Social Networks Can Do Almost Anything!

This is a guest post by SEO analyst Sarah Bruce.

Facebook logo with male silhouette

What role do you think Facebook or any other social media plays in our lives these days? Being connected to family and friends is of course, a feature that social network provides. However, it is not limited just there.

Until now, I had the notion that social networks are for “being connected” to known niches, but this idea has been completely changed by a few wonders that have happened lately.

I bet the recent incidents would have been an eye opener for many online users who are skeptical of the power of social networks like Facebook. They have shown their online influence and also proved that ‘strong desire’ can drive you to achieve your goals. ‘Kindness’ that exists globally has also been proved.

Does everything sound strange to you? I don’t blame you. In fact, there are many people who are not aware of the incredible happenings of the last year, and what is still happening.

So, I decided to share all the wonderful incidents on a platter for you. Let us have a small glimpse to know, how social media and people can be extremely intimate.

Facebook campaign helped the sisters get a puppy!

Photo of kids holding up banner they used on Facebook to get enough likes to get a puppy.

You must be wondering how a social network can possibly get you a puppy when you can go to a pet shop and buy one! Trust me, Facebook has that potential.

Not all parents wish to buy a pet for their children and a similar thing happened to an adorable gang of kids. Skeptical father had put a tricky condition of getting 1 million likes on a Facebook page to two siblings, and said that the success would fetch them a puppy.

Motivated by the father’s challenge, the two sisters decided to post a message on their Facebook Profile and requested other users to like it.

Message reads, “Hi World. We want a puppy! Our dad said we could get one if we get 1 million likes! He doesn’t think we can do it! So ‘LIKE’ this!”

Kids get Facebook likes to get a puppy

To everyone’s surprise the post got 1.2 million likes within an hour!

Father had to keep up his word and the siblings had an addition to the family. Two little siblings proved the power of social network to the world.

Woman finds her birth mother!

The Power of Facebook should never be ignored! Jenessa Simons started her search of her birth parents three years ago when she was 18. After a long search, she decided to give a Facebook campaign a shot – inspired by the success of the Facebook viral puppy campaign.

Jenessa Simons's Facebook Profile

She had posted her photo with what little information that she had on her Facebook Profile: Hospital, birth date of her parents, her birth date, and her contact information. This post went viral in no time, with 86,000 shares. Many people contacted Simons, saying falsely that they are her parents!

Then, a woman contacted her claiming to be her mother. Simons was skeptical initially, however the woman knew certain facts that were not known by anybody else. She told Simons that she was born via caesarean section. Simons said, “Then she sent pictures of me as a baby that my mother (adoptive) had given her”.

“I found my birth mother just because 70,000 people shared that picture and
took one second of their day to hit share and I found my family”, she said.

Simons was overwhelmed with emotions, after she had found her birth mother. The search of her birth father is still on, though.

Likes get a CAT added to the family!

Photo of kids who want a cat for 1000 Facebook likes

When his kids asked for a cat, another father from Massachusetts, Dan Urbano, put forward a condition to his little daughter, Evelyn Urbano, and his 7-year old son, Remi. He told them that if they could get 1000 likes on Facebook he would buy them a furry cat.

Their mom, Marisa Papile Urbano, helped her children in writing their plea on a board and posted it on her Facebook Profile. It says, ‘Hey Facebook! My sister and I really want a CAT. Our papa promises we can get one if we can get 1,000 Likes. Please like this picture. Thank you!’

The heartwarming post crossed the threshold of 1000 likes and
reached almost 120,000 likes, with 100,000 shares across the globe.

What next? Dan had to give up and brought a green-eyed feline,
which they named as Hairietta L. Pawturr!

They say that the middle initial ‘L’ is their gratitude towards the
social network,which helped them add a friend to their family.

Little boy and cat he got for getting likes on Facebook

All these campaigns scream to the users to get rid of the suspicious notions about the influence of social media platforms. These networks have the power to reach and connect everybody, globally, irrespective of any barrier of differences.

