Social Media for Business with Karen Kefauver

10 Tips to Tune Up Your Social Media Marketing for 2012

2012-01-11T11:45:00.001-08:00

This blog post features tips on social media for nonprofit organizations & slides from my talk, "Ten Ways to Tune Up Your 2012 Social Media for Business with Karen Kefauver" which I presented to two groups this week in Santa Cruz, California. Click thru slides at your own pace.* Keep reading for tips on social media for non-profits.If you like my tips, please also LIKE my Facebook Business Page where I post social media resource and easy-to-follow advice.

Social Media for Non Profits: Resources + Best Practices
Facebook:1. https://www.facebook.com/nonprofits2.http://www.facebook.com/advertising/FB_Pages_Communities_NonProfits.pdfYou Tube:3. http://www.youtube.com/nonprofitsGoogle+4. http://mashable.com/2011/08/16/non-profits-google-plus/5. http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/LinkedIn:6. http://learn.linkedin.com/nonprofits/Twitter:7.http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/nonprofits-twitter-facebook_b14823

View more presentations from Karen Kefauver

10 Things You Can Sue People For for Doing Online - Guest Post by Laura Backes

2011-12-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

America loves its lawsuits. At least it seems that way! Regardless, the online world is not immune to this national phenomenon. There are lawsuits filed over the internet, there are lawsuits filed about the internet and there are lawsuits filed over content on the internet. Listed below are a number of ways that the cyber-world has become enmeshed with the legal world.

Feeling Lucky? – You might not feel too lucky if you are one of the people behind Full Tilt Poker or Poker Stars, two online gaming enterprises that have come under a barrage of lawsuits, ranging from alleged Ponzi schemes to misappropriation of client funds.
Trademark Infringement – “Keyword Advertising” is popular on the internet. This is where words you type into the search box trigger an advertised site (usually the ads running down the right side of the results page). There is legal question as to whether the use of trademarked names in keyword ads is legal.
Defamation – Defamation includes libel, which is a written defamation, and slander, which is spoken defamation. And, yes, truth is an absolute defense against a claim of defamation, but remember that thetruth can be a time-consuming and costly thing to prove.
Facebook – Employee rants are nothing new on Facebook, nor are disciplinary actions by the companies they work/worked for. The NLRB, or National Labor Relations Board, has been entrusted, since 1935, with enforcing the Wagner Act, a labor law that set down certain rules regarding collective and individual employee behavior.
SLAPP – Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. A legal maneuver that has been in use for decades whereby businesses sue or threaten to sue (often for defamation) customers who have posted negative commentary about their business online.
Software Piracy – The SIIA ( Software & Information Industry Association), a trade association for the software and digital content industries, regularly files lawsuits against online purveyors of infringing, illegal, counterfeit or unauthorized software.
“Litigating for Liberty” – That is the motto of the southern California-based group called the Institute for Justice, and the Institute specializes in 1^st Amendment cases. A look at their site at http://www.ij.org/firstamendment will show lists of cases, many pertaining to online content.
Cobb County, Georgia – In Cobb County, Georgia, people are able to file small claims lawsuits online. The cases are still decided before a judge, but suing someone was certainly made easier. Proponents say it saves time and money, but detractors say it invites frivolous lawsuits.
Ragged Edge – At http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/departments/lawsuits/ , a disability rights organization, you can get an inside look at cases that involve people with disabilities.
Tips to Avoid Lawsuits – If you plan to post a negative review of a company or service online remember three things: just the facts, act to benefit other consumers and don’t hit “send” until you have calmed down.

The laws, particularly those having connections to social networking, will continue to evolve rapidly, even as the pace of technological advance increases. If you have concerns about legality, consult a lawyer!

This article is also online at http://www.dslserviceproviders.org/blog/10-things-you-can-sue-people-for-for-doing-online/

Craft a Better Facebook Post - Mari Smith's Tips

2011-12-05T23:30:00.001-08:00

Mari Smith, Social Media Pro

Famous Facebook and social media guru Mari Smith has posted yet another winning article on her blog (Nov. 14, 2011) about how to write your Facebook posts effectively! I present a condensed version of what she had to say, here. Subscribe to Mari's blog: http://feeds.feedburner.com/marismithrelationshipspecialist.

1. Use an eye-catching image.
Your photo should make people laugh, cry, or go “awww!”
Photos on Facebook have always gotten a slightly higher EdgeRank score, which means better visibility in the News Feed. But, don’t necessarily use an image on every single post; keep it interesting by mixing in links, videos, questions (app), and text only updates.

2. Keep the narrative short.
A study by Buddy Media showed that posts 80 characters or less in length receive 27% higher engagement rates. Considering how much content flies by fast in the new moving Ticker at the top right of your Facebook home page, and also in the News Feed, it makes sense that a shorter post will catch Facebook users’ attention quicker.

3. Keep first person to a minimum
Even though I’m a big fan of writing in first person whenever possible, as it creates more warmth and connection with your audience, in order to increase your shares on Facebook, you might want to experiment with keeping the wording more generic. Write in a way that could sound like it was coming from others. As with Melonie’s example above “How adorable is this?!” could be said by anyone.

You can always use first person in your comments when responding to bring in the more personal touch.

4. Include a call to action.
Invite your friends, subscribers, fans and their friends along with visitors to your page to share your posts with their friends, subscribers and fans. Simple calls to action such as “Click like if you agree” often work well, so long as the preceding statement/question is relevant. Asking people to add their comments is good too. But, it’s the Share that will likely create the greatest exposure for your page/profile.

5. Write about timely topics with helpful tips and resources.
There’s often plenty fodder to share up-to-the-minute tips, new strategies, and useful resources on your Facebook page and/or profile. These types of posts can be any length and might include links and/or photos or videos. The point is your Facebook network and extended community will find extreme value in reading and sharing the post.

6. Experiment with longer content.
Despite tip #2 above (keep it short), now that Facebook increased the maximum update size from 420 characters to 5,000 characters, try writing a “mini-blog post!” Per my tip #5 above, so long as the content is timely, relevant and helpful, you stand a greater chance of getting lots of shares.

7. Share more videos!
Among large audience clients (celebrities and brands), we typically see the most shares coming from unique/interesting videos. Usually these are behind-the-scenes peaks, though we’ve seen great sharability from loved-but-forgotten YouTube videos too. (via And a bonus tip, from Ryan Cohn of What’s Next Marketing).

My First WordPress Blog - Take your WordPress.com site to the next level!

2011-12-04T18:36:00.001-08:00

Recently, I launched my first WordPress blog, in addition to the two blogs I have on blogger.com. Here are good tips straight from WordPress.com, below. Please visit ands subscribe to my three current blogs here:

1. Travel Journal: http://karenkefauver.blogspot.com

2. Social Media for Business with Karen Kefauver: http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com

3. Tour of California Santa Cruz: http://tourofcaliforniasantacruz.wordpress.com

You're all signed up for your WordPress.com blog. Now learn how to customize it, make it beautiful, and grow your audience with Learn.WordPress.Com.


	Launch Your Blog If you're not sure what one end of a dashboard looks like from another, learn how to quickly: —Master the basics —Publish your first post

	Focus Your Blog The most popular WordPress.com blogs have a strong focus that pulls in a dedicated audience. Find out how you can do the same to: —Grow your blog

	Customize Your Blog WordPress.com offers a ton of customization features to make your blog stand out from the crowd. Find out how you can: —Make your site uniquely yours

	Blogging on the Run If you'd rather blog while you're out and about, WordPress.com has you covered with some first-class mobile blogging tools. Never miss a blogging opportunity again: —Blog mobile!

10 Ways that Google+ Can Compete with Facebook

2011-11-29T00:33:00.001-08:00

Erica Morgan at internetproviders.net shared this blog post with me: “10 Ways that Google+ Can Compete with Facebook." I find it worth sharing with you! http://www.internetproviders.net/blog/2011/10-ways-that-google-can-compete-with-facebook

Google+ shows some real promise as a viable contender to Facebook.
In fact, there are some areas where Google+ could really have an edge. Here are 10 ways that Google+ can compete with Facebook:

1. Privacy – The aforementioned naming policy, even though it created a stir with some users that resulted in some Google backpedaling, may actually work in Google’s favor in the log term. The original policy seemed designed to created an open environment that would be less conducive to trolls, spammers and the like. Once Google irons out some wrinkles in the area of privacy, I envision it as one of its core strengths.

2. Groups – This is a standout feature of Google+, in my book. It’s a far more user-friendly and intuitive tool for networking within your own selected networks. You decide how much overlap there is between friends, family, associates, etc.

3. Toolbar – A feature, also called the Sandbar, that will be universal to all Google services (Gmail, blogs, etc.) and something I suspect would ultimately become an extension that you can incorporate into your browser, much like the Stumble Upon toolbar.

4. Business Accounts – Provided the Google+ Circles feature works as advertised, it could make their network an attractive alternative to Facebook for business purposes. The ability to separate business from social contacts would give Google+ a considerable advantage, provided their original policy backlash hasn’t burned too many bridges with potential business members.

5. Post Length – The ability to make longer posts on Google+ could make it the preferred choice for some users who wish to share blog entries, newsletter updates, etc.

For the rest of the Top 10 list, visit: http://www.internetproviders.net/blog/2011/10-ways-that-google-can-compete-with-facebook.

Google+ for Business - Getting Started with New Tool in Social Media Marketing

2011-11-16T18:39:00.001-08:00

Google+ - what is it? The short answer is: "It's Google's version of Facebook."

Google+ is a social network that debuted in summer of 2011 with personal profiles and then in fall 2011 introduced business profiles. Here's what you need to know and some good resources!

Will Google+ work for your business?
I agree with this article - don't miss out on setting up a Google+ profile!
By Jeremy Victor on November 16, 2011

1. Go here to launch your business page:
https://plus.google.com/pages/create

Here's a great step by step guide:

How to Set Up a Google+ Page for Your Business
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-set-up-a-google-page-for-your-business/

10 Tips to for increasing your Google+ following

There are 10 steps every marketer should follow to build an audience for their brand's Google+ page, Pamela Vaughan writes. You'll need high-quality content, of course, but it's also important to make use of features such as Direct Connect and video Hangouts, and to promote your Google+ presence on other networks.

2. Link your Google+ page to your website
https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/badge/config

3. Check out Google's new "Think Insights"
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/insights/
Forward thinking and rooted in data, Think Insights offers you a one-stop shop for consumer trends, marketing insights and industry research. Stay updated and join the conversation on Think Insights' Google+ page here: https://plus.google.com/101698568710409127237/po

4. Create a You Tube Channel because video and Google+ link together very well
YouTube's Recent Redesign Highlights Google+:
Deeper Google+ integration shows off YouTube content your Circles have shared to Google+, letting you surf user-recommended videos from people you might actually care about.

Why bother to launch a Google+ profile? Because Google, the top search engine, is tying your profiles to their SEARCH power. Here are 2 ways that is happening:
The first is by including Google+ pages in search results, and the second is a new feature called Direct Connect.

Google+ Direct Connect lets you quickly navigate to a Google+ page (and even add that page to your circles) when using Google Search. For example, if you searched for the query '+youtube' or '+pepsi,' you could be immediately taken to the YouTube Google+ page, or the Pepsi Google+ page, and given the option to add the page to your circles.

How do I use Google+ Direct Connect?
Google is experimenting with Google+ Direct Connect and it won't work for every Google+ page. Additionally, some users won't have access to Direct Connect. As time goes on, Direct Connect will become more widely available.

How do I make my Google+ page eligible for Google+ Direct Connect?
A page’s eligibility for Google+ Direct Connect is determined algorithmically, based on certain signals we use to help understand your page's relevancy and popularity. In addition to this analysis, we look for a link between your Google+ page and your website. To help Google associate this content, be sure to connect your Google+ page and your website using the Google+ badge, or by adding a snippet of code to your site, in addition to adding your website link to your page.

News
1. Google+ Pages: connect with all the things you care about
11/07/2011 10:01:00 AM

2. Avoid Social Media Overload - Google+ integrates with services that make management easier
Buddy Media, Context Optional, Hearsay Social, Hootsuite, Involver, and Vitrue are partnering with Google to connect their products to the Google+ platform for publishing, monitoring, and managing circles. The firms were chosen "based on their extensive experience helping brands and businesses manage and analyze their presence on social networks," said Google in a press statement.

Social Media - 3 Time Saving Tools and Tips

2011-11-11T09:00:00.001-08:00

"I don't have enough time for social media!" It's a lament I hear often as a social media consultant based in Santa Cruz, California. I address this issue of not enough time for social media by providing a few free tools I find really helpful.

Here are 3 links to websites where you can set up free accounts easily, plus an article that sums up why I also think Hootsuite is the best. I hope to see you at my Facebook class next week!

1. Bit.ly - shorten, share and track your links

2. Ping.fm - update all your social networks at one time

3. Tweetdeck, Seesmic and Hootsuite - tools to view your social media networks in one place!

1. "5 Reasons Why Social Media Managers Love Hootsuite"

"Out of all the Social Media management and measuring tools available to social media managers and consultants many (including myself) favor Hootsuite." (Social Media Today)

Launch Your Social Media Plan for 2012 - Highlights

2011-11-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the highlights from my seminar, "Launch Your Social Media Plan for 2012," hosted by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, Nov. 3, and co-sponsored by the Small Business Development Center. These are time-saving tips to help you get started and stay motivated in your social media marketing for business. I have 2 more social media for business classes in Santa Cruz County coming up on Nov. 10 (Google+) and Nov. 17 (Facebook). — Karen Kefauver

For a list of time-saving and useful social media URLS, also visit my previous blog post, Social Media Essentials for your Business TIPS!

This blog post OUTLINES the key points of my Nov. 3 seminar:
- Social media trends: What’s HOT
- 7 Facebook tips
- Tying it together, time-saving tips, resources

Social media trends: What’s HOT
Google+
Places/Geolocation
Mobile/Tablets
QR Codes
Video

7 Facebook Tips

#1 Give people a reason to become fans

- A free trial, coupon or even specialized information
- Tell them HOW to become friends
- Use FB’s newest features to invite fans
#2 Stay on topic - related to your brand/industry
Write about a current event and tie it to your brand or industry.
Find and share a funny YouTube video loosely related your brand or industry.
Ask your audience to post questions, pictures or stories about your brand to your wall.
#3 Ask interesting and entertaining questions - ones that can be answered in a word or two - this can really increase fan engagement. WE love to talk about ourselves!
#4 Include photos in almost every Facebook post.
#5 Look at your colleagues' and competitors' pages!
#6 Promote your social media URLS in print and online in blogs, newsletters, email, etc.
#7 Measure your Facebook marketing efforts

HELP RESOURCES
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/help
https://www.facebook.com/business
Twitter
https://support.twitter.com
http://business.twitter.com
LinkedIn:
http://help.linkedin.com
Google+
http://www.google.com/support/plus
http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/demo/

KAREN'S Favorite Social Sites
Hubspot: View webinars: http://www.hubspot.com
Mashable: Social media and tips, http://mashable.com
Social Media Examiner: Guide to the social media jungle, http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com
Social Media Today: http://socialmediatoday.com
Techcrunch: http://techcrunch.com
Web Strategy: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/

2 Articles about how to Assess ROI
1. “Listening and Engaging on Social Media Yield Positive Results,” Aug. 9, 2011, http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008533
2. “Research Report: A Framework for Social Analytics,” Aug. 10, 2011, http://www.slideshare.net/setlinger/altimeter-social-analytics081011final

Connect with Karen Kefauver
I offer social media training, private consultations and give social media talks to industry groups.
Email: karen@karenkefauver.com
Website: www.karenkefauver.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/karen.kefauver.business
Social Media Blog: www.socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com
Twitter: twitter.com/KarenKefauver

Launch Your Social Media Plan for 2012

2011-11-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to my class today, "Launch Your Social Media Plan for 2012," hosted by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce and co-sponsored by the Small Business Development Center, here are time-saving tips to help you get started and stay motivated in your social media marketing for business. Check back for more class notes. — Karen Kefauver

Social Media Essentials for your Business TIPS!

