Facebook Fan Pages vs. Facebook Groups

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I am often asked what the difference is between a Facebook Fan Page and a Facebook Group.  The next question is always, “which should I create.”  The answer to the second question depends on what you are trying to accomplish by creating either.

Let’s start with a basic definition of the two:

Facebook Fan Page:  Fan Pages are a popular choice for businesses and brands to share content with their audience and engage with them.  They are separate from being an actual profile page/account that you would have on the personal side of things and instead of receiving friend requests and initiating them, you garner “likes” for the page itself.  These “likes” are what connect you to your audience.  Those that are fans and have “liked” your page, will receive your updates in their news feed (if Facebook’s algorithm determines that they are so privileged).  If they do not interact regularly with your page, they may not receive all of your updates, but if you spend a little money, you can promote your fan page content to extend its reach.

Facebook Group:  A Facebook Group in my opinion, is similar to a forum that does not have sub discussion groups.  A Facebook Group is just that, a group.  They can be made private, which means you can only join if a member adds you into the group or they can be public, which allows you to find them in a search and join on your own.  Groups are usually centered around one subject matter, but that subject could be a company or a topic of interest.  Groups function as a community where members can easily interact with each other within the group posting questions, comments, and sharing visual content.

Which Should You Use?

This really depends on what your goal is.  If your goal is to create a community that can interact not only with you, but with each other as well, create a group.  If your goal is to create an audience that you can engage with directly, create a fan page.  What I do not suggest, is creating a personal profile page for your brand.  It is true that in order to create a fan page, a personal profile account is needed.  Some people fall into the trap of creating an additional personal profile account for their brand, in an effort to keep it separate from their own account.  This can create headaches later down the line and is confusing for those searching for your brand on Facebook.

If you create a separate profile for your brand and a fan page; when users search for your brand on Facebook, both will come up in their search and they may “friend” you instead of “liking” your page.  The result will be you trying to manage a brand profile page as well as a fan page.

Instead, create the fan page using your personal account.  Even though you are using a personal account to create the page, your personal account will not have any visual or obvious link to your fan page to your visitors.  It will also make it easier to set up additional admins for the fan page from your own network and friend’s list.

Law of Attraction for Business :: Food for Thought

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The basic foundation of the “Law of Attraction” can be applicable to small business owners and entrepreneurs just starting out in their business ventures.  Proponents of the Law of Attraction believe that like attracts like.  If you put out negative energy, you will receive negativity in return, but if you put out positive energy, you will receive positivity in return.

We can apply that concept to business in this way:  If you are constantly focused on negative thoughts like a fear of failure and allow that fear to color your every action and thought when it comes to your business, you will probably fail.  Why?  Because you already believe that you will, but you are hoping that you won’t.  How can you expect to succeed when you already believe that you will fail?

Conversely, if you believe in yourself, your product or service and your business, you will succeed.  This does not mean that you will not face speed bumps and stumble along the way, but if you keep that belief that in spite of everything, you will succeed, you will.  You just have to figure out a way to make that belief come true.

Social Media Day

Social Media Day is Sunday, June 30th

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Social Media Day

Social Media Day is being celebrated on Sunday, June 30, 2013 and there are a ton of events scheduled to happen on this day to celebrate social media.  Yours truly will be co-hosting a TweetChat with Janeen Geary Violante of Hudson Valley, a graphic design and web design firm.

We will be asking and answering questions on “Image Curation & Creation” and I have decided to put together an eGuide to show you how to use your mobile device to create visual content that you can share across your social media profiles.  Fill out the form below to receive your complimentary copy!

Making Use of Google

Making Use of Google Products

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Making Use of Google

Most people are only aware of how to use Google as a search engine tool, but if you operate a small business, you may find Google’s various free tools to be beneficial.  Google has a full suite of tools that range from free – to paid, for business usage.  Today’s post will focus on the following Google products:  Analytics, Authorship, Places, Adsense, YouTube and Google +.

