Since the past few weeks I have received a lot of requests about photo-tagging in business pages:

It was a good question from Adam. There used to be a simple option to tweak the settings but ever since facebook had modified the photo tab and its layout last month, the option was completely invisible:

Good news is, after a long search within my own fan page, I managed to dig it up again. Basically there are two ways you can locate it:

Method #1 – Convert Photo Tab to Boxes

We all know Facebook had made clear that Boxes are going away for good after 23rd August 2010. Even so, facebook has yet to implement the change on all facebook accounts at once so lucky for me, I can still see my boxes tab lying comfortably on my Wall. If you can see yours too then here’s what you can do:

1. Go to Edit Page, look for Photo -> Application Settings.

2. In Profile, click ‘Add’ next to Box.

3. Now your ‘Photo’ will appear inside the Boxes tab. Click at ‘Edit Settings’ to reveal the photo-tagging setup:

Voila! Here it is!

Method #2 – Replace Page ID to Access the App Settings

Now here’s another scenario when a business page was already receiving fans photos before this. The ‘Edit Settings’ will be hidden from view as shown below:

In that case, there is one way you can bypass the hassles and go straightly to the app settings. Just replace ‘xxxxxxxx’ with your own Page ID inside the link below will do (2305272732 is the application ID for Photo app):

http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/app_settings.php?id=xxxxxxxx&aid=2305272732

How to Locate Your Facebook Page ID?

If you have not created a vanity URL for your business page, you can easily obtain the page ID from the default link – the number at the back as indicated:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Social-Blogging-Tracker/106236190962

Once you have claimed your business page username, the page ID is no where in sight. What you can do is hover over ‘Edit Page’ then look for your page ID underneath your browser. Copy that and insert the numbers into the link as explained in Method #2.

Pretty simple right? Make sure to bookmark this post just in case you wish to make modifications to your fans’ photo tagging (or adding) in future.

Now Is Your Turn…

Do you allow fans to add and tag photos in your facebook fan page? How effective do you think photos can help in improving your facebook page engagement with fans?

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Last week we had covered a major subject about Facebook privacy settings and how each customization can protect your personal profile from Facebook page (How to Separate Facebook Personal Profile from Business Page – pt.1). Today we will be exploring further in terms of profile and page management, along with several practical ways you should know in avoiding clashes between the two facebook platforms:

Part 2:

11 Things You Should Know about Profile and Facebook Page Management

#1  Separate your Business and Personal Contacts with Facebook Lists

A MUST if you have mixed both business and personal contacts in your ‘Friends’ list. Not just for the sake of following up easily in News Feed, but to better control over what to be shared to specific group of people when updating your Wall (will explain later). Follow the steps in decluttering your news feed via Facebook Lists to group your contacts based on requirements.

#2  Control Posting Visibility WITHIN the Profile via Share-ability

Facebook List enables you to hide sensitive information, friends and even real time Wall posts from appearing on some people’s news feeds. Use the Privacy setting in the Publisher as shown below, select whom to block from the info or limiting the update to specific group of people only. For instance, if you about to post a personal update to real life friends, select ‘Customize’ prior sending out the update:

i) Customize your privacy settings to allow only ‘Buddies’ to view it (list name consisting of all your best pals who are invited to the barbeque) OR,

ii) Block list containing your business contacts only:

#3  Tighten Up Privacy Option for ‘Friends of Friends’

The reason I am emphasizing on ‘friends of friends’ is because your business contacts may reach out to your friends for friendship. No way we can prevent that so if you have set ‘friend of friends’ for certain profile information, try to restrict its visibility further via:

i) Custom Privacy: If the person is in your ‘Friend’ list.

ii) Block: If the person is not in your ‘Friend’ list:

Or if you can’t find the user via ‘Name’, just block from his/her profile instead:

#4  Hide Wall Tab from Business Contacts Completely

Another alternative to separate business contacts from personal is by hiding Wall tab from them via ‘Things I Share –> Posts by me’. By doing so, you are only allowing close friends/family members to access your Wall tab, whereas business contacts will be blocked from viewing your account activities and real time updates completely. That way you can still message to business contacts, showcasing them other necessary tabs on your profile without disclosing Wall posts at all!

