The security setting Facebook didn’t tell you about!

Recent security changes in Facebook have been necessary and very long in coming. The “network” setting has been an open door to profiles ever since I joined the site many years ago. A few weeks ago, Facebook announced their new security measures and fixed the problem, but why didn’t they add one additional choice? A security setting in their pop-up page that would let you decide whether to allow them to use your profile photo or posted social actions in Facebook ads?

Just to be clear, Facebook does not sell your information to advertisers, but they sometimes pair your profile photo or action (becoming a fan of a Page) with an advertisement on your friend’s pages. See example:

If you don’t want your profile photos or actions to be included in advertising on your friend’s wall go to the Settings link at the top of your Facebook page. Once inside you will see a row of tabs across the top – “Settings”, “Networks”,  “Notifications”, etc. The last one in the row is “Advertising”. When you open it you will see the heading, “Ads shown by third-party applications”, you have the choice of letting them use your photo’s or choosing the “No One” can use option. Further down, is the setting for Facebook ads, you again have the same choice.

Facebook is a terrific way to reconnect with friends, just make sure you are only sharing the information you want to, and with whom you want to, when you post something on your page.

Happy #Tweetsgiving: The Power of Online Networking

Send out a tweet about all that you are thankful for this year and at the same time join an online celebration of gratitude. In November 2008, Epic Change launched an innovative new campaign to raise money to build classrooms in a school in Tanzania: The event raised $11,000 in 48 hours!

This  year, through the use of social networking sites and Thanksgiving events sponsored throughout the world, they hope to raise ten times that amount. Anyone who doubt the power of social media should speak to “Mama Lucy” Kamptoni, who founded the Shepherds Junior School that now serves over 300 children near her home in Arusha, Tanzania. The 2009 fundraising strategy includes interactive discussion and videos between donators and the school children. At TwitterKids you can connect with the very kids whose lives are impacted by the money collected or view their story on YouTube, then continue to watch the viral promotion as people share the information with their network connections on Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, reddit and Digg .

First, I urge you to give to the wonderful cause. Then, take a moment to analyze this campaign and use it as a guide on how to effectively use social media networking tools to successfully market your company against bigger-budgeted competitors.

Just Announced: New partnership between LinkedIn and Twitter

A collaboration between LinkedIn and Twitter was just launched on Tuesday and what a great new update!

You can now get more “bang for your buck” from your LinkedIn account: It’s simple! When you post a new status on LinkedIn you can set it up so it will automatically go to Twitter. In addition, send a tweet to LinkedIn, either automatically or by choosing specific tweets to share.

LinkedIn is a great opportunity to build your brand online and now you can increase your readership by spreading the message to your Followers on Twitter!

How to connect LinkedIn and Twitter

To join the two accounts all you need to do is to go to your LinkedIn Home Page, underneath the Network Updates Box (Status) you will see the Twitter logo.

Click on the Twitter logo and it will prompt you through the setup process. First, you need to specify your Twitter account name and if you want it posted on your LinkedIn profile; check yes or no. 

Last, you are asked to decide whether you want all your tweets to automatically go to LinkedIn or only the ones that you have chosen. If you pick the latter, you will need to add the hashtag “#in” to your tweet and it will then post back to your LinkedIn status.

With so much information-sharing on Twitter and LinkedIn you will be able to reap the benefits of sharing both online worlds in your social network discussions.

Check out the LinkedIn blog at http://blog.linkedin.com/ for other up-to-date news.

Power of the Press

I have heard it said that newspapers are dead. Yet, they continue distributing the daily news even as they struggle to survive in an environment that is increasingly moving online. Most newspapers have evolved by offering the news in an interactive format on the internet.

 

Because of this, the power behind the use of a press release or feature article has grown exponentially. Think about the potential return on a published article: You have a third-party endorsement of your knowledge-base on a topic closely related to your industry. This will not only enhance your credibility with a client, but also builds prestige for the firm brand. After publication you can request a copy of the article to reprint and add to your company literature, proposals, or newsletter with the appropriate reference to where it was published.

