facebook and twitter

★★★ Another (15) Great Status Updates for Facebook ★★★

2011-05-06T09:12:00.001-07:00

I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian. (Courtesy of our Funny Status Updates iPhone App ★★★★★)
Where do I see myself in 5 years? I would hope in a hologram but it will probably still be in the mirror. Stupid scientists.
I’m always careful to get something every day from the four basic food groups: canned, frozen, fast and takeout.
Not feeling in touch with my emoticons.
The key to knowing when to panic, is to start moments after someone says ‘OK, don’t panic’.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Bin Laden’s fate was SEAL’d! ツ (Source: Funny Status Update Fan Page)
I have high double standards.
Sometimes you just have to logout…..
They should have captured Bin Laden alive and made him continually go through airport security for the rest of his life.
Take my advice: I don’t use it anyway.
I flirted with disaster last night. Now disaster won’t stop texting me.
Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
I have an athlete’s ability trapped in a dumpster’s body. (VIA our Tweeter:@FreeFunnyStuff )
Whose idea was it to put an “S” in the word “lisp”?

“Feel Good” Status of the Day: Be tender to the young, compassionate to the aged, tolerant with the weak. For in your life you will be all of these.

REVEALED! THE IDENTITY OF THE AGENT WHO TOOK DOWN BIN LADEN!

Climbin in yo mansion, shootin yo leader up. (Source: imgur)
Funny Video to Post:
Now that is what I call POLE Dancing! Post that on your Facebook profile page and watch the comments / likes roll right in from all your FB Friends.
Want more funny status updates, hilarious pics, and epic videos? “Like” our FB Fan Page & Download our 4.5-star Rated iPhone App and visit our new sister website WittyStatus where you can submit statuses and vote on them!

101 Hilarious Funny Facebook Status Updates

2011-05-06T09:11:00.001-07:00

Funny Facebook statuses are a great way to brighten up your social networking profile page. If you are looking for Facebook Status then your search ends here, you have landed on the right page. This article is all about very funny Facebook status messages that have been written by real people. You will find here all Funny Facebook Status, just read the full collection of the funny facebook statuses.

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Facebook Like Button goes live

decided to burn lots of calories today so I set a fat kid on fire!
One day your prince will come. Mine just took a wrong turn, got lost and too stubborn to ask for directions.
When someone rings the doorbell, why do dogs always assume it’s for them?
I speak my mind. I never mind what I speak.
sometimes, not remembering mey be the better.
X says my computer just beat me at chess…but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
X is color blind and trying to solve a rubiks cube… This could take a while.
X is the girl next door…if you live next door to a whore house.
What is fat, ginger and pregnant? Nothing..
slept like a baby last night…. Waking up every 3 hours crying for food.
wanted to kill the sexiest person alive…But suicide’s a crime.
X is proud of herself. She finished a jigsaw puzzle in 6 months and the box said 2-4 years.
People say that love is in every corner……gosh! maybe i’m moving in circles..
Why is a newspaper ten times more interesting when somebody across the table is reading it?
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
WARNING: Objects in mirror are fatter than they appear.
║▌║█║▌║▌││║▌║█║▌│║▌║█║▌║▌││║▌║ *ZAP* *BEEP* Price: $7.95
Dear Santa, let me explain…
I think my girlfriend has had sixty-one boyfriends before me. She calls me her sixty second lover.
My wife said I’m too immature and if I don’t grow up it’s going to erect a barrier between us. Ha ha ha, erect.
If guys had periods, they’d brag about the size of their tampons.
Make love, not war. Hell, do both. Get married.
Marriage is a sort of friendship recognized by the police.
Statistically, 132% of all people exaggerate.
Statistically 5/4 of people have trouble with fractions.
٩(•̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ ٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶ ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ ٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶
_̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡
if only life came with a ◄◄ REW ► PLAY ▌▌PAUSE █▌STOP
scratch here ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ to reveal today’s status.
̿̿̿ ̿’ ̿’̵͇̿̿з=(•̪●)=ε/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿ ̿ this is a stick-up… give me ALL yo [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]!
Some people come into our lives & leave footprints on our hearts. Others come into our lives & make us wanna leave footprints on their face.
The only place you find success before work is in the dictionary.
Boys are like baby diapers when they get to be filled with shit they are thrown to be replaced.
i’ve yet to meet a woman who got pregnant from swallowing.
Cut here —————–✄———————-
Me and my wife are inseparable. Sometimes, it takes three or four people to pull us apart.
I speak my mind. I never mind what I speak.
People who write diet books live off the fat of the land.
Dance like no one’s going to put it on YouTube.
Doctors waiting room needs some music. And better lighting. And more women. And a pole in the middle of the room. And a buffet.
Best Friends Listen to what you dont say.
Just wanted to let you know that you are my BFBFF… Best Facebook Friend Forever..
So many stupid people, and so few asteroids.
X thinks that Facebook is the compost heap for my brain.
Yes, I know how to shut up. I just don’t know when.
You miss 100 percent of the shots u never take.
Me and the gummy bears have a plot to rule the world but shhhhh its a secret.
I use to be great at wordplay. Once a pun a time.
Sometimes? Late at night? I rearrange traffic signs. People need to be challenged.
I guess if you spoke your mind, you’d be speechless, huh?
X thinks that 100-calorie packs have just enough cookies to piss me off!!
Alcohol does NOT make you fat…it makes you lean…against tables,chairs,walls, floors and ….Ugly people!!!
what has two ears and cant hear? —————–.> GRANDPA
I’m not a racer….But i can fly.
press the star below and watch it glow
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ click star then up arrow to left to reveal status.
I thinks my neighbor just caught me stealing his Wi-Fi internet.
Teaching your own mother how to use Facebook is like willingly signing your own death warrant.
X is wondering why Facebook bothers to give the option of “liking” my own comment? Of course I like my own comments. I’m awesome..
Every day, man is making bigger and better fool-proof things, and every day, nature is making bigger and better fools. So far, I think nature is winning.
I swear my pillow could be a hairstylist I always wake up with the wierdest hairdos.
X just received a coupon in the mail: Buy one sock, get one FREE! While socks last.
X believes that if you tell your boss what you really think of him, the truth will set you free.
¡ǝɯıʇ ǝɯɐs ǝɥʇ ʇɐ ʞooqǝɔɐɟ ǝsn puɐ puɐʇspuɐɥ ɐ op ʎןןɐuıɟ uɐɔ
Smile, it’s the second best thing you can do with your lips.
oh I’m sorry! i didn’t realise you were giving me a dirty look…i just thought you were ugly like that all the time!!
wants to merge MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and call it: MY FACE YOU TWIT.
X says don’t look at me in that tone of voice.
Is anyone going to put anything funny on here?????
If women ruled the world there would be no wars. Just a bunch of jealous countries not talking to each other.
eat eat and eat….but don’t eat my brain.
I married my wife for her looks. But not the ones she’s been giving me lately!
a guy knocked on my door today asking for a donation for the local primary school’s pool. I went away and came back with a cup of water….. Is that wrong?
ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ
All men are born free and equal. If they go and get married, that’s their own fault.
too cool for school.
trying to think of clever things to say after inhaling from a helium balloon.
the kid next door’s imaginary friend.
–^v–^v–^v–^v-_____^v–^v–^v– For a second there, I was bored to death.
definitely not watching what not to wear.
forcing my dog to learn how to google.
kissing a girl and may or may not be liking it.
Got out of jury duty by prefacing every answer with “according to the prophecy”
X is Loading ████████████ 99%
Dont you find it Funny that after Monday(M) and Tuesday(T), the rest of the week says WTF?
U have 10 fish, 5 drown, 3 come back to life. How many fish do you have? Stop counting smart one. Fish cant Drown.
X went to the book store earlier to buy a ‘Where’s Wally’ book. When I got there, I couldn’t find the book anywhere. Well played Wally, well played.
Hi, my name is Damimeve. The ‘mime’ is silent.
I’ve always wondered if film directors wake up screaming “CUT! CUT! CUUUUUT!” when they have nightmares.
In an interview, “I can multitask housework with facebook!”
X is coloring on your wall! ((̲̅ ̲̅(̲̅C̲̅r̲̅a̲̅y̲̅o̲̅l̲̲̅̅a̲̅( ̲̅̅((>
never judges a book by its cover. She uses the paragraph on the back, it tells you what the story is about.
a day late and a dollar short.
Insert coin to view my status message.
If somebody offers you a lifetime supply of candy and there is just one piece, don’t eat it: It’s probably poison.
We have so much in common. You want to travel,I want you to go .
happy that you finally broke up with that slut. Now I can tell you VIA facebook update that I boinked her.
seen pictures of you naked on the internet.
remembers the day when blackberry and apple were just fruit.
> $20 in my bank acct. Drinks on you home.
20/20 hearing!

Funny Status Updates

2011-05-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

Funny Status Updates:

When I read a really stupid status I think “What an idiot. Why did I write that?” (Courtesy of our Funny Status Updates iPhone App ★★★★★)
If you stopped trying to save so much money, maybe you’d save some money!
I’m in love with my bed, but my alarm clock wont let us be together.
Hey Journey, I stopped believing. What now?
I love it when the person’s laugh is funnier than the actual joke.
I’m not single. I’m in a long standing relationship with fun and freedom. ツ (Source: Funny Status Update Fan Page)
It is well documented that for every minute that you exercise, you add one minute to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5000 per month.
I was thinking of becoming a doctor. I have the handwriting for it.
The girl with a future avoids a man with a past.
It is hard to understand how a cemetery raised its burial cost and blamed it on the cost of living.
Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is a husband!
My favorite sitcom episode is the one where there’s a huge misunderstanding.
If you get invited to an AT&T executive’s wedding, don’t go. The reception will be terrible.
Constipated people don’t give a crap. (VIA our Tweeter:@FreeFunnyStuff )
I have a hard time grasping the fact that in other countries, peoples thoughts are in a different language.

Cute Picture to Post:

Post that picture with a “How CUTE is this Puppy?” and watch all the LIKES you’ll get on your Facebook wall!
Mixing up Obama & Osama:
Hilarious! Throw that on your profile and get tons of funny comments.
Have a wonderful weekend and please join us Monday for more hilarious content. If you still need more funny status updates, pics, and videos to post: “Like” our FB Fan Page & Download our 4.5-star Rated iPhone App and visit our new sister website WittyStatus where you can submit statuses and vote on them!

Facebook Now Growing by Over 600,000 Users a Day – And New Engagement Stats

2011-05-06T09:01:00.001-07:00

It was just at the beginning of December when Facebook crossed the 130 million monthly active user mark. Today, that number is up to 140 million.
While Facebook has been growing at around 300,000 to 400,000 active users per day for most of the fourth quarter (based on our estimations), its growth rate seems to have significantly increased in recent weeks to 600,000 or perhaps even 700,000 new users each day.
If Facebook continues at this rate, it could add up to 20 million new users in December and reach 200 million active users by March. Keep in mind however that about 70% of that growth is happening outside the United States.

Facebook also released new engagement stats today about the way users interact with different features on the site. Some highlights:

13 million users update their statuses at least once each day
2.5 million users become fans of Pages each day
700 million photos are uploaded to the site each month
4 million videos are uploaded each month
15 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each month
2 million events created each month
19 million active groups exist on the site

In other words, Facebook’s growth is speeding up and engagement is increasing.
We’ll of course continue tracking all the latest Facebook stats for you here on Inside Facebook. To dive deeper on how you can engage Facebook’s 140 million users through guerilla marketing tactics, Facebook advertising solutions, or Facebook Platform applications, check out Inside Facebook’s Facebook Marketing Bible.

