Using Facebook More but Enjoying it Less?

08 Jan 2013 2 Comments

by Jeri Usbay in Facebook, Facebook Business Pages, Facebook Features Tags: , , ,

looking at fYes we are addicted to Facebook, we have admitted that to ourselves already.  We receive positive reinforcement whenever someone likes our comments or posts to our Timeline.  And we love all the love from the many birthday greetings.  The benefit of Facebook is that it connects us to friends, acquaintances, and businesses.  It is a great networking tool, but not when we miss posts, or have so many posts we can’t find the ones that are important to us.  Facebook is not as much fun when we start missing out.

If you’ve been on Facebook for a while, the number of friends and pages you’ve liked no doubt has grown to the point where you cannot possibly see every update from every friend and page.   You may already know that your News Feed is filtering all these posts – you are not seeing every post from every friend  and business you’ve liked.  How Facebook filters is their secret,  and it does change periodically.   What to do?

1.  Sort your  News Feed by  Most Recent rather than Top Stories.  You will see updates in the order they were posted, rather than by the order Facebook believes is most relevant for you.  Try it both ways and see the difference.  The option is on the top right of the beginning of your News Feed.  Once you set the filter to Most Recent it may reset to Top Stories,  so you may want to notice how you’re filtering when you land on your News Feed.

2.  Use the Pages Feed.  To easily see updates from business pages that you have liked, click on your Pages Feed  (left column of your News Feed).  You may be surprised at what you’ve been missing!

3.  Create a Friends list.  I really think this is the best way of controlling your News Feed, and easily seeing what is most important to you. Click on Friends from the left column of your News Feed, then Create List.    Enter a list name (e.g., Book Club, Gym Friends) add friends to the list, and when you click on Create, your News Feed will now be filtered by this list.  To see your full News Feed, click on Home or News Feed from the top left column.  Once you have lists you can just click on the list name under Friends (from your News Feed)  to filter your News Feed to see only updates from people on the list.

Note that Facebook has already created three friend lists for you:  Close Friends, Acquaintances, and Restricted.  (Put people on your Restricted list if you only want them to see posts you’ve made public.)  If you are on a friend’s Timeline and want to add them to a list, just click on Friends under their cover photo, and you will see an option to add them to an existing list (you can also create a new list here).

4.  Create an Interests list.  An Interest list will filter your News Feed by specific business pages or a combination of  business pages and friends.  Click on Interests from the left column of your News Feed, then Add Interests, Create List, and enter the people or pages you want on the list.  Interest lists can be private,  available to your friends, or public.  They will filter your News Feed as a Friends list will when you click on the name of the list from the left column of your News Feed.  If you are on a business page you can add that business to an existing Interest list or a new Interest list by clicking on Liked (beneath the cover photo) and selecting the option.

5.  Manage friend updates.  If you want to manage the updates from friends that you do see, go to their Timeline , click on Friends (under their cover photo).  There you will find an option to show or not show their updates in your News Feed, and if you decide you do want to see their updates, you can select which updates to see.  Does this guarantee you will see their updates in your News Feed?  I would not bet on it but it will eliminate updates you wish not to see!

6.  Be direct.   Of course you can always go directly to the Timeline of a friend or business.  This is the best way to make sure you have not missed any updates.

Once you start controlling your News Feed you may find you are on Facebook less and enjoying it more!

Small Business Wins Big with Facebook Pages

26 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by Jeri Usbay in Facebook Business Pages Tags: ,

If you own a small business it is possible that you haven’t invested in a website due to the cost associated with development and maintenance.  A quick and easy alternative is to create a business page on Facebook.  Here is why:

1.  A business page on Facebook is free – there is no yearly hosting fee, and no fees to create or maintain a page.

2.  You can create a username for your page (i.e. mypage) and now your business has a web address which is http://www.facebook.com/mypage.

3.  You can easily update the page yourself, you don’t have to hire someone to code or update your page.

4.  Facebook provides Insights, their statistics on user interactions with your page, again free which includes extensive documentation in PDF format.  Statistical data can also be exported.

5.  Facebook has great support for its pages, starting out with its help pages at www.facebook.com/help/pages.  To help you even more, Facebook has a video tutorial, at www.learnfacebookpages.com.

6.  As you accumulate fans (people who Like your page), your page automatically provides word of mouth advertising for you.

7.  What can you post?  Information about your products or services, discounts or other specials, new items that you may be promoting, links to topics of interest, polls asking customer opinions¸ and whatever else you may want your customers or prospective customers to know.

Note that more than half of the US population is on Facebook, but keep in mind that one does not need an account on Facebook to access a business page.  You can access a business page by using the page’s web address or use a search engine such as Google or Bing and type in the company name followed by “Facebook”. 

If you have any questions about Facebook business pages please leave a comment or email me at ju.coaching@gmail.com.  You can visit my Facebook business page at www.facebook.com/compcoach.

Keeping Up with Facebook Changes

07 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Jeri Usbay in Facebook, Facebook Business Pages Tags: , , , , , ,

Just when you think you know how to handle Facebook, is just about the time Facebook will publish an enhancement for you to figure out.  You need not be confused as Facebook does a fair job of documenting upgrades if you know where to look. 

If you become a fan of one or more of Facebook’s business pages  (listed below) you will receive updates in your News Feed that explain new features and how to use them.

