like to see covered? Let me know in the discussions section of my Facebook page!
Joe Bear has been making music for several decades on a commercially-successful basis. Bands and solo acts; live and in the studio; rock, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass, pop, and others; guitar, voice, keys, bass, drums, mandolin, and other instruments; singer, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist, teacher, engineer. With the demise of the traditional recording industry, and the plethora of new outlets for enterprising musicians opened by new technologies, he has been focusing upon these new markets. Always a believer in extending a hand down to help the next person up, he is now sharing the knowledge he has gained in this uncharted territory.
Please visit his blog at http://MetaverseMusician.com/blog/about, and join in the conversation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Bear
How to Combine Twitter With Facebook and Your Website to Help Promote Your Business
How do you combine Twitter with Facebook and your website to create an effective online marketing strategy that is more than the sum of the parts?
Step 1 - Create a Twitter profile that connects to your business
If you have an Internet marketing business, for example, it is common sense that your Twitter profile and many of your tweets will have to do with sharing Internet marketing information. You wouldn't want to have your profile and your tweets only talk about your karate practice if you want to make potential business connections on Twitter.
Step 2 - Create a professional-focused Facebook fan page (Facebook's term for business page)
You must first have a profile (personal page) before you can create a fan page, taking advantage of the 75 characters allowed in the title of the page. (Think keywords internally and externally.) FYI - You can't change the title once you've entered it. It's a good idea to name another admin in case something happens to your own Facebook account. (Another admin can make changes on the page without knowing your Facebook password.)
Caution: Even if you have strong privacy controls on your Facebook profile page, keep the photos and your comments professional. You do not want to risk a potential business contact catching a glimpse of... whatever.
Now here's an example of the potential cross-promotional opportunities:
You can use FBML (Facebook's markup language) to put the email optin code from your website into the left-hand column of the Facebook fan page. And you can even put that same code, thanks to the profile html option, onto the left-hand column of your Facebook profile.
If you are offering an enticing freebie, you should be able to get email optins without having to send people off Facebook to your website. And there's even room in the limited profile html and FBML options to squeeze in one or two social media icons such as links to your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
Step 3 - Add a Facebook widget to your website
This widget -- which can be configured in different ways when you get it through your Facebook fan page -- enables visitors to your website to become a fan without ever leaving your website. Or, if visitors want, they can click on the title of your Facebook fan page (at the top of the widget) and visit your page directly from your website.
Step 4 - Review your Twitter, Facebook fan page and website for consistent images and messages
• Use the same (good) photo of you on all three sites to help the instant recognition factor.
• Make sure that the overall message on Twitter, your Facebook fan page, and your website is consistent with a professional representation of your brand, book or business.
• Consider activities, such as running contests on Twitter, to encourage people to move from following you on Twitter to becoming a fan of your Facebook fan page to opting into your email list.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is co-founder of http://www.MillerMosaicPowerMarketing.com If you liked this article, get her FREE report "Twitter, Facebook and Your Website: A Beginning Blueprint for Harnessing the Power of 3 for Your Business" - download the report now from http://www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phyllis_Zimbler_Miller
Step 1 - Create a Twitter profile that connects to your business
If you have an Internet marketing business, for example, it is common sense that your Twitter profile and many of your tweets will have to do with sharing Internet marketing information. You wouldn't want to have your profile and your tweets only talk about your karate practice if you want to make potential business connections on Twitter.
Step 2 - Create a professional-focused Facebook fan page (Facebook's term for business page)
You must first have a profile (personal page) before you can create a fan page, taking advantage of the 75 characters allowed in the title of the page. (Think keywords internally and externally.) FYI - You can't change the title once you've entered it. It's a good idea to name another admin in case something happens to your own Facebook account. (Another admin can make changes on the page without knowing your Facebook password.)
Caution: Even if you have strong privacy controls on your Facebook profile page, keep the photos and your comments professional. You do not want to risk a potential business contact catching a glimpse of... whatever.
Now here's an example of the potential cross-promotional opportunities:
You can use FBML (Facebook's markup language) to put the email optin code from your website into the left-hand column of the Facebook fan page. And you can even put that same code, thanks to the profile html option, onto the left-hand column of your Facebook profile.
If you are offering an enticing freebie, you should be able to get email optins without having to send people off Facebook to your website. And there's even room in the limited profile html and FBML options to squeeze in one or two social media icons such as links to your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
Step 3 - Add a Facebook widget to your website
This widget -- which can be configured in different ways when you get it through your Facebook fan page -- enables visitors to your website to become a fan without ever leaving your website. Or, if visitors want, they can click on the title of your Facebook fan page (at the top of the widget) and visit your page directly from your website.
Step 4 - Review your Twitter, Facebook fan page and website for consistent images and messages
• Use the same (good) photo of you on all three sites to help the instant recognition factor.
• Make sure that the overall message on Twitter, your Facebook fan page, and your website is consistent with a professional representation of your brand, book or business.
• Consider activities, such as running contests on Twitter, to encourage people to move from following you on Twitter to becoming a fan of your Facebook fan page to opting into your email list.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is co-founder of http://www.MillerMosaicPowerMarketing.com If you liked this article, get her FREE report "Twitter, Facebook and Your Website: A Beginning Blueprint for Harnessing the Power of 3 for Your Business" - download the report now from http://www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Phyllis_Zimbler_Miller
Top 13 Must-Have Facebook Applications For Business
It's now or never if you want to secure your business real estate on Facebook. Fan pages for business are quickly catching on for all types of industries; however, not all fan pages are maintained effectively thus missing valuable traffic and engagement with fans AKA potential customers and clients.
Facebook and other social networks are all about people and relationships. A business owner would want to build their reputation, so that they become trustworthy, credible and knowledgeable about their audience to provide them with the products or services they need.
Social networks work the same way. Who is your company's audience and what do they want from you? How are you going to attract more people to your page's network?
Two ways to increase your network and reputation on a Facebook Fan Page: consistent updates and applications.
Post often on a fan page, allow more than one person to manage a fan page, to provide the valuable information and expertise that your business prides itself on. The second way to establish a reputation and engage with your network is through Facebook applications. These add-ons will both visually enhance a fan page much like adding special features to a Web site and stimulate engagement, conversation and ongoing interactions with your fans.
Once a business creates a fan page the standard applications include Photos, Video, Notes, Events and Discussion; however, these are only the basics. In order to really add uniqueness to a Facebook page as well as your social media marketing strategy, you'll need one or more of the following Facebook applications.
1. Reviews - The reviews app is perfect for those who have specific products and services they provide. Customer reviews is one of 2010's marketing strategies that has taken the online shopper and business owner to a new level of providing better customer service. More customers are reading reviews online about a particular service, product or business and are making specific buying decisions based on such reviews. Now your fans can give a review right on your business fan page.
2. Polls - There are a few different poll apps that you can use for a business fan page or profile. One of the most recognized social media polls is Polldaddy, which is widely used both as a social media marketing and customer engagement strategy. Create a poll for your page: ask a question, provide two to four answers, and post. Check the results and post them on your page. This social media marketing tool can jumpstart a new campaign or give you ideas about future sales or promotions.
3. Networked Blogs - Does your business maintain a blog? Add the Networked Blogs app to your business page and profile so your fans and network receive immediate updates every time a blog is posted. There is a little bit of coding that needs to be installed on your blog, so ensure you're able to access your blog or ask your blog developer to do this. Want to keep informed of other blogs in your industry or track trends? Sign up for their blog feeds too by using this Facebook business app.
4. RSS Feed - If you have a blog, news site or other feed that you'd like to see updated on your business fan page, then there are a couple worthy RSS apps you can add. One all-in-one app is Social RSS can be configured to automate updates from any type of RSS feed that creates a post on a business page on a tab at the top of the page or on your wall. Although many fans in your network prefer authentic posts from a company, this is one method to consistently update a fan page.
5. Slideshare - This site's application has gone to the next level for attracting business on Facebook. Install Slideshare's app to share presentations & documents with your network including conference chats, PDF's, PowerPoint (PPT, PPS and PPTX), MS office documents and more. Impress fans with this app's savvy marketing strategy to attract more customers and clients. Create a dynamic social media triad by linking your account with Facebook and LinkedIn, what is good for one is good for another.
