Do you hold contests for your fans or implement them for your Social Media Clients? If Facebook promotions and contests are in your future, you may want to consider these thoughts I had after my experience as a contest participant.

Recently I was on the other side of the Social Media Contest fence. I had purchased a new sofa from a local furniture manufacturer with several stores in our metropolitan area. The contest involved emailing a photo of my newly delivered sectional to the company, who then had a contest for the most Facebook Likes featuring the images sent from all those who wanted to participate.

Here are some things I learned during the contest:

1. Make sure the prize is appropriate.

Anyone who had purchased a sofa in the past 90 days was eligible. To make it worth our effort the prize was $1000 in cash. This certainly got my attention. There were 10 people who chose to enter altogether.

What are you asking your participants to do for you? Make sure that for the amount of effort and money that will be involved in being able to enter, the prize has enough value to be an incentive. If it can be connected to your business in some way that is even better.

2. Creativity pays off. Find a way to allow your contestants to indulge their inner artist.

Images could be anything you dreamed up. One entrant dressed up in a Zombie outfit and makeup and titled his sofa appropriate to the theme. This was very clever and the extra effort made the contest fun. He was also given first slot on the contest Page, which may or may not have been because of the creative nature of the photo.

It will make it more fun and everyone who sees the contest will be more impressed by YOUR raving fans.

3. Make your contests simple.

The contest application required 2 Likes for every “vote”. One on the Page for The Sofa Company, and then a second on the specific image I had sent of my own creation.

It was difficult for those who aren’t familiar with social media to understand that 2 likes were needed. It was necessary for me to explain this on my own link to the contest. This was a little frustrating for me and impacted how I felt about having joined the contest when I had people asking me where they should like the page. I actually made a screen capture to show my friends which Like button they needed to look for.

4. Check all aspects of your contest to ensure the best experience for those involved.

The contest had a comment section that would allow you to post a link for your friends to click on. It didn’t work for me for some reason, and I had to post my own link to the contest. My link may or may not have been as effective as the contest link. But that I had to wonder was not a comforting thought.

5. Deal with a Contest Provider that understands mobile when you set up your contest.

Halfway through the contest I realized why response from my family, friends, and professional contacts might be registering much less than I expected. Facebook contests are held on 3^rd party applications. These applications are on Tabs on your Business Page. Tabs are not accessible from mobile connections. Statisically now, this affects over 50% of your traffic to your Pages, including contests.

Jim Belosic from ShortStack had this recent article: 9 Tips for Running Successful Contests on Facebook on Social Media Examiner. He discusses the issues with mobile, and of course, Short Stack IS one of the companies that can host mobile Facebook contests.

6. Make sure your contest is bringing in new Fans who will be interested in your company.

One day I noticed that one of the contestants’ number of Likes had suddenly zoomed up from almost 0 to over 180 votes in a short matter of time. Knowing that this was very difficult to get that number of votes this quickly, I did some research. You can buy votes on Fiverr.com for $5.

Your company will not benefit from this type of fan as they will likely have no interest in anything you will offer in the future. Your metrics for engagement will be skewed by this, and will not give you a true picture of how well your Fans are responding to posts. Check to see if there are measures in place to guard against this occurring.

7. When you host a contest, consider what kind of bandwidth the service you employ is using.

On the last weekend of the contest several of my friends messaged me to say they were having trouble with the contest page not loading, or only showing the very first photo. Of my family members, who tried VERY hard to comply, only half were successful in voting for my image. I really have no idea why this was occuring.

Will the company and equipment used for the contest allow for spikes in traffic at the busiest times? Will the people you are seeking to interact with your Page give up because of Page “Time-Outs”? You might consider buying extra server space from your web site host for the duration of the contest, or if you are not physically hosting this on your server, be sure that whomever is doing this has this covered.

Having joined this contest taught me quite a bit about running contests for the future. I’m really glad to have done this, because these are things I might not have ever considered otherwise. Sometimes it is difficult to see things from the point of your client and their customers, but it is important to try to understand all angles of the contest and plan for things from the users point of view. And that might be worth much more than $1000.

