As of tonight there are impressions and feedback % under each post on all my Facebook pages. I no longer have to click through to my analytics to find out more info about my fans.

As a numbers geek I find this kind of cool. It tells me what my other analytic tools do as well. What friends/fans are viewing, and what they are responding to.

I’m interested to see if the items that are most viewed on my website and retweeted on twitter are the same ones that are being viewed and commented on on Facebook pages.

Why is that info important? It tells us if what we’re writing connects on which platform which means I can customize what I send to each platform instead of just mass sending everything to twitter, Facebook, and subscribers.

Have you notice Facebook analytics on your pages yet?

Posted by Kelly

Klout is fairly new site that measures an individual’s social media influence. Using their algorithm they grade your social media influence based on 35 factors gathered from your twitter and Facebook accounts, even including the number of Likes, RTs and other metrics on your profile page. It’s been getting lots of buzz lately but it’s been mixed reviews. There have been lists of mom bloggers with high Klout scores via Jennifer James, and Klout itself. There has also been concern about how the measurement will be used. From the accuracy of Klout scores via Morgan Brown who wrote about his Klout score being a farce, to Charity Hisle of 2witterbug who wrote “Kiss My Klout” pointing out the flaws in how a score can be perceived.

What’s a Klout Score?

Klout scores are on a scale of 1-100 with 100 being the highest score. You can also find metrics such as “true reach”, amplification, and network. Take a look at our meager score on our twitter account (@justcentsible).

@JustCentsible Klout score

Klout Updates:

Klout recently announced that it will be updating scores daily (and without you having to manually update your score), and they have enhanced their algorithm which made many scores jump 10-20 points.

How do we use Klout?

As bloggers we love having another data point to share with brands which we’ll include in our ad kits. Unfortunately there will always be the concern that marketing and PR firms will rely too heavily on Klout as their only data point.While our scores are great right now (Julie is 66 and Kelly is 70 as of this posting) we know many very influential people in social media who have abysmal scores on Klout.

From the PR side we love having another metric to learn more about bloggers we are working with or researching for campaigns we are creating. We are careful to do all our homework though and use a variety of methods to gauge reach, traffic, and influence. We look at Klout as just another tool in our toolbox.

Is Klout accurate?

Peter Shankman has some great points on how Klout works, and why Klout will help brands target the right influencers. It’s definitely a valid way to see what someone is talking about is relevant to your brand, but we’ve heard from many people that the list of topics are often off base. (as in they have never tweeted about said topic) It’s also easy to get the same information from actually reading a person’s twitter stream, Facebook page or even their blog all of which can be accomplished quickly for a cursory understanding of what topics they discuss. That kind of social media research should not be replaced by Klout.

We also call question on some of the other measurements as Julie’s Klout says she influences Jimmy Rollins (who has a Klout score of 18), and Kelly’s Klout hasn’t updated the metrics on RTs and other measurements in over a week.

Why should you care about Klout?

Overall we would definitely recommend that Klout is a site you should keep an eye on-if only to see what happens next. At the very least, we’re curious to see what else Klout has up their sleeves. We’ve already seen that influencers were given free airfare, free movie tickets (Recently we were both invited to a screening of Disney’s Tangled and each received a gift package including some goodies for our kids), and the Palms recently announced a “Klout Klub.”

If you are a blogger pay attention to your Klout score, but don’t freak out if your score isn’t great. (the same advice goes for looking at your traffic numbers) If you’re in PR or marketing it makes sense to pay attention as well, but know that Klout is still new and it shouldn’t be your only data for making decisions.

What do you think of Klout? Do you feel like it’s just another way to market to social media folks (who in turn influence their audiences) or do you feel like it’s an interesting new measurement of influence?

Kelly & Julie

We spoke at Bloggy Boot Camp alongside Shannon Ott from PhillyBurbMoms.com about PR and blogging. Julie covered what PR is, and as a former PR girl she filled us in that you don’t send out a “Media Kit,” to PR people. (It’s a blog package or Ad Package) Shannon tackled PR and local businesses, she and partner Sarah run Chester County Moms, as well as several other hyperlocal sites focused on local activities, and events. Kelly covered PR and monetization-how you can make money working with brands, and how to get started making money.

Our slideshow is featured here:

We also had a handout that included some great info, including what affiliates to sign up for, groups you can join to land paying gigs or reviews for new products and more. You can click on the link below and it will open up in Adobe.

BBC Worksheet

Have any questions about blogging and PR? Ask away in the comments!

