If you have visitors to your Fan page and they are not yet fans, I call them non-fans, you ideally want those visitors to be directed to your custom Welcome Tab rather than your Wall. 

The idea behind this is you want to have a clear and inviting page that provides these visitors with an immediate sense of who you are, what you do, why they should become a fan, AND you want to provide a call to action with a nice visual to your Become a Fan button. 

If the visitor is already a Fan they’ll automatically be directed to your Wall as the landing page so they can read your updates, see what your community has to say and share their thoughts. 

Before you can set up your fan page to make the distinction between fans and “non-fans” you’ll need to create a Welcome tab:

Add the Static FBML App 

FBML stands for Facebook Markup Language.  It’s Facebook’s own version of HTML.  You want to install this application because it allows you to configure your Fan Page with custom tabs.  If you are good at traditional HTML you will pick up FBML very quickly. 

If you don’t have any experience with HTML you are not alone and I highly suggest you work with a web developer who can quickly and easily add all of the custom apps you want without the headache and frustration of learning this new language at a time when you are trying to grow your business and fan base.  But, if you love that type of challenge, more power to you!

Here’s how you add the Static FBML application so you or your web designer can start configuring your landing page:

• In the master Search box at the top right corner, type in FBML. 
• Click on the square Facebook FBML icon to go to that page.  Under the icon on the left side of that new page, Click on Add to My Page (as shown in the screenshot below).
• You will then see a pop up window with thumbnails of any fan pages you’re an Admin for.  Click on the button that says Add Static FBML next to the fan page you want.  

Creating the Custom Content

After you install the Static FBML app, go back to your Fan page and click Edit Page under your image.  You will now see new applications to choose from – click on the edit link for the FBML app. 

There are essentially two simple, blank fields to this app and that’s it. It’s so simple, it seems complex! The first small field is where you enter the title of the tab you want.  Then the larger field is where you paste in the raw HTML code.  [NOTE: Something really cool to know about the Static FBML app is you can add additional iterations of the app for as many custom boxes/tabs as you wish!]

If you are fairly savvy about adding similar HTML text to a WordPress site then this will be a snap, but again, don’t be afraid to enlist the help of a web developer.

For do-it-yourself folks, try Windows Livewriter (for PCs only) – it’s a free WYSIWYG desktop blog writing software (I use it for all my blog posts) where you can create the content you want, then view the raw HTML source code and copy/paste. Or, if you’re more advanced, software like Dreamweaver will be a good choice.

Once you have created and added the content you want, you can add this new tab to the list of tabs on your fan page by clicking on the double arrows that appear on your tab bar on the far right. 

To “lock” the positioning of your first several tabs in place, click on the tab itself and you can actually pick it up and drag and reorder. Once you’re finished reordering, this new order will remain “set.”

Adjust the Settings

Now that your Welcome tab is set up, it’s time to adjust your settings for the appropriate landing page for your fans and your non-fans.  There are a couple places to do so; here’s the simplest:

• On your Wall tab, look just below the Share button of your Publisher and you’ll see a tiny link for Options. Click on that, then click Settings.
• Use the drop-down menu next to Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else, and select Welcome so that all non-fans are directed to your Welcome page first. 

Custom welcome tab – your Welcome tab is for non-fans and the key objective is to provide the call to action so that people become a fan.  The really fun trend with Welcome tabs is to make them multi-media – a short (1 minute or less) welcome video, an audio post, etc.  This is such a great personal way to connect with your new visitors. Of course, you can name this landing tab whatever you wish; it doesn’t have to be “Welcome.”

Add an Opt-In box

An Opt-In box on FB is much the same as one on your website.  It is a way to offer free products or services to your visitors in exchange for their email address for future marketing purposes. 

You may choose to use the same give-away product as your website or offer a different one.  If you want to track where your contact list originates or you believe the demographics of your fans may be different than your website visitors, you might want to offer different giveaways for each opt-in box. 

Otherwise, I would recommend sticking with the same offerings for both your website and fan page.  Again, if you are good with HTML, it will be a breeze for you to use the Static FBML application to add your opt-in box, otherwise put this on your to-do list for your web-designer.  (Note – this opt in box will be programmed just like the one on your website – using the same auto-responder program such as aWeber, 1ShoppingCart, Constant Contact, etc.)

