Facebook Marketing Archives

Three Ways to Embed Videos on Facebook

In the last 2 years the use of facebook has skyrocketed. People who were once long time MySpace users have switched over to the clean and simple interface of facebook. However many people would like to see more MySpace features in their facebook accounts. For the user who likes watching videos on their Facebook wall, here are three ways to embed videos on Facebook.

1. Use the “Share on Facebook” button- If you want to share a YouTube video on your Facebook wall or private space you simply need to browse Youtube until you find the video you want. Then immediately below the video you will see an area that says “Share”, when you click that you will see Facebook, click Facebook. When you click Facebook a small window will pop up and ask you to sign in to your Facebook account, once you are in find and click the “post to profile” button, this will link the video to your account. Once you do this you are done! You account will show the video you have selected. This is the easiest way to embed videos on Facebook.

2. Use the method “Share a Link”- With this method you can embed videos on Facebook, either on your page or on the page of a friend. The first step is to go to the video, highlight the URL and copy it. Then login to you Facebook account and click the “Share a Link” button near the top. In the text box you need to paste the URL that you previously copied. Click the “Post” button and you will be ready to watch your video.

3. Manually Insert the Video Code- If for have tried the first two methods and are still not able to embed videos on Facebook, you may want to take the process to its basics. If you are familiar with Html code this should be very simple for you. Facebook does not allow you to use the embed or script tags. However I am going to show you how to embed videos on Facebook using Facebook accepted code. If you are going to share a YouTube file then this will work perfectly as YouTube videos are Flash files.

Flash video files are labeled (.flv)

(Left-pointing angle bracket) fb:flv src=”Paste Here_Video_URL” height=”###” width=”###”/>

Set the height and width value to whatever you want. Start with 250 x 250 if you are not sure and then you can adjust it from there.

With these tips you can easily embed videos on Facebook and make you Facebook profile a little more exciting. Because it is so easy to embed videos on Facebook you can change videos daily without spending much of your time. Enjoy!

-By: Roman Sergejev

Do You Want to Get Nice Custom Design Facebook Page? Visit our website for more information Custom Design Facebook Page.

Proven Marketing Campaigns.

How to Generate Free Facebook Traffic

facebook is the world’s most popular social media site. However it’s still growing significantly everyday. There have been many other social networks before facebook like MySpace and while some of them were popular at some point in time, none could reach the popularity of facebook. Facebook was designed for you to keep in touch with your friends although that is the primary reason why many use Facebook you can still use it for business. You can use it to promote your products and services, to acquire new clients, or to get traffic to your site.

Facebook has so much potential many online marketers haven’t even discovered the power of Facebook. Facebook is ranked as the #2 site after Google in terms of traffic. This means you can find a market for any product or service you offer. This of course does still mean you need to do the research and follow the proper steps to conduct business on Facebook. This article will cover all you need to know to do business properly on Facebook.

The number one step is your profile page just like Twitter and any other social network, if you don’t make your profile interesting nobody will be interested in you or your business. Give enough background information about you make sure your profile is public because this way even people, who don’t know you, when they encounter your profile, they might become interested in you and become a supporter of yours. This is crucial in generating traffic to your site.

The second step is to post information about your site on your wall and in the photo gallery. Facebook gives you lots of opportunities to write a lot about you and your business, as well as to include pictures, so make sure to take advantage of these opportunities to build interest in you and your business. It is even better to post videos and fill in the other tabs, so if you have something meaningful to put there, just do it. Remember the more content the better.

The third step is to build a network. As with other social networking sites, your network is your major capital. That’s why you go and add friends that have similar interests as you they might not have any interest in your business but that doesn’t matter the more supporters you have the better. Potential clients will see you are a popular person and will be attracted to that. Remember when adding people try not to be spammy people don’t like that and Facebook doesn’t too. Try to just add 15-20 people a day more than that Facebook will disable your account. Remember to build relationships with your friends this is the key to driving traffic to your site.