#5  Page Admin Can Only Represent Him/Herself Outside Business Page

Whenever a page admin tries to comment or post on other facebook accounts, all responses will be seen as coming from the admin’s personal profile that connects with the business page. If your business page has no profile, you won’t be able to comment or join any page at all. Therefore, if you are planning for external networking to boost fan page visibility, a personal profile is needed.

#6  Network with other Fans or Pages via Status Tagging

Status Tagging can be, by far, the only possible way to showcase your business page without giving out your personal identity. But in order to tag, page admin will need to ‘like’ another page with his/her personal profile beforehand (you can hide Liked Pages from Info tab). Even if your profile thumbnail may show in ‘People Who Like’ list, page admins won’t have access to your full profile thanks to the Facebook privacy settings we talked about earlier. Also, make full use of your page’s ‘Custom’ setting whenever necessary:

#7  Assign a Sub Admin for Event Invitations

Another feature that we crave for in a facebook page – able to send personalized invitation to fans for page events. Unfortunately, private invitations can only be done through a personal profile. If you are not comfortable to expose your profile link, temporarily promote a trusted PR or collaborator for this task. Since all email invitations will be going through him/her, be sure to select someone who’s trustworthy for the job.

Extra Tips:

• Share – use the ‘custom privacy’ settings to target business contacts in your ‘Friend’ list.
• Public Event – an event created from a fan page is ‘Public’ by default so by sharing the link elsewhere, anyone can join. (Only events created by personal profile can be made secret)
• Update Fans – like any other updates, it will be kept in the ‘Message -> Update’ folder. Remind your fans to check for it.

#8  Inter-Posting between Personal Profile and Facebook Pages with Social Aggregator

The ease to control what and when to post updates without messing up both business page and personal profile is via social aggregators such as Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, MarketMeSuite or Ping.fm. Instead of inter-switching between browsers, you can have the status delivered in matter of clicks, or even scheduled.

#9  Ability to ‘Share’ as your Page Profile

‘Share’ is another key influential option for personal profiles. The only workaround for a fan page to ‘Share’ something is to re-post the item on your page Wall and give credit via status-tagging.

When sharing, it’s suggested to do it manually so:

• Can personalize the status
• Post excerpt available with image thumbnail preview (if a link involves)
• To make sure status tagging with @mention works

#10  Mobile Users: Update to Business Page and Personal Profile with Different Emails

For mobile users, a unique email will be given to each profile and business page RESPECTIVELY for updating/media file uploading purposes. Set the email correctly so not to mistakenly post to either one of the platforms. Profile will have its own email ID, while page another.

Facebook Page: Edit Page -> Mobile:

Personal Profile: go to this link http://www.facebook.com/mobile -> look for ‘Upload via Email’:

And last but not least,

#11  Knowing that ‘Privacy Setting’ is not Invincible

Not to be a party pooper but it’s important to be self prepared. Do not post what you don’t want others to find out. Moderate your messages, photos, videos and status updates so that even if there may be security loopholes you’ve got nothing to hide or worry about.

What Do You Think?

Some tedious work isn’t it? As I explained earlier, the idea of this post is not to offer you the ‘best’ method but suggestions that one may find helpful in managing his/her facebook account. Facebook will continue to evolve. No matter how far we go, always remember we are responsible for our online presence and branding. If you do not bother about it, nobody else will.

Did I miss out anything? Share your ideas in the comments. If you missed out part 1 of the story, check it out here.

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So now, if you have associated your personal profile with a Facebook page, don’t mind using both platforms to boost your business brand and visibility, Facebook is doing you a huge favor with its revolution. But what if we are to separate private network circle from business profile? Is that even possible?

We can modify our privacy level and adhere to several precautions, but there is no 100% satisfactory when it comes to separating the two. A few clients have approached me with this issue, therefore I decided to divide this subject into two sections. This week we will emphasize on privacy settings while the next, discuss the important measures to be taken while handling both apps.

Part 1: How to Protect Personal Profile from Facebook Page

The only way you get to separate a fan page from any personal profile is with a complete different email login. Unfortunately this only works for new page setup but not existing ones:

Advise for New Users –

To create a fan page only (not associating with any personal profile):

• Make sure you are logged off from personal account BEFORE create a new page
• Use a brand new email login for your page that is never been used on any profiles
• NEVER sign up a new profile or click ‘create a profile’ while in the fan page

Advise for Existing Users –

If you have connected both sides, be informed there is no way to separate a fan page from a personal profile with a different login. Here are some ideas on what you can do to tighten your profile visibility and manage contacts accordingly:

Limit Profile Visibility

#1  Hide Profile from Facebook Search

The highest level of security is to hide your profile completely from Facebook Search, shield off all possibilities for business contacts to find you via Friend Finder:

Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Basic Directory Information (View Settings) > Customize ‘search for me on Facebook’.