Time Savers

1. Set up Google alerts (free)

Monitor the Web for mentions ofyour name, your company name or names of competitors. Set up multiple alerts orjust one. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results(web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. www.google.com/alerts

2. Add social media sites toyour internet browser toolbar for quick, easy access. Browser toolbar (examples of browsers: Firefox, Chrome,Safari). Go to the browser tab that says Bookmarks or Favorites to add to yourtoolbar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolbar

3. Experiment with NutshellMail

Receive all your Facebook &Twitter updates through a single email for free. http://nutshellmail.com

Free Tools to help you spreadyour message

4. bit.ly- shorten, share, track your links

5. Ping.fm - broadcast to multiple places

TIPS on Specific SocialNetworks

6. Facebook: Make sure your businessis using a Facebook PAGE, not a personal profile. Converting your profile intoa Page

https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=18918

7. Twitter: Try using Favorites(the star icon) and Twitter Lists

8. LinkedIn: Set up a company pageand post updates

9. Blog: Feedburner -provides custom RSS feeds and management tools to bloggers, podcasters, andother web-based content publishers. Free to sign up and use.

HELP and Resources

Facebook: www.facebook.com/help

Twitter: http://business.twitter.com

LinkedIn: http://help.linkedin.com

Mashable - social media news blog,www.mashable.com

Social Media Today - website,blog, www.socialmediatoday.com

Social Media Examiner - Jungleguide, www.socialmediaexaminer.com

NYT Tech Bits - industry news, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Contact Karen Kefauver forSocial Media Consulting: Karen@karenkefauver.com

I offer social media privateconsultations: one-on-one and staff training.

www.karenkefauver.com

LIKE my Page for social media tips: www.facebook.com/karen.kefauver.business

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media from CrowdSpring

2011-09-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media, Infographic from Crowdspring. September 28th, 2011

8 Tips to Grow Your Facebook Business Page Following

2011-08-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

"How do I promote my Facebook Business Page?" That is a question I hear all the time as a social media consultant. It's a subject I talked about during my online webinar yesterday for members of the Adventure Travel Trade Association.

The quick answer is it takes time to build a new, quality fan base. Here are some tips to use as a checklist to build your Facebook Business Page following.

1. Find more followers
2. Promote through your other social media channels
3. Promote through your existing marketing campaign
4. Try advertising on Facebook*
5. Use quality content - it's the key to consistent engagement
6. Design custom tabs for your Facebook page and add apps*
7. Make your website a social hub by adding social plug-ins*
8. Monitor the results
* These may require cash investment and/or hiring outside help.

I use my Facebook Business Page to offer up-to-date tips and breaking news on social media. Join me by clicking LIKE: http://www.facebook.com/karen.kefauver.business.

1. Find More Followers
Initiate messages (via email, newsletter and Facebook) to your friends, family and others who are supportive of your business. Ask them to help out in some discussions, reward them with publicity or return the favor.
- Invite people from your personal Facebook (friend) page to LIKE your page
- After the initial invite, periodically invite them again. Instead of stating: "Please LIKE my page." Write something to entice them, such as: "We have just posted 10 pictures from our expedition to (fill in the blank). Please join our Facebook page at (include the full URL) and click LIKE.
- Be sure to explain how to like the page. Many Facebook users still find this confusing.
- Remind your existing fans on your Business Page to ‘Like’ your status updates.

HOT TIP: Did you know that you can use your email contact list to invite people to LIKE your business page? (Note: this requires that you have less than 5,000 fans.)
Info: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150115103649822

2. Promote through other Social Media Networks
Have you listed your Facebook Business Page
- LinkedIn
- You Tube (in each video posting and Channel profile)
- Twitter
- Social bookmarking and other social networks you use, including Groupon, Meetups, etc.
- Use other networks to send occasional reminders/invites to LIKE your FB Page.

3. Promote through Existing Marketing Campaigns
Look at every piece of print media you use in your business. Your Facebook fan page (as well as Twitter and any other social sites you’re active on), should be clearly displayed. Put your Facebook fan page link (and the logo) on your business cards, letterhead, brochure, print newsletter, magazine ads, products, etc.

Be sure to have the Facebook logo/badge appear in your HTML newsletters. Instead of the usual “Join our Fan Page,” say something creative like “Write on our Facebook wall,” or “Join our Facebook community,” or “Come add your photo to our Facebook Page." Users have to be a fan in order to interact with your fan page in this way.

HOT TIP: Add to Your Email Signature Block. Include a link to your fan page in every email you send out. If you use web-based email, check out the Wisestamp signature addon.

4. Place Facebook Ads
Even with a nominal weekly/monthly budget, you should be able to boost your fan count using Facebook’s own social ad feature. It’s the most targeted traffic your money can buy.
Info and Case Studies: http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?campaign_id=402047449186&placement=pflo&extra_1=0

5. Quality Content is Key
- Your posts should always be: Relevant, Engaging, Authentic. Example: A popular post for travel Facebook page: "Which country or region has sexiest accent?"

- Mix it up with different styles of posts: Video, Photo, Question, Link, Text
- Include photos in almost every Facebook post.
“Twitter is a link economy, whereas Facebook is a picture economy. So just about every status update should include a picture. Ideas for pictures include customers, your product or service in action, employees and events,” says Guy Kawasaki.

6. Design custom tabs for your Facebook page and add apps
Add Custom Pages - Hire a designer or use iFrame. Info: http://developers.facebook.com/
- Add a Welcome Page
Create a welcome page that will entice people to LIKE your Facebook Business Page. Greet with enthusiasm, guide visitors to ‘like’ or have a look at certain tabs.
Example of Welcome Page that I see BEFORE clicking on LIKE:
http://www.facebook.com/WesternRiverExpeditions?ref=ts
- Add a Testimonial Page
Nothing is more convincing than a testimonial page. You can have a static page with testimonials or have a designer create a catchy layout to attract peoples’ attention.
- Add a Newsletter and Opt-In Form
An opt-in form can be easily placed on either your Welcome tab or as a box on the sidebar of the fan page wall. Make sure it’s visible at all times for people to sign up. It’s an added opportunity to build a strong readership and a potential client base with email marketing.

7. Integrate Facebook Social Plugins to Your Website
It’s essential to have a main hub correlating all your social media activities. Your company’s website is the only place that gives you full control over content and brand management.
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/

8. Monitor the Results
- The free Google Analytics tool offers more sophisticated and comprehensive data. Adding Google Analytics to your fan page can be done easily but requires some special steps.
Info: http://www.google.com/analytics/

- The free Facebook Insights provides Facebook Page owners and Facebook Platform developers with metrics around their content. By understanding and analyzing trends within user growth and demographics, consumption of content, and creation of content, Page owners and Platform developers are better equipped to improve their business with Facebook.
Info: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1030

Sources: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

I presented a webinar yesterday to members of the Adventure Travel Trade Association and look forward to my next one! Contact me at karen@karenkefauver if you would like me to teach a social media class, give a talk to a trade group or present on online webinar.
Also visit my website: www.karenkefauver.com.

Guest Blog Post: 10 Reasons Employers Look at Your FaceBook Account

2011-06-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

Social Media is a top tool for job seekers, but also critical for those who are already employed. So whenever I spot a great list like this one, "10 Reasons Employers Look at Your FaceBook Account," it's an opportunity to help! Thank you, Melanie Slaugh, of MyISPFinder, for inviting me to post this story.

Why would your employer want to see your Facebook account? What would be of interest to them on your private wall? There may be more reasons than you would think.

Confidentiality Issues – Many employers have concerns about their employees sharing confidential information with other individuals outside the office. The thought of employees posting current prospects or other business information on their Facebook page could cause them enough anxiety to want to take a look.

Posting during work hours – Employers, who are concerned about their employees wasting time online, may want to look at your Facebook page to see when and how often you post to Facebook during your work hours.

Sick days – Employers may consider your Facebook page a place where they could find out whether you truly were sick on days that you called into work, or just playing hooky.

Seeking employment –Employers might check your Facebook account to see if you have posted anything about looking for new employment. This would be knowledge that they might not get from you directly.

Work satisfaction – Employers know that employees tend to make posts about either loving or hating their job. If they’re not sure where you stand in that regard, or just want to confirm their suspicions, they may want to keep an eye out on your Facebook page for those types of postings.

Facebook friends – Your employer might be curious to find out who your Facebook friends are. It could be a way for them to find out if you are fraternizing with the ‘enemy’ or not.

Health issues – Employers are not allowed to ask you about health issues, past or present. This is another issue that Facebook users often discuss openly on their Facebook page that employers might want to look at if they could.

Work injury claims – Worker’s compensation fraud is a concern for many employers. Things like back injuries can be difficult to diagnose and easy to fake. An employer might hope to gain access to the truth about a work related injury by what you have posted on your Facebook page.

Company reputation – Your employer only sees your actions at work. He may want to view how you present yourself to the rest of the world. Your employer may see you as a representative of their company, both on and off the clock.

Verify information – With new employees, employers might want to look at Facebook accounts to verify that the information you presented about former employment and your residence matches with what you have posted there.

There are plenty of reasons that employers might want to view your Facebook account. Of course, they are only able to see what you allow the rest of the public to see, so be careful about how you have your privacy settings set. You also should make sure you always log out of your Facebook account when you’re done, if you’ve logged in from your computer at work.

Top 10 Facebook for Business Tips - Tips 1-4

2011-06-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

This June, I presented two talks on how to improve your Facebook Page for Business. Designed for beginning and intermediate users of Facebook, here are my tips, in 2 blog posts. Tips 1-4 are featured here and Tips 5-10 are posted here.

1. Build a Social Media Strategy

2. Content is King

3. Pick the Right Page

4. Choose Powerful Photos

5. Maximize SEO potential

6. Build FB Followers

7. Customize Your FB Page

8. Promote Events on FB

9. Use Timesavers

10. Track Data

1. Develop a social media strategy!

• Research your customers - ask them what types of social media they are using - Facebook, Twitter?
• Set your social media goals. Determine how you want to measure the success of your social media efforts.
• Set a social media policy for everyone. Outline employee behavior online during & outside work. Include style and confidentiality that align with company’s values and brand.

2. Content is King!
• You've heard it before - people will LIKE your business page because you are offering content that inspires, educates and entertains them. Plus, offer discounts on your goods or services.

• Use different types of posts on your page: Video, Photos, Links, Questions and Text
• Keep the length of post short, making the first part of the message filled with the keywords.

3. Double check that you have selected the best type of Facebook Page
• Facebook offers Facebook Profiles ("add a friend"), Groups ("Join") and Business Pages ("Like") and a few other options as well.
• Businesses must use the Business Facebook Page but many have mistakenly set up business profiles on Friend Profiles. This can now be fixed here: http://www.facebook.com/help/new/?page=18918

4. Pictures Pack a Punch - Pick your Business Profile Photo and others with Care
• Take a look at your Business Profile Photo and make sure it is professional
• Create Event Photo Albums - in those albums, write captions and tag people
• Photostrip - this is a built-in Facebook feature that displays 5 pictures across the top of your Business Profile Page. The images are generated from pictures that are uploaded to the wall. Those images can be changed but not permanently set. Here's more info on that feature to use it well:
https://facebook-inc.box.net/shared/9e5jiyl843
http://www.bevisibleassoc.com/blog/how-to-control-the-new-facebook-pages-photo-strip/

* Tips 5-10 are posted here.

Have you checked out http://www.meetup.com? It's amazing for business and personal networking! I presented to 25+ business people at Santa Cruz Business Connect Meetup, on June 7, in Santa Cruz.

Top 10 Facebook for Business Tips - Tips 5-10

2011-06-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

This June, I presented two talks on how to improve your Facebook Page for Business. Designed for beginning and intermediate users of Facebook, here are my tips, in 2 blog posts. Tips 5-10 are featured here and Tips 1-4 are posted here.

1. Build a Social Media Strategy

2. Content is King

3. Pick the Right Page

4. Choose Powerful Photos

5. Maximize SEO potential

6. Build FB Followers

7. Customize Your FB Page

8. Promote Events on FB

9. Use Timesavers

10. Track Data

5. Maximize Your Search Engine Optimization Potential (SEO)

• Snag your Vanity URL - http://www.facebook.com/username

• While you are creating your business page profile or afterwards using the Edit Page, make sure you have filled out all the boxes of info that Facebook provides. These fields of information are searchable use keywords in them.

• Link to It: At the heart of Google's PageRank algorithm still lies the hyperlink. Link to your Facebook page from your main website + other sites.

6. Find more followers on Facebook thru these techniques

• Get the word out about your Facebook page but when you invite individuals make it personal with a personal note saying how they can benefit from LIKING your Page.

• Promote your new Facebook Page URL Online: website, other social media pages, your FB personal profile, email signature, online marketing materials, thru Print: Ads, biz cards, newsletters, thru Networking: tell people, invite them.

• Experiment with Advertising your Page using Facebook ads.

7. Customize your Facebook Page with applications

• You can link your Blog, Twitter, You Tube and much more to your Facebook Biz Page

• Add new "tabs" to your page by visiting the application directory: Twitter, You Tube, Customize tabs by visiting Facebook's application directory:

http://www.facebook.com/apps/directory.php

• Review all page settings! Under your account settings on your Facebook Biz Page, for instance, I recommend that you allow people to comment on the WALL (as opposed to having the business only comment.)

8. Promote your Events on Facebook

• Facebook Business Pages include a tab for Events. Click on that to create your event. Be sure to upload a photo of the event - a step that is often overlooked and will make your event stand out better.

• Invite guests to attend the event

• After your event is posted on your page, start a countdown til the event by posting comments like: 1 week to go, 3 days to go, Last Day to Buy Tickets, etc.

• If the event has happened before, post links to past photos from event to inspire people

9. Save Time Using These Shortcuts

• Bitly.com - shortens long URLs

• Ping.fm - enables you to send a single message to multiple social media networks where you already have profiles

• Firefox, Safari, Chrome, these are all internet browsers which offer you a feature called "Bookmarks" or "Favorites" to marke the pages you visit most frequently and make it easier to quickly find them. Add your Facebook Business Page to the ToolBar section of your Bookmarks.

