Stephanie Frasco - Musings on Social Media Marketing » facebook marketing

How To Optimize Your Blog On Facebook – Networked Blogs

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:35:09 +0000

Every time I see a friend of mine post something manually from their own personal blogs to Facebook a bitter-sweet emotion runs through me. On one hand I am excited that I am no longer the only “computer nerd” out there, and I say that with the utmost respect. I am happy to see my friends blog about their passions, whether it is food, travel, or business, I tingle with social media pride. But on the other hand I cringe at the fact that they can be doing it so much easier with NetworkedBlogs. A large benefit of utilizing Social Media is to make our lives easier and that means auto-posting to Facebook and Twitter. One less step = a more productive blogger!

Advantages of using NetworkedBlogs
* Save Time with Auto-Publishing
* Attract New Readers through the NetworkedBlogs Community
* Cross Promote Your Blog on Facebook and your Facebook through Your Blog
* Allow Others To Share Your Blog To Their Facebook Network

Luckily I just set up a new blog – Costa Rica For Two, a blog about my travels and my working relocation to Costa Rica with my boyfriend and Laptop Business Expert, Jason Clegg, and I am going to show you step by step how you can do it yourself using NetworkedBlogs on Facebook.

(Not only will this allow you to publish directly to Facebook (either your fan page and/or your profile page) once you post to your blog, but it will also tweet it automatically). Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 small stone!

Setting Up Networked Blogs To Auto-Publish On Your Social Networks.

Step 1.
Log Into Facebook
- Simple Enough! If you are anything like me, a Facebook addict, you can probably skip this step.

Step 2.
Set Up Your NetworkedBlogs Account on Facebook by going here.
* Click on the “Register A Blog” Button.

Step 3.
Add the details of your blog.
* Note – Make sure to be as specific as possible on the keywords so that people can find your blog!

Click on Next.

Step 4.
It will ask you if you are the author of the blog. Click YES!

Step 5.
Verify through use of Technology. This is the quickest way to get your blog up in the database. It will only take a few minutes.

Step 6.
Verify your Blog by adding the NetworkedBlogs HTML code to your blog editor.
* Copy and Paste the HTML Code Shown.

This will also allow people who go to your blog follow you on facebook.

Step 7.
Log into your blog Admin. (I use WordPress.)
Click on the Editor Link in the Appearance Box.

Step 8.
Click on the Sidebar Template and add the HTML code that you copied from the NetworkedBlogs page on Facebook.

Step 9.
Go back to the NetworkedBlogs Page where you copied the code and click on the verify button.

Step 10.
If you have added the widget correctly you will see this! Click on Next to set up your settings.

Step 11.
Double check your blog to make sure the widget is active.

- As you can see I only have one follower – so go ahead and jump on over and follow my new blog. http://www.costaricafortwo.com

Now that you have set up the NetworkedBlogs you are halfway there! Don’t get discouraged though. The fun is about to begin! The only thing left to do is adjust your feed settings so that your blog will publish automatically to your facebook page and twitter.

Setting Up Your Feeds On NetworkedBlogs

Step 1.
Set up your feeds by clicking Feed Setting on the righthand toolbar.

Step 2.
Click on Auto-Publish under the Personal Profile area and if you have a fan page click it on the fan page section too.

NOTE – you will also want to click on the publish test to make sure it works.
Step 3.
Once you have done that click on the Add Twitter Account Box and configure accordingly.

Step 4.
You will be directed to your main NetworkedBlogs page. From there you will see your blog and previous posts. Click on Pull Now and then the Publish link.

Step 5.
Check your profile to make sure it has posted.

Step 6.
Check twitter to make sure it posted.

AND YOU ARE DONE!! Congrats — You are on your way to NetworkedBlogs Fun!!

