Remember when we all groaned about timeline? I took the plunge early and made an effort to embrace the changes so that I could ease my page admins into it and help them avoid some confusion. I thought you might have needed a little assistance too so I blogged about cover art and easy ways to create it if you’re not a graphic artist. That blog is here. In that blog I summarized some of the initial guidelines from Facebook surrounding cover photos:
No selling! Don't tell us about the latest deals here.
It's meant to be visual so have fun with it.
Should be representative of your product or service.
No pleas to people to let others know about your page.
Don't include anything about asking them to share or like the page.
No URLs, emails or any info that leads them to another way to contact you.
Note: The bullets above are my words not the ones that were previously in the official Facebook guidelines. They were much more detailed than that! You get the idea though.
And cover photos started popping up quickly. I noticed immediately that no one was following “the rules”; there was plenty of copy being used and URLs, etc. And here’s the rub: I have never heard of anyone getting penalized for their non-compliance either! And now, Facebook has thought…what the heck; let’s loosen up a bit!
Here's an excerpt (actually it is most of it) from the Facebook cover art guidelines: All cover photos are public, which means anyone visiting your Page will be able to see the cover photo. Coverphotos can't be deceptive, misleading, infringe on anyone else's copyright or be in violation of the Pages Terms. You may not encourage people to upload your cover photo to their personal timelines. This is fuzzy stuff! Do you understand WHY they had to reword it? I sure don’t. Is this rewording going to make the stockholders happy? No. Will it make the users happy? No. Will it make the page owners happy? They weren’t listening anyway.
Here we go again with my Facebook wishes. Excuse me while I get on my soapbox: Facebook pay attention to the users; pay attention to protecting our privacy. Let posts from us struggling business owners (like me) be seen! Give us an opportunity to grow with you instead of forcing us to work around you. Taking precious time to rewrite guidelines that no one pays attention to provides no benefit to anyone. Rethink your priorities and your long term strategy. Speaking of covers, a certain band formed in New Jersey wanted to be on one for a well known magazine and sang about it at the end of 1972 (see below) and got their wish the following year! Don't forget to visit us at our website, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. where we cover lots of great topics!
Facebook. You know that little social network? As many of you know, I’m quite active there. My pages? Yes, they are "Public"; all are welcome to read, learn, laugh and reflect upon what I share there. My personal profile is another matter entirely. I’m fussy about who gets to see my posts and the majority of my posts are for "Friends". Whatever I post there is meant to be enjoyed, whether it be a something scenic, silly, or members of my family. So what am I leading up to here? Let me take just one example. On Valentine’s Day, I received flowers. Took a photo of them on my dining room table and posted the picture to my Friends on Facebook. Didn’t post this picture anywhere else; not on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, nor Instagram. A friend (one I know “in real life”) liked the photo and shared it on his wall. Publicly. And mentioned me by my first and last name. Here’s the impact this share has. What my dining room looks like and the gift of flowers I received is now exposed to the eyes of over one billion people: ALL of the users of Facebook! This is NOT something I wanted! As luck has it, I spotted the share about three minutes after it happened and was able to contact my friend. I told him it was okay to share my photo if it was to his Friends (only). He wrote back saying that the post was a positive one. That wasn’t the point! The point was that aspects of my personal life were now visible to the masses. End result? He took the post down rather than changing it to Friends. When I post on Facebook here’s the options I get:
My default is Friends Only. There’s also a symbol for “Friends of Friends” (your friends and their friends) that looks like this:
Simple rule of thumb: “When sharing a post, either share it at the same “level” of privacy that the post is set at or take it a notch lower.“ Look at that symbol on a post! It tells a lot. Your Facebook friends who prefer to keep their lives a bit more underground will appreciate it! Now, depending on the friend, it may also be wise to ask their permission to share first; that is up to you to gauge whether or not you need to ask. For once I can't think of a suitable song to post here. If you know of one, please let me know. The door is open to ModlandUSA; please visit ourwebsite, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Long ago, a jingle for the cereal Total suggested “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”. Yes. Yes indeed. It is. So, if that’s the case, why is that we always start anew on January 1st? You don’t have to, you know. Why not make that resolution when the iron is hot? Let’s say you want to write a book. And you wait, perhaps months, and then declare it to the world on the first day of January that you are going to write a book! Bravo! Acknowledgement is a great step. Now think about this. If you had started the book on June 1 when you first thought about it you could be halfway or perhaps done with it by now. Enough of my needling. It IS a new year, and you want a fresh start. Here’s a few things you may want to consider: Okay, the obvious. Make those resolutions! Do review your past experience as far as meeting those goals. If you tend to make grand, unattainable goals, slow down a bit. Take it a step at a time. Let’s say you want to increase quality followers on Twitter. Instead of setting a goal of increasing quality followers by 2,000, why not break that down into smaller chunks? An additional 500 followers by March 31. Maybe more than that in the 2nd quarter and a bit less in the 3rd quarter of 2013 as you take time off during the summer. If you’re already taken “baby steps” with your goals and that works for you, continue to do so; just don’t lose sight of the big picture.
Ah, and maybe that time off is a goal in itself! Remember that while we all work hard we need to play hard too. Planning that European vacation in September? You deserve it, especially since you achieved your quality follower goal and exceeded it in the first half of the year! Go ahead and pin those photos of all the sites you want to see in London on your Pinterest travel board! You’ll have the links ready at hand to plan the greatest vacation ever.
When you were a kid, did your mother tell you that it’s nice to share when you refused to give some of your M&Ms to your younger sibling? She was right about sharing; however, she probably never knew what social media could do for your goals. Tell your friends, in-person of course, and on-line too. Why? Because you are putting it in writing. You are making a declaration. Publicly. Don’t mean to scare you with that word; remember your settings on Facebook and G+ can easily limit the number of people who are included. Perhaps you need someone to lean a little? Your friends and followers will help you, just ask them! Another idea would be to start a secret group on Facebook with select people and keep them updated via the group. Nice and private and the support will be there when you need it. Best to you in 2013 reaching your “total” goals! Now, back to that Total cereal jingle; alas, the commercial is nowhere to be found! And my curious nature led me to the origin of that phrase from the jingle: It is said to have been said originally by a man named Charles Dederich, who was inspired as a member of A.A. to start his own rehab program for those dealing with drug abuse. From what I read there was a lot of controversy regarding his “dealings” and Synanon was eventually shut down. Getting back on the happy track, it is a new year! Wet Willie gave us some worthy advice in the tune below in 1974. Keep smiling when you say hello at our website, or hi on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
