In the search for developing a solid community-building strategy for my new blog, the best advice I’ve ever gotten is to engage with your readers & tell your story.

Try to interweave a personal dimension to whatever it is you’re sharing with your readers. This gives them a glimpse of the real you and ultimately builds loyalty.

If you sell something, don’t just talk about how you added something new to the inventory…try to tell a story about why you carry that item in the first place.

This works especially well if you’re into crafts, diy projects, design, etc. Talk about all the wonderful things that influence your work, or the people that inspire you.

Related to this bit of advice is the courtesy of encouraging readers to leave comments and feedback. This is truly a great win-win strategy!

Share with your readers a work-in-progress, then ask what they think. Give your readers the opportunity to share with you how they go about making their own projects.

You never know…you might learn something new, or an even better way to streamline your workflow.

I like the practice of engaging readers because having a blog doesn’t always have to be a one-sided conversation.

So tell me, how do you engage with your customers or commentors? :)

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

During the Facebook webinar hosted by WildFire Interactive this past Friday, I learned several practical marketing tips that I simply had to pass along.

Mark your calendars…

Facebook Timeline for Pages will automatically go live for all brand pages on March 30th of this year.

Facebook Page Timeline Features

The new Facebook page timeline comes with 7 major features.

I’ll discuss these new features along with tips for usage throughout this article:

1. New Post Highlighting Features
2. Milestones for Story-telling
3. Custom App Thumbnails
4. New Private Messaging
5. Page Activity Moderation
6. New Admin Panel Location & Settings
7. “Like” Stats Visibility

New Layout for the Facebook Page Timeline

The Facebook timeline layout consists of two columns; posts are displayed in chronological order to depict the passage of time.

The default view when a visitor first lands on your page will now be the page timeline. No more default landing pages.

The only way to funnel visitors through a landing page is via an ad that you run on Facebook.

Just like personal Facebook timelines, pages can display a cover photo. Suggested dimensions are 850 pixels wide by 315 pixels in height.

To prevent cover photos from becoming digital billboards, Facebook has implemented the following rules…

• may not include pricing info
• may not contact info (include this in the About section)
• may not calls to action (Buy Now! Call Today!)
• may not include references to Facebook features (Like Our Page, Share This Page)

Facebook would like for it to be a clean, organic experience between the business page and page visitor.

The hope is that businesses who truly engage with their fans will be the most successful under the new timeline for Facebook pages.

Facebook Admin Panel

The admin panel now appears above the cover photo each time you log into Facebook. You have the ability to hide it when not in use.

You can manage your admin settings by selecting Manage > Edit Page.

Recent Posts by Others *New*

There is a new box in the timeline for Recent Posts by Others. It’s displayed in the top right column.

This box displays every comment someone has made about you on Facebook.

You can modify your privacy settings to hide or display this box. If you disable it, posts will display chronologically in the timeline instead.

New Admin Settings

Here are some new settings you might want to modify in your admin panel…

Post Moderation *New*

As shown in the screenshot above,  there’s an option to hold posts in moderation until they’ve been reviewed by a page admin.

This might or might not be a good idea as it can affect your credibility. Authentic businesses accept feedback (both good & bad) and deal with it openly.

New Opportunities for Branding

The branding opportunity presented by the Facebook cover photo is limited at best. You’ll need to find ways to reinforce your brand’s message without depending on your cover photo.

Here’s how…

Facebook Page Timeline Apps

You might have noticed that page apps have jumped up below the cover photo and no longer appear as a list of tabs in a left-hand column.

Your custom app pages will still work, but the dimensions for their display have changed from 520 pixels wide to 810 pixels wide.

Anything smaller than 810 pixels is automatically centered with white space displayed at either side…

Facebook App Limits & Customizations

The limit is now 12 apps, with only 4 displayed above the fold (visibly).

The number of apps hidden below the fold are displayed in a drop-down button. Page visitors can click that button to view lower-level apps.

Facebook’s native Photos app will always be in 1st-place position, so that leaves you with 3 apps to feature in the top row.

The good news is that you can rearrange the order of your apps. This allows you to feature the apps of your choice.

You also have the freedom to customize the app thumbnails (my favorite feature so far).

Recommended dimensions are 110 pixels in width, 74 pixels in height…

Quick Tip:

Maintain some control of your Photos app by regularly uploading fresh photos. In this way, you can provide a fresh view on your page of what shows up for the Photos app thumbnail.