A beginner's guide to Facebook for non-profits

2011-05-05T00:41:00.001-07:00

I've always been interested in social networking sites like Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn. But lately, I've been spending quite some time on another social site which I've found to be quite worthy of my time and yours. If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about Facebook. This powerful networking service is not just for individuals like me to keep in touch with friends. It's a very effective networking tool for nonprofits to create awareness and connect with their community. In this post, I'll take you through a beginner's guide to get your non-profit on Facebook and ways to effectively use this tool. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of features, but it may help get you started.
So what exactly is Facebook?
FaceBook is a social networking site that allows users to connect and share information. Michele Martin at the Bamboo Project Blog has a good description of Facebook:
" FaceBook is an Internet site that allows users to post online profiles (including photos, information about themselves, etc.) and then connect to other users who share the same interests, experiences, etc. Zuckerberg threw up FaceBook while he was a student at Harvard to provide an online avenue for students to find one another. It has since morphed into a social network for everyone."
Facebook is built around groups and is made up of many networks, each based around a company, region, high school or college. Many nonprofits already have accounts and are reaping the benefits for their organization and their cause. One reason why it's so popular is because it's just very easy to use. Adding friends, updating your profile, changing your status message - whatever you do takes just minutes.
How to get started?
1. Sign up and create a Facebook Account
To get started, go to Facebook.com, click "Register" and fill out a short online registration form. Once you're signed up, you'll need to have a profile to share information and photos about your organization with others. What to include in your organization's profile? Photos, links to your website and videos can all be added. And remember, when creating your profile you can include as little or as much information as you feel comfortable.

2. Find freinds and connect with your community
Now that you have a Facebook account, connecting to people in your community is easy. Start by using the search feature to find friends who are already using Facebook and request to be their friend. You can add just about anyone you can think of including your members, supporters, volunteers, staff and even your board members. Don't worry if you don't have a big list right away. Once you have two or more contacts, you'll be able to expand your social network by locating mutual friends and contacting them.

3. Send and receive messages
Facebook offers a message board feature called "The Wall" that displays member profile pages. You can use it to post all kinds of messages to your network. But be beware: comments can be viewed by all your contacts in your list of Facebook friends.

4. Create a group for your organization or event
Just like every other social networking site, you can create and join groups on Facebook. And there's a growing number of groups dedicated to social change. Why create a group? Creating groups allows you to share information about pretty much anything. You can create groups for your organization or event to make announcements, join discussion groups or even to share pictures. There are two kinds of groups on Facebook - open and closed groups. So be sure to create open groups so that people can find it and your members can invite others to join.

5. Upload and share pictures
One of Facebook’s most popular features has been the ability to upload and share pictures. Facebook also offers an unlimited quota with their only restriction being a 60-photos-per-album limit. The process is very simple. Start by creating an album which you can then assign limitations to (e.g. visible to my members only) and upload photos within them. The album is then put into your profile, and other users can see and comment on them. You can also "tag" your photos with the names of people you mention and share the photos via a web link or by e-mail. What’s more is that you can order prints online!

6. Promote your events
Facebook is a great place to promote your organization's events. Simply create the event, add pictures and invite your contacts to join. In addition to groups, you can post details of events in your profile so people can RSVP for an event. You also have the option to leave the event open to people in your network or open for everyone.

7. Promote your blog or newsletter
Facebook also helps you to promote your blog or newsletter. This feature allows you to share information beyond what's in your profile in two ways. You can either post a note on your page or import your external blog. It is a nice way to communicate with your constituents and update them on your organization. You can also integrate an RSS feed in to your blog with notes. When you post it, the note is displayed in your profile and every one of your “friends” is notified and other members can add comments.

8. Keep in touch with your members
Facebook has a feature called "News Feed" that allows you to see all kinds of activity within your network. It's very similar to an RSS feed, in that when you log in to Facebook you immediately receive an update of all of the actions your contacts have taken. And if someone posted a new photo album or RSVPed to an event, you'll be notified right away.

9. Maintain some privacy
On Facebook, you are in control of what information is out there about your organization and who can see it. You can retain some privacy by blocking certain people from viewing your profile or by creating a limited profile to hide information you might not want to share with your contacts.
These nine points are meant to be a starting point for you to get your nonprofit on Facebook and into the social networking world. There are also many examples of nonprofit groups on Facebook. For instance, UNICEF at Indiana University has a campus group to announce news and meetings and there's also a group for Advocates for Grassroots Development in Uganda (AGRADU), a UNC student initiative aiming to support indigenous grassroots efforts at community building and economic development in Uganda. For more examples of nonprofit related content on Facebook and some helpful tips, read Emily Weinberg's post.

10 Easy Steps for Twitter Beginners

2011-05-05T00:39:00.002-07:00

1. Set up your profile

The first thing you need to do is to set up that profile. See that bar on top of your twitter page? Click Settings and start filling up your profile. The notable areas in here are URL, bio, picture and design. Put up a link to your site or blog in here along with a brief description. Upload a picture to differentiate yourself from the others and then tweak your Twitter design. Like any other social networking site, it is important to completely express what you are or what you stand for in your profile.

2. Follow people with similar interests

Now that you have a profile, start following people. You can find these people in Twitter directories. I use Twellow and JustTweetIt. These sites can introduce you to Twitter users that have the same interest as yours. Follow these people and observe their tweets. You may also try following who these people follow but read up their descriptions and visit their blogs to make sure you’re still on the right niche. Being on the right niche will make it easy for you to build a community with a similar interest.

3. Get into the conversation

So now that you are following people, you will now see some tweets on your board. Read up on what the people your following are up to and reply if it interests you. For example, a person narrates how he is going to conduct a meeting. You may then reply with ideas. When someone asks a question, don’t hesitate to answer if you know it. Don’t be afraid to interact.

4. Don’t spam

Spam is the cause of many unfollows on Twitter. There is a character limit for a reason. Do not send repeated messages to people. Do not constantly direct message (DM) them with links.

5. Update daily

Alright so you’re blending in the community. Now update daily if possible. I know some Twitter users who unfollow because of inactivity. Reply to people and update people with what’s going on with your life. Soon you’ll be recognized and you’ll get some follows.

6. Find the latest buzz and contribute

Now it’s your time to contribute. Find a topic that will interest your niche and tweet it. Since you have established relationships with your followers (through replies), you will get more attention. It’s a nice strategy to always append “please retweet” at the end of your tweet. There will be some people who will be so interested that they will retweet. There are others who will reply to you about the link you tweeted. But you are not a “nobody” anymore. You are not just talking to yourself. People are now responding to your tweets.

7. Help other people out

The famous saying “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you” holds here. Before you can receive retweets, you must help others first by retweeting their messages. Help the people in your niche. One day you’ll be surprised on how eager they are to help you back.

8. Create relationships

Now it’s time to create constant connections. Soon you will find that some users are more active than others. You will get to talk with the same group of people at the same time every night. But don’t get bored. Interact with these people and create relationships. Ask how they are doing and try to touch on their interests.

9. Integrate Twitter with other social networks

Have a blog? Then post to Twitter when you have a post that will interest your niche. Have a Facebook profile? Then ask people to add you. Twitter is really a vital part of web 2.0. It can serve as the core. It can let you build relationships that can branch out to other social networks.

10. Establish relationships even outside Twitter

Have a lot of friends on Twitter? Then take it to another level. Ask for their messenger and talk to these people on a more intimate level. Call them through Skype or even arrange a meet-up. Twitter can create real relationships.
Congratulations! You are now an official member of the Twitter community. You talk, act, think and breathe like us. Perhaps you find yourself spending every five minutes updating Twitter on what you are doing. But I guess I’ll save Twitter addiction for next time.

How to Use Twitter for Business

2011-05-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

People go to Twitter to share what they know and learn in return. Twitter users are hungry for new ideas, opportunities, information, services, and products. If your business is not part of this exchange, you're leaving two huge opportunities untouched—growing your business and improving it.
Business of all sizes use Twitter for a variety of reasons, from marketing to customer service, but for the small- to medium-sized business that's still finding its footing on the microblogging site, we offer these five tips and best practices.
1. Define Your Purpose and Goals

Why is your business on Twitter? If the primary (or only) reason is to drive traffic to your website, you need to rethink your strategy. The Twitter community values interaction with real people. If the only thing you're adding to the conversation is a push to visit your website, you aren't going to have a strong and valuable reputation on Twitter. Some people will still follow you and click your links, but you'll be leaving several unique opportunities on the table, untouched.
Setting Twitter aside for the moment, what does your business or organization need to do better? Some misguided business leaders think they need to be Twitter because "that's where our customers are," and don't see that Twitter is a tool that can help a business achieve its real goals. Is the business growing rapidly, and you need to find new employees or contractors? Is one of your business's pain points that it doesn't listen to its customers or clients? Do you need to improve internal communication between employees? Twitter can help you address those issues and many more—read on to learn how.
2. Assign the Right Tweeters
You've just hired a young, bright intern who's active on plenty of online social networks, which is why her first assignment will be to set up a Twitter account for your business. Bad idea! If you want to really leverage Twitter for your business, you need dedicated employees involved. The intern can certainly help you monitor the account and maybe teach your staff basic Twitter etiquette, but she should not be the sole person behind it.
Knowledgeable. Depending on what goals you've set, you need someone who knows the issues related to those goals inside and out. Let's say your business is growing and you need to hire six Java programmers in the next three months. The person you want tweeting in that case would be someone who codes in Java, not the human-resources manager. If your goal is to better address customer comments—and these will include complaints, questions, and praise—you need someone on Twitter who handles customer service, which in a very small business might be the CEO.
A good listener. The person or people you assign to manage the Twitter account should be as good at listening as they are at speaking and writing. It's very important on Twitter to respond to people who post messages at you (using the @ symbol next to your Twitter account name, and through direct messages that are more like email). I've interacted with several professional businesses on Twitter who have never once answered my messages. I no longer follow them. You don't need to say much to acknowledge another person's existence on Twitter. A simple "@TwitterName It's a known issue. We're working on it" or "@TwitterName Thanks!" is all that's needed.
Trustworthy. Most important of all, put people you trust behind Twitter. It's a powerful platform that spreads information to millions of people very quickly, and one misguided employee can cause disastrous effects. You need to trust the people who represent your company on Twitter completely. Larger businesses may want to have their employees agree to a few basic guidelines for social media, although I personally feel that a contract-style social media policy is usually unnecessary. One of the problem of contracts is that they don't convey trust. The employees representing your business on Twitter need to feel trusted in order to cultivate their voices and write like a human being. Twitter is not an advertisement or slogan—it's a real person talking with a community of other people. Find people you trust completely, and give them reasonable autonomy.

50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

2011-05-05T00:38:00.000-07:00

First Steps

Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
Talk about non-business, too, like @aaronstrout and @jimstorer.

Ideas About WHAT to Tweet

Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I do it all the time. – Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn).
Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.

Some Sanity For You

You don’t have to read every tweet.
You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation ( got this from @pistachio).
Use services like Twitter Search to make sure you see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
3rd party clients like Tweetdeck and Twhirl make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it.
Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

The Negatives People Will Throw At You

Twitter takes up time.
Twitter takes you away from other productive work.
Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
There are other ways to do this.
As Frank hears often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service (Frank is @comcastcares and is a superhero for what he’s started.)
Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready.
Twitter is just for technonerds.
Twitter’s only a few million people. (only)
Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing.
Twitter opens the company up to more criticism and griping.

Some Positives to Throw Back

Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups).
Twitter works swell as an opinion poll.
Twitter can help direct people’s attention to good things.
Twitter at events helps people build an instant “backchannel.”
Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens).
Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. Remember presence in the 1990s?
Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it, and/or if you follow the right folks).
Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.
Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are).
Twitter can augment customer service. (but see above)

What else would you add? How are you using Twitter for your business?
By the way, Jeremiah Owyang has a great post on this, too.

The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.

HOW TO USE TWITTER FOR BUSINESS

2011-05-05T00:36:00.001-07:00

Learn more about the How to Use Twitter for Business - Webinar on 10/22/09.
When I first heard about Twitter—a tool for instantly broadcasting the minutiae of your day and following the trifles of others—I couldn’t imagine a bigger waste of time.
Why would anyone care about what I had for lunch, or whether someone was headed off to the gym? Why would any business person add more noise to the signal to noise ratio?
Or—thought I—maybe Twitter is the inevitable conclusion for a culture fascinated by fame, fed by sound bites, and forced to short attention by an overwhelming amount of data.
Well, as is often the case, Twitter is not the end of civilization as we know it; it may in fact be a glimpse into the future of communication. Because, at its heart, Twitter is just a communication tool. Like the Web, and the phone and the telegram before it, it’s just a tool to let one person connect with another.