Are you using Facebook contests? What kind of insight have you learned in retrospect? I’d appreciate your comments and wisdom below.

How to Build an Email List

It’s no secret. Today without a growing email list your business is handicapped. Doors will open for you faster when you have the power of a loyal subscriber base behind you.

• You can work joint ventures with others who are in a similar arena, but are not direct competitors.
• You can send special offers to stir up business when things are slower than normal.
• You can offer close out prices to clear out old stock.
• You can introduce and take pre-orders for new products

And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

So now that you are aware of the benefits of owning a good email list, you probably want to know how to increase the value of your list. There are so many possible ways to build your list, I will break this topic up into 3 articles. This is the first of 3.

List Building 101 – Give them something worth opening your email for

There are a number of ways to build an opt-in e-mail list.  Some will cost more than others, some take more time and effort, and some generate a higher quantity or quality of addresses. Generally you can sometimes get two of three, cheaper, faster, or better, but it’s difficult to get all three.

One thing that is clear is that building your list will probably take work and patience.  This is a case where you definitely need to work smarter, not harder.  Your own efforts are certainly needed, but you may also want to enlist the help of others.

There are many quick fix schemes on the internet that advertise list building in 48 hours, but  even if the list was high-quality which is unlikely, you wouldn’t have a relationship built with those people on it. So they would be unlikely to purchase much from you, if they would even open your email in the first place. Many of the offers are nothing more than a scam, so be careful. Don’t rely on them to build your business.

Your chosen method of list building may be determined by the type of business you have.

Building your list using a free newsletter

The simplest and most popular way to build your own e-mail list is to offer a free e-mail newsletter.  Your customers need to give you their e-mail address to be able to receive your newsletter.

Just the offer of a free newsletter on its own is unlikely to entice customers to sign up.  You will need to give them some high quality content to persuade them that your newsletter will benefit them.  It may help to publish an archive containing some of your previous newsletters, or show an example newsletter so they have an idea what they will be getting.

You may also want to give away a free downloadable product when your customers sign up for your newsletter.  Good quality e-books and free reports make great incentives to sign up, although you may find another more original freebie that is particularly relevant to your business.

Alternatives to a newsletter

A recent survey conducted by MarketingSherpa suggests that people are willing to enter their contact details to receive a much wider range of products that perhaps we previously thought.   Some of the products you might ask customers to register for include:

• Free reports
• White papers
• Demos
• Product brochures
• Business related literature
• Case studies
• Analyst reports
• Video interviews & Expert Tips

Think carefully about the type of customer you want to attract to your list.  What would they benefit most from?  Is a traditional newsletter your best option, or would one of the above products be more suitable?

You might think academic products wouldn’t suit your customer base, but often something written by an expert can be very effective.  Imagine you have a parenting website for example.  Many parents would be interested in a scientific study on child development, and the academic nature of the work might make them more confident in its content.

Be sure to read all the articles in this series. Not all the ideas could fit in this one post. More are coming.
Sign up for MY email list for notifications.

You might also be interested in 9 Expert Email List Building Tips

It can take some time to build up your email list, but it will be worth it. So take a little effort to give your readers a good reason to subscribe to your emails. Make your offer a gift. Here are 9 Expert List Building Tips for you to get started with.

1. Send out an appealing, worthwhile newsletter

This may sound pretty simplistic, but it is surprising how often business owners forget that your newsletter can be a great way to reach out.  You know your business so well, that you forget that there are people who don’t know it all and would be happy to get even a monthly update with tips on how they can do things more easily, efficiently, cheaper, or better. Get into the mindset of your target audience and decide what they would really want to read each week or month.  Make your communications a combination of education, solutions, and entertainment, with a little product promotion tossed in for good measure.  If your subscribers truly enjoy reading your newsletter and get benefit from it, they will be likely to forward it to their friends and colleagues who are of the same mindset or work in the same arena.