If you go visit my friend, John Assaraf’s, Facebook fan page (screenshot above) – you’ll find he actually has three different opt-in boxes on three separate tab: Welcome, Ask John (genius!), and RAK.

Now that your custom landing tab and opt-in box is in place, I’ll be writing about some of the fun and strategic ways to increase your community of fans on upcoming posts. Meantime, I’d love to hear what unique things you’ve done so far to welcome your potential fans.  Have you seen some really neat welcome pages that you want to share with the rest of us?  Add your comment below!

Technorati Tags: facebook, fan page, Mari Smith, Social Media, static fbml

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Last week, the massive social network announced that brands, advertisers, and marketers that want to run contests or sweepstakes on its platform have to go through an approval process first.

Getting that approval could be a new revenue stream for Facebook: according to multiple sources in the marketing industry, they’re being told that running a promotion in a Facebook application or "fan page" requires buying ad space too.

It’s pricey. The minimum ad buy is $10,000 for 30 days, using Facebook’s self-service advertising system, according to documents seen by CNET, or $30,000 for 30 days of Facebook home page ads. Priority in the approval process will be scaled, based on how much advertising space has been purchased.

[Bolding added by Mari]. Read the full article on CNET News here: Running a contest on Facebook? That’ll cost you.

Whew, the whole contest guidelines are more severe than I first realized!! What are your thoughts? How do you feel about using Facebook with these new developments? Add your comments below.

Though I’m really surprised at the severity of the new rules, I know we can all come up with creative ways to promote our brand/business/fan page outside of Facebook. It’ll be interesting to see what creative campaigns people launch now!

Original post follows:

Facebook just released the latest revision of their Promotion Guidelines - as pertains to promoting a contest, competition, drawing or sweepstakes using your personal profile and/or Fan Page.

As is usually the case with legal jargon, it’s best to seek proper legal advice to interpret these new rules.

However, as one of my passions is to take the complex, simplify it and teach other peeps, here’s my attempt at demystifying these new guidelines and sharing the least you need to know:

1. Facebook members CANNOT use the platform for any kind of contest, drawing, competition or sweepstakes without the prior written approval of Facebook.
   

2. In order to work with a Facebook account representative, here’s the form you’ll need to fill out. [NOTE: the form has two fields - your country and your estimated budget starting at <$10,000. Do you get the impression Facebook is deterring the, um, "small guy?"!]
   

3. IF you get such written approval, then you can ONLY administer the promotion via a third party application, and:
   
   1. The promotion can only appear on the canvas page (landing tab) of a fan page and/or via an application box on the boxes tab.
   2. …and, there’s not much point in reading further from here, because you need to have your own Facebook account executive to work with and provide that coveted written approval!!

Basically, when it comes to promoting any kind of competition or contest or drawing or sweepstakes on the Facebook platform, it seems Facebook wants to wash their hands off any potential legal ramifications. Period.

Instead, for Facebook users to run any such promotion on the platform, Facebook is directing us to go through third party applications. That is, only with Facebook’s careful guidance and watchful eye.

You CAN publicize a promotion that is completely outside of Facebook — but it cannot mention Facebook in any way, shape or form, nor can you condition entry upon any action involving Facebook, e.g. joining a Fan Page, uploading a photo, updating a status, etc.

Basically, this means you can run any contest/competition/drawing you wish that has nothing to do with Facebook - you are duly approved to do so. LOL!!!

So there you have it. I thought this would be a lengthy blog post going into all the ramifications of running contests on Facebook… but, without that prior written approval from Facebook, I suggest you run any such promotions far away from Facebook! (Psst - perhaps on a site like Twitter?!)

As Facebook Expert, Justin Smith, says:

By requiring all promotions to occur within applications of some kind, Facebook is both keeping the News Feed cleaner and signaling to the tools community that it wants them heavily involved in the future of marketing on Facebook.

What are your thoughts? Have Facebook gone to the far side with these extreme conditions? Do you think they are justified in protecting themselves against legal ramifications with such promotions? Is the small guy/gal left out? Add your comments below:

Technorati Tags: contest guidelines, facebook, Mari Smith, Social Media, Social Networking

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It’s a social media jungle out there!! Yes, there are many bona fide sources of excellent social media blogs, websites, resources, products, services and service providers.