Kelly and Julie

We love to talk social media. Get us in a room with a group, and we could go on and on. Fortunately we’ve found that people actually want to listen to us talk about social media. You can find us at these upcoming events. If you’re going, we’d love to see you there. If you aren’t we hope you can try and make it!

Bloggy Boot Camp in Philadelphia

Julie, Kelly and Shannon will be covering the how, what, and why of PR. Our audience will be bloggers so we’ll share tips and tricks we’ve learned in a fun atmosphere.

When: Saturday, Septmeber 11th, 2010

Bloggy Boot Camp is the brainchild of the SITS girls. It’s all about blogging at a one day conference with other people who are eager to learn how to be better bloggers. Personally I love that they are on a Saturday when most of the attendees are more likely to have childcare from their spouses. They have bootcamps all over the US, for a full schedule see Bloggy Boot Camp.

NAWBO: Social Media and Business

Social Media and business go hand in hand, but if you’re just getting started social media can be overwhelming. Join Kelly, Julie, Cecily Kellogg, Colleen Padilla, and Nicole Galli to learn how you can grow your business through social media. You’ll learn:

• Why social media is important in a Web 3.0 world.
• What types of social media are right for you and your business.
• How social media improves your business.
• Social media legalities
• How to blend social media with your face-to-face marketing.
• Who owns the user generated content on a social media site?
• What can/can’t you say in a blog?
• What to do if someone is improperly using your company or brand name(s) in social media?
• What privacy concerns are there, if any, related to information contained on a social media site?
• Why should you have a social media policy and what should be in it?
• What can/can’t you do with social media in the employment context?

Tuesday, September 21st from 8:30-11:30am at Maggiano’s in King of Prussia PA

Sign up at NAWBO: http://www.nawbophiladelphia.org/node/25

Changing your username on Facebook should be obvious, but like most things Facebook, it’s not.

Here are the 5 easy steps to changing your username and page name(s):

1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/username
2. Choose your name carefully-once you change it-it’s set in Facebook stone
3. If you have already set your personal username, and want to change your Facebook page you should see a link that says set your username for your pages. (see below)
4. Click it to rename your pages.
5. You’re done!

Wasn’t that easy?

Tech-Bites at Best Buy King of Prussia

With Special Guests Julie Pron and Kelly Whalen and guest chefs from Seasons 52

Saturday, June 19

Open House from 11am to 4pm

At 11am and 2pm Seasons 52 Chefs will share how to prepare seasonally-inspired flat breads and perfectly paired mini indulgences with flair for all of your summer entertaining.

Learn from experts about the latest and greatest products with roving demonstrations. Including, getting the most out of your camera so you can relive your summer memories; or now that the kids have time on their hands, learn how to provide a fun and safe gaming experience. Also, you will not want to miss the chance to see what 3D technology in your home could do to pack movie night with excitement.

Hear Philadelphia mom bloggers and community partners as they share tips and tricks.

See and play with hottest new gadgets and experience the fun first hand.

Best Buy King of Prussia
310 Goddard Blvd
King of Prussia, PA 19406

Directions

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the event!

Facebook is a great tool to reach a huge audience. Facebook is the #1 social networking site, and is growing among all demographics.

You’ve create a Facebook page, but now you need to promote it. You’ve invited your friends on Facebook, but want to share it with a larger audience. One easy way to share your Facebook page is linking to it on your website with a Facebook icon.

Creating a Like Box  for your blog or website also allows people to have an easy call to action to “Like” you on Facebook.

Facebook has a great guide to creating a Like Box, Buttons and more in their developers reference area. The only issue with it is they leave one tiny and important detail out. You have to find your Facebook ID number to create the box or button, and it takes some digging around to figure that out.

I’ll make it easy on you with 5 easy steps.

1. Go to your fan page.
2. Right click on your profile photo and copy the link.
3. Paste the link in your browser and don’t hit enter.
4. Copy the string of numbers at the end of the address and paste them into the box that says Facebook Profile ID
5. Add the code to your sidebar or site.

Ours is in the sidebar-and we’d love for you to Like us. You can see it shows up nicely, and allows people to do one click and Like your page. They don’t even have to leave your site!

Creating a fan page is a super simple process if you know the right steps. Facebook is a wonderful way to let friends, and fellow Facebookers know what you are doing, and follow along with your blog or brand.

