Unfortunately you can’t take an old group and convert it to the new group format. (No word yet from Facebook on if they will ever let that happen or if its coming down the pipe)  I’ve been playing around with them for about a month [...]]]> Have you started a new Facebook group yet?

Unfortunately you can’t take an old group and convert it to the new group format. (No word yet from Facebook on if they will ever let that happen or if its coming down the pipe)  I’ve been playing around with them for about a month now and wanted to share 3 of the best features of the new Facebook group.  Note that any new groups created from here on out will be created as this type of new group.

1. Group Chat-Now you can chat with the members of your group real time. Before you could chat with people one-on-one. Now in a group you can chat with all the members of the group who are logged in to Facebook at one time!  This is a great way to schedule an added bonus Q&A session for your group members or just connect with them in a more intimate way whenever you are in the group.
2. Document Sharing-While this feature in and of itself is a major step forward…don’t get too excited. This feature is really like a fancy notepad that group members are allowed to collectively edit.  Great way to keep track of group members private contact information.
3. Update Group by Email-This feature allows any group member (can be changed by administrator) to share content with the group via email.  So for Free Social Media Help’s New Facebook Group members can add content by emailing freesocialmediahelp@groups.facebook.com. Content emailed to the group is shown in each members news feed.

Most of the rest of the features of the old version of groups is still the same. In a Facebook group you can still post pictures, video, & events.  The only difference I see is that there is no discussion area.

I’d love for you to join us on our new Free Social Media Help Facebook Group.  Come join us and get some experience in the functionality of the new Facebook groups.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a button on your website that people could click if they wanted to [...]]]> Having a hard time figuring out how to get more people to share your posts and pages?  You have important things to say and your traffic needs to keep flowing and growing.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a button on your website that people could click if they wanted to share your post or page with their Facebook followers?  Guess what?  There is.  Not only their Facebook followers but also their Linkedin, Plaxo, Twitter followers, and so many more.

See the nifty little icons at the bottom of this post?  You can add the same ones to your websites.  Just install the WordPress plugin SexyBookmarks to your sites and customize to fit your needs.

Sharing your information is just a click away.  I promise this little tool will send your website traffic soaring.

Best Wishes for a Wondrous WordPress Experience,

Christina Horning

P.S. If you think this post was useful-please share friend

P.S.  Are you joining me today for WordPress Wednesday?  If you have any questions about WordPress then you join me.  Check out what you’ll learn in today’s class here.

[...]]]> When you first set up a Facebook Fan Page you get a link to your Fan Page that looks something like http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mande-White-South-Florida-Internet-Marketing-Social-Media-Speaker-Coach/131319195109

That’s really hard to remember isn’t it? It’s even harder to use when you’re promoting your Fan Page on traditional off line medialike bill boards, street signage and banners, brochures or business cards.

A ‘Vanity URL’ is a term to describe the outcome of what happens when that long, ugly URL get shorter and cleaner looking.  The previously mentioned Fan Page URL when converted to a vanity URL looks something like http://facebook.com/thesocialmediacoach

Facebook allows you to request a Vanity URL after your Fan Page has 25 fans. You can get your Vanity URL at http://www.facebook.com/username/

Another key benefit to getting a vanity url…reputation management.  A vanity URL like http://facebook.com/thesocialmediacoach is likely to rank higher than say facebook/pages/131319…

I’ve gotten a lot of questions from my friends asking me to help make sense of this development.

DIFFERENCE [...]]]> In an attempt to help us manage information overload, Facebook has implemented a new way for us to view the status updates of our friends, fan pages we belong to and groups we belong to.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions from my friends asking me to help make sense of this development.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NEWS FEED AND LIVE FEED
Let me start with the most overwhelming one. The Live Feed (think Twitter on steroids) allows you to see EVERYTHING that your friends are doing in real-time. The everything part can be quite overwhelming because you can literlly know every friend they make, every group they join and every wall post made.  Makes me think of Sting.

