How many of you have been overwhelmed by all the new Facebook changes?

You may have heard a lot of Buzz about the new ‘Timeline’ feature that was supposed to launch recently.  This is a stream of information about you: the photos you’ve posted, all of your status updates, the apps you’ve used, and even the locations of places you have visited. The Timeline is intended to be a virtual scrapbook of your life. The announcement of Timeline was met with great deal of excitement from some, and a lot of unhappy dread from others, and was the hottest topic of conversation in the internet community for a while. Now some are wondering what happened and where is the Timeline? According to a Facebook executive “we are still testing with developers - hope to roll it out for wider testing before the end of the year.”

Another change that is stirring the pot is the new permissions settings for ‘Facebook apps’.  Facebook apps now need only ask permission once to share stories on your behalf.  Previously, apps had to ask every time they shared information about you in your profile. Now, the first time you authorize the app, it will tell you what it is going to share about you. If you’re ok with that and accept the terms, the app never has to ask you again.

Another new feature to mention is the ‘Ticker’.  The ticker is a constant feed along the right margin of your page. It is a real-time list of things your friends are posting. The benefit of the Ticker is intended to be a place for all of the small, less consequential updates that you do not necessarily want to see on your main News Feed.

There are a few other changes to be aware of:

‘Subscribers’ are people who sign up to receive your public posts in their news feed. If you’ve enabled this, anyone who adds you as a friend will automatically first become a subscriber. If you confirm the friend request, the person will be elevated to “friend” status. If you turn down the friend request by clicking “Not now” that person will still remain subscribed to your public posts. When you un-friend someone, they will still be subscribed to your public posts. If you want to un-friend someone and prevent them from seeing what you post, you’ll have to also block them.

Surely you have also noticed the ‘Top Story’ in your news feed.  It has the feel of a newspaper: all of your news is in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top.  Have you seen the blue triangles in the upper left of your news feed as if you folded down the corner of your newspaper? Those are new posts that went up since you last logged on.

It may feel as though so many changes at once are overwhelming. Some people like them and some people are annoyed.  How do you feel?  Do you need more on Facebook changes?  Here’s the scoop according to Business 2 Community.

Have you heard about Google Places?

Google Places offers a service that helps your business stand out in local search results and increases your place ranking. 97% of consumers search for local businesses online: you can increase your chances that they find you when they need you with Google Places for business. Using the web user’s  IP address and the advanced search algorithms, Google determines where a web user is located and delivers results that are appropriate for their area first.

Let’s look at how it works …

This is a great example of a well-done Google Places page, that has taken advantage of all the options and extras available:

In the example above, a Google user has typed in the term “martini lounge phoenix” and chosen the top listing, viewing it in the ‘maps’ view. The top listing is the business shown in the screenshot above that has used their Google Places page to the fullest and uploaded photos, videos, descriptions, a link to a menu, and of course a map for easy locating.

The Google Places platform is a free service: you can either read through the instructions and do it yourself, or you can ask us at BWD to gather your information and set it up for you!

Take a quick look at Google+ here

Our founder, Mike Callaghan, was recently interviewed by The Daily Interlake about the current state of Social Media Marketing and how businesses can use it to their benefit.  “The principals guiding online and social media marketing are generally the same as those that have guided businesses for decades.” Callaghan said.  “One of the main challenges is identifying who and where your customers and potential customers are and then picking the right web tools to target them.”

Not only are businesses taking advantage of Social Media more than ever by engaging with their customers, they are also utilizing the myriad of free web tools available to track and monitor the success of these ventures. Google Analytics and Facebook Insights provide a way for business owners to learn more about their clientele and demographics.

Regardless of demographics, businesses are finding that Social Media allows them to cross borders and reach national, even international audiences. “There are no borders on the Internet.” Callaghan assures, “For those businesses looking to reach customers beyond the Flathead or Montana, it’s wide open.”

The Flathead Business Journal contains excellent articles and information that will keep you informed about what is happening in our business community. Take this opportunity to read the full article and interview about Social Media, as well as the other interesting commerce news from our area here: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/app/magazines/pdf_files/20110919_fbj.pdf

This is a full time sport and it’s here to stay! Your business can’t afford to stay disengaged.

Every network has some purpose, whether it’s to stay connected, discuss common interests, or promote a belief, brand or service. Community Managers are the leaders behind this purpose. They hold the creative and collective vision of their social networking community, managing relationships and collaborative processes built on strategy and ideas implemented in real time.

The 5 C’s of Successful Community Management:

1. Content - Bring value to your community.
2. Context - Provide a deep understanding of the participants in your community.
3. Connect - Think about the value provided by connecting members of your community.
4. Continuity - Sustaining efforts over time, ensuring a productive, enjoyable community.
5. Collaboration - The idea of working with a community to share, engage and grow collaboratively.

