Last week our team from Ulistic met with the great folks at MSP University in Garden Grove, California.  Together, we started to carve out what will become an awesome relationship.  MSPU is one of the leading managed services firms globally and the clients they work with are market leaders and enjoy the fruits of the hard work. I have personally known Erick Simpson and Gary Beechum for a number of years, they are rock solid guys and the entire team at MSPU is built on the same core values Gary and Erick bring to the table.

During our chat last week we got looking at Facebook Marketing and how businesses can leverage Facebook to market their offerings.  It is no secret that Facebook is growing.  Their recent partnership with Microsoft BING has shot Facebook up to the 6th most popular search engine.  One in Four page views on the Internet is Facebook related and the average person spends anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour on Facebook each day.  Still many question Facebook’s effectiveness in the market place.

During our time with MSPU, a number of ideas were discussed, but it was this fact amongst all the others that kind of surprised me when I stumbled upon it.  There are almost as many Facebook users in California that what there is in the entire country of Canada.   This is no secret really, we have heard for years that there are just as many people in one state in the US than what we have in Canada.  15.4 million Facebook users in Canada and almost 15.5 in the entire state of California.  What does this mean for business?

Does marketing on Facebook now make sense to your business?

If you look at the numbers closely, the 15 million or so folks from either California or Canada represent about 50% of the population.  That represents a good portion of the Canadian or Californian landscape uses Facebook.  Pretty impressive.

Are you leveraging this to get your message out there?
How can you use Facebook to market your business?

There are many ways to do this from Pay-Per-Click or Pay-Per-Impression ads, Facebook Pages and regular interaction with people.  Engagement with folks on Facebook, talking with your community, the people in your network and simply serving the market.

Do you need to know more about how to create a Fan Page that sings?
Want to know how to engage with Facebook?

I invite you to reach out and let’s have a chat about how you can use Facebook right now.

There are a number of opportunities and Facebook can be another important channel for you to help with your marketing.  You know the old saying about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION or what Wayne Gretzky has always said “skate to where the puck is going, not where it is”.

Need a hand to figure it out…visit my Execute On Facebook or Marketing On Facebook page and take the first step in creating a marketing strategy for Facebook today.

Hot off the presses…I pulled this off of some newswire stories today.

According to PCWorld’s Carrie-Ann Skinner, Facebook is reconsidering some it’s privacy settings after a backlash from their members.  Maybe not so many changes, but making privacy and controlling what others see in Facebook easier for the average user of Facebook.

Carrie-Ann included a quote from a Facebook representative in her article “We’re working on responding to these concerns. Watch this space”.  Privacy commissioners here in Canada and privacy groups in the UK have called Facebook privacy settings “unacceptable” and are on a rampage against the US-based social networking service.

Privacy specialists are lobbying Facebook for an opt-in vs. an opt-out policy for who sees what with your information on Facebook.  Some Facebook users are even threatening to take extreme action on May 31st, 2010 by deleting their accounts if Facebook doesn’t fix their privacy.  You can share your intention to quit Facebook by signing up on quitfacebookday.com.  Funny thing, according to Facebook, they added 10 million new users since the uproar on security first was reported.

Once again, I need to remind or caution you all that if you wouldn’t email a photo or even share it face-to-face with someone..then posting it on Facebook is also not a good idea.  When you elect to post something to any online service you must practice “sensibility”.  This goes for posting, sharing, status updates or anything that could be used against you.  Almost sounds like a court of law.

But, Facebook is just the whipping boy this month.  I still remember when Microsoft was the whipping boy for all the security holes in Windows…have we forgotten about Windows.  Next month or some time down the road it will be another program or social networks turn in the spotlight.  Maybe it is Twitter or LinkedIn’s turn next.

How can you test your Facebook privacy settings?

There is an answer for all of you who are concerned about your Facebook privacy settings and don’t understand how to lock everything down.  There is a great website and serve that does all the testing for you and ensures your Facebook account is properly secured.

Are you interested in testing and then ensuring your Facebook privacy settings are set correctly?