6. Constant Contact - You've got email (marketing)! Now let your fans and friends in your network sign up to receive the latest news from your business directly from Facebook. As long as a business uses Constant Contact, they can also add this app.
7. Static FBML - If you're familiar with Hyper Text Markup Language or HTML, this is Facebook's version for adding bling to your business fan page. Companies like Nike, Ford and Twilight the Movie all have this feature on their fan pages. Add a "box" to your page for better fan engagement and interest. With a combination of FBML features a fan page can be transformed into a mini website. This wow factor can also be added to your sidebar that includes images from your website or blog, links and ads.
8. YouTube - Video as a social media marketing strategy is receiving more rave reviews and traffic than other traditional media advertising. With YouTube's easy upload, a business can produce and publish a very affordable video campaign that will reach millions. Add the YouTube for Pages app to your tabs - you'll have to sign up for a free Involver account, choose your settings and you'll have something that other large companies have - added value.
9. Twitter - Maximizing the power of any business social media strategy is to link as many social networks as possible. Facebook has several Twitter apps that you can link a fan page to a company's Twitter feed. The social network mogul allows third party developers to add their own apps, so be sure to check out which Twitter app works best for your business's needs and feed. Applications include Twitter for Facebook, Selective Twitter (update your fan page from Twitter with the hashtag fb), Twitter and mobile applications too.
10. Promotions - What do you have that your competitors don't? A sizzling contest, giveaway or other promotion to attract more people to your website or storefront. Add the Promotions app as a social media marketing strategy to get fast results and traffic to your page. Sign up for a free account on the WildFire web site to get started; just follow the instructions with this application and soon you'll be attracting more business than before. Offer something "free" and you'll have your fans hooked, just be ready to make good on your promotions!
11. Payvment eCommerce Storefront - Import your e-commerce's products right on a business's Facebook fan page. Download the free app from Facebook. This social media app supports more than 20 currencies worldwide.
12. Coupons - Another feature of signing up with Wildfire is the ability to add coupons to your fan page for your fans to use for purchasing products or services. Track with special coupon codes just for Facebook fans, and remind customers to provide a review of your company on the Reviews tab you just added.
13. LinkedIn Contacts - Create a tri-fecta social media presence online with the top 3 social networks by adding this app to either your business profile or fan page. Share and connect with a LinkedIn network on Facebook too. Fans and friends can see your qualifications and join your network all in one place.
Wendy Suto, President and CEO of Search Circus, which is a full service certified and ethical search engine optimization and marketing firm that offers social media marketing, corporate blogging, PR distribution, PPC consulting, link building and other online marketing solutions with proven results.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Suto
Facebook and other social networks are all about people and relationships. A business owner would want to build their reputation, so that they become trustworthy, credible and knowledgeable about their audience to provide them with the products or services they need.
Social networks work the same way. Who is your company's audience and what do they want from you? How are you going to attract more people to your page's network?
Two ways to increase your network and reputation on a Facebook Fan Page: consistent updates and applications.
Post often on a fan page, allow more than one person to manage a fan page, to provide the valuable information and expertise that your business prides itself on. The second way to establish a reputation and engage with your network is through Facebook applications. These add-ons will both visually enhance a fan page much like adding special features to a Web site and stimulate engagement, conversation and ongoing interactions with your fans.
Once a business creates a fan page the standard applications include Photos, Video, Notes, Events and Discussion; however, these are only the basics. In order to really add uniqueness to a Facebook page as well as your social media marketing strategy, you'll need one or more of the following Facebook applications.
1. Reviews - The reviews app is perfect for those who have specific products and services they provide. Customer reviews is one of 2010's marketing strategies that has taken the online shopper and business owner to a new level of providing better customer service. More customers are reading reviews online about a particular service, product or business and are making specific buying decisions based on such reviews. Now your fans can give a review right on your business fan page.
2. Polls - There are a few different poll apps that you can use for a business fan page or profile. One of the most recognized social media polls is Polldaddy, which is widely used both as a social media marketing and customer engagement strategy. Create a poll for your page: ask a question, provide two to four answers, and post. Check the results and post them on your page. This social media marketing tool can jumpstart a new campaign or give you ideas about future sales or promotions.
3. Networked Blogs - Does your business maintain a blog? Add the Networked Blogs app to your business page and profile so your fans and network receive immediate updates every time a blog is posted. There is a little bit of coding that needs to be installed on your blog, so ensure you're able to access your blog or ask your blog developer to do this. Want to keep informed of other blogs in your industry or track trends? Sign up for their blog feeds too by using this Facebook business app.
4. RSS Feed - If you have a blog, news site or other feed that you'd like to see updated on your business fan page, then there are a couple worthy RSS apps you can add. One all-in-one app is Social RSS can be configured to automate updates from any type of RSS feed that creates a post on a business page on a tab at the top of the page or on your wall. Although many fans in your network prefer authentic posts from a company, this is one method to consistently update a fan page.
5. Slideshare - This site's application has gone to the next level for attracting business on Facebook. Install Slideshare's app to share presentations & documents with your network including conference chats, PDF's, PowerPoint (PPT, PPS and PPTX), MS office documents and more. Impress fans with this app's savvy marketing strategy to attract more customers and clients. Create a dynamic social media triad by linking your account with Facebook and LinkedIn, what is good for one is good for another.
6. Constant Contact - You've got email (marketing)! Now let your fans and friends in your network sign up to receive the latest news from your business directly from Facebook. As long as a business uses Constant Contact, they can also add this app.
7. Static FBML - If you're familiar with Hyper Text Markup Language or HTML, this is Facebook's version for adding bling to your business fan page. Companies like Nike, Ford and Twilight the Movie all have this feature on their fan pages. Add a "box" to your page for better fan engagement and interest. With a combination of FBML features a fan page can be transformed into a mini website. This wow factor can also be added to your sidebar that includes images from your website or blog, links and ads.
8. YouTube - Video as a social media marketing strategy is receiving more rave reviews and traffic than other traditional media advertising. With YouTube's easy upload, a business can produce and publish a very affordable video campaign that will reach millions. Add the YouTube for Pages app to your tabs - you'll have to sign up for a free Involver account, choose your settings and you'll have something that other large companies have - added value.
9. Twitter - Maximizing the power of any business social media strategy is to link as many social networks as possible. Facebook has several Twitter apps that you can link a fan page to a company's Twitter feed. The social network mogul allows third party developers to add their own apps, so be sure to check out which Twitter app works best for your business's needs and feed. Applications include Twitter for Facebook, Selective Twitter (update your fan page from Twitter with the hashtag fb), Twitter and mobile applications too.
10. Promotions - What do you have that your competitors don't? A sizzling contest, giveaway or other promotion to attract more people to your website or storefront. Add the Promotions app as a social media marketing strategy to get fast results and traffic to your page. Sign up for a free account on the WildFire web site to get started; just follow the instructions with this application and soon you'll be attracting more business than before. Offer something "free" and you'll have your fans hooked, just be ready to make good on your promotions!
11. Payvment eCommerce Storefront - Import your e-commerce's products right on a business's Facebook fan page. Download the free app from Facebook. This social media app supports more than 20 currencies worldwide.
12. Coupons - Another feature of signing up with Wildfire is the ability to add coupons to your fan page for your fans to use for purchasing products or services. Track with special coupon codes just for Facebook fans, and remind customers to provide a review of your company on the Reviews tab you just added.
13. LinkedIn Contacts - Create a tri-fecta social media presence online with the top 3 social networks by adding this app to either your business profile or fan page. Share and connect with a LinkedIn network on Facebook too. Fans and friends can see your qualifications and join your network all in one place.
Wendy Suto, President and CEO of Search Circus, which is a full service certified and ethical search engine optimization and marketing firm that offers social media marketing, corporate blogging, PR distribution, PPC consulting, link building and other online marketing solutions with proven results.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Suto
Five Steps For Using Facebook Business Marketing For Your Business
On a scale from 1 to 10, how critical do you suspect it is to get your business on Facebook? Well, until just recently most corporations would have never considered using Facebook selling secrets as a part of their larger advertising approach.
For small business owners, Facebook is rapidly becoming the go-to place to form a Net presence, and to create brand presence.