Milestones, Pinned Posts, & Highlighted Posts

Facebook provides ways to further brand your messages with 3 new features: Milestones, a Pinned Post, and Highlighted Posts.

Milestones

The new Facebook timeline for pages now offers brands the ability to tell their story…dating all the way back to the year 1800.

As in the Old Spice sample below, you can designate particular posts or upload images as a Milestone in Facebook so your page visitors will see what you’ve done year by year.

Other Ideas:

Showcase your first design (if you’re a web designer like me). Post behind-the-scenes photos. Anything goes, really.

The Facebook Pinned Post

Posts can be “pinned” in first position in your timeline to help you call attention to a particular event, giveaway, or promotion.

To pin a post, hover over its top right corner and select the pencil icon. Click “Pin to Top.”

Pinned posts are marked by an orange flag in the upper right corner.

Pinned posts remain pinned for up to 7 days, or until you replace them with a newer pinned post.

They take their place within the chronology of the timeline when no longer designated as a pinned post.

Facebook Highlight Posts Feature

Another way to feature posts is to highlight them. You can highlight as many posts as you like.

To highlight a particular post, hover over its upper right corner to select the star icon.

Highlighted posts are distinguished by their physical size since they take up the width of the timeline.

Viewing Facebook “Like” Stats

If you click on the “Likes” link for any page, you’ll see some interesting stats about who likes that page and when the most activity occurred on that page.

You do not have to “Like” the page yourself, or be an admin to view these stats.

This little tidbit is good to know for the sake of competitive analysis.

The key here is to observe when spikes in activity occurred for a particular page, then go through the page’s timeline to see what sparked that amount of activity.

This could give you some ideas on how to market on your own page and engage your audience. Great idea!

Private Messaging for Pages on Facebook

Business pages can now receive private messages from fans and non-fans alike.

Page messages will go to the same inbox as your user inbox.

Notifications of new messages appear in the upper right-hand corner of the admin panel.

You can disable the private messaging feature via your admin panel (Manage > Edit Settings > Manage Permissions).

Facebook Webinar Replay [Updated 3/5/12]

Watch WildFire’s webinar yourself here, or check out their white paper here.

Getting Ready for the Facebook Page Timeline

Hopefully you’ve gotten enough information in this article to make sense of the changes to come with Facebook’s new timeline for pages.

If you’ve made the switch on your business page already, how do you like it so far? My only real beef is the poor image quality of cover photos.

How have you gotten creative with your new page’s timeline? I’d love to hear about it.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

The social media world has been all abuzz lately about Pinterest, the latest and greatest in social networking. And rightly so, it’s awesome!

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social network that acts as a virtual scrapbook. Users can share, curate, and discover things like videos, images, recipes, and so on.

I personally use Pinterest for inspiration regarding gift ideas, interior design, crafting, cooking, and fashion. Feel free to browse my Pinterest pinboards and follow me if you’d like.

Not on Pinterest yet?

Pinterest is currently invite-only, but it’s not hard to score an invitation nowadays. Likely someone within your social circle is on Pinterest and can send you an invitation.

When I joined Pinterest, I was a bit of an early adopter and didn’t know anyone using the network, so I made a request directly through the Pinterest website. It took about 3 days to get confirmation of my new account. Easy breezy.

Pinterest for Business

Pinterest is good for business especially if what you have to offer has visual appeal. From observation, the items that get the most attention have a certain aesthetic or they photograph well like fashion, or food.

I’ve bought (and plan to buy) a bunch of cool stuff thanks to Pinterest. But aside from getting someone to buy a physical product, Pinterest can help to drive traffic to your blog or website. Here’s how…

The Key to Business on Pinterest

Here’s how Pinterest helps your business:

No matter what your unique selling point is, or the products you offer, it all comes down to INTRIGUE.

Whether it’s a recipe, DIY project, hairstyle, or home decorating tip, you need to keep digging if you want to know how to do it yourself. With the help of Pinterest and a bit of intrigue, you can drive more visitors to your site or blog.

Credits

Gotta give credit where credit is due. This clever girl introduced the concept and explained it well in her guest post, “Pinterest Drives Enormous Blog and Business Success.”

Her article came to me via Hubspot’s free guide, How to Use Pinterest for Business (good read).

I hope you found this post “pinteresting.” Thanks for reading!

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

I am still a total newbie when it comes to maintaining my own blog, so this infographic (courtesy of Copyblogger.com) is just the thing to keep me on track.

Every journey begins with a single step, right? Here’s how to keep one foot moving in front of the other.