10. Use Facebook Insights and Facebook Help

• Facebook Insights will help you track how many people are viewing your Facebook Business Page. It's a free tool that Facebook provides. Get to know its features so you can use it.

• Facebook is constantly changing, so it's good to know how to find help for Facebook. Here's my recent blog post on how to find help on Facebook. And naturally, you can hire me, too, to help you with any Facebook issues (or other social media, too, like Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube)!

Have fun with Facebook and be patient! Most importantly, keep posting and telling people about your Business Page!

Facebook Help Resources - Handy List of LInks

2011-05-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

As a consultant who teaches business owners how to use Facebook, I often find that Facebook doesn't make it easy to find "how-to" information for using features on Facebook. So I'm happy to see this list of resources from them from a recent blog post on Facebook. I added some text and explanations, too.

Take a leap of faith and try Facebook advertising! It's very budget-friendly - and not as risky as this bike jump!

RESOURCES

Guide to Facebook Ads
facebook.com/adsmarketing

Facebook Ads Page
facebook.com/FacebookAds

Help Discussion Tool
Help Discussion Tool

Facebook Pages
facebook.com/FacebookPages

Facebook Blog
blog.facebook.com

Facebook Developers Blog
developers.facebook.com/blog

Guide to the New Facebook Ads Manager (May 2011) - PDF download
We’re excited to announce major improvements to your Ads
Manager. It’s easier now to see the value Facebook Ads and
Sponsored Stories are creating for you. This guide will help you understand the changes to:

1. Facebook ads - shows overview and case studies

2. Facebook Stories - explains this advertising feature called Sponsors Stories with text and video

Learn more about Sponsored Stories

To see how Sponsored Stories can help your app, game, place or page, explore these resources:

Hey Kids, Here's My Life as A Writer - My Debut at Career Day at Costanoa High School

2011-05-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity recently to talk about my career as a freelance writer and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it! I was invited to participate in a career day at Costanoa High School, in Santa Cruz.

I was honored to be invited by Mary Altier, a talented educator, professional photographer and friend, to be a panelist during two sessions with two different groups of students (about 25 student per session). Each of us panelists (see photo below) gave an overview of jobs. Then we answered questions from our audience during our sessions, called "Your Future Is Our Business."

I had the pleasure of getting to know my fellow panelists, too, as they shared the ups and downs of their lines of work: Jozseph Schultz, chef and owner of India Joze restaurant, photographer Thomas Burke, and sculptor Susana Arias.

Karen Kefauver, freelance writer and social media consultant, teams up with Thomas Burke, professional photographer, and Jozseph Schutltz, chef and restaurant owner, to talk about their careers as part of a panel on jobs at Costanoa High School in Santa Cruz, on April 7, 2011.

A few questions that really got my attention:

- "After taxes, in 2010, how much did you make?" (I didn't answer that one but was impressed by the directness of it.)

- "What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?" (Great question!)

- "Is it important to speak more than one language?" (To the kids' surprise, I answered that one in Spanish and said YES emphatically.)

- "Do you want to get married?" (Yep, I fielded one marriage proposal in the hallway after my session. I declined, politely.)

The questions, overall, showed a very thoughtful group of students, who had genuine interests in learning about different career paths they might explore. It was a rewarding experience for me and I hope to look for more volunteer opportunities with kids. Aee what the kids had to say about me, below!

After the panel, Mary Altier wrote me:

"On behalf of Costanoa High School and 'Your Future Is Our Business,' allow me to extend our thanks to you for participating on a career panel on April 7, 2011. Both student and teacher feedback were extremely positive. Student comments show that this exposure to your writing career was personally valuable to them. Here are some of their comments on what you had to say:

- She loves her work; is self-employed.

- It made my plans for being in the media all the more inspiring.

- She has a lot of fun.

- It is important to know a lot of languages.

- If you don't know what to do you will figure it out.

- She works at home and enjoys her work instead of watching TV.

- She works on Twitter and Facebook.

- Just keep going!

At the end of this school year over 6000 junior high and high school students will have had the opportunity to meet with community members in a wide variety of career areas through career panel and job shadowing activities. By all accounts the career mentors are broadening the scope of students’ awareness about possible career choices and the importance of school, while providing them with hope and strategies for success.

Many thanks for being willing to take time out of your busy life to make a difference in the lives of our young people!"

Facebook Offers Easy Fix for Common Mistake with Facebook Business Pages

2011-04-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg

Finally Facebook is providing a way for personal pages to be changed to business pages. There are a lot of organizations that set up Facebook pages as “profiles” and have been reluctant to make the transition to a business page. Now it can be done and you can automatically bring your “friends” over to the new page.

As a user of Facebook and a professional social media consultant, I dislike it when on my personal Facebook page, (which I reserve for friends, family and some business colleagues), I receive a notification that I have a new contact asking to “Friend me,” but then it turns out that request is coming from a business, not an individual. When a business asks to “Friend” me, I can’t tell who is running the page. I don’t want to add a business, even one I like, to my personal Facebook page which is devoted to my friends and family.

It’s a common mistake: business owners and well-intentioned employees often erroneously set up business pages on personal Facebook profile accounts. One simple way to distinguish between these two types of accounts on Facebook: when you connect with a new Friend it will say “Add a Friend.” When connecting with a page from a Business you receive a request to “Like” the page.

Facebook Crackdown
Facebook policy declares it has the right to shut down your Facebook page if you are using a Facebook personal profile account as a business account. They state: “Maintaining a profile for anything other than an individual person is a violation of Facebook’ s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. If you don’t convert your profile to a Page, you risk permanently losing access to the profile and all of your content.”

Here’s the FIX
Why should you convert your profile to a Page? Since profiles are for meant individual people, they aren’t suited to meet your business needs. Pages offer more robust features for organizations, businesses, brands, and public figures. Visit the Facebook Help Center and review options for “Converting your profile into a Page.” Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=18918.

Thanks to Jim Coffis, Publisher of San Lorenzo Valley News Network, SLVNews.Net, for pointing out this Facebook update to me.

http://SLVNews.blogspot.com
http://SlVNews.Net

LinkedIn Hits 100 Million Users Today and Reveals Where Biggest Growth Is

2011-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeI am a big fan of LinkedIn and advise all of my social media clients to make sure they have created a personal LinkedIn page before launching on other social networks. I also suggest business owners have a LinkedIn profile for their company (which is a separate listing than the personal profile).

In celebration of reaching the 100 million user milestone, LinkedIn's Data Scientists pulled together some fun stats here about members and their professional profiles. For more info, read the LinkedIn Blog post: "100 million members and counting… http://bit.ly/fWFenb"

    •    1.3+ billion connections between our members

    •    79+ million job transitions/changes tracked

    •    428%: Year-over-year membership growth rate in Brazil, one of our fastest-growing countries

    •    Lee, Smith and Kumar have alternated over the last 8 years as the most common last name of    newly registered users

    •    4 profiles with dog or cat psychologist / psychiatrist listed as a position

    •    Some industries with the fastest year-over-year new member growth rates:
Education (175%)
Facilities Services (121%)
Ranching (112%)

    •    100% of Fortune 500 companies have executives on LinkedIn

    •    1 profile has martini whisperer listed as a position

Hunter Richards of Software Advice Explores Social Media Applications

2011-03-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to share this guest post from Hunter Richards of Software Advice. Thanks, Hunter!

We’ve all seen what Twitter and Facebook can do for our social lives. Now Yammer and Salesforce.com’s Chatter applications are applying these concepts to business. These systems enable workers to share their thoughts and experiences in a social stream of posts in an internal business network. These are examples of application event streams - timely business intelligence (BI) updates that can be followed and discussed in a social activity stream. These promise to kick-start conversations around critical business data.

Tibbr goes a step further by incorporating financial data into an activity stream, allowing workers to follow such updates and start discussions around them. For example, activity streams can be automatically updated when revenue surpasses a particular level. The system itself can even join the conversation as a participant, answering data-centric questions from employees.

In the stream, a quick scan will show the latest business developments. Responses appear right next to each update, connecting important data with the discussion. The concept of “following” a stream gets the right information to the right people, right away. When users follow only what they need to know, they don’t waste time sorting through irrelevant information. BI activity streams are making businesses more social and saving time spent searching for answers.

Who knows - maybe this new technology can make us better friends with our co-workers. But if you’re staying late at the office to discuss last night’s NFL game with your accounting system, you might want to see a shrink!

____________________________

Hunter Richards

Accounting Market Analyst

Software Advice

(512) 364-0118 (office)

(800) 918-2764 (toll free)
hunter@softwareadvice.com

TEST TEST

2011-03-06T15:17:00.001-08:00

Wikipedia's definition of a QR code: "A QR Code is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. QR is the abbreviation for Quick Response, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.:

Eye for Travel Social Media Strategies for Travel Day 2 Create Compelling Content

2011-03-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Create Compelling Content

Speaker: Lonely Planet, John Boris, Exec VP

Theme of Lonely Planet (LP): "Enables people to travel the world with confidence"
Launched 37 years ago and now world leader in travel publishing
Have a quarter of a million followers on Facebook and Twitter and You Tube and Thorn Tree, channels have now evolved

3 Simple Rules for Posting - Aim for these types of posts:
1. Relevant and timely: Egypt, NZ, US ice storms
2. Engaging Users in Discussion
3. Authentic, keep it real, don't overtly sell, take some risks, know who has a good voice for the medium within your company

Timely Updates on Travel Situations - give advice and help!
This is all about connecting them with the brand, this is the benefit

Example of popular post: "Which country or region's accent has sexiest accent?"
(Answer: Spain, 1,000 people liked it, then created a blog post based on this popular Facebook post)

Other popular posts: Ask what is Best, Worst, Statue, pizza, hidden gem,

Don't be afraid to partner in a strategic way on Brand; - i.e. in 12 wks added hundreds of thousands of click, fans, downloads due to Ms. Chan, travel blogger.

Beer and Romance - people love talking about those topics.

Lessons Learned @ Lonely Planet
1. Offer your fans something they want and can use for free- i.e. For LP that's content and in that form, it's advice
Allow your community to show off their personality and voice into your social media.
LP Survey -

Form smart partnerships with online influences to increase fan base and offer something different

7 Closing Tips
1. Have fun! Have 3 people globally who do social media! Do it 24 - 7!
2. Be creative. and push boundaries
3. Keep relevant and useful
4. Kisten, engage
5. Mix editorial with thoughtful promo
6. Use community content for other purposes
7. Smart partnerships - Natalie Chan

Eye for Travel Social Media Strategies for Travel Day 1 Spotlight on Engagement - Use Social Media to Build Fruitful Relationships with Your Travel Customers

2011-03-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

Spotlight on Engagement - Use Social Media to Build Fruitful Relationships with Your Travel Customers, 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., Hotel Nikko, San Francisco

How to Engage Your Audience - Anil Aggarwal, CEO, Milestone

1. Try using TAGGING in your Facebook posts

2. You Tube: Search-Optimized Video is great way to attract people
Destination video that is tagged is ideal, very powerful mechanism

3. Twitter - optimized messaging - focus on WHAT TO DO at destination.
Tweeting: make sure there is a "method to the madness"

4. Engage Your Audience by posting content including:
- Events, festivals, meetings, conferences attractions,
- best restaurants,
- things to do on weekends
- weather comments or tip
- local insiders tips
(top 10 things only locals know)

5. Reviews - figure out how to make them work for you!
Google will rank will based on number of reviews. Integrate your reviews with your wbsite,

6. QR Code - get one!

7. Put an online coupon and that people can tweet, FB to their groups

8. Create your own social network (i.e. Ning) on your website

9. Monitor your interactions - look at what people say on Twitter, Facebook,

ENGAGEMENT is key metric not how many fans - quality of interaction and engagement

@Alexis Ohanian
Co founder of Reddit, now at Hipmunk
@theHipmunk is a new travel booking site for me and will give it a try! http://twitpic.com/45gr61#smtravel11

Linda Palermo and Ann Nadeau, Joie de Vivre
Joie de Vivre Hotels - California Boutique Hotels. SF and Wine Country, To LA and OC. http:www.jdvhotels.com

Social Media Strategies for Travel 2011 March 2-3 Hotel Nikko, San Francisco Day 1

2011-03-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Social Media and Location - Tap the Opportunities of the New Real-Time Location-enabled Web

Session 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Each of the following 5 speakers made a brief presentation followed by Q and A

1. Del Ross, Intercontinental Hotel Group
Location Services are too new to predict ultimate outcome
Phase ONE: It's all about me
Phase TWO: Help Me
Phase THREE: Maturity - I can Help You
(Useful things that add social value)

2. Andy Ellwood, Dir. of Business Development, Gowalla
What is Gowalla?
Gowalla is a social network that inspires people to keep up with friends, share places they go and discover the world around them
Gowalla is a Virtual Passport for your phone catalog places visited, photos taken, comments shared and pins collected

A feature of Gowalla is Trips - A curated playlist of fav places and spots for people to explore
"How do we create better experiences around places that people go?" = Mission of Gowalla

3. Alok Deshpande, Loopt
What is Loopt?
Loopt is for iPhone and Android
Where are your friends and what are they doing right now?
It's all about REAL TIME!

4. Geoff Lewis, Topguest
What you did for email in the 90s you must do for social now
Service is going
1. Listen
2. Broadcast
2 ways people are using social media today
3. Pull in data on h ow your guests are using social media
Act on that data!

If you sign into our site with Facebook ask customer in database to share some of their social data info.
Same way you asked people to share emails in 90s. you ask people to share social media. Will people share this data and answer is yes if you give them instant value (i.e. giveaway).

5. Luther Lowe, Yelp
Feature on Yelp: Mobile Check In Offer
biz.yelp.com

Prediction: "Going Amish?" The only way to have privacy is to be Amish!
Next trend?

Debate: Which sites off the best business model to suit your brand?
There is no easy answer. The best starting point is to figure out your goals:
What s the goal?
What are the criteria?
Define your goals - often that's not happening in social media!
LUNCH - Round Table Discussions 12:30 - 2 p.m.
My Table of 10: Spotlight on Facebook and Twitter - Get the Most Out of your Presence

1. LAN Airlines (Megan)
2. Mark Travel (Ryan)
3. Trip Advisor
4. USA Today (David Grossman)
5. Moderator: (Johnny Miller)
6. Travel Scene Corporate (Naomi)
7. JHM Hotels (George)

A Dozen Other Tables Topics included:
- Gaming
- ROI
- Beyond Facebook and Twitter (2 folks)

Gotta Love LinkedIn - My Tips on Using LinkedIn Groups

2011-03-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

Have a LinkedIn Page? Joining LinkedIn Groups is the best way to network on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a fantastic way to boost your visibility as a professional — it’s the top social network site for business. Building a basic profile on LinkedIn is free, so is joining groups. So take full advantage! The only limit? You can join up to 50 groups! First, you set up your profile at www.linkedin.com. From there, you have access to the Groups feature (or visit the Help menu and type in Groups.) To find groups you want to join, visit LinkedIn’s Group Directory and also look at your friends’ and colleagues’ profiles to see which groups they have joined.