 

 Oftentimes, your article will be automatically placed on the newspaper’s website. Today, this is one of the great add-on benefits you get by submitting an article. You can link this article to all your online sites – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and most importantly to your own company website. This lengthens the time your article is exposed to the public, expands your audience reach, and will boost traffic to your website increasing your standing with search engines. Imagine all the free publicity you can receive from just a little investment of time!

 

 Submit a feature article to a newspaper.
First, think about what topic would be of interest to the readers of the newspaper that you are pitching your story idea. Send a short summary of the highlights of the article you would like to write, your background and how they can easily contact you. Most editor’s like to receive this information via email.

 

If it’s a feature article follow up by telephone with the editor after a few days (not the day before or on a publication day). If you have not been contacted after this you can submit the article idea to another newspaper.

 

Do you want to learn more about how to use the, ‘Power of the Press’? Contact me a kclark@myriadmarketing.net or comment on this blog post. Remember, . . . write and be seen!

Mobile Marketing: An Innovative Way to Reach Consumers

Imagine having a way to reach your target market that is virtually untapped by your competitors. That’s where email was a few years back. Now our email inboxes are inundated with newsletters, promotions and knowledge-rich information. 65% of email is now considered spam. Mobile marketing, with stringent policies in place, only has a 10% spam rate and is the next big marketing opportunity!

The other day I watched a webinar by Blaine Mathieu, CMO, of Lyris, Inc. called, Using Mobile for Email Campaigns: A Primer, and saw a few innovation ways companies are using this relatively new method of communication. There are strengths and weaknesses to mobile marketing, which is why it is important to combine your message with other marketing tools. One great advantage is that the SMS (simple message service) is usually read within 15 minutes, so it instills the receiver with a sense of urgency in the ‘call to action’. Most people respond to their text messages within 60 minutes. Also, it is an intimate way to reach people; just make sure the message is relevant to their individual needs.

One of the weaknesses in using SMS is that the text must be less than 160 characters so the message must be short. Often, it is necessary to use another resource to deliver the complete message. Plus, used inappropriately or too often, what could be a positive way to communicate could quickly be viewed negatively.

If you would like to learn more about using mobile marketing in your next marketing campaign Lyris, Inc.is offering a free Mobile Marketing How-To Guide at http://lyris.com/go/mobilehowto

Can’t Import Contacts into LinkedIn?

A few years ago when I set up my LinkedIn account one of the first things I tried to do was import my email contacts from Outlook, but I kept getting an error message. Eventually, I gave up and sent out individual invitations to each of my business contacts. 

If you have hundreds of contacts this is just not feasible. I have since found a simple way to save your email list as a .cvs file and import it directly into LinkedIn. Follow these step-by-step directions (don’t get intimidated, I tend to give more information than necessary):

Exporting your Outlook File

1. Open Outlook
2. Select ‘Import and Export’ from the File menu
3. Select ‘Export to a file’ and click the ‘Next’ button
4. Select the ‘Contacts’ or ‘Inbox’ folder and click the ‘Next’ button
5. Choose a filename and a place to save the file (I recommend saving to your desktop so you can find it).
6. Make sure the checkbox next to ‘Export…” is checked and click the ‘Next’ button.

