Facebook users are represented on the social network as either a Page, Profile, or Group. The three options offer different opportunities and restrictions, which can impact what you are trying to accomplish on the social network. A little research can help you decide which format is best for your business.

Facebook Profile
A Facebook profile is the login mechanism representing an individual to connect with his or her friends via their profiles. This personal file affords the opportunity for individuals to share their interests, hobbies, links, videos, pictures and games. An easy way to share interests is by clicking the LIKE button on Facebook Pages. By its nature, a Facebook profile is to personally connect with friends that are also on Facebook.
Benefits:
• Security options may be edited to private, semi-private or public
• You can easily change your display name
• You can comment on others posts

Restrictions:
• Only one user per profile
• Tabs and Box items are no longer available

Facebook Page
A Facebook Page is a useful marketing tool within Facebook’s community. Acting as a brand profile, the Page offers many advantages to companies not afforded by the Profile. Pages are advertised, linked to, recommended or shared to friends in the hopes the friend will LIKE the page. When individuals LIKE a page they essentially opt in for real time updates to be shown in their Newsfeed.

Benefits:
• A Page may have multiple administrators to manage the content of the page
• Facebook Pages are now searchable by Google, Yahoo and Bing
• Pages can still have customizable tabs
• Pages may have programmed landing pages for coupons, promotions, or welcome messages
• Advertising on Facebook for Pages or external Websites rivals Google AdWords

Restrictions:
• Unable to revise your display name
• Login is required from a profile name
• A page cannot interact with individual profiles

What’s right for you?
We recommend every business subscribe to a Page vs. a Profile. In the economic environment of Do Not Call lists and Anti SPAM laws a Page offers businesses a marketing shield. The benefits of advertising, customizing tabs and pages is why many Franchisers and Corporations now rely on Facebook instead of their websites for sweepstakes, contests, and charity events. Finally, the HR headache of reassigning the passwords with each employee’s promotion, intern, or management change are relieved with the ability to allow and remove individual profiles from editing pages.

No related posts.

Well social media folks, here comes the end of another week. Here’s a rundown of some important stuff that happened this past week in the world of social media.

Gap Asks Facebook Fans for Alternative Designs to Derided New Logo
Did anyone hear about this incident this past week? Popular clothing maker Gap decided to change their logo for what they called a “a more contemporary, modern expression.” Well, contemporary and modern aside, the social media community exploded with backlash over the new logo. When the company saw how terribly the new logo was received, they’ve opened up Facebook as a means for finding a new one. A great story on how social media affects businesses every day.

7 Resources for Handling Digital Life After Death
So you’ve got your Facebook page running smoothly as well as your Twitter, Linked In, and other social media sites. Well what happens when you die? Does the content simply sit… forever? These 7 tools aim to answer this question.

Build the Perfect Blog Audience for You
If you’re a business and you have a blog, you should be keeping it fresh, updated, and relevant to your clients/readers. Here’s some tips that are often easily forgotten when it comes to blogging.

No related posts.

Here’s some stuff from this past week you might have missed from this past week:

Foursquare had a big downtime this past week, providing the details, the Foursquare team tweeted that they worked most of the night to fix the errors.
Foursquare Explains Yesterday’s 11 Hour Outage: An Overloading Of Database Shards
via TechCrunch.

Also in the social media category, Facebook made some big changes in a press conference this week, including changes to privacy settings, and a revamp of Facebook’s “Groups.”
Facebook Tweaks Allow Friends To Sort Who They Really ‘Like’
via The Wall Street Journal

And finally, #NewTwitter get’s a new search engine.
New Twitter Gets New Search Engine
via Mashable

Related posts:

1. Foursquare

Think that Facebook is a passing fad and there’s no need to be on it as an individual, let alone a business? Think again. Mashable cites new research data this morning putting Facebook in the number one spot when it comes to time spent online. Google and Yahoo are close followers, as well as YouTube.

In today’s content and connection-driven world, Facebook is more infiltrating into our lives than ever more. It’s important that as a business or even an individual you have a Facebook profile and that it’s kept updated.

Original article here via Mashable.