So how do you get started to make a business page on Facebook? Your first step is to choose what your purpose is. Recognizing what Facebook selling strategies you are going to use to build your Facebook fan page. Take a minute to prioritize the following items so that you are clear about your purpose.
Brand awareness
Build a following
Build a database at once sell from
The second thing that you need to do before you make a business page on Facebook is to study other company fan pages and see how they are applying their Facebook marketing methods. When you first come to the page, take note which page you land on. Fan pages inside Facebook are like a mini web site within Facebook that can offer you plenty of control and options.
Fan pages are commonly used to promote deals, call attention to new products, or welcome visitors with a fascinating branded splash page. Anybody with a Fan Page can create one, but it requires a minimal effort.
How To Build a Facebook Fan Page
1. Design your profile picture Facebook lets you use up to a two hundred x 600 image. This gives you a lot of space to really grab your visitor's attention and brand yourself. If you are a coach, author or supply a service like insurance, you are the brand, not necessarily your logo. Keep in mind; folk hook up with folks so take care to use your image.
2. Make a Custom Tab Each of your tabs on top of your Fan page are under the control of programs for numerous purposes. Your wall where people post, video page, pictures are built into your Facebook mechanically. To add a custom tab you will need to log into your Facebook page and type the words, Static FBML, in the search form. When you are find the Static FBML page you'll want to click Add to my page. At this point you'll have added a tab and blank page.
3. Set up your Custom Tab - Your next step is to click Edit Page below your profile image. This will take you to the following page where you then click applications. Here's where you click the Go to Application link when you find it.
4. Add your content - once you are in the edit area, you can name your tab and input almost anything you want on that page using html. Add your photographs, information regarding your company, lead capture forms or specials.
5. Default lander - Here is how to make a business page on Facebook you just created to be the landing page your visitors land on. First, you will need to return to your page settings where you previously at. Click on Manage authorizations and then look for Default Landing Tab:
Although this article the easiest way to Make a Business Page on Facebook covers basics guidelines you will want to continue to research and learn as much as you can on this subject. Before you know it, you will have the pro look that you are looking to establish on Facebook. Your next step is then to locate other Facebook communities and start your promotion efforts.
Written by Scott Johnson - Learn cutting edge secrets that will ensure marketing success quickly! Get more info at: How To Make a Business Page on Facebook. Get more info at: Download Facebook Marketing Strategies for more help.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_L._Johnson
For small business owners, Facebook is rapidly becoming the go-to place to form a Net presence, and to create brand presence.
So how do you get started to make a business page on Facebook? Your first step is to choose what your purpose is. Recognizing what Facebook selling strategies you are going to use to build your Facebook fan page. Take a minute to prioritize the following items so that you are clear about your purpose.
Brand awareness
Build a following
Build a database at once sell from
The second thing that you need to do before you make a business page on Facebook is to study other company fan pages and see how they are applying their Facebook marketing methods. When you first come to the page, take note which page you land on. Fan pages inside Facebook are like a mini web site within Facebook that can offer you plenty of control and options.
Fan pages are commonly used to promote deals, call attention to new products, or welcome visitors with a fascinating branded splash page. Anybody with a Fan Page can create one, but it requires a minimal effort.
How To Build a Facebook Fan Page
1. Design your profile picture Facebook lets you use up to a two hundred x 600 image. This gives you a lot of space to really grab your visitor's attention and brand yourself. If you are a coach, author or supply a service like insurance, you are the brand, not necessarily your logo. Keep in mind; folk hook up with folks so take care to use your image.
2. Make a Custom Tab Each of your tabs on top of your Fan page are under the control of programs for numerous purposes. Your wall where people post, video page, pictures are built into your Facebook mechanically. To add a custom tab you will need to log into your Facebook page and type the words, Static FBML, in the search form. When you are find the Static FBML page you'll want to click Add to my page. At this point you'll have added a tab and blank page.
3. Set up your Custom Tab - Your next step is to click Edit Page below your profile image. This will take you to the following page where you then click applications. Here's where you click the Go to Application link when you find it.
4. Add your content - once you are in the edit area, you can name your tab and input almost anything you want on that page using html. Add your photographs, information regarding your company, lead capture forms or specials.
5. Default lander - Here is how to make a business page on Facebook you just created to be the landing page your visitors land on. First, you will need to return to your page settings where you previously at. Click on Manage authorizations and then look for Default Landing Tab:
Although this article the easiest way to Make a Business Page on Facebook covers basics guidelines you will want to continue to research and learn as much as you can on this subject. Before you know it, you will have the pro look that you are looking to establish on Facebook. Your next step is then to locate other Facebook communities and start your promotion efforts.
Written by Scott Johnson - Learn cutting edge secrets that will ensure marketing success quickly! Get more info at: How To Make a Business Page on Facebook. Get more info at: Download Facebook Marketing Strategies for more help.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_L._Johnson
7 Reasons Why You Should Customize Your Facebook Business Fanpage
In the article 'Email Marketing is Dead the Statistics and Social Proof', Facebook as a platform is growing at an incredible rate and includes a large number of your potential customers right?
So, if those potential customers are able to find your business on Facebook what are they going to see? Something interesting and compelling or just a wall (or perhaps on a few) of comments...
A Brief Introduction to Facebook Business Fan Page Customization
Facebook Business Fan Page customization has been around for a while.
It uses a combination of boring old HTML (the code all websites are developed in - to some extent), Cascading Style Sheets (or CSS) and something called Facebook Markup Language (FBML) which is a custom set of functions provided by Facebook themselves to allow us to make use of their unique features.
You can include your own video, flash (won't be seen on an iPad or iPhone of course), images, text etc.
You can intermingle these with forms, customer comments, protected content that people have to become a fan to see, functions that allow your fans to recommend your page to their friends etc etc...
You can't use server style languages such as php or anything like that at present as these cannot run on the Facebook server.
So Why Would You Consider Customizing Your Facebook Business Fan Page Then?
Like anything else that they do there at the entire reason is down to marketing.
Like your website, on Facebook you also need to make your business stand out from the crowd.
You need to give people compelling reasons to buy your products, take your advice or at least monitor your company in case you can deliver something they might need in the future.
That said, here are 7 specific reasons you might want to consider 'pimping out' your Facebook Business Fan Page.
1. Standing Out From The Crowd - Differentiating You Business
Your standard business homepage is your Wall.
If you are adding content on a regular basis (and your content is interesting) and you have a reasonable number of fans for your page then you will likely find that people get involved by commenting on your posts and by adding their own thoughts an opinions. This is great.
But - Everyone has a wall. No matter how well you do this you are still like everyone else who has fans, an interesting product and interaction.
Adding a video or maybe some images or whatever to the mix adds a differentiator for your business.
2. Bringing a Specific Offer in Front of Your Existing & Potential Clients
From time to time most, if not all businesses, should be promoting special offers to entice people to make a purchase decision with your business.
This offer might be a price reduction, additional feature giveaway, bonus gift or whatever.....
To get traction from such an offer you need to promote it in as many places as possible. Including Facebook.
An colorful and informative image will get far more traction than a text comment in the comment area.
3. Video Sells - This Works for Facebook Too
As they consistently tell their clients. Video sells!
Just look at the astounding growth and viewing rates on YouTube.
Adding a video to your Facebook welcome page will allow clients to very quickly understand your offering.
Add one and change it regularly to 'keep it fresh' and you will see that more people return to see what you have to say.
4. It's Easier to get Them to Click Back to Your Website
You can do much more in terms of adding content and 'selling' on your own website as opposed to on a Facebook Business Fan page.
Use an image or an offer or a visually appealing link that stands out to get them back to your website.
On the welcome page, you can use use a special offer.
The image placed on the Fan Page draws the attention and, when clicked, takes the potential client back to the website where you can better promote specific products.
5. You Can Use Protected Content to Encourage New Fans
Facebook provides them with a very useful function that can keep content protected for viewing by their fans only.
This primarily relates to video content of course.
Gaining more fans is a constant challenge as this increases the number of people who may become clients or may refer your business to their friends.
To access your compelling 'protected' content random fan page visitors will have to become a fan of your business.
6. You Can Engage the Marketing Strategy of Social Proof by Prompting Your Users to invite their friends to checkout your Fan Page
Another really useful Facebook fan page FBML function.