Happy blogging!

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

Tonight was a lovely Fall evening. I enjoyed spending quality time with my family and watched a few Pixar shorts on TV.

There was one beautifully illustrated film short in particular that spoke to me and its message was simple – to rebound when life gets you down.

Sometimes your ego can get a little bruised…whether you’re a small business owner, blogger, or both. Just remember to keep boundin’ and things will soon look up.

{Note: There was once a video clip on YouTube, but it has been removed by the YouTube user. Ah, well.}

Words via Life Engineering:

Here’s a story on how strange is life with its changes
And it happened not long ago.
On a high mountain plain, where the sagebrush arranges
A playground south of the snow
Lived a lamb with a coat of remarkable sheen,
It would glint in the sunlight all sparkly and clean,
Such a source of great pride, that it caused him to preen.
And he’d break out in high stepp’n dance.

He would dance for his neighbors across the way.
I must say that they found his dancin’ enhancin’,
For they’d also join in the play.

Then one day…

Then a-boundin up the slope
Came a great American jackalope.
This sage of the sage, this rare hare of hope,
Caused to pause and check out the lamb.

“Hey kid, why the mope?”

“I used to be something all covered with fluff,
And I’d dance in the sunlight and show off my stuff,
Then they hauled me away in a manner quite rough
And sheared me and dropped me back here in the buff.
And if that’s not enough, now my friends all laugh at me
Cause they think I look ridiculous, funny, and pink.”

“Pink? Pink? Well, what’s wrong with pink?
Seems you’ve got a pink kink in your think.
Does it matter what color? Well, that gets nope.
Be it pink, purple, or heliotrope.
Now sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down,
When you find that you’re down well just look around:
You still got a body, good legs and fine feet,
Get your head in the right place and hey, you’re complete!

“Now as for the dancin’, you can do more,
You can reach great heights, in fact you can soar.
You just get a leg up and ya slap it on down,
And you’ll find you’re up in what’s called a bound.
Bound, bound, and rebound.
Bound and you’re up right next to the sky,
And I think you can do it if you give it a try,
First get a leg up, slap it on down…”

So every year, along about May,
They’d load him up and they’d haul him away,
And they’d shave him and dump him all naked and bare.
He learned to live with it, he didn’t care,
He’d just bound, bound, bound, and rebound.

Now in this world of ups and downs…
So nice to know there are jackalopes around.

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

Today I’d like to feature my latest WordPress-powered site launch, Living With Purpose – A Women’s Empowerment Retreat. This site was designed for a very high-level client, my mom. Lol

My mother is a motivational speaker and human development coach. She has partnered with her long-time friend, Marisa Rivera, to sponsor this exciting women’s retreat.

I will be on-hand as a participant and to assist during the retreat, so for those of you who register – see ya there!

I am really excited to attend this event since I would like to learn how to create the life I want. It’s already a pretty good life, but there’s always room for improvement.

For details, visit - http://Empowerment.EasLeadership.com/

Thanks for the visit! – KC

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

Get out your umbrellas, cuz it’s gonna rain…Modern Muse is now on Facebook! To show your support, please like my page. I would truly appreciate it.

The process was fairly painless and I hope to write a more in-depth post someday to detail the steps I took to start my Facebook page.

I think I’ve done pretty well to attract clients without social media, but why not see what all the fuss is about, right? Lol

My motives are really quite pure in that I’d like to interact with my clients and site visitors through a platform that everyone’s familiar with using.

So…I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance and “Like” my page. Soon I’ll be launching a giveaway opportunity to anyone who becomes a fan. You don’t wanna miss out!

Thanks for indulging me on this one. – KC

Modern Muse Web Design - Web, Blog, and Graphic Design Studio

For some time I’ve wanted to write a post about working at home because well, I work from home and sometimes find it challenging. Obviously, I am able to accomplish my work goals at the end of the day, but as any work at home professional will agree, there are pros and cons.

I’d like to share with you some of the pitfalls I often face and the strategies employed to address them. These strategies may seem like common sense, but they help tremendously when put into practice.

Work at Home Challenges

I am a freelancer with a young child at home, so my biggest challenge has to do with focus. It’s hard to stay ‘in the zone’ creatively when there is a screaming toddler outside my door.

Another challenge is [seemingly] unsupportive family. At times it doesn’t register to them that although I work from home, I am still accountable to someone – my clients.

Then there’s the issue of house guests. I live in the fabulous city of Lost Wages. I mean, Las Vegas. Seems like there’s always a steady influx of people that want to crash at my place. What to do?