How Does Twitter Work?

Twitter users--often called Tweeple (or worse)--have 140 characters to answer the question, “What are you doing?” If you join Twitter you can “follow” other tweeple, which causes their updates to appear on your home page. In turn, they can follow you, a form of permission-based marketing. You can also direct message them, but always in 140 characters or less.
Twitter communications can be viewed and updated on the Web, through desktop apps, and on mobile devices. Although I use all three methods, I prefer twhirl, a desktop app that has some nice added features and updates my incoming tweets in the background while I work.
A quick peek at some recent posts--called “tweets”--include what people are having for breakfast, vague unease about a job interview and a complaint that raw vegetables make one’s mouth “itchy.” (Plus a bunch of non-English tweets that may range from the ridiculous to the sublime and back again.)

How Does Twitter Help You Work?

Within this participating audience of exhibitionists are a growing number of people who are using Twitter for business. And I’m not just talking about aggressive Web marketers who tweet every blog post they make and create links to all their online activities. (You can create clickable links in tweets, but they have no direct search engine benefits.)
Rather, there are professionals who are using Twitter as a communications tool. (Imagine that!) Here’s how you might use Twitter for business:
Follow industry leaders who post links to important resources and influence conversations

Post questions for quick answers and answer others’ questions to establish your credibility and expertise
Create links to your Web site or blog (don’t over do it!)
Keep up on the buzz in your industry
Network with like-minded people.

How to Find (The Right) People on Twitter

The Twitter search box will search matches in others’ profiles, but not in individual tweets. Here are a couple of 3rd party tools that allow for more advanced searches:

Who Should I Follow?: Finds and suggests like-minded people based on your tweets.
Summize: Allows you to search tweets for keywords and offers lots of customization tools.

How to Get People to Follow You

The more people who follow you on Twitter, the more influence and networking opportunities you have. Thus, it makes sense to try and build a following. Here are some ideas on getting others to follow you:

Follow them. There’s an almost kneejerk reaction to follow people who follow you. However, there’s a backlash against people who follow just about everyone for the sole purpose of gaining followers. In short, be discriminating with whom you follow.
Post some good tweets right before following someone else. I find that if someone follows me and they only tweet about how hungry or tired they are, I don’t follow them back. The same goes for people who haven’t tweeted in a while.
Complete your bio. People rarely follow strangers, so complete your one-line bio and include a URL in the More Info URL section of your profile. I can't tell you the number of times I've not bothered to follow someone because I didn't know a thing about them.
Add your Twitter feed to your blog or to other social media profiles. If you have a following at your blog or a lot of connections at Facebook or LinkedIn, you can leverage this audience to increase your followers at Twitter.
Reply to people you are following, especially if they’re not yet following you. That’s a good way to engage someone and get them to follow you, even if they didn’t follow you immediately. Remember, though, some people have thousands of followers, and may not be able to respond to every reply.

Ideas on Getting the Most Out of Twitter

While the guidelines of Twitter etiquette are still evolving, guidelines from other social media sites can used:

Treat others with respect
Participate in the community
Do more than promote your own agenda.

Professionals and consultants have had the most impact at Twitter; most businesses are still trying to figure out how to use Twitter as a communications tool. If you’re not a one-person shop, here are a few ideas to help get your creative juices flowing:

A restaurant tweets their daily specials
A ticket agency tweets about-to-expire tickets
A realtor tweets new homes on the market
A chamber of commerce tweets local events and promotions.

For more ideas, or just to engage me in conversation, I invite you to follow me at Twitter. I promise not to tell you what I had for lunch.
Unless it’s really good.

How to Follow Friday on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:35:00.002-07:00

Step 1: Understand Twitter

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging site. It allows you to send 140 character messages called "tweets" to a group of people who have elected to follow you and receive your messages. You can tweet through more than 50,000 applications on third-party applications. Twitter was designed to be portable and to work on short message service or SMS.² All you really need to be able to tweet is a basic cellphone that is capable of sending and receiving the widely used SMS text messages. Twitter's portability enables following people on Twitter to be a real-time social activity.

Step 2: Use Hashtags

Placing a hashtag (#) in front of a term allows it to be tracked by other members of the Twitter community. Placing the term #followfriday within a tweet will allow that tweet to be tracked in one of several ways. You can use hashtags.org to track all the tweets that include given hashtags that have been tweeted by users who are followed by hashtags.org. If you follow @hashtags, Hashtags.org will follow you back. Any tweets you make including #followfriday will now be tracked by hashtags.org. You can also go to www.hashtags.org and search for a list of #followfriday tweets.

Step 3: Recommend Users on Follow Friday

In order to recommend a user on Follow Friday, you just tweet their Twitter name with the #followfriday hashtag.³ For example #followfriday @Lons will let your followers know that you think Lon Harris is worth following. You can include more than one user in a Follow Friday tweet, so you could tweet #followfriday @Lons @whitehouse @cnn to recommend multiple users. It's fine to use all 140 characters in your Follow Friday tweet. If you have a number of users to recommend, it's acceptable to do more than one Follow Friday tweet, although you don't want to spam your followers. If you overwhelm them with Follow Friday tweets, they may unfollow you.

How to Block Someone on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:35:00.000-07:00

Step 1: What Is Blocking Someone On Twitter

There may be different reasons why you would want to block someone on Twitter. This may include harassing comments that they are making, rude or offensive language that you do not wish to see or any other type of behavior that may make you uncomfortable. In any of these situations, you can use the Blocking feature on Twitter to avoid being subject to this person’s actions. By blocking a follower, you are removing their tweets from your own timeline. You are also removing your Twitter feed from theirs. They may still be able to view your tweets by going directly to your Twitter page, but they will not show up automatically. In addition, they will not be able to send you any direct messages or show up in your list of followers.²

Step 2: How To Block Someone On Twitter

The process used to block someone on Twitter is fairly simple. There are two ways you can block someone on Twitter, either from your page of followers or from their Twitter profile page.The steps outlined here will guide you through the blocking process.³

Login in to your Twitter account at www.twitter.com ⁴
From your profile page, click the Followers link on the right hand side of the page
In your list, find the person you wish to block and use the icon on the right side of their profile to bring up the menu options
Click the link that states Block “username”
You can also navigate directly to their profile page, select the menu icon and choose Block “username”

Step 3: How To Unblock Someone On Twitter

Once you have resolved whatever issue or grievance you’ve had with one of your Twitter followers, you may wish to unblock them. This will once again allow both of you to see each other’s tweets within your timelines, send each other direct messages and see each other in your followers list. To do this, simply follow the instructions that explain how to block someone on Twitter. When you reach the menu, choose Unblock “username”. Once you have completed this, they will no longer be blocked

How to Protect Your Tweets on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:34:00.002-07:00

Step 1: Protect Your Tweets

Joining Twitter does not mean you have to make yourself an open book to the world. The first step you can take to protect your tweets is to make your Twitter profile private. On the upper right corner of your Twitter homepage, you will see the "Settings" option. Click on this hyperlink. You will then be taken to the "Settings" page. Just above the "Save" button, you will see a checkbox called "Protect my tweets." After you check the box, your tweets will no longer be available to people who are not your followers. While your new tweets will no longer be available to the public, your old tweets may still be available.¹

Step 2: Remove Unwanted Followers

Since you joined Twitter, you may have had too liberally allowed people to follow you. Even after you check the checkbox option to protect your tweets, your old and new followers will still be able to read your tweets. To feel safe from unwanted or unknown followers, click on the "Followers" hyperlink on your Twitter homepage. You will then see a list of your followers. Each entry would be shown with two buttons. Click on the button with the clock wheel. Use the drop-down menu to block or remove an unwanted or unknown follower.

Step 3: Screen New Followers

After you choose to protect your tweets, people will no longer be able to follow you automatically. They would need to request your approval first. When someone requests to follow you, you will receive a note asking if you would like to allow this person to follow you or not.² Before you allow anyone to follow you, be sure that you really feel comfortable to let this person to read your tweets.

How to Change Your Profile Picture on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Twitter profile pictures are the images that people will see not only on your profile, but also as thumbnail-size images next to each of your tweets. Since these pictures are so highly visible while using Twitter, users may want to change out pictures now and then, or upgrade to pictures that work better on the social networking site. Some users also like to change out profile pics according to the seasons, holidays, or special events.
This page will explain the process for adding or changing your profile image on Twitter. Or, if you choose to do so, these instructions will also help you to know how to delete your profile image altogether.
In order to add, change, or delete a profile picture, you must first be logged into your Twitter account. Whatever picture you would like to upload to your Twitter account should already be saved somewhere on your computer as either a jpeg, gif, or png formatted item.

How to Post a Picture on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:33:00.002-07:00

Step 1: Signing Up for a Twitter-Friendly Picture Site

Sites such as Twitpic do not require you to sign up for a new account—you can sign in using your Twitter account information. Other sites, however will require you to fill out information fields and set up a special account. Once your signed in, you should be ready to begin uploading your photos and posting them on Twitter.

Step 2: Uploading a Photo

Follow the instructions of the Twitter-friendly photo hosting site you have chosen in order to upload a photo from your computer to their site. In most cases, as is true with Twitpic, you will find a large “Upload a Photo” button, or something similar. Click on that button and then browse your computer files to post the photo you would like to share on Twitter.
In most cases, including with mobile uploads, you should have the option to add a message to go along with the photo. This message will appear on your Twitter feed, along with the link to your image. If you are submitting a photo from a mobile upload, usually the subject line of your message will serve as the photo caption.

Step 3: Seeing the Photo Link on Your Twitter Account

Once you have uploaded a photo to a third-party Twitter-linked site, the upload should automatically create a tweet from your Twitter account with a direct link to the photo. Because Twitter does not currently allow for photos to be displayed (apart from your avatar picture), your photo itself will not appear on the Twitter page. Instead, the tweet will look something like this:

How to Follow Someone on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Do a Little Research Before You Follow

When you are considering following someone on Twitter, it's always a good idea to pause and check out their tweet stream before committing to follow them. Some people or groups may post too often for your taste, or some Twitter users may do little more than retweet what other users have already tweeted, creating little to no fresh content. But if you look at a Twitter user's stream and find it interesting, fun, or helpful, then you're ready to add them to lineup of people you follow.

Step 2: How to Follow Someone

There are two basic ways you can start following someone:

Visit the user's profile, and click the "Follow" button located just under their username at the top of the page.
If you see another user's name and avatar anywhere on any Twitter page, you can let your mouse pointer hover right over the profile pic, and details about the user will pop up along with a "follow" button.

Once you find the "follow" button for the right profile, all you have to do is click it once and from then on you will be following them.

Step 3: How to Follow Someone With a Private Twitter Page

Twitter users have a privacy setting option on their profile page that allows them to keep tweets private. If a user checks this box, then they have made it so that they must be able to approve all users who follow their tweets.
If you find that you are unable to find the "follow" button, check the user's profile to see if they don't have a message stating: "I'm only giving updates to friends." After that message there will be an "add" button, which you can click to get special approval to follow that user.

Step 3: Getting Approval to Follow Twitter Users

Twitter users have privacy options within their profiles to make tweets private, and by selecting this option they will opt to approve every Twitter user who would like to follow them. This may mean that select users will not automatically become part of your Twitter stream once you have elected to follow them.

How to Send a Direct Message on Twitter

2011-05-05T00:32:00.000-07:00

Step 1: What Is A Direct Message

For Twitter users, a direct message is similar to an email. Unlike a traditional "tweet", a direct message does not appear to all of your followers. Instead, it is sent to one follower and is only visible to them. Remember, you can only send a direct message to someone who is following you. There are also other features of a direct message. The sender has the ability to remove or delete the direct message. If they do, the message will be removed from your inbox.²

Step 2: Sending A Direct Message On Twitter

To send a direct message from Twitter using your computer, you can follow the steps outlined below.

