Linkedin, Facebook’s buttoned up cousin, has loosened their ties, rolled up their sleeves and started on some much needed improvements.
Linkedin has added a Skills and Expertise feature which allows you to add keywords to your Linkedin profile. This means you can showcase your areas of expertise to easily connect with people that have similar skills or with companies looking for subject matter experts. Continue reading
One of the most challenging things about writing a profile on a social media site is trying to convey what it is we do without sounding like an advertisement. Here is a list of 7 profile writing tips that will get you past the writer’s block and on your way to successful networking! Continue reading
One of the most common mistakes that businesses make when starting out in Social Media is creating a Facebook Profile instead of a Facebook Page to represent their business.
Using a Facebook Profile for your business is against Facebook’s Terms of Use http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=12814 Facebook has the right to erase the profile and all your connections with it. Granted, it’s rare but it does happen. Are you willing to take that chance?
Because Pages are for businesses and Profiles are for people it may reflect badly on your business for using a Profile. Your business may seem incompetent or uninformed.
Not all is lost!! Facebook allows you to convert your Profile to a Page. All your Friends will change to Page Likes and all your pictures will be transferred but that’s it! you will lose all other content so it’s a good idea to save that content somewhere else so you can add it to your Page after conversion. Also note that this does not work vice versa, Pages cannot be converted to Profiles.
Lots of businesses using Social Media today are obsessed with public participation and how to get more of it. While that is a huge priority in Social Media Marketing, I often have to sit down with clients and have the “Lurker” talk.
In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively. Research indicates that “lurkers make up over 90% of online groups” **Wikipedia
Most businesses are dismayed at the lurker to active user ratio. I was even told by one “I don’t care about the people that don’t participate, I only care about the people who do” <insert error buzzer here>
90% of users are Lurkers (people who do not actively participate in Forums/Groups/Pages etc.)
9% of users are casual contributors (people need a question answered or comment specifically to something that is relevant to them)
1% of users are active users (sometimes referred to as power users) contribute approximately 91% of user content
We have all “Lurked” in some form or other when we surf the web. After all, have you posted a comment on every site that you have been to that gives the option?
Lurkers enjoy reading conversations and stories that other posters have contributed to the site for entertainment or educational purposes or searching out expert advice. Imagine having a problem with your computer and using Google to look for an answer, when you click on a link to a board where someone else has asked the question and another person has answered it so you do not need to post a question because you have found what you’re looking for. Great examples of these sites are Yahoo Answers and eHow.
Some lurkers do not post on a blog, forum or Facebook Group/Page for more personal reasons such as
It is important to remember that you will never get all Lurkers to participate. It is human nature so stop fretting! Some people are listeners and some people are talkers; but they are all important!
Profiles are different then Pages and Groups. Profiles are for personal use and/or networking (catching up with old friends, person to person business networking). Think of it this way, your profile represents yourself and your Page represents your business.
When you signed up for Facebook you opened a Facebook account and on your account you have a ‘product’ called a profile, now you want to add another ‘product’ called a Page to your account as well.
The easiest way to go about this is to sign in to the Facebook account you already opened and add a Facebook Page. There would be no visible public connection between your profile and your Facebook Page. Anything that is posted to the Page will appear as coming from the page. Like 2 separate identities.
For Example…
Your signed into Facebook account and you check your ‘Profile’ and discover that it’s your friends birthday. When you post on their wall it will appear to be coming from Jane Doe but when you click the link on your account to check your ‘ACME Bombs’ business Page, you discover that Willie Coyote has posted to your page wall. When you respond it would appear as though you are ‘ACME Bombs’ NOT Jane Doe.
I have created multiple Pages through my account for clients which I monitor and post information to and no one knows who I am 
Confused yet?? Clear as mud? Post your questions below and I’ll do my best to answer them!