The fourth step is to post regular no matter how interesting the stuff in your Facebook profile is, if you don’t publish new content regularly, people will lose interest in you. Traffic to your Facebook profile will also slow down which means less traffic to your business site. Try to post daily if you can’t then try to do it as frequently as you can. If nothing else, updating your status as much as possible is better then nothing.

The fifth step similar to the fourth step which is be active. An impressive profile, an great network, and posting content on a regular basis are the keys to success on Facebook. You also need to visit the profiles of your supporters, take part in their groups and other initiatives, visit their sites. You might think this takes a lot of time and you might soon discover that Facebooking is a full-time job but if you notice more traffic to your site, is all this worth it? I would think so.

The sixth step would be start a group! This means you are involved in the Facebook community which is important. This shows your potential clients that you are a leader and are involved. There are many groups on Facebook but it is quite probable that there is a free niche for you. Start a group about something related to your business and invite people to join it. The advantage of this approach is that you are getting targeted users – i.e. people, who are interested in you, your product, your ideas, etc.

The last step would be use Facebook Social Ads. If you can’t get traffic the natural way, you might consider using Facebook Social ads. These are very similar to Google AdWords but are much cheaper and are easier to drive targeted traffic to your site. This it’s self is another topic which I did write about in one of my other articles. Just like everything online Facebook is changing all the time. However these strategies should work for most online marketers for a long time to come. If you master theses strategies the you will guarantee yourself targeted traffic to your site. Remember the most important step is ACTION.

-By: Mohamed A. Giovanni

Mohamed Giovanni, is a highly talented young online marketer who has been marketing for a couple of years now. Through his experiences as an online marketer he has written and published many articles. He as also made many types of videos and blog posts about various online business topics and strategies. He has also helped and mentored many people. For more information about him or if you want to check out his work go to his blog at http://www.mogiovanni.com/

A to Z of Marketing Your Business With Facebook

Marketing your business on facebook can be one of the best ways to increase sales, build a stronger brand and increase your overall bottom line. However, it can be challenging and many people get confused or do not understand how to do it. Here is an alphabet soup of ideas on how you can effectively market your business on facebook:

Active- in order for your facebook marketing to work effectively, you must login and do something at least 5 days per week. People who only check Facebook occasionally will never build a strong presence, following or business.

Blog- You can import your blog entries into Facebook using either the networked blogs application or you can import the RSS feed into your notes. Even if you choose not to do either one of these, you will want to at least post some of your blog posts on Facebook. This offers value to people, shares with them what you do and will attract the attention of many of your friends.

Clear Plan- You cannot market your business on Facebook by hit and miss. You must have a well developed and written plan of what you will do and when you will do it.

Direction- where you are headed with your Facebook marketing? This is a part of having a plan and too many people try and market their business on Facebook without one.

Events- Facebook offers a great events application for promoting your events. Learn to use it wisely and you will be amazed at what it will do for your business.

Friends- become true friends with as many of your Facebook “friends” as possible. Treat everyone like you would like to be treated and choose targeted friends who are a fit for your products and services.

Groups- these can be great for finding friends who share common interests or who fit your niche. They can also be great for interacting with people. However, you want to make sure and find ones that are active and have limited spam.

Help- many people request help on Facebook. Do everything you can to help as many of them.

Information- be a provider and giver of high quality information

Jive- create a positive jive and feeling with everyone on Facebook.

Kind- strive to be kind and to reach out to others.

Lists- use these to your full advantage to organize your friends and to send updates of specific interest to your different categories.

Marketing- learn to truly market on Facebook and not advertise. Learn what the difference is and use it to your advantage.

Notes- these can be very powerful. Learn to use them correctly and offer value to others through them.

Opt-in box, put one of these on your profile and your Fan Pages and let your friends and fans subscribe to your list. This is not only a great way to grow your list but it is also a great way to build an ongoing relationship with the people you meet on Facebook.