2. Trade advertising and promotion with other businesses

Approach other businesses who publish a newsletter and who sell a relevant product, and suggest that you each advertise the other’s newsletter.  This is an effective way to increase your list and both parties benefit.
Remember the motto, Rising Tides Raise all Boats. Work to build a coalition of people who have the same goals in mind and the same target audience.

3. Make subscribing easy and accessible

This is so important. If a reader of  your blog has to go through extra steps to subscribe, they are less likely to follow through. Make sure you have a subscription form on every web page of your site.  There are now special custom themes for WordPress that are designed with list building in mind. Look at StudioPress.com themes Balance and Generate. Make your form attractive and simple to use. Read my recent article, “6 Best Places for the Email Opt-in Form on Your Blog”

4. Don’t ask too much

Don’t ask your customers for too much information upfront as this may put them off subscribing.  A name and e-mail address will be enough to start your e-mail marketing campaign.  Do ask them for further details at a later date if you want to make your marketing more specific. Some forms now ask for a cell number but it is not mandatory. Email and Name are the most important in the beginning .

5. Make your request compelling

Give your subscribers a quick one-line summary of what they will be getting in return for their e-mail address.  Keep it short and simple, and make sure it is clear.  You don’t want to leave any room for misinterpretation.

6. Sharing is caring

Everyone is in the same situation when it comes to content creation. We all are searching for quality information that we can share with our readers and we only have so many hours in the day. Give permission for your subscribers to reprint your newsletter content for their own sites, on Facebook, or in their own emails,  as long as they give you credit for it, do not change it, and include a link to a page where people can subscribe themselves.  Your newsletter will need to be informative and reasonably entertaining (vs. dry and boring) for your customers to want to do this,

7. Swap Newsletter articles and expert information

Increase your exposure to potential clients and customers by working with other internet marketers in your field that are related to your business without being direct competitors.  Offer to trade articles so that you are each printing the other’s article in your newsletter with a link to their opt-in list.  Since you are being promoted by someone whom they already are familiar with, your credibility will be enhanced from the beginning. Free advertising is always a nice thing.

8. Ask your subscribers to forward your info to a friend

Encourage your subscribers to forward your emails and newsletters to members of their network that they feel would find it interesting. They may not even think of this unless the see a subtle reminded. Word of mouth is still your best form of publicity, even in an online environment. Make sure to include a subscription form in your newsletter so it is easy for people to subscribe when your newsletter is forwarded to them.

9. Give them something to look forward to

Give them a reason to stay on your list. How about entering your list subscribers into a monthly competition or prize drawing?  Make it something that relates to your particular business to keep your list well targeted.  Announce the winner of your latest prize draw near your opt-in form or on your squeeze page to show another added benefit of signing up with you.

Bonus Tip

Craigslist.org receives thousands of visitors each day and you can post a powerful ad announcing your list, some simple details, and a link to your website or squeeze page – for free.  Reposting your ad to different cities every few days will keep the response you get high.

I’m sure there are other ideas out there, and my readers include some of the experts in the field of Social Media Marketing. I’d be interested in hearing your ideas on List Building.

As you read my Blog you may notice one thing. As I run up against an issue and need to find a solution I blog about it. The great benefit to you and my other readers is that I speak from experience and write about what I find to be the best answers to these Social Media conundrums.

This month my major push has been to expand my email subscription list. I’m researching, investigating, asking experts, attending webinars, and just generally looking for the most effective ways to grow my email list for Social Media Dot Connection. Here are some of the reasons why you will want to grow your list too.

Benefitting from Your Email List

E-mail marketing has many advantages over general marketing:

1. Reliability Email is still the most reliable manner to reach some group or audience with relative surety. Whether the email is actually read will depend on you. But if someone has requested a subscription to your list, your email message and article links are likely reaching their inbox.
2. Cost Effectiveness  E-mail marketing is inexpensive, yet very effective when compared with other forms of marketing such as banner ads or pay per click advertising.
3. Credibility  You are able to build up credibility and a personal relationship with your customers.  They can tell over time from the articles or newsletter brief that you send how knowledgable you are on your particular subject. You can also provide them with useful information and entertainment as well as simply selling to them
4. Awareness  You are marketing to people who have asked to receive information from you, or who have already bought from you.  This is your opportunity to educate them on other services or products they may not know you have. When a customer has bought from you once they are more likely to buy again and will be willing to spend a larger amount.
5. Availability So many people have SmartPhones now and check their email on the go. Get to them when they are out of the office and have a little more time to look at your information.