1. Login to Facebook
2. On the left side menu you will see a heading for Ads and Pages-click it.
3. Click Create Page
4. Enter in the info for your page and choose a name
5. If you have a brand or business that is more suited to a community page (note: if this grow large Facebook will maintain it) or a group (great for getting people involved if you have a specific promo going on)-use those options.
6. Add a profile picture. Preferably of the person who is running the page. If you are a brand this should be a photo or your logo.
7. Invite friends.
8. Once you have 25 fans you can change the name from a bunch of gobbledy gook (IE: www.facebook.com/pages/Just-Centsible/121498567872150) to something more manageable such as www.facebook.com/pages/TheCentsibleLife.

Note that you can only change the name once. If your chosen name is taken try adding another word to it. Larger brands can often get Facebook to give back a fan created page, but it is a long process.

Make sure to link to your Facebook page on your website, and in your contact info.

We’d love if you’d become a fan of Just Centsible on Facebook.

Next up we’ll talk how to add a Facebook widget, and how to make that name change happen-it’s not so obvious.

Hosting a giveaway is a fantastic way to introduce your blog to prospective readers. Its just as easily a way to lose readers. When agreeing to host a giveaway, consider a few things:

• What is the purpose in hosting this giveaway?
• What does hosting this giveaway on my blog say about my blog?
• What can I do to make my new visitors stay and enjoy my blog?
• Who is benefiting from this giveaway? How will they benefit?
• Do I respect the company I am representing? The readers? Myself?

Creating a purpose

As with every blog post, you should envision a purpose before you begin creating your post. Likely, the public or media relations contact at a company approached you and asked you to run a giveaway of their product on your blog. Or you opted to giveaway something of your own, or something you purchased. Either way, recognizing the purpose to your post will keep your detail in line. Is your purpose:

1. To create hype about a new product?
2. To increase your pageviews?
3. To gain attention to another site?
4. To gain and retain new readership?

While it would be ideal to answer yes to many of these questions, a focused giveaway, one that readers will appreciate, will focus on just one of these purposes.

Creating a reputation

Even when hosting a giveaway, your reputation is on the line. If you’re hosting a giveaway for a stack of tissues, readers are going to know you as “the blogger who gave away tissues.” Likewise, if you giveaway a one-year membership to a gym, people will recognize you as that blogger. Keep your giveaways relevant to your blog to keep your readership interested.

Creating a following

Hosting a giveaway is one of the easiest ways to increase your page-views and introduce your blog to potential new followers. Its your job to convince readers to stay on your site beyond the 30 second entry form. How to do it? Entice them. Show your personality in your giveaway post. Rather than posting a brief blurb about a product and offering them 10 ways to enter (9 of which require readers to leave your blog), tell them something about you and your blog. If you’re humorous, write your giveaway post with humor. If you talk about your children, do that in your giveaway post. Introduce your readers to your charm, your wit, and, oh, yes, the product they may win. You only get one chance to win over a new reader. And a quick “here’s how to win” won’t win the game.

Creating a win

True, you’ll likely only draw one or two giveaway winners, but so many more people can win from your giveaway post. You can win new blog readers. Your readers win when they find an amazing new blog that they want to follow. And the company you are representing wins when you speak kindly and highly of them. Keep your giveaway post light and full of enthusiasm.

Creating respect

Ultimately, its all about respect. Show respect for the company you are writing about and the product you are giving away with an honest review. Show respect for your readers by creating simple to follow giveaway rules; don’t make them do more work than the prize is worth. And show respect for your blog and yourself by hosting a giveaway you’re proud to host and proud to have represent you.

Next week, we’ll talk more about giveaways, focusing on giveaway policies for bloggers.

The key to Social Media is engagement. Its about building and maintaining relationships. While forming strong relationships, prospective customers, clients and readers learn to trust and become loyal.

Social Media has no set demographics, it has no overpowering rules. Its a popularity contest unlike any other: we’re blind to appearance. Instead we look for in-dispensable knowledge, information sharing and feedback. Some important ways to advance in Social Media:

1. Jump in. There’s no greater a turn-off in social media than people who only post about themselves and don’t discuss. Jump right in to a conversation.
2. Offer advice. Unsolicited advice is welcome in social media as long as its thoughtful, relevant and done with tact.
3. Reply relevantly. Give your response thought and, when appropriate, make it witty
4. Talk about your life. People in social media don’t need to know facts about your workplace. They can Google that information, or find it on wiki. They want to know you. Social Media is about the person.
5. Give the people you converse with something to do. Having a conversation is a huge part of social media, but when you want results, have a purpose.
6. Ask questions. Its not all about you. They want to know you want to know about them.