Sarah Bruce head shotAuthored by Sarah Bruce. An SEO analyst, who predominantly works on removing Negative feedback from websites, Do you wish to Remove negative reviews about your Business/Services? Visit www.lemonpeak.com

Facebook Graph Search: What it Means for Marketers: Resources, Videos, Demo

We are fortunate to have this guest post about the new Graph Search Facebook beta written by Freelance Writer Terra L. Fletcher, one of my co-authors on the DIRJournal blogs.

Introducing Facebook Graph Search

Click image to read official Facebook announcement and sign up for Beta

FACEBOOK GRAPH SEARCH

Google and Facebook have long had a battle. Today, Facebook is making strides with search. Graph Search was unveiled by Zuckerberg on January 15,2013. Facebook’s search until now has been, well… terrible. Graph Search, currently in beta, looks to be quite the improvement.

Analysts are predicting that Graph Search will provide impressive micro-targeting for advertisers who want to know their friends’ preferences before making decisions. Whether searching for a restaurant or a life partner, Facebook’s Graph Search just may have the answer.

Huffington Post described the new tool well:

“If you’ve not heard about Graph Search, it … is being positioned as the third pillar of the Facebook platform alongside the Newsfeed and Timeline. Facebook Timeline is where you post content. The Newsfeed is how that content gets distributed.

And now Graph Search is how you can leverage the connections between your friends and the brands they like to generate unique and personalized search results.

In other words, Graph Search enables you to search for the best places to eat, to shop, to stay — to buy insurance or to find a plumber — based on shared social connections; the results are implicit recommendations from trusted sources.

With Graph Search, Facebook is opening a new world of social discovery by unlocking the value of our likes, check-ins, photos, and more.”

Unlike major search engines that provide lists of links that may contain the answer you’re seeking, Facebook promises to eliminate a step and return very specific answers.

Local business pages may be bolstered as their pages
get discoveredusing products similar to
the “nearby” feature recently released.

Local businesses on Facebook should encourage customer engagement. Remind users to like, check-in, recommend, rate, and tag photos.

Relationships continue to grow in importance. Mass production of corporate content dulls in comparison. (Nationwide chains may suffer initial shock from the switch to hyper-local focus from brand focus.)

One forewarning: Facebookers in general will need to be retrained. Facebook users who spend the majority of their time on their own newsfeed (or cyberstalking other’s Timelines) will need to adjust.

Instead of passively consuming content

Facebook users will have to search.

Granted, they don’t need to leave Facebook to do it, but they will need to learn that they can enter open-ended and specific queries and get out of the habit of leaving Facebook to search on Google.

As an advertiser, you should be curious about how social searches will function. Facebook Graph Search should keep users on Facebook longer. The increased time will give more data to Facebook and advertisers who are seeking to present more relevant ads. It’s likely that businesses with the most likes and check-ins will shoot to the top of Facebook search results.

Companies seeking better graph search result rankings will purchase more ads on Facebook to get them. Perhaps 2013 will see Facebook (which made over $5 billion in 2012) grow in revenue. (Google made over $50 billion last year.)

Improved relevancy means higher conversion.

With higher conversion rates, advertisers are more likely

to pay a premium, taking a slice out of Google’s pie.

Read the latest from Facebook about Graph Search. While you’re there, request to be added to the waiting list for the beta test. Local companies that take the initiative and take advantage of this new tool will gain a competitive edge. Focus on reputation and relevance.

Short video explanation of Facebook Graph Search:

FACEBOOK GRAPH SEARCH VIDEOS:

Have you signed up for Facebook Graph Beta?

What do you think about it? Tell us in the comments.

If you want to read more of Terra’s content, follow @TerraFletcher on Twitter. To find out more about her, visit her Fletcher Freelance site.

You can also subscribe to the DIRJournal blogs where Terra L. Fletcher and I (Gail Gardner, GrowMap) both write by entering any email address on this DIRJournal Subscribe page to see them. Coming soon: feeds to allow you to subscribe by author.

