Yes, Facebook: More Data Please!

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Facebook has offered the rather limiting Page Insights tool for about three years now. In a recent blog Facebook stated that they have been paying attention to what we, the customer, want! The news: They're rolling out a newly revised Page Insight tool to just a few page administrators (more to follow soon?). In a nutshell:

“People talking about this”, or PTAT, data will be further broken down; more data for you! Page Likes, People Engaged (likes, comments and share), Page tags and mentions, check-ins (great if you are a physical location) and “other” (no idea what that may be). 

And there’s a new metric, Engagement Rate, based on the already existing Virality measure. Facebook believes that the current metric wasn't a true indicator of positive post engagement in the past and they are now including clicks; does this mean clicking on a link associated with a post but not liking or commenting on the post will now be counted. If so…hurray!  I've often wondered about those folks who go “under the radar”.

For the record, Virality is defined by Facebook as “the percentage of people who have created a story from your page post out of the total number of unique people who have seen it.” Creating a story happens in a number of ways: Likes, Comments, and Shares.  

The last paragraph of the blog discusses how Facebook “rewards quality posts with greater reach”. Funny then how every time I create an event invite that it seems to be withheld from the majority of fans from the page (more on this in a separate blog). Perhaps the above is true, however, Facebook would certainly like to see the post promoted (and therefore see me PAY); no? 

The very last point discusses “positives” and “negatives” and Facebook says that metrics will now be available on a post by post basis via a score card. Sounds good indeed if Facebook data can be put together in a way so that any user (or rather admin or owner of a page) can understand it easily, quickly summarize it, and take action based on their findings. 

We all want to increase engagement on our pages without paying for the privilege. So, yes, any free data is welcomed, especially if it’s better than what was available previously. However, we're still looking for the more visual experience that you toted months ago, so based on your past promises, when are we actually going to receive something that we can start working with?

Dishwalla was onto something when they were counting blue cars (see video below). Count on us! Visit our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. 

An Open Letter to Twitter.

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Dear Folks at Twitter,

I was having a great day yesterday; out and about running errands and taking photos. Got home just before 3PM. Went into Hootsuite to catch up on Twitter; for one of the accounts, @groovyreflctns, the column that shows the incoming Direct Messages was blank. There was a message to reconnect the account, however, it wouldn't reconnect!

Went into Twitter. And discovered that the account was suspended.

Huh?

I've had that account since August 2010. I post links to music videos and commercials on YouTube, stories from the Groovy Reflections blog, interesting quotes (usually from folks in the rock ‘n roll arena), shout outs to followers, Follow Fridays, Retweets, and photos of nostalgia things (mostly taken by me).

And I don’t follow a lot of people; the account is well within the limits of the daily quota for following.

The account was not hijacked; there were no questionable tweets that were not made from me, nor were there Direct Messages that I didn't send.

This is the last tweet (from around noon) before the account was suspended: 

It’s a blog by Groovy Reflections Team Member Paul about dating in his college days. It’s been tweeted before and there is nothing offensive or off color in the story; warning: It IS humorous though!

As far as I can see there was absolutely no reason for you, Twitter, to suspend the account. And to “reinstate” it I had to click two boxes that related to understanding “the rules”. I have no issue with the rules and I abide by them!

After the account was reinstated, the followers and following counts were repopulated…I watched the numbers rise up to close to the figures they had been at before the suspension, minus about 60 followers. 

I do feel that I should be told WHY the account was suspended and have a chance to defend myself regarding any misunderstanding on your part. So I tweeted to your @support account:

No reply. At least not yet. Next I tweeted to my followers:

Then, I wrote to you, Twitter, using your form. I immediately received a reply via email and said that the account was not suspended. Well yeah, because I went through the steps to reinstate it! This was not the response I was looking for!

I wrote a second time using a different reason from the choices and received another automated response. 

Your actions hurt me. I'm a small business just trying to get ahead. Groovy Reflections™ promotes Peace, Love, and Grooviness through 60's and 70's music and pop culture. 

Twitter, please get in touch with me and let me know why you felt it necessary to suspend my account. Don’t be shy. Let’s get this straightened out.