I stumbled across this interesting site today that helps you determine you level of privacy online.  Check out reclaimprivacy.org and test your online privacy. When you hit the reclaimprivacy.org site, read the instructions very carefully and run their tool against your Facebook privacy settings.  The service will offer up recommendations to tighten up your Facebook security and actually fix them for you.

Give it try to see if you have any privacy holes that need filling.

Does Facebook ever stop being in the Canadian news?  I am sure the guys at Facebook head office would wish the Canadian Privacy Commissioners office would just go away.  But, maybe the PR is something they enjoy as well.

Last week I shared with you some information I found in the Calgary Herald on the Canadian Privacy Commissioners latest challenges with the online giant, Facebook.  There is a buzz in the Canadian press right now on Facebook privacy, not sure if it actual real news or simply propaganda generated by the Privacy Commissioner’s office.

Here is what I think about this whole privacy debate.  Facebook still has never come to my Calgary home and put a gun to my head and said “Open an account or die”.  Even since I have been in the States they have never tracked me down to go through this registration ritual.  It is a total voluntary thing.  You open an account, you understand the risks associated, you agree by reading the terms and conditions…and away you guy.  You click upload, you click “like”, you click “share”….you do things, they don’t do things on your behalf.

Why the big mess about Facebook?  I haven’t seen any news in the US Papers this week about Facebook and privacy.  Is it only a Canadian concern?  Perhaps, is it valid…of course to some who have kids and perhaps they share every bit of information about what they are doing online.  Just like many, I am  disgusted that some pervert would take Facebook pictures of kids and post them on some website for him and his buddies to enjoy…but is that a fault of Facebook?

Actually, in a recent Facebook article from Vancouver Sun reporter Gillian Shaw, many online services are mentioned, not just Facebook.  Flickr and the list goes on.  Can Facebook tighten their security, of course…so can Microsoft, Apple and everyone else in the IT world.  But remember, you don’t have to be on Facebook to survive in today’s world.  You still elect to open your account.

I do recommend that you put online the files, pictures or status updates that you feel comfortable with.  This is what you get with a free service.  Want more security, want more privacy…it is time to open your wallet and maybe fork over a few dollars per month to ensure you have the heightened security you are comfortable with.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook has been quoted in the papers and stating he doesn’t believe in privacy.  I think privacy in the free online community is long gone as well.  No one wants to take ownership of privacy, so they leave everything wide open…it is the wild west in the social media world today.  I think we need to get over it or simply turn off the computer.  Like I said, no one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to create an account, post pictures and share information.

Here is an interesting email that came from a friend in the nursing industry in Ontario.  Their licensing agency is also concern professionally about the whole online world…driving professionals underground!

Unfortunately being a nurse and being out here on a public forum don’t always go together. The College of Nurses, the regulatory body, that issues our licenses to us each year sees our professional and private lives as a bit of a grey area, especially when it comes to social networking.  It is for this reason that I have decided to merge my two face-book accounts. I have one under my pen-name and one under my birth name. Now they’ll both be under my pen-name.

Where do you stand with this whole online privacy thing? Would love to hear what you have to say?

After successfully clearing Homeland Security at YYC this morning, enroute to Dallas for a couple of days with the Heartland Tech Group (HTG) peer group meetings, I noticed a headline in this morning’s Globe and Mail.

Facebook users risk blackmail, privacy czar warns

It looks like Jennifer Stoddart is one the warpath with Facebook once again (Read the Globe and Mail article).  I am confused by her stand against Facebook and the privacy of Facebook users data.  Facebook, like many other social networking sites are not forcing people to sign up for accounts or even volunteer information.  Facebook membership in Canada is not mandatory, you have a choice not to sign up.  Besides your name, email address, birthdate (which is used to verify those 13 and over) and gender information, I can’t think of any other information that I don’t have an option to share, not to share and even hide from those I don’t want to share it with.

I am confused with Canada’s Privacy Commissioner on why she would be overly concerned.  Facebook is not a bank where personal information is required to confirm your identity and where your money is managed.  I believe there is more risk in all the non-protected computers running without anti-virus software and even those who fail to patch their Windows computers each month than risks with Facebook.  There is more risk to security from people who still send credit card numbers via email.

