I’m pretty sure that Facebook will eventually allow Timeline to come to Pages.  We don’t know when or what that will look like.  However, it is clear that the use of  TABS for Pages is still the best way to start conversations. I’ve looked at, read about, compared, played with and analyzed these services Facebook Pages:

ShortStack.com – good for contests/sweepstakes but I found it rather cumbersome to use. –$15 a month

NorthSocial.com Great Aps, great service, helpful tips.  However, because my client has  over 5k fans it would  run $49 a month and that’s just too much for them.

Wildfireapp.com Fairly easy to use. The free HTML Ap can be used by anyone.  This service will allow one image for NEW fans and one image for folks that already LIKE the page.  The basic Promotion Builder will allow a contest and I’ve noticed several nonprofits use it. In order to have a custom header it runs $25 per promotion plus 2.99 per day of the promotion.

TabSite.com $15 a month  ($150 for 12 months) INCLUDES video embed, a new Sweepstakes plugin and Google analytics among other fantastic options at this low monthly rate.

I encourage you to use the free form to see about the interface before you purchase and then upgrade. You will see that  it is actually fun to use.

Hands down, I recommend that you spend the $150 to get the GOLD TabSite and start building tabs right away.

Mobile Friendly Facebook Tabs with TabSite

Here is the break down on what widgets for the Gold level

Here are all of the TabSite Widgets

Using TABS effectively will start to make your Facebook Page more dynamic and user friendly.

By using TabSite, any new changes to Facebook designs and policies will automatically be addressed by the 3rd party.  This makes me feel confident about being ready for any Facebook changes about to take place. This service went from 19,000 to 61,000 users in one year and I can see why.

We started using TabSite and our Post Feedback went up 167% in one week:
View the Nashville Symphony Facebook Tabs  or Mobile Version

Content management can be daunting, particularly if you have quite a bit of content to manage. The challenge that we face in the workplace of social media strategy is transforming that content into conversation.

Brian Solis compiled a list of  10 Steps Toward New Relevance  that I promptly sent to my colleagues as a reference point to my actions that are planned in the coming year.

It is difficult to get to know what people want to talk about without listening (a lot) and jumping in to start a conversation. The full experience of a full service arts organization like the one where I work, comes with a superabundance of material. Content includes the performances, the education, the community involvement, the lives of the artists, the work of the staff, the generosity of the volunteers, the brilliance of the management, etc.  All fine