The News Feed is the section that you see when you first login to Facebook. Facebook takes it upon themselves to aggregate ‘the most interesting content that your friends are posting’.  Does this sound a little like Google behavior to you?  Some geeky Facebook dude came up with a nifty  algorithm which they say is based on a few factors:

• how many friends are commenting on a certain piece of content
• who posted the content
• what type of content it is (photo, video, status update)

What weights each of these factors plays is yet to be determined. I’ll keep you posted.

Check Out These Other Posts for Trouble Shooting Tips:

1. Why isn’t my friend Penelope’s stories showing up on the Live Feed
2. How can I hide those annoying quiz applications?
3. How can I organize my Facebook News Feeds?

Here are 7 simple steps that you can use for every article you’ve ever written and every article in your future.  Take each of [...]]]> Have you written a bunch of articles and submitted them to directories AND still NOT seeing the tidal wave of daily traffic to your website that you had hoped for?

Here are 7 simple steps that you can use for every article you’ve ever written and every article in your future.  Take each of these steps in addition to submitting your article to the directory(s) of your choice.

STEP 1 – make sure that your article is posted on your own website or blog. You’ll want to post the entire article on the blog.  Don’t worry if this is outside the parameters of your normal format. PREFACE the article with a note to your readers, thanking them for their flexibility and ASK them to make a comment.

STEP 2 – send out a Tweet (message from Twitter) about your new blog post and include a link directly to the post. It’s helpful if you can find a clever hook for your tweet that includes the benefits the reader will receive after reading your article.

STEP 3- log into your Digg.com account SO you can ‘digg’ your blog post.  Digg is a social bookmarking application that allows users to share and vote on content that they like.

STEP 4 –  send another ‘Tweet’. This time you’ll tweet something clever about your ‘digg’ article. ASK people to ‘Digg it’ if they like it. This will increase your Digg score and move your article up higher on the Digg.com search pages.

STEP 5 – update your Facebook friends about your blogged article.  Here is another opportunity to come up with a unique spin on the benefits the reader will receive from reading your article.

STEP 6 – In another status post you can ask your Facebook friends to Digg the article if they like it.  This request should include a link to your ‘digg article’.

STEP 7 – periodically check your blog to respond and thank those that left comments on your blog.  It spreads virtual goodwill to thank everyone who comments on your blog or retweets your message.

Seven ways to use social media GETS more eyeballs to see your article.  These are steps you can use over and over again with every article you have. YOU CAN even schedule content for Facebook status updates or Twitter on days you are on vacation.

Be careful today-some people are a little too excited about playing pranks.  Never fear with me, I’m not much of a prankster-everything here is [...]]]> To celebrate hump day we are going to get a little crazy here at FreeSocialMediaHelp.com. I think its fitting that the first Wacky Wednesday should fall on April Fool’s Day.

Be careful today-some people are a little too excited about playing pranks.  Never fear with me, I’m not much of a prankster-everything here is straight-shooting no B.S. advice.

Our Wacky Tip for the day…create a crazy Facebook Group!  Yes, they are short lived but can provide a boost in viralness that may lead to new friends for you!  Be sure that after the excitement has died down in your new group that you go and ‘friend’ everyone who joined your group.

Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• “No, I Don’t Care If I Die At 12 AM, I Refuse to Pass On Your Chain Letter”
• “I Secretly Want to Punch Slow Walking People In the Back Of the Head”
• “I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar”
• “Boogers are Nose Poop”
• “I Feel Bad When I See Kids on a Leash”
• “The Only Reason I Went to Elementary was to Play Oregon Trail”
• “If this group reaches 15k people, Kevin and I will have a pinecone eat-off!”
• “Air Bud gave me false expectations about my dog’s basketball skills”

If you are interested in learning the difference between a Facebook Fan Page and a Group-Check out our Facebook Group-FreeSocialMediaHelp.com and listen in on the FREE 4/7 teleseminar!