Blogging Revisited

So.....  we had a meeting with my friend and new guru Melissa Brodsky this morning and I am very excited!  You see, Missy is an incredible and very accomplished writer and blogger and she knows her way around social media.  I've mentioned her blog www.rockanddrool.com before and if you don't follow it then you can't be my friend anymore.  Okay maybe that was a little strong.  But you really should check it out - it's fantabulous.

As most of you know I spend a lot of time updating our facebook pages and scouring the web for cool content that I think y'all will enjoy and get some use from.  I tweet, I set us up with a page on LinkedIn and connect with people there, I've got Frameable Faces going on Foursquare, Yelp, YouTube......

It's now time to revisit and take our blog seriously.

Little by little our online presence has morphed and grown quite a bit and this blog will once again become an important piece to the puzzle that should allow us a more robust platform and outlet for our creative energies (read - Doug can write and post more stuff), help us expand our reach, and help tie the strategy together.

All of those details might not mean a ton to all of you, but I know there are a decent number of frameables who are into this subject and regardless we just like to let you know what we're doing and why.  The blog gives us some additional flexibility and another way to build relationships online.  We will continue to post on facebook and we will let you know when there is something to see here (which will be often) and we will ask you to continue to leave your comments, feedback, questions and come along for the ride!  Feel free to leave a comment below and let us know what you think!  The frameables are the reason we are here and we look forward to giving back to you!

Top 6 things I've learned about facebook (mostly in the past week)

So it's social right? Demented and sad, but social. Okay so it's not really demented and sad, but I watched The Breakfast Club twice in the last week and I just needed an excuse to use that line - maybe my next post will be my top 10 favorite lines from that movie...but I digress... The topic for this blog post is facebook - the most popular social media site on the Internet. Actually it's the most popular site period - overtaking Google last week for the number one spot.

You have probably noticed that we launched a new facebook page this week, and there are many reasons for that. I've been doing a lot of research and and I thought I would share a list of 6 important tidbits I've picked up in my research that we've applied to our own web presence:

1. There is a HUGE difference between a facebook group and a facebook page (or public profile depending on what they are calling it this week). Bottom line - a page is best for your small business if you are a business owner and/or are authorized to create a page for your employer as the facebook administrator. NOT a group.

2. Pages are searchable outside of facebook. Groups are not. That's just one of many reasons to stick with the page.

3. Every page you manage can have its own facebook URL. It's simple - just go to www.facebook.com/username and choose "Set a user name for your pages". The rest is self explanatory. Ours is www.facebook.com/frameablefaces. Please become a fan and suggest the page to your friends (especially if you live in the Metro Detroit area)!

4. App developers charge more than I expected for facebook page design.

5. www.allfacebook.com is a great blog for all things facebook

6. Most "social media experts" will tell you that having a social media presence is critical and that facebook is probably not enough, but trying to have a presence on every single social media site is too much and to "just make sure you are where your customers are". I agree with them on all counts. We stick to facebook, twitter, YouTube, the blog you are reading now, and our official website.

This barely scratches the surface. Part of the genius of facebook is that it's a platform that everyone can use - from the Internet and computer novice to the most advanced developer, and it's constantly changing - they are tweaking features (many of which the average person won't notice) on a daily basis. It's incredibly powerful, incredibly complex, and yet incredibly simple to use all at the same time. You can gain much on a personal level and you cannot afford not to use it for your business - end of story. If you are a small business and don't have a social media presence you will likely be left in the dust...