Products- Offer a variety of products so that you will be able to make sales to people you meet through Facebook.

Questions- these are powerful and tons of people ask them on Facebook. Answer them and show that you care and want to help.

Relationships- These are crucial. Develop these and nurture them through Facebook.

Status- use this to ask questions, connect with people and communicate with people.

Time- realize that marketing your business on Facebook will take time and be willing to commit to doing what it takes.

Unfriend- there is no problem in doing this when you need to.

Video- use video to make your Facebook marketing even more powerful. People watch videos even when they do not always read text.

Welcome- make sure to welcome each of your new friends and to let them know you are glad they connected with you.

You- make sure you share you with others and that they get to know you for who you are.

Zeal- be zealous and enthusiastic and get to know others and make it so that they will want to get to know you.

-By: AnnaLaura Brown

AnnaLaura Brown is a social media marketer and coach. Learn all about how you can make social media work for you with her free eCourse at http://www.socialmediasuccesstraining.com

A Marriage Made in Heaven Or a Passing Fling? Your Corporation Facebook Profile

What started out in 2004 as a fun place for college students to post pictures and link up with friends, facebook has morphed into a social media juggernaut. Fortune 500 companies and the hole-in-the-wall restaurant down the street have a facebook profile. facebook boasts more than 200 million active users as of April 2009. More than 6 million users become fans of pages each day. More than two-thirds of Facebook members are outside of college. And the fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older. Also, there are more than 30 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

All this activity sounds great. But how can corporations benefit from a site like Facebook? And is it worth jumping into the Facebook fray?

How can corporations benefit from a site like Facebook?

Facebook can create brand loyalty, promote good and services, increase goodwill, and connect with individuals who love what you do. In order to get the most out of Facebook corporations need to create stellar profiles to keep their fans coming back for more. add-profile

Here are some ideas:

- Engage your fans. These Facebookers are fans because they like you. Allow them to shower you with praise and give them reasons to return to your profile and share your profile over and over again.

- Create Facebook only events, promotions, and specials. Running a Facebook only promotion will not only promote your brand, but it will reward your loyal fans and will keep you top of mind.

- Keep your content fresh. Publish new videos, content, and updates constantly. Facebook estimates that more than 30 million users update their statuses at least once each day. Active Facebook users demand updated content.

- Utilize surveys and other voting applications in your profile. These not only give your fans a voice, but also keeps them engaged. Try to make the surveys fun whenever possible.

- Integrate Facebook content on your corporate web page and IN YOUR EMAIL! This includes adding links to attract more fans and to remind a fan to return to your profile page. Also, create a place in your Facebook page where visitors can sign-up for your email.

- Get creative with Facebook features. Some of these features include photo albums, active discussion boards, two-way communication, engagement ads, and virtual gifts.

Is it worth jumping into the Facebook fray?

- YES if your corporation has the time, energy, and passion to not only create a Facebook profile but to support, monitor, and update it. Also, having a company policy about posting on company sponsored social networking sites can help prevent problems. Damaging, conflicting, and inaccurate content, and leaking corporate secrets should be avoided.

-By: Jordan Lane

Jordan Lane is an Email Marketing expert and is the founder of the site http://www.EmailMoxie.com/. EmailMoxie.com provides free Email Marketing Knowledge, Best Practices

Why Internet Marketers

This article explains how facebook Advertising Beats Google AdWords PPC Marketing Face Down. Savvy marketers are turning to facebook advertising as a virtually untapped source of inexpensive and super targeted traffic.

After months of warning, some top search engines have now slapped the backsides of well over 12,000 internet and network marketing bods whose accounts have been disabled – for life! There’s neither rhyme nor reason given – just an email saying game over. But savvy Pro marketers like our members aren’t panicking – we’ve always had a back up plan on the go.