Related posts:

1. Google Voice
2. Midweek Social Media

The Facebook vs MySpace debate is long running.  While many users have profiles on both, some people only utilize one or the other.  For a business, questioning which platform is worth your time and marketing budget is a valid question.

What are Your Customer Demographics?

The MySpace audience is a slightly younger group.  While the average age is 31, a full third of their users are under the age of 17.  Facebook’s average customer age is 36.  Facebook’s male to female ratio is almost even at 57% female, where MySpace is 64% female.

As MySpace has evolved, they have lured more high school users through their customizable pages and heavy focus on music and bands.  Facebook has gone out of their way to appeal to an older generation by being user friendly and looking professional.

Do More People Use Facebook or MySpace?

In early 2010, Facebook boasted more than twice the number of users than MySpace.  While Facebook has grown rapidly over the last few years, MySpace growth has stayed steady or declined.

How Much Time is Spent on Facebook and MySpace by the Average Users?

By January 2010, the amount of time an average user spent on Facebook had grown to over seven hours a month.  While MySpace doesn’t offer as many analytics to the public,vusers spend about a fourth of the amount of time that site as they do Facebook.

The Bottom Line, Which is Better for My Business?

It depends.  If your business targets teenage music lovers, you might be better off focusing your attention on MySpace.  If your business targets any other demographic, Facebook is the better choice.

No related posts.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Gone are the days when people wrote long letters to each other and waited for weeks on end till they got a reply back. Today, all it takes is a click to open a social networking site and a few strokes of the keyboard to convey any message that you want to your family or friends. Take Facebook for example. The popularity of the site is increasing every day ( going by its membership figures of 300 million) and its youngest members are still in school. But is there really too much of a good thing? People often argue that while such sites have made staying in touch so much easier, we also pay a price in terms of privacy. Are we aware that a lot of information we thought was private is actually in the open for the entire world to see?

To Like or Not to Like
Think of Facebook as community where people in your friend list know what you’re up to, what you are doing and even what you think. If that wasn’t enough, your friends are free to comment on anything that appears in your Facebook page as well. That is because Facebook offers both a Live Feed and a News Feed. The Live Feed shows you everything that’s happening within your friends circle. For instance you will be notified when a friend comments on a photo or another updates her status. On the other hand the News Feed is filtered by Facebook and consists of stories or links that the website thinks a user would enjoy based on factors like your friends commenting on the story. Needless to say, many Facebook users are outraged at the idea of the website itself making certain decisions for them. And exactly why would people be keen to know every little thing their friends do?

This week, Facebook laid out the next phase in its plan to rule the Web when it introduced a “Like” button that will be embedded on sites accross the Internet. The little “thumbs up” icon that many Facebook users have used to show approval for their friends activities is already featured on sites like CNN, and expected to show up on shopping sites, entertainment sites and beyond. In the words of Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerburg, at the launch of this new feature, “We’re going to serve one billion ‘like’ buttons on the Web” in the first 24 hours.

Over-sharers Beware
Many users are also waking up to the fact that every time they click the ‘like’ feature on an application or news item, their ‘like’ and profile photo will appear on the page that has been flagged. In other words, this is akin to a Digg like function, where content can be flagged with the only difference being that the content immediately appears in the status feed. This is just the beginning because very soon Facebook will also give you the option to ‘ like’ content that appears on entertainment and news websites; the only hitch being that all will be revealed in your status feeds. In other words, your friends will know which sites you visited, what you read and so on. How many of us really want the world watching what we do?

The Facebook team justify that any new update made is always tested extensively keeping the user in mind, and that real close knit interaction has only just begun. Facebook users on the other hand are anything but happy. Many feel that every time Facebook makes changes to the site, they are only for the worse. Increasingly, the invasion of one’s privacy is a scary reality.

No related posts.

One can’t deny that technology has indeed made the world a much smaller place in many ways. It has become so much easier to reach out to people sitting on the other side of the world, or who you may never have met. No wonder then that websites which support a particular cause like, or which are a meeting place for people who share similar passions often comprise of a mixed bunch of people from different countries. Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter help people interact closely and stay in touch more often. However, these sites have also proven to be a great meeting ground for brands which want to get closer to their customers and also a huge marketing forum for newly launched products as well.

