Tag: facebook

Posted on

Why does facebook show my location wrong?

This is related to cell phone towers and your phone’s location services accuracy instead of facebook actually.

I’ve seen this happen around Lexington showing people as posting from “Catnip Hill.” There is in fact a cell tower located off of Catnip Hill Road in Nicholasville (city next to Lexington for those outside the area) but that tower provides that location information for people who are posting while on that cell tower’s network … even when they are in fact in Lexington. “Little Georgetown” is another mistaken location people in Lexington often get.

Basically to have a shot at getting this changed, you have to improve the accuracy of the phone’s location services in order to possibly get a more accurate location. Scroll down to “Improve GPS accuracy” on the following page and see if these instructions help (iOS 8):
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203033

This may or may not fix it. If it does end up helping now but then later you have a problem again, you may want to restart your phone. I’ve seen phones that haven’t been restarted in weeks hold onto old location information longer than they should.
If you’re posting from your computer then it has to do with location information being sent by your ISP (or your VPN) and I really don’t know any easy ways to correct it from that or the answer is going to be more specific to those services.

Good Luck!

Posted on

15 minute Social Media Primer {worth sharing}

From After the Jump Episode 84, a quick primer on using or getting started with social media (facebook, twitter, instagram etc!)  http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/episodes/6587-After-the-Jump-Episode-84-Social-Media-Primer

afterthejumpcover170x170Listen to more from the After the Jump podcast series via:
itunes  || stitcher  ||  rss

Posted on

Facebook contests and promotions
{quick reference}

Facebook Rules for contests and promotions:

 

Option 1 (not recommended):
Least techy option for running a facebook contest / promotion:

(NOT recommended because you are more likely to make a mistake and get your facebook page deleted)

For the facebook page post:

<insert general call to action text such as “like this photo for a chance to win”>

By participating in this promotion you agree to the Official Contest Rules:
<insert link to contest rules facebook note>

Disclaimer: This Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. By participating, you hereby release and hold harmless Facebook from any and all liability associated with this promotion. You are providing your information to the Sponsor and its affiliates and not to Facebook.

For the Facebook Note that contains your contest rules: http://www.rocketlawyer.com/document/contest-rules.rl

Option 2 (recommended):

Use a facebook app that covers more of the details and process for you. Decreases your chances of violating 

Our top picks for contest apps:

  1. Rafflecopter
  2. Punchtab

Where this gets confusing for many people is the actual implementation on your facebook page if you are not already familiar with this process.

Don’t forget about including your contest somewhere on your website such as on your blog and other outlets like twitter, linkedin, and google+. 

 

Recommended reading as well as more contest app options: 

Posted on

Scheduled Facebook posts / Twitter Tweets

A great easy example of how I use scheduled facebook posts / tweets using hootsuite would be for the Southland Association and Southland Jamboree as pictured.

Hootsuite scheduled posts / tweets

I agree that not all posts/tweets should be automated but there is also a time and place for automation. Some social media experts would argue with me on this because social media should be social! I agree, but that doesn’t mean you can’t automate certain things!

You DO need to remember that you scheduled posts and adjust where needed. Example scenario: rained-out outdoor event. If you know early enough you should delete the automated post and post about the cancelation.

If say you aren’t sure, it might be wise to add a post about when the rain-out will be called. Example: “We’ll post by 6pm whether the event is rained out or you should bring your rain boots with your chair to catch some great bluegrass music!”

Scheduling can be a great tool, just don’t abuse it. 🙂

Posted on

Local Search ecosystem chart

Local Search is an important part of developing a good search engine marketing plan for many businesses.

Local search is especially important for small businesses and locally owned business that rely on a lot of walk-in customers. For example: restaurants, hair salons, co-op groceries, home decor, chiropractors and gift shops just to name a few.