The following are 5 tips from Joan Stewart, aka The Publicity Hound. She has a great newsletter that you can subscribe to for free, here: http://www.PublicityHound.com.

Join groups in which your customers, suppliers or vendors participate. This is a powerful way to connect, answer questions and share expertise and resources.
Groups make it easier for people to find you.
You can become a credible expert by answering questions and posting articles of interest for the entire group to see.
You can promote an event you’re hosting to a group of people who have the same interests, even if they aren’t connected to you.
Within groups, you can search for people who you want to connect with and communicate with them, even though you aren’t connected yet.

Gotta Love LinkedIn - My Tips on LinkedIn Recommendations

2011-03-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

Have a LinkedIn Page? Posting Recommendations on LinkedIn Highlights Your Expertise

LinkedIn is a fantastic way to boost your visibility as a professional — it’s the top social network site for business. Building a basic profile on LinkedIn is free and so is requesting recommendations on your page. The only catch? The person from whom you are requesting a recommendation must also have a LinkedIn page.

Where is the Recommendations Tab?

Under the Profile tab on your LinkedIn page, you'll find the Recommendations. From there, you can manage both recommendations you have requested and those you have given.

Recommendation Etiquette

When you request a recommendation, be sure to take the time to change the default message that is generated when you request a LinkedIn recommendation to a personalized message. After all, you asking a favor of someone. Identify yourself and how you know the person from whom you are requesting the recommendation so they won't be put in the position of wondering who you are or what the relationship was.

After you have Received the Recommendation

LinkedIn will send you the recommendation and you will have the opportunity to review it and or request changes from its author, before it is posted. You also have the option not to post it at all.

Follow Up Thank You!

Finally, make sure you send a note thanking the person who supplied the recommendation. It's all basic etiquette, but in our busy lives, sometimes it gets overlooked. But that's what makes social media civil and makes people remember you as the professional they want to work with!

"How to Dominate Google" Notes from Meetup with Kathy Long of Kat and Mouse Design

2011-02-22T23:51:00.000-08:00

Meetups are a great way to learn and network both personally and professionally. I attended the Santa Cruz Marketing Roundtable meetup hosted by Maggie Barr of Maggie Barr and Associates. Here's the summary of what I learned in a 20-min talk from Kathy Long of Kat and Mouse Design.

3 ways to participate in Search Engine Optimization. You and your business can participate through:
1. Paid Ads
2. Google Places
Official Google Places Help Center: where you can find tips and tutorials on using Google Places and other answers to frequently asked questions.
www.google.com/support/places/?hl=en
3. Organic Listing - the listing you get just thru your own SEO
Wikipedia: Organic search results are listings on search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms, as opposed to their being advertisements. In contrast, non-organic search results may include pay per click advertising.

Out of these 3 above:
*Organic Listings are the best place to focus your SEO Efforts
Statistics show that on searches, organic listings get more hits than paid listings
Number 1 organic position gets 35 percent of all clicks for that search
Number 1 paid position only gets about 2 percent of clicks for that same search

92 percent of people research products on ine before buying them in a store
Conclusion: If you aren't visible, your competitors are!

SEO Tips - Go thru this list of 9 items and be sure to incorporate them in your website
1. Your website - get a URL with your keywords in it
2. Videos - Google LOVES videos!
3. Podcasts - Can convert your videos to podcast
4. Articles (Google changed 1/10) - Post it to an article directory!
5. Microsite - GOOGLE frowns on this - skip it!
6. Blogs - external website 0 have blog posted within site -
7. Directories - city search, merchant circle, join directories for industries and Google will pick up those listings.
8. Products
9. Images - channel Flickr stream

For starters: Generate a keyword list - these are the terms people will search on that will lead to your business. Use the following tools to research what the best keywords are:
- query your customers
- research your competitors
- ask your sales and marketing team
- use phrases (how do I use Twitter?) and niche keywords
* Use Google Keywords - a free research tool!

* Better to have blogs hosted ON YOUR SITE!
* Put your best info on your website!
See what SEO expert Bruce Clay has to say: "Likes are the new links" when it comes to driving traffic to your website. Google rewards you!

Kathy Long of Kat Mouse and Mouse Design is a marketing specialist that helps small and mid-sized businesses build effective and cost-efficient marketing programs online. Kathy has 15 years of experience in web design and development, usability, information architecture, marketing, copy writing, SEO, Internet marketing, and social media marketing. Kathy also worked in Marketing Communications at Seagate where she served as a Business Presentation Specialist working with sales and marketing.

New Facebook Pages - Summary of New Features

2011-02-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought you had your Facebook Page all figured out (for businesses, organizations, public figures, brands), Facebook rolls out more changes! If you have a Facebook Page (and I’m not referring to your personal Facebook profile), this will impact you because there’s no opting out. By March 10, 2011, all Facebook Pages will be updated to this new look and functionality, so take a look at the new options. Good news: The early buzz is that these are very welcome changes! (Especially items 5, 10, 11).
Note: You can now preview the new layout of your Facebook Page, but once you upgrade, there is no way to revert back to your old design!

Here’s a brief outline of the new features with my comments:

1. Photo strip of small images above the Wall (with most recent photos you posted or tagged). This is similar to what Facebook introduced for your Personal Facebook profile.
2. Tabs move over to the left panel, in the form of a list (maximum of 6 above the fold). I’m not so keen on this change. Now there’s no longer a tab menu across the top.
3. Profile picture reduced from 200 x 600 pixels to 180 x 540. I thought a picture is worth 1,000 words?
4. Blurb box that was below the Page picture moved to info tab. I miss this, too.
5. Pages can Like other Pages, not just favorite them.
6. Featured Pages and Admins are on right side
7. Page category – helps with searchability
8. Choice for Wall posts between “Everyone” and Page posts only. I highly recommend choosing Everyone – make it inclusive!
9. Mutual Friends and Interests section
10. Ability to interact on Facebook as your Page – huge bonus!
11. Ability for admins to post and comment around the site under their Page’s alias
12. News feed of updates from Liked Pages
13. Pages can now feature iFrame tab applications
14. Email notifications when users post or comment

Need more info? Here’s a good source: https://www.facebook.com/facebook.
For specifics, view Facebook’s Page Guides online or as a PDF document: http://www.box.net/shared/9e5jiyl843.

Plus, My web consulting colleague Sara Isenberg has a great blog post summarizing useful story links on the new Facebook Page changes. See the list of URLs here:
http://saraisenberg.com/2011/02/11/facebooks-new-page-layout.

No time to read all this and nee help? You can hire me as a private consultant!

Karen Kefauver is a freelance journalist and social media consultant who teaches Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to business owners and executives in classes and private sessions. For info: Email: Karen@karenkefauver.com. Website: www.karenkefauver.com. Social Media blog: http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com.

Your Personal Facebook Page - 2 Tips Worth Knowing About!

2011-02-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

Facebook Pages for Business are all the rage these days, but don't forget to manage your personal Facebook Page as well. Here are 2 things to try!

These tips pertain to your PERSONAL page only

1. You can download your whole FB personal page! Go to:
- Account
- Account Settings
- Download Your Information.

Why? Here’s a good reason – if your account crashes, you will have this info. This tool lets you download a copy of your information, including your photos and videos, posts on your wall, all of your messages, your friend list and other content you have shared on your profile. Within this zip file you will have access to your data in a simple, browseable manner.

2. Remove photos you don't want!
On your personal page, Facebook added a row of small photos that appear at the top of your page. Those pictures result from you and/or others tagging photos of you. If you would rather not have to monitor those images, you have the option of hiding that entire row of pictures. Here’s how:

On the Personal Facebook Page, go to:
- Account
- Privacy Settings
- Customize Settings
- Scroll down to “Things Other Share” section
- Go to Photos and Video I’m tagged in
- Hit Edit Settings
- A pop up box should appear:
- Go to the pulldown menu to select Customize
- In the Custom Privacy box you can pull down the tab to have it read:
- Make this visible to ONLY ME.
They sure don’t make that easy!

Karen Kefauver is a freelance journalist and social media consultant who teaches Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to business owners and executives in classes and private sessions. For info: Email: Karen@karenkefauver.com. Website: www.karenkefauver.com. Social Media blog: http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com.

Get Your Groupon On - And Yelp, Quora and Meetup Too - 4 Social Networks to Explore!

2011-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

These 4 Social Media Networks are Hotspots for Business Marketing!

Surprise! There’s more to social networking than Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Here are four very active - and growing - sites you can’t afford to ignore. Check them out and see if they are right for you – especially for your business! They’re free, but require you to sign up with username and password.

1. Groupon – www.groupon.com. Everyone loves a deal! That’s why this company is growing like wildfire. How it works: Groupon sends you a daily deal email in your inbox. So far, in Santa Cruz, I have gotten great deals on yoga and salsa dance classes, thanks to Groupon. Plus, Three Penny ice cream used Groupon, too, tho I had to pass on that one!

2. Yelp - www.yelp.com. This site features user reviews of restaurants, shopping, nightlife and maybe your business. See what folks are saying and post your two cents.

3. Quora – www.quora.com. It’s all about the Q & A. This site is a collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. It’s a chance for you to show off your expertise.

4. Meetup – www.meetup.com. I consider myself a meetup addict – I can’t get enough of this great networking! I use my meetups for business, but there are tons to do for fun, too! Meetups help groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world.

Get your Google on and check out these websites!

Karen Kefauver is a freelance journalist and social media consultant who teaches Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to business owners and executives in classes and private sessions. For info: Email: Karen@karenkefauver.com. Website: www.karenkefauver.com. Social Media blog: http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com.

My First Facebook Ad - A Grand Experiment You Can Learn From

2011-02-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

Given the enormous popularity and reach of Facebook, you may have considered placing an advertisement for your products or services on Facebook. I have heard of businesses having good results with Facebook ads, so I decided to spontaneously post an ad. I allocated only $5 to try and fill a few remaining spots in a social media class I was teaching later that day.

Since the ad would be effective for just a few hours before the class started, I knew it was not the best-timed placement, yet I wanted to try it. I also discovered the minimum amount you are charged for an ad is a 24-hour period. Nevertheless, I could set the total expenditure at $5 and went through these steps that you may find helpful for doing your own ad.

Here's what my first Facebook ad looked like! Again, I posted it only a few hours before my class as an experiment.

Here are a few do's and don'ts.

DON'T: throw together an ad in 2 minutes and slap it up and expect great results. I wanted to walk thru the steps of placing an ad as much for the experience as for results. The key question you will need to decide for your Facebook Ad Campaign Cost and Budgeting is:

Should I choose CPC* or CPM* for my campaign?
* See Glossary, below.
As a CPC advertiser you are indicating that what is most important to you is having people click through to your website and controlling the actual cost to drive each individual person to your site.

As a CPM advertiser you are indicating that it is more important to you that many people see your ad, not that they actually take action after seeing your ad. CPM advertising is usually more effective for advertisers who want to raise awareness of their brand or company, while CPC advertising is more effective for advertisers who are hoping for a certain response from users (like sales or registrations).

DO: Take time to read through the Facebook Ads Help Center to figure out what style of ad is best for you. There are also best practices listed there as well.

DO: Take a look at the 3 emails, below, I received from Facebook to familiarize yourself with what kind of communications you will receive from Facebook after placing your ad. They are labeled: 1. Approval, 2. Summary and 3. Charges. I have also posted a screen shot of the glossary for terms for the ads and what screen comes up when I hit "Manage Ads" to see the data.

First Email from Facebook: A confirmation that my ad was accepted.

Second Email from Facebook: Summary of my ad's performance

Third Email from Facebook: Confirmation that I was charged for placing the ad. In my case, I paid with PayPal.

Helpful Ad Terms Glossary

Add captioData from my ad to review. This screen appears when I hit "Manage Ads."n

Conclusion: Thanks to this ad, I believe the few spots left in my class were filled - yet, I learned that I would need a clearer way to determine the results of the ads (i.e. a few students said they saw it on Facebook, yet I am not sure if they meant my ad or my post.) Next time, I will allocate more time and funds to do a more scientific approach.

What have your results been so far with Facebook ads? Advice, tips, welcome!

Questions about Quora? The Publicity Hound Answers

2011-01-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

I have been hearing the buzz from marketing pros about Quora ("a cross between LinkedIn’s Q&A feature and Wikipedia") when I found Joan Stewart's helpful post on it. Enjoy! And here's another handy reference from Search Engine Land: "5 Questions to Ask Before Jumping into Quora."

Promote Your Expertise on Quora by Joan Stewart

The more places online where you can convince people you're an expert, the more attention you'll receive and the more traffic you can pull to your website and blog.

Add Quora to the list of online Q&A sites where you can really flaunt your expertise.

It's a cross between LinkedIn's Q&A feature and Wikipedia. As soon as I created my Quora account last week, my email inbox was inundated with messages saying people are following me on Quora. That illustrates the popularity of the site.

Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited and organized by everyone who uses it. Quora wants each question page to become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.

There are many reasons you should at least start experimenting with this site. It's quickly gaining considerable traffic, traciton and attention. It's used by journalists and boggers as a research tool. If they're looking for an expert on your topic, and they like your answer to a certain question, they might use you as a source. For more info, visit http://publicityhound.net/6-reasons-to-use-quora-to-promote-your-expertise.

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."

11 Hot Tips for Your 2011 Social Media Strategy

2011-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Strengthen Your Marketing Plan by Karen Kefauver
www.karenkefauver.com

Next Class: Tuesday, Feb. 1!

Time Savers

1. Set up Google alerts
Monitor the Web for interesting new content. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. www.google.com/alerts
2. Add social media sites to your toolbar for quick and easy access. Browser toolbar (examples of browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Safari). Go to the browser tab that says Bookmarks or Favorites to add to your toolbar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolbar
3. Experiment with Nutshell Mail
Receive all your Facebook & Twitter updates through a single email for free. http://nutshellmail.com

Free Tools to help you

4. bit.ly - shorten, share, track your links
5. Ping.fm - broadcast to multiple places
6. Linkbait generator: Click the "Generate" button to create catchy headlines for blog posts and social media postings.

TIPS on Networks! Visit applications and view these resources

7. Facebook: Causes
8. Twitter: Favorites, Lists
9. LinkedIn: Groups, Recs, Apps
10. Blog: Feedburner - FeedBurner provides custom RSS feeds and management tools to bloggers, podcasters, and other web-based content publishers.