Don’t Put your Eggs in One Marketing Basket

Our advice has always been simple – don’t put all your eggs in one basket! If you’re using Pay Per Click Advertising, then make sure you also try other PPC advertisers and have a fair bit of SEO going on too to generate organic traffic. SEO organic traffic is driven by sheer hard work – writing articles, forum posts, blogs, Squidoo lenses, hub pages, video marketing – to build up your online presence and expertise for your chosen niche keywords. Organic takes time. So if you don’t have the patience and want to generate lots of traffic fast, PPC is a good one to have as part of your marketing model. But internet marketers and PPC experts are absolutely fed up with the arrogance of some of the PPC companies. So if we’re not doing PPC ads at the search engines, where do we get the masses of traffic we are still able to generate on a daily basis? Two sources.

Content Rich Social Marketing

There are lots of ways to generate free traffic from social network marketing. It’s not entirely free of course, as you do usually have to spend masses of your time manually writing copy and creating podcasts and video marketing. Time is money and all that. Even if you outsource, copy writers for your niche won’t come cheap. So all this organic SEO friendly traffic takes time to build up and requires consistent daily effort. This is good to add to your marketing mix but won’t give you fast traffic. What’s super important too is that organic SEO content is ultimately still controlled by the search engines, so these companies still has power over how you get seen by your prospects. How hard is it these days to do enough clever keyword research to get your unique niche and rank on page one of the major search networks. Almost impossible – especially if you’re one newbie trying to compete with the big gurus in internet marketing or MLM network marketing arena.

Advertising on facebook

What company is fair and sane, loves affiliate and internet marketers? What company attracts nearly 40 billion views a month and the traffic is uber quality and dirt cheap? Who is this company? Well, it’s your friendly neighbourhood…. Facebook! Facebook is the only company that Google actually acknowledges is a real competitor to them. Do you know that Facebook has around 40 Billion users – that makes it 5 times the size of Google! Yet facebook ads represent just 5% of the advertising done on Google. Now don’t be thinking Facebook is just for youngsters! Insidefacebook.com published its statistics and show that only 11% of users are aged 13-17. While 33% are 18-25s, a whopping 18% are aged between 35 and 44. That’s 100 million people! And a further 9% are aged 45-54 and 4% 55-65. Don’t spend another cent with Search Engine PPCs till you’ve checked out Facebook Advertising.

Why Facebook is the New Face of Paid Internet Marketing

Facebook is pretty much untapped compared to Pay Per Click on the major search engines. It’s truly a “sleeping giant”, an ingenious source of traffic that is…

- much bigger than PPC

- less competitive than PPC

- more targeted than PPC

- less expensive than PPC

And what’s more, Facebook’s integrated personal profiles means you can home in on exactly the demographic you are trying to target – not only by your keywords, but also by age, gender, location, hobbies, interests, education – it’s simply awesome how deep you can get into – giving you massive choice and combinations. Because of this, Facebook allows you to use the same ad in many different ways so you can really hit the hot spots of your users and their interests. Imagine being able to target by age, gender, film interests, AND keywords… you can really hit your message home. So what this means in practice is that the clicks you get on your Facebook ad are immensely more targeted and convert far better and cost far less than what you’d achieve on say Google AdWords. If all that targeting wasn’t enough to convince you, here are some more benefits of using Facebook advertising:

- Facebook is also great for newbies. It’s really easy to use and to set up your campaigns. If you can send an email, you can do facebook ads.

- facebook ads work in any market and will give a far better ROI than PPC, even for affiliate marketing.

- Facebook advertiser competition is minimal right now, so now is the time to tap into this massive source of traffic.

- Facebook ads can incorporate the usual headlines, keywords and body ad but also images, topping what you can currently do with search engine ads.

- There’s very little waste with Facebook advertising since you can identify super targeted prospects who already predisposed to your offer.