Thanks for understanding.

Peace.


Where to find ModlandUSA: Website, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.        

Potential Clients, Homework, and You

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You get calls from companies soliciting you, right? Yeah, you’re on the do-not-call list; however, that doesn't stop them. A carpet cleaning service calls my home phone all the time.


A few months back I was doing some business with LegalZoom and must have checked something off in an email that stated I’d be okay for businesses they partner with to contact me. So one local business did just that and started calling my business line about three months ago. 


The first time they called I answered it; listened for a moment, told him I was running out the door and could he call the following week? Of course, I completely forgot about the “appointment” and was, indeed, terribly busy. I politely begged off. 


After that, I stopped answering his calls. But then the reinforcements were called in. The owner of the business started leaving messages. And then, suddenly the avalanche of calls finally stopped.


Sigh of relief.


Little did I know it was just a tactic to catch me off-guard.


Working quietly at my desk in the late afternoon, the phone rang. Picked it up without looking at the return number and said hello. “Hi, I’m Richard Perry* and I’ve been trying to reach you for a while now. I can help you with your SEO! You just need twenty keywords…” …”Is that right?” I responded, then adding “What’s THAT going to cost me?”


Asking him a question was a BIG mistake…”blah blah blah…and you need a marketing specialist…” 


First I thought I didn’t hear him correctly. Sadly, I realized he was telling ME, someone who is well-seasoned in the marketing world that I NEED someone who likely has far less experience than me! 


Held back attacking him Jersey style. Instead, I spewed out something about my background and then gently told him outright that he had insulted me and our conversation was over. Seconds before I hit the OFF key on the phone I heard “Are you having a bad day?”

A low score on that phone call!

Wow! This pathetic phone call could have been a success for him if he had bothered to do a quick internet search and spend five minutes of his time doing a little homework. He already KNEW my name. He would have found my LinkedIn profile and within minutes a grasp at the type of work I do, my education level, and much more. From there, he could follow the link to my website, blog, or Twitter account.


Let’s say he went to my Twitter account and read my bio. He’d see that I like sushi. That would have been the perfect ice breaker to get through to me. Since he was calling from two towns away, he could have said…”Have you ever been to the Fish-o-Hama Grill? Their tuna is so fresh.” 


Or maybe go to my blog, scan the last two posts, and make a comment to me about one, thereby showing some interest in me?
It’s THAT simple. Take the time and learn who your potential client is. The info is out there and it’s free!

Do your homework and you'll get a good grade from me.

Afterwards, I summarized the event and posted on Facebook about it. Got lots of great feedback: Apparently I’m not the only one getting lame calls like this one!
The J Geils Band sang about not doing their homework. Click here, enjoy this rockin’ song and don’t take their advice! 

* Not his real name.

Let Your Blog Flow!

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It’s one of those days. You wake up with a slight headache, and groan about the tasks that need to be done. First up, you read a depressing message from a friend. Oops. Wish you could take that back and start over, right?

However, what you’re dreading most is writing that blog post. Your brain is blank. You turn on music to stimulate it. For once, it’s not working. What to do?

This situation happened to a current client of mine who just started blogging. We wrote part of the first post together. She IS a good writer, so that’s not the issue. It was typing it and making it real that was the issue.

She wrote the second one completely on her own and we went through the steps on formatting it, adding labels, photos, etc. It was interesting and I couldn’t wait to see the third one. Then I got the email. She didn’t want to do it. I called and encouraged her. And she said that the topics she wanted to discuss had changed. I explained that the first two were actually important and spoke to that, since she had set the scene. I pointed out all the directions she could venture into, based on what she had already written. And she was energized by that!

What I’m saying here is let it flow!

My client has a lot to say and has already inspired a few people by her first two posts. Is that a reason to continue? Absolutely.

Take a step back and think about why you are blogging. That may include:

• A desire to inspire others
• Furthering your reputation by displaying your knowledge
• Creating greater awareness for your product or service
• Being one of the first for getting hot topics out there quickly
• Sharing personal thoughts / reflection
• Sharing a strong opinion
• You want to practice writing often to better your skills
• You want to have an audience to bounce ideas off of
• Journaling

And so on and so on. Everyone has a combination of reasons. I didn’t mentioning make money here because that’s a separate subject in itself.

