S-T-R-E-T-C-H

Today I completed “Ring 2″ of my newest program, The 2012 Marketing Olympics. This ring is all about your social media profiles, and a webinar platform was perfect for this discussion. This project has been a lot of fun to put together, and there are so many great ideas with this theme. I’ve got to give a special shout out to my Mastermind buddies, my VA, and a local marketing friend. Without their not-so-gentle prodding, it wouldn’t have gone from conception to fruition in under a month…….Ta-Da!

So, today I want to talk about stretching yourself. (I believe I need to let the hem out of my pants now, I’ve grown that much.) Of course, it’s been a lot of long hours, and a lot of feedback in phone calls and emails, but I can say that this one is in the bag now.

One of my reasons for creating this program (besides just wanting to get all of this information out to my peeps) was to try out some new marketing tools this year, and this has been a combination of a LOT of them, with more to follow.  I did some advertising for the Marketing Olympics that I had never done before,  and also crafted and held a 2-part mini series leading up to the event. All very fun, but I must admit, I’m glad to have a few days until the next session; there are two more weeks of the main event, and my brain still spins long after I close my eyes at night.

A couple of years ago I did a monthly series of conference calls and had great response. I even used a webinar platform that was in Beta at the time, called Linqto. It runs with Facebook, and was a really cool tool. This go-round, I am trying out GoToWebinar, and so far, it has worked fine. In fact, I can see how I might want to use this a lot more for training sessions and consulting. My focus going forward is on a lot more training, so guess I need to have a tool like this in my back pocket.

Over the next couple of months I’m doing some other new things, and right now, some of those ideas haven’t even come together yet. I’ll be surprising myself, apparently. The timing is so right for me to stretch myself. If you read my last post about structure, you know that sometimes I need to have dates on the calendar and commit myself to doing things. The Marketing Olympics has been my structure the past month, and I’m loving it.

For me, creating this program has been a Gold Medal effort. What do you have brewing for the Gold?

How to Change the Order of Your Apps on Your Facebook Timeline

As promised in last week’s post which covered changing the icon on your custom apps, today’s post will teach you the steps for changing the order of your apps. The apps I am talking about are on your Facebook page, right under your cover photo.

On your Facebook page, you can have up to 12 custom apps available for visitors. Only 4 of them show up in the top row, so you want to use that space wisely. If you haven’t enabled some of the canned Facebook apps like Notes or Videos, you may only have a couple of apps showing. The Facebook Photos app will always be the left-most app, and you can’t change it’s position. The other apps can all change positions. Here’s how:

1. If you have more than 4 apps, there will be a small number in the drop-down box to the right side of the app area.
2. Click on this drop-down. It will open up all of the available apps.
3. Hover over the app that you want to move. A pencil appears.
4. Click on the pencil. In the window that pops open it says: “Swap position with”
5. Click on the name of the app you want to change positions with.
6. Presto, Change-o. The switch occurs.
7. Repeat for each app that you want to move.

Remember that you can’t hover and see the pencil until you click on the down arrow to the right side of the apps. There may not be a number in that box if you don’t have more than 4 apps yet. Not to worry…next time I’ll tell you how to get the Facebook canned apps to show up!

Big Facebook Changes for Businesses

Oh, Facebook! Stop with the changes for a bit. Honest to Pete. The number of Facebook posts, blog posts, and articles I have read this week about all of the recent changes just have my head spinning. And I was already at information overload, if you remember. So goes the life of this Social Media Evangelist! For those of you who haven’t been sucked into the Facebook vortex recently, then you may want to read on and get a few of the updates.

Timeline is coming to Facebook Pages, and it’s available now for those who want to go ahead and switch over. The rest of the world will see the switch on March 30th when Facebook moves all Pages to the Timeline view. Many of you may already have Timeline on your personal profile. If you do, then you understand what your Page is going to look like. For the last couple of years I have done a lot of training on how to use all of the Facebook Page custom graphic space to market your business. With these announcements, some of that is over.

• 

  Timeline View

  Your profile picture is now a small square displaying at 125 x 125px. Prior to Timeline your profile picture could be 180 x 540px. Many businesses used the large size to include contact information, as well as a call to action. No more.

