Facebook Instant Messaging Gets a Facelift

I’m always bragging about the versatility and customizability of Facebook. Just when you think it’s gotten as custom as it can get, they take it to another level.

The newest change for the Facebook community is in the Instant Messaging application. You can now use the categorization tool that’s used to help you organize and filter your friends in conjunction with the Instant Messenger app.

Here are some of the benefits of these new changes:

1. A new level of privacy: We have different relationships with everyone and the fact is that we aren’t on an instant messaging basis with everyone. This app. allows you to go offline with the friends you specify.

2. Category Selection: If you have your friends categorized, this update allows you to completely deselect an entire folder of friends.

 

 

3. Hierarchy: Some friends have a higher priority than others. With that in mind, you can now set your folders according to importance, relevance, and even tolerance.

 

Some of the changes I don’t like are the fact that if you have a friend in a designated category and they are idle, their picture still appears. This makes it more difficult to identify available friends. Another issue is that some friends could belong to multiple folders. As a result, those friends show up multiple times on the chat list. This leaves to much potential for clutter so hopefully they figure out a way to allow this without the clutter being an issue. In the mean time, I just have to specify which category each friend fits in most and keep them there.

Overall, I love this new change with Facebook!  What are your thoughts?

What is Social Media and Why Does It Work for Business?

Through my searches for good social media content, I came across this awesome video. Its a good story that breaks social media down in a pretty simple way.

Social media allows business owners to establish individuality in the marketplace, brand themselves relatively easily and pinpoint their niche clients. Direct marketing, and ‘Blast’ marketing allow you to target a group of people, but social media gives you the opportunity to target specific customers that you know have some degree of interest in your product or service.

So what are you waiting for? Get your ticket to Scoopsville today!

Social Media Meeting of the Minds in Hampton Roads

The most recent meeting of the Hampton Roads Internet and Technology Meetup was a roundtable discussion at New American Mortgage in Virginia Beach. Because there has been so much interest in Social Media and internet technology, some Hampton Roads Social Media and IT experts gathered to discuss the direction of the HRITM and expanding the knowledge of social media in our area.

The group was founded with the principle of professionals helping professionals make sense of the emerging popularity of social media in a professional environment and it is now read to take social media in Hampton Roads to another level.

The group’s founder Naoma Doriguzzi, expressed her desire to continue to bring relevant and useful information to the MeetUp. Some of the topics discussed were: Blogging for Business, Branding, Website Development, Forums, and Link Building among many other things. That being said, there is something brewing on the horizon. Social Media fans, be on the lookout for great new things! Hope to see you at the next MeetUp

Using the Power of Friend Suggestions

I am notorious for giving friend suggestions. Because of that, I often get feedback from my friends asking who these people are that I suggest to them. I love the suggest a friend to option because it allows me to do two things:

1. Connect people that know each other but are not already connected online.

2. Introduce people who I think may have something in common or who could be a good strategic connection. This is also known as a referral in face to face networking.

For those of us who use social media to build relationships and expand our sphere of relationships, referrals are key. Suggesting new friends allows networkers to do just that.

Facebook has the ‘Suggest Friends for ‘ feature that can be found on the far left, below all the application boxes (see picture). This is a cool feature that allows you to suggest up to 2o friends to someone. This tool is excellent for your friends who are new to Facebook. Suggesting friends to help people grow their network is something that most people appreciate, and often, they return the favor by suggesting people they know that they think may be good connections for you.

Twitter has a fun weekly tradition called #FollowFriday.

Tweeters use Follow Friday to share the people they follow most with their Followers. It’s a way of saying, “this person has good content, follow them”!

These tools are great ways to make and share connections and virtually every social media outlet has a similar feature. Use them to your advantage, and take friend suggestions as a real opportunity to start a new relationship.

Do My Employees Need Social Media?

Recently, while talking about social media with a client, the topic of empowering employees with social media as a business strategy was discussed. Allowing employees to share their company affiliation and actively exchange information in such an open and informal way initially gives a lot of business owners an uneasy feeling and with good reason. Its tough to monitor the content employees are delivering via social media outlets: Ask Dominos Pizza.

The reality is that social media is open to anyone and a motivated person can do something malicious whether they are an employee or angry customer. That being said, there is a tremendous benefit to your company by giving employees access to tools that show them how to use social media to promote what they do both directly and indirectly.

If you have a website, one of the most notable affects social media can have on your online presence is inbound linking. Having each employee posting a link to your website from their social media profile adds relevance to your site which is good for SEO.