So, what to do on those days when you’re stumped? Go out of the box and let that river run downstream! Back in January, it was slow going for me. I suddenly found myself basking in the sun in the afternoon with a book and a notepad and some music playing. So, I decided to write about it, even though it’s not about my main subject. That post can be found here.  We all need to take a quick breath sometimes! So be it.

Back to blogging: When you’re going off the usual subject matter, as long as it’s written in your usual prose it will likely strike a chord with your readers. After all, they need a break too, right? And it demonstrates your abilities to think beyond the usual. So, no more constraints…let it flow!

Going outside now with a book and a notepad. Here’s a #1 song from 1976 that talks about love flowing; that includes the love of expressing your thoughts and ideas, right? Click here for that tune.

Promoting Your Incredible Blog!

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This is part 3 of a 4 part series. Scroll down for the other parts.

You’re up and running; writing up a storm! But wait, there’s an important element missing…where is the audience? Sure you can write great stuff, but if it isn’t seen, what’s the point?

Where the heck are the PEOPLE? Well, the first question I’m going to ask you is this: Do you already have a presence in social media? If you don’t, leave a comment here and we’ll talk about getting you started. However, today I’m assuming that you are active in at least one of the “Big Three” (no offense to MySpace), Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Twitter. Okay, so you’ve been tweeting. Well, now you have something to tweet about, so get it on out there. Make sure what you tweet about your blog has a catchy phrase. It doesn’t have to be that ho-hum but descriptive title for your blog post. As you meet new tweeps you’re on some common ground and if you feel like you know them a little, why not tweet to them that you’re blogging now? Chances are they’ll at least look at it; they may subscribe. If they don’t, no harm done.

On your Twitter home page, you may want to do a custom background and include the link there as well. Of course, do search on key words and find tweeps to follow who would be interested in what you’re writing about.  Don’t be discouraged if there’s little response at first, but do rejoice when you see your first tweet about your blog get retweeted! Thank them for it!

Facebook. On your personal profile, you may want to announce that you have a new blog and welcome your friends to check it out. A more targeted approach is sending a personal message to friends that have an interest in your subject matter and inviting them to check it out. Post the blog posts on your profile with a short summary of what it’s about. Do NOT be upset if your friends aren’t interested or never comment on your posts. It’s not for everyone.

Start a Facebook business/fan page. If you have the time and energy, go for it. Suddenly, you’ve opened yourself up to millions and millions of people! Some of your friends will like your page. But if you’re in a hurry (aren’t we all), then consider a Facebook ad. A TARGETED Facebook ad may yield results quickly. Will all of them be interested and comment on your blog posts? No. But some will be there because they are VERY interested in what you have to say. And they may tell their friends, perhaps by sharing one of your posts. And that’s how it all starts.

Add the URL for your blog to your personal info on Facebook. This won’t generate a lot of traffic but may likely be seen by your new Facebook friends who will explore your info to get to know you better.

LinkedIn. You’ve got a profile there, right? There’s a space on your home page directly to the right of your smiling mug (you DO have a photo of course) where you can post your link and some commentary. Let your professional connections know that you’re blogging and have something to say. Imagine my surprise the first time I received a comment there from someone who happened to be a connection that I hadn’t heard from in a long time. I immediately sent a message thanking him and then catching up on what he’s been up to.

Networked blogs. There’s a nifty app on Facebook where you can register your blog. People can vote on your posts and the more votes, the higher up on the Networked Blogs page you’ll be. You’ll gain followers much as you would on Twitter or on the original location of your blog. The point here is that followers, subscribers and the like can come from several places. And you need to make sure you are hitting them all. For more on Networked blogs, go here.
 
These are just a few things you can do to promote your blog and SEO needs to be explored as well. I do want to point out that my approach could be labeled as “soft”.  It’s up to you how aggressive you want to be with your marketing efforts. I recommend slowly building a quality audience rather than “chase the numbers”.  Certainly experiment a bit and find the best solution for you.