Got compelling content that others will want to share with their friends on Facebook. This makes it really easy for them.
7. The Share Button Gets Your Site to a Much Wider Audience - Quickly
A share button allows a user to share something on your fanpage with their friends and to make a comment on the content for their friends to see.
The power of social media is the spread of the message from a user to their friends, to their friends etc. It's a multiplier effect....
So if you have some great content or a great offer this is a brilliant way to share it with a growing number of others.
Summary - Call to Action
You cannot afford to ignore Facebook.
Over half a billion people cannot be wrong and the fact is that most of these people are on Facebook as active users every day!
If they do find your Fan Page then present them with something that is memorable. Something that;-
Brings them back to your page
Makes them become a fan
Go to your website to check your business out further, or
Share with their friends
or actually (horror of horrors) - makes them buy something from you...
Oh, and by the way, never ever lose the comments area on your Facebook Business Fan Page.
Facebook is a platform for fans to interact with your business. It is NOT a broadcast mechanism, however, this is a topic for another blog post.
Oracle Digital are dedicated to helping others learn about SEO. You can visit our website and learn all about Search Engine Optimisation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clint_Maher
So, if those potential customers are able to find your business on Facebook what are they going to see? Something interesting and compelling or just a wall (or perhaps on a few) of comments...
A Brief Introduction to Facebook Business Fan Page Customization
Facebook Business Fan Page customization has been around for a while.
It uses a combination of boring old HTML (the code all websites are developed in - to some extent), Cascading Style Sheets (or CSS) and something called Facebook Markup Language (FBML) which is a custom set of functions provided by Facebook themselves to allow us to make use of their unique features.
You can include your own video, flash (won't be seen on an iPad or iPhone of course), images, text etc.
You can intermingle these with forms, customer comments, protected content that people have to become a fan to see, functions that allow your fans to recommend your page to their friends etc etc...
You can't use server style languages such as php or anything like that at present as these cannot run on the Facebook server.
So Why Would You Consider Customizing Your Facebook Business Fan Page Then?
Like anything else that they do there at the entire reason is down to marketing.
Like your website, on Facebook you also need to make your business stand out from the crowd.
You need to give people compelling reasons to buy your products, take your advice or at least monitor your company in case you can deliver something they might need in the future.
That said, here are 7 specific reasons you might want to consider 'pimping out' your Facebook Business Fan Page.
1. Standing Out From The Crowd - Differentiating You Business
Your standard business homepage is your Wall.
If you are adding content on a regular basis (and your content is interesting) and you have a reasonable number of fans for your page then you will likely find that people get involved by commenting on your posts and by adding their own thoughts an opinions. This is great.
But - Everyone has a wall. No matter how well you do this you are still like everyone else who has fans, an interesting product and interaction.
Adding a video or maybe some images or whatever to the mix adds a differentiator for your business.
2. Bringing a Specific Offer in Front of Your Existing & Potential Clients
From time to time most, if not all businesses, should be promoting special offers to entice people to make a purchase decision with your business.
This offer might be a price reduction, additional feature giveaway, bonus gift or whatever.....
To get traction from such an offer you need to promote it in as many places as possible. Including Facebook.
An colorful and informative image will get far more traction than a text comment in the comment area.
3. Video Sells - This Works for Facebook Too
As they consistently tell their clients. Video sells!
Just look at the astounding growth and viewing rates on YouTube.
Adding a video to your Facebook welcome page will allow clients to very quickly understand your offering.
Add one and change it regularly to 'keep it fresh' and you will see that more people return to see what you have to say.
4. It's Easier to get Them to Click Back to Your Website
You can do much more in terms of adding content and 'selling' on your own website as opposed to on a Facebook Business Fan page.
Use an image or an offer or a visually appealing link that stands out to get them back to your website.
On the welcome page, you can use use a special offer.
The image placed on the Fan Page draws the attention and, when clicked, takes the potential client back to the website where you can better promote specific products.
5. You Can Use Protected Content to Encourage New Fans
Facebook provides them with a very useful function that can keep content protected for viewing by their fans only.
This primarily relates to video content of course.
Gaining more fans is a constant challenge as this increases the number of people who may become clients or may refer your business to their friends.
To access your compelling 'protected' content random fan page visitors will have to become a fan of your business.
6. You Can Engage the Marketing Strategy of Social Proof by Prompting Your Users to invite their friends to checkout your Fan Page
Another really useful Facebook fan page FBML function.
Got compelling content that others will want to share with their friends on Facebook. This makes it really easy for them.
7. The Share Button Gets Your Site to a Much Wider Audience - Quickly
A share button allows a user to share something on your fanpage with their friends and to make a comment on the content for their friends to see.
The power of social media is the spread of the message from a user to their friends, to their friends etc. It's a multiplier effect....
So if you have some great content or a great offer this is a brilliant way to share it with a growing number of others.
Summary - Call to Action
You cannot afford to ignore Facebook.
Over half a billion people cannot be wrong and the fact is that most of these people are on Facebook as active users every day!
If they do find your Fan Page then present them with something that is memorable. Something that;-
Brings them back to your page
Makes them become a fan
Go to your website to check your business out further, or
Share with their friends
or actually (horror of horrors) - makes them buy something from you...
Oh, and by the way, never ever lose the comments area on your Facebook Business Fan Page.
Facebook is a platform for fans to interact with your business. It is NOT a broadcast mechanism, however, this is a topic for another blog post.
Oracle Digital are dedicated to helping others learn about SEO. You can visit our website and learn all about Search Engine Optimisation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clint_Maher
Top 7 Very Useful Facebook Apps
There's no doubt about it: Facebook is the most popular social network online. The fact that anyone can use it to communicate, keep in touch and interact with other people (whether they're friends, relatives or strangers) is the most important reason why Facebook manage to outrun Google, the search giant, in page views for a few months consecutively in the United States.
These past couple of months, the trend has continued, and now Facebook has a relatively stable monthly page view count of over 300 billion (just imagine the number, 300,000,000,000!). But Facebook isn't only an online messaging and picture sharing tool. Since the introduction of Facebook apps, users have the ability to do a lot of other things without leaving the website, including play games, manage their time and finances, video chat and much more.
If you didn't know about these possibilities, here is a list of the most useful Facebook applications that can help you get started.
Advanced Wall. This should be everyone first install, because it adds a lot more possibilities to the default posting method. Using a WYSIWYG editor, you can now post messages that contain drawings, pictures, graffiti, video, flash, text of different sizes, font and color, and a lot of other interesting and useful things.
Task Master. This is a very neat Facebook app that allows you to plan any tasks and To Do list items right on your Facebook account, which, as you may know, you can access from anywhere, anytime. This means that you won't forget what you need to do because you left your phone or notebook home. The feature set is pretty basic, but enough for most tasks and small projects.
Birthday Calendar. Another great app that is similar to the above task manager, Birthday Calendar compiles all your friends birthday dates, so you can easily plan ahead for any presents and messages that you want to send them. Now you can create your own custom messages and buy the presents in advance for anyone you want.
Static FBML. This is a great app that helps you further customize the look and feel of your fan pages. While the default Facebook options are enough for most people, sometimes you just need more of them. Static FBML lets you easily customize the fan pages using HTML and FBML (FaceBook Markup Language), and the end result can be a very professional or personalized feel that few other pages can provide.
DivShare. This is one of the best apps available. It allows you to share any files with anyone. Now you can easily upload any mp3s, documents, ebooks or other stuff to DivShare for free and share it with anyone on Facebook. The only thing you'll need is an account at DivShare, which you create when you allow the app access to your account.
Last.fm Music. This application is for all of you music lovers (and Last.fm lovers:-). Using this Facebook app you can listen to your favorite songs, compare your playlist with your friends' lists, listen to your friends' music, share your music with others and much more.
Facebook Mobile. Not really an application, but it's extremely useful, especially now when everyone is using a mobile device to access their Facebook account. Facebook Mobile should be loaded by default when you visit Facebook.com, but if for some reason it doesn't, know that you can always access manually it at http://facebook.com/mobile.