11. HELP and Resources
Facebook: www.facebook.com/help
Twitter: http://business.twitter.com
LinkedIn: http://help.linkedin.com

Mashable - social media news blog, www.mashable.com
Social Media Today - website, blog, www.socialmediatoday.com
Social Media Examiner - Jungle guide www.socialmediaexaminer.com
NYT Tech Bits - industry news - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com

CONTACT ME FOR SOCIAL MEDIA HELP
I offer social media classes & private consultations one-on-one or small groups. karen@karenkefauver.com
socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com
www.karenkefauver.com
www.facebook.com/karen.kefauver.business
twitter.com/KarenKefauver

Save the Date: Tuesday, Feb. 1 - Come to Our Social Media Class! Registration Now Open!
Expand Your Reach with Social Media -
Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation class #14018
Register at Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation:
http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=540
Description:
We will explore how to use social media for promotion. The focus will be on the most popular tools, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogging. You'll learn how to better promote your website and how to increase your online presence even if you don't have a website. The class is for beginners and will focus on Social Media basics for businesses, non-profits, freelancers and entrepreneurs.

Instructors Sara Isenberg and Karen Kefauver are social media pros with extensive teaching experience. Visit http://saraisenberg.com/ and www.karenkefauver.com.

Social Media Tune-Up: Tips to Strengthen Your Social Media Marketing Campaign

2011-01-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011. If you were hoping that on New Year's Day, you would wake up to discover that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn had vanished, no such luck. In fact, they are more important than ever. Luckily, I can help! I give talks and work with clients one-on-one to help you learn how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for your business. Here are a few tips from my talk yesterday. Happy New Year!

LinkedIn STATS:

• Over 85 million members in over 200 countries (Nov. 2010).
• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, 1/2 the members are outside the U.S.
• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.

LinkedIn To Do List

Beginner
1. Update Your Status weekly
2. Fill in profile completely
3. Review your privacy settings
4. Make sure your profile photo is professional and use the same profile pic for your other social media profiles to strengthen brand image

Intermediate
1. Join Groups
2. Seek & Request Recommendations
3. Add applications
4. Link your blog and Twitter accounts to your LinkedIn profile

Advanced
1. Add video to your page
2. Use Answers - Become an expert!
3. Explore advertising on LinkedIn
4. Create a company page after you have created your personal page

HOT TIP OF THE DAY: Put video on your profile using Behance Application

Facebook STATS:

• More than 500 million active users
• Average user has 130 friends
• Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events
• People who use Facebook on their mobile devices are 2x as active on FB as those on non-mobile users

Facebook To Do List

Beginner
1. Be sure to learn difference between Facebook's friend, group and business pages, then update your status daily on your business page
2. Use a variety of posting methods: text, photos, video
3. Review your privacy settings
4. Respond to people's comments

Intermediate
1. Favorite other people's biz pages
2. Add tabs to your FB page that have other applications: like reviews, You Tube, etc.
3. Create events and invite people to attend using your page
4. Develop a solid photo gallery

Advanced
1. Add video to your page
2. Use Facebook Markup Language (FBML) app to customize your page
3. Explore using Facebook advertising
4. Experiment with geo locations (places)

HOT TIP OF THE DAY: Customize a usernames for your Facebook Pages
How can you secure usernames for my Pages? If you are an administrator of a Facebook Page, you will be able to choose your username at http://www.facebook.com/username just like a user selecting a username for their profile. There will be an interface for you to choose usernames for each of the eligible Pages you administer. * Can’t change/transfer after selecting it!

Twitter STATS:

• 175 million registered Twitter users
• 95 million Tweets per day
• 370,000 new sign-ups a day
Source: http://twitter.com/about

Twitter To Do List

Beginner
1. Share. Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!
2. Listen. Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand, and products.
3. Ask. Ask questions of your followers to glean valuable insights and show that you are listening.
4. Respond. Respond to compliments and feedback in real time

Intermediate
1. Post daily
2. Use Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or Seesmic to monitor your accounts
3. Learn to use Lists
4. Make sure you understand the Twitter lingo.

Advanced
1. Post pictures and video to your page
2. Use the Favorites button to highlight certain Tweets
3. Explore geotagging
4. Add Twitter to your LinkedIN and Facebook business page accounts

HOT TIP OF THE DAY: Try usng Twitpic.com to add pictures to Twitter

Twitter Glossary Basics

Mention 
Once you've signed up and chosen a Twitter username, you and others can mention an account in your Tweets by preceding it with the @ symbol, eg: "Glad your shipment arrived @janesmith!"

Retweet 
When you see a Tweet by another user that you want to share, click Retweet below it to forward it to your followers instantly.

Message
If you want to privately Tweet to a particular user who's already following you, start your Tweet with DM or D to direct-message them, eg: "DM @joesmith234 what is your order number?"

Hashtag
Users often prepend # to words in their Tweets to categorize them for others eg: "Check out our new products for the Fall: http://t.co/link2 #fallsale" Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet. Users can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed tweets and find yours in search.

Resources:

Mashable - social media news blog, http://www.mashable.com

Social Media Today - website, blog, http://www.socialmediatoday.com

Social Media Examiner - Jungle guide http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

NYT Tech Bits - industry news - http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/help

Twitter - http://business.twitter.com

LinkedIn - http://help.linkedin.com

Contact Me!

You can get all your social media questions answered with a private consultation with me on your marketing strategy. I offer one-on-one consultations, teach small, private groups and offer public classes.

Email me:
karen@karenkefauver.com

Get my social media tips here:
socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com

Quick Tips on Social Media
Join my Facebook business page for more social media tips:
www.facebook.com/karen.kefauver.business

Follow me on Twitter
twitter.com/KarenKefauver

View my sports and travel photos and stories here and see a schedule of my upcoming classes.
www.karenkefauver.com

Social Media Classes & Talks for 2011

2011-01-04T05:01:00.000-08:00

DETAILS: Wednesday, January 12 at 8 a.m. in Santa Cruz

Here's the scoop for Marlene's Meetup, Business Professionals of Santa Cruz County:

I will present an informative and fun talk that addresses your business marketing needs. I will present 11 Hot Tips for Your 2011 Social Media Strategy. After that, Sara Isenberg will join me for a Q&A session on Social Media.

Sara and I team up again to co-teach a class, "Expand Your Reach with Social Media" on February 1, 6:30-9:30pm, at NextSpace in downtown Santa Cruz.

For more information, visit http://karenkefauver.com and
http://saraisenberg.com/upcoming-classes.

Sara offers these other tech classes as well:
- "How to Prepare for Your Website Overhaul (or New Website)," class #14245.
- "ABCs of SEO – Basics of Search Engine Optimization" with co-instructor, SEO expert, Steve Penny, class #14246.
- "Build a Free Blog or Website with WordPress.com," class #14019.

Register for all classes through the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation:
http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=540

New Way to Introduce Yourself and Your Business - Give it a Try!

2010-12-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

I attended a business function recently where about 30 professionals introduced themselves, one after another. I started to tune out because of the repetition. Everyone followed the same formula: "Hi, I am Joe Shmoe and I work at ..."

To make yourself stand out in a crowd, try this technique I learned from guest speaker Jeff Slayter at one of my favorite meetups, the Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup, founded and hosted by David Britton. Slayter's topic was "Insider Secrets of The World's Best Networkers."

Make Yourself Stand Out in a Crowd!

NOTE: If you haven't explored meetup.com yet, it's a gold mine for professional and personal development.

Instead of saying, "Hi, I am Karen Kefauver and I am a social media consultant," I say:

"Hi, I'm Karen Kefauver. My clients are entrepreneurs and small and medium size business owners who find it challenging to make the time to tackle new media technologies. I help them learn how to use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to stay in touch with customers, increase their visibility and gain new business, ultimately boosting their bottom line."

You can experiment with an exciting new way to introduce yourself by filling in the blanks:

1. My clients are - name your target market and/or demographics

2. Who - in identifying your clients, name a problem or challenge that your clients' face

3. I help them - name the results that you help them achieve.

Give it a try. Practice with friends and family first then go see what happens!

Here's what Jeff Slayter had to say about this new way of introducing yourself: It can boost your business.

"How many times a week do you get the question, “What do you do?"

The very way you answer this question can mean the difference of thousands of dollars every year for you.

Most professionals and entrepreneurs immediately answer in a way that causes people to think to themselves, “Oh, just another one of those!” Yet, having worked with over 40,000 Entrepreneurs and service professionals worldwide, we have discovered that there are simple techniques to get people completely curious about what you do instantly, and be willing to pay you more then you would have ever asked for.

The difference lies in understanding the characteristics between commodity markets and value markets. If you don’t understand the differences and how to formulate your words to be experienced as a value market service, then you are leaving ridiculous amounts of money on the table, and loosing opportunities that could be catapulting you to huge success and a waiting list of clients."

Jeff and his partner, Kane, offer coaching and seminars. Visit J & K: Jeff and Kane for more information.

Tips on Video Promotion: Short, short, short!

2010-12-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

Cut videos short! 2 minutes or less online, says Ann Wylie. These tips are hers and I think they are great! To sign up for her free newsletter, click here.

Two minutes and seven seconds.
That’s the average length of time people spend viewing videos on Twitter, according to “Online Video Best Practices” (PDF), a new study by TubeMogul, Brightcove and DynamicLogic.
The researchers analyzed the average viewing time of more than 100 million random video streams on social networks and search engines. Among the takeaways:

1. Avoid the 2-minute mark.

Twitter was the only video source that broke the 2-minute mark. Average viewing times were:

1:54 on Yahoo!
1:50 on Facebook
1:27 on Google
1:09 on Bing

2. Avoid the 1-minute mark.

Talk about short attention span theater. According to a study by Visible Measures:

Almost 20 percent of viewers abandon an online video after 10 seconds.
More than 40 percent abandon it after a minute.

Visible Measures studied the abandonment rate of 40 million videos during 7 billion viewings.
Want visitors to finish your video? Keep it short.
Tip: You might also advertise your short video’s length — (1:15), for instance — to encourage viewership.

3. Don’t surprise friends, followers and fans with large files.

Use abbreviations like PDF, VID and PPT to identify links to large downloads.

4. Time it right.

The shelf life of online videos has dropped dramatically since 2008. Your video will get most of its views in the first week. So your time your release right and publicize your video fast.

Attention drops off steeplyOnline videos reach percentage of 90-day view total sooner
	2010	2008
50% of 90-day view total	6 days	14 days
75% of 90-day view total	20 days	44 days
Source: “Online Video Best Practices”

5. Consider your objectives.

Choose repurposed TV spots for awareness, according to “Online Video Best Practices,” and made-for-Web videos for persuasion.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Wylie Communications is a writing, training and consulting company. We help communicators who want to reach more readers and organizations that want to get the word out. We've earned more than 60 communication awards, including a WIC Clarion and two IABC Gold Quills — the Pulitzer Prizes of business communications.

http://Wyliecomm.com http://RevUpReadership.com http://freewritingtips.wyliecomm.com

Facebook Pages for Business - Tips to create + maintain a Facebook Business Page

2010-11-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Links - How to Use Them to Maximum Impact on Your Website & Blog

2010-10-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

This information on how to use links is so important that I am posting it here on my blog and also my Facebook Business Page. To learn my insider tips and tools on social media, join my Facebook Business Page and hit "Like." This post is excerpted from Ann Wylie. Check her out:

Wylie's Writing Tips
http://freewritingtips.wyliecomm.com
Subscribe here - free email newsletter with tips
http://www.wyliecomm.com/resources/wylies-writing-tips

The Weakest Link by Ann Wylie
You’re not still writing ‘click here’ and ‘read more,’ are you? When it comes to link writing, “click here” is so old-school.

3 problems with “click here” and “read more” - other than being dated!

1. Aren’t scannable. Because links are blue and underlined, they stand out, making them among the most scannable elements on your Web page. That gives links the ability to lift your ideas off the screen.
But how are you using that superpower if the ideas you highlight essentially say, “push this button?”

2. Aren’t actionable. Writing “read more” for a link is like writing “buy this” for an ad. They’re calls to action, sure. But not very persuasive ones. Why should I click, read or buy? That’s your copy.

3. Clutter up your copy. Every time you write “click here” or “read more,” you’re adding at least two extra words to your Web page.

3 Fixes fir the weakest links

1. Focus links on the topic, not on the action. Instead of focusing on the action — aka, “click here” or “read more” — focus on the topic. Don’t tell Web visitors to click; tell them what they’ll find if they do click. Notice how focusing on the topic lifts the idea off the screen, promises the reader a benefit and slenderizes the sentence.
Don’t: To learn to write better links, click here.
Do: Learn to write better links.

2. Don’t write about mechanics or the system. “Click here” and “read more” have some ugly cousins: URLs, e-mail addresses and other references to the mechanics of the Web. You wouldn’t write, “turn page” in a publication. Why write, “point your browser at” online?

3. Write mostly verb-based links. Try starting with a strong verb and an implied “you.” Putting the reader first and leaning on strong verbs makes for good writing, whether you’re crafting links or brochures.
Don’t: Videos of the ceremony are available at StopMeBeforeITweetAgain.com.
Do: View videos of the ceremony.

Self-Publishing Your Book - More Options Than Ever Before!

2010-10-10T09:19:00.000-07:00

Publish an Ebook - New developments with ebooks from John Kremer's Book Marketing Tip of the Week

Important facts about the Kindle
- 44% of Kindle owners make more than $80,000 a year (Nielson)
- 83% of their parents would allow or encourage their children to read books on an e-reader (New York Times)
- 27% of Kindle owners have Master’s degrees or doctorates (Nielson);
- For every 100 hardcover books Amazon is selling, it sells 143 Kindle ebooks (Jeff Bezos)
- Some publishers are now considering including advertising in their ebooks (Wall Street Journal).

Barnes & Noble has just launched PubIt!
The digital self-publishing platform that allows authors and self-publishers to publish ebooks for the B&N platforms. The neat thing is that PubIt! will convert your Microsoft Word, text, or HTML files to ePub format at no cost.

http://www.zinepal.com allows users to convert a blog or website to a PDF, ePub, or Kindle ebook.

Amazon now offers a Kindle program to allow anyone to read a Kindle ebook via the web.
Learn to embed a Kindle ebook sample on your blog or website and earn referral fees from sales.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000579091
(Have had some trouble with the above link, may need to cut and paste into your browser).

Social Media Classes in Santa Cruz: Oct. 7 - LinkedIn, Nov. 9 - Facebook

2010-10-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

Here are my two scheduled public classes on social media! For a private one-on-one session or a private group session, email me: karen@karenkefauver.com. And visit my website's social media section to see what people have to say about social media teaching - www.karenkefauver.com.
Tonight I am the featured guest speaker on Bruce Bratton's weekly radio show, the University Grapevine. Bratton will interview me 7 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 5, at social media. You can tune in live here:
http://kzsc.org. Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Tuesday 7:30-8:30 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 FM.

Twitter Search - Resources to find who tweets about topics that interest you

2010-10-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

"Is there an effective way of finding twitterers who tweet on a particular subject?"
It's a question I hear often as a teacher of social media.

With the help of fellow Twitter users on the LinkedIn discussion group, Tweeple, I have compiled this list of resources that you can use to follow subjects that interest you on Twitter.