Click here for Part Four, here for Part One, and here for Part Two.

Words, Words, Words! Blogging, Part Two

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For part one, click here.

How much? We’re not talking about an enovel here. Rule of thumb: Assume most people with an interest in your blog are going to allow no more than three minutes to read what you have to say; some will spend as little as a minute. So make it light, breezy and interesting enough to keep them reading to the end.

Keep it around 500 words.  Now, don’t force it to be that; if it’s 400 to 600, that’s okay. As your readership grows, it’s tempting to cram more words into one blog post. Don’t.  Split your subject into two parts instead; you’ll have readers coming back to hear the rest of the story plus you’re adding another touch point. Helpful hint: Don’t plan on a two-parter, then write part one and quit for the day; part two may never happen then. By the time you get around to it, the subject may not be so interesting anymore, so no blog post. Trust me, I know!

Just spit it out. If you haven’t had a lot of experience in the writing arena, write it like you are talking to someone in conversation. Tell the story. Record it first if you have too, then play back and type it up (or use software to do that for you!). You’ll sound natural and come across as true to your readers (because you ARE). You can always tweak it a little for a bit of polish just before posting.

Paragraphs should be no longer than eight lines. Why, you ask? Anything longer than that causes a loss of interest; it's a lot to absorb, a bit overwhelming, and may result in your readers bailing. 

Keep in mind that what you publish will be in a public forum and can be searched. Will what you’re saying prevent you from getting that important job interview? Could it get you fired from your job? Or is it going to portray you as the shining, intelligent person that you are?

As you grow your content and write more, you may find that you are running into time constraints. After all, you’ve been spending time promoting that blog too, no? (that’s another subject we’ll conquer on another day.) Why not get some assistance? Ask people you know that are also subject matter experts in your area to write for your blog. Are they thinking about starting their own blogs?

Let them test the waters by guest starring on yours. One less post you need to write for the week. Ah…relief!

DO write in Word rather than directly in the blog, for several reasons, including these:
•    Easily check word count
•    Easy check spelling and grammar
•    In more recent versions of Word, there’s a built in Thesaurus
•    It’s nice to have a backup of what you’ve written.

And of course, read through what you’ve written. I’m notorious for typing “the” when I mean “they” and “there” instead of “their”; your “quirks” may differ from mine. It’s easy to overlook them yourself, after all, YOU are proofing YOU! Better yet, pass along your draft to another pair of eyes; NOT for the purpose of changing, rearranging or rewriting but just to catch those little blips.  The result: A more professional post that is (most likely) error free, thus ensuring a more enjoyable read for your readers.

Before posting, it’s a good idea to wipe out all that coding “behind the scenes” in Word before actually posting in your blog. Fortunately, it’s an easy step. Using Notepad, copy your text in. Then copy what’s in Notepad to your blog. Formatting SHOULD come out okay, but sometimes there’s a little adjusting, for example, adding space between paragraphs.

Add the title and a related picture. Pictures tell the story too and draw interest to your post. If you must use something from a page on the internet, acknowledging where it came from is a good idea.

Of course, you can add several photos to your post, placing them near the relevant copy. I like to keep it simple with one. My preference is at the top, on the right side, but whatever you are comfortable with works.

Remember, anything gets easier with practice. That goes for the writing and the process of posting as well.



Stay tuned for Part 3...

Thinking about Blogging? Let's Get Started.

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Blogging. Why the heck do people do it anyway? It takes time and makes you want to pull your hair out thinking of something, ANYTHING to write about. Aggravating, isn’t it?
If you are thinking about starting one, DO ask yourself what you expect to get out of it. A few reasons could include:

•    I’ve always wanted to write.
•    I want to share  something I know about with like-minded people
•    I want to establish credibility in my field
•    Just need a place to vent
•    Write? Are you kidding me? I really want to share something visual:
               Videos
                Photos
                Examples of my art 
•    Someone is talking me into it; they think I have potential
•    I need to practice somewhere before I write that book

Obviously, some of those reasons are more valid than others.  So you’ve decided it’s a go. Blogs are free and fairly easy to set up with a customized look. Check out Google Blogger (blogspot) or Wordpress (the free version), two of the more popular sites. Both are fairly intuitive; not too difficult to upload.