Google Analytics

I use Google Analytics to track my website’s statistics.  If you have a website and you feel it is not bringing you customers like you want, the first step is to find out how much traffic your site is actually getting.  Using Google Analytics will show you how many visitors you have, where they came from, what they looked at, and how long they stayed on your site, amongst other things.  You can filter these by day, week, month, a custom time period you specify or in real time.

One of the ways I use the information from my Google Analytics is to determine what types of content my audience prefers to read on my blog.  Some posts get more traffic than others.  By looking at the commonalities between the high traffic posts, I can better tailor the content that I write about here.  A lot of my posts are sparked by questions from clients, but they are also influenced by the traffic those topics produced.  My goal is always to write content that my audience wants to read and Google Analytics helps me do that.

Google Authorship

If you write content on your blog or someone else’s blog, Google Authorship is a way to receive credit for that piece in a more visually stimulating way.  With Google Authorship, content that you have written, when returned as part of a user’s search query, is listed with your picture next to it along with your name.  It adds a level of credibility that will entice the user to click your content over another listed article.

Google Authorship

Google Places

Google Places is a local online listing service that in my opinion functions similarly to Yelp.  If your business is listed in the phone book, chances are, there is already a listing set up on Google Places for you.  All you need to do is claim your listing, verify your information and add details.  Google users can leave reviews and get quick information about your business such as location, directions, hours of operation, and whether or not there is parking available.

An added benefit of claiming your listing (you can also add your listing if you are not already listed), is that just like Google’s other products and services, it influences search results.  If you are searching for a bookstore from your phone while you are out and about, Google will return local listings near the top of your search results based on your GPS location.  If that listing has been claimed and filled out completely by the owner, you will probably be more likely to visit that particular location.

Google Places

Google Adsense

“AdSense is an ad serving application run by Google Inc. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image, and video.” – Wikipedia

If you have a website or a blog and you have dedicated ad space, but no advertisers, Google Adsense is a great way to fill that ad space and earn some passive income.  With time and the increase in your site’s popularity and traffic, you can later replace the ads served by Google Adsense with advertisers that you have engaged directly.  If you have a YouTube channel, you can monetize your videos through your Google Adsense account.

YouTube

Video has become an effective marketing tool and YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines.  There is something about visual content that appeals to people and in a day and age where more and more people are turning to the internet to make purchasing decisions; video content can play a large role in persuading new customers to use your services or buy your product.  An additional benefit is that if you set up a Google Adsense account, you can also make revenue from the videos you post in the form of advertisements.

Now, do not expect to get rich instantly by posting a video and monetizing it.  It would need to go viral for that to happen.  Think about it more along the lines of getting two for the price of one.  By posting video content that is relevant to your audience or demographic, you are allowing yourself the opportunity to connect with your consumer base and potentially convert that into revenue, while also earning additional passive revenue from ad content furnished by Google Adsense.

Google+

I know, I know, not another social media platform, you are saying.  It is true that it seems there is a new social media platform that everyone is buzzing about and recommending almost every day.  Google+ was launched back in 2011 and, although it is not necessarily seen by many as a major contender, it can be beneficial to you.  If you already use a lot of Google products, adding Google+ into your rotation of social media networks is not very difficult.  By default, you already have an account.

Sharing content to your circles and audience on Google + can help boost your search engine rankings.  Google will even show your profile, picture and basic information in the sidebar just above the ads that run in that space, if your content is returned as a result to a user’s query.

Google Listings

 Everyone, their parents, their grandparents and just about every business known to man is on Facebook, and trying to jockey for consumers’ attention.  Google+ is a little less crowded and presents an opportunity to get in on the front end of a network, and build your audience.  By the time everyone else starts to make the migration to Google+, you will already be there.

This post does not exhaust the possibilities of the above mentioned Google products, but it should help to serve as a launch pad to explore these products.  Do not just stop at with these.  Explore everything Google has to offer and see what you can use and incorporate into your business.