#2  Select a Unique Username or None at all for your Profile’s Vanity URL

So you cannot be found on Facebook Search, your business contacts may still able to locate you via Username – ‘http://facebook.com/yourname’ just may give you out. Do not set one for the profile or modify it if necessary. You only have one chance to edit the profile username before the option will be hidden from you so use it cautiously:

Go to Account -> Account Settings -> Username -> Change to other username

Limit Profile Info-Sharing

#3  Protect Profile Information from Public Viewing

There are several information you can hide from strangers. Modify them properly as instructed by going through your Account -> Privacy Settings -> Basic Directory Information > View settings:

a. Hide your Friend List

If you are to protect private contacts such as close friends or family members, customize your Friend List to ‘Me Only’ or ‘Friends Only’. Be alerted that your business contacts may still reach out to your real life friends so advisable to tighten the option as suggested.

b. Hide Your Education/Work; Hometown

Unless you are using personal profile to enhance your fan page networking with other facebook contacts, otherwise better to protect the info or not fill up your Info tab unless really necessary.

c. Hide Your Interests & Other Pages Joined

If you have liked a page, most likely you will be displayed as a fan on the page via random thumbnail display. You can delete or unlike the fan pages anytime via:

Info Tab -> Edit (Likes and Interests) -> Remove.

If you insist on following these pages, hide them from you Info tab.

Sharing on Facebook:

d. Hide your Contact Information

Go to Account -> Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Customize Settings-> Contact Information, set the visibility to ‘Friends’ or ‘Me Only’.

Note: If you have set a vanity URL for your username, it will appear in Contact Information and there is no setting to hide it.

e. Hide your Birthday and other Personal Information

Check through the settings:

Go to Account -> Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Customize Settings-> Things I Share

And Info Tab -> Edit

#4  Limit Contact Ability to Your Profile

Below options require you to be selective in whom you are friend-ing on your profile.

a. Send Friend Requests

The highest level of security is ‘Friends of Friends’. It is an option set so to encourage friends to find one another. Strangers will not see the ‘Friend Request’ button until they become friends of your friends first.

b. Send Messages

The highest level of security is ‘Friends Only’. Strangers won’t be able to contact you individually.

#5  Limit the ability to be tagged or shared by friends

You cannot control what your friend is sharing, but you can certainly avoid been tagged by going through the below settings. This will prevent your profile link been exposed to public while making sure no outrageous videos or images attached to your profile:

Go to Account -> Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Customize Settings -> Things Others Share

Your friend my still able to use status-tagging on you, at least you can remove the tag as soon as you found it on the wall:

#6  Check and Remove Unnecessary Facebook Applications

Make it a regular habit to check on your Facebook Applications. Remove the game apps by clicking ‘x’ to avoid intrusion or hacking. Be skeptical in all games and quizzes sending your way. Ignore or block the apps for good so they won’t appear on you Wall posts. Go through each section as most of them are opt-in by default:

Go to Privacy Settings -> Applications and Websites -> Edit Your Settings

a. Game & Application Activity

To prevent your recent activity been shown on the app’s dashboard, customize the visibility to ‘Only Me’.

b. Info accessible through your friends

You can set which information you allow to be shared by applications/games/websites when your friends use them. For the info you preset as ‘Everyone’ in the Privacy Setting, the app can automatically obtain the info unless you remove or turn off the platform applications.

c. Instant Personalization

Untick the checkbox if you do not want to be included in the relevant information shown to your friends when they land on Facebook partner websites and vice versa. If you still wonder why we make such a big deal out of this, read this article ‘Facebook’s Instant Personalization Is the Real Privacy Hairball’.  

d. Public Search

This involves Public Search where things you have approved to be shared with ‘Everyone’ can show up on and off Facebook, this including showing a preview of your profile as search results (see below). Do not conflict this option with the ‘Facebook Search’ in Basic Directory Information, synchronize them both.