I am not saying you don’t need to be vigilant, you always need to be on guard with everything you do online (even on Facebook).  Hackers, virus writers and script kiddies are turning to Facebook, Twitter and other online social media sites as vehicles to spread their worms and other malicious code to unexpected users.  Just like email, always practice caution, even on Facebook.

Application programmers which link their third-party apps to link into Facebook are now (according to the Globe and Mail article story) able to store your data forever instead the 24 hour period once enforced.  What data, your bank accounts, letters to mom, your MP3 collection…what data are they talking about – the pictures you put on Facebook.  I am sure that there is some acknowledgement in the terms and conditions prior to installing or participating in these activities.  Who is at fault if you fail to understand the T & C’s. I don’t think it is Facebook’s issue.

Here is a simple tip for Facebook users who don’t want their photos and other information shared, don’t put them online.  Sounds simple.

Haven’t we been through this before?

Once again, Facebook is not a substitute for picking up the phone or other forms on social interaction.  You don’t have to sign up.  Facebook membership is not mandatory in Canada.

Here are some of the terms and conditions, relating to privacy on Facebook – notice the remove or do not add warnings throughout the text below.  Read more about Facebook privacy.

This section explains how your privacy settings work, and how your information is shared on Facebook.  You should always consider your privacy settings before sharing information on Facebook.

Name and Profile Picture. Facebook is designed to make it easy for you to find and connect with others.  For this reason, your name and profile picture do not have privacy settings.  If you are uncomfortable with sharing your profile picture, you should delete it (or not add one).  You can also control who can find you when searching on Facebook or on public search engines using your search settings.

Contact Information. Your contact information settings control who can contact you on Facebook, and who can see your contact information such as your email and phone number(s).  Remember that none of this information is required except for your email address, and you do not have to share your email address with anyone.

Personal Information. Your personal information settings control who can see your personal information, such as your religious and political views, if you choose to add them.  We recommend that you share this information using the friends of friends setting.

Posts by Me. You can select a privacy setting for every post you make using the publisher on our site.  Whether you are uploading a photo or posting a status update, you can control exactly who can see it at the time you create it.  Whenever you share something look for the lock icon.  Clicking on the lock will bring up a menu that lets you choose who will be able to see your post.  If you decide not to select your setting at the time you post the content, your content will be shared consistent with your Posts by Me privacy setting.

Connections. Facebook enables you to connect with virtually anyone or anything you want, from your friends and family to the city you live in to the restaurants you like to visit to the bands and movies you love.  Because it takes two to connect, your privacy settings only control who can see the connection on your profile page.  If you are uncomfortable with the connection being publicly available, you should consider removing (or not making) the connection.

Gender and Birth Date. In addition to name and email address, we require you to provide your gender and birth date during the registration process.  We ask for your date of birth to verify that you are 13 or older, and so that we can better limit your access to content and advertisements that are not age appropriate.  Because your date of birth and gender are required, you cannot delete them.  You can, however, edit your profile to hide all (or part) of such fields from other users.

Back to our topic of the day…

One of the questions that consisting percolates its way to the top of the FAQ pile is around looking professional on Facebook.  There is no doubt, Facebook’s popularity has shot through the roof with more and more people coming online to hook up long-lost friends from school, people who they have worked with and yes, even a small bit of business occurs on Facebook.

More and more companies, large and small are now setting up Facebook pages and groups to enables them to have another conduit to those who maybe interested in what they have to offer.  I still believe Facebook has a small bit of some merit with business.  I encourage everyone to look at their business goals and really have a crystal clear vision of who they want to do business with and once they know this, where do they hang out.  Is it Facebook?  Perfect, carry on…if not, let’s look at other places.

One tip I would like to share with you today is around your Facebook URL.  When you setup your personal account and your Facebook Page, you will given a URL with can look like this:

http://www.facebook.com/yourname/5848596854

Are you aware that Facebook provides you the ability to customize your URL?   This allows you to dump those nasty numbers that no one will ever remember which normally appears at the end of your facebook.com URL.  Here is an example using my own personal page and my own account on what you can do.

http://www.facebook.com/stuart.crawford.calgary – My personal Facebook account

http://www.facebook.com/stuartrcrawford – My Facebook Page

For your personal account or company page, it is easy for you to set up something like this.  To accomplish this goal, you simply need to navigate to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and set the vanity URL (web address) that suits you.  Caution, once you set the URL, it is not an easy task to change it and you may not be able to.  Choose wisely.