5 Free Business Tools

5 Free Small Business Tools

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5 Free Business Tools

Technology has been my greatest ally for running my business.  I often say that if it were not for technology, I am not sure that I would have a business.  Over the past few years, we have seen a rise in tech start-ups; that are creating a slew of online applications, mobile apps, and services that are a great benefit to small businesses.  Many of them offer free trials or stripped down services for free.  I have compiled a list of five free tools and services that are beneficial.

Dropbox

“Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Dropbox was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, two MIT students tired of emailing files to themselves to work from more than one computer.” – from the Dropbox website

Dropbox is one of my favorite and most valuable tools that I use for my own business.  I have been using Dropbox for about three years or so.  I started off with their free 2 GB of storage plan that they were offering at that time.   I used it to store photos and music to save space on my computer.  With time, I found myself incorporating it more and more into my business.  I have a paid plan now, because I use it to store all of my client files and as a graphic designer, my files can get to be pretty large.

Dropbox makes it easy for me to share and receive large files with clients.  I can send them a link to download a large file from my Dropbox and I can setup and share folders with them to place large files like images in.  This takes the place of sending 10 emails with one attachment.  Another benefit is that because it is cloud storage, I can access my files from anywhere, on any computer and on any mobile device.  This is great for meetings and cuts down on the number of things I need to bring to a meeting or presentation.  Last year, my computer died and if my files had been stored on my computer, I would have been in trouble.  Instead, I borrowed a loaner computer while mine was being fixed, downloaded Dropbox and Voila!  I had instant access to all of my files again.

Dropbox still offers a free plan that comes with GB of space.  There are also several different opportunities to earn more free space.  You can earn an additional 125 MB for doing each of the following:  giving them 120 characters worth of feedback, tweeting that feedback, connecting your Twitter account, and connecting your Facebook account.  You can also earn up to 32 GB of space for each person that signs up for an account from your referral link (1 GB per person).  Additionally, the person that signs up from your referral link will gain an additional 500 MB of space so it benefits both people.

LastPass

“LastPass is a password manager that makes web browsing easier and more secure.” –from the LastPass website

Do you ever get frustrated with trying to remember your password combination for all of the sites that you visit?  Well, that is where LastPass swoops in to save the day.  With LastPass, you all of your passwords are saved in one place locally on your computer and they are encrypted.  To log into sites online, all that you need is a mouse click.  I am pretty new to this service myself, but everyone that has referred this service to me, loves it.

SlideShare

“SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations.  With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million pageviews, it is amongst the most visited 200 websites in the world.  Besides presentations, SlideShare also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars.” – from the SlideShare website

SlideShare is a great way to put your content in front of a larger audience.  You can create informative presentations to share virally or you can use it as a tool to virtually send presentations to prospects. SlideShare offers additional paid plans that allow you to upload content that is larger in size, and comes with additional features, but it is free to sign-up and use.

Join.Me

“join.me combines instant screen sharing and powerful meeting tools in an app that anyone can use to present, train, demo or concept. join.me is designed to be intuitive and accessible, providing features that you’ll use every day for everything from show-and-tell to formal presentations.” – from the join.me website

I have been involved in several virtual meetings online that utilized this service and I believe it is a great presentation and collaboration tool for meeting with groups in different geographic locations.  Like most services listed on this page, join.me has paid plans that offer more functionality, but some of the meetings I was involved in were using the free basic plan.  I was able to join in on a conference call for the audio portion and watch the presentation and examples through the join.me link that was provided for the meeting.  There is also a chat functionality that can be used as well if you need to mute your phone.

HootSuite

“The leading social media dashboard to manage and measure your social networks.” – from the HootSuite website

Managing social media profiles can be tedious and using a social media dashboard can help take away some of the headache in managing your social media profiles in-house. HootSuite has a great free plan to help you get organized, schedule postings and manage all of your social media networks in one place!

Take a few or all of these services for a spin see if you are able to add value to your business with them.  After all, what have you got to lose?  They are free!

 

This article does contain an affiliate link for the Dropbox service.  If you click the Dropbox link and sign up, we will both receive extra storage space.