status.twitter.com: Where Twitter tells you what went technically wrong, if it was having an issue.
twitterbackgroundsgallery.com: where you can pick different backgrounds for your profile.
www.twitbacks.com: where you can pick different backgrounds for your profile.
www.twittergallery.com: more background options.
www.hashtracking.com: look up different hashtags and follow conversations and see results of hashtags.
There have been many news reports and articles written about people that are fired or not hired because of things they have written on the internet. Many different news channels have discussed whether or not it is ethical for Employers to look at your Facebook and other social media accounts to get a sneak peek into your personal life and other connections. It has been outlawed in many areas that employers can not ask for your passwords but that won’t stop them from looking publicly!!
Make sure your privacy settings are set correctly. Facebook LOVES to change the rules regularly. When in doubt, don’t post it!! If it’s slightly questionable and you’re job hunting, it may be best to not post it. Same rules apply to Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and etc…
Here are a list of Mashable articles that may interest you and go into more detail:
mashable.com/2012/07/30/social-media-fired
mashable.com/2012/05/07/facebook-like-fired
mashable.com/2012/08/26/complain-boss-facebook
There is nothing wrong with repeating tweets from your blog posts. Your followers may have missed it the first time or two. Please keep the posts current and spread out the repeat tweets. Don’t repeat tweet within a short time frame.
If you wrote the blog post over a year ago and if any of the content is outdated, please write a new post with current, updated information and tweet that. Leave the old post in the past. Seeing tweets about a 2 year old post where the content is not longer accurate looks bad on you. Same for posting the same post multiple times a day for a weeks and months at a time. It’s annoying and can cause you to lose followers.
So, if you are like Michelle and are being forced into the Timeline format in Facebook, you are probably confused and frustrated. It seems to be a reoccurring theme to change some of your settings, primarily who can view your posts. Here is how you find out who is seeing your posts!! Note the circled areas. The people icon means that your friends can see the post. If it is a STAR, then ONLY your “closest friends” will see the post. If you have no one in your closest friend list, then no one sees it. To change the existing posts (the smaller circle) that may not be displaying to your friends, hover over the friend icon until the tiny arrow shows up to the right. Click on that and change your preference.
You can change your setting permanently (until Facebook decides to change it for you… again). Click on the tiny arrow next to “Home”. Go down to “Privacy settings” and click on it..
Once in “Privacy Settings” click on on “Friends”. Friends well allow everyone you are friends with to to see what your post. Public means that EVERYONE (even complete strangers) can see your post. I only recommend that setting for your name, profile photo, and maybe your education (if you want to connect to your old school mates. If you don’t care about your old school mates, then keep that private too!!
Social Media can be overwhelming. you can simplifying them (Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In) by using a tool such as HootSuite.
The great thing with HootSuite is that you can type out a single post and that 1 post can be posted in multiple locations. 2nd: you can create posts in advance. Spend an evening writing 3,4,100 posts, walk away and poof - they appear over the next several days, week or month!! 3rd: they have videos - lots of videos - that help you learn how to use it. 4th: It’s FREE if you use 5 “feeds” or less.
There are other sites out there that will do the same thing. HootSuite is the one that has been recommended to me by many other social savvy people.
Facebook: One key thing that seems to be skipped over a lot is… If you are on your PAGE as your PAGE, click on the the home icon at the top of the site. That is the “wall feed” for your BUSINESS, not the “stupid feed” as one of my clients likes to call it otherwise known as your profile wall. Using your business PAGE to like, comment and share other pages’ content, will increase your page’s presence and potentially getting you more likes. NOTE: the only pages that you will see while doing this will be the pages that your PAGE “likes”.
To “like” a page by your business, go to that page and click on the tiny arrow next to the “like” and” Message” button. Click on the tiny arrow and select “Add to My Page’s Favorites”. Also, if you are still in Facebook as your page, you search for the pages you want to like and click the like button.
Pinterest is great for business too - as long as you use for more than business!! Think of Pinterest as visual bookmarks that you can get to from ANY computer (that also posts to Facebook (personal) and Twitter). My wedding photographer friend, David Abel does a beautiful of mixing it up.
Twitter is more involved than the other previously mentioned medias, however it is also a great place to find information related to your business. Start slow to get the hang of it and once you learn how to navigate the “jungle”, grow. Keep your business and personal accounts separate. Follow related or similar companies and inspirational people. If you are a Mary Kay consultant, why not follow Bobby Brown and other famous make-up artists. I follow Dave Ramsey - talk about a smart cookie!! HootSuite is great for helping to tame the beast of Twitter. Talk to me if you want to learn more. NOTE: Don’t feel bad about “unfollowing” someone on Twitter. Some post WAY too much and belong in Twitter jail (which is a real thing)!!
WordPress is a great blogging system that is user-friendly. To add plugins go into your control panel of WordPress. On the left-hand side, you will see “Plugins”. Click on that, next to the title, click “add new” and search the kind of Plugin you are looking for and install!!
My Top Favorites!
Akismet (requires some registration)
Share Post
Google Analytics
After you install the plugins. Make sure to activate them. To Activate the Google Analytics plug in, Click on Settings, then Google Analytics. Add your analytic code, save and your a done!
HootSuite basics. It’s pretty cool and very helpful!
Foursquare is yet another social media that has a lot of users. If you are part of the crowd that has heard of it and aren’t sure what it is, here is a quick description. You “follow” your friends who are also on foursquare and see where they go, literally. You can check into different places - gas station, house, bar, office, bank, highway, etc. You get points for “checking in” and earn “awards.” “Tips” can be left by anyone, anywhere and are made public.
BUT!! If you are a business, you can “claim” your business on this social network and whenever someone checks in at your business, you can offer your customer a special. One restaurant that I checked in at offered a free appetizer to the “Mayor” (the person that has checked in the most at the location. Mayorships are public). Express Auto Center in Chester is currently offering $5 off any service if you check in. Just show your phone to the person at the counter, and you’re done! Discount is given! When your customer checks in, all their “friends” see the check in - YOUR BUSINESS. If you sync your Am-Ex card with foursquare, then you get discounts at many different businesses, like Panera Bread Co.
I call foursquare a low maintenance social media. As a business owner, you don’t have to pay attention to it until you are ready to change your discount, if you want to change it at all. I also think that it’s user-friendly.