For my auto-published posts make sure you follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

The FTC vs. The Facebook Fan Page

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:35:13 +0000

Social Media Marketing :: The Value Lies Within Those Involved

In the game of Marketing, especially word-of-mouth and peer-to-peer marketing, testimonials and endorsements have always stood as the most valuable type of messaging out there. There is no doubt that when you hear an appraisal of a product from a friend, family member, colleague or anyone else close to you, your trust level of the product will increase. As humans, and as consumers a recommendation goes a long way. In fact, that basis is foundation of my business in Social Media Marketing. My goal is to get people talking about a product, and hopefully in a good way.

However, recently the FTC has come out with some new rules about endorsements that will forever change the way we as marketers, advertisers and business owners, can play the game. The FTC’s has updated its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers.

Some of these rules include:
1. Bloggers are now required to indicate the existence of any financial relationship when they are writing about a product.
2. Celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.
3. Endorsements on your website should only be from current clients or customers
4. You may be liable for marketing done by affiliates selling your product

While at first glance it looks as if the FTC has a strong hold on what you sell and how you brand it in the marketplace. You may be thinking, how do I get around this new rule and keep your product “word-of-mouth” friendly and keep the endorsements updated, fresh and from current clients or customers? Consider Nils Andres for example.

Where the rules might have changed for your own website, the new FTC regulation makes the case for having a presence in Social Media even stronger.

Why Use Social Media for Endorsements?
Social Media is a place for clients, consumers, and customers to talk in an open forum. It gives the consumer the power to endorse freely without the constraints of the product. How can you make sure you are not liable for the endorsements?

Step 1….Make a Facebook Fan Page. (If you need help with this, my company, SocialMediaPlans, will handle this for you)
Step 2…Build your fan base. (Again, if you need help with this, SocialMediaPlans, is your go to destination)
Step 3…Encourage your fans to endorse your product.

CASE STUDY

Last week, a company I help, SEO ARTICLE WRITING PROS, a company that specializes in creating content all things internet marketing, came to me asking me about the new rules and regulations. They wanted to build their presence on Facebook and since they were brand new to the Facebook Fan Page game, they wanted content on their page so new clients and customers could see that they had a following and they would be trusted.

How did we do this?
Step 1. Create a fan page. (SEE HERE)
Step 2. Come up with a strategy that would entice people to write on their fan page. In this particular instance we used a contest.
SEO Article Writing Pros agreed to give away $100 of free content to a member of the fan page. To be entered all you had to do was Join the Fan Page and write a short greeting on the wall. (With contests, the easier the entry level, the more entries you will receive, so for the short-term goal of getting content and endorsements on the page, this contest was an easy solution.)

The contest was a big hit for the current fans as well as a way to gain new fans through facebook marketing. (A general rule of Facebook marketing is getting your name on people’s homepage and profile. Likes and comments are a Facebook marketers best friend!)

In one week SEO ARTICLE WRITING PROS gained 100 new fans without spending $1 dollar in advertising. In addition, they also received 62 wall posts, which means they have 62 new endorsements! 62 new endorsements that the FTC can not complain about because they were written by the people themselves as User-Generated Content.

Fans offered up their opinions, praises, and regards at their own will. Whether they did it to win or whether they did it to voice their opinion makes no difference. The fact of the matter is that consumers on Social Media are willing to offer up their voice and as a marketer, business owner, you should take advantage of that.

Lastly, you can also use the fan page badge as a way to show the endorsements received on facebook on your own website. (The picture below is a screen grab of the fan page badge that I have on my website SocialMediaPlans.com)

Besides the reasons listed above, a fan page is also important because it spreads your visibility, as your page will be indexed and searchable on Google, Bing, and other search engines as well as Facebook.

You can have an unlimited number of fans, unlike your profile page which only allows you to have 5,000.
When people add your page, comment, or like something you have posted it will show up on their feed which filters out to their friends and network for increased virility.
You can establish your brand further
You can create exclusive deals, offers and content
You can use it as a forum for customer support and/or praise
You can use it as market research into your brand at a low cost.

If you like what you have read and what you have seen, make sure you go ahead and fan this innovative company! And of course you can become a fan of SocialMediaPlans while you are at it.