Login in to your Twitter account at www.twitter.com³
Using the options to the right, choose Direct Message
This will display all of the direct messages that you have received
To reply to a direct message, choose the Reply option located on the lower right hand corner of the direct message you would like to reply to⁴
To send a new direct message, use the drop down box located at the top of the page to choose your recipient⁵
Compose your direct message and send

Step 3: Sending A Direct Message From A Mobile Device

Although the process is relatively the same, sending a direct message on Twitter from a mobile device will require the Twitter application or Twitter mobile application. There are a variety to choose from that are suitable for many different mobile platforms.
To use Twitter from your mobile phone or device, you will first need to download the application if your phone is not preloaded with Twitter mobile. You can do this by browsing your mobile platform's application store such as App Store for Apple products, the Android Market for Android phones and Blackberry App World for RIM devices.⁶ ⁷ ⁸Once you have downloaded the application and have logged in, navigate to the menu of the application. This will show you options such as sending a reply,refresh your timeline and of course, direct message. Follow the prompts provided in the application to send your follower a direct message.

How to Use Twitter to find friends

2011-05-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service which allows you to send "tweets" to the rest of the twitter world. Tweets are posts limited to 140 characters which can be about any subject you want to discuss. You can receive and send updates to and from Twitter using a short message service (text), RSS, Instant Messaging, email or through a third party application. Twitter itself is free to use but if you are using a cell phone you may be charged for the text by your phone provider. Twitter users must set up their cell phone for Twitter to work from it.¹
Although many people use Twitter exclusively to keep up-to-date with their friends some users sign up for other reasons. Many businesses and news sources now use Twitter. When a user signs up for business or news tweets, they can see what is happening in real time. Twitter says it is like receiving a newspaper with headlines that are interesting.² Tweets about headlines or businesses may include a URL to a news story or a coupon from the business.
The Twitter service was created by Jack Dorsey in 2006.³ By June 2010, the micro-blogging site processed over 65 million tweets per day or 2 billion tweets per month.⁴ More than 300,000 people sign up for new Twitter accounts each day.⁵

Step 1: Join Twitter

You can join Twitter for free by going to their sign-up page.⁶ Once there, you will need to do the following:

Choose a user name.
Choose a password. It needs to be at least 6 characters long.
Insert your email address.
Type in the words for the CAPTCHA device.
Click on the Terms of Service.⁷ It will pop-up in a new window or tab. Read it carefully. Then return to the sign-up page.
If you want email updates, click on the box.
Click "I accept. Create my account".

Step 2: Finding Friends During Set Up

After you accept, you will be brought to a screen that asks Are your friends on Twitter? This will help you find any friends you might have on Twitter by accessing your MSN Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, or AOL email accounts. Essentially, it looks at your contacts and then matches email addresses. It does not work with any other type of email accounts.

You will need to either:

Find Your Friends: Insert your email address and password, and click "continue".
Skip This Step: Click on the skip link. This link is not boxed, but appears in blue underneath the continue box.

Don't worry. If you skip this part, but want to attempt it later, you can. Once you are finished, you will find yourself at the "find & follow" page of Twitter. You're ready to move onto the next step.

Step 3: Twitter Options

Once you've signed up, you will be taken to your personal homepage. You will be presented with three options: "Tell us what you're doing," "Find some friends" and "Turn on your mobile phone."

Posting your first Tweet -
The first thing you will notice is the message "What are you doing?" above an empty text box.

Type an answer to the prompt in 140 characters or less.
Click on the gray update box.
You've posted your first Tweet!

Getting Connected -
Clicking on the text "Turn on your mobile phone to update your friends on the go" will help you set up your mobile phone to send and receive Twitter messages.

Twitter will ask for your phone number and country code.
If you're in the United States or Canada, add "+1" to your nine digit number.
Once you have completed that step, you will need to verify your number by texting a code to 40404 in the U.S.

Step 4: Adding More Twitter Followers

Clicking on the link "Find some Friends and Follow What They're Doing" will allow you to either find friends via your email account or invite friends who are not using Twitter yet to join.
Inviting Friends to Join Twitter

To invite friends, click on the gray tab that says Invite by Email.
Type in an email address. You can enter more than one email address by separating them with a comma.
If you want to see what your friends will be getting, click on the blue text that says "What will this look like?"
When you are finished, click on send.

Find Friends on Twitter How do you find friends while you're waiting for your other friends to sign up?

At the very top of the page, to the left of the Twitter logo, there is a search box.
Type in a word or phrase and see what pops up.
Once you've found a friend or someone you'd like to follow, click the gray follow button on the right side of the search result box.

Step 5: Adjusting Your Twitter Account

The next thing you will want to do is adjust your settings. Look at the top of the page. You will see a set of words in blue. Click on Settings. From your Settings page, you will be able to change or adjust the following:

Account
Account is the default screen, or the first one you will see after clicking on the settings selection. On this page you can change your name, user name, email address and time zone. You can also add the following information:

More Info URL: A link to your homepage or blog
One Line Bio: Your life story in 160 letters or less
Your Location: It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where you are?
Your Language

One of the most important things you can do on the Account screen is protect your updates. There is a "protect my updates" checkbox located at the bottom of a screen. If you click on the box, your profile will no longer be visible on Twitter's public timeline.⁸ This means only people that you approve can follow your updates. If you are a minor or concerned with your privacy, check this box.
Password
This section allows you to change your password. Twitter will ask you to enter your new password twice.
Devices
If you wish to send and receive Twitter updates via your mobile phone, this screen will allow you to enter and verify your cell number.
Picture
This is where you can change your image. The maximum image size is 700k.
Design
This tab allows you to change your page design in Twitter. It allows you to change your background color, background image, text color, name color, link color, sidebar fill color and sidebar border color. All design options, except background image, require you to insert the six digit color value.

Step 6: Setting Notifications

In this part of your account, you can change how often you are notified about new posts or followers by text message, instant message or email. You have several options; some are automatically selected for you.

Auto Nudge: This will text message or instant message you if you have not updated your page in twenty-four hours. The default for this is off.
@ Replies: This will show you all, some or no replies in your timeline from other people on Twitter.
- An @ reply (or @reply) is a public Twitter update directed at a certain person. It starts with "@username." For example, to do an @reply toward me, you would type "@darcylogan" along with whatever message you wished to send me.
- From the Settings page, you have three options which apply to @replies:
  1. See all @ replies: See all of the @replies made by people you follow, whether or not you follow the person to whom the reply is directed.
  2. See @ replies of everyone you are following: See @replies from people you follow directed at other people you follow. (Default)
  3. See no @ replies: Never see @replies on your timeline.
New Follower Emails: This box is automatically checked, which means you will be sent emails anytime someone starts "following" you on Twitter. If you don't want to receive emails, make sure the box is not checked.
Direct Text Emails: This box emails you when you receive a direct message. It is automatically checked. If you don't want to receive emails, you need to uncheck it.
Email Newsletter: If you want email updates, this is the box to check. It is

What is Twitter and How Can it Help Me?

2011-05-05T00:25:00.001-07:00

Twitter is changing the way that many people connect and communicate online and should be an indispensable part of your overall marketing plan for your Squidoo Lenses, blogs and websites. Twitter is free to join and you can get set up with an account in a matter of just a few minutes.

Twitter has two main components. Just like social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook, you can add "followers" and follow other people as well. They'll receive your updates and you'll receive theirs.

What is unique is that your messages are limited just to 140 characters, which is why some people call it a "microblogging" tool. You have to keep your messages brief and to the point.

Sometimes it's a real challenge to get the point across in the allotted space, but it also leaves room for a lot of creativity! Coming up with ways to say what you have to say in that small space is part of the fun of Twitter. It makes you think about the core aspects of the message you are trying to convey. You may also find, like me, that it helps you write shorter reports and emails generally!

How to Use Twitter

2011-05-05T00:24:00.000-07:00

Different social media have different uses, strengths, and advantages. Twitter^[1] could be called a 'real time social networking' site, a place for sharing information as it happens and for connecting with others in real time, often making lasting friendships and contacts.
Learning how to use this fun, free, and useful tool can be a bit intimidating for the beginner, but don't be put off – with a little effort and a lot of innate feeling your way through, being able to use Twitter well can make you 'digitally' famous!

1
2
Work on your pithy 'bio'. Make it eye-catching and interesting. Do it just right and it will help you build up followers; people thinking of following you do read the bios to see if they have reason to follow you. Bear in mind that a bio can be up to 160 characters long, so you'll have to keep it short and to the point. Don't worry about typing your real name or website URL here. That information can be typed into separate fields under 'Settings'.

Example of a clear and quick bio
3
Figure out who to follow. You will probably find that you know quite a few people on Twitter. Using the menu tab on your page click on 'Who to Follow', and there are several ways to find people on Twitter, as follows:
- Use the 'Find Friends' link to find people you know through your various Gmail, AOL, MSN, Hotmail and Yahoo! accounts.
- Use the 'View suggestions' link for a wide range of possibilities that may, or may not, connect with your interests. (Twitter is also working on personalizing lists of suggested followers, so keep an eye out for the feature.)
- Use the 'Browse Interests' tab to find people by interest.
4
Tweet. If you want to let your followers know what you are doing, type it in the 'What's happening' text box and then click on the 'Tweet' button. Note that tweets are limited to 140 characters or less; otherwise, the "Tweet" button will go into a minus.
- As you type, a countdown is offered to help you keep track of the character count of your tweets. The allowed characters are in gray, then the last 10 go red, and then a red minus symbol appears when you are past the zero (0) indicator.
5
Check the replies from your followers that are directed at you. Click '@Mentions' to see if there are any replies to any of your 'tweets'. When tweeting, using '@' followed by a username (with no spaces) in your tweet will send a mention to the user you choose. For example, '@username' will send a mention to 'username', and the entire tweet will show up in his '@mentions' section.

The arrow shows where to click to find these
6
Send DMs. DMs are Direct Messages. They go straight to the intended person that you are messaging. The DM feature utilizes an inbox and outbox system, but you are still limited to using 140 characters; you are also limited to sending DMs to only those users who follow you. DMs cannot be seen by anyone other than yourself and the chosen recipient, and are thus more personal. To send a DM, go to the page of the follower you're sending one to, and click on the "Message" box.
- Be aware that some people really dislike DMs on Twitter because they reason that Twitter is an open conversation and a fast one, not a disguise for sending each other private messages. Also, DMs are not appreciated when they involve marketing or advertising.
7
Use hashtags. Prefacing a word with a '#' will create a hashtag. A hashtag makes a certain word easily searchable. For more info on hashtags see the WikiHow article on How to use Hashtags with Twitter.
- Some Trending Topics will include hashtags, thus making it easier for users to tap into a Twitter-wide conversation regarding a single matter of interest.
- A prime example of the usage of hashtags can be seen with Major League Baseball, which uses team-name hashtags (#Mets, for example) to pull together lists of in-game tweets, which they display on their website.
8
Learn the Twitter lingo and use it appropriately.^[3]
- Retweet or "RT" - taking a tweet from one user and posting it yourself, automatically crediting the source, so that all of your followers can see the tweet. The original Retweeting style would take a tweet and re-post it via your own account in the following format: 'RT @(username of person who originally tweeted the tweet you're retweeting): (contents of tweet)'. The current system does away with this format, and instead directly re-posts the tweet, crediting the origin underneath. For example, 'retweeted from @username'.
- Tweet - a Twitter single update of 140 characters or less, which include @Mentions to other users, hashtags, external links, or simply regular text.
- TweetUps - Using Twitter to meet with other Twitter folks.
- Trending Topics (TTs) - Trending Topics are a range of subjects which many users across Twitter are talking about simultaneously. Initially, Trending Topics would include the matters of interest people across Twitter had been talking about throughout the entire week, but the refined algorithms made it easier to keep up to date with the latest most-talked-about subject, by only displaying Trending Topics related to things thousands of people across the whole of Twitter are discussing at any one time. Clicking on a Trending Topic in the list will bring up a range of tweets mentioning the matter of interest, and for each Trending Topics, there will be up to three 'Top Tweets'. These are tweets which are relevant to the Trending Topic, that have been Retweeted more than 150 times.
- Lists - Users can organize the people they follow into 'Lists' of businesses or personalities which are related in some way. For example, a user could list all of the NPOs and charities they follow into a single List, for easy reference.
- Promoted Tweets - A single Trending Topic which a company or organization can pay to 'trend', as to gain attention and traffic from Twitter users worldwide.
9
Use third-party applications for ease of mobility and account sharing. Third-party applications such as TweetDeck and Twhirl (desktop), Twitter for iPhone (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad), or Twidroid (Android) can help you to manage your Twitter account(s) better. If you have lots of followers and if you follow lots of people, at which point it can be difficult to keep up with everything on Twitter's official website, you might want to try something a bit more advanced like Hoot Suite or Blossome.
10
Look for people from organizations that you are in or for those that share a common interest. There are many business, companies, celebrities, and non-profit organizations on Twitter, ranging from Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) to Greenpeace (@greenpeace).
11
Decide your own style and times for tweeting. Twitter, like many social media applications, can become addicting and time-sucking. Make a decision early on about how much time you will devote to it and about how big your "tribe" of followers will be. Avoid worrying about getting heaps of followers; that's competitive rather than relating and it will end up wearing you out. Instead, focus on quality connections and information-sharing and don't get too upset when someone unfollows you; it happens and you can't change it. If you feel Twitter is overwhelming at any time, simply take a break from it and come back later, refreshed.
- Anthropological and sociological studies have claimed time and again that we can only cope with being part of a tribe of 150 to 200 people.^[4] Anything more than that and we get confused and lose the intimacy of connection. Keep that in mind when aiming for too many follows!
- Read How to avoid a Twitter addiction and How to defeat a Twitter addiction if relevant!