What to look for when hiring your Community Manager:

1. Articulate - S/he must speak and write well, and be comfortable doing it.
2. Social - S/he must enjoy being social. S/he should be comfortable and confident in all social settings.
3. Professional - S/he  must be able to stop and think. Discretion is mandatory.
4. Adaptable - You can’t prepare for the reaction of your community. Flexibility and the ability to adapt quickly are key to a successful community.
5. Enthusiastic - Passion begets passion. People are seeking inspiration today more than ever. Sincere enthusiasm spreads throughout your community.
6. Connected - Must enjoy connecting people to people, initiating introductions constantly.
7. Organized - Must enjoy heavy content and be able to create and maintain a content calendar of events (Tweet Ups, Blogs, Posts, etc) to build and maintain your community.
8. Polite - Must be courteous under any circumstance, respond gracefully under pressure, and express gratitude for every member in your community.

The number of social media players is growing exponentially every day around the world. Your community is already out there somewhere. It’s up to your community manager to find them and build a relationship with them.

Also: Please “Like” our Facebook Page http://on.fb.me/eZReVq or follow us on twitter @bigforkweb And hit us back with your FB Page so we can “Like” you too!

You have an army of loyalists at your fingertips. It’s about giving this team the autonomy to make the right decisions on behalf of your brand.  If you experience someone in your community who is upset, as long as their frustration is sincere, your social media team will be able to engage with them and respond sincerely. This is an opportunity to flip a situation around immediately and build a long term relationship. The more people you have plugged into your team, the more equipped you are to handle a disgruntled follower and the more measurable your results are to track as you watch your community respond and grow.

The 4 Rules of Living your Loyalty and bringing your staff on board with Social Media:

1. Train Them - Give staff the tools they need to engage with one another.
2. Trust Them - Give staff the autonomy to enjoy their community.
3. Immerse Them - Send them out and saturate them in your community.
4. Disperse Them - Encourage them to network and build relationships, and your brand.

Also: Please “Like” our Facebook Page http://on.fb.me/eZReVq or follow us on twitter @bigforkweb And hit us back with your FB Page so we can “Like” you too!

Social Media is a constant study of what’s trending right now. It is the hottest revolution since the Industrial Revolution. It’s the result of an economy that’s gone bust, and a population that wants to know the people behind the brand and just exactly who it is that they’re giving their money, their time, and their loyalty to. The rules change and evolve constantly and you need someone on your team to be on top of it with every twist and turn. This is the first time in the history of advertising that media is done in real time, with real people.

Social Media is about inspiring people to want to get to know you, your people and your brand. Social Media is about the following 3 things: Transparency, Authenticity and Engagement. It’s that simple.

“It’s not about the platform, it’s about the community and building relationships.”

Any on line campaign that doesn’t have a real community, with real people behind it AND out in front of it doesn’t have a social media platform, they merely have a campaign. Social Media is about connecting the people behind your brand with a real world scenario. It’s about making people feel connected to the people behind your product or your service. It’s about building relationships. It’s about engaging people in mini conversations that enable them to experience a real world scenario with you and your brand. And it’s all done in real time.

“People want to know the person behind the scenes.”

People want to meet the person behind the conversation, so once you build your community, you also want to provide an opportunity to meet your followers in person. Real world interaction with your followers seals the deal on the long term relationship. Show your followers how involved you are in your community by planning events where you can introduce yourself and thank them for their loyalty.

“Social Media is an opportunity to credit your competition when they do something well.”

Social Media etiquette is not about “Me.” It’s about a community of people deciding what’s important and creating an energy of its own. People become personally invested because it’s all in real time, with real people engaging in a social atmosphere. Etiquette is critical to building a successful social media strategy and the rules of engagement are different than in any other advertising we’ve ever seen.

“Listen to what your community is saying.”

Many companies talk about what they want to talk about, rather than listening to what others are already discussing. Followers will start generating conversation. It’s up to your community managers to capitalize on the needs that your community (your followers) are saying. An excellent community manager will look for patterns in follower comments and respond to what’s being discussed. This is an excellent opportunity to build a loyal fan base.

WHAT IS COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT? In addition to Blogging Agents, Community Managers are the fastest growing profession in the United States and Europe. A Community Manager is the person in your organization who manages the tweeters, the bloggers, the Facebook interfacers, the vloggers, pod casters, and the entire social network community by engaging them sincerely and professionally.

“The number of social media players is growing exponentially every day around the world. Your community is already out there somewhere. It’s up to your community manager to find them and build a relationship with them.”

In Part 2 of this Series on Social Media, we’ll learn a little bit on what a Community Manager is. Stay tuned for more great information by ”Liking”  us on Facebook at:  http://tinyurl.com/4nhrhsc or Follow us on Twitter @bigforkweb.