• Your new “cover photo” is a nice 851 x 315px and is solely used for branding. Again, no contact information, pricing, or calls to action. Facebook puts it this way:
  • No price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download at our website”
  • No contact information such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your About section
  • No references to user interface elements such as “Like”, “Share” or any other Facebook features
  • No call to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”
• There are no more landing pages in Timeline. All first time visitors and fans will come to your Cover Photo when visiting your page. Before, you could direct visitors to another tab, such as a Welcome page. One advantage to that was the ability to like-gate that landing page, thereby offering non-fans something in return for Liking your page. That “something” was not available to non-fans. This like-gating feature is supposed to still work on your custom pages still, but you won’t be able to have visitors land on them.
• There are 4 app (application) graphic buttons showing right below your cover photo. These can all have custom graphics (111 x 74px), and these CAN include a call to action!
• Here’s a cool one! You can now Pin a post to the top of your news feed for a week, thereby driving more engagement and views of a particular post. You might want to have a weekly tip, question, or video there, or announce an upcoming event or product.
• Links to your website or other contact information is prominently displayed in your About section found right below your new profile picture.
• Fans can send your page a direct private message. This functionality was previously available between 2 friends. What a cool way to build a relationship.
• Offers – this cool, free tool allows you to share discounts with your customers by posting an offer on your Facebook page. Offers are like coupons and don’t cost anything to create. When someone claims an offer, they’ll receive an email that they then show at the Page’s physical location to get the discount.
• Premium ads: so it’s no secret that Facebook doesn’t serve up your posts to all of your fans. It uses an algorithm called “edgerank” to determine who gets to see your posts. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that they have announced a new ad for business Pages. The state objective is to maximize your reach to 75% of your fans and double engagement. In fact, you get to choose what kind of goal criteria to optimize the ad with. There are 4 places Premium ads can appear.
  • At Facebook log out screen
  • In mobile News Feeds
  • On the right hand of the Home page
  • In desktop News Feeds

Over time there may be some tweaking of all of this, and certainly more changes, big and small as time marches on. Facebook is here for a while, and most of us are going to go along for that while! Overall, I like the changes that have come with Timeline. What is YOUR opinion of the changes? Please leave a comment below and let me know what you like or don’t like. Thanks!

Information Overload!

This week I’ve been reading a lot of business books and listening to a lot of business mp3′s. My, how the information piles up! And of course, in almost every mp3 someone recommends another book or two. Stop! Let me off of this train! Luckily, I have a Kindle and am downloading the first chapters of those recommendations and will have to sort through them to decide which ones get my $$$ and attention.

On top of what was already on my list to consume, this morning I had a call with my accountability partner. (Shout out to Jennifer from Thibodaux. Crazy cool cajun accent.) She didn’t recommended a book or two, she recommended “anything from these two authors.” Prolific authors, I might add. Many books. Guess my Amazon account is going to be burning up. I can’t wait to read more about training techniques from these two; it just means I’ll have to read even more. Like I’ve got more time to do this.

So, it will likely surprise you that this afternoon I took a trip to The Friendly Bookstore in the town I am visiting! It’s a used book store I always go to when I’m here, and I decided to check in their business book section and see what was there. (Are you shaking your head yet?  “Don’t do it, Amy!”) I picked up four more books (surprise) which were on half price, at least. I spent $4 total and who knows if they are any good. Now, what sometimes happens is I read about two chapters of a book and then get bored and put it back on the shelf.  My reason for getting a Kindle was to keep from having a bunch of unread books around, but so far, it’s not working…darn.

You can tell that I am in serious information overload. Gotta love learning, though.  If it’s not in books, it’s listening to “experts” or coaches or anyone talking about anything I don’t know about. Maybe I’m addicted to it.  When am I going to get to all of this reading? I resist schedules, but may have to get myself off of the TV train and curl up with a book instead of my laptop at night.

Won’t you share your ideas on conquering the mountain of business books and audios to listen to? Much appreciated.

Golden Nuggets, Part Deux

Lisa was a cracker jack to listen to!

If you just found this post and haven’t already seen Part One of the Golden Nuggets report, then click here to get the background. In short, these are some things that I wrote down during presentations at the recent National Speakers Association conference. The picture is of Lisa Sasevich (and me!), who had a two hour pre-conference session, plus a half day session later in the weekend.

