Social Media Marketing 101 (Top Five Reasons for having a Facebook Fan Page)

From Todd "The Brawn" Muffley at Fat Atom Internet Marketing.

Let's all decide right now that we should not just jump on the social media bandwagon because we can, but because we have a plan. An easy and effective plan, i.e., one that you will actually implement and upkeep, is usually a good place to start. Let's discuss Facebook Fan Pages and how this can help you grow your business.

Facebook, for those of you stuck in 2003, is a place where you can go online, set up a profile (put stuff in about you) and then find friends with whom you went to elementary school and show them pictures of your pets, kids, trophy spouse, etc.

The Fan Page on Facebook allows, let's say, business owners, to set up a page about their business and then invite people to "become a fan" of that business. Usually at this point, some people are saying to themselves, "Why?". So let me tell you my...

Top Five Reasons for having a Facebook Fan Page:

1. A Facebook Fan Page allows the approximately 175 million Facebook users to learn about your products and/ or services - free of charge.

2. A Facebook Fan Page allows you to control the conversation about your business. It allows you to push relevant content to people who want to see it, even ask for it, free of charge.

3. It is estimated for every Fan you have, 10 more people will be exposed to your messaging. 1=10, 10=100, 250=2500 - and yes, it is still free of charge.

4. Facebook allows you to leverage your clients to help you get new clients by running clever promotions, giveaways or specials.

5. When people "Fan" your Facebook Page, and your Facebook Page has a link to your site, you are building the incoming link traffic to your website. That helps your rankings with Google and other search engines.

Remember, before you run and start a Facebook Fan Page for your business, think about a plan first. Creating a marketing calendar that helps you plan events, set goals and manage to-do's is your first priority. No marketing, even when it is free, is good if you don't execute properly and Facebook is no different. Next month, read about how to advertise your Fan Page.

Original Post

The Rise of Creative Philanthropy

Special thanks to the writer of this article, Scott Henderson for his permission to let me post this.  Read more on his site Rally the Cause.


#1 Thing You Need to Learn from this Post:
With the proliferation of easy-to-use media tools, new people are entering the cause arena and launching innovative ways to raise money and awareness for the issues they care about. These creative philanthropists will continue to play a role in shaping the charitable sector.

A More Detailed Exploration:
Thankfully, it doesn’t take a special certification to do something for a cause. It just takes a desire to make a difference and the willingness to act.

While many non-profit leaders and fundraisers deliberate how to integrate online and social media into their operations, a new group of people are showing them how it can be done. The only question in my mind is: Are they even watching?

Click here to read the rest.

How Kiva.org is Improving The World By Using Social Media

I am a big fan of the Stuff You Should Know podcast from HowStuffWorks.com and first came to hear of Kiva.org through their episode on micro-lending.  For those unfamiliar, micro-lending is the loaning of very small amounts of money at low interest, especially to start-up companies or self-employed people.  During the episode, the topic of Kiva came up.  I was extremely intrigued by the idea and signed up.  In the time it has existed Kiva has had such an effect on the world not only in what they accomplish, but how they accomplish it that I wanted to share.

Kiva.org is a non-profit organization that supplies micro-loans to entrepreneurs around the world (mostly under-developed countries in South America, Asia and Africa) to help them get a leg up and find success.  Kiva achieves this by finding people like you and me to fund these loans. 

Once you become a Kiva member you look through lists of entrepreneurs that are in need of a loan and find a person you want to help support.  You can then provide as little as $25 to the person or people running the business.  Together with funds from other Kiva.org members a group micro-loan is created to send to the entrepreneurs.  As the business you support grows and profits the loan is repaid.  Now you have the choice of taking back the money you originally funded OR immediately reinvesting it in another business!

Ok now here is where the awesome social media side of Kiva comes in.

Kiva has what are called "Lending Teams".  Whenever you loan money you can contribute it towards a total loan score for the Kiva Lending Team of your choice!  This creates an air of friendly competition between lenders to fund more money than rival teams.  This element makes loaning absolutely addictive.

Members can post messages to lending team message boards, talk with other members, get lending banners to put on other websites (like the one on the left of this page), create a customizable Lender Page and read updates from the field agencies that have direct contact with the entrepreneurs.  There is definitely a sense of joy when you read how these loans have immensely helped these hard working individuals.

Head over to Kiva.org to sign up and start loaning!  You will love it.

Note worthy links.
Kiva's Twitter page
The How Stuff Works Twitter page
The Stuff You Should Know Lending Team

Viral Social Media tips from the "Will it Blend" master

"Will It Blend" is one of my favorite YouTube series of all time, and is definitely my favorite viral marketing campaign (because it's completely normal to have a favorite viral marketing campaign).

The genius behind the series, George Wright, shares how it came to be and gives out some great tips on how to create a viral campaign of your own.




You should check out the article and interview from Smart Blog on Social Media and enjoy one of my favorite "Will It Blend" videos.

Viral marketing smoke!  Don't breathe this!

Refining the Twitter Explosion

By Noam Cohen

And, no, I don’t just mean the Twitter users who share too much information about their lives, social, medical or otherwise.

Simply put, there is way too much information on Twitter — lately, it defies navigation. In January, there were 2.4 million tweets a day, according to Alessio Signorini, a researcher at the University of Iowa. By October, he reports, there were 26 million tweets a day.

Read the rest here.

5 Tips To Write Great Headlines

Courtesy of Geoff Livingston from Livingston Buzz comes this awesome list of tips for writing a eye-catching headlines that make readers want to click.  It's extremely useful.  You need to read the list here.

How To Spam Facebook Like A Pro: An Insider’s Confession

You've probably seen the ads on Facebook, flash game websites, or other places online.

"Someone has a crush on you!  Click here to find out who."

"You are the lucky 100,00th visitor!  Click here to get your free laptop!"

"Larry thinks you're stupid.  Prove him wrong with this IQ test!"

Today we take a look behind the scenes at the people who created these spam ads and made loads money of off them.  Check out the article from Dennis Yu at Tech Crunch here.