Don’t Purchase an Existing List

Of course it is still possible to purchase a list of e-mail addresses and start your marketing campaign with that, this practice has some serious disadvantages.

• Waste of Money  The customers on that list may have no interest in your product.  For example, if your target market is parents, every member of your bought list that doesn’t have children will be a useless contact. Many lists are outdated and worthless.

• No Personal Connection  Customers will be much less responsive if they have never heard of you, and have not specifically asked to receive information from you. Also, if you have grown your list organically through word of mouth, the chances are that those on the list will know each other is much higher. It is always better to have Social Proof on your side.

• Potential for Being Listed as SPAM  Most people now have some type of junk mail filter on their e-mail and if you send unsolicited messages they will undoubtedly end up in there without ever being read.

What Do You Get From Having Built Your Own Email List?

Having your own e-mail list enables you to market to a very specific audience, which gives it an advantage over general marketing. The members of your list are aware of your services or product and have opted to receive information from you. It’s best if you use an Email Service Provider who sets up a Double Opt-in to make sure those entering their info desire more information from you.

The audience on your list is:

• Well-targeted
• Responsive
• Permission-based

If you want success from your Email Campaign, start with a good source of information first. That would be a list that is interested in hearing what you have to say or offer.

You’ll undoubtedly hear this a gazillion times in the course of learning how to use Social Media to Market your business: People Buy from those they KNOW, LIKE and TRUST. Start your list with this kind of customer or potential customer and you will be much better off in the long run. Ideally you will end up with a list of customers that trust you, are happy to take recommendations from you, and consider you an expert in your field; a source of valuable information.

What kind of Email List questions do you have for me? This is the first in a series that will likely go through the next month, so I’ll be happy to add your answers in to my upcoming articles.

And by the way… Have you subscribed to my email list yet? I’ll be sending out a monthly newsletter with links to all of the articles. Be sure you don’t miss any.

When it comes to learning the Blogging territory and craft of writing and self-promotion, lots of big names in Social Media are worth listening to: Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Guy Kawasaki,  among others. I tend to favor the information I get from the women in the industry: Amy Porterfield, Mari Smith, Kate Buck Jr. and Denise Wakeman. Their advice just seems to resonate better with who I am as a business person.

Recently I listened to a webinar with Denise Wakeman and Vrinda Normand during the Irrestistible List Building Summit. Denise’s portion of this 2 week event was by far the most valuable to me. I actually listened to it a 2nd time just to catch everything she said. Now that I’m writing this article, I may be listening a third time!

My next goal for my Blog and Social Media outreach is to grow my Email Opt-in List. So I was all ears when Denise discussed 6 critical places to have a great Opt-in Form that draws in the subscribers. She also talked about other ways to increase your visibility, but I’ll leave that for her to explain herself.

Maximize Your Blog Real Estate

You are the one who owns your blog domain and the pages on your website. Make sure you are using the space on those pages to their full potential. Here are 6 Places to put your opt-in form. This is not a either/or selection. This is Multiple Choice. Put your forms in all possible places listed below.

1. Add a Feature Box on the home page of your Blog. A Feature Box is a large box at the top. You want them to go here before they see anything else. The Generate WordPress theme which uses the Genesis platform is one with the Feature Box built-in. This could be an easy way to incorporate one.

2. The Top of your Sidebar. Typically you want this on the right, but left is OK if this is the format you are using for your Blog. You’ll see this one on every Page on my Blog in a bright blue which stands out from the other coloring of my Blog.

3. The Bottom of every blog post. If they read your whole post they are interested enough to subscribe to your RSS Feed and get email notifications when you have added new information.