Updated:

#7 Avoid Tagging and Exposing your ‘Places’

Facebook has announced a new geotagging feature called ‘Places’. By allowing integrations with other location-based services such as Foursquare, Gowalla etc, it enables facebook friends to tag and check in for each other. It may be a good feature to discover interesting places and claiming business premises, even so you should know there are several privacy settings that could protect you from unwanted exposures.

Go to Account -> Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Customize Settings -> Things I Share, and look for below settings:

• Limit visibility of Places you checked in;
• Prevent your profile from showing up with other checked in users;

Go to Account -> Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Customize Settings -> Things Others Share

• Disallow friends to check you in without consent.

Suggested Read: A Field Guide to Using Facebook Places

Quite a lengthy procedure in protecting a personal profile right? Precautions can save you from major headaches. Watch out for the next post in which we will be discussing part 2 of separating business pages from personal profile – 11 Things You Should Know when managing them both.

Now Is Your Turn…

What is the Major issue you faced when managing a facebook page connecting to a personal profile?

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What is Status Tagging on Facebook?

Tagging is a method to ‘nudge’ someone, most commonly used when alerting someone who’s in a picture or video. When we tag someone or a facebook page in our status update, our message will be visible on their Wall if permitted.

Why Tag Someone or a Page in a Post?

Tagging can be a networking tool for acknowledgment and bonding. You can share extremely useful information while rewarding free publicity to the original contributor. Your fans can visit his/her profile and interact. At the same time, your profile or page would also gain some visibility out of tagging, probably a friendship from the page admin too – a win-win situation for all.

What Can You Tag in a Post and How to do it?

You can tag both people and items in a post:

• fan pages and groups you loved / joined,
• your friends,
• events you’re attending
• facebook applications you’ve used.

To tag a profile or fan page is simple, just type in the magic symbol ‘@’ and you’ll notice a description box appearing underneath the publisher.

Continue your sentence for more name selections:

Once you found the page (which then appears as a link when published), click Share:

How to Ensure a Status Tagging that Works?

Two months ago, Debra and I were testing fan page tagging from our respective personal profiles. For some reasons, her post was no where to be found on my page and no luck in discovering why then.

Puzzling enough as it was supposed to work. My facebook page had received several ping backs from other pages after that. But how come even my personal profile was unable to tag my very own facebook page too?

Then yesterday the mystery was solved (well, at least for my part)! It was the Publisher privacy setting that hinders my tagging to Social @ Blogging Tracker – it should be set to ‘Everyone’ in order to post  (My option was set to ‘Friends of Friends’ as default).

But I had to be sure so I ran a test:

Example 1:

Privacy option: ‘Friends of Friends’.

End result: Status tagging failed to display on Social @ Blogging Tracker fan page.

Example 2:

Privacy option: ‘Everyone’.

End result: Status tagging worked like a charm!

In order to post your status message successfully on targeted fan page, there are several factors you need to check on:

1. Your posting privacy is set to ‘Everyone’ on publisher.

Optional: To make sure your selection is permanent without having to change back to customized option everytime you post an update, go to Account> Privacy Settings > Things I Share (Posts by Me) > Everyone.

2. You need to connect with the page via ‘Like’ (be a fan first) in order to tag it.

Same as personal account, you need to be friends with that someone in order to tag the person.

Other Reasons Why a Status Tagging Fails to Display on Page Wall

Sometimes a tagging failed because of the viewing option preset by the page admin. Let’s say if the page is set to view Page Posts only, their fans won’t be able to see your tag unless they tweak the below options:

Also, if you are blocked by the page admin, you won’t be able to tag that page as well.

For a Facebook Page to allow status-tagging, it needs to:

• Allow ‘All Posts’ for default view for Wall.
• Make sure Posting Ability for ‘People Who Like This Page…’ is ticked.

Suggested Read : look for #6 at How to Separate Facebook Personal Profile from Business Page (pt.2)

Now Is Your Turn…

Did you experience any tagging problems with facebook pages in the past? What else would you like to know about Tagging? I would love to see tagging works within Comments too, you think?