However, in the exploding social media industry, there is certainly room for additional trusted sources. Especially sources focused purely on the business element of social media marketing - and this is where the hot new online magazine, Social Media Examiner, comes into its own.

I’m proud and honored to be a part of my dear friend, Michael Stelzner’s, “Social Media Dream Team” behind the Social Media Examiner.

Your New Social Media Guides

We believe, just as you wouldn’t embark on a jungle safari without an experienced guide to show you the way, in order to effectively use social networking giants like Facebook and Twitter to boost your business’s bottom line, you need a savvy social media guide to help you!

Just launched today, Social Media Examiner is a colorful, free weekly online magazine that features articles, interviews and tips penned by many of the world’s leading social media authorities, specialists, consultants, trainers and speakers.

The online publication gives business owners and marketers every tool they need to leverage social media techniques for success.

“We pulled out all the stops for this new online magazine,” says my friend, Michael Stelzner - he’s the site’s founder and organizer of the smash-hit Social Media Success Summit event.

Stats Show Businesses Don’t Know How to Use Social Media

Facebook boasts 300 million active users worldwide. Fifty million people tweet on Twitter. Forty-three million rely on LinkedIn. Social media sites are worldwide hangouts for everyone from Fortune 100 CEOs to clever young entrepreneurs.

The Social Media Marketing Industry Report, published earlier this year, found that 81% of all marketers who use social media said it generates more exposure for their business; 62% said it helped close more business deals; and 85% of small-business owners said they reaped benefits from social media techniques.

But a July 2009 study by eMarketer revealed that though 81% of executives feel social media marketing enhances brands and business relationships, 51% of them aren’t using it for one simple reason: They don’t know how.

A Jungle of Information

There’s so much conflicting and confusing information about social media available online and offline. Business owners need a reliable source of social media news, resources and sage advice that they can implement with confidence.

The Social Media Examiner is colorful and interactive! The site provides how-to articles; case studies that give specific examples of how top business leaders use social media; video interviews with trusted experts; and summaries of the latest research.

Interesting Social Media Factoids

· In 2010, 50+ Percent of Marketers Will Be Using Social Media (Center for Media Research) http://bit.ly/J3Wdt

· 75% of Marketers Plan To Increase Social Media Use in 2010 (eMarketer) http://bit.ly/1bzqlx

· 1/3rd of Web Users Visit Social Media Sites Monthly (mostly for research & recommendations) (Silverpop) http://bit.ly/d8toq

· Facebook Users Increase “Time on Site” to Nearly 6 Hours per Month! (Nielson) http://bit.ly/liwYC

Your Input Is Welcome!

We look forward to welcoming you to this fabulous new online resource!! Let me know in the comments below what subjects you’d particularly LOVE to see covered in-depth on the Social Media Examiner:

Technorati Tags: chris garrett, denise wakeman, jason falls, Mari Smith, michael stelzner, mike stelzner, Social Media, social media examiner

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The panel was fun and informative! We talked about building community, what to tweet about, how to tweet, whether to auto follow or not, how to measure ROI, how big brands can engage their followers and more.

[Pic: @msuster @marismith & @guykawaski in background. Photo credit: @ErkChristiansen @ParnassusGroup]

I gave a shoutout to some of my fave follows [for content: @mashable @mike_stelzner @techcrunch @rww] as well as:

Twitter tools I use frequently:

• Twhirl - I love the simplicity of this small desktop app for @ & DM management.
• Hootsuite - excellent platform for pre-scheduling, synch with Ping.fm & saved searches/groups just like Tweetdeck only web-based!
• Ping.fm - multi platform broadcaster; I post to LinkedIn, Twitter, my Facebook profile, Plaxo, Plurk & Identica. I stopped posting to my Facebook Fan Page as I use the new Facebook Twitter app.
• SocialToo - one of my longtime faves by @jesse for selective autofollowing. (I was the only one on the panel who autofollows! See this post for further insights: Twitter Autofollow and Auto DM etiquette)
• SocialOomph - formerly known as Tweetlater, I use this site for prescheduling broadcasts to Twitter only. It also does keyword alerts, autofollowing and more.
• TwitPic - though there are several other photo platforms that synch with Twitter (along with Facebook), I find I always get the highest click and interaction rate with TwitPic.
• Utterli - perfect for dialing in an audio tweet from the road!
• 12Seconds.tv - record just 12 seconds of video from your webcam!
• TweetMic - my fave app is actually FaceMic for recording audio messages, attaching a photo and posting to my Facebook profile (or even a specific friend!!) But TweetMic is a decent alternative to Utterli for broadcasting audio tweets.
• Tweetie iPhone app - I’ve tried the rest, Tweetie is the best.
• Facebook Fan Page Twitter app - of course being the Pied Piper of Facebook, I had to get a good plug for the platform even though I was speaking at a Twitter conference (!). What this app does is allow you to write up to 420 characters as your Fan Page status update and then it posts to Twitter with a bit.ly link back to your Fan Page! You can also select to have links, photos, videos and notes tweeted out. I have all but Notes because my blog posts are imported to Notes and also go out on Twitter so I’d end up with duplicate tweets.

