Timeline: Ready or not, here it comes!

If you haven’t logged into your Facebook business page recently, you might not be aware that there is a change coming to your page THIS FRIDAY! But, do not fear, here are some tips to make the transition easier.

1. Choose a great cover photo for your banner on your Facebook page. The ideal dimensions are 850 X 315 pixels. Your profile picture will also be resized to 125 X 125 pixels.

2. Add some milestones. One unique feature of Timeline is the ability to jump to past dates. Click “add Milestone” and you can tell a story. When did you start your business? Hire your first employee? Win an award? This is a place to document your business history.

3. Visit the admin panel where you will find useful data, including recent page interactions (new comments, likes and likers), the insights graph and messages from fans. Explore the new Build Your Audience and Manage buttons to see their functionality as well.

As an added note, people can now send messages to your business. This is a new way for your fans to communicate with you and Any time a fan or customer reaches out to your business, it’s an opportunity to connect that you don’t want to miss. The challenge will be to remember to look for new messages which are part of the admin panel.

The shift to Timeline may take some getting used to, but when the sense of overwhelm disappears, you will find a much more robust tool that will help your business thrive.

So excited to have had the opportunity to participate in a webinar yesterday with Ovaleye.tv. You can see it at Ovaleye.tv appearance.

This was a first for me and was a great learning experience. If you watch, I would love your feedback!

Thanks much.

Here is one way to do it...WRONG!

You may have seen set ups like this before, perhaps at an event booth - or at a location, like this one. This photo was taken at the end of an event at the MGM Grand Las Vegas called The CSI Experience. This display was right before check out where you get your certificate for being a great crime solver.

They want you to stop, login to Facebook from a public computer, go to their Facebook page and click like. I don't know about you, but I'm sure not going to do that.

One solution could be a QR code. Point that code to the Facebook page - where Smart Phone user could scan and click like.

Would you enter your Facebook login and password on a public computer? What are your thoughts?

The Power of One - Facebook post!

I watched an amazing thing happen today on Facebook and thought I would share it with you.

My friend, Andrea King, owns Anywhere But Here Travel. Today on their Facebook page, was a simple picture.

I thought the picture was cool, so I re-posted it with a question. "Could you sleep in an underwater hotel room?"

What happened next was amazing - and shows how quickly an idea, a post, or a picture can spread on Social Media.

From that one post on my page, there were 27 likes, 25 comments and 2 shares. But, that is just the beginning. The results on the Facebook page were even more staggering. That one photo generated 29 likes, 17 comments, 12 shares and at least 8 new likes on the page.

This is just one of many, many examples out there about engaging an audience. Because I took part, I was able to see the reach first hand - and even I was amazed.

Check it out for yourself!

Happy posting!

How important is "Practice What you Preach"?

In an industry like Social Media - it's easy to see what other Social Media companies, agencies and individuals are up to. Visit their Facebook business page or Twitter feed and the activity stares you in the face.

So, when someone claims they are the "expert", how important is it that you see them actually DOING what they say they can do for you?

I heard about a company today - that I will keep secret. When you visit their website, they sure talk a good game. They even have a white paper available with some great tips. But, when you visit their Facebook page - you can see that they have only posted about 25 times in the past two years. And, there is almost no engagement there.

So, that is my question...does it matter to you? If you were looking to hire someone to help you with your Social Media matters - do you examine their Social Media profiles to see if they know what they are talking about?

It's seems important to me, and I'm wondering how important it might be to you.

Please share in the comments below!

Can a FB Business Page have a Stalker?

I ask this question because I would love to know your opinion about this.

One of my clients is a LOCAL prestige brand - where you can ONLY purchase locally. It seems that no matter what I post on their page, one specific person (who lives in the midwest somewhere) either likes or comments - or even both. It does seem odd, but I wonder if it even really matters. And, sometimes it even gets a bit annoying!

Does your business or brand have any over-enthusiastic fanatics? What are your thoughts?

My playlist and hobbies

It's time for Ovaleye (web hosting provider) Biz Blog 3 for 5 Challenge - and I've decided to participate to get this blog moving in a forward direction. So, twice every week, Ovaleye is sending me (and others) blog prompts - three for "Behind the Scenes" and three for "Expert Status".

I am going to see where this takes me, but I hope in the next month you will get to know me and what I am good at.

Are there things you would like to know? Today, I am going to share from the personal side.

When I am in my office, I fire up Pandora and have created a Depeche Mode playlist. Then Pandora delivers me happiness in late 80's tunes from Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears, etc. Every song makes me smile!

My two other favorite artists are Nicole Nordeman and Casting Crowns. They are the only two artists where I own all of their music!

As far as hobbies are concerned, I love to sing! Singing in the shower, the car, at church! If I have the opportunity - I am going to sing. I actually annoy my daughter because we will be playing Scrabble - and when I find a word in my tiles, I inevitably start singing a song with that word in it.

The other activity I love is Drum and Bugle Corps! If you aren't familiar with what that is, it's like Marching Band on steroids! Specifically, I work with the Cascades Drum and Bugle Corps from Seattle, WA. This corps has taken me on many a journey, whether that was trips to Denver, Florida or California to see them live, or taking a two week family vacation and going on tour selling souvenirs.

We now often spends weekends in Yakima with the corps and I am "fundraising chair" for this great group!

Tell me about your playlist and hobbies. I would love to know more about you as well!