Of course, there are a lot of other nice and useful tools on Facebook that can help you do whatever you want, you just have to search for them and find the ones that suit you the most. With over thirty thousand apps available, you certainly will have a wide variety of options to choose from.
http://www.headlinesnews.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Huffman
These past couple of months, the trend has continued, and now Facebook has a relatively stable monthly page view count of over 300 billion (just imagine the number, 300,000,000,000!). But Facebook isn't only an online messaging and picture sharing tool. Since the introduction of Facebook apps, users have the ability to do a lot of other things without leaving the website, including play games, manage their time and finances, video chat and much more.
If you didn't know about these possibilities, here is a list of the most useful Facebook applications that can help you get started.
Advanced Wall. This should be everyone first install, because it adds a lot more possibilities to the default posting method. Using a WYSIWYG editor, you can now post messages that contain drawings, pictures, graffiti, video, flash, text of different sizes, font and color, and a lot of other interesting and useful things.
Task Master. This is a very neat Facebook app that allows you to plan any tasks and To Do list items right on your Facebook account, which, as you may know, you can access from anywhere, anytime. This means that you won't forget what you need to do because you left your phone or notebook home. The feature set is pretty basic, but enough for most tasks and small projects.
Birthday Calendar. Another great app that is similar to the above task manager, Birthday Calendar compiles all your friends birthday dates, so you can easily plan ahead for any presents and messages that you want to send them. Now you can create your own custom messages and buy the presents in advance for anyone you want.
Static FBML. This is a great app that helps you further customize the look and feel of your fan pages. While the default Facebook options are enough for most people, sometimes you just need more of them. Static FBML lets you easily customize the fan pages using HTML and FBML (FaceBook Markup Language), and the end result can be a very professional or personalized feel that few other pages can provide.
DivShare. This is one of the best apps available. It allows you to share any files with anyone. Now you can easily upload any mp3s, documents, ebooks or other stuff to DivShare for free and share it with anyone on Facebook. The only thing you'll need is an account at DivShare, which you create when you allow the app access to your account.
Last.fm Music. This application is for all of you music lovers (and Last.fm lovers:-). Using this Facebook app you can listen to your favorite songs, compare your playlist with your friends' lists, listen to your friends' music, share your music with others and much more.
Facebook Mobile. Not really an application, but it's extremely useful, especially now when everyone is using a mobile device to access their Facebook account. Facebook Mobile should be loaded by default when you visit Facebook.com, but if for some reason it doesn't, know that you can always access manually it at http://facebook.com/mobile.
Of course, there are a lot of other nice and useful tools on Facebook that can help you do whatever you want, you just have to search for them and find the ones that suit you the most. With over thirty thousand apps available, you certainly will have a wide variety of options to choose from.
http://www.headlinesnews.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Huffman
Create Raving Fan Interactions Using FBML on Your Fan Page
If Fan Pages were a single page they wouldn't be getting much attention from Facebook users or anyone for that matter. A Fan Page is actually composed of multiple Tabs. These tabs provide you the opportunity to provide a rich user experience.
Adding additional Tabs is not required to get your Fan Page off the ground; however, when you don't add 1 or 2 then you are missing out on a great opportunity to get interactions from your Fans. To add tabs you must use FBML. FBML is a subset of HTML that Facebook has created to work within their environment. Just as in any programming language there are many things possible but let's focus on just a few.
Adding essential Tabs to grow your base of Fans rapidly:
Compelling Landing Page - When you add additional tabs you can define what a "non-fan" will see when they first arrive. This is important, especially as Facebook opens up the fan pages to major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. When you create a stunning landing page you can immediately communicate to a new visitor the benefits of becoming a fan. This might include getting first access to new product releases, discounts, etc. Bottom line is adding a custom Tab gives you the advantage to growing your Fan base quickly.
Something Special - Beyond your landing page consider adding an additional tab to share valuable resources, give links to areas deep within your website, or maybe just share some fresh testimonials. Adding an additional tab when your Fan Page is new gives you the opportunity to show Fans that you have their needs in mind from the very beginning.
Adding additional Tabs using FBML is extra work beyond a standard Fan Page. With limitless potential on each tab that you add you will be able to easily increase the interactions from your Fans. For your extra effort you will be rewarded with more fans, more interactions, and an increase in your sales.
When you want to discover how to get your Fan Page going with extra tabs, we invite you to discover our free guide on Fan Page Marketing.
Jamey Bridges is one of the coaches and founders of the Online Real Estate Success program.
All aspects of marketing online [http://www.OnlineRealEstateSuccess.com] and conversion are covered from Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click to Social Networking. Training programs are designed to help business owners and sales professionals understand what is needed, apply the methods, and see results each and every month.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamey_Bridges
Adding additional Tabs is not required to get your Fan Page off the ground; however, when you don't add 1 or 2 then you are missing out on a great opportunity to get interactions from your Fans. To add tabs you must use FBML. FBML is a subset of HTML that Facebook has created to work within their environment. Just as in any programming language there are many things possible but let's focus on just a few.
Adding essential Tabs to grow your base of Fans rapidly:
Compelling Landing Page - When you add additional tabs you can define what a "non-fan" will see when they first arrive. This is important, especially as Facebook opens up the fan pages to major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. When you create a stunning landing page you can immediately communicate to a new visitor the benefits of becoming a fan. This might include getting first access to new product releases, discounts, etc. Bottom line is adding a custom Tab gives you the advantage to growing your Fan base quickly.
Something Special - Beyond your landing page consider adding an additional tab to share valuable resources, give links to areas deep within your website, or maybe just share some fresh testimonials. Adding an additional tab when your Fan Page is new gives you the opportunity to show Fans that you have their needs in mind from the very beginning.
Adding additional Tabs using FBML is extra work beyond a standard Fan Page. With limitless potential on each tab that you add you will be able to easily increase the interactions from your Fans. For your extra effort you will be rewarded with more fans, more interactions, and an increase in your sales.
When you want to discover how to get your Fan Page going with extra tabs, we invite you to discover our free guide on Fan Page Marketing.
Jamey Bridges is one of the coaches and founders of the Online Real Estate Success program.
All aspects of marketing online [http://www.OnlineRealEstateSuccess.com] and conversion are covered from Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click to Social Networking. Training programs are designed to help business owners and sales professionals understand what is needed, apply the methods, and see results each and every month.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamey_Bridges
How to Use FBML to Display Your Profile Photo on a Custom Facebook Fan Page
On custom Facebook pages images must exist on your own server (or somewhere else on the internet) and linked to from the Facebook page code. The only images that can be uploaded directly to Facebook are the logo for your fan page and the image used on your profile page. FBML provides code that will pull your profile or logo picture to your fan page so you don't have to link to it from a different server. Here's how you do it.
The fbml tag is fb:profile-pic and looks like the following:
The only required attribute is uid. This is the ID number for the profile or fan page. Locating the UID is easier said than done but, then this is Facebook ;-)
To get the uid for your profile photo go to your photos tab. Click on any photo. In the address bar in your web browser, the url will end with id=629152408. That number is the uid you use with the fbml profile pic code. To get the uid for your fan page, click on the logo. The url in the address bar of your web browser will end with id=84300445447. That number is the uid.
Please note that in the above examples I have used my own uid's. Your numbers will be different. Other attributes for profile-pic are optional.
uid - the id number for the profile or fan page (this is not optional)
size - the size of the image. Values can be thumb (50px wide), small (100px wide), normal (200px wide), and square (50px by 50px). The default used is thumb is a size isn't specified. If you want to set a specific size, use width and height, which are listed below.
linked - makes the image link to the user's profile. The default is true, which links to the page
width - sets the width of the image in pixels
height - sets the height of the image in pixels
Kim Woodbridge is a WordPress and Facebook Consultant. You can visit her website, (Anti) Social Development
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_Woodbridge
The fbml tag is fb:profile-pic and looks like the following:
The only required attribute is uid. This is the ID number for the profile or fan page. Locating the UID is easier said than done but, then this is Facebook ;-)
To get the uid for your profile photo go to your photos tab. Click on any photo. In the address bar in your web browser, the url will end with id=629152408. That number is the uid you use with the fbml profile pic code. To get the uid for your fan page, click on the logo. The url in the address bar of your web browser will end with id=84300445447. That number is the uid.