FACEBOOK Timeline: How it Makes Promoting a Business Even More Effective

This is a guest post by Christopher Wallace, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing Promotional Products to share tips on using Facebook Timelines. This is an example of a Facebook Business Page with a Timeline Image:

Example of a Facebook Business Fan Page Timeline Image

Amsterdam Printing Facebook Timeline ~ Click image to see it live on Facebook

Facebook Timelines

Facebook created a clear distinction between how businesses and individuals can use the social networking site when it launched Timelines last year. With Timeline, which provides a fresh new look for the site, individuals share their personal information in a profile, while companies can promote their business on a page.

[NOTE: It actually violates Facebook's policy for a company to create a profile. If you accidentally did this, see How To Convert or Migrate A Facebook Profile Into A Business Page]

Although using Facebook as a marketing platform for a business is nothing new, some of the features introduced with Timeline offer new possibilities for companies seeking to promote their brand.

Cover & Profile Images

Gone are the days when a small single photograph was the primary visual image available to companies trying to get some visibility on Facebook. Today, through Timeline, Facebook users have the opportunity to create much more visual interest with the new, larger cover photo, which if used wisely can function much like a billboard.

Your cover photo and the smaller, inset profile photo are 
the first things people see when they enter your Timeline.
So be sure to optimize these areas first.

Although Timeline’s new look has advantages for businesses utilizing Facebook to promote their brand, there are some limitations. For example, cover photos cannot include overt advertising, such as pricing or direct contact information. Therefore, depending on the nature of your business, you might have to get the creative juices flowing to get users’ attention.

Because images of products and company logos are fair game, there are a lot of options available. For example, larger companies with lots of brand recognition can rely on recognizable logos. Take Coca-Cola, for example. Coca-Cola’s cover photo features various images of the company’s ubiquitous logo (http://www.facebook.com/cocacola).

Another interesting idea is incorporating the cover photo and the profile picture together. Our company took this approach on our Amsterdam Printing Facebook Page, and we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the design.

Hubspot Guide to Timelines for Facebook Fan Pages for Smallbiz

Click this image to download Hubspot’s Free Facebook Timeline Guide

Stories

Posts, status updates, and uploaded photos are called “stories” on Facebook, with the idea that individuals and businesses can utilize Facebook as a platform to tell their complete life story. The information posted is viewed in reverse chronological order, so companies can feature important milestones in the life of the business, update users on important news, and advertise special promotions.

Update Often

For some businesses, it may be prudent to change your cover photo periodically to showcase new products or services and to keep the page feeling fresh. In addition, companies should take advantage of the free opportunity to update information about their businesses by constantly adding new, enticing content.

For example, restaurants are increasingly providing daily photos showing specials and featured dishes in an effort to entice diners. In short, if users anticipate regular updates, they are more likely to visit often.

Engage Users

Facebook provides a unique interactive forum, unlike television or print advertisements, where companies can connect on a more intimate level with consumers and even establish solid relationships.

If the look and content of your Facebook page engages someone, that person may “like” the page or share it with friends, thus generating exposure and creating more personal connections.

Pinned Posts

Particularly important information that a company wants to highlight can be “pinned,” which creates a prominent display at the top of the Timeline for a period of seven days.

Promoted Posts

Although posting information (such as a sale or special offer) on a Facebook page may generate interest among those users who have officially “liked” your company’s page, promoted posts potentially provide much more exposure.

Clicking the “promote” icon after you’ve already typed the content allows that information to be seen by people who are connected to those who have “liked” your company’s page. In addition, companies can target individuals in a particular city or region while promoting a post.

Customize Featured Tabs

A company’s Facebook page generally displays four tabs, one of which is reserved for photos and the others can be customized. You can monitor which tabs generate the most interest among users, and savvy businesses will use that information to gauge when it’s time to change things around. See Hubspot’s How to Create Custom Tabs for Facebook Business Pages for more details.