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Every day we are exposed to hundreds of Facebook applications, hoping to find the perfect ones to enhance our page and fan engagement. Last couple of weeks I had a good chance to explore some applications during Facebook Page Customization that I never before mentioned in this blog.  I thought it would be great to jot them down and share it with my readers. If you’re already familiar with these 16 Facebook Applications to Boost Popularity of Facebook Fan Page, now learn 15 more to enhance your facebook page further!

Be pre-warned this is a lengthy post. Go get yourself a cup of hot coffee and enjoy the ride (I do seriously need one now)!

Marketing & Brand Promoting

#1: Promotions

This is an application by a technology company called Wildfire. You are given a variety of campaigns to market your product/brand: sweepstakes, coupon giveaways, quizzes, contests etc. Promotion is one of the best ways to draw attention and increase facebook fan base. The only downside is that this service isn’t free. The basic package costs $5 per campaign, the length of your campaign will decide the charges, for example:

You can preview and adjust your campaign to full satisfaction prior to publish (and payment). Signup is free so at least you can explore the service to learn more about how a promotion is made and what are the necessary fields to go with it. If you’re unsure which campaign suits your business page the most, refer to this post for ideas.

Note: Make sure you read the Facebook Promotions Guidelines first before proceeding to avoid removal.

#2: Constant Contact labs – Join My Mailing List

Here’s a good news for Constant Contact (email marketing service) users who are not into self-customized opt-in form. All you need to do is login with your credentials then add this catchy form as one of your facebook tabs (unable to shift to Wall as no options for box tab). During setup, make sure to assign the location of these emails (for example: general interest). Also, publish a shout-out so people who like your page (a.k.a fans) will know about it:

It would be great if Aweber and Mailchimp can provide something similar too.

#3: My Portfolio

This application is specially designed for photographers, models and whoever wish to showcase their artwork in a professional way. It is said to have a clean interface, great for any artist to embed it easily without having to mess with Static FBML. However you do need to upload the photos to Facebook beforehand. During the settings, you can select multiple fan pages and decide which photo album to display.

#4: FAQ Page

Who would have thought fixing up a FAQ tab can be this easy? Create your very own page’s frequently asked questions without even worrying about HTML coding, just input as many questions you need. Make sure to ‘Save Changes’ before leaving the setup page or Add New Faq otherwise your draft will be gone. To delete a question, simply click the blue [x] same row as the selected answer.

I have one placed on my fan page if you’re interested to check out the sample. One can expand and hide the answers, plain and simple!

Media-Importing Applications:

#5: Viddler

I think all Viddler users will appreciate this facebook application – so convenient to setup! Simply type in your Viddler username and that’s it! Record and upload video can be done without having to leave Facebook at all! Also, one can view and comment on videos easily. Did I mention it imports the entire channel too? Absolutely a fantastic app!

#6: YouTube Channels

YouTube Channels import your entire channel into facebook tab. It equips with social plugin (stream) for commenting, provides sharing option for visitors while showcase your other videos as well. It gives you the ability to insert a banner above your channel, but unfortunately it costs $4.99 per month to set one up in Facebook page. It’s F.O.C for personal account without the banner option .

Good for those who are associating their personal profiles with pages. You can promote your business indirectly via YouTube Channels on personal account. One thing I dislike is the compulsory to fill up email address as shown below:

For those who are not willing to pay can consider using Involver with similar service – free to import your youtube channel and the ability to share selectively with your friends. However, it does not come with a comment form.

#7: Flickr Tab

Love this application for it imports the entire Flickr account with sets of photos (publicly files only) and able to view them via tags. Fans can enjoy the photo streaming inside the facebook page. To customize the tabs or use it on your facebook page requires payment: $10/year or $20/3 years for VIP membership (free for personal profile).

Of course, you can always use Flickr tab by Involver, which I’ll explain next…

#8: Involver

Ah yes, we’ve heard so much about it offering free services to import YouTube channels and Flickr accounts. Actually Involver provides more than that: import Slides, PDFs, Photo and Promotion Gallery. As long you’re not bothered by their big brand name at the side of your tab then it should be no problem. They do provide premium package as well for customers who are willing to take a step further with signup form, coupons, even eliminating the brand name, but that’s optional. Here’s an example of Mashable’s Twitter tab using Involver, notice the ability to share the tab with your friends selectively – available for both free and premium users.

#9: Portfolio tab

Portfolio tab bundles Flickr, Twitter, YouTube and Blogs under one facebook tab. It works brilliantly for personal profile where you can have clickable buttons for each social profiles similar to a mini-website.