Please note that in the above examples I have used my own uid's. Your numbers will be different. Other attributes for profile-pic are optional.
uid - the id number for the profile or fan page (this is not optional)
size - the size of the image. Values can be thumb (50px wide), small (100px wide), normal (200px wide), and square (50px by 50px). The default used is thumb is a size isn't specified. If you want to set a specific size, use width and height, which are listed below.
linked - makes the image link to the user's profile. The default is true, which links to the page
width - sets the width of the image in pixels
height - sets the height of the image in pixels
Kim Woodbridge is a WordPress and Facebook Consultant. You can visit her website, (Anti) Social Development
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_Woodbridge
Facebook Fan Pages Phoenix From FBML Disaster
Annoying As It Is Facebook That Easy To Use Social Media Platform Makes Creating Facebook Pages In FBML As Much Fun As Pulling Teeth
If you have been buzzing around Facebook for a while you will have noticed a surge in Facebook Fan Pages or Facebook Business Pages where the become a fan mantra has been replaced with the little blue like this button.
As you like something on Facebook all your friends and contacts get to share in your new found discovery and have the opportunity to visit too which makes it very easy to share likes and dislikes and interact easily with like minded people and make connections. So why Facebook decided to make creating a simple Facebook Fan Page in FBML quite so darn complicated is a complete mystery.
If you are in commerce of any kind you simply have to have a Facebook Fanpage because your profile has a limit of 5000 friends and can seriously cramp your style when long lost relatives appear to once again watching the latest soap opera and commenting on how fat spotty someone looks in HD when you are trying to build your global brand.
Like many of us who started our Facebook accounts as simple Facebook users looking to network with like minded people, the thought of creating a Facebook Fanpage was far in the distance, however the trend at this moment is to have and manage your own Facebook Fanpage or Facebook business page to interact with people on your page as you would on your blog.
Enter The Modern Day Super Hero Software
So the only hurdle that stands between you and your Facebook Page is FBML which is the Facebook version of HTML but with so many variations you will find it as annoying and frustration to get your page to look the way you want without the help of some ready made code, a vast array of tutorials or some Facebook Fanpage software.
Your Facebook FanPage should always stay on a business orientated message and you should study some of the most popular pages to see how they are getting fans and daily interaction. There are dozens of ways you can gauge instant reactions and rapport with people through your daily content and updates with a true business flavour that cannot be replicated in your personal profile as it is likely to be extremely diluted with your where you are now type photos and events which people love.
The easiest way to overcome the FBML challenge is to use software that is pre-designed to plug and play.
Diane Cossie specialises in helping others add structure and strategy to their network marketing businesses. To find out more about the most effective way software to create a Facebook Fanpage plus a short video tutorial visit Off Road MLM and kick start your Facebook Fanpage today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_Cossie
If you have been buzzing around Facebook for a while you will have noticed a surge in Facebook Fan Pages or Facebook Business Pages where the become a fan mantra has been replaced with the little blue like this button.
As you like something on Facebook all your friends and contacts get to share in your new found discovery and have the opportunity to visit too which makes it very easy to share likes and dislikes and interact easily with like minded people and make connections. So why Facebook decided to make creating a simple Facebook Fan Page in FBML quite so darn complicated is a complete mystery.
If you are in commerce of any kind you simply have to have a Facebook Fanpage because your profile has a limit of 5000 friends and can seriously cramp your style when long lost relatives appear to once again watching the latest soap opera and commenting on how fat spotty someone looks in HD when you are trying to build your global brand.
Like many of us who started our Facebook accounts as simple Facebook users looking to network with like minded people, the thought of creating a Facebook Fanpage was far in the distance, however the trend at this moment is to have and manage your own Facebook Fanpage or Facebook business page to interact with people on your page as you would on your blog.
Enter The Modern Day Super Hero Software
So the only hurdle that stands between you and your Facebook Page is FBML which is the Facebook version of HTML but with so many variations you will find it as annoying and frustration to get your page to look the way you want without the help of some ready made code, a vast array of tutorials or some Facebook Fanpage software.
Your Facebook FanPage should always stay on a business orientated message and you should study some of the most popular pages to see how they are getting fans and daily interaction. There are dozens of ways you can gauge instant reactions and rapport with people through your daily content and updates with a true business flavour that cannot be replicated in your personal profile as it is likely to be extremely diluted with your where you are now type photos and events which people love.
The easiest way to overcome the FBML challenge is to use software that is pre-designed to plug and play.
Diane Cossie specialises in helping others add structure and strategy to their network marketing businesses. To find out more about the most effective way software to create a Facebook Fanpage plus a short video tutorial visit Off Road MLM and kick start your Facebook Fanpage today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_Cossie
Finding Quality FBML Help
Some people have a tough time getting FBML help. This is understandable, as Facebook Markup Language (FBML) is a complex platform that integrates more aspects of Facebook into your use of the program. Here's the easy answer to getting FBML help - hire someone to do it for you. As a Realtor, your specialty is buying and selling real estate. When you hire someone that's already done it and is well-versed in this type of technology, it will make your life easier. If your heart's not in it, don't waste your time becoming frustrated with FMBL help. You are better at selling houses.
There are some Realtors, however, who want to research FBML help and figure it out on their own. It's easy enough to find, and when you have the time, you may have an opportunity to study and increase your knowledge about FBML help. At the bottom of your Facebook home page, there is a link that says "Developers." Click on the link and you'll be on a page with information about building out your website to integrate with Facebook, and vice versa.
On the Developers page on Facebook. Your first step is "Add Facebook to my Site," and from there you add applications, integrate your mobile device and even improve the platform experience. FBML help has a code that works very closely, 90% like HTML code. When you are familiar with this, it will make the development relatively simple. If you are not a technically oriented person, you may hire someone to provide you with FBML help.
My name is Jonathan Rivera and I wrote this article (through the amazing use of outsourcing). What I mean is that this article is actually produced through a very easy process. With this process I am able to produce boatloads of content with just 2 hours of work per month. I made a video about it, why don't you check it out here http://budurl.com/EasyExpertSystem.
ALSO...if you liked this post chances are you'll really like the stuff I share over at my blog, why don't you go check it out at http://www.Real-TechGuy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Rivera
There are some Realtors, however, who want to research FBML help and figure it out on their own. It's easy enough to find, and when you have the time, you may have an opportunity to study and increase your knowledge about FBML help. At the bottom of your Facebook home page, there is a link that says "Developers." Click on the link and you'll be on a page with information about building out your website to integrate with Facebook, and vice versa.
On the Developers page on Facebook. Your first step is "Add Facebook to my Site," and from there you add applications, integrate your mobile device and even improve the platform experience. FBML help has a code that works very closely, 90% like HTML code. When you are familiar with this, it will make the development relatively simple. If you are not a technically oriented person, you may hire someone to provide you with FBML help.
My name is Jonathan Rivera and I wrote this article (through the amazing use of outsourcing). What I mean is that this article is actually produced through a very easy process. With this process I am able to produce boatloads of content with just 2 hours of work per month. I made a video about it, why don't you check it out here http://budurl.com/EasyExpertSystem.
ALSO...if you liked this post chances are you'll really like the stuff I share over at my blog, why don't you go check it out at http://www.Real-TechGuy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Rivera
FBML - How to Add a Share Button to Your Facebook Fan Page
FBML provides the code to include a little share button, like the ones you see on the bottom right of the wall, on your customized fan or business page. When you are on any tab other than the wall, there isn't a share button, so it's useful to be able to add one so that visitors can share the page with their friends or even post your page to their own wall.
And this little bit of FBML is super easy to use. Unfortunately, the button can not be customized. It's going to look just like that. But, it can be added.
The code is:
< fb:share-button class="url" href="url to your facebook page" />
The only thing that you need to change is the the url after http://
If you want to make the share box a little fancier you would use the fbml that includes the meta class rather than the url class. With the meta class you can specify the image that is displayed rather than using the default logo and include a description that contains more information about the content of your page.
meta name="title" content=""name of fan page" - the name
meta name="description" content="description of fan page" - the description you want to use.
link rel="image_src" href="url to image location" - if you are using an alternative image, this would be the location on your server
link rel="target_url" href="url to your facebook fan page" - the URL that you are sharing
The message box when using the meta class looks like the following.