So, on with the list…

1. “Learn to be uncomfortable.” This was one of the first things Lisa Sasevich said to us. If we want to grow we have to be willing to stretch and move way outside of our comfort zone.
2. “Mobile changes everything.” Randy Gage is right. Over half of the visitors to your website or to social media are getting there through their mobile device. If you’re website isn’t mobile ready, make plans to do that soon.
3. “Social media – if you don’t do it, you will be irrelevant.” Wow. A strong and powerful statement from Randy.
4. “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” This quote was retold by Randy Gage and reminds me to surround myself with rock stars.
5. “Remember, your clients are buying the destination, not the plane.” When creating your marketing materials you need to be talking about the benefits, not the features. Lisa is 100% correct.
6. “I’d rather collect a lead than BE a lead.” Now, this may or may not be true, but Lisa said she had just gotten business cards about 6 months ago and used this phrase as part of her explanation.
7. “A step in the wrong direction is better than staying in one spot all your life. Once you’re moving forward you can correct your course as you go. Your automatic guidance system cannot guide you when you’re standing still.” Maxwell Maltz. This was just a quote on a handout, and it’s really wonderful.
8. “In social media, it’s not who is talking TO you, it’s who is talking ABOUT you.” Science author Steve Spangler was sharing his failures in social media and this was one big thing he learned on the way to success.

I hope you found some of these inspiring or helpful. It’s always good to have something new to chew on, don’t you think? Just like last time, if you have a favorite, shoot me a comment below. Your thoughts are much appreciated! Hello? I’m listening…

#NSA12 Winter Conference Golden Nuggets

I recently joined the National Speakers Association (NSA), and their 2012 Winter Conference was this past weekend in Dallas. Over the course of three days I wrote plenty of notes, but wanted to share those golden nuggets that some of the high powered speakers said. In this funny picture with Brian Tracy I was actually having a conversation with him, and he was smart enough to answer me while looking at the camera! That’s why he is a go-zillionaire and I’m not.

There were so many fabulous tidbits that I decided to split the list in half. Look for the other half in my next post! Here are the first 8…

What did you say, Brian?

1. “It’s funny how flowers grow out of the dirt sometimes.” Lisa Sasevich was talking about how sometimes we feel we have a lot of nothing, but keep working away, until suddenly, success appears.
2. “Don’t change your act. Change your audience.” Again, a quote from Lisa when she was talking about her dad, Eddie Garson, who is a professional ventriloquist. This was something he used to tell her when she was tempted to change directions in her business.
3. “If you don’t board in the next 18 months, you do not reach the New World!” Love this quote from Brendon Burchard, author of The Millionaire Messenger. He was talking about how the next 18 months are critical to the development of our individual web presence and the ability to proliferate our message. We each need to own our topic online now or someone will take that spot instead.
4. “I don’t think competition. I think choice.” Brendon B, again. Many people feel the same way about others who are in the same business and space as we are. Let’s not view them as competitors. They really aren’t. We are our own unique business. Plus, we’re busy. We buy what’s in front of us. So capture that spot first!
5. “Does this really move the needle for the reader?” (Yes, BB) Is what you are talking about in your blog, ezine, social media posts really making a difference to your reader? If not, then course correct. Don’t just serve out “stuff.” And, continually ask if your work moves your OWN needle, too!
6. Here’s the one that probably impacted me the most. “We need to focus. The average American watches 4 hours of TV per day. Over your lifetime that equates to 13 years, people! The cost to you is over $2 Million in lost wages. And if that money were invested, a way greater sum.” Brendon Burchard was talking about productivity and discipline. (He was moving so fast, all my pictures of him are fuzzy! This is one high energy dude.) I am vowing to not waste time anymore during the day. Get up and get going.
7. “You’re not marketing to a grandstand. You’re marketing to a moving parade.” This pearl of wisdom is from superstar Alex Mandossian. Like Lisa’s Dad, he is saying to keep on with what you are doing; get better and better at it. New prospects and clients are always in the pipeline who haven’t experienced you before. Stay with your message.
8. “What gets measured gets treasured.” This was repeated by Valerie Cade and is pretty simple. If you want to achieve something, set some goals around it, look at your performance, and measure your performance towards getting there.

Well, you should have nodded and smiled at least a couple of times while reading these little gems. Feel free to print them out and post above your desk. I know I will.

Would you do me a favor and let me know which one was your favorite?  Thanks for sharing!

How To Create a List in Facebook to Keep Track of the Pages You Like

Problem: Have you noticed that some of the Facebook Pages you used to see posts from just aren’t there anymore? I know that I have noticed a big reduction in the pages that were coming across my news feed. And while I don’t necessarily want to see ALL of them, there are quite a few that I still wanted to hear from.

Solution: Luckily, there is an easy fix! You may already be familiar with Friend Lists in Facebook, right? Well, you can set up a Friend List for all your Pages. This gives you a one-click way to see only the posts from the Pages you choose. Here’s how.

• From your Home page in Facebook, find the “Lists” option in the left sidebar menu. As you hover over it, you will see either More or the word Add. Click there.
• Give your List a name, then click on Create.
• In the middle of the screen you’ll see an option to Add Friends. Click there.
• In the window that opens up, you’ll see the list of all your Friends. In the upper left corner, click on the arrow to change the default from Friends to Pages.
• Start clicking on the picture of the Pages you want to add to this list. When you are through, click on Finish.

Now, each day when you log into your Facebook account you can find the name of the List you just created and click on it. Voila! There are all the posts from each of the pages in your list.

A Small Bump in the Road, or Why I am Pouting

Can we talk here? I am glad this week is about over. My VA and I have been grinding our teeth over my move to a new email marketing software. It was motivated by a desire for 1 (only ONE!) function that was really important for me that I could not get with my other email marketing service. And I knew going into this transition that there were some functions I was giving up that were not as critical, but I didn’t know how much I was going to miss my other software. I just cut over today, and I am already almost sorry.

The blame for my feelings goes to being just a little more technical than is good for me. All my life I have been a problem solver. I analyze things and wonder why they are done the way they are. I see better solutions everywhere. So I have been shaking my head and scowling and possibly saying a few “salty” words every time another annoying function, or lack of function, raised it’s head. Yes, there are software solutions that are a much better fit for my needs and encompass everything I want. They are just more than I am willing to pay each month, and more than I need at this point. And no, I am not going to name names. (contact me if you must)

After this week, I am going to embrace and be happy with my new software. The one function it has is going to make all the difference in the world to my business, and so I’ll concentrate on that moving forward. Just not now. I have a few minutes of pouting to do.

You Have the Power in Your Hands

I love me some SyFy channel! They have disaster movies, and I’m sorry, but I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Asteroids or comets hitting the earth, volcanoes in densely populated areas, having to escape from some improbable space monster… Having grown up on a steady diet of Captain Kirk (“I am Ki-rok!” Does anyone remember that episode?) it’s sometimes hard to remember that all of that stuff they talk about isn’t really possible. You mean to tell me the space shuttle can’t do Warp 1 or throw up a Klingon cloaking device? In contrast, how much were we all stunned and saddened by the real life disaster that unfolded before us last week? As helpless as each of those individuals in the tsunami were, we all feel a sense of loss and lack of power in times like these.

Last week on the History channel show Underwater Universe, there was an informative program describing the differences in the 3 kinds of deadly waves. Of course, one of them was a tsunami, and I suspect they might want to do a repeat. Unfortunately, two days later was the horrific incident in Japan. I’m grateful that enough technology does exist to allow the people in the midst of destruction to get current information about the situation. Many stories told with personal phones and cameras, and social media sites were getting involved to get the word out to survivors about what to do and where to go.

How nice that we have an easy way to donate money to the cause! This world of instant communication that sometimes drives me crazy with it’s incessant presence, sometimes makes life easier. If you can, send money to the Red Cross or other organization working to help in Japan. The link here takes you to an article that lists several organizations and how to donate via text message, with charges applied to your cell phone bill. Easy, cool. If only there were a quick and easy way to make things better, to clean up the mess, heal the broken hearts and homes, and get those darn nuclear power plants stable and working again.

In the midst of all this technology, some things are still not possible. Only with lots of people and lots of time will the changes take place. The human touch will always be needed. We hold the power in our hands.

Co-Working on a Broken Laptop

Today is a big day at UnCommon Sense Marketing! I just put the final touches on the premier issue of my marketing newsletter. Thanks to my new VA, it’s coming to an email inbox near you. Like many of you, I receive newsletters from other people and enjoy what information I can, when I can. So, maybe you’ll like what I have to say each month.

Here’s something else that’s new: a new office space that I am working from 2 or 3 days each week. It’s a co-working space downtown, and totally awesome. It’s in an old warehouse with great brick walls inside and high ceilings, open seating with movable wood walls to separate desks as needed. In just a couple of hours each day I can get through a lot more work than if I was at home. Well, I could if my old laptop was acting right.

A couple years ago I took my laptop in to have the geeky boys clean off a bunch of trash and it came back in a somewhat compromised condition. That’s what led me to purchasing it’s big brother last summer: the nice desktop. (oooo!) That relegated the bad laptop to it’s backpack in my hall closet. Bad Laptop. Until my new, glorious office appeared. Bring out the laptop and try, try, TRY to work. PLEASE! So, after much cursing and rebooting, I’ve determined that either I need to reload everything on my system or buy a new laptop. Stay tuned to find out how this ends.

(Oh, in case you want to read my new monthly newsletter, you can go to my website and sign up. Love to have you!)