How To Use Facebook For Business

2011-05-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

Facebook Prejudices Impact Your Marketing

As Tom pointed out, in the business world, you will often here something like this:

“LinkedIn is for business and Facebook is for friends and family”

Well, the trouble I have with this is that this smells of prejudgement. And prejudgement is not good because it leads to self-inflicted limitations.
These prejudgements linked to personal identity issues are very similar to what you see in cross-cultural communication.
The extra baggage you carry around will hurt your business. Your marketing will suffer and so will your sales. A whole new world opens up when you simply put the baggage down on the ground long enough to take a look around. You can still decide to pick up the baggage and hold on to it a bit longer, but the more often you set it down, the more you’ll realize prejudgements are just baggage.

Businesses often approach me to help them get more clients using social media communication. But they have a big problem:

They operate on this assumption or prejudgement that social media is not “professional” enough for them to use

And then they expect to simply be able to order in some clients with someones who is comfortable using social media.

But this cannot work. It may be called “media” but it doesn’t work like the way “media” used to work in the last century. You are the master of your own social presence online and no one else can create the relationships you need to get results from social media.

Facebook Humanizes Your Business

There is a very important point Tom makes in his article: People buy from other people.

Facebook results show up high in Google searches and people use Google before making purchasing decisions.
Facebook allows you to present your business in a way you might not be able to on your business website. And many of your potential buyers will appreciate this more approachable version of your business.

Sure, there are tons of things I hate about Facebook and I can easily see how Facebook doesn’t fit in a traditional business world. But there are a few essential reasons why businesses cannot afford to ignore Facebook.

Sheer size, if it hasn’t hit you yet, do some research until it does. Facebook is huge.
Google results. Google cannot afford to not pay attention to Facebook either.
It gives you a good platform for content marketing. If your business can benefit from being online, your success is centered around content. That’s how you get noticed in the first place.

In addition to this, there are more and more examples of how businesses are using Facebook to create another form of communication with their “traditional” markets to strengthen their market presence.

Facebook Is Best For Nurturing Clients

Of course, once you humanize your business, as Tom points out, you can do a better job at nurturing your clients. But there’s also another reason why nurturing clients is a great tactic to use on Facebook.

Facebook is about real people

There’s only so much you can get away with on Facebook, because the relationships are much more social and people easily pick up on crap of any sort.

Compare this to your experience on LinkedIn. I often get requests from people looking to hire cross-cultural professionals. And the companies explain they’d appreciate my help, because if they put out a question on LinkedIn, they’ll get a ton of people claiming to be the best in their field. But how can you choose the best people?
This is where a strategic presence on Facebook would make all the difference in nurturing the right impression.

Now that I’ve bounced off a few of the points Tom made in his article, here are a few points of my own I’d like to add about marketing your business on Facebook.

Facebook Business Pages

I’m only online for business. I much prefer to hook up with my friends and family either on the phone or in person. So Facebook is easy for me to navigate: I simply block and hide anything that is not relevant to my business. It only takes a minute or two of regular upkeep on most days, but my Facebook feeds do look clean and professional.
But I understand that some people enjoy using Facebook to keep in touch with their friends and family. This is where the Facebook Business Pages come in very handy.
Did you notice I don’t like using the term “Fan Page”? Facebook itself uses the term Business Page, but everyone likes to refer to the prominent fan button and call these Fan Pages.
It might not be much, but I do consider these as Business Pages. This keeps my focus sharper and helps me to find a communication style on Facebook that fits both the social environment on Facebook and my own business objectives. We’re all learning what it means to humanize your business on Facebook. The simple task of getting rid of the cute personal stuff makes it easier for me to find the right tone and not get annoyed with the distractions.

Facebook Vanity URLs To Get Good Keyword Results In Google Search

When I realized some of the keyword URL’s I create on for my Twitter lists were giving me top level results on Google searches, I quickly created 5 new Business Pages… simply because I wanted the SEO value they could provide. Hey, I’m going after a couple of heavy keywords and I wanted to get them before anyone else did.
Unfortunately I sat on them for several weeks before daring to ask friends to fan all of these pages. So I lost one of the vanity URLs I was after: International Business, but I used International Business Ideas for the vanity URL instead.
Here are all of my Facebook Business Pages:

CKbiz – my main Business Page. I had already used the URL CindyKing.biz for my profile page.
GetInternationalClients – an old website I want to bring back from the ashes as soon as the Drip plugin for WishList Member is released
InternationalBusinessIdeas
InternationalSocialMedia
InternationalMarketing
InternationalSales

After creating these Facebook Business Pages, I found out that you can also create vanity URLs for any of the links on your Business Pages. So for example, you can create a vanity URL with keywords for the tabs on your Facebook Business Page and use these to promote. This may also be a good option for some businesses.
In the end, I’m happy with the extra Business Pages I created on Facebook because this gives me more options relevant to my own business.

Facebook As A New Bookmarking Tool

The reason why I sat on these new Business Pages for a few weeks was because I was figuring out the best way to use them. And I decided to use 4 of them just like I use the Delicious bookmarking site.

InternationalBusinessIdeas
InternationalMarketing
InternationalSales
InternationalSocialMedia

Here’s why…
I “follow” a couple hundred blogs on my Google Reader. This is the first thing I do every morning, as I have my morning coffee I check to see what’s in the news. I need to stay current of what’s going on in my industry, it helps me build a better business network. And I also use the Google Reader to stay current on the skills I need to do my job.
So I have a number of folders in the Google Reader. There are days when I’m more interested in one subject than the others and it makes it easy for me to use the Google Reader this way. And of course I have folders for each of the keywords used for my new Business Pages.
So, as I read through these folders, I now share the links to the interesting articles on the corresponding Facebook Business Page.

Facebook As A Business Networking Tool

Of course, I try to interact with fans on all of the Facebook Business Pages. And to do this I consistently use 2 techniques:

As I share the links, I write an update with a question I’m really interested in and hope others find it interesting too.
Use the “@” function on Facebook to give a shout out to others and hope the question brings them back as well as appeal to the readers of their feed. Many people keep the settings so my update and link is published on their feed when I shout out to them with thie “@” function.

My hope is that over time this will help me to:

Connect with others on Facebook interested in these topics
Cultivate more feedback in the future
Nurture my smaller business networks
Better segmentation to understand my audience more

So, at the moment I’m essentially spending the same amount of time I used to spend bookmarking articles, except I’m now using these Facebook Business Pages as networking tools.

Facebook Content To Write A Book

Each of my Facebook Business Pages will slowly become a source of content on these different topics. I find this format more appealing than the collection of bookmarks on Delicious or any of the other social bookmarking platforms. And more networking can be done around these links than on a social bookmarking site. This in turn leads to even more content.
At the end of the year, or maybe sometime next year, there’ll be enough research and content to sit down and put a report or an ebook or even a book together.

How Are You Using Facebook For Your Business?

My own prejudices were not a comparison between Facebook and LinkedIn. Mine were more about wasting times on silly games. I would never have been able to come up with this business plan for Facebook if I had kept my prejudices about Facebook. The trigger event for me was seeing my Twitter list for “International Business” in the top results for this keyword and realizing that Facebook vanity URLs would soon be showing up there too.

Have you had a trigger event to change your perception of how Facebook can help your business?
How are you using Facebook for business?
Are you like me and using Facebook to reach an audience based in a different country than yourself?

How to Use Facebook for Business: Social Networking 101 for Entrepreneurs, Authors and Speakers

2011-05-03T23:30:00.001-07:00

It seems the most popular question lately is, “Are you on Facebook?” Launched as a way for founder Mark Zuckerberg to connect with friends at Harvard, Facebook has exploded into the mainstream. With nearly 200 million users, and a million new members joining each week in the U.S. alone, people are paying attention.

One of the biggest benefits that social networking platforms like Facebook provide the business community is the ability to get repeat exposure with the people in your network. Clients, peers, and prospects can make up your network, and you can promote events, sales, special offers and more through your Facebook profile.

Not only is Facebook a tool for your business, but it can be fun to connect with old friends, family and coworkers. There is something about sharing an old grade school photo that can create an instant bond with those from your past. Even personal connections have the potential to become new business opportunities.

Ready to get started? Here are some ways to maximize Facebook for your business:

Create a Powerful Profile
There is no cost to create a profile on Facebook and based on site policies, it must be tied to a human name, not a business name. Use the “About Me” section to describe your business and what you do. In the “Information” box on your main profile page, you can feature links to your website, blog and other business resources. Be sure to include your photo so that others can recognize you online.

Build Your Contact List
Facebook is based on the concept of connecting with friends. You can send and receive friend requests and once accepted, your friend can view your profile and you can view theirs. To begin connecting with people that you know, you can either import your contact database or you can search Facebook for individual people.

You can also view the friends list for each person you are connected to. As an example, once you have accepted a friend request from your peer, Mary, you can view her list of friends. If you know any of Mary’s friends (or you would like to know them), send a connection request.

Communicate with Wall Posts
Each Facebook member has a “wall” where friends can post messages. This is a great place to post a quick note to those in your friends list. In the business networking world, this is the online equivalent of picking up the phone to say hello.

For example, if you are connected to a CEO who you saw at an event recently, you could post a note on her wall that says, “Loved your presentation at the XYZ event – thanks for the great ideas!”

Update Your Status
At the top of your Facebook home page is a status box. When you post a status update, everyone in your friends list can see your update on their home page. Those using Facebook for social purposes might update their status to say, “Jenny is putting the kids to bed.” For business purposes, this is a place to share tips, promote events and even boost sales.

Effective business updates could include: “Jenny found a great article on social networking: www….” or “Joe at ABC furniture is hosting a special event! Check out www….”

Participate in Groups
Online groups allow you to network virtually with potential clients and peers. To access groups, start from your Facebook home page, view the list of applications and click on “Groups.” You can browse through thousands of themed groups with topics ranging from business to politics and everything in between.

You can also search groups to find topics related to your industry. For example, if you own an office supply store inSacramento, you might search for general business groups based in Sacramento. If you are an auto parts dealer, you might join the Honda Civic owners group along with other auto-related groups.