Flickr Tab at #7 is an example of how each social tab would look like as a stand-alone tab. Before this, I was looking for a blog application with post excerpts but without comment form. Blog Tab fits right for the category and I have it setup now on my personal profile. The fonts are much bigger than Social RSS; post title links to my main site, just how I like it. In order to have an all-in-one tab as shown above, you need to authorize each tab individually before merging them altogether. Same as Flickr tab, this service is not free for Facebook Page (bummer, isn’t it?) but should be great to try out on your personal profile for extra visibility.

Fans/People Who Like Engagements

#10: Clobby

Clobby is a chatroom app for both personal profile and facebook page owners to communicate with friends/fans instantly. Great for casual chats so you won’t have to worry about flooding people streams with continuous postings on Wall. I did a post about Clobby on my posterous blog after testing it. Read about it if you’re interested to know more about the settings and review.

Social Media Profiles

#11: My LinkedIn Profile

Yes, I had mentioned this application in earlier post. However, there are slight changes for this application in terms of name and settings. Instead of fixing it at the left column as a social button, now it is displayed as a Facebook tab with your complete LinkedIn summary. This is no doubt a smart move for LinkedIn account integration.

#12: Page List

If you own multiple facebook pages and dying to share them with your fans but unfamiliar with codes or Static FBML, Page List is a good choice for you to display all pages in one tab. People who like your page can choose to visit all of them or do it selectively. Of course if you only manage one facebook page like me, no point of setting a tab for that. The above image is just for your reference only. The setting is relatively easy as well, make your page selections and save changes. If you wish to include your selections to other pages, look for ‘add to page’ on top of the dashboard.

#13: Vpype Live Broadcaster

Vpype Live Broadcaster provides you the ease to create live shows to millions of Facebook users. Great opportunity to meet new fans and interact lively with viewers. You can record the show then promote to fans with a ‘Show’ tab as shown above. It works well for personal profile too, get family and friends to participate has never been easier. Just get your microphone and speaker ready, then follow the steps below for configuration.

Others:

These facebook applications might not be for everyone but can be useful for some:

#14: Creative Commons License

This application allows you to specify how your media files and updates can be used by others with six Creative Commons licenses given. Be sure to choose one license that fits all the items shared on facebook and not individually. This is particularly useful for users who are sharing their artwork on Facebook. Although this application does give us the option to ‘add to page’, but the ‘CC’ tab returns with an empty box. If you are to use it for Facebook Page, recommended to save and upload the image to your server, then place the link inside image embedding code with the help of Static FBML.

#15: Menu

If you’re an owner for a restaurant, what can be more suitable if not having a menu tab on your fan page? You can include phone number (for delivery, maybe?), display set lunch or special of the day with pricing too! Love these non-complicated tabs to save time and trouble.

Important Notes: Application Removal

You may enjoy testing out these applications but do bear in mind: If you’re not going to use it then remember to remove them from your account:

1) Personal Profile:
Account > Application Settings > click ‘x’ to remove application completely

2) Facebook Page (fan page):
Edit Page> Look for the application name > Remove Application

You should do the same for other social media integrations. For example, if you have previously linked your Twitter account to test out Twitter tab, remember to revoke access via:

Logged in Twitter> Settings> Connections> look for the application and ‘Revoke Access’

Now Is Your Turn…

How do you enhance your Facebook Page in terms of application, strategy and fans engagement? Share your success stories or opinions on how to enhance a facebook page in the comments below.

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I must thank Heather for bringing up this brilliant question. To me, Twitter Favorites is another hidden gem for content discovery. Apart from discovering smart tips, Twitter Favorites works as a bookmarking tool to collect testimonials, acknowledgments about others and our work. Either way, it deserves more attention from us rather than rusting itself away on the sidebar.