Turquoise and bling, that’s my thing!

Of course, I wore my signature brand of blue/turquoise and bling… cuz that’s my thing. Yep, even my iPhone skin is turquoise and bling, a rare find last year! And I love this real orchid blue neckpiece I recently found on Etsy.

When Guy asked us how we measure ROI, it was clear the number of followers was not as important as the amount of engagement, how much traffic gets driven to blogs/sites and new revenue generated.

Part of my measurement is increase in number of Facebook fans. (Yes, I spotted a couple tweets commenting on how I was talking about Facebook at a Twitter conference!!)

In fact, in a side conversation with Brad Nelson of @starbucks, he mentioned they are highly active on their Facebook Fan Page as part of their overall social media strategy. That’s the thing with singling out just one platform. Other than Twitter app developers, I can’t think of any business that would use Twitter exclusively for their marketing. Hmm, wonder if Facebook and Twitter would ever team up to host a conference?! LOL.

Nonetheless, the 140 Twitter Conference was exceptional!! Kudos to @sbroback @jasonp107 & @pcrampton of @parnassusgroup and two thumbs up to @brettschulte.

[Pic: @guykawaski @andrewblair @msuster @marismith @halfnelson / @starbucks. Photo credit: @ErkChristiansen @ParnassusGroup]
Yep, I really am tweeting live while on the panel! Just a couple times. Mostly I was viewing my saved search for #140tc on Tweetie to keep my finger on the sentiment pulse of our panel. Watching the tweetstream, I actually chose to circle back to a comment I made about “ABM: Always Be Marketing” which I’ve written about on my other blog. I definitely stirred some controversy which is not like me at all. Oh well. You can’t please all the people all the time, but you can please some of the peeps some of the time, right?!

Of course, @TonyRobbins was the HIGHLIGHT of the event, pumping the crowd and delivering terrific inspiration to all. (At the peak, the livestream of #140tc had over 1000 people tuned in!)

[Photo credits: (L) Jim Alden @TechFrog: Flickr #140tc slideshow (R) @ErkChristiansen @ParnassusGroup]

PS - can you spot me in the front row, signature turquoise?! “Always Be Marketing” ;)]

Other awesome tools gleaned from the 140 Twitter Conference:

• TidyTweet
• Tweetstats
• TweetOclock
• TwitterSheep
• TweetReach
• TweepSearch
• TweetBeep
• BackTweets
• FeedMyInbox
• Trendistic (great for trends, not complete in tracking/monitoring brands)
• Xefer
• Search.Peoplebrowsr - amazing sentiment tracker by savvy @wingdude, founder of PeopleBrowsr
• twendz
• inView - in private beta just now, awesome tweet stream/search/notification debuted at the #140tc
• Twitturly
• FriendorFollow
• Twitter Groups
• The Archivist - save and export Twitter searches
• Klout - measure your or anyone’s influence factor! I was honored to be high on the influence list for #140tc

Here’s my short wee video interview by @SallyFalkow talking about how PR companies might approach Twitter/social media - see Sally’s full blog post with this video here.

Related posts & photo collections:

• Live Blogging Tony Robbins Keynote 140/Twitter LA: celebrate for no reason
• Twitter for the Enterprise by @tkontzer
• The 140 Twitter Conference.. for the Win! by @davepeck
• Rockfish Presents TidyTweet to 140 Twitter Conference: TidyTweet Named Best New Twitter Application
• Culture and Authenticity: Lessons from 140: The Twitter Conference by @ProfJonathan
• Brands Find Twitter Effective - includes short video interview with me! by @SallyFalkow
• Awesome photo collection by Jim Alden @TechFrog: Flickr #140tc slideshow
• 140|The Twitter Conference: It’s a Wrap - great photos & post by @BrianSolis
• Steve Broback’s Parnassus Group photo collection
• 140tc Flickr photo collection by Eyeficard
• View the #140tc hashtag tweets here.
• View some of my best tweets that got retweeted here.