Following the Facebook Rules

There is a downside. Facebook is hugely protective of its users. So you have to really study and follow their rules. And this will take you some time. There are three main rules to obey. The general rule of thumb stems from what is called “permission marketing”. So make sure you check this out so you don’t get your account canceled. A second key thing is to avoid irrelevant, shock tactics and to use good sentence grammar. Finally, money making ‘get rich quick’ schemes won’t be allowed so you’ll have to get creative about how you present your business opportunity basing them around marketing training or systems offers instead.

-By: Jay Allyson

Jay Allyson
GetRichLifestyle Pro Marketing Consultant

5 Easy Steps How to Connect Your Twitter Account to Your Facebook Status

Connecting Twitter to facebook

If you enjoy using social media Websites chances are that you would have a facebook account as well as a Twitter account. Both of these allow you to make updates to your status. By creating a connection between these two accounts you only need to write your message once as it will be posted to the other one automatically.

There are two ways of creating the connection between facebook and Twitter. You can link your Twitter account to your personal Facebook account; or you can link your Facebook Page to your Twitter account. In the first option the message goes from Twitter to Facebook and in the second option it goes from Facebook to Twitter. For instance if you use Twitter regularly just write your message on your Twitter account and it will be posted automatically on your Facebook account. You will see it on your Facebook profile page and it will appear on the Facebook News Feed. Here is how you can do that in just a few simple steps.

Connecting Your Twitter Account to Your Personal Facebook Account

In this connection when you write a message on your Twitter account it gets automatically posted into your Facebook status and Wall. Here are 5 simple steps how you can make that connection. You need to be logged into your Facebook account in order to do this.

Step 1 – Locate the Twitter Application

The Twitter application as well as many other cool applications are stored in the Facebook Applications area. You can access it directly at the following URL (just copy and paste into your browser): http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2231777543

Once you have located the application click the blue ‘Go to Application’ -button.

Step2 – Allow Access

By clicking the ‘Allow’ -button you will authorise Twitter and Facebook create the connection needed. Go ahead and… click.

Step 3 – Log on to Twitter

Next you will need to log in to your Twitter account to make the connection happen. Since we are creating a connection to your personal Facebook account you should use your personal Twitter account here as well.

Step 4 – Allow Twitter updates

In order to get the automatic update from your Twitter account to show up on your Facebook status you need to click the ‘ Allow Twitter to Update Your Facebook Status’ -button. This enables the connection and sends you to the next screen.

Step 5 – Authorization

This is a bit unnecessary step but you need to click the blue ‘Allow Status Updates’ -button to finalise the operation. The only good thing about this page is that it gives you the page URL where you can change the settings of this Twitter application as well as your other Facebook applications.

Once you click the button you will be back on the previous screen. From this screen you can also update your Facebook status. This will be posted automatically to you Twitter account as well. Please note that when you update your status on your Facebook profile page as you would do normally, it does not post to your Twitter account… and you’re done! You have now connected your Twitter account with your personal Facebook account. Every time you write a new Twitter post it will now automatically show up on your Facebook Profile.

-By: Kris Olin

This article is Part 2 of the illustrated bonus guide ‘Linking Facebook and Twitter’ which you can get free by ordering the Facebook Advertising Guide.

Kris Olin is a Web Designer with a Masters degree in marketing. Kris is specialised in Web 2.0, SEO, Digital Publishing, social media Marketing, Facebook Advertising and Internet Promotion Strategies. He also consults with companies on their online marketing and provide training and website hosting solutions. Kris has a Masters degree in marketing from Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and has studied design and advertising at the University of Columbia, U.S.A. Kris is currently living in Brisbane with his family.

Facebook Advertising | social media Marketing Blog: http://facebook-advertising-marketing.com

Facebook Login Security Guide

facebook can be an enjoyable site to use to keep in touch with your friends and family, play online games, and join groups with others who share your common interests. However, if you are not careful with your personal information, facebook can also be a ground for spammers and identity thieves to take over your profile.