Sponsored Stories & Ads

While most of the options listed here are entirely free, because Facebook has millions of users worldwide, it may make economic sense to pay for a sponsored story or a more conventional paid advertisement. Facebook will profile a company’s sponsored story, and that information reaches well beyond the page’s fan base. These options allow you to target recipients using various demographics including location, age, gender, education, and employer.

While detractors may have once regarded using Facebook
as a silly trend
among college kids and adolescents,
virtually every
segment of the population is now on board.

There is no denying the incredible influence of Facebook, and as a result, companies have an amazing opportunity to market their products and services on the site. That opportunity was advanced with the advent of Timeline, which provides even more possibilities for businesses to gain exposure online.

How to Create Facebook Timeline Images

If you want to do this yourself, Ileane @BasicBlogTips recommends the Facebook Timeline Splicer Pro App. Mari Smith shared last month that Facebook Single Column Timeline Designs Rolled Out so it is likely there will be a similar design for businesses. If it is already out I haven’t seen it yet.

21 Key Points to cover when creating your Facebook Page Timeline

Click this image to see Mari Smith’s annotated Guide to Optimizing Facebook Timelines for Business Fan Pages: 21 Key Points to Know

Find a Facebook Timeline Graphic Designer

Mari Smith compiled a spreadsheet of graphic designers who create Facebook Timeline images. Read her post for more details by clicking the image below:

Example of a quality Facebook Timeline

This is Mari Smith’s Facebook Timeline ~ Click this image to read her post about Facebook Timeline Cover Images or to find a Graphic Designer for your Facebook Timeline.

Facebook Timeline Resources

Facebook Timeline How-to Videos

The video below contains very useful details on how to use Facebook Timelines and Timeline Tips and Tricks. If you know whether anything in this video is or is not applicable only to business or personal timelines, please let us know in the comments and we’ll update this post and credit you for the information.

Facebook Business Page Resources

Facebook Engagement

Facebook Advertising

The leading expert on Facebook advertising we recommend is Aimclear. Their latest post on Facebook Advertising Updates! 2013 Brings More Fresh #FB Ads Features & Functions could be useful to you.

We caution our readers that if they choose to spend money with Facebook that they carefully monitor their results. See these posts for why:


This post was written by Christopher Wallace, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing (www.amsterdamprinting.com). Christopher has more than 20 years experience in sales and marketing.

Amsterdam Printing is a leading provider of custom pens and other promotional items such as personalized USB drives. Christopher focuses on providing quality marketing materials to small, mid-size and large businesses.

Cyber Bullying Statistics – School Bullying Programs

School bullying

Anti Bullying School Assembly Programs ("Buddies Not Bullies") for K-6th grade all Throughout New York, Westchester County NY, New York City, Connecticut, Fairfield County CT, Massachusetts, Bershire County MA, New Jersey, Morris County NJ, Bergen County NJ, Somerset County NJ, Montgomery Township NJ & Many Other School Districts.

Bullying has always been a serious issue, but in previous decades it was mostly ignored and some are still not clear what it even is.

Thankfully, bullying is finally getting the attention it should with media coverage, implementation of school bullying prevention programs, and special educational anti bullying school assembly programs.

WHAT IS BULLYING? [Read more...]

Facebook Page Setup for Bloggers: An Ultimate Guide

FaceBook Page Customization

Click Image for Examples of Ching Ya's Client Work

This is a guest post by Ching Ya, one of the three bloggers I regularly recommend for their expertise with Facebook. She is the author of Social @ Blogging Tracker and provides Facebook customization services for small businesses. You can follow her on Twitter @wchingya.

Each day, 750 million active users log on to Facebook to connect with friends and family and to support the brands they love. Ever since the introduction of Facebook Pages for business, almost every brand is eager to expand their customer outreach and build their online reputation through Facebook.

Even bloggers are encouraged to build a Facebook Page for exposure
and as another way to communicate with readers. Why not?
Creating a Facebook Page is easy and Free!

Here I will be sharing some basic steps on how to create a Facebook Page from scratch. [Read more...]