So why is Ning any different?

Just like its counterparts, Ning is a social platform too. The driving force behind this website is to connect with other people who truly share your passions and other interests. Once you create your own off-site social network, you are free to reach out to other members and find people who are passionate about a cause you care about, talk to others about your brand or make new friends. Once you register on the website, members can then choose to personalize their pages by choosing from over 50 themes, selecting from various privacy options, share photos and videos, chat in real time with other members, create groups, add a forum for discussion or organize events- in short everything that other popular social networking sites offer.

How can Ning help your business?

Many organizations and reputed brands are discovering the power of Ning for themselves.

1. It’s important for a brand to keep in constant touch with its audience and Ning offers a great opportunity to receive a constant flow of feedback from customers. It’s a wonderful way to get new ideas, work on improving existing ones and understand what the customer REALLY wants.
2. Ning also lets members come together and interact among themselves as well. The best way to start a dialog between your customers is to create an exclusive forum for discussion where relevant topics can be discussed and views exchanged.
3. If your organization is launching a new product, then harness the reach that Ning offers! You can upload photos, videos, events and blog posts which will reach your intended audience as well.
4. If you are truly passionate about a cause, Ning offers a great opportunity to find other like minded people. Starting a new event, planning a charity drive or simply supporting your community- Ning lets you do it all.
5. It’s easy to find existing communities which are in the same industry as yours and become a part of them. It’s a great way to keep abreast of the latest developments and share ideas.
6. Make your customers feel special and connected to your brand by giving them a forum to discuss and share views about your brand .That helps to increase brand loyalty on their part and gives you resources to promote your brand even further.

No related posts.

Facebook recently announced the introduction of a new type of page called a “community page”. Considering the fact that there are already “Facebook Groups” and “Facebook Pages (or Fan Pages),” this has left many businesses wondering whether or not a community page would be the right choice for them.

What is a Facebook Community page?

Facebook introduced community pages to people who want to rally around their favorite topics or causes. For instance, a possible community page would be “Bob’s Tacos Are the Best!” So that the multitudes of people that love Bob’s Tacos could join this page and proclaim this love to the world (or at least their Facebook friends). Community pages are typically unofficial so Bob never has to lift a finger.

Since these pages can get hundreds of thousands of fans, Facebook has said they will take away the creator’s publishing rights at an undisclosed point. This ensures that the members will not be spammed.

What is Facebook Fan page?

An Facebook Fan Page are created to represent a business, public figure, organization, brand or product. This page allows for communication with fans and customers. When starting this type of page, you must agree that you are the official representative of the person, business, band or product and you have all the proper permissions. So, Bob could start an official Facebook Fan Page for “Bob’s Tacos” and use it to publicize new menu items or weekly discounts.

Fan Pages operate very similar to a personal page. There is a wall where (depending on the page’s settings) fans and owners can post pictures, links or messages. There are also tabs that allow for discussions, reviews, photos and events to be posted by the owners. Whenever a status is posted in a fan page, it will show up in all the fans’ news streams. No matter how popular a fan page gets, the owner does not lose publishing rights. These fan pages are indexed and searchable through search engines.

What is a Facebook Group?

A Facebook Group is similar to a Fan Page. However, events can be handled differently in a group. The administrator can allow all the members of the group to send bulk invites to other members. So “Bob’s Tacos’ Monday Night Taco Club” could start a group, discuss the food and set up meetings. They can set up officers as well such as a President and Treasurer. These groups can also be hidden from unregistered users.

Which is best for my business?

Most businesses will find that an official Fan Page will best serve their needs. There will be no confusion on who is really running the page, or if its messages are company approved. Starting a Fan Page will allow a company to create a beneficial and long lasting relationship with their customer.

No related posts.

The Second most visited website in the United States is …. FACEBOOK, according to Alexa.com. Businesses continue to struggle how best to utilize this very popular social media. Recent research suggests advertising online with Facebook convert considerably higher that Googles online advertising at usually HALF the price or less.