How many Facebook Page invites do you receive in a day?  If you are like me, you ignore more than you accept.  Facebook Page SPAM is on the rise people…don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It seems this craze is impact many of my business colleagues here in Calgary and throughout the global business community.  Everyone seems to be creating pages on Facebook these days.  However, one very important question needs to be asked.  Are they being used to drive people to your marketing website or are they something that is simple “nice to have”.  An even more important question is this, is your Facebook Page increasing opportunities in your sales pipeline?

I am only addressing serious businesses right now, there are many examples where Facebook Pages are great and I am sure there are some business success examples, but just like the latest MLM craze to hit your doorstep, Facebook Pages are a FAIL for many small businesses.  Your community group, church organization or association is where I see a need for this type of online marketing or community building platform, but not your small business or least, don’t put a tremendous amount of your focus on Facebook pages.   Let’s focus on your small business and what matters the most to your survival, bringing value to the market (which a Facebook Page can do if done right) but eventually you must convert people into serious prospects which generate revenues and profits.

The jury is out on the effectiveness of Facebook Pages.  However, the nice thing about Facebook Pages are they are extremely easy to set up and once setup, if your social media consultant is on the ball require no attention at all.  Feeding your blog, RSS feeds and any other type of information directly into your page is totally doable.  Like I said “set it and forget it”.  Did you notice I said “feeding your blog posts”, your blog posts feed into your page and your fans share your posts. It can become viral.

Another good thing about Pages are as a marketer, you can send messages directly to your “fans” if you ever need to share information.  Also fans don’t have to be Facebook Friends either, they simply become a fan.

I still doubt their overall effectiveness for the average brick and mortar business.

What success have you had with a Facebook Page?  Please feel free to share your story.

Calgary  Business Facebook Pages worth mentioning:

• Calgary Entrepreneur and Business Professionals
• Stuart Crawford – Calgary Social Media consultantt (little self promotion)
• Clic Readers – Magnetic Eye Glasses
• Chestermere Real Estate

Don’t spend more than 10 minutes a week on this, if you are, you are spending too much time on Facebook Pages.

“Dad, we just call it Facebook, it is only you adults who label it with that stupid term” he went on to tell me.

You know something, that son of mine is a pretty smart kid!  An old guy like me can learn lots just by spending a day with my youngest son.  You know the kid, quiet but when he says something, it is full of knowledge and intellect.

Yes, Facebook is just like my backyard BBQ on a warm summer day.  As I look around I have friends from back home, friends from my military days and yes some business friends…and even the uncle that no one speaks about publicly. You know something, it is not a complete business tool, Facebook is a tool to socialize and learn the personal side of life.

Sure, I know some of you are saying that you have had success advertising on Facebook.  Facebook does have a place, if you have a product geared to the commercial market or you are doing some market research, perhaps Facebook is somewhere you need to be.

When I consult with clients as a Calgary Online Marketing Specialist,  I offer advice on having a Facebook Page as a tool to share there daily going ons, heck, even I have one.  Here is the trick…AUTOMATION.  I rarely update my Facebook Page manually it is completely automated.  This is what I share with my clients.  Set it and forget it.

I am working on several presentations over the next few months and they will be around a topic entitled “Life After Facebook”.  Where can someone serious about building a business turn?  Well, I have some thoughts and Facebook has nothing to do with it.  It is strategy, it is prospecting….more to come.

My blogging has been pretty light this week, some of you may actually be happy about this.  It is simply because we have an abundance of proposals and training sessions going on this week.  In the past week Ulistic has brought on two new mentoring clients in the US, working with firms in Houston and Seattle and most recently speaking to another firm in Tampa about how we can help them win new opportunities with effective online marketing strategies.  Combine this with our local obligations…well it is amazing and we are very blessed to say the least.  I simply love to serve those companies interested in learning more about how their business can prosper by leveraging online marketing.