Retrieve the location and RSS Feed for Twitter Favorites

Twitter Favorites is public viewable for all user accounts. Consider Favorites as a ‘resourceful link’ for your Twitter, to retrieve its RSS Feed simply go to the link indicated below then look for RSS feed of user’s favorites below the ‘Following’ chart:

Tools to Import RSS Feed to Facebook Page

Now that you got the feed, here comes the best part: importing the feed to your Facebook Page. Tons of ways to achieve that and if you are already familiar with how Facebook applications can enhance your Facebook Page by adding it to your page, it should be easy for you to carry out either one of the following methods:

Facebook Applications: RSS Graffiti and Social RSS

Most of the applications are now supporting multiple feeds importing, therefore you don’t have to worry about messing up the existing blog post updating to your wall posts. RSS Graffiti and Social RSS both fit well for the job, but the former has a slight advantage over its Twitter posting options:

• ability to personalize favorite tweets as status updates
• eliminating unwanted twitter username right at the beginning (the example stripped my username to make the message more straight forward)

Twitter Web Client: Hootsuite

This is another favorite method of mine – using the almighty Hootsuite you can enjoy the efficiency of RSS Feed updating easily from its web page.

1. After logged on to Hootsuite, look for Launch at the bottom left corner of your dashboard.

2. In launch> Settings > RSS Atom to add a new feed

3. While making your way through the configuration, make sure your facebook page selection is active/ticked:

Web Application: TwitterFeed

So you’re not used to Facebook applications or Hootsuite, how about Twitterfeed that provides the same functionality to update your Facebook Page with favorited tweets easily based on configured settings. Post prefix or suffix, even apply keyword filter to further select your tweets based on Facebook Page audiences.

Social Networking & Microblogging Service: Ping.fm

Ping.fm makes sharing all the more easier! Iit covers a wide range of social media sites other than Facebook Pages and updates them in one-go! It’s comparable with FriendFeed and the process is relatively easy as well ever since Ping.fm included Feeds and Google Reader as one of their services. Just logged on to Ping.fm and go to Superfeedr to customize your feed:

Or, if you prefer to do selective tweets for Ping.fm:


1. First, Log on to your Google Reader and add the Twitter Favorites RSS Feed to your subscription.

2. Back to Ping.fm, go to this link and input your Google Reader username and Add Feed.

3. Once you have hit ‘Share’ over at your Google Reader, Ping.fm will update your Facebook Page and other social media sites immediately as how you’ve configured them.

Points to Ponder:

To identify your purpose and the type of messages you are bound to showcase at Facebook Page members is vital. Mari Smith has shared a few good ideas to use Twitter Favorites even outside Facebook. In addition to that, Favorited tweets are good choices for selective tweets (as you can apply in Ping.fm and twitterfeed earlier) instead of importing the entire twitter stream which can be a turn off if you’re super-twitter-social at times. Try using prefix to create non-intrusive updates, sharing what matters and truly important to your audiences.

What about tweets from Protected Twitter accounts, you say? When you mark ‘favorite’ for a tweet shared by your friend who has a protected Twitter account, although you can view it in your Favorites but it won’t be visible to your followers publicly, only those who are sharing the same connections you have with that protected account. It’s good to see that Twitter is still protecting user’s privacy up till now.

Now Is Your Turn…

Do you have any questions about Facebook? Or any social media issues you’re interested in finding out? I would love to have a Q&A session like this as a blog post as it helps us all to discover new approaches that might be a big step in our respective networking goals. Like Heather, you’re definitely gaining a spotlight and link love for your kind participation here in Social @ Blogging Tracker, I’ll say it’s a mutual benefit for all of us, don’t you think so? Email me and let’s make this happen.

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The distinctive difference between Facebook personal and fan page is to separate private lives from business ventures.

What I love about Facebook personal page is that it can either go public or private. Some people are precise in protecting their inner circles, completely shield off the outside world; while some are interconnecting it with fan page to enhance online presence. It is important to identify the type of personal account you are maintaining now because Facebook privacy is getting vulnerable.

Shall We Combine Personal Account with Fan Page?

It goes back to the core reasons why you setup a personal account in the first place. How Darren Rowse defriending some people on his Facebook personal account months ago was a reasonable act to clear the line between work and leisure. I would suggest you to examine all the people in your friend lists and people who liked your page:

• Who are they?
• What are their behaviors?
• Are they interrelated from one page to another?