Some of the most common problems that facebook users can run into if they do not have secure logins are:

Fake Facebook pages

Internet hackers and spammers often design pages that look exactly like Facebook as a setup to take users’ personal information. When a Facebook member logs in to a fake page, the spammer takes their account information and uses it to send fake messages to the person’s friends. The messages usually feature a bad web link that can steal the information of others who receive the message and click the link.

One example of a bad Facebook page is silvertag.be. This site steals login information and spams all of the victim’s contacts with the same link.

E-mail messages

Spammers can also send e-mails to Facebook users where they pose as Facebook administrators. Usually these contain a link promoting pictures or videos from a Party, or even a pornography site. If a user is reading the email and clicks the link, the spammer can get a hold of the login information and create multiple Facebook pages with it. One way they create multiple Facebook pages is by using the information they obtain to use the same picture of one person, but associate that picture with different names. The bad link is also on the person’s profile.

The domain name in these e-mails is usually not Facebook.com. There is usually another word before the “.com”; which makes users believe they are going to Facebook when they are really not.

If you are a Facebook user, there are some ways you can keep yourself safe while using the website.

Don’t share your password with anyone. It doesn’t matter how close you are to friends or family members, you should never divulge what your login email and password is. You never know what could happen if someone you sever ties with gets on to your page; or if a family member could log on and see something you don’t want them to see. By the same token, you also shouldn’t write down your passwords and then leave it lying around. If you must write it down, put it in a safe place.

Make sure you are only logging in on Facebook.com. If you are not sure if you are on Facebook, type http://www.facebook.com in your address bar and login from there.

If you are surfing Facebook and another page comes up that requires your login or other personal information, leave the page immediately. While Facebook can be a fun site, it has its own set of dangers that prove nothing is 100% safe online. Trust the site, but take caution too.

-By: Garry Knight

The Internet is full of dangers and users need to understand that security should be an important part of their Internet usage. The site login helper educates the user with articles like Facebook Login so that the Internet experience becomes a pleasant one.

Facebook Page Versus Facebook Group – Instant Guide For Beginners

o Find out how groups let you be more private and exclusive on facebook

o Check out which facebook tool allows free and easy SEO

o Discover how pages enable you to track visitors easily and monitor your brand name on facebook

“Which is better: Facebook page or group?” That is the question that constantly plagues companies who are just starting to dabble in the new era of social media marketing. It is natural to be slightly confused over the functions of both tools since they have overlapping features. But before we discuss their differences, let’s look at what exactly a Facebook page is and what constitutes a Facebook group.

Facebook page

Having a Facebook page allows you to specifically represent your business online. It will be visible to unregistered users and it is indexed, thus resulting in quick and easy search engine optimisation. A Facebook page also looks extremely familiar to a Facebook profile. You can add friends, pictures, and even have walls that fans can post on.

Facebook group

You can choose to have more privacy and exclusivity with a Facebook group. You can decide if it is open to a particular network or to everyone on Facebook, set permissions whether the group is open (anyone may join), closed (need administrator’s approval to join) or secret (invite only).

Now that you know the basic descriptions of these two tools, let’s look at their differences in terms of:

1) Personal interactivity

Based on size limitations and security features, Facebook groups are set up to allow more personal interaction. What is posted on a group page could appear on its fans’ walls, thus making it a more personal reflection of the fans. For example, when someone joins a group called “Vegans in Singapore”, it will reflect his or her belief in being a vegan and this will then be reflected in his or her profile wall.

A Facebook page, however, is simply seen as another person on Facebook, and it usually isn’t linked to the fans personally.

2) Google search engine optimisation

Unlike Facebook groups, pages are indexed to allow for search engine optimisation. This means that having a page may increase your ranking in external search engines. Engaging in the services of a SEO expert, however, is still the most effective way to go tops on external search engines.