Hope you enjoyed this collection of goodies! Let me know which tools, tips and tactics you find to be helpful. Feel free to add your own too in the comments below:

Technorati Tags: 140tc, branding, guy kawasaki, Mari Smith, starbucks, Twitter

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UPDATE: January 4th, 2009 - Facebook’s latest Privacy settings are much more limited… despite the fact they say we have more control. Please refer to this post for updated Facebook News Feed and Wall info. I’ll be adding to my whyfacebook.com blog shortly too.

Original post follows:

A Facebook friend recently mentioned she was intentionally responding to new Facebook friend requests late at night as she didn’t want to clog up her friends’ feeds. Thing is, there’s a setting in your Facebook Privacy to control exactly what gets published on your Facebook Wall and your friends’ News Feeds.

I have my settings tweaked so that when I add a new friend this is not published on my Wall or friends’ News Feeds. One of the main reasons was, like my girlfriend, I didn’t want to clog up my friends’ feeds.

But, also, what I found was that some folks would watch my feed and see who I was becoming friends with, then reach out to them and infer we had a much deeper connection than was so. Such is the nature of Facebook friends — it could be someone brand new you’ve just added or someone you’ve known all your life.

In any case, there are a few settings you may not be aware of either when it comes to what content you choose to publish on your Wall and, by default, out into your friends’ News Feeds.

How to edit your News Feed and Wall settings:

On the top blue navigation bar, mouseover Settings > then click on Privacy Settings > then click on News Feed and Wall as shown in the screenshot below:

On the next screen, check or uncheck the settings as you wish. The screenshot below is exactly how I have my settings:

Add a friend

If you have the “Add a friend” setting checked on your News Feed and Wall privacy section, your Wall could look like this when you confirm friend requests en masse:

Plus, this activity may show up in all your friends’ News Feeds. There could be very strategic reasons to leave this setting checked as maybe you want people to see how many friends you’re adding, or who they are. But my preference is to have it private for reasons mentioned above.

I’ve been at the 5,000 Facebook friend limit since fall 2008 but I do monitor my News Feed very closely to ensure the people in my inner circle are a match for my style and vice versa. (By the way, if ever you remove a friend, no notifications go out at all. I know this is a concern for many folks!)

Show Wall posts or not?

If you also use Facebook for personal purposes and want to keep personal separate from business, you might want to give thought to this Wall setting. In other words, if you prefer to have the Wall posts you write only show up on that friend’s Wall and not be published out into the News Feed of all your friends, uncheck the top setting. (There is a much more granular way to control your Publisher settings which I’ll write about in a separate post).

I tend to be totally open and use Facebook for strategic professional networking 99% of the time. Every action creates visibility so I’m happy for all Wall posts to go into all friends’ feeds.

One thing to consider though is when you’re wishing your friends a happy birthday. Whether it’s you or an assistant that writes birthday greetings, you might want to be aware that every Wall post may go out into your friends’ News Feed assuming the “Show Wall posts” setting is checked. If you have a lot of friends and all you write is “Happy Birthday” on your friends’ Walls one after the other, frankly, I think it looks automated and impersonal. Instead, I suggest mixing up the birthday greetings and perhaps even spacing them out a bit.

Change relationship status

Again, it’s a personal choice. But, for me, I recently went through a personal transition as I wrote about here and I didn’t want to broadcast that news via Facebook. This setting may be irrelevant to most people - but it’s certainly one you should be aware of.

Here’s what your friends might see in their Highlights section on their Home Page, unless the setting is unchecked:

Let me know if you found this post useful and how you like to have your News Feed and Wall settings in the Comments section below. Have you taken advantage of the really granular publishing and privacy settings? What’s your biggest question(s) about these settings?

Related posts:

• Facebook: Personal, Professional… and Private!

Recommended posts:

• 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know

Technorati Tags: facebook friends, facebook news feed, facebook privacy, Mari Smith, Social Media, Social Networking

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