I started a Facebook debate on Wednesday evening around the “Social Media Expert” topic.  For those who follow my blog know that I absolutely detest those who claim to be social media experts and have no business substance or experience to support their claim.  This Facebook discussion focuses around those who claim to be social media experts however lack business acumen on how social media can actually fit into their business model and the actual goals of the corporation.

Want to the join the discussion, visit Stuart Crawford Facebook profile to join in.

Who said Social Media was for teens or kids?

Well the importance of social media in the business world took a huge leap forward.  Google on their official blog announced they will be showing real-time search results for Facebook information such as your fan pages.  It appears this will only be US-based for now, however once it starts gaining some momentum I am sure it will spill across the border to us here in Canada.

Real-time search results was released in December and so far it is showing up on a number of searches.

Here is an example of Google real-time search in action.  Searching for the Canadian Hockey Team on Google today showed some very interesting search results in real-time.

Social Media services are now critically important for your business.  Especially with this integration of search results from services like Twitter and now Facebook now showing in Google search results.  What opportunities is your business missing?  If you are would like to learn more about Canadian search engine optimization for your business give me a call at 403.775.2205.

To learn more about Facebook and Google search, check out the official Google blog.

Over the past three or four days, I have been a very busy boy, preparing lesson plans for our upcoming Ulistic Social Media Workshop in Calgary on Feb 25th. 

The entire team at Ulistic is pretty pumped about serving our community with this course.  It will be a good one, that is for sure. I’m also really looking forward to meeting the 20 or so people who have signed up for our kick off workshop; there are some old friends, and some new names, on the roster.

This is one of the first steps in what we are calling “changing website ‘havers’ into website owners”.

Helping business owners become website owners

I hear it everyday during my travels around Calgary, and the same stories hold true as I criss-cross the country.   Many small business owners admit that they simply own a website, and that it could go down for days without them noticing. This website was made by someone (maybe the kid down the street) who vanished as soon as the site was put together, and hasn’t been heard from since. The truth is, these website “havers” have no idea how this marketing investment is performing, how many visitors they get daily, or how many of those visitors are converted into leads.

Our goal with the entire team at Ulistic is simple. We are here to help business owners realize that it is time for them to take ownership of their web presence, and shoot for real and measurable objectives with their web marketing. This is the mission of our team at Ulistic for 2010.  We have a great challenge in front of us, but I know we can do it, one business at a time.

Over the next few days, I would like to share my own recent insights, as I craft the lesson plans for next week’s Social Media course. The world of Social Media, especially in my new role as a social media consultant in Canada, is a very exciting place, and it is wonderful to focus on something that I love. But what really excites me is helping my clients with their particular challenges, and introducing them to the right people.

One thing is for sure, there is still a tremendous amount of confusion around how these social technologies and services can help a business owner grow their business. This is where I stumbled for a while, until I actually figured it out, and I think I have figured it out. Over the next few days, I will share what I have learned in a series of blog posts.

Social Media is not Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn

Like the phrase says, “social media” is just another way of getting your message out to a potential audience, just like “print media”, “television media”, or “radio media”.  With some social media technologies, it is very much like television or radio — a spray and pray approach, hoping someone heard the message.  However, with some social media technologies, your messaging can be razor-sharp, and targeted.  So in my opinion, social media is the art of crafting a message, and using the services and technologies available to get the message out there.

Social Media is not about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube. These services are simply the technology of the day, and they will change, the same way word processing software went from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word, and now to Google Apps (for some). These rapid changes in technology are the reason why you still need the computer fix-it guy. Although we will continue to write letters and emails and use a lot of what we learned some 10 years ago, some people have learned new tricks, while some have not.

When TV changed from rabbit ears to cable, it didn’t make an immediate change to the message. However, as the technologies became more advanced, bringing satellite and online TV into the spotlight, the way broadcasters targeted their audience improved. Today, even though the beer commercials are essentially the same, and the the funeral home commercials are essentially the same, new technologies have allowed them to pin-point their target audience more accurately.

Stay tuned for more…