4. Put it in the Footer of your blog, but a different opportunity. Segment your list so that those opting in for different reasons get information that is specific to their interests.

5. About Page. This is probably the most important location on your blog for a special offer or subscription form. Add this one first.

6. Controversial Pop-up Windows work. The results have been proven in studies. You may want to consider a plug-in that creates a Pop-up in the bottom right corner of your blog articles. It might be best to test which type and location of Pop up work for your particular audience and Blog topic. Here is a screen capture of one I recently saw.

Where are you using Opt-in Forms for Email Capture? Let me know of any plug-ins for your WordPress Blog that have been successful for you.

You’ll notice that I have yet to incorporate these suggestions in my Blog. Well fear not, I will be working on these ideas over the next couple days, so you should be seeing them in action if you stop back to check on things here at Social Media Dot Connection.

And this article is the First in a Series on Email List Building, so check back often or subscribe to my email list here:

Most times a picture can tell you more than a 30 page report. Here is a visual representation of statistics pulled together from several reports by Brian Solis, RH Smith, University of Massachusetts, eMarketer.com, and BloggingPRWeb.com. Thanks also to The Chris Voss Show for the link.

Here’s are a couple links to articles which showcase some of the top Pin Boards on Pinterest. The lesson here is how they are using Pinterest for their business. They are adding Pin-it Buttons to their website, Pinning articles to their boards that have eye-catching appeal, starting Boards for their customers to share Pins of their successful and creative use of their products, and even using Pinterest for Customer Service!

You might think that only companies with a Brick and Mortar business or a Cute Retail Product will benefit from the more visual nature of Pinterest. I’m seeing reports daily about service businesses with Blogs getting outrageous traffic to their sites from well placed articles.

Use Topical and Trending Keywords in Your Headlines

The first instance I heard was a friend who posted a well-timed and topical Blog article during the Super Bowl. She tied in her subject with the Hot News of the Day – the Game. Her report of her Pinterest Success: ”I’m curious how many of you have tapped into the promotional possibilities of Pinterest? I’m just getting started, but I pinned a photo from my own blog post and saw 42 visits in just a few hours time. The post was Super Bowl related (yes, the subject and timing were strategic), and the photo links back to my post. ”

Quoted from Angie Lynch of A Whole Lot of Nothing on another Successful Pinning: ”Recently, a post Casey published on Babble garnered nearly 200,000 hits in a matter of a few days from Pinterest. The pin below of a photo Casey took of our friend Emily’s baby on a bookshelf went crazypants on Pinterest (asshat commenters not withstanding, or maybe as a result of?). As of the publishing of this post, the pin has over 500 likes and over 1800 re-pins. That can mean a major traffic boost for Casey’s post from which the photo was pinned.” See her article linked above for the full story and some other great case studies.

Warbly Parker is an Eyeglass Retailer on Pinterest. The company reports that 11% of their internet traffic is coming from Pinterest vs. 18% from Twitter. When you look at their Boards, you’ll see only one is truly devoted to their product photos.

Hubspot’s 7 Examples of Brands that Pop on Pinterest mentions that even somewhat industrial businesses like GE, delivery business Peapod, and vacuum maker Oreck have found great ways to connect with their customer base on Pinterest.

And while Publishing Houses understand (or should) intrinsically how to connect with Pinterest, brands like Grocer Whole Foods and Furniture Retailer West Elm have found a huge following for their boards.

Think Differently! How can you apply this information?