If you really want to maximize the potential with groups, consider starting one of your own. Once again, there is no cost to do this and the visibility can be great. For example, if you are a business broker in Dallas, you could start a group for Dallas business owners. You do not need to promote your business at every turn. Instead, make it known that you’re a broker, but provide value for members by sharing interesting tips and engaging with them in the online forum.

Build Your Friends List
For business purposes, the one with the most friends on Facebook wins. Okay, not exactly, but the point is to connect with as many potential clients as possible. One way to do this is to join a group and send connection requests to fellow members with a note: “Hey, we’re both members of XYZ group. Let’s connect here on FB!”

Just as you would with an in-person business introduction, take a moment to learn about new people you meet on Facebook. Networking always works best when there is a two-way exchange. If you can help a new Facebook friend, they will likely want to return the favor.

Create Fan Pages
Because Facebook requires that a profile be designated to a human, not a business, they have instead provided the ability to create fan pages. You can create a fan page for a business, product, book, author, speaker, celebrity or just about anything you want.

To create a fan page, scroll all the way down to the bottom of Facebook and click on “Advertising” (don’t worry, it doesn’t cost anything to set-up). Next, click on “Pages” at the top of the screen. You will find some helpful explanations about how pages work, along with a link that will allow you to create your page.

Pages function a lot like profiles so you can add links, events, discussion boards and other features that make them interactive. Facebook will also post updates from your fan pages back on to your profile so others know about them. And instead of sending friend requests out, you can invite others to become a “fan” of your page. You will also have the ability to send messages to all of your fans, allowing you to cultivate a community online.

Manage Your Time
The biggest complaint most have about social networking is that it takes a lot time to manage. I recommend designating time in your day for Facebook activities. You can login once or twice a day to view messages and manage your connections. Just be careful not to let time get away from you (it’s easy to do!). Also, remember that the more time you spend on Facebook, the more ways you will find to use it to your advantage. Be creative, show your personality and have some fun. That will all be reflected in your success.

32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business

2011-05-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers.
Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.

Manage Your Profile

Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.
Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.
Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.
Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. (Although you should be careful before integrating your Twitter feed into your Faceboook profile, as a stream of tweets can seem overwhelming to your contacts.)
Keep any personal parts of your profile private through Settings.
Create friends lists such as “Work,” “Family” and “Limited Profile” for finer-grained control over your profile privacy.
Post a professional or business casual photos of yourself to reinforce your brand.
Limit business contacts’ access to personal photos.
Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.

Connect and share with others

Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.
Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.
Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on web site redesign.”
Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.
Combine Facebook with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, when someone asks question on Twitter, you can respond in detail in a blog post and link to it from Facebook.
Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.
Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.
Use Find Friends for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.
Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friends lists.
Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.
Share survey or research data to gain credibility.
Use Facebook Connect to add social networking features to your web site.
Suggest Friends to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.
Buy Facebook ads to target your exact audience.
Read up on Facebook Beacon to see if it might be useful for you.

Use Network, Group and Fan Pages

Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business. Unless you or your business is already a household name, a group is usually the better choice.
Add basic information to the group or fan page such as links to company site, newsletter subscription information and newsletter archives.
Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.
Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.
Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.
Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.

How to Use Facebook for Business and Marketing

2011-05-03T23:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome searchers! If you’d like help with your social media strategy, including Facebook and Twitter outreach, please feel free to contact me for social media consulting.
As much as Facebook may not be kind to businesses, it’s still a tremendously valuable business tool. After all, Facebook could eat the web. In fact, you’re likely spotting the shift; instead of companies posting their URLs on television commercials, they’re asking their followers to join them on Facebook. Therefore, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Let’s just take a look at the potential of Facebook for business for a moment here and review the various options business owners have in order to be effective with Facebook business marketing.

Profile Page versus Fan Page

The average Facebook user uses Facebook not for business but for personal communications. I am one of those users. In fact, I explain my Facebook usage by stating that if you want to follow me in a professional capacity, you can use one of my two fan pages. Simply stated, for a business, you should create a Fan Page. Want one? Go here. If you are officially representing your company, you’d want to create an Official Page.
Don’t use a Facebook Group. They are outdated (from Facebook’s early days) and do not support Facebook Markup Language (FBML) or Facebook Apps, so they are not as interactive and thus do not make as strong of an impact. Additionally, don’t create a personal account (a regular Facebook profile page) for your business. You’re supposed to use your real name and you’re also only supposed to have one account. Your Facebook Page should be created under your primary Facebook login. If you elect not to have one, you can still create a Facebook page by following the steps after you fill out the relevant data for your business Facebook Page.

Identification

For your page, consider using a title that’s memorable here because you won’t be able to change it later. It’s preferable to reflect your business and use a business name, not a funny character or other business persona that nobody can relate to. People will be looking for your business on Facebook, so make it easy for them to find you.
Once you get 25 fans, you can set up a username which makes accessing your profile a lot easier. Make sure you apply the username to your Facebook Page, not your personal profile, and be sure to use something memorable that people can find by plugging in the URL. I have a hard time believing that Facebook will address errors like these without an intellectual property complaint.

Customizing Your Profile Page

Great! Now that you have opted to create a Fan Page, you need to customize it. Simply stated, you can upload a profile picture (200 by 600 pixels maximum, though there are some reports that 180 by 540 pixels might work instead) and start filling out the relevant details about your business. Tell people how to find you and give them a history. They’re there because they want to learn! Depending on what type of page you are creating (for a business, publication, celebrity, etc.) the text fields differ, but utilize what’s available to you to your advantage. Don’t shy away from giving your community the information needed to find you elsewhere both online and offline.
If you want to be more creative, start thinking about building upon your profile with the aforementioned Facebook Markup Language (FBML). Here’s how to create a memorable Facebook Fan Page via FBML. In short, you’ll need to install the Static FBML app, add a custom tab, and learn the language, which is very similar to HTML, to create content that is appealing to your customers and prospects. Need some inspiration? Check out the screenshots for some current implementations below.

Reese’s uses its Facebook page to welcome users and compels them to join. It also reminds you that Facebook is one of their social destinations on the web, but that you might be interested in their YouTube page. (Their YouTube page, ironically, only features a playlist of videos that they love but does not show any videos made by themselves, such as the process of making a Peanut Butter Cup. Wouldn’t you love to see how they’re made? I know I would.)

Promotional products company rushIMPRINT features on its Facebook page a tab of products for sale. These tabs take the visitor back to their website where they can complete the purchase. This method is smart because it helps build interest on another platform and drives conversions directly on their home base. (Disclosure: I helped plant the social media seeds for rushIMPRINT.)

Offer Deals

Lisa Barone calls this specialized content, and that’s exactly how you should see it. Give people a reason for telling the entire world that they like you.
The big question of return on investment comes up often. How do I know if there’s ROI in Facebook? One way is to see is by giving exclusive deals to Facebook fans. You can elect to do this one of two ways. You can offer deals exclusively to Facebook followers only. Don’t cross promote to Twitter (offer a different incentive on Twitter). Don’t post it on your blog. Don’t share it on your email newsletter. This is a good way of checking specifically if your Facebook efforts are working when you see that the Facebook coupon codes have been redeemed.
On the other hand, you can also share the same discount code across all social platforms. What if you want to offer 10% off? Share the 10OFF discount code for everyone, for example. Let it be posted on every social platform of choice and then watch as it seeds through other communities (which is likely to happen and shows that your marketing is viral).
Of course, you can also just use a Facebook application for that.

Buy something, get something. That’s how Baskin Robbins is doing it besides making an interactive page that visitors might be interested in exploring further.
People interact with brands online because they want deals. Try to offer some every so often.
And while you may not be able to easily run contests within its rules, you have some flexibility with the Wildfire App platform, so consider that as well if you’d like to offer incentives of some kind.

Encourage Community Interaction

In the simplest form, have a Facebook wall and ask your fans questions or share cool company or even personal insights with them. Give them a reason to want to communicate. Better yet, to show that the page is active, give the users control by letting their Fan posts show up on the front page. (Not all companies will be comfortable with this option as it will require frequent moderation.)

Instead of using your updates as the default view, let your fans take over. In the screenshot above, control is shifted to everyone and empowers your community members. As a result, engagement goes up as the page appears very active.
There’s a cost to this, though. The page should appear active but it should also appear like you’re not neglecting your community. Therefore, beyond letting them have control, grab the mic regularly (a few times per week and daily if possible) and engage your community.
The more you engage your community, which could be as simple as asking your followers how they are going to be spending Mother’s Day or sharing a link of interest to your followers, the more visible your page is to your Fan’s friends. After all, every interaction shows up on the Fan’s news feed. And that translates to more visits, which you’ll start seeing when you receive a weekly email from Facebook entitled “Your Weekly Facebook Page Update” that features fun statistics like these:

+41 Fans this week (3,284 total Fans)
31 Wall Posts, Comments, and Likes this week (68 last week)
1,477 visits to your page this week(1,869 visits last week)

You might also be interested in learning more about EdgeRank, Facebook’s own algorithm to determine visibility on a user’s home page. This algorithm takes hold from three main components: (1) the affinity score between two users: how often do they interact?, (2) the type of interaction (is it a like? a comment?, etc.), and (3) the length of time since the action was done. Based on this information, fresh content with actively engaged brand adopters are is key. Give them a reason to be actively engaged. This is basic News Feed Optimization.
Engagement is not limited to wall posts. Post photos of your service and product offerings and invite your fans to do the same. A tremendously wonderful execution of this is on Graco’s photos tab. You’ll learn about their products but you’ll also see a plethora of user-submitted images — complete with cute babies.

And that’s not the only thing you can do to encourage online interaction. Why not solicit reviews from your community to see what they think about you? If you offer great value and have firm believers amongst your midst, you have nothing to fear. Online retailer Newegg isn’t afraid and proudly displays its Facebook reviews for all to see.

Another great way to do this is to host polls where you can get customer feedback. That’s how Ben & Jerry’s is doing it.

Of course, there’s also the potential to encourage community interaction within Facebook using the Facebook page as that home base. The EA Mobile Human Tetris project takes you to a Facebook application where everyone participates in a game of Tetris.

Such games require expertise of a Facebook Application developer but could have lots of potential as long as your Facebook Apps resonate with your audience and compel users to install them.

Aggregate Your Other Social Streams

If you’re only on Facebook, this step isn’t for you. Hopefully, though, you’re considering other social networks to broaden your social media reach. If so, you should show your Facebook fans what you’re up to elsewhere! Hootsuite, for example, has multiple tabs that highlight their social involvement elsewhere on the web.

There are takeaways from this. Offer different content to your different audiences. Don’t just broadcast the same messages to your Twitter and Facebook followers.

Be Creative

Facebook confines you to its site and its feature set, but clearly we can see that they do have a pretty rich feature offering. You can do many things to market your business, add value, and empower your customers. It might be a good opportunity to build upon that to further your mark in the online space.
You’ll find that as your page grows, you’ll likely be tasked with handling customer service issues. People don’t care who is running the social media presence online; if it’s the marketing department, they’ll still demand technical support. Help them where you can or redirect them to the phone number, email address, or contact link that gives them direct contact with your support representatives. Be on your best behavior — after all, good customer service is good social media marketing.
Growth can be a good thing. You may find opportunities to host real life events, be them at conferences or whatever else. This is especially true of businesses who have a brick and mortar location and even better for businesses. Why not invite your Facebook fans to a special event at your venue? Let them connect with each other and build bonds.
There are a lot of different opportunities here, and with such a tremendous penetration, it’s silly to ignore Facebook altogether.
Your Facebook page might be a great opportunity to market your business, but it’s earned media, so keep in mind that it’s a community too. Give your Fans a reason to want to come back.

Evaluate Your Needs and Tread Carefully

Ask yourself what you want to use Facebook for. Is it to communicate with friends and family or is it to drive prospects? Are you joining Facebook’s social network with the intention of spamming your friends with marketing messaging? If so, don’t. Brent Csutoras ruffled my feathers when he said that he doesn’t use Facebook for marketing and “maybe that is why I still have so many friends.” The truth of the matter is that to an extent, he’s right. Of over 1500 friends that I have, I’m constantly being pitched to join groups I have no interest in. What I didn’t like about Brent’s statement is that most savvy marketers do understand the fragile nature of online (and even offline) relationships and that smart ones do not abuse those relationships at all.
If you’re a business, ask your customers to follow you — don’t force it out of those people you are already connected with for other reasons.