This is a great chart showing the connections between various local search resources.

local_search_ecosystem downloaded March 2013

Source: http://getlisted.org/resources/local_search_ecosystem.pdf

Posted on

Social Networking – mini blogs and blog replacements

I had a somewhat random thought the other day … facebook, Google+ and twitter in a sense are partially replacing blogs and RSS feeds. Not entirely but to a degree.

People using rss feed readers for blogs hit a peak or market saturation because using one is a choice and it’s a bit tedious because it IS highly configurable. And because it’s one more thing to keep up with as posts sit out there as unread until you read them or tell the rss reader to “mark all as read.” And without an RSS reader like Google Reader, people tend to be able to consume fewer blogs by visiting site by site.

Facebook / G+ / twitter allow everyone and every business in a sense have a mini blog for events and products and announcements. And because the display is realtime, people tend to read only what is right in front of them and current instead of trying to play catchup to things that are older

No, I’m not saying RSS is dead. That’s far from the truth. It’s just that there are a wide variety of opportunities out there from both a publishing and consumption standpoint.

Also note that influencers still utilize feed readers. I still use Google Reader. There’s no way I could consume as much info as I do without a feed reader.

Related articles:

 

Posted on

Requesting that a small business or entity not spam your facebook wall

There are times when you know something is just flat out spam. There are others where you might want to give someone the heads up that what they are doing is spammy before taking that extra step and reporting them.

Letting them know can be a somewhat difficult task to do in a kind way so I’ve written up a reference to use in these cases.

“I just wanted to give you the friendly heads up that posting your <insert business / band / organization etc> events weekly directly on the <name of page> page/wall is not good facebook etiquette.

It’s one thing to <insert acceptable use example> but it’s another thing when it looks like you’re posting <repeatedly / all of your events / whatever they have been doing that’s spammy>.

It’s a fine line to walk. And I do understand that at times, facebook’s interface does in fact make it fairly confusing.”

It could use a better close, but that’s what I sent. I may come back to this and add a better close … or if you have a recommendation please feel free to add it in the comments below!

Posted on

Short Social Media Checklist:
Converse, Connect, Create

  1. CONVERSE: Social media is ideally a conversation.

    • Reply: reply to comments made to you. Drives me crazy when I post a question only to find out that the person never responds to anyone. You may not need to respond to all questions (see the definition of “trolls”) but don’t neglect responses completely.
  2. CONNECT: Review recent posts by people you are connected to. Set a time limit if you find yourself spending too long on this step.
    • Comment: Are there any posts that you can comment on? Answer questions? Ask questions? Say how cool something is?
    • Re-Share: Are there any posts that you think other people following would enjoy reading? Local events that need to be shared? Industry news?
    • “Like” / +1: Maybe someone has a great picture of a sunset or something else you enjoyed seeing but doesn’t really require a comment. Let them know you liked it by hitting that “like” (facebook) or +1 (Google+) button.
  3. CREATE:
    • What did you do today that’s interesting? (Don’t post about your cereal unless you work for a company that makes cereal please! If you REALLY don’t have anything interesting to say, it’s ok to go a day without posting!)
    • Do you have any events, milestones to share? Upcoming to announce or events you just wrapped up. Some goal you achieved?
    • Do you have a photo or flyer? Visuals often draw people’s attention.
    • What is special about this? Don’t just share what, share something that’s interesting and unique about it if you can.
    • Is there a WWWWWH? Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.
    • Is there a question you can ask? You want to engage people, remember, it’s a conversation.
If you don’t have time to do all of this, don’t panic. Just do something regularly – don’t over think it too much.
Disclaimer: We don’t want any political gaffs so when I say don’t over think it, if you think you would offend your mom or it needs to be a private post, don’t post it. Also if you wouldn’t say it to the person’s face, don’t say it.
I recommend focusing on positive “I like” instead of negative “I hate” posts and responses.
Also, if your business is larger you may need more tools and to focus on more like best times to post and scheduled announcements or reminders. This is just a checklist to help get you started.
Worth repeating: Social media is ideally a conversation.