Free applications
1. http://www.mrtweet.com
2. http://www.twellow.com
3. http://www.tweepml.org
4. http://www.wefollow.com

Twitter's Search Function
1. http://search.twitter.com
2. http://search.twitter.com/advanced

Hashtags
Hash tags (type # in front of a word) and the search box on Twitter
http://support.twitter.com/entries/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols
http://hashtags.org

Stock Symbol
if you know the company's stock symbol, type $ in front of the ticker. It can be off-topic (and full of noise) but $F for Ford, may yield useful financial information about a particular auto company.

Lists
How to Use Twitter Lists
http://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitter-basics/topics/111-features/articles/76460-how-to-use-twitter-lists
Mashable on Twitter Lists
http://mashable.com/2009/11/02/twitter-lists-guide
Another way to do Twitter lists:
http://www.Listorious.com

Other Resources
http://www.twittgator.com
http://twitter.grader.com - Shows matching twitter users and most powerful/influential ones (based on Twitter Grade).

Facebook Pages for Business - Tips to create + maintain a Facebook Business Page

2010-09-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to my recent classes on Facebook pages, here are:
1. Details about how I can help with you social media and
2. A list of Santa Cruz County Facebook Pages to check out

1. My Social Media Services
• Private Sessions: Business owners, entrepreneurs and executives hire me for private social media sessions to develop and implement a social media strategy; to learn how to set up accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and learn how to maintain them in a time-saving manner.
• Social Media Classes
Please click on my social media class schedule on my website to join me for fall classes.
http://www.karenkefauver.com
• Speaker: I am available to give talks to private groups, email me to arrange: karen@karenkefauver.com

2. List of Facebook Fan Pages to Visit - Thanks to Web Consultant and Project Manager Sara Isenberg, www.saraisenberg.com for compiling this list. This is a list to show what some businesses are doing well locally. I added some and there are many more, of course!
Check out these local business Facebook Pages (in alphabetical order)

Bookshop Santa Cruz
Cafe Delmarette
Cruzio, internet provider
Downtown Santa Cruz
Good Times Santa Cruz Newsweekly
Karen Kefauver, sports and travel journalist and social media consultant
New Leaf Market
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Santa Cruz Integrative Medicine
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz Weekly
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Sara Isenberg Web Consulting & Project Management
Stone Soup Magazine
The Bicycle Trip
The Penny Ice Creamery
Think Local Santa Cruz

What are your favorite business Facebook pages and why? Share them here!

Rich Brooks' Tips on Event Promotion with Social Media

2010-09-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best articles I have seen on the subject. Follow Rich Brooks on Twitter, @therichbrooks, or his website, http://www.flyteblog.com - Karen

12 Ways to Market Your Event With Social Media

By Rich Brooks

Published July 20, 2010

Whether you’re planning a real-world event (like a conference, tweetup or political gathering) or a virtual event (like a webinar or teleclass), social media can be an inexpensive, cost-effective way to build buzz, fill seats, and turn a one-off gathering into a recurring event. The trick is to know which social media tools to use and when to use them. Here are 12 useful social media tips designed to help your events shine.

Before Your Event

The first step is to make people aware of your event, to mark it on their calendar, and to

#1: Market Your Event Through Twitter

There are many ways in which you can use Twitter to raise awareness. Many conferences and events have their own hashtags, such as #smss10 or #metweetup. There’s no magic to creating one—just start using a hashtag in all your related tweets and encourage other people to do the same when talking about your event.

To encourage people to tweet out your hashtag and spread the word, sweeten the deal with a free pass, door prize or other giveaway for one lucky hashtag-er.

If your event is large enough, give it its own Twitter account such as @Blogworld or @socialmediaFTW, which serves as a customer service “hotline” and adds credibility to the event.

Mix up your event tweets by varying the message.

Constantly tweeting that your event is coming will annoy some of your followers, so mix it up: use tweets to announce new sponsors, speakers, an open bar, or to ask questions that might help shape the event.

Finally, ask for people to share your event with the simple phrase, “Please RT!” You’ll be amazed at the results. Just don’t overdo it; you don’t want to look desperate, do you?

Be sure to check out Cindy King’s post How to Use Twitter Events to Grow Your Network for more ideas.

#2: Market Your Event Through Facebook

Certainly you can update your status with news of your event, but don’t overlook Facebook Events, which Facebook guru Mari Smith calls “one of the most powerful tools on the platform.”

A page for your event attracts fans.

I’ve found success by first creating a page for the event, and then creating a “Facebook Event” from that. This is especially helpful if you have a recurring event, such as an annual conference or a tweetup, as it helps build a fan base over time.

Other benefits of creating a Facebook page include:

* You can add a “Like Box” to your website, blog or other web presence to promote your clambake.

* You can invite fans as well as friends to the March on Washington.

* You can take out targeted Facebook ads to reach people outside your network who would be interested in your Save the Whales Sit-In.

Mari Smith delves deeper in her post, 10 Tips for Creating Buzz with Facebook Events.

#3: Market Your Event Through LinkedIn

Promote business functions with LinkedIn Events to reach your professional network. As Lewis Howes points out in his excellent post, Top 5 Ways to Market Your Business with LinkedIn, “once someone RSVPs to your event, it shows up on the home profile of everyone that person is connected to, spreading the message for you.”

It’s simple and straightforward to create an event on LinkedIn. Once you’ve completed that task, it’s just as easy to invite up to 50 people from your LinkedIn network. It also shows up in the events search.

#4: Market Your Event Through Your Blog

Whether through an existing blog or a blog created specifically for your gathering, be sure to create posts announcing the event, calls for presenters, and sponsorship opportunities. Follow up with guest posts from presenters who should welcome the opportunity to reach a wider audience (and steal people who might have attended competing events!)

#5: Other Places to Market Online

There are plenty of online calendars, and you should list your event in any that seem appropriate.

Local papers, TV channels and radio stations’ websites often host a calendar of events that offer free postings. Tweetvite is a site for promoting and learning about tweetups, and Eventful is one of many sites where you can list all types of gatherings.

#6: Event Marketing and Registration Tools

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when handling online registration for your event. Eventbrite is a highly popular tool for the social media crowd, and Constant Contact, the popular email marketing company, has recently entered the market with their own competing product.

With these tools you can create and market your event, and even collect payments with registration. Registration forms appear on the event marketing company’s site and can be embedded into your website or blog.

Sharing tools let attendees post to Facebook and Twitter, which builds buzz and generates more registrations.

During Your Event

Just because your event has started doesn’t mean the marketing has ended! If you’re promoting an all-day affair like a boat show or arts in the park, people will be milling in and out all day. Keep the excitement and foot traffic high by leveraging social media well into the night.

#7: Foursquare and Gowalla

Events on Foursquare will encourage attendees to share.

It costs nothing to create an event in Foursquare or Gowalla, and attendees who are hip to location-based apps will want to check in to your event for the extra points!

Since many people link their Foursquare and Gowalla activity to Twitter and Facebook, check-ins reach well beyond early adopters of location-based apps.

Events on Foursquare will encourage attendees to share.

You can greatly increase the number of check-ins by adding signs and table-top displays reminding people to check in, and even sweeten the deal with a giveaway or random drawing.

#8: Use Those Hashtags!

Hashtags make your event more findable, searchable and memorable.

People will tweet out memorable lines from your event, so make sure everyone knows the Twitter hashtag: put it in your literature, on name tags, and announce it during your keynote.

Hashtags make your event more findable, searchable and memorable.

For more on how to leverage hashtags, be sure to read Adam Vincenzini’s post Live Events Need Twitter #Hashtags ‘Built-In’ Not ‘Bolted-On’.

#9: Live Blogging

If you’re putting on a conference, it might be worthwhile to have someone “live blog” the sessions. Instead of just taking notes, have them take notes straight into a blog post and publish it as soon as the session ends.

#10: A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Although Twitpics and iPhone photos are great and shareable, hire a photographer for the day. If you can’t afford one, consider an in-kind trade of a free pass. Make sure you come to an agreement on who owns the photos and how they can be used online to promote this and future events.

#11: Thoughts on Video

There are so many ways to use video at your event: quick interviews with attendees and speakers on Flip cams, recorded sessions, or live streaming the event with UStream.tv.

#12: After Your Event

After the glow of a successful comic book convention, bean supper or Tri for a Cure fades, it’s time to get back to work.

Create a blog post of your reflections on how the event went, what you learned, and even how the next one could rock even harder. Ask for feedback and suggestions in the comments field. Post something similar to your Facebook page and encourage fans and friends to leave comments there as well.

Upload your photos to Flickr and other photo sharing sites and be sure to give them appropriate titles, descriptions and tags. Use the Creative Commons license to let them be shared as far and wide as possible.

After you’ve finished uploading your photos to Facebook be sure to tag everyone you know and ask them to “fill in the blanks” by tagging anyone else. This can have a viral effect as people love seeing photos of themselves and their friends, driving them all back to your Facebook page.

Post video to YouTube, Facebook and other video sharing sites. Ask your presenters to share their slides on Slideshare, again with appropriate tags, titles and links.

Wrapping Up

There are more sites and techniques to promote your event through social media. What platforms do you use, what techniques have proven especially effective, and how did you generate excitement and fill the seats at your last event?

Hubspot's 60 Proven Ways to Increase Your Online Marketing Influence

2010-09-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

I recommend visiting hubspot to get excellent tips like these! It's more of a "get inspired" list than a "how-to" list, but it's a quick and easy read with helpful reminders. You can subscribe to Hubspot via email for free tips or via your other favorite modes of getting news!

1. Stop talking about your products and services and create valuable content.

2. Increase conversion rates on your landing pages by improving your buttons.

3. Build your thought leadership and digital influence through transparency.

4. Demonstrate commitment and increase your digital influence through consistency.

5. Know where you’re going, then make what you say about the people around you.

6. Follow better people on social media sites.

7. Align yourself with outstanding strategic partners.

8. Make connections online, then meet the person in the real world, offline.

9. Create content that stands for something: ‘Higher purpose content marketing.’

10. Look under the hood of the shiny new technologies coming out.

11. Believe in ‘social objects’ as the way we socialize and share with others.

12. Avoid ‘incestuous blogging’ and look outside your circle.

13. Start talking to people.

14. Think about your narrative strategy because people connect with stories worth telling.

15. Find people who have your audience but not your products and co-create with them.

16. Establish influence either through complete honesty or absolute fakery - not in between.

17. Give your content roots and give it wings.

18. Try Facebook advertising.

19. Develop your online influence by getting offline and meeting people in real life.

20. Get very, very good at filtering and aggregating content.

21. Be early in the news cycles of any conversation of interest, then make context explicit.

22. Increase visibility through web video; the fastest way to get your message out there.

23. Feel passionate about your content and overcome your fears of reaching out.

24. Defy convention where it’s appropriate.

25. Share good content consistently.

26. Let your passion shine to create meaningful relationships and build deep connections.

27. Learn how to talk more about other people.

28. Get on Facebook, get on Faceboook now, and use it for your business.

29. Make people around you more successful than you are, and share stories from the heart.

30. Talk about what you know because content is always king.

31. Make something worth talking about.

32. Get your self properly interviewed.

33. Repeat your tweets.

34. Get more influence online by moving offline.

35. Really understand your audience, then build things that really help them.

36. Master one niche, own that niche, then use webinar marketing to promote your brand.

37. Think about what gifts and expertise you have that you can leverage to help others.

38. Map a strategy for integrating social media with other tactics.

39. Change from thinking about my influence to our influence.

40. Get active in other people’s communities.

41. Build ‘digital dimensionality’ by showing your many different sides.

42. Listen to the conversations taking place around you, then start to engage.

43. Network with other influencers and make them aware of your consistent value.

44. Think about the authenticity, consistency, and depth of your voice and story

45. Be willing to shake up your world.

46. Learn to be a storyteller, understand the psychology of people, create quality content.

47. Share ideas liberally and get increased accountability from the digital community.

48. Establish your business model before you attempt to become influential online.

49. Be consistent, connect the practical with the profound, and listen for the silence.

50. Find a unique niche you can own, focus on it and become known for that.

51. Find out what social network your customers are using and be there for them.

52. Build a community of readers by figuring out ways to get people talking.

53. Make friends along the way by helping others achieve their goals.

54. Think about social media as strategy to enhance your existing marketing goals.

55. Be systematic in establishing relationships with those on the same business path.

56. Become an advocate for gifted up and comers as they enter social media.

57. Start the media arm of your company that educates, inspires and entertains.

58. Give more than you get and build trust and relationships over time.

59. Take a look at what you have that others can’t do and use it to get where you need to go.

60. Figure out your value, identify influential individuals and connect to them directly.

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6559/60-Proven-Ways-to-Increase-Your-Online-Marketing-Influence.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+HubSpot+(HubSpot)#ixzz0zWzqgrha

Karen's Social Media Class Schedule for Fall - Join me for a class or private consult!

2010-09-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

What is social media? It's a set of tools you can't afford to ignore for your business!
Learn the basics, plus the time-saving tips and tricks of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for your business. Join me for class - or schedule a private, one-on-one session to learn how to use social media.

Thursday, October 7, 2010
LinkedIn for Business with Karen Kefauver
Beginner and Advanced Sessions: Attend one or both!
Presented by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce
Learn how to leverage LinkedIn for your business! Two different courses offered, a beginner course and an advanced course. Each course is $25 or take 2 and save, for $40. Lunch is offered during the beginner course from 11:30-1 for an additional $15. Advance course runs from 1:30-3 p.m. At the Best Western Seacliff Inn.
Reservations required.
Details: www.aptoschamber.com
To register, call 831-688-1467.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Facebook for Business with Karen Kefauver
Beginner and Advanced Sessions: Attend one or both!
Presented by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce
Details: TBA

Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Expand Your Reach With Social Media with Karen Kefauver & Sara Isenberg
Beginner and Advanced Sessions: Attend one or both!
Presented by the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department
Details: TBA

I enjoyed my opportunity to teach social media at the Apple Store Los Gatos.

Questions about class content? Email Karen@karenkefauver.com
Karen Kefauver is a freelance journalist and social media consultant. Karen’s passion for Tweeting, linking and updating on Facebook has improved her own writing career. Now she wants others to experience the benefits of social media. Karen’s stories, photos and videos on adventure travel and endurance sports have been published in The San Jose Mercury News, The San Francisco Chronicle Magazine and at Orbitz’s Away.com.
For more info, visit: http://www.karenkefauver.com.
For tips on social media visit Karen’s Social Media Blog, http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com.

Computer Brain Drain - Check your mental health!

2010-09-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

I found this series of New York Times online articles very interesting - and timely for the back-to-school momentum that affects students and non-students alike! Here's how I look when my brain is fried on computer overdose!

Karen exhibits symptoms of Computer Brain Drain, even at a bike event. Photo by Thomas Feix.

• A Side Effect of Digital Devices: Brain Fatigue
When people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to learn better, or come up with new ideas.

• Your Brain on Computers - Studying the Brain Off the Grid, Professors Find Clarity

• Technology’s Toll - Impatience and Forgetfulness

Twitter Lists - Tip from Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound

2010-08-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

Once again, Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound, includes a tip about Twitter Lists in her *newsletter that's too good to pass up! Joan says:

"If you're active on Twitter, you've probably seen at least one reference on your own profile page to Twitter lists.