1. As I mentioned in an earlier article, PAY ATTENTION to your blog photography! Choose something Pin-worthy. It might be time to buy a subscription to a Stock Photography site if you aren’t a photographer yourself.
2. Reach out to others and use the Tagging feature in the comments you post. Using an @sign before their user name will send them a notification that you have mentioned them in a Pin.
3. Make sure the post you are pinning links to quality information. Don’t just put up  a pretty picture and quit there.
4. If your product is in a photo, make it blend in with the right atmosphere, like Chiobani Yogurt. Chiobani shows food and links to recipes made with their products.
5. Run a contest, like this one from Loom Decor that has people pinning things to design their favorite room.
6. Look at the most followed brands on Pinterest and emulate  or adapt their style to your product line.  Read this Mashable article on the brands on Pinterest who are doing things right.
7. If you are a Content Provider, take a clue from Magazine Publishers, like Real Simple. Their goal is to post information that will attract their Target Audience and gain them new subscribers. You’ll see similar information in their printed works.
8. Use Pinterest Boards for Focus Groups for your Company Products. Run some ideas up the Flagpole and see who salutes, or Re-Pins.

Hope this gives you some ideas of places to start looking. Be sure to read my other articles in this 4 Part Series on Pinterest

Why You Should Be Adding Pinterest to Your Social Media Strategy

5 Ways of Bringing Traffic to Your Pinterest Boards

How Pinterest Can Drive Traffic to Your Blog

I’d love to hear any other success stories you know of with Companies and People using Pinterest successfully to bring more traffic to their other Social Media channels and sales to their business. Please let me know in the comments below.

I would also be really interested in hearing who you thinking is crushing it on Pinterest.

Part 3 of a Four Part Series on Pinterest

Just like any other internet based information, Keyword rich descriptions on Pinterest will allow your Target Market to be able to find you. And I’m not yet seeing searches in Google that bring up results with Pinterest postings. So the important things to remember when you want to expand the reach of your Pinterest posts are:

1. Make sure the photo is of something your key audience will react to favorably. You want them to click on the photo to find out more about it. Liking it will share it to Facebook, which is good in a way. But the photo size that is shared on Facebook does not show much detail, so it would truly attract a very niche audience who can interpret the topic from a glimpse of a small photo there. And remember that Liking things goes to your Profile on Facebook, not your business page. Another reason to use your Facebook profile mostly for business purposes.
2. Remember that everyone who reshares or Re-Pins your Photos (which should be links to articles or other information on your blog) can change the comment that they post the photo with. This means that the Topic Name of your Pin Board could be critical in getting across your message to anyone who sees it after it has been re-pinned.
3. One photo on a board will likely not bring the traffic you are looking for. It will be lost in a sea of whiteness. You will need at least 5 or more articles with photos that your Target Market will want to Follow to stay in touch for future updates on the topic. They can choose to Follow everything that you publish or just one Board and Topic. Make sure that if you are using this for business that your Topics are in congruity, or that they relate to each other. You are likely to be unsuccessful if you have a Board of Rose Photos with a Board of Motorcycle Parts.
4. Think about your Target Market Avatar (see this download and article for more info) and what kinds of things they are attracted to. Pinterest could likely be a great place if your market is home-schooling Moms, who like yoga, healthy eating, DIY (do it yourself) projects and like to fantasize about the clothing and furnishing they can no longer afford. But you will need to know your market very well.
5. Consider getting a subscription to a Stock Photo service. I know groups of women who have joined together to buy credits at some  of  these Stock Photo services to get a better per picture rate. I wouldn’t suggest this unless you knew the other participants well, but it could be one option if you have resisted paying for photography in the past. The quality of your picture will be paramount to your success here. Don’t skimp on it.

As this Social Networking Channel matures, I’m sure that there will be new twists and turns to be aware of. Good luck staying on top of things and be sure to keep watching Social Media Dot Connection for the latest information in this arena.

Post your comments below about Pinterest and your experience with it.

And be sure to read the other articles in this series:

How Pinterest Can Drive Traffic to your Blog
Why You Should Be Adding Pinterest to Your Social Media Strategy
Successful Examples of Pinterest Use for Marketing

As I mentioned in Part One of this Four Part Series on Pinterest, Why You Should Add Pinterest to Your Social Media Mix, the demographics for Pinterest are:

“the biggest age groups are between 25 to 44, 60% of its users have some college and largest percentage of household income is between $25 to $75k.”