Facebook is One Piece of the Pie

With more than 400 million members, if you want to go where your customers are, you’ll probably find most of them on Facebook. That said, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You should still consider your blog or website as a viable way to build community and/or to drive sales and conversions. If nothing else, that’s the official channel to communicate your business objectives, and you have total control over the process there without risks or usability concerns.
Use Facebook, but use it wisely. It should be considered a subset of your overall online marketing efforts.
What other tips would you add to this list? Share your thoughts in the comments.

<br>

How to Use Facebook

2011-05-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

Does it feel like everyone that you know is on Facebook? Do you want to join, but aren't sure how to start? Read How to Use Facebook and you will be posting on your friends' walls in no time at all.
Facebook is the largest online social networking site and currently has over 400 million users.¹ Facebook allows people to interact, share photos, and find people. In addition to using Facebook for social purposes, many people use it professionally for business networking.²
More and more businesses with an online presence will link users to a Facebook page. They will also frequently use Twitter and RSS feeds.³ Facebook has become an integral part of online marketing strategies, and users are able to connect to numerous sites using their Facebook Log-In.⁴
There are also Fan Pages on Facebook.⁵ This is a relatively new offering. Fan Pages are targeted more toward a specific entity rather than an individual' social networking with friends and family. Just because they are labeled Fan Pages does not necessarily mean that the entity is a celebrity, a band, etc. Fan sites can be created for anything, especially online stores.⁶ More and more businesses are making use of Fan Pages to target their users to a Facebook entity that represents their enterprise.⁷

Step 1: Profile Information

Register on Facebook
Go to the Facebook Homepage. Then, enter your full name, your email address and password.
Your password must include both letters and numbers.Select your gender - Male or Female. Select your birthday.
After you have entered this data, click on the Signup button. Go to your email that you used to join Facebook. Open the Registration Confirmation email from Facebook. Click on the verification link. Now you can access Facebook and find your friends online.
Enter Profile Information
If you have just joined Facebook, the Info tab is displayed after you added friends. If you logged out of Facebook before setting up a profile, then click on View and Edit Profile the next time you log on to Facebook.

Enter your basic information.
If you only want to show the month and day of your birthday] and not the year, select Show only month and year in my profile from the box underneath the birthday field.
To enter Personal, Contact and Education information, click on the appropriate section and enter the information.
If you do not specific information displayed on your profile, leave the field blank.
When you have completed a section, click on the Save Changes button before moving to another section.
To upload a profile picture, click Upload Profile Picture and browse to the picture you would like to display.
To write a brief bio that will be shown on your profile page, Write Something about yourself and type in your information.
When you have completed your profile, click on the Done Editing button and the information is saved.

Step 2: Exploring the Facebook Toolbar and Tabs

The Toolbar at the top your screen lets you navigate through Facebook.
Facebook Button

Use the Facebook button to return to your Facebook homepage.⁸ You can also use the Home button to return to your home page. Your Facebook page displays information about your Facebook friends. A series of tabs are displayed at the top of the screen that allow you to easily navigate through your Facebook page. There are five default tabs for your Facebook homepage.

News Feed - This tab displays stories about your friends, such as when they add friends, post updates or write a friends wall. The amount of information displayed about a friend depends on their privacy settings. You can customize the amount of news that you receive about a particular friend in your News Feed.
Status Updates - This tab displays status updates posted by your friends. It does not include other stories about your friends, such as when they join a group or add a new friend.
Photos - This tab displays your friend's photo albums. The photo albums displayed in this tab depends on the privacy setting selected for the photo album.
Posted Items - This tab displays all posted by friends.
Live Feed - This tab displays all news stories about your friends, such as status updates, friends they have added, and groups they have joined.

To add application tabs to your Facebook page:

Select the arrow at the far right of the tabs.
From the drop down list, select the application feeds you want displayed on your tabs. The tabs are added to your Facebook homepage.

Profile Button

Use the Profile button view and edit your Profile. Your profile is the place where you share information with your friends, such as photos, information and messages. You can use this to determine who sees your profile. You can set your profile to Public so that everyone on Facebook can see your profile.You can also restrict your profile to only friends that you have approved. There are also restrictions you can set that only affect specific information in your profile.

There are four default tabs for your Profile page.

Wall - This tab displays messages that your friends leave for you. You can use Wall to Wall to write a message back to your friend.
Info - This tab displays your profile information. To edit information, click Edit Information
Photos - This tab displays pictures that you posted.
Videos - This tab displays videos that you posted.

You can add additional tabs to your Profile page.

Select the plus sign button at the far right of the tabs.
From the drop down list, select the applications you want displayed on your tabs. The tabs are added to your Profile page.

Friends Button

Use the Friends button to view your friends, find friends, add new friends and invite people you know to join Facebook. Friends are people who can see your status updates, access your profile and receive news feeds about you. Many people approve friend requests for those that they know in real life. If someone wants to add you to their friends list, you must approve them before they can access your profile. If you add someone as a friend, they must also approve you before you can see their profile information.

Inbox Button

Use this button to read messages from your friends and send messages to your friends. Messages are a way to communicate with friends individually without posting a public message on their wall.

From the Inbox menu, select Compose New Message.
Enter the name of the person you want to send a message to, the subject and the message.
Click the Send button.
To read messages sent to you, select View Message Inbox from the Inbox menu.

Step 3: Find and Add Friends

After you join Facebook, this screen is displayed. You can add friends now or you can access this screen later by clicking Find Friends in the right side of the screen.

To Find Friends Using Your Email Address Book

To use your address book to find friends:

Enter your email and password.
Click on the Find Friends button.
- Note that for web based email applications, you are directed to your email provider to enter your password directly on their site. Many email providers require that you sign an agreement allowing Facebook to access your email account.
Click the checkbox next to each friend you want to add or click Select All Friends. If you do not want to add any of the friends displayed, click the Skip button.
To add the friends you have selected, click on the Add as Friends button.
An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.

Find Friends You Instant Message

To Find Friends who you instant message, click on the Find Friends You Instant Message link.

Select the button for AIM or Windows Live Messenger.
Enter your screen name and AIM password.
Click on the Find Friends button.
- Depending on your instant messaging provider, you may be directed to your IM provider's website to enter your password directly on their site. Many email providers require that you sign an agreement allowing Facebook to access your IM account.
A list of people who you instant message with and are registered on Facebook is displayed.
Click the checkbox next to each friend that you want to add
To add all people that are displayed, click on the Select All Friends checkbox.
If you do not want to add any of the friends displayed, click on the Skip button.
To add the friends you have selected, click on the Add as Friends button.
An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.

Find Friends Using the People You May Know Tool

Facebook displays people who may know based on mutual friends, high school, college, networks, and employment similarities.

Facebook lists potential friends on your Facebook page and on the Find People You Know on Facebook screen.
If you do not want the person displayed in the People You May Know section, click on the X to the right of their name.
To add the person displayed as a friend, click Add as Friend.
If you want to add a personal message with your friend request, click Add a Personal Message.
To add as a friend, click on the Add Friend button.
An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.

Search for Friends

You can also search Facebook for people that you know who are registered on Facebook. Facebook lets you search by the person's name, search people who attended your school or people who work at a place of employment.

To search everyone registered on Facebook, enter the name of the person who you want to search for in the Search field and click on the Search Facebook icon.
To search for a classmate or co-worker, click Friend Finder. The Find People You Know on Facebook screen is displayed. In the Search for People section, a list of your schools and employers is listed. Click the school or employer that you want to browse.
A list of people matching your search criteria is displayed.
To add the person displayed as a friend, click Add as Friend.
If you want to add a personal message with your friend request, click Add a Personal Message.
To add as a friend, click on the Add Friend button.
An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.

Accept Friends

If someone adds you as a friend, you must accept approve them as a friend before they can access your profile. If you have selected to be notified by email on your Settings tab, you will be sent an email. There will also be a message at the top right of your home page that says You have [X] Friend Request.

Click on You have [X] Friend Requests.
To add the person, click on the Add Friend button.
The person is now a friend and can access your profile. You will begin to receive news and stories about your new friend
If you do not want to add the person as a friend, click on the Ignore button. The person is not notified that you ignored them.

Remove a Friend

If you no longer want to be friends with a person, you can remove them from your friends list. You can do this by clicking on their name on your Wall or News Feed. You can also select View All Friends from the Friends menu and click on the link to their profile.⁹

Scroll to the bottom of the person's profile. On the bottom left of the screen, click Remove from Friends.
A message box asking if you want to remove them is displayed. To remove them, click on the Remove Friend button.

Add Photos

Many people use Facebook to share photos with their friends. You can specify specific privacy options for each photo album. Once you add photo albums, a Photos tab is added to your profile.

Click on the Profile button and then select the Photo tab. You can also access photos from the Photo icon in the Applications section or toolbar.
Albums and photos that you have uploaded or friends have tagged you in are displayed.
Click the Create a Photo Album button.
Enter the album name, comments and privacy settings.
Click the Create Album button.
Select the photos you want to include in the album
Click the Upload button.
The album is created and the photos are uploaded.
To adjust privacy settings for your photos, click Album Privacy.
Each of your albums are displayed.
Select who you want to be able to view each album and click the Save Settings button.

Add Notes

You can write notes on your profile similar to a blog for your friends to read. You can also import an existing blog into Facebook Notes. Once you write notes, you will have a Notes tab on your profile.¹⁰

To access Notes, click the Notes icon in the Application section or toolbar.
Click My Notes.
To enter a new note, click Write New Note.
Enter the title of the note, body and people you want to tag in the note.
Tag people who are mentioned in the note.
Select who you want to be able to see the note in the Note privacy section.
To save a draft of the note without publishing it, click the Save Draft button.
To see what the note will look like before you publish it, click the Preview button.
To publish the note, click the Publish button.

Set Profile Privacy

To set who can see your profile information, click Privacy.
To change the privacy level for a specific type of profile information, select My Networks and friends, Friends of Friends or Only Friends.¹¹
To specify certain networks or certain people to not see specific information, select the Customize option next to section in your profile that you want to restrict.¹²
To customize the privacy for individual photo album, click Edit Photo Album Photo Settings. Select who can see each specific album and click the Save Settings button.
To see what information a specific person is able to see on your profile, enter their name in the See how a friend sees your profile field. Your profile is now displayed with the information that the person will see when they access your profile.
Click Exit to return to your profile.
When you have are finished modifying the privacy settings, Click on the Save Changes button.