Also, employees social networking on your company’s behalf increases the amount of exposure of your business, essentially expanding your sales force and in many cases a sense of taking ownership of the company’s mission to grow and expand via the internet develops.

There’s no real way to monitor all content being put out, however, there are steps business owners can take to protect themselves against social media smearing by irresponsible or disgruntled employees.

1.  Create a clear detailed company policy on social media usage and ensure this policy is given to all employees and agreed upon with a signature.  

2. Hold employees accountable who violate this policy as necessary.

3. Flag or report inappropriate, dishonest, or potentially damaging materials to the site that holds the such material. This is key as most sites are generally accommodating to such requests.

Social Media for Network Marketers

One of the primary methods of referral generation in the sales industry has been word of mouth advertising and the perfect example of how to maximize the  potential of this powerful yet simple exposure tool is exhibited by companies that grow via network marketing.

Though often stereotyped as pyramid schemes or scams, Network Marketing or Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)  is actually the ultimate example of large companies actually spreading the wealth around. MLM companies actually allow the sales force to generate the majority of the income; income that unlike most forms of income is residual, meaning it recurring as long as the account is open, and/or the customer is paying for the product. The way the sales force is recruited is though word of mouth advertising. Many people find interest in the products or services, and some see the opportunity to generate income while sharing what they have found with others.

The reality however is that the landscape of sales has changed drastically, and direct selling is becoming more and more taboo as consumers are becoming more aware of the power of options and therefore choice in every marketplace. As a result, even the best MLM-ers are turning to social media as a method of connecting with their friends, and potential clients and business partners.

Social Media provides you with a relaxed atmosphere where you can share your life, but also share what you do, because what you do is also a part of who you are. Having a strong social media portfolio is key to establishing an MLM-er as a real person that friends and potential clients can relate to, not a pushy salesperson only concerned with making a sale.  That makes you someone they can connect with by name, face, and profession.  A powerful trifecta of connections!

Hampton Roads Information And Technology Meet Up Testimonials

Our second Meetup was a huge success. Big THANKS to our sponsors and hosts at Victory Nissan of Chesapeake VA who provided an unforgettable forum and the perfect atmosphere for networking! Special thanks goes to Ryan Hall and Tina Pansacula who put in a lot of hard work, and where primary contributors to the success of this event!

Also, thank you to our speaker Justin Hitt who provided invaluable information about search engine optimization (SEO) and how to use the internet to market your business effectively.

Trifecta: Using the Power of Three to Grow Your Business

Are you using social media to grow your business? I get a lot of questions from business owners and other busy professionals about how to develop strategies for business growth using social media. My goal has always been try to simplify the social networking equation, and through my calculations I have determined that social media can be simply describe down to a three step process that when implemented properly can explode your business online and in person.

Having a well developed social media profile on a website like LinkedIn or Facebook is the first step toward growing your online presence. Before you can attempt to share a single product or service online, you must first be able to sell yourself (branding if you will). Branding yourself as a person first and not a sales robot instantly creates a unimposing medium for your friends and potential customers to become aware of who you are and hopefully what you do.

Blogging is simply a medium for relevant material. And what is relevant is relative to the viewer. First you have to find out what is relevant to your target audience, then you use your blog to convert that material into a format that is attractive to them. The more relevant material you provide, the more your expertise becomes apparent and your popularity grows.

Finally, you need the website you probably already have. What you don’t know is that unless you have something and/or someone pointing to your website, you’re probably wasting valuable time and money that you put into it. Blogging and social media outlets do the pointing for you. On the surface, they give people a reason to want to know more about you. Beneath, they are a free way to lead the google spiders right to your website.

The key is constantly having your social media trifecta pointing at something of relevance. Your blogs and profiles should always be pointing at your website and vice versa. Constantly be looking for relevant links, events, and other info you can share with your target audience. When they see value in what you have to share, they will also see value in and want to do business with you.

Social Media: Relationships not Advertising

Have you ever gone to a car dealership excited about the potential prospects of that new car you’ve been dreaming of only to have that balloon of excitement deflated by the commotion of multiple salespeople ascending on your position? Though we all know that salespeople are there to help and empower us with the information we need to make the right decision, we also know that they are paid commission and paid to provide just enough information to make the sale.

The fact is, consumers are doing more research, and are feeling more empowered when they go to spend every dime of their money. Often, they know what they want, the only missing piece of the puzzle is putting a face with the product. Social media allows sales people to do just that.

Social Media provides you with an outlet to share your life, express your expertise, and make meaningful and relevant connections with friends and potential clients. How many of your friends know what you do? How many would recommend you if they did? The answer is likely most, if not all, and social media allows you a comfortable environment to do that.