Set Boundaries

To be successful when working from home, you must set boundaries. I’ve recognized that in order to nurture my career, I will need to turn down invitations for personal outings from time to time. If I want success badly enough, it will be worth the sacrifice.

Admittedly, the inability to say no is a weakness of mine, but I’m working on it. More specifically, I’m learning how to turn down projects if my gut tells me to go in another direction. Not that I’m soooo in-demand or all-important, but for anyone who takes on clients (freelancers in particular), this subject is all too familiar. I’ll write an article someday about that, but I wanted to throw it out there since you might be in a similar position.

Setting boundaries now applies to out-of-town guests. If they’re a close relative, like my mother-in-law or sister, then I know in advance when they’re coming and make it a point to schedule days off to host. I still get the occasional drop-in visit, but they’re getting used to the fact that I have to work during set hours (more about this later).

If out-of-town visitors are long lost friends or distant relatives, they don’t know too much about what I do anyway, so I simply tell them that although I would love to host, I have to work, and then politely offer to meet them at their hotel for drinks or coffee during their visit. For their convenience and mine, I keep a list of cost-effective hotels handy for times when I’m asked for recommendations.

Create a Work Environment

Boundaries can also be made by setting aside a space in your home for work. Preferably, you want this space to be in the same location and respected by all as your place of work. I have a separate room in my house dedicated to my design studio and my family knows that when the door is closed and the light is on, it’s a no-fly zone. Mama is working and should not be disturbed unless the house is on fire, or you are seriously injured.

Your work space should optimally be a quiet, organized space that supports the nature of your work too (printer, phone, laptop).

If you’re having trouble carving out a work environment for yourself at home, you might want to consider the affordable alternative of a co-workspace.

I’m still pretty comfortable working at home, but in all honesty, a co-workspace arrangement is still up for consideration should more opportunities become available in my area.

Set a Schedule

The beauty of working at home is that you have the freedom to set your own schedule. If you don’t have a set schedule already, I would recommend that you implement one. In this way, you can let friends and family know when you have to work – no exceptions. Then all the other hours left in the day are up for negotiation.

By setting a schedule, I’ve personally become more productive because I can get into work mode knowing that I have a set block of time to accomplish certain tasks.

In addition, when you set boundaries regarding your time, you’re less likely to take on more than you know you can handle.

Post Hours of Operation

If you have a web site for your business, it would be helpful to display your hours of operation. This assures your clients/customers of your availability and professionalism.

Thankfully, my family is supportive of my career. In the past, I felt like they were being unsupportive because they’d ask me to go shopping on a work day, or propose a last-minute road trip. How were they to know when I was available if I hadn’t made my schedule clear to them?

Now that my hours of operation are clearly defined, my family knows when I’m available to goof off. It all comes down to communication.

Get Help

If possible, hire outside help. I learned this tid-bit during a stint as a beauty consultant for direct sales cosmetics company. Notably, the most successful consultants were the ones who acquired help early on in their careers.

Recently, I recruited the help of a babysitter who comes to my home 3 days a week. The expense is well worth it because the only way I would gain the same level of productivity would be to put my daughter in daycare. Frankly, I’m not ready to do that and the expense isn’t justified quite yet.

Maybe you need help in other ways like hiring a virtual assistant, or someone to clean your home. At least give it some thought. The investment might be worth it so you can use the extra time to focus on your business.

Start Early (or Late)

I’m personally not a morning person, but on the rare occasion that I’m up before the rest of my household, I take advantage of the quiet time to work.

I first learned of this technique while browsing for advice on housework and exercise. After having my daughter, my ability to keep house and get back into shape suddenly seemed impossible. I wondered what the heck everyone else was doing to keep up. A few quick searches online revealed what my mommy counterparts were doing – beating the crowd and waking up early.

I wish it were that easy, which is why the same can apply to late-nights. Especially if you don’t have a ton of deadlines. The night-owl in me prefers the quiet after bed-time to get stuff done. This is why 2 days out of my work week consist of evening hours. Work during the evening accommodates international clients and I can still get work done on the days my babysitter isn’t around.

Remain Self-Disciplined

Regardless of the circumstances, I am ultimately to blame if I don’t reach my daily work goals. The golden rule for anyone who works for themselves is self-discipline.

Self-discipline comes in many forms and the level necessary varies from person to person.

Hopefully you can maintain a level of self-discipline by incorporating some of the work at home strategies listed above.

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