Another reason businesses are paying attention is the average Facebook user is now 38 years old. Within a 50 mile radius of Saint Louis, MO, there are an estimated  735,500 people, age 25 and older.

Business FACEBOOK users may login as  1. Personal Profile (which can get you marked by FACEBOOK as SPAM), 2. Group Page, or 3. Fan Page . Many businesses choose fan pages to advertise and promote their brand. Here are how some of our favorite uses of Fan Pages:

COUPON Ritz Crackers  Great news for fans — more free samples of new RITZ Munchables! Get them now; supplies are limited! Just go to the Open for Fun Tab and click on the offer.

SWEEPSTAKES Olive Garden Italian Restaurant  We’re giving away 4 trips for 2 to Italy! This is your chance to experience Rome, Florence and our Culinary Institute of Tuscany. Enter once a day for the culinary tour and you could instantly win one of 500 $25 gift cards!

ENGAGING NEWS ESPN  When “Dancing with the Stars” kicks off its new season tonight at 8 ET on ABC, our very own Erin Andrews will be putting her feet to the test against the likes of Chad Ochocinco and gold medalist Evan Lysacek. Who’s your pick to win?

SALES Better Homes and Gardens  From our April issue: Vitamins B and C make cucumber a natural to combat skin swelling and sunburn, and to reinforce skin’s health. Our beauty editor’s picks include Earth Therapeutics Recovery-E Cucumber Eye Pads, $6

DISCUSSION BOARDS St. Louis Children’s Hospital  Send us your nutrition questions by clicking on the “Discussions” tab. In recognition of National Nutrition Month, here is another tip from dietitian Tara Todd. Learn about the most important things to include in your grocery cart.

Become our Fan to Learn More!

No related posts.

Social networking expert Melissa Wilson addressed social media as marketing and business tool for Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal, P.C. and the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Chamber of Commerce

St. Louis, MO–The impact of social media for businesses in successful marketing was the topic addressed by Melissa Wilson, founder of YourSocialMedia and Wilson Monnig Creative. She discussed new opportunities with Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal, P.C. Attorneys at Law and the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Chamber of Commerce.

Wilson advised that social media should be a part of any business or organization’s marketing plan, just as traditional marketing, such as print advertising and radio and television commercials. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the most popular now.

“While it is gratifying that companies are eager to begin a social media campaign,” says Wilson, “research, planning and analysis upfront will make that plan professional and easy to launch. The greatest benefits of business social networking are lead generation, sales, industry relevance and customer satisfaction for repeat sales. Devising a solid plan in the beginning will make all that work worthwhile.”

Facebook has become a big marketing aid and is used by companies to promote such items as coupons, sweepstakes, news, sales and discussion boards. Reasonably priced advertising is another plus for small companies. Facebook ads convert to considerably higher distribution and at half the price or less than Google.

Mary Ann McWilliams, executive director of the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Chamber of Commerce, says that “Melissa approached her subject in plain English and understandable terms. Our members are excited to take what Melissa told them back to their office and implement.” Wilson’s presentation was sponsored by the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

#####

About YourSocialMedia.com
YourSocialNetwork.com is an initiative by Wilson Monnig Creative to help businesses and individuals understand the effectiveness of the different social media tools available to them, and integrate them into their marketing plans.

About Wilson Monnig Creative
Wilson Monnig Creative LLC is an innovative marketing, public relations, advertising, website, Internet search engine optimization and print design company. A leading provider for social networking and new media projects, Wilson Monnig also helps clients understand and use new marketing methods to compete in today’s business climate.

The group’s nationwide client base includes companies in real estate, agriculture, automotive, folk artisans, personal fitness and entrepreneurial start-ups. Founded by Melissa Wilson in 2006, the company is located in the St. Peters/St. Charles/St. Louis, Missouri, area. Wilson has assembled award winning, experienced talent who are adept at managing client projects from conception through implementation.

Related posts:

1. Oklahoma lieutenant governor candidate taps Wilson Monnig Creative/YourSocialMedia for new media management