Now you can close Outlook, open LinkedIn

1. Go to the ‘Add Connections’ and click. (Left-hand side, green box at the bottom of the Navigation bar).
2. At the right side you will see the buttons ‘Check Webmail Contacts’ and ‘Check Outlook Contacts’ – below this you will see a link ‘Don’t use webmail or outlook’ – click the link.
3. It will ask you to upload your contacts file. Click ‘Browse’ and it will bring you to your computer, find the file you created from Outlook and click on it. Then click the ‘Upload Files’.
4. You will get a list of the contacts and emails in your ‘Import Contacts Tab’ (it should go to this tab automatically, if not go to your Navigation Bar on the left-hand  side and hit Contacts – it will automatically go to the Connections Tab, you want to go to the Imported Contacts Tab at the top and click on it).
5. It defaults to adding everyone in your Outlook file. You probably don’t want this, so be very careful.  At the top click on the ‘Select All’ box – this will deselect everyone and you can go through your list checking the boxes of the people you would like to send a request to join your Network.
6. On the left-hand side by each person’s name you will see the LinkedIn logo, typically this will indicate that this particular person is already on LinkedIn. This is important to know only because they will probably be more apt to join your Network than someone who is not on LinkedIn.
7. Again, LinkedIn will automatically send out an pre-written invitation. I find the wording to be very dry and kind of impersonal. I like to add my own personal notation to it, but if you are sending out to a large group it’s not possible…something to keep in mind going forward when you are adding people individually.

Now you are ready to begin using LinkedIn. Remember, this is a social ‘networking’ site, put your photograph up, open your contact list to your network (if you are allowed), and share your knowledge or any new industry information with your collegues. It’s all about content and helping your connections!

Job Seekers: 3 Internet Tips to get a Job

Face it, this is an incredibly competitive job market and the job search process is getting much more difficult. Employers receive hundreds of resumes from job boards on a single posted position.  The unemployed face serious challenges getting a hiring agent to even look at their resume. How can you stand out from the crowd and actually start getting call-backs?

First, remember that people are hired because they have particular skills that can solve a prospective employer’s problems. Can you save them time, money, or do you have knowledge in an area that will bring in new business? As a problem-solver, your written resume should reflect how you are going to add-value to the company by focusing on their needs; don’t just highlight your work experience. The use of testimonials is an effective way to present success stories showcasing how you resolved similar issues for past employers.

Beat the Job Board Black-hole
You can increase the ‘positioning’ (top of the list would be nice) of your resume by using keywords similar to the words used in the job description. If you are applying for a job with a company that uses a resume search database and your resume doesn’t include specific words that the company used to describe the position then your resume will probably never be seen by a human eye. Those with the greatest ‘hits’ or identical words will be picked out for the next round of review, this time by a person. Generally, the more specific a keyword is to a particular job or industry, the more heavily it will be considered. Go to Google Keywords to get additional keyword ideas you can add to your resume.

A good online resource and one of the best books I’ve read on learning how to create resumes that get attention is, ‘Knock ‘em Dead Resumes’ by Martin Yate. This book explains how to write a resume for job boards that will maximize your visibility with search engines; significantly increasing your chances of reaching someone with hiring power.

Stand Out from the Competition
Employers are increasingly using search engines, like Google or Yahoo, to research the internet to find qualified candidates. Now you can quickly and easily publish a resume on your very own Web page; it’s not intimidating at all. CareerBrander,  will guide you through a step-by-step process on how to build a personal website; you don’t need any technical computer skills. CareerBuilder helps you create your own ‘look’ by offering a choice of 300 website templates as well as, free business cards to match your individual online identity. Within this uniquely-you website you can also embed pictures and graphics if a platform to present your portfolio is needed, send email blasts to your contacts, link to other social networking sites you may have online, and more. It’s a simple one-stop approach to present your professional ‘face’ on the internet.

Use your Network Connections
LinkedIn®, with more than 40 million users, is an amazing tool to draw on when you are looking for a job. At LinkedIn, you can find new job listings at, ‘LinkedIn Jobs’. This site matches you to an ‘inside’ connection at a hiring company giving you the advantage over hundreds of applicants. You can post recommendations, position yourself as an expert in any given field by answering questions, and tap into the power of using 2nd and 3rd level connections to build your own network of professionals. You can even install the ‘Job Seeker Toolbar’, into your browser to match your contacts in LinkedIn to any job openings you are viewing on CareerBuilder or Craigslist.

Take advantage of these tips to optimize your chances of getting your resume to the right person in an increasingly competitive job market. Good-luck in your search!