Big Opportunities for Small Businesses in Facebook Pages Redesign | Social Media Today

Big Opportunities for Small Businesses in Facebook Pages Redesign | Social Media Today.

Great news for small businesses like me!

SEO – It Takes Hard Work and Perseverance

There are some cold, hard truths about SEO that some people just want to ignore.  Like the old joke “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice”, being successful at SEO requires hard work and perseverance.  In short, there are no short cuts.  If you don’t believe me, here’s a link to a very interesting article just published in Read, Write, Biz called “Why You Should Avoid Black Hat SEO Link Schemes At All Costs“.  In this article, the author references the recent slap-down that Google handed JC Penney when they caught them using  a link scheme that “spammed” their search terms across the web.  The result – imagine going from the number 1 Google result for “living room furniture” to number 68 in the span of 2 hours. 

Moral of the story: There are no shortcuts, just detours.  If you want real, lasting results for your SEO efforts, it takes hard work and perseverance.

You Gotta Have Friends

In my previous post, Practicing Social Networking, I forgot to mention the most important thing about using Social Media: it will require some level of socialization on your part. For those of you (I include myself) who are guilty of ignoring Friend Requests or not reading their own Wall posts, you must remember that to have customers Like you or Follow you, you have to be willing to participate. Just like in high school, to be popular you gotta have friends.

So, if you think you or your business just can’t make that social connection, hire someone to do it for you. There is nothing sadder than a Facebook page with no Likes and no posts. It’s better to not create a page or delete the one you have if you are not going to keep it up. Building a social network requires involvement and some dedication. But, it can definitely pay-off.

By the way, I just created my own Facebook page for my business so I can show you how things progress. So please Like Me!

(BTW: You may notice that I Liked my own company.  It’s ok to do that.  Now my posts will show up in my News Feed on my personal site and I can invite my friends to Like me.)

Practicing Social Networking

For those of you who are struggling to figure out how to use social networking and social media for your business (and why you should even care), let me just say that it’s a journey.  Or, a quest. Or, even an epic odyssey.  But in the end, it’s worth it.  It really does pay off.   Only, not in ways you might have envisioned.  Let me share with you, over the course of several posts, what I have learned.  And, in the process, I hope to keep learning and to keep you from falling asleep!  You can build your business with social media and have some fun along the way.  And by the way, most of these sites or tools are FREE, so you have nothing to lose.

First things first, as they say.  You need a Facebook page for your business.  I have personally created about 25 of these, so I know a few things about them.  You have to be organized before you start.  The first time I wasn’t and I ended up having to delete the page, due to the fact that it was completely screwed up and could not be fixed.  I need to add one thing here, Facebook has the world’s WORST support and there are probably no real people working there.  DO NOT count on them to help.  If necessary, consult a teenager, it is infinitely less painful.  So gather up your photos, logos, web links, friends names and get started.

Unless you want your customers and prospective customers (even competitors) from knowing the intimate details of your social life, you need to create a business profile.  Use your real name and a work email address to keep it separate from your personal stuff.  Once you create the business profile, you can create a page for your business.

This is a screen shot of how that works:

Once you create the business page, you can build the profile.

Next Post:

How to use your Facebook page.

It’s Time to Put Social Media to Work for Your Business

Business owners, in general, are a cautious lot.  Not unlike wary animals on the savannah, they tend to stay close to the center of the group, leaving the edges to the young, inexperienced or just plain brave.  They sniff the water before drinking and step tentatively on new ground before taking a leap.  So it has been with Social Media.  This is unfirm ground to them; a new frontier they’re willing to explore only after the other pioneers have returned safely.  That said, having just read a compelling article in CMO magazine about the multitude of ways Kodak is using social media and social networking, I am convinced the time has come to put them to use for your business.

http://www.cmo.com/social-media/real-kodak-moment-kick-starting-social-media?cmpid=TT63

Top Tools to Measure Your Social Media Success | Social Media Today

If you are interested in measuring how successful your social media efforts are, check out this article.

Top Tools to Measure Your Social Media Success | Social Media Today.

4 reasons you’re still failing at integration – Hurdle 4 – iMediaConnection.com

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