3) Announcements

If your group has less than 5,000 members, administrators will be able to send inbox messages to the group members. On the other hand, page administrators are only able to update fans through the page, which will then be distributed under the “Updates” section of the fans’ inboxes. There are no limits to the number of updates you can send or the number of fans you can have when it comes to pages.

4) User control

You have a much greater control over who gets to participate on your Facebook group. For example, a group’s permission settings allow you to restrict access to new members. Perhaps you prefer new members to be approved first before letting them participate in the current discussion. With a page however, you can only set restrictions based on ages and locations.

5) Applications

Since pages are much more similar to normal profiles and thus allow for the hosting of applications, this makes them much more personalised from this perspective. Groups do not have the capability to host applications.

6) Tracking

With a Facebook page, you will be given a tool to track how many visitors you have received thus far. You will then be able to gauge how successful you have been in building your company’s image on an online social media.

The verdict

On the whole, groups are perfect for organising on a more personal level and for a smaller scale of interaction. Pages are better suited for businesses and brands who want to interact with their consumers online. So first, figure out the objective of your company to go on Facebook. Then look through this article and find out which tool is best to achieve your objective. Although working with an internet marketing firm may bring you quicker gratification, being active on Facebook will still gain you some fans. After all, with more than 350 million active users on Facebook, it’s safe to say that choosing the right tool can definitely do wonders for your business.

-By: Christina Tan

Christina has 8 years experience working with companies such as HSBC, Bayer Healthcare and Packard Bell and is currently a web designer at Online Marketing Company – Conversion Hub. She is also a SEO consultant for a certified SEO company Singapore.

Privacy Changes Coming to a Facebook Near You

Are you ready for yet another change in facebook? With more than 350 million active users worldwide, facebook is nothing like the social network it was a mere six years ago. In an open letter to facebook users on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook’s billionaire founder – stated that “regional networks” were no longer the best way to control privacy and personal data.

Now being implemented is an easier way for individuals to control their personal privacy and the method in which such data is being shared across the Internet. Whether you choose to share your personal data with “friends,” “friends of friends” or “everyone,” changes are occurring at Facebook that will require you to update your personal settings in coming weeks. The way Facebook makes its recommendations will have a huge impact on the social networking platform. At the moment, most individuals do not share their content using the “everyone” option that Facebook introduced during the summer.

According to Zuckerberg, “Almost 50% of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.”

The “regional networks” setting – which allows individuals to join a network for a particular city, region, or country – is being phased out. Facebook has concluded that users of the social networking platform were generally unaware of the fact that joining a “regional network” could potentially allow millions of other users of that same network to view an individual’s profile. In a reversal of the strategy that made Facebook so popular, Zuckerberg indicated that “regional networks” were initially planned for students and companies but that recent studies concluded that Facebook had grown so fast worldwide that some networks had literally millions of members. The plan they have devised is said to be more user friendly and provides a simpler model for privacy control.

Facebook is changing the privacy model and has created a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone. The social networking giant has something to lose by promoting “everyone” updates. Given the long-standing and private nature of Facebook the new privacy settings could lead to chaos as an individual may inadvertently share more of their personal information than originally intended. This is something to not only think of, but to strongly pay attention to when adapting to the new privacy settings. If you are an individual who believes in personal privacy and do not wish for “everyone” worldwide to view your Facebook profile and contents, the most appropriate privacy setting for you is “friends” on the privacy control panel.

For those that have not noticed, Facebook has started to backpedal from the Twitter-like reconfiguration it launched in March by working an old-style News Feed back into the homepage. Perhaps Facebook has decided to favor privacy concerns over real-time. When Facebook initially announced the privacy changes in July, it sounded like the social networking platform might go in the direction of a Twitter like existence. It appears that a change of heart has been the cause of the delay in a revamping of privacy concerns.