They're a powerful way to categorize Twitter users according to their area of expertise, or the topics of their tweets. Then, once the list is created, you can let anyone see it - or keep it private (a locked icon will show up).

Lists save valuable time because when you create a list, every tweet from every person on that list feeds into that particular list. You don't have to drink from a firehose on Twitter to be able to find the tweets from people who have a particular expertise.

Don't be fooled into thinking that that's the only way to use Twitter lists. They're powerful tools that can help you do valuable research, track down experts in a particular niche, find people in your target market, spy on your competitors, find journalists who cover your industry, and more.

TRY THIS:
Go to your Twitter Home or Profile page and look under your photo on the upper right side. You'll see the number of people you're following, the number of people who are following you, and the number of lists you're on. Click on "Listed."

Instantly, you can look down the list and see which Twitter users have put you on one of their lists, and you can see the names of their lists. For example, I'm on 644 Twitter lists. When I click on "Listed," a window opens and I can see that many of the lists include the words "PR," "publicity" and "social media." I can also see I'm on lists called "best-resources-4-authors," "inspiring-quotes" and "futuristic-entrepreneurs."

Learn more about what to do with Twitter lists and directories!
If you aren't on many lists, or you haven't created your own lists yet,
check out Joan's teleseminar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Aug. 26, called "How to Use Twitter Lists & Directories to Generate Publicity and Build Your Brand." Bad time? Sign up anyway because I'm recording it. You'll get a link where you can watch the streaming video, or download the video.

* Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com and receive by email the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."

Facebook Tops 500 Million Users: Here are Tips to Build Your Facebook Fan Page!

2010-07-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

"FACEBOOK TOPS 500 MILLION USERS" trumpeted a headline in the New York Times' Technology section today. Jenna Wortham reported that:

"Facebook, the social network created in the dormitories of Harvard six years ago, said on Wednesday that it now had 500 million members. The company has grown at a meteoric pace, doubling in size from a year ago and pushing international competitors aside. Each month, Facebook says, more than 30 billion photographs, links to Web sites and news articles are shared through the site, and its members spend roughly 700 billion minutes there."

By sheer numbers, that means your social media marketing strategy should include a Facebook Fan Page (also called "Business Page") for your company or organization.

Here are TWO of my favorite resources for Facebook tips from Michael Stelzner's Social Media Examiner website, which has a variety of authors. And Social Media Today.
Check out these valuable posts:

12 Applications to Make Your Facebook Page More Engaging | Social Media Today
By Sarah Hartshorn
Published May 13, 2010

Get People to "Like" Your Facebook Page | Social Media Examiner

By Ching Ya
Published July 22, 2010

Here's how my Facebook Fan Page looks (in the edit mode). Please join me page if you "LIKE" tips on social media and hearing about adventure travel!

4 Fabulous Tips on Cloud Computing from Carrie Jaffe-Pickett

2010-07-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Carrie Jaffe-Pickett is an award-winning writer and editor based in Silicon Valley whom I met via Facebook. She is the recent author of a very helpful book called Six Degrees of Twitteration. She has been published in Redbook, American Health and numerous other publications. She has also been named one of 39 writers to follow on Twitter (@Carriewriter) and one of 15 writers to follow on Buzz.

Excerpted from her newsletter:
Here are Carrie Jaffe-Pickett's TOP 4 Cloud Solutions

1. Google Docs: A fast and easy way to download and organize your documents, and share links.
What you might not know: you can create new folders in order to organize your documents more easily and refer back to them quickly. After you've downloaded the file, create a new folder and drag and drop the file...easy.

2. Evernote: It seems like everyone loves Evernote, and why not? It's one of the only searchable storage programs out there, and it's fun and easy to use. You can download PDFs, JPG's and Word files.
What you might not know: You need to upgrade to a premium account in order to upload video. Also, there is a feature called a Web Clipper which you can drag and drop into your browser so that you can easily save to Evernote whenever you're on a cool website, without having to open up the program.

3. Boxnet: I first discovered Boxnet when I was looking for an easy way to upload a lot of photos (50+) that could be easily viewed by my parents, who are famous for saying,"I clicked, but nothing happened..."
Boxnet has a great drag and drop feature, so you can download a lot of photos at once in no time. It also features numerous viewing options, such as slide shows, a single image at a time, or layout views.
What you might not know: Boxnet has a new partnership with Docusign (e-signatures), so you can streamline the signing of contracts and other documents and also track their progress online. Just add the program to you Boxnet account and they walk you through it.

4. Scribd: I first learned about Scribd last fall when I attended the Startup Crawl in SOMA. I knew they were cool when I was greeted by Elmor Simpson at the front door, saw their staff engaging in serious games of ping pong, tasted their delicious cupcakes complete with the Scribd logo, and walked away with a fabulous t-shirt. Fun stuff aside, they totally get the document download thing. This week, I uploaded my article and e-book, and was impressed with how fast it was, and with all the sharing features, such as one-stop shopping for all your social media sites.
What you might not know: If you've already stored your files on Google docs, you can automatically upload them to Scribd. Follow the instructions in the main menu where your account screen is. You can also fill in your Profile via your Facebook account.

These are Carrie Jaffe-Pickett's TOP 4 Cloud Solutions. Connect with Carrie on her Facebook Fan Page and Blog, http://www.carriewriterblog.com.

Forget CEO, It's all about SEO, baby! That's Search Engine Optimization

2010-07-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

That's the message that's being hammered home everywhere I go - learn to master SEO techniques or perish! I heard that loud and clear at two excellent seminars I attended recently that addressed the importance of Search Engine Optimization: one presentation on SEO was by Tom Petty (no, not the rock star!) and the other was by members of Google at a talk at the Future of Freelancing Conference, at Stanford.

The focus right now (in addition to the super-hot geo-location stuff) is how writers, marketers and your grandmother can maximize writing, blog posts, social media comments and soon your spoken word, with key words that the can be found by Google search and other powerful web trawlers. (Ok, not spoken word - YET!)

Here are the best resources I have found from my seminars:

From James Martin at Social Media Marketing
http://traveler2.typepad.com/seo_social_media

From Stephan Spencer at Search Engine Land
29 Worst Practices & Most Common Failures:
36 More SEO Myths That Won’t Die But Need To
36 SEO Myths That Won’t Die But Need To

Take a class with Tom Petty - keep an eye out for his occasional free seminars!
http://www.seomasterskills.com
SEO Master Skills Class in the San Francisco Bay Area: Bay Area Search Engine Academy

Let me know your SEO tips and tricks by commenting here!

Create Your Business Blog, Then Spread the Word - Here's How

2010-07-01T16:07:00.001-07:00

Blogging for your business is a great tool! But many people are unsure how to get started.

Here are some helpful, easy tips on getting started and then how to use your blog posts for multiple purposes. You can also get these tips in your email inbox from John Kremer and Michael Stelzner.

START YOUR BLOG

Top 10 Easy Steps to Starting a Business Blog | Social Media Examiner

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-easy-steps-to-starting-a-business-blog

How to Create a Blog in Less than 30 Minutes | Leslie Meredith

http://lesliemeredith.com/how-to-create-a-blog-in-less-than-30-minutes

SYNDICATE YOUR BLOG

3 Simple Ways to Repurpose Your Blog Posts for More Exposure | Social Media Examiner

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-simple-ways-to-repurpose-your-blog-posts-for-more-exposure

Tip of the Week By John Kremer (June 30, 2010)
http://www.bookmarket.com/tips.htm
If you want to syndicate your blog or parts of your website so people can subscribe to your feed (to get regular updates), here are a few services you could use. Note: Feedburner is the service used by many major websites, but it does cost some money. The other feed services list below offer a free version (and charge for upgrades or more capabilities).

http://feedburner.google.com
http://www.feedcat.net
http://www.feedity.com
http://www.rapidfeeds.com
http://www.postrank.com

Karen Kefauver

Freelance journalist & photographer

Santa Cruz, California, USA

Website: adventure travel stories + photos

http://www.karenkefauver.com

Travel Blog

http://karenkefauver.blogspot.com

Social Media Blog

http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/KarenKefauver

5 Resources for Book Marketing with Social Media - how to promote your book with social media

2010-06-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Friends, clients and colleagues often ask how to promote their books using social media. Here are a few resources I find helpful. I consider each an expert on the topic and most have free, helpful newsletters as well as guides to purchase:

1. Phyllis Zimbler Miller — Book Marketing Articles — Social Media Marketing
http://www.millermosaicllc.com/marketing-articles

2. Jon Samsel — 15 Ways to Promote Your Book
http://www.jonsamsel.com/writing/15-ways-to-promote-your-book

3. Penny Sansevieri — Literary Publicists, Book Publicists, Get Published!
http://amarketingexpert.com/free.html

4. John Kremer — Editor, Book Marketing Update newsletter
author, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, Sixth Edition
http://www.bookmarket.com

5. Thursday Bram — Market Your Freelance Writing In 31 Days: The Ebook
http://www.thursdaybram.com/marketing-your-freelance-writing-in-31-days-the-ebook
http://www.thursdaybram.com

LinkedIn - How to Get Recommendations & How They Help You

2010-06-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Joan Stewart for these great tips on LinkedIn recommendations. To sign up for her free newsletter, see details below.

1. LinkedIn's Badge of Honor
Here's a powerful way to promote your expertise and outstanding work.

Generate more than 10 recommendations on your LinkedIn profile and you can become a member of LinkedIn's Top Recommended People (TRP) group. Its logo will show up on your profile, along with those of your other group memberships. TRP was created by LinkedIn member Ross Dodwell.

You'll also find 7 sub-groups. You can join at the Gold level if you have from 25 to 99 recommendations, at the Platinum level for 100 to 499 recommendations, and at the Elite level for more than 500.

With more than 50 million people on LinkedIn, joining the TRP group is a way to stand out from the crowd.

After you join, you can also display the badge at your website or blog, and in your online press kit. Mention that you're a member of LinkedIn's Top Recommended People in your email signature, and in your social media profiles.

2. Amass LinkedIn Recommendations How do you get LinkedIn recommendations? Here are 3 ways:

--Give recommendations. Every time you recommend someone, LinkedIn will notify that person and ask them if they want to recommend you. But don't go hog wild. Space out your recommendations every few days or you'll raise a red flag on LinkedIn.

--Every time someone compliments you, tell them, "I'd be honored if you'd say that in a recommendation on my LinkedIn profile." That's what I do, and many people reciprocate. Pay particular attend to compliments in your email.

--Ask co-workers, people in your trade associations, clients and vendors. But be very careful. Make absolutely sure they are familiar with your work.

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com and receive by email the cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."

Linkedin Basics for Beginners and Tips for Those in the Know on LinkedIn

2010-06-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

New to LinkedIn? Start here by watching these two videos and looking at the Users Guide. I have reviewed dozens of video tutorials and find these two, posted on You Tube, are easy to follow and understand.

1. Linkedin for Dummies - 7-minute video
http://bit.ly/beFb2f

2. How & Why To Use LinkedIn.com - 8-minute video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQs1P547vlU

3. LinkedIn Users Guide
http://learn.linkedin.com

If you are on LinkedIn but haven’t had a chance to explore all the features yet, here are some tips:

1. Your Business Profile
HOW TO: Build Your Company’s Profile on LinkedIn
http://mashable.com/2009/08/03/linkedin-company-profile

2. Do More with your LinkedIn Account
http://www.labnol.org/internet/tools/linkedin-tips-tricks-tweaks-do-more-linkedin-profile/3158

3. Quick tips on Security and Privacy
http://bit.ly/cnIUce

For Job Hunters:
10 Ways to Find a Job

Join my LinkedIn Class: New Date TBA - this one rescheduled!

2010-06-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Due to the timing of the planned Thursday, June 3 class - immediately following the Memorial Day 3-day weekend, business owners and others are having a hard time taking time off work on Thursday. So we will reschedule! Stay tuned here!

LinkedIn Basics

• How To Set up Your Account & Basic Etiquette
• How to Find and Build Followers
* What and How to Post Status Updates
* Key Features and Insider Tips for LinkedIn
• Handout: A checklist of how to get started

LinkedIn Advanced
• The Importance of LinkedIn Groups
• "Answers" - How to build your following
• Applications Directory - How to accessorize your page
• How to Integrate your LinkedIn with your other social media tools
• Handout: The top applications you should add to your LinkedIn page
You can attend the morning session on the basic and then stay for the afternoon to learn even more
(and get the discounted price for attending both). Or just come for the session that best works for
you!

Cost: $25 per session or
save with 2 sessions for $40

How to Update Your Privacy Settings on Facebook

2010-05-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

If you're on Facebook, be sure to review the new privacy settings!
Read the official explanation here:
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=391922327130
and more here:
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=394231632130

And for a much better, concise list of tips, from a year ago, but still fabulous, visit:
10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

3 Tips to Sharpen your Writing and Freelancing Skills that Will Boost Your Business

2010-05-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

For your social media networking to be effective, you must write concisely and clearly. That's why I am featuring 3 tips about freelance writing that I think can be applied broadly to your writing - and your business even those who are not pro writers. These tips will be especially helpful to those running a freelance business.

Plus, the sources of these links, mediabistro.com and freelancewritinggigs.com have great free newsletters you can receive via email.

1. Writing Gone Rogue: 7 Rules to Break on the Web from mediabistro.com
http://shar.es/mjsrD
We write for the Internet -- a medium where things are constantly changing and it can be hard to keep up. But there are a slew of old-school conventions that are customarily set aside when writing for the Web -- and when they are, the content gets even better.

2. When Freelance Writers Need a Wake Up Call
http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2010/05/when-freelance-writers-need-a-wake-up-call
Most of us chose freelancing to have a positive experience, if that’s not happening some self and business evaluation is necessary. Struggling freelance writers would do well to explore the reasons behind their lack of success and decide what they’re going to do about it.

3. Five Ways to Use Gmail Canned Responses in Freelancing
from Freelance Writing Jobs | A Freelance Writing Community and Freelance Writing Jobs Resource
http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2010/05/5-ways-to-use-gmail-canned-responses-in-freelancing
By creating a few template emails that handle most situations and saving them as canned responses, you can speed up your ability to respond to sources, send out queries and more. Here are just a few ways canned responses can help you out.

Join me for my next LinkedIn Class - Basics and/or Advanced - Your Choice!

2010-05-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

Learn how to leverage LinkedIn for your business! Considered the Yellow Pages of the business world, LinkedIn is the ideal social media tool for promoting yourself, making newconnections and establishing yourself as an expert — all of which leads to boosting your bottom line. In this 2-part seminar, you will learn the basics of LinkedIn, then in the afternoon, you'll learn the advanced features. Details below. Hope to see you there.