You can see that a different logo is being used and that the description that I specified is providing more detailed information about the page. Just one more little thing you can do with FBML on your fan page.
Kim Woodbridge is a Blog Publisher and WordPress Technical Consultant. You can visit her website, (Anti) Social Development
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_Woodbridge
And this little bit of FBML is super easy to use. Unfortunately, the button can not be customized. It's going to look just like that. But, it can be added.
The code is:
< fb:share-button class="url" href="url to your facebook page" />
The only thing that you need to change is the the url after http://
If you want to make the share box a little fancier you would use the fbml that includes the meta class rather than the url class. With the meta class you can specify the image that is displayed rather than using the default logo and include a description that contains more information about the content of your page.
meta name="title" content=""name of fan page" - the name
meta name="description" content="description of fan page" - the description you want to use.
link rel="image_src" href="url to image location" - if you are using an alternative image, this would be the location on your server
link rel="target_url" href="url to your facebook fan page" - the URL that you are sharing
The message box when using the meta class looks like the following.
You can see that a different logo is being used and that the description that I specified is providing more detailed information about the page. Just one more little thing you can do with FBML on your fan page.
Kim Woodbridge is a Blog Publisher and WordPress Technical Consultant. You can visit her website, (Anti) Social Development
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_Woodbridge
Create Facebook Custom Tabs Using FBML Now - Before They Phase It Out!
Facebook says they will stop allowing new FBML application development by the end of December 2010. They request you to "please implement your application within an iFrame, using our JavaScript SDK and Social Plugins."
This is NOT as simple to implement as HTML. So if you aren't a programmer with the skills to do this, I encourage you to build some FBML pages while you can, which means NOW.
Why build them if FBML is being phased out?
Because if you've created your custom business tabs using FBML, they'll continue to support those existing custom tabs in the future. After they phase it out, you'll still be able to build these custom tabs, however, the language used may not be as simple to use for business owners such as yourself, who may not have a web designer on hand and want to build these pages easily and quickly.
This change will affect the large community of amateur coders and entrepreneurs who, like me, love the simplicity of FBML tags and basic HTML. Facebook may replace FBML with a coding language that will be simpler to use however, if it doesn't, there may not be the opportunities for those of us less technically inclined or who don't want to take the time to learn the new Facebook platform. It can take months and sometimes years to become a competent coder.
I don't know about you, but I don't have a programmer on staff and I don't want to spend months learning new coding skills. However, I do know enough HTML to get the job done quickly, that's why I love the current FBML accessibility.
If you're in the same boat as me, I recommend you take a look at some other Facebook business pages with custom FBML tabs to see how having them on your Facebook page would benefit you. If you like what you see, now is the time to build some pages for the long haul with the simpler FBML language.
And now if you're ready to add opt-in boxes, video or even buy buttons to your custom tabs in Facebook with FBML, we've put together a step-by-step video tutorial to walk you through it when you're ready to create one, which you'll want to do before the end of 2010.
About The Author
Kim Miller is a successful video producer and publisher whose company, Panorama Studios, specializes in producing and selling special interest, educational and how-to videos. She is co-author of the How To Sell Your Videos blog, your source for advice and resources to successfully produce and sell your own videos.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_R_Miller
This is NOT as simple to implement as HTML. So if you aren't a programmer with the skills to do this, I encourage you to build some FBML pages while you can, which means NOW.
Why build them if FBML is being phased out?
Because if you've created your custom business tabs using FBML, they'll continue to support those existing custom tabs in the future. After they phase it out, you'll still be able to build these custom tabs, however, the language used may not be as simple to use for business owners such as yourself, who may not have a web designer on hand and want to build these pages easily and quickly.
This change will affect the large community of amateur coders and entrepreneurs who, like me, love the simplicity of FBML tags and basic HTML. Facebook may replace FBML with a coding language that will be simpler to use however, if it doesn't, there may not be the opportunities for those of us less technically inclined or who don't want to take the time to learn the new Facebook platform. It can take months and sometimes years to become a competent coder.
I don't know about you, but I don't have a programmer on staff and I don't want to spend months learning new coding skills. However, I do know enough HTML to get the job done quickly, that's why I love the current FBML accessibility.
If you're in the same boat as me, I recommend you take a look at some other Facebook business pages with custom FBML tabs to see how having them on your Facebook page would benefit you. If you like what you see, now is the time to build some pages for the long haul with the simpler FBML language.
And now if you're ready to add opt-in boxes, video or even buy buttons to your custom tabs in Facebook with FBML, we've put together a step-by-step video tutorial to walk you through it when you're ready to create one, which you'll want to do before the end of 2010.
About The Author
Kim Miller is a successful video producer and publisher whose company, Panorama Studios, specializes in producing and selling special interest, educational and how-to videos. She is co-author of the How To Sell Your Videos blog, your source for advice and resources to successfully produce and sell your own videos.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_R_Miller
FBML Vs iFrame - Facebook Applications
FBML is a Facebook proprietary markup language, very similar to HTML which gives programmers a lot of existing visual controls used to make a user interface in a natural Facebook look. On another side iFrame applications are running in iFrame inside Facebook environment as any other web application with its own styles. However some Facebook features have to be made using FBML and because of this there is technology called XFBML to import mandatory visual features in iFrame applications.
Since FBML applications are much better connect with Facebook, visual FBML controls are drown much faster then for iFrame applications. However there are also some disadvantages which FBML applications have vs
iFrame applications and vice versa. Developer of Facebook application have to consider what are his requirement for application and decide which the better type for development.
FBML advantages
1. Faster load of visual controls
2. Complete set of controls available (some controls are available only for FBML apps)
3. Easier usage of controls
4. Developing in PHP programming model
FBML disadvantages
1. Dependency on Facebook
2. XFBML and HTML is an only allowed technology to use. No Java Script and Flash
3. Impossibility to run on local machine which make difficulty in development
4. Forcing unnatural programming style for some platform as ASP. NET and JSF Iframe advantages
1. Independence of Facebook, easier to transfer the app on another platform as MySpace and Bebo
2. All web technologies can be used
3. Can be developed on local machine and run from IDE
4. Easier to use from platform as ASP.NET and JSF
5. Compatible technology as for Facebook Connect web sites makes transferring of Facebook application to standalone Facebook Connect web site is much easier. iFrame disadvantages
1. Slower load of FBML controls using XFBML
2. Not all FBML controls are available
Decision of which type of application to choose is not an easy one. From my side smaller load and luck of some controls are much less drawbacks than impossibility to use JavaScript and Flash especial for games. Also big advantage is compatible technology with Facebook Connect web sites and possibility to run and debug from local machine.
VATLAB.COM - ASP.NET Facebook Development
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vatroslav_Bodrozic
Since FBML applications are much better connect with Facebook, visual FBML controls are drown much faster then for iFrame applications. However there are also some disadvantages which FBML applications have vs
iFrame applications and vice versa. Developer of Facebook application have to consider what are his requirement for application and decide which the better type for development.
FBML advantages
1. Faster load of visual controls
2. Complete set of controls available (some controls are available only for FBML apps)
3. Easier usage of controls
4. Developing in PHP programming model
FBML disadvantages
1. Dependency on Facebook
2. XFBML and HTML is an only allowed technology to use. No Java Script and Flash
3. Impossibility to run on local machine which make difficulty in development
4. Forcing unnatural programming style for some platform as ASP. NET and JSF Iframe advantages
1. Independence of Facebook, easier to transfer the app on another platform as MySpace and Bebo
2. All web technologies can be used
3. Can be developed on local machine and run from IDE
4. Easier to use from platform as ASP.NET and JSF
5. Compatible technology as for Facebook Connect web sites makes transferring of Facebook application to standalone Facebook Connect web site is much easier. iFrame disadvantages
1. Slower load of FBML controls using XFBML
2. Not all FBML controls are available
Decision of which type of application to choose is not an easy one. From my side smaller load and luck of some controls are much less drawbacks than impossibility to use JavaScript and Flash especial for games. Also big advantage is compatible technology with Facebook Connect web sites and possibility to run and debug from local machine.