If you find yourself with a Target Market that fits in this spectrum, there are some things you’ll need to be aware of when you are posting to Pinterest. With Pinterest’s user base growing exponentially as it has over the past couple months, expect these demographics to change. It has been 20% Male, and I’m sure that has changed dramatically in the past month alone.

1. You will want to ultimately be driving traffic to your blog. So post a great eye-catching photo with a blog article on your web site.
2. Make Sure the Photo you post has a Keyword Rich Title that relates to your Article as a Comment in Pinterest.
3. Make sure the blog article has a call to action somewhere on the same page, and preferrably within the article itself. Examples of this are, “Sign Up for my Email Newsletter”, “Click here to purchase” “Help us with our customer interest Survey” or “Click here for further information about our products and services”.
4. Add a “Pin It” Pinterest Button to your Blog. Click here for more information.
5. If you are posting an affiliate link, be sure to use a bit.ly link shortener first before posting the photo on Pinterest.
6. You have the ability to post a photo directly from your desktop or phone to Pinterest. Don’t do this. When someone clicks on it the link will take them to a screen with a photo only. This will do you absolutely no good in adding to your blog traffic.

The most important thing to keep in mind when posting a link to Pinterest, is that ultimately people will want to click on the original link. When they do this, they will be expecting more information about the photo. If you can give them information about the photo as it relates to your business and your products or services you will be on your way to new clients, not just more Blog Traffic. But first the photo and the comments must entice them to want to know more.

In the past photos for your blog articles could be something you added just for clarification of the topic, or a little eye candy for your blog. Now the photos will be increasingly important in conveying a message and a story about who you are and what your company’s services will do for them.

Read my other articles in this Series on Pinterest:

Why You Should Be Adding Pinterest to Your Social Media Strategy
Examples of Successful Use of Pinterest for Marketing
5 Ways of Bringing Traffic to Your Pinterest Pins & Boards

I’ve seen a lot of great articles about Pinterest in the past couple weeks. Let me know if you have seen any others that you would recommend reading in the Comments section below.

Photo Credit to Winning Information from Flickrr Creative Commons: http://www.flickr.com/people/winning-information/

What a wonderful greeting from Facebook this morning when I visited my Page Social Media Dot Connection. Facebook has announced that March 30, 2012 business Pages will be converting to the new format and design. You have the option to make the changes now and publish your Page to be seen as I have in the photo above.

[As you read along you will realize that the trial Cover Photo I had prepared last week is not up to Facebook's Terms of Service, and I will need to make some changes to it.]

Here’s a brief overview of those new “options”.

Pages will now have the same large scale wide-format photo at the top of the Page that you have on Timeline for your Personal Profile. If you visit your business Page you will see the option to take a tour and add a New Cover Photo now.

More about Cover Photos 

Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

And more about Page Guidelines

Your Profile Photo

Should be square and at least 180 pixels wide. This might be your logo, or if you are a Solopreneur, you may want to use a photo of yourself. Something similar to your profile but more in line with your business image.

Your existing tabs can be accessed from the links below your Cover photo. Landing tabs and Fan gate pages will no longer work in the same manner. The Tabs may still be there, but you will not be able to choose the view your new visitor will see before they like your page. I’m sure this is going to be a huge change for everyone. As one friend remarked, “whole industries have been built around Landing Pages”.

I know that the two Social Media Marketing Mastermind groups I meet with in person on Saturday Mornings will be buzzing with all of these changes, and trying to decide what the next avenue will be for Marketing on Facebook.

Like Personal Profile Timelines, posts can be indicated as Favorites by clicking the star, which will make it a wide format post covering both columns on your Page. You can also Pin a Post to the top of the Page making it the first entry for a period of about a week. This can be un-pinned at any time.

The Admin Panel is also very different. Personally, I’m not crazy about this at all. If you don’t hide it, this view will constantly show up above the Cover Photo when you visit your Page. It can be very distracting.

Facebook Pages now have Private Messages. People can contact you without writing on your wall and the messages will show up in the Admin Panel for that page.

If you are interested in knowing more, a short video tutorial which will give you a quick overview of the changes is linked below: