Some people ask me, “What’s your Twitter strategy?” My answer: I follow my 4:1 rule. And I speak my mind, share stuff I find interesting, helpful, or promote others. That said, I’ve decided I’m going to re-post some Tweets here. I realize you do not read all my Tweets (I’ll get over it). But if you’re subscribed at my blog, hopefully you’ll find this series helpful.

You might be wondering why I titled this blog post #23? It seems silly to start at #1. Let’s just pretend together I’ve been doing this for a while. Cause I should have been doing this yesterday.

1.) You can edit comments on Facebook without deleting them:

2.) Backup your files! It’s not a matter of “if” it will happen, it’s “when” it does happen:

Here’s a link to Senuti, the program I use on my Mac. It lets you take off music on your iPod. Easy to use, just a few clicks and the backup process starts.

3.) If you create original text content online, Copyscape is a really helpful tool:

4.) Here are awesome Gmail hacks and tips, to make it easier to use:

If you’re looking to turn-on “Auto-Advance”, go to the your SETTINGS in Gmail and click the LABS link. Then click “enable” for the Auto-Advance application.

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Many brands and companies set the goal of reaching critical mass on Facebook for “Likes”. This blog post is a simple, tactical, suggestion if Facebook “Like” acquisition is one of your goals in using social at your organization.

First, let’s talk about Facebook “Likes”

There are 2 types of brand categories when talking about this topic. Those brands that have the natural Facebook equity in their brand. Their customers are on Facebook and they are actively, organically, compelled to declare and seek out to “Like” the brand. They’ve reached critical mass with little to no effort, and it’s working for them on their behalf already. However, let’s be honest- most brands and companies don’t have that kind of equity that compels customers to “Like” them organically. When this is the case, you must work harder. And be smart with your efforts.

I should note: your brand or company’s acquisition strategy should only be developed *after* considering the retention strategy + the value of a “Like” to the brand <– and what it takes to sustain this effort (resources and time)

When it comes to “Like” acquisition…

1 tactic or marketing campaign will not get your brand or company to critical mass on Facebook. More importantly, efforts that are episodic and disjointed, short-changes the customer. You must tie together online and offline efforts.

There can be many efforts you’re already doing that just need to be reworked in order to support your “Like” acquisition goals. The best way to grow “Likes” and achieve critical mass is to plan on-going strategies and tactics in which you utilize existing digital efforts and leverage or create in-store opportunities. The efforts collectively, must work together and complement each other, rather than relying on 1 tactic or campaign. For example, you may remembered my previous stupid-simple tip of leveraging your existing ecommerce confirmation page with the FB “Like” plugin.

Here is a simple and smart acquisition tactic:

One of our clients we do digital work for is Helzberg Diamonds, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Lisa (who works at Helzberg) was out at an email marketing conference today, so she setup her “Out of Office” notifications. But instead of writing the same, boring, canned message- she decided to make smart use of the real-estate you’re given in a blank “Out of Office” message:

Imagine if every employee did this? If you work at a large corporation, who sends thousands of emails a day, this could add up very quickly in terms of impressions and click-throughs.

This 1 idea won’t change the world. But I think this is a stupid-simple idea. Don’t over think it. It is easy to implement, great use of the space, and it just makes sense. It’s tactics like this, if combined with in-store efforts like traditional media references, email template design integrations, or e-commerce add-ons (just to name a few categories) …it’s these collective efforts working together that move the needle. Relying on 1 tactic or marketing campaign will not get you to critical mass.
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Facebook is always testing and trying new things with sorting and filtering your Newsfeed. Zucky and the FB team want to make it easy for people with large lists of friends to see updates in different ways. That said, you should be aware of a setting that might be set on your Newsfeed by default that is keeping you from seeing all of the updates from all your friends.

1.) Click and use “Most Recent”, you’ll get an “Edit Options” link you can select.

2.) Make sure you select your preferred option in this menu. Personally, I like to see “All of your friends and pages”. But check to see if it’s selecting: ”…you interact with most” <– you might not prefer this setting

Just wanted to be helpful and share this quick Facebook tip. Bonus: If you’re concerned about privacy, read my “Hide This” walkthrough tip for Facebook.

Sometimes brands and companies accidentally jump into the Facebook space too quickly and incorrectly create a “Profile” rather than a business or organization “Page”. Profiles are intended to only be used for individuals and actual real people. Pages are designed to provide more robust features that brands and companies can utilize. So, it’s a common problem that brands and companies struggle with how to merge or migrate from a “Profile” to the proper listing as a “Page”.

That said, I wanted to be helpful and raise my hand to let you know… Facebook actually has a tool created that allows you to easily merge to a “Page” without losing your Friends. This tool allows you to keep your friends from your profile and make them automatic “Likes” on your new Page. *caution* all your content, pictures and posts will not be transferred to your new Page. Only your Friends as followers are passed in the merge. For more information, Facebook has an entire FAQ Help Center about this tool you can reference.

How  to convert your Facebook “Profile” to a “Page”:
1.) Login to your “Profile” that you want to convert to a page.
2.) Go to this URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php?migrate
3.) Follow the instructions on-screen and select the type of page category for your business or organization:

**UPDATE**
Buck, pointed out a great “work around” for not being able to transfer photos and posts. You can use the “Download Your Data” feature to pull photos and posts down in a .ZIP file and then reupload or add back your data. Facebook provides instructions and a dedicated FAQ Help section on how to do this.

One repeated question and concern I get from clients and friends is mixing your personal vs. professional life when using Facebook. I wanted to share a privacy setting that can help those who are concerned with how to manage “who sees what”. It’s all about utilizing the “Friend List” features (you can read a step-by-step of “what/how to setup Friend Lists“).

Once you have your Friend Lists setup, then go to “Account” at the top right of Facebook, then click “Privacy Settings.” Select “Custom” and then click “Customize settings.”

The screenshot below, illustrates how once you have Friend Lists setup, you can then block and manage who sees what you post. In this screenshot example, I can type the Friend List name “Clients” and block any person I have on that list from viewing things like “Pictures” or “Posts by me”.

One thing to consider, you can create a Friend List called “People I Don’t Know”. This would allow you to accept and put strict control on those random friend requests.

Yesterday, I noticed @thethechad replied to my Foursquare check-in, when I said “Podcasts and Running” <– which is one of my favorite things to do. I find it’s a great way to use your time to catch up on business and tech podcasts.

I created this big-ass image below, which illustrates what Podcasts I listen to. If you use the App called “Stitcher“, all Podcasts are sequenced and on-demand (no need to download audio files, you can just listen over 3G). Submit your Podcast suggestions in the comments. I’m always looking for new ones that are good!

Did you know 24+ hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute? And there are over 2 billion views on YouTube each day. So how do you stand out? Just because you upload your video, it doesn’t mean people will find it. Even if you’re a big brand or company, don’t think there are people waiting for you to click the “upload” and “post” button. You must properly optimize your videos to be found through Google search and within YouTube. I call this the “YouTube Juice”

Here are basic best practices on how to optimize your video for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) / Social Media Optimization (SMO):

Video Title

There is a trade-off between keyword rich and compelling video titles. And given YouTube is currently the #2 Search Engine in the world, the relevancy of keywords in a title is critical. This is true for both in Google search and for intra-site search in YouTube. That said, a compelling video title is important for conversion for users seeing the result and clicking the video.

• Rule of Thumb: start and end your video titles with a primary keyword or phrase related to the video.

Description

Use this field to describe the video in 3 sentences. Similar to how Google search results function, this is what appears to the end user next to the thumbnail and on both the Google and YouTube search results page.

• Tip: always link to a URL with http:// at the end of the description text.
• Tip: make sure your description is crafted around using the primary keyword or phrase, meaning repeat the same primary keyword or phrase from the title in the description again.
• Tip: use supporting keywords to the primary keyword in your description. For example, if your video is about the movie “Homecoming”, the keywords “film”, “cast”, and the actor’s names are good supporting keywords/phrases.

Category

Make sure you choose the category relevant to the individual video and its targeted keywords or phrase. Do not use the same category for all videos that is based on your brand/company or your personal self (e.g. “People & Blogs”). Given this example I’m showing is about a movie premier, it’s appropriate to categorize it under “Film & Animation”.

Tags

Use this area to repeat your primary keyword or phrase again and supporting keywords.

• Tip: Stick to 10-15 phrases.
• Tip: Use double quotes for phrase with more than one word.
• Tip: For example: “film”, “kansas city”, “indie”, “movie”

Link Backs

The more links back to the video from other websites, the more relevant Google and YouTube will rank the video in searches. It’s encouraged you reach out to other website administrator’s and bloggers to ask and consider to link back or embed your video.

• Tip: “Google” the primary keyword(s) or phrases you’ve optimized the video for. If appropriate, reach out and ask the website administrator or blogger to consider linking back or embedding your video.
• Tip: if the website results that appear for your primary keyword(s) or phrases are blogs, consider leaving a comment on the post with a link back to the video.

Other Tips from Other People:

Here are other blogs and resources with more advice on how to properly optimize your YouTube videos for the best SEO/SMO results:

• YouTube SEO Tips
• YouTube Basics for SEO
• How to Optimize Your YouTube Videos
• 10 SEO Tips for YouTube
• How to Optimize YouTube Videos for SEO
• How to Boost your SEO with a YouTube Channel

This is a simple blog post, intended to help clarify a question my friends have been throwing at me lately about @replies. It can get a bit confusing on how “what you see” and “what you don’t see” here is how @replies work on Twitter:

1.) If you start a Tweet with an @reply, the only people that will see the Tweet is the person you are @replying, and all the people that are following both the you and recipient of the Tweet.

For example, @heycameraman will see this Tweet, and the people who both are following me + him, will also see this Tweet:

2.) If you @mention someone within your Tweet, everyone that follows you will see the Tweet.

For example, everyone who follows me received this Tweet. Note: @Oprah will get this Tweet as well (but only if she checks her @mentions).

TIP: If you are @replying to someone, and you want to make sure everyone who follows you sees the Tweet, it’s common to use a “.” before the “@”. I prefer to use “<” and “>” with commentary before the Tweet.

Regardless of how it all works, I’ve blogged about how I believe that no one reads all your Tweets. So get over yourself. Dismiss the notion that everyone is actually reading everything you’re Tweeting. They’re not. And BTW, Twitter is only as valuable as the people you choose to follow. <– I sound so angry I’m not. I’m just passionate about this stuff!
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Recently, Facebook announced major improvements to Pages. Many of the updates are new management tools and features for Community Managers and Administrators to use. If you want to read, print or download an official .PDF of all the changes, grab it here (right-click and save-as).

One of the features added to pages, that businesses and brands can now utilize, is a way to proactively moderate content posted on the page. Often it is a nightmare for PR and Community Managers to see profanity and bad words written on their Facebook Page. Administrators can now add keywords to the “Moderation Blacklist” in order to prevent them from appearing.

If a user was to write a word you define on the blacklist, they receive this prompt when they try to post their comment:

All that said, I wanted to share a free text file of 458 bad words that you can go to your own Facebook page, copy and paste to block common profanity. The source of these bad words came from Urbano’s Blog and then I had my team (thanks Darren!), reformat the file to be comma separated so it configured with Facebook Pages correctly. Just copy and paste the text from the file, edit as you’d like, and you’re all set. Feel free to share and distribute it as you’d like.

• Download the 458 Bad Word List for Facebook Pages
  (right-click and save-as)

  HOW-TO: You can add keywords to the blacklist from the “Manage Permissions” section, available after selecting “Edit Page”.

I often get questions and concerns about using tools like foursquare or Facebook places. This blog post is just a simple, quick tip I wanted to share. Many people worry the dangers of sharing your exact location, in real-time. A friend of mine has even blogged about her uncomfortable experience. If you’re worried about using foursquare to broadcast where you are, I often tell friends to…

…check-in when you leave.

This way, you still can use the tools, but just more responsibly.

Often it’s easy to forget that the physical world and the digital world are intrinsically connected. I still believe the biggest value of using location based social networking only comes when you share it with your friends in real-time. I’ve had some great impromptu meetups with clients and friends. But, by waiting to check-in until after you leave, this allows you to use the technology in a responsible way.

My Rule of Thumb To Follow: If you’re posting to Twitter, wait until you are leaving to check-in.

My Other Rule of Thumb: Your friend circle on location based networks should be smaller and more intimate (e.g. foursquare or Gowalla), only accept friend requests for people you know IRL.
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It’s a common approach to sprinkle throughout your website and email communications, links to your company Facebook page and Twitter profile. The general rationale for most people who do this, is to increase your following in all of these channels. Research and trends continue to show that your company’s website is not a destination or starting point, but rather it’s social channels that are.

That said, rather than hoping your customers will click the Facebook or Twitter icon in the footer of your website or in the email template design, there is a place that is easily overlooked as the appropriate context for asking your customers to “Like” or “Follow” your business…

…the confirmation page.

Let’s say you run an ecommerce business. Upon checkout, customers expect to get a confirmation on-screen of their purchase (which is looked at carefully). You should embed the Facebook “Like” box to make smart use of the space you have for the page shown at checkout. Given the customer has already purchased a product, one could say that there is not a better time to ask a customer to click a “Like” or “Follow” button” (given they just paid money for your product or service they want).

BTW, it’s not just limited to the confirmation page for not only checkout, but for things like Contact Us and other forms on your website are potential areas to provide a better context for prompting users to “Like” your company page. It’s easy for your web developer to just copy and paste the HTML code from the Facebook social plugin page.

I think this is a stupid-simple idea. Don’t over think it. It is easy to implement, great use of the space, and it just makes sense.

Now, can you please click “Like” button on this blog post thank you
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Last week I had the privilege of presenting to the entire Social Media Club of Kansas City. I shared the story of how myself and my friends took a homegrown, no-budget benefit party from a just dream + an idea …to reality + success. In just 2 years, we’ve thrown two sold-out parties and raised over $25,000 for our favorite local charity, Operation Breakthrough. Myself and my friends dedicate time each year to plan this party. We aren’t affiliated with any one organization – we’re just a group of friends who want to give back to our community.

Below is a video of the presentation I gave that was recorded and live-streamed. In the preso, I discussed how our event is social-media-fueled, and our efforts in promoting the party are purely digital. I also share “stupid simple tips” and lessons that we’ve learned.

I’m still pinching myself, thinking about how much we’ve already accomplished in giving back to Kansas City + Operation Breakthrough. However, the one thing I know is true …the best has yet to come.

…annnnnnd I hope you can make it this year. You are invited.
The party is on December 10th! You can buy tickets online now! (buy soon, it sells out every year!)

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A recent study of 1.2 billion Tweets found that only 29% of Tweets actually produce a reaction (RT or @replies). The company that conducted the study, Sysomos, also found that almost all (RT) retweets happen within the first hour after the original Tweet. So, if you are looking to get retweeted …your window of opportunity lasts about 1 hour.

What does this mean? No one reads all your tweets. Get over yourself.

I find it’s easiest to explain to clients that Twitter is like a “river”. It’s a constant stream that is always flowing. At any given time of the day, your followers may choose to jump-in and view the river of content. This means the time of day in which you post to Twitter matters. Your followers will not see everything you post. The more you Tweet, your chance of being noticed in the huge river of Tweets increases.

People who are smart, like Jay Bayer, will Tweet links to his blog posts multiple times during the day …each time, using different headlines. It’s a simple + smart technique.

Tip: if you want to save time and make Twitter easier to manage, when you publish content- go ahead and schedule 2-3 different Tweets in Hootsuite with different headlines to publish during the 9AM-5PM workday.

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My #15 tip is simple, easy, and it just makes sense. Take advantage of all the space you have for your Facebook page profile photo. The maximum image dimensions are 200 x 600 px. They give you this space, so use it all. Any graphic designer should be able to export a clean .JPG file in these dimensions. Better yet, have them make you a template so you can easily update it in the future, on your own.

What should you do with that 200 x 600 px of space? Be strategic. You have options.

For example, you can demonstrate a level of customer engagement by featuring customers photos like Dunkin Donuts and Oreo does:

Or you can take an integrated marketing approach and highlight your current campaign:

And of course, sex always sells:

You can go with a more traditional style:

Regardless, using all the 200 x 600 space you’re allowed is just stupid simple. Don’t make it hard. Just do it. Try, learn, and refine to see what works best.

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Many of you already know location based social networking is all the rage right now. It’s the current “shiny object”. Over 3 million people (as of August 2010) are “checking-in” on Foursquare and earning badges. As a business owner, understanding how to leverage this platform is important. My tip today, is more of a 201 advanced tip, and not basic 101. This is will be helpful for people who understand the Foursquare basics, and are interested in using it for their business.

I’m the mayor at my local Starbucks here in Kansas City. It’s a popular spot for people to check-in to, and I take (geek) pride knowing I hold the mayor-ship.

What effect has this had on my behavior? Foot traffic into the store (which translates to dollars for Starbucks).

I’m motivated to check-in to keep my mayor-ship AND order my favorite drink. Which is a [deep breath], “iced venti mocha, half caramel, non-fat, no-whip, light ice, with an extra shot” (it’s pathetic, i know).

Foursquare can play the role as a digital loyalty platform (my Starbucks story is the same with other mayors at different businesses everywhere). As a business owner, if your employees are the mayor, you are not enabling the platform to benefit you and (more importantly) your customers. Shouldn’t you give the mayor-ship to your biggest repeat customer? They’ve earned it.

How to block employees from becoming mayor:

1.) First, you’ll need to make sure you’ve claimed your venue (if you’ve got multiple venues claim them all, and if you find duplicates listed, have them fix it)

2.) Find your venue’s page and click ‘Edit Venue’.

3.) Then just add your staff and employees to the venue. This will prevent them from unlocking rewards or prevent them from becoming the mayor.