Here is a list of Facebook’s own business pages that come in handy.   You can search for them by name (bolded below) when you are on Facebook, or even browse them when you are not logged into Facebook by using their web address. Better yet become a fan of these pages (by clicking on the Like button) to receive automatic News Feed updates on the latest Facebook news and features, and yes, Facebook issues too.  If you have a question or concern about using Facebook, these pages are a good source of information.  Of course you can always contact Care Computer Coaching, Inc. too (www.facebook.com/compcoach).

Facebook and Privacy – www.facebook.com/fbprivacy –  get the latest updates from Facebook on privacy topics, and watch the Facebook privacy videos on that page to learn more about privacy settings.

Facebook Security – www.facebook.com/security – will provide you with information on protecting your information on Facebook and the Internet.

Facebook Safety – www.facebook.com/fbsafety – will provide you with information on staying safe on Facebook and the Internet.  Additionally, www.facebook.com/safety is a new page, a family resource worth checking into and exploring, as it contains tips for parents, teachers, and teens.

Facebook (www.facebook.com/facebook) is Facebook’s own business page.  Learn about new Facebook features and keep up with Facebook news.

Known Issues  www.facebook.com/knownissues –  find out about ongoing or fixed Facebook issues.  This page comes in handy when you think you are the only one having difficulty!

And if you still haven’t had enough of Facebook yet, you can check out blog.facebook.com (no www in front).  This is Facebook’s official blog.

There’s even one more for you at stories.facebook.com (again no www in front).  Here you can read about how Facebook has touched user’s lives.  You can search for stories from all over the world by theme or location.  This site is worth visiting, just to see all the different surprising locations that Facebook is used across the globe.  You can even add your own story if you like.

Do you have your own business?  Do you have a business page on Facebook?  Check out www.facebook.com/facebookpages to find useful advice on managing and promoting your business page.  If you have a Facebook business page or are thinking about creating one, Care Computer Coaching, Inc. can answer your questions or help you get started.

We hope you’ve found this information useful.

Do you have suggestions for future topics?  Please leave a comment!

Using Facebook Without a Facebook Account

10 Jun 2011 2 Comments

by Jeri Usbay in Facebook, Facebook Business Pages Tags: , ,

 

You are watching TV and the program you are watching is encouraging you to check out their Facebook page, or become a fan of their page.   You turn off the TV and turn on the radio, and no matter which station you turn to, sooner or later you are asked to like their Facebook page.    

You see the Facebook logo, that white F on the blue background everywhere.   It’s all over print media advertising (check your junk mail), on websites, in stores, and yes sometimes even at the end of television commercials.    If you are a Facebook holdout, you may be wondering what this is all about.  

In addition to advertising, Facebook is in the news almost daily.  Sometimes there is a news story about the latest Mark Zuckerberg endeavor, new Facebook feature, or at least a human interest story, sometimes a happy one but not always.  Like it or not, for better or worse, Facebook has seeped into our culture.  

Facebook is now the most visited website in the US, surpassing Google.  A recent statistic from Arbitron and Edison research claims that 51% of the US population age 12 and over is on Facebook (despite Facebook’s age requirement of 13). Some people are addicted to it, yet many of us (49%) don’t have a Facebook account, and don’t want or feel the need for one.  Perhaps non Facebook users are curious, but have concerns regarding privacy, so they stay away.

If you are one of those Facebook holdouts, perhaps you should give in to your  curiosity, because you may be missing out on a valuable online tool, namely Facebook no account necessary, thank you.  Facebook business pages can be accessed like any other website.  For example, www.facebook.com/”company name”.   (Actually you don’t need the “www”,  just facebook.com works.)  Try going to your favorite search engine and entering the company or local business of your choice followed by Facebook and you will most likely find a link to that company’s Facebook business page.  Click on their Facebook link and there you go, you’ve just landed on the Facebook page for that business, without having signed into Facebook.   What may surprise you is the number of fans of the page (Facebook users who have clicked on the Like button). 

Why bother?    Why if you are happily not using Facebook should you check this out?  First, it may be easier to find information you are looking for on Facebook because the Facebook page format is standardized.  Every business page has at least a Wall and Info tab, additionally there may be Photos, Videos, Events, and Notes tabs.  (Think of a tab as a menu choice.) The Info tab is a template, so information I am looking for is always in the same place on each business page I visit.   If I need a phone number I know I will find it in the Info tab, toward the midddle of the page.  When I need to know a phone number or hours or events for my town, I head straight to the town’s Facebook page because I know where to find the information  immediately without hunting the town website.  If I do want to venture to the town website I can just click on the website link provided in the Info tab – so easy.   Second, you may be missing out on local events, programs, specials, or discounts that are being advertised via a Facebook Wall posting or Event posting.  Third, many local businesses may not have a costly website, but they might have a Facebook page because it is free.  How nice to find out store hours or event details without having to make a phone call! 

Now that you know a bit about Facebook business pages, next time you are on a website and see that white F on the blue background, click on it – it will bring you to that company’s Facebook page.

Having a profile on Facebook is a personal choice.  For those who choose not to become friends or fans in the Facebook fashion, know that you do not have to ban yourself from Facebook!  You can’t access personal profiles, but you can see the same events, wall postings, and information that Facebook users see on business pages.  You can’t get automatic updates from a business page as fan can, however you can bookmark (save as a favorite)  your pages of interest and easily check them out with just a click.  Hey, even if you do use Facebook, you can bookmark your favorite business pages and check them out without having to login.

Do you have a Facebook question?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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