Subject matter. What are you passionate about? Cooking, camping, or perhaps you want to review all those wonderful books you read?  The important thing to remember is that YOU are the subject matter expert; much of what you write will likely be based on your knowledgeable opinion. If someone gives you flack about that, hey, it’s all debatable.

The tricky part: Getting it down on paper. Oh! I need to WRITE today. Good luck with that. Forcing yourself will cause brain freeze, without the delight of downing a Slurpee. Try to write when an idea comes to you, or at the very least, write a few sentences as soon as possible so that when you’re ready to start writing, the initial idea has been retained. Sorry to say, but there’s been so many times when my bright ideas have vaporized into thin air, because I never documented them. Poof.

A bunch of bananas: If you’ve written about one subject fairly quickly and you’re feeling mighty pleased with yourself, why not dig in and peel off another one while the creative juices are flowing? You’ll find that this is a great practice. However, if you do tend to write about recent events, this concept won’t work so well, but why not have a couple of more generic subjects that don’t need to be as timely for posting during those times when you’ve hit writer’s block? The important thing to remember is to keep posting consistently. One post in April and seven in May is not a good idea; try to keep the keel even.

How often must I post? Well, that’s up to you of course. Start out with one or two posts a week until you feel comfortable. This is NOT easy to do, unfortunately.  I’m nodding my head with you, because, yes, I have been a slacker in the frequency department. However, if you want to get noticed, you have to have content. And content IS the most important thing.  More on that later…

This is Part 1 of a 4 Part Series. For Part 2, click here, Part 3, click here, and Part 4, click here.

Can Blogs Become Habit Forming? An Experiment. Part 1.

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Recently read an article that had some great ideas on how to be a better blogger. Of course, I forgot to bookmark it. And you know how you never recall everything you read. Luckily, one of the ideas discussed in the article stuck in my head. The author noted that in a mere thirty days, one can improve their writing skills by writing 1,000 words a day. When all is said and done, look back at what you’ve written after a month and marvel at your own self improvement.

Sounds simple enough, right? Okay, I’ll bite.

So, on August 12, I began. Started out writing two articles with pretty darn snappy titles: “Corned Beef Hashtag*” and “Pardon me, YOUR’E Grammar is Showing*” (yes, I know this is the incorrect use of your/you’re here; it’s on purpose). The writing didn’t commence until late in the day; a pesky little thing called procrastination continued to wreak havoc with my good intentions. Pounded out about 500 words in about 30 minutes. Yes! Certainly deserved a break after all that. Snack time! Stood up. Walked away. Came back a short time later. 259 more words tumbled out.

Then I took a look at both articles. The grammar piece was downright horrible. It was almost boiling in tone, nearly telling people to go out and purchase Grammar for Dummies (if there IS such a thing). If there’s a tasteful way to approach the subject of horrendous misuses of grammar with out being preachy, then perhaps that article will someday come to light. But not without a complete redo.

Now, the other entry related to hashtags has some potential. The writing there was much more informative. And, it appears to be a subject that deserves to be explained and poked fun at a bit too. After all, how many times have you seen hashtags on Facebook postings? You do know that there is no such animal on Facebook?

Okay, so maybe half of what I wrote on the first 1,000 words day is usable. Will I be able to say that what I write is of higher quality, has the level of meaning and touches of humor that I strive to inject into each and every offering, and is interesting enough to be read by the masses at the end of this thirty day experiment? Sure hope so.

And now for the bad news. Day two. And how many words were written? Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Oops. Well, they do say it takes thirty days to develop a habit, right? But wait; it’s supposed to be continuous, no? Can I have a mulligan? Thank you. So now, officially, August 14 becomes day one. A new beginning!

For the record, the new day one = 1,037 words. And, according to my rules, it’s okay to go over.

* The author reserves the right to the use of “Corned Beef Hashtag” and “Pardon me, YOU’RE Grammar is Showing”. Those WILL be completed and posted here on this blog. Soon.