VATLAB.COM - ASP.NET Facebook Development
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vatroslav_Bodrozic
What Is FBML? By Andy Pitt
FBML is Facebook's mark-up language but these elements will take any HTML as well. So you have the ability to add newsletter sign-up forms, e-book downloads, and other HTML based elements. It is shown as easy to pick up. You certainly should be already familiar with HTML. It is a great solution for a complicated problem, and continues to be useful.
It is like HTML, but it lets you include social content inline in your markup. It is Facebook's version of HTML, the language that web pages are written in. For the most part, knowledge of HTML is all that is needed to utilize the functionality of the Static FBML application.
It is a modified version of HTML with some features discarded and other, Facebook-specific attributes added. Some CSS attributes are deleted for security reasons, and it has a set of unique tags you will be required to learn to create apps properly. It isn't a "proprietary language," it's a set of tags added to HTML that make it easier to write social apps. With it, I can show or hide elements of the page based on whether two users are friends - it's a simple tag that Facebook handles on their side. It is amazing; it's so great to be able to have YouTube videos on your Facebook page. I have been doing a lot of research recently.
It is an evolved subset of HTML with some elements removed, and others which have been added that are specific to Facebook. You set the FBML for a profile box by calling profile.setFBML through the API. It is a coding language that lets you custom builds these Facebook Platform apps. So if you know HTML, FBML is not too far off.
It is where the new version of the Facebook platform gets interesting and begins to separate itself from other simple widget platforms. It is great, and for some parts of your app you will want to use it, but the fact you can't debug it makes life extremely difficult. If you can get all your code working with iframes first, then it will be relatively easy to switch some bits to it when the time comes. It is a way for computer programmers to develop advanced pages and applications within a Fan Page. This is what you will be using to display you custom landing page.
It is not a completely new language. It allows the use of regular HTML tags making it extremely flexible for the programmer building the application or feature. It is a superset of HTML and ads on to HTML's features, basically letting you easily add Facebook specific details. The example application is immensely simple, but it gives you a quick look at it, giving you an idea of what it can do and how it does it. It is only used in profile boxes and Facebook-rendered canvas pages - developers can also use iframe canvas pages or non-Facebook sites/applications. Pretty much everything else client-side for a Facebook application is HTML, CSS, etc.
It is like HTML with certain restrictions and added features specific to Facebook. The theme is included with the module, but it has to be moved to a themes folder. It is called again through a canvas page. For a high-level technical specification for FBML, provisions have been given. It is another XML variant, a proprietary Facebook tag system to pass information from a database to the Facebook interface.
Andy Pitt Visit my blog at http://www.andypitt.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Pitt |  |
Social Networks: Facebook for Business
Social Networks: Facebook for Business
The world of real estate prospecting has morphed into Facebook friend requests, tweets, chirps and fan pages. Instead of asking for your phone number to talk about your services, clients might instead request you as a LinkedIn connection or message you on Facebook to get updates on a transaction. Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites out there - and real estate agents shouldn't ignore that fact. But you have to make your impact on social network meaningful and relevant to your target audience; you can't post a bunch of listings and expect business to rain down on you like manna from heaven. Here are some tips to stand apart from the crowd on Facebook:
After you sign up
* Target your audience (past/current clients, other agents, niche businesses)
* Pay attention to what people are posting about
* Attract friends, followers, connections and subscribers
* Interact and engage with your friends and/or fans
* Pay attention to what people are posting about
* Attract friends, followers, connections and subscribers
* Interact and engage with your friends and/or fans
Maximize your exposure
There are three types of accounts on Facebook: personal profiles, groups and business/fan pages. Also, you can place ads to targeted audiences in certain geographic areas for little cost.
Personal pages - Messages are limited to 20 recipients at a time with a personal page. There are strict rules about posting business information on a personal page.
Groups - Groups are set up for more personal interaction and are more directly connected to the people who administer them. Groups can be public or prviate.
Business/Fan pages - This is the ideal way to attract a public following. Here are some business page options:
Geographic area page.Create a page for your county or a specific neighborhood that is solely about that area and has no mention of your business. You'll get fans instantly and people won't feel pressured by seeing your business information on the page. Get people to interact on the page by holding photo contests, asking questions that elicit participation ("What's the best pizza place in town?" or "Where's the best hiking trail in our county?") and offering prizes, such as gift cards, dinner for two, etc. Get local businesses to participate; they'll be more than happy with the free exposure. To spread the word about your business, download a tab called FBML, which allows HTML on the page, such as a framed-in IDX search.
- Agent referral page. Add items of value, network with other agents at events posted on Facebook and share referrals.
- REO business page. Market your distressed property business and expertise to asset-management companies.
- Office or team page. Promote your office or team members, services and more with this page.
- Builder/condo page. Reach out to builders, condo associations and other groups who have a vested interest in these niches. Promote your expertise in condos, new construction and niche services.
Facebook Fan Page Templates Made Easy
Why Customize Your Facebook Fan Page?
It's no secret that there are millions of Facebook users all over the world. After all, it's the largest social media website on the globe, and people spend a lot of time surfing through it's pages and connecting with friends and business contacts.
In fact, there are so many fan pages (just called "pages" now) that it's impossible to stand out from the crowd unless you're willing to do a littlecustomization on your own personal or business Facebook fan page.
But that's where the real problem comes in for a lot of people.
They want to customize their Facebook fan page, but they don't have the skills to do it themselves and it can cost a small fortune to pay someone to do it for you.
That's why I absolutely LOVE the idea of Facebook fan page templates!
Facebook Fan Page Templates Make It Easy!
I have to tell you, from my own experience, that creating a Facebook fan page without any kind of template can be pretty confusing and difficult, especially if you don't understand the Facebook programming language (fbml).
But here are the basic steps, if you want to try it yourself:
Step 1: Create Your Fan Page
Login to your Facebook account and then go to:
Just follow the Facebook directions for setting up your page... they change often, so I'm not going to write them all in here. This is the easy part, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:
- Choose your page name carefully because you can't ever change it.
- Have some idea of what you want to accomplish with your page before you start.
- Think about using keywords in your page name to help with SEO.
Step 2: Write Up The Standard Info For Your Page
Choose a picture for your Facebook fan page, write your page info, etc. This is kind of the standard customizing that Facebook expects everyone to do to their page. There's really nothing particularly special about this part of the Facebook fan page, if you don't use some kind of template to juice it up.
Step 3: Add Static FBML App To Your Page
This is the Facebook App that you'll need to create a custom landing for your Facebook fan page. It will essentially set you up so that you can use the fbml language to create a custom looking landing tab for your page and the language is similar to html.
Once you add the FBML App to your page, then all you have to do is pop in yourFacebook fan page template, if you're using one, or create your own page with fbml, and you're all set.
If you're creating the code for the tab yourself, then you'll need to learn the fbml programming language.
Step 4: Make Your Custom Tab The Go-To Place
Once you've completed your coding for your custom tab or popped in yourFacebook fan page template, then you'll need to make that particular tab (usually named something like "Welcome") the page that non-fans land on when they come to your fan page.
Essentially, non-fans go to your Welcome Tab, where they are encouraged to "like" your page. If you've set it up properly as a business, then non-fans will receive some kind of offer to "like" your page, then they will be forwarded to your free gift when then click on the "like" button.
It's a great way to get more "likes" and build your fan base.
So here's a basic re-cap of what you'll need to do to customize your Facebook fan page and use a template or create your own:
Step 5: Begin Promoting
After you've completed your page, then it's time to start promoting your page. You'll want to invite all your friends and family to become your fan, post a "like" box to your fan page on your website or blog, announce it to your email list, etc. to get the word out.
If you're the moderator of a Facebook group, you can even email your group about your new Facebook fan page and your free offer to anyone who "likes" it.
I also suggest that you make it a habit to regularly post new updates to your page to keep people interested in it. You can do this manually if you want to, but there are also applications that will post snippets from your blog or profile onto your fan page.
Facebook Fan Page Templates - My Conclusions
Facebook is obviously here to stay, and the fan page is the most effective way to promote your business or product on Facebook. That's why so many big companies send customers to their fan pages, instead of their websites, in their television commercials.
Facebook fan pages are a hot trend in online marketing right now.
But you've got to be able to compete and make your fan page stand out from the crowd. And the best way to do that is to customize your page with a Facebook fan page template.
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