If there’s no way to tell, dip your toes in the water with a brief business update and see how your friends reacted. Indirectly bring to their attention that you can be the go-to person if someday they ever felt like using your service. It’s about making your digital name card visible, even on personal account that can be helpful in two reasons:

• people in your inner circles know what you are doing and capable of handling;
• introducing you to their colleagues or friends whoever needed the service;

Curiosity is a good thing. When they are wondering what you are doing, it’s an opportunity to educate. It doesn’t have to be business-oriented all the time, instead bringing a new information to your inner circles and help them to understand. I was among my closest friends who are the first to quit my job and go for freelancing, they know some of my work from my Facebook updates and basically calling me the go-to person for ‘blogging or internet thingy’. Although none of them needed any of my service now, but I had a couple of them who introduced me to their colleagues for blog setups so that’s a really cool and unexpected way to expand the business.

Now here comes the big question: How Can We Indirectly Promote Our Fan Page Without Pissing People Off?

5 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page on Personal Account

There are ways to not be annoying but keep that fan page visibility alive on your personal account. Again, these methods are not to create controversy but to help those who are in need of extra opportunities. Do not force yourself into doing this if you’re not comfortable with even putting 1% of business info in your private page, no pressure. For the rest of you, here are some suggested methods:

#1 Info Tab

Facebook recent modification of our Info tab into a fan page linking extravaganza forced us to reconsider our online exposures with Facebook. The ability to add extra information to our Info tab is no longer available for any Facebook applications. Therefore, start filling up your work information and Bio all over with extra details about your job scope. Fill up these sections in Info Tab by including your fan page address(es):

i) Contact Information > Websites

Tips: Claim your Facebook Fan Page vanity URL here: http://www.facebook.com/username

ii) Likes & Interests > Other (You need to ‘Like‘ your fan page to have it listed)

#2 Information and Personal Message

The information tab is actually fixed according to what you listed in the ‘website info‘ of Contact Information. Make sure the box is ticked to have them displayed underneath your profile image. Another good idea is to put personal message below your image, making sure you are using every space possible for indirect publicity especially when these two spots are the most visible areas of your sidebar.

#3 Fan Page Badge or Special Announcements

This is my favorite method by far. Customize and place a fan page badge at one of the box tabs won’t hurt. Make sure its position is highly visible, preferably below your friend list or among the tabs. You can have different ways to embed the images and messages to raise their awareness of your fan page. Some people prefer to use contest, announcements or free promotions to draw attention. It’s a good alternative besides sending a personal message to inform them about your existing Facebook fan page. Here are a few Facebook applications you can use to customize a fan page badge that fits right for Facebook tabs:

i) Extended Info

I’m using Extended Info to publicize my fan page badge, along with a brief message. What I love about Extended Info is the variety of ways you can share a fan page message. There are various patterns and styles to choose from, but you do have to take note of the sizes for different tabs. Make sure the image size is properly optimized.

ii) My Info

It’s a pity we cannot customize the title of these tabs like Static FBML does in fan pages. If you are looking for a more personalized name ‘My Info’ can be a good choice. It works the same as any other HTML embedding applications, but the downside is there are advertisements about the application showing up above or below your info. If you don’t mind that then it is a good suggestion for you.

#4 Create A Like Badge

If you are less prone to create a self-promotional badge, a Like badge is a good choice. Instead of saying ‘Come join my page’ directly, you can simply acknowledge it with ‘(your name) Like (fan page name)’. A friendly way to recommend your page to fellow friends. To do that :

i) My favorite Facebook application for the job: Profile HTML

ii) Add it to your fan page and have it authorized as instructed.

iii) Go to your fan page, look for ‘Promote with a Like Box’

iv) Copy the code and paste it to Profile HTML code box. You may need to modify the codes a bit so the image can fit in properly.

Here’s the end result:

#5 Tagging & Sharing

Sometimes you can tag yourself from the fan page, or share the acknowledgment that other friends have given about your work or fan page. This is an extra publicity but not to be overdone. I apply ‘do this ONLY when necessary‘ principle to keep myself from bringing too much noise into my personal page.

Suggested Read : How to Use Status Tagging Successfully on Facebook Pages/Profiles

So there you go, some indirect methods that can help to promote your Facebook fan page even within your personal account. You must be wondering what about ‘Suggest to Friends‘ option in Fan Page? This is a good feature but requires delicate use. I don’t wish to mass-promote it or else its efficiency may be misinterpreted as a spamming tool. Use it when you think the time is right and not periodically with repeating invitations.

Now Is Your Turn

How do you promote your fan page from your personal account? If not, then how do you promote it outside Facebook? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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