Set Search Privacy
- You can control who can find your profile through the Facebook search feature.¹³
1. If you do not want everyone to be able to see you in the Facebook search feature, who you want to be able to find you through the Search feature.
2. To select specific networks who can view your profile, select the Customize option and a message box will allow you to select specific networks.
3. To control what information is displayed when someone searches for you, select the privacy options in the Search Result Content section.
4. If you want people who have not been approved as friends to be able to see your friends list, verify that the My Friends list option is selected.
5. If you do not want to be included in Internet search outside of Facebook, deselect the Create a Public Search Listing option.
  - Note that if you are under 18 years old, you will not be included in the Public Search listing regardless of your selection for this option.
6. When you have are finished modifying the search settings, click on the Save Changes button.
Block Someone in Facebook
- If you someone in Facebook, they will not be able to find you through the Find Friends Tool or the Search. If you are in a group with them or are currently friends, your profiles will no longer be connected.
1. Enter the person you want to block in the Block field and press the Block button.
2. Facebook displays all profiles matching the name that you entered.
3. Click Block Person to select the person to block.
4. The person's name will now be displayed in the Blocked list on your Privacy tab.
5. To unblock someone, click Remove next to the blocked person's name.
Set News Feed and Wall Privacy
- The Set News Feed and Wall Privacy tab allows you to customize what information about your actions on Facebook and your wall is displayed on friends news feeds. Note that the default is for friends to receive a news feed when you write on another friends wall, comment on an item on a friends page, post on a discussion board, add a friend, change your relationship status, or leave a network. If you do not want this information posted on your friends news feeds, you need to customize this tab.
1. Select News Feed and Wall.
2. Deselect the information that you do not want included on your friend's news feeds.
3. To change your Social Ad settings, select the Social Ads tab. If you do not want to appear in a social ad, select the No one option.
4. When you have are finished modifying the News Feed and Wall settings, click on the Save Changes button.
Join Networks
- Networks are a way to interact with people who live in your area, work at your company or attend your school. You can join up to five networks, but must designate one as your primary network. Your primary network is displayed underneath your name and Facebook uses the network to rank search results. To join a college or employer network, you must register your Facebook account using a valid email address for the college or place of employment. To join a high school network, you must use a high school email, be invited by a member of the high school network, or be approved by a member of the high school network. You can only change your regional network twice every 60 days.¹⁴
1. Click the Settings menu, select Account Settings.
2. Click on the Networks tab. This tab lists any networks that you currently belong to.
3. In the Network name field, enter the name of the city, workplace, school or region that you want to join.
4. Select the network that you want to join and click the Join Network button.
Join Groups
- Groups allow you to meet and interact people with common interests or beliefs.
- A group can be for people who support the same sports team, attend the same church or like the same television show. Be sure to look for business and professional groups that would help with professional networking.
- You can join an existing group or create your own groups. You can join up to 200 groups.¹⁵
1. Click on the Groups icon in the Application section or toolbar.
2. The Groups page is displayed. A list of your friends groups and the groups that you belong to is displayed.
3. To join a group that one of your friends belong to, click on the group and then click Join Group.
4. You are now a member of the group.
5. To find an existing group, enter a keyword in the Search field.
6. A list of groups matching your search is displayed.
7. Click Join Group to join the group.
Create a Group
- If you do not find a group that you want to join, you can also create a group for a specific interest or group of people.¹⁶
1. Click on the Groups icon in the application section or toolbar.
2. The Groups page is displayed with a list of your friends groups and the groups that you belong to.
3. To create a new group, click the Create a New Group button.
4. Enter the name of the group. Be sure to enter a name that describes the purpose of the group.
5. Select the Network for the group.
  If you want the group to be available to all members of Facebook, select Global. If you want it to only be available to members of a specific network, select the Network.
6. Write a description of the group in the Description field.
7. Select the Type of group. These categories help people find the group based on type and category.
8. Enter recent news, office, email, street and town.
9. Click the Create Group button.
10. The group is created and the Customize Groups tab is displayed.
11. To upload a picture for the group, click the Browse button and select a picture.
12. Enter the website address for the group.
13. Select which options you want to enable for the group.
14. Select the Access level for the group.
  If you select Open, then anyone can join the group without your knowledge. If you select Closed, the group description is shown on Facebook, but you must approve any members. If you select Secret, the group description is not shown on Facebook and you must invite all members.
15. Click the Save button.
16. The Members tab is displayed.
17. To invite members, enter their name in the Invite Members field or select their name.
18. Enter a message for the invitation.
19. Click the Send Invitations button.
To Change Your Real Name Email, Password, Security Question
You can use the Account tab to change your password, change your email, enter credit card and other administrative tasks. To access the My Account screen, select Account Settings from the Settings menu.

The Settings tab controls your account information. Facebook uses the Former Name field to help identify friends, but does not display this information. If you change your email address, you must use a valid address that is not currently connected to another Facebook account.

Click the Settings tab.

Click Change next to the information that you want to modify.

Enter the new information in the correct field

Click the Change button

The new information is saved.
Enter Credit Card Information
A credit card is only needed to purchase gifts and ads. You are not required to enter a credit card number unless you purchase these services. If you enter a card, it is not charged unless you purchase a gift or ad space.¹⁷

Click the Settings tab.

Click Manage in the Credit Card section.

Enter credit card information.

Click the Save button.
To Deactivate Your Account
If you deactivate your account, you will not be able to access Facebook unless reactivate your account. You can reactivate by logging into Facebook with your email and password, but you will not remain a member of groups that you joined before you deactivated your account.¹⁸

Click the Settings tab.

Click Deactivate in the Deactive Account Section.

The Confirm Facebook Deactivation screen is displayed.

Select the reason you are deactivating your Facebook account.

Enter the security code displayed in the box in the Text in the Box field.

Click the Deactivate button.

Post Status Updates on Your Wall

Your wall is your profile that your friends see when they access your Facebook profile. To view your own wall, click on your Profile tab. You can post updates on your wall, and friends can write on your wall. You can also add Facebook application content, such as pictures and video on your wall.

A status update tells your friends what is going on with you and is posted to their newsfeeds.

In the update status field, enter your status update.

Click the Post button.

Your status will be posted to your friends newsfeeds. It will also be posted underneath your name in Facebook searchs and in the Chat window.

To clear a status, click Clear to the right of your current status.

Write on a Friends Wall

You can have wall-to-wall conversations with your friends by posting on their wall. When you write a friend's, remember that their friends can view what you are writing. If you have your privacy postings to show when you write on friend's wall in your news feeds, your friends will also see what you have written.

Access your friend's Facebook page.

In the Write field, enter your message to your friend.

Click the Post button. The message is posted to your friend's wall.

Share a Link With a Friend

If there is a webpage that you think a friend would be interested in, you can share the link with your friend.

In the Share a Link field, enter the link that you want to share.

Click the Preview button.

Facebook displays the graphic and description of the website that you entered.

If you do not want to share this link, click Remove.

If you do not want to the picture displayed, select No Picture.

Enter a comment about the link.

Click the Post button.

The link and comment are posted to your friend's wall.

Send a Gift to a Friend

Gifts are icons that you can send to a friend. Free gifts may occasionally be available as promotions. Other gifts require you to purchase gift credits. Gift credits cost $1 per 100 credits. To purchase gifts, you must have a credit card entered in your Account Settings.

Click the Gift icon from the Application section or toolbar. Your current available gift credits list of available gifts is displayed.

Select the gift that you want to send. The amount of gift credits required for the gift is displayed under the gift.

Enter the name of the person you want to send the gift to in the Recipient field.

Enter the method of delivery.

Click the Continue button.

If you do not have enough gift credits to purchase the gift, the Gift Shop box is displayed. Click Buy Gift Credits to purchase credits.

Poke a Friend

Another way to communicate on Facebook is to poke a friend. You can use pokes to say hi to an existing friend or to allow a person who is not a friend access to basic information about you.¹⁹

Access the person's Facebook page.

Click on Poke underneath their profile picture.

A confirmation message is displayed.

Click the Poke button.

Your friend is notified that you poked them when they log into Facebook.

Chat with a Friend

You can chat with friends who are online through Facebook Chat.²⁰ The Friends Online button in the bottom right of the Facebook screen tells you how many friends are online.

To see which friends are online, click the Online Friends button.

A list of friends currently online is displayed. A green dot next to the friend means that they are currently active and a moon means that the friend is idle.

Click on the name of the friend you want to chat with.

Facebook Chat is displayed. If you have previously chatted with the friend, your previous chat conversation is shown in the chat window.

Type in your message to your friend and press the Enter key.

The message is sent to your friend.

When they respond, their message is displayed in the Chat window.

When you are finished chatting, click the Close icon in the top right of the Chat window.

Play Facebook Games
Once you are on Facebook, you may join in on a wide variety of social networking games. The games that are on Facebook are usually relatively simple (you are not going to find any World of Warcraft on here), and involve performing various game actions as well as interacting with your Facebook friends. Game items and invitations are often posted on you and your friend's Facebook walls. Some of the more popular games that are played on Facebook include Farmville, Mafia Wars and poker. You can play with people who are already your friends, or meet fellow gamers in the community and become friends with them.

FACEBOOK

2011-05-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

Facebook is a social networking site that is enormously popular, but it can be a frustrating user experience. The design of Facebook leaves a lot to be desired and there are almost too many choices for things to do on Facebook. Also some of the more popular Facebook activities are trivial instead of useful - throwing sheep is an oft-quoted example.
Having said that, there's no doubt that Facebook is a powerful social networking tool. So how can you best utilize it and find the good apps? In this post we aim to find out. We'll be focusing specifically on social activities, rather than the many other potential uses of Facebook (work, brand management, etc).

Tip 1: Update Your Status Regularly

This is a simple thing to do to keep your Facebook profile active. Right at the top of the page there is a place where you can "write something." Usually a comment about what you're doing or thinking. Once a day, or even once every few days, is enough. But update it enough to keep your page interesting.

Tip 2. Use Groups (a.k.a. Lists in Facebook Terminology)

Groups are a core feature of social networking on the Web. To effectively use Facebook, we recommend you set up some groups so that you can filter content. One person who does this very well is our own Marshall Kirkpatrick. Marshall says that he generally scans his Facebook homepage first, then clicks to his groups for family and old friends from school. He noted that "this way most of my time spent on Facebook isn't re-reading the same things I've already read on Twitter."

There is a bit of a trick to setting this groups feature up. Facebook calls this feature "lists," probably to differentiate them from its other Groups feature (which have been usurped by 'Pages' now). Confused? Get used to it, Facebook navigation is awful.
To set lists up for your Facebook account, go to your Facebook homepage and click the "more" link on the left-hand sidebar. You will see a link entitled "Create new list" at the bottom - click on that to create a new group.

Tip 3: Add Your Content From Other Sources (Carefully...)

In this day and age, you are likely creating content in more than a few places on the Web. This ranges from the extreme cases (early adopters who have personal RSS feeds coming out their ears), to those who may just use YouTube and a couple of other niche social websites.
Many early adopters use FriendFeed to aggregate their 'lifestream' of content from multiple sources. Facebook just bought FriendFeed, so expect to see it integrated into Facebook over time. As of now, if you have more than a few content sources and they aren't necessarily the well-known ones like YouTube or Last.fm, then you'll need to use FriendFeed or an equivalent lifestreaming product to aggregate those feeds. But if you find FriendFeed just a bit too geeky (and many people do), then you can adequately enrich your Facebook profile with external content.
One thing we'd caution, which this author took too long to notice: don't pipe your FriendFeed content into Facebook if you aggregate a lot of content into FriendFeed! It quickly overpowers your Wall and will likely annoy the friends you have who also subscribe to your FriendFeed.

To add external content to Facebook, on your Wall page click the 'Options' link on the top right. Then click 'Settings.'
You can then choose to "import stories" to your Facebook wall from a select number of sites: Flickr, Digg, YouTube and others.
You can add content from other external sources to Facebook by clicking the 'application settings page' link further down the page.

Tip 4: Brighten Up Your Profile With Photos and Videos

This almost goes without saying, but adding multimedia makes your Facebook profile interesting and attractive.

If instead of Facebook you usually use a specialist photo site (like Flickr) or video site (like Vimeo), then you'll need to search around for ways to export your files. I use Flickr and didn't find a satisfactory way to export photos from Flickr to Facebook's Photo albums. But via my Twitter network I managed to discovered a plug-in for iPhoto, which allows Mac users to bulk export from iPhoto to Facebook.

Tip 5: Search Out the Best Facebook Apps

Ever since Facebook became a development platform back in May 2007, thousands of apps have been built to add to your Facebook page. As noted in the introduction, these range from trivial (e.g. sheep throwing) to very useful. The best tip here is to find apps that complement your interests.
Our advice is to search the directory for keywords of interest to you. The quality of apps varies greatly and often there are errors (at least I came across them several times when researching this article). When you find an app you like, you can add it to your profile. I added an Art app recently, for example.
You can browse a user's apps by clicking the oddly-named 'Boxes' tab on their profile page.

Tell Us How You Use Facebook!

We hope this post inspires you to spruce up your Facebook page a bit. For more tips, check out Facebook's own Influencers page.
Let us know in the comments what tips you have, or what you use Facebook for every day!