LinkedIn Basics
• How To Set up Your Account & Basic Etiquette
• How to Find and Build Followers
* What and How to Post Status Updates
* Key Features and Insider Tips for LinkedIn
• Handout: A checklist of how to get started

LinkedIn Advanced
• The Importance of LinkedIn Groups
• "Answers" - How to build your following
• Applications Directory - How to accessorize your page
• How to Integrate your LinkedIn with your other social media tools
• Handout: The top applications you should add to your LinkedIn page

You can attend the morning session on the basic and then stay for the afternoon to learn even more
(and get the discounted price for attending both). Or just come for the session that best works for
you!

Cost: $25 per session or Save with 2 sessions for $40

Facebook Addresses Users' Concerns about Privacy

2010-05-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to my prior blog post,

Facebook for Business - Three resources to get started!

check out this New York Times story on the topic of Facebook privacy.

Facebook Executive Answers Reader Questions - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/by1Ftk

Facebook for Business - Three resources to get started!

2010-05-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up from my "Facebook for Business" talk today in Aptos, I will post more information here to help you get started with a Facebook Page for your business. For now, here are three of my favorite articles about effectively using Facebook. Plus, at the end of this post, for those who love data like I do, I've included an article that summarizes a set of revealing new studies. My conclusion: a professional Facebook presence is vital to your business right now.

• 10 Rules For Advertising On Facebook
This a great overview of do's and don'ts for launching your ad campaign, as small or large as your budget may be.

• 6 Career-Killing Facebook Mistakes
You want your FB presence to help, not hinder, much less kill your career.

• Privacy on Facebook: How to Take Control of Privacy on Facebook
This article may be confusing for those who are new to Facebook privacy settings.
Here are the basics, below and a New York Times story, Facebook Glitch Brings New Privacy Worries, by Jenna Wortham, published: May 5, 2010.

After you have set up a Facebook account, you can go to the Account section and on the pull down bar it will include: Privacy Settings. Start familiarizing yourself with these functions. Here's how it looks:

And finally, if you STILL don't believe Facebook is important for your business, this article may change your thinking.

5 New Studies Show Facebook a Marketing Powerhouse
By Amy Porterfield 
Published March 15, 2010

When you hear that Facebook is yanking Yahoo from its ranks and inching up on Google’s traffic throne, you can’t help but pay attention.
And if you work for a business or own one, it’s likely that social media marketing is on your radar. More and more marketing dollars are beginning to shift toward social media marketing and this trend only continues to climb.

Facebook for Business - Join my Social Media Talk May 6 in Aptos

2010-05-05T22:56:00.000-07:00

Twitter Resources for your Business - Quick & Easy List of My Favorites

2010-04-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have read dozens of articles on social media and have summarized here some of the best resources to get you started and keep you tweeting. I created the list after teaching Twitter for Business in Menlo Park last night. Thanks to those of you who came to my class! For my upcoming classes, please visit my website home page: www.karenkefauver.com.

• 10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips
* Published in 2009, a few website mentioned have changed, but the advice is solid.
http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing

• 13 Ways To Get Your Blog Posts Retweeted
http://tiny.cc/bpitv

• 20 Must Read Beginner Twitter Tips for Small Business Owners
http://tiny.cc/dvuhs

Here are five fabulous Twitter management tools. They are each free but each require signing up with a username and password - in some cases you can use your Twitter account to sign up if you prefer.

1. Hootsuite
HootSuite is the professional Twitter client. With HootSuite, you can manage multiple Twitter profiles, pre-schedule tweets, and measure your success.
http://hootsuite.com

2. Tweetdeck
TweetDeck: a simple and fast way to experience Twitter.
http://www.tweetdeck.com

3. Seesmic
One of the best Twitter client for Desktop, Web and Mobile, manage multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook feeds and pages and access Twitter Lists.
http://seesmic.com

4. Ping.fm
Helps you post in multiple places at once - update all of your social networks at once!
http://Ping.fm is a simple and FREE service that makes updating your social networks a snap!

5. Bit.ly
The best URL shortener and helps you see the stats on your twitter posts
Offers URL redirection service with real-time link tracking. People also use owl.ly and tiny.url but this is the main one right now.
http://bit.ly

Have fun tweeting - you can't go wrong if you avoid the Social Media Cardinal Sin of Direct Selling!

Twitter - Learn to Tweet with me tonight at my Menlo Park Talk

2010-04-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

There are still a few spaces left to join me this evening at "Tweetify Your Business — How to Tweet for Business Success" by Karen Kefauver. If you can't make this class, consider joining me at an upcoming social media class or scheduling a private social media consultation.

Twitter is a simple but powerful platform for your business. Karen, (@KarenKefauver on Twitter) presents "Tweetify Your Business — How to Tweet for Business Success." Geared for beginners, this talk will cover how to set up your profile, demystify the language of Twitter, outline how to find followers and topics to Tweet about.

Thursday, April 29, 2010, Schedule
6:30 - 7:00 Informal Networking
7:00 - 8:30 The Main Event
8:30 - 9:00 Q&A, Networking

Karen has trained business executives and entrepreneurs at the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, the Apple Store in Los Gatos and the Capitola BookCafe. Based in Santa Cruz, Karen is a freelance multimedia journalist who specializes in stories about adventure travel and endurance sports.
Please visit: http://www.karenkefauver.com and her social media blog:
http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com.

Meeting Location:
Silicon Valley Pad
1370 Willow Road 2nd Floor
Menlo Park CA 94025
650-276-0536

Do you have a Facebook Fan Page? Now you have a Facebook "Like Page"

2010-04-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today, I logged onto my Karen Kefauver fan page, where I post juicy tidbits pertaining to adventure travel, social media and trends and news in the media world, and got a surprise. I discovered that Facebook made good on their plan change the format of the Facebook Fan Pages.

I think it's silly and confusing, both, but here goes, according to Facebook's help page explanation:

"Introducing the Like button"

Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site. Learn more.

Here's what Facebook says about the change, which launched today:

Why did "Become a Fan" change to "Like?"

To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we've changed the language for Pages from "Fan" to "Like." We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=17167

What does it mean to "Like" a Page?

When you click "Like" on a Page, you are making a connection to that Page. The Page will be displayed in your profile, and in turn, you will be displayed on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=17115

Can I still "Like" a News Feed story about my friends Liking Pages?

No. When you see a Feed story about a friend Liking a Page, there will be no feedback links below that story. However, if you hover over the Page name, you will see a small preview of the Page and the number of other people who have also Liked that Page. You can then Like that Page to add it to your profile, or you can click through to the Page itself.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=17116

Is there a difference between "Liking" an item a friend posts and "Liking" a Page?

Yes. Liking a Page means you are connecting to that Page. When you connect to a Page, it will appear in your profile and you will appear on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed.

On the other hand, when you click "Like" on a piece of content that a friend posts, you are simply letting your friend know that you like it without leaving a comment.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=17168

Smartphones and the Future of Photo Publishing - I'm headed to this talk tonight!

2010-04-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

I am driving up to San Francisco today with friend Jenny Lindbloom to hear this expert panel!

"Smartphones, those amazing handheld devices that offer the Internet in your pocket, are the fastest growing segment in both computing and communications. With yearly unit sales in the hundreds of millions, and total worldwide sales estimated in the billions within a few years, these ubiquitous devices and associated applications and services are the hottest topic in the technology and publishing worlds.

Explore the exciting opportunities for photographers presented by platforms such as the Apple iPhone, Google Android, Palm webOS, and other emerging environments. You'll learn how these platforms compare, the state of the market for image and content developers, and how to position yourself to take advantage of this disruptive media shift. You'll also get insight into what it takes to publish your images and content on these mobile platforms from leading practitioners in the field.

Some in the industry have described the emergence of smartphones as the REAL personal computer revolution and the ultimate new media. Almost everyone agrees that the market is simply too large to ignore.

Moderator: John Jerney

John is a freelance travel writer and photographer whose writing and images have appeared in publications in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. John is also president of mobilis.net, a Silicon Valley-based online community and social network for mobile application developers (set to launch in March). For a dozen years, John served as the principal technology columnist for The Daily Yomiuri, the English language edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun, the world's largest circulation daily newspaper. John serves on the board of ASMP Northern California, and is the current events coordinator for the chapter.

Panelists

Lee Foster - Lee is a veteran, diversified travel photographer and writer who, in 2009, became one of the first travel photojournalists with an application in the Apple iTunes App Store. Lee’s first application, San Francisco Photography Guide, helps users create and collect their own postcard-perfect photos and memories of San Francisco (www.sutromedia.com/apps/sfphotoguide). Lee's just-released second application, DC Travel Photo Guide, focuses on Washington, DC (www.sutromedia.com/apps/DC_Travel_Photo_Guide). As a vanguard of the new media, Lee will share his insights and experience on what it takes to publish a photo and travel application on the iPhone, and outline a series of practical steps that you can follow to join this exciting media revolution. Visit www.fostertravel.com to see more of Lee's work.

Kevin Collins and Tobin Fisher - As founding partners of Sutro Media, Kevin and Tobin are creators of an application software engine that streamlines the publication of photo and travel guide applications for the iPhone. They are also authors of the travel application, San Francisco Exploration Guide. Kevin and Tobin will offer their insights into the smartphone and mobile application revolution, specifically as it relates to photography and publishing. The pair will also describe the vision behind Sutro Media, and explain how they see the future of mobile media developing. For more information, see www.sutromedia.com.

Kim Grant - Kim is a travel guide book author, photographer, print acquisitions editor, and author of her own highly-successful iPhone application, Boston Essentials Guide (www.sutromedia.com/apps/boston-essential). As acquisitions editor for Sutro Media, Kim is ideally positioned to spot emerging trends in the mobile publishing marketplace. If you have a big idea for the small screen, Kim will be on hand to offer feedback and help you channel your efforts to maximize results. You can see Kim’s travel journalism efforts at www.kimgrant.com.

Smartphones and the Future of Photo Publishing
Tuesday, April 13, 7pm - 9 pm
Social hour begins at 6 pm

Use Paper.li to create a daily "newspaper" of Tweets from your followers

2010-04-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

I am delighted that with a few swift keystrokes on Paper.li, I created a "newspaper" of the Tweets from my 2,000+ followers on Twitter.

Here is how mine turned out!
A glimpse at my newspaper headline:

You can do the same by visiting Paper.li, which is a fun, free tool currently in alpha mode.
Here's where you can read more about it from Edouard Lambelet's posting on Twitip.

Facebook - More Changes on the Horizon for Business and Personal Use

2010-04-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite sources of cutting-edge social media information, Joan Stewart, aka "The Publicity Hound," writes about Facebook's newest developments. This excerpt is reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.

Facebook's Royal Mess
Just when you think you understand Facebook Fan Pages, and you're starting to build your own Fan base, Facebook gums up the works.

Within a few weeks, the bloggers are reporting, Facebook will change the "Become A Fan" button on Fan Pages to read "Like," and it looks as though it may eventually do away with the entire concept of "Fans," though nobody knows what those Fans will then be called. ("Likers?")  

Adding to the confusion is the thumbs-up "Like" button that already appears under every item in your news feed. If you like a post, you can click on "Like." As for Fan Pages, I think "Like" sounds like a casual endorsement and "Fans" sounds like a group of people who can't wait to see what you have for them.   

Late last week, Facebook introduced its new "Community Pages" which several bloggers were convinced was an April Fool's Joke. http://outspokenmedia.com/social-media/facebook-community-pages .

Unsuspecting Facebook users who intended to create a Fan Page suddenly found themselves faced with another choice: they could create a Community Page, designed to support topics and causes. These pages can also be "unofficial" pages that support a company, a brand, or a public figure. They're different than the "official" Fan Pages a company creates for itself.   

If you create a Community Page, and it eventually spikes in popularity, Facebook can yank the administrative function from you and hand it over to the Facebook community, thus turning it into a public wiki. A wiki is a Website that allows users to add and update content on a site, like Wikipedia, using their own Web browser.  

Facebook never explained any of this on its blog--the logical place you'd expect to see details of any major changes. Social media bloggers got wind of it through confidential memos that someone had leaked.  If your head feels like it's ready to explode trying to understand all this, you're not alone. In comments at social media blogs, Facebook users understandably are screaming about the changes. Here's one example.  One comment I saw at a blog stated that the "Become a Fan" vs. "Like" issue is only for paid ads on Facebook. Some people are even speculating that Facebook might eventually start charging companies to keep their own Fan Pages.   Stay tuned.

Subscribe to Joan Stewart's free newsletter at http://www.publicityhound.com and receive by email the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a Press Release."

Social Media for Business with Karen Kefauver

10 Tips to Tune Up Your Social Media Marketing for 2012

10 Things You Can Sue People For for Doing Online - Guest Post by Laura Backes

Craft a Better Facebook Post - Mari Smith's Tips

My First WordPress Blog - Take your WordPress.com site to the next level!

Recently, I launched my first WordPress blog, in addition to the two blogs I have on blogger.com. Here are good tips straight from WordPress.com, below. Please visit ands subscribe to my three current blogs here:

Launch Your Blog

Focus Your Blog

Customize Your Blog

Blogging on the Run

10 Ways that Google+ Can Compete with Facebook

Google+ for Business - Getting Started with New Tool in Social Media Marketing

Social Media - 3 Time Saving Tools and Tips

Launch Your Social Media Plan for 2012 - Highlights

Launch Your Social Media Plan for 2012

How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media from CrowdSpring

8 Tips to Grow Your Facebook Business Page Following

Guest Blog Post: 10 Reasons Employers Look at Your FaceBook Account

Top 10 Facebook for Business Tips - Tips 1-4

Top 10 Facebook for Business Tips - Tips 5-10

Facebook Help Resources - Handy List of LInks

Learn more about Sponsored Stories

Hey Kids, Here's My Life as A Writer - My Debut at Career Day at Costanoa High School

Facebook Offers Easy Fix for Common Mistake with Facebook Business Pages

LinkedIn Hits 100 Million Users Today and Reveals Where Biggest Growth Is

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Tips on Video Promotion: Short, short, short!

Cut videos short! 2 minutes or less online, says Ann Wylie. These tips are hers and I think they are great! To sign up for her free newsletter, click here.

1. Avoid the 2-minute mark.

2. Avoid the 1-minute mark.

3. Don’t surprise friends, followers and fans with large files.

4. Time it right.

5. Consider your objectives.

Facebook Pages for Business - Tips to create + maintain a Facebook Business Page

Links - How to Use Them to Maximum Impact on Your Website & Blog

Self-Publishing Your Book - More Options Than Ever Before!

Social Media Classes in Santa Cruz: Oct. 7 - LinkedIn, Nov. 9 - Facebook

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Rich Brooks' Tips on Event Promotion with Social Media

By Rich Brooks

Published July 20, 2010

Before Your Event

Hubspot's 60 Proven Ways to Increase Your Online Marketing Influence

Karen's Social Media Class Schedule for Fall - Join me for a class or private consult!

Computer Brain Drain - Check your mental health!

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Facebook Tops 500 Million Users: Here are Tips to Build Your Facebook Fan Page!

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Blogging for your business is a great tool! But many people are unsure how to get started.

5 Resources for Book Marketing with Social Media - how to promote your book with social media

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Linkedin Basics for Beginners and Tips for Those in the Know on LinkedIn

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