Over the next several weeks, individuals using Facebook will be presented with a revised privacy control panel where they can review and/or update their privacy settings. Individuals will also be given the ability to control who is able to see each piece of content they create or upload, such as photos or videos, as well as groups and events. At that point, they will be able to adjust privacy settings on a per-item basis.

“We’ve worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone’s needs are different,” wrote Zuckerberg. “We’ll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you’re sharing with online.”

Facebook now has more than 350 million users worldwide. In the United States, approximately 105 million people visit the social networking platform every month. On average, individuals spend about 45 minutes on Facebook every day. As of September, 2009, Facebook enjoys a membership that is 52 per cent female and 48 per cent male with the fastest growing demographic of new users being those individuals aged 35 and older. Zuckerberg concluded his letter by stating 2009 had been “a great year for making the world more open and connected.”

The impending changes at Facebook follow long-standing criticism by child protection advocates and privacy rights officials worldwide. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (or CEOP) has previously stated that Facebook should adopt Bebo’s example by including a button on every page of the website that would enable individuals who have been bullied or targeted online to easily report the abuse and seek assistance. Facebook responded that it did not believe this tactic was the “most effective” solution to solving the problem of online harassment, and was focusing on other possibilities. It now appears that the new privacy settings in store at Facebook are in response to the widespread calls for change.

-By: William E. Lewis, Jr.

William E. Lewis, Jr., is a credit repair expert and host of “The Credit Report with Bill Lewis” on AM 1470 WWNN, a daily forum for business and financial news, politics, economic trends, and cutting edge issues. The Credit Report is brought to you by Credit Restoration Consultants – the leading credit restoration firm in South Florida. If you are having credit problems, if your bills are out of hand, or if you just want a credit check up, call CRC at (954) 581-5050 or visit them online at http://www.TalkAboutCredit.com

How to Receive 20-30 MLM Leads Per Day Using Facebook

Is facebook just another social network? NO. It is the granddaddy of all social networks, the definitive social network. By far the world’s most popular social network, facebook has just about as many members as the United States has citizens! A real network marketer will have a facebook to capitalize on the veritable treasure trove of MLM leads.

The power users of the network are those who know the secrets of Facebook and us them to generate 20 to 30 leads every day by leveraging their presence on the network. Facebook provides you with access to so many people that you can grow your business exponentially.

Want to harness Facebook for your own revenues? Here are the tips that the power users employ to generate leads using Facebook.

Correctly Use Facebook as it is Meant to Be Used

Like all social networks, Facebook is meant to do one thing: social networking. Do not view Facebook as only a marketing tool. People join Facebook because they want to connect with old friends, form relationships, keep up with college buddies, or find dates. Being someone’s marketing target is never the reason anyone joins Facebook. Use Facebook properly. Make friends. Form relationships. Even find dates but the most important thing is never become a marketing nag.

Have Fun and Add Value

Use Facebook to enhance other people’s life. Have fun and socialize, that’s why people join Facebook, to be social and have a good time. You can send marketing messages, of course, but you don’t want this to be what defines you. Make sure that you are enjoying Facebook. The primary focus of Facebook is not business activity. It’s more like a hangout for friends. If you enjoy the social outlet nature of Facebook, your relationships can translate purely social to business.

Connect with New Contacts

When you get new subscribers or make new connections on other venues, find out if that person is on Facebook. If they are, send them a friend request and jot them a personal note. The “thinking-of-you-and-wanted-to-get-connected” gesture can make them a warm lead quickly.

Now that you have their connection, you have exposure to them. When you post an article, upload a video or make some type of business move, all of your connections learn about you. People do not find this annoying. Your friends and connections will be appreciative that you are just staying active and sharing information.

Facebook will surprise you with its value. This simple social networking site is a hotbed of leads, prospects and marketing activity.

-By: R Myers

Understanding and employing these key components is just the beginning. Watch the free Facebook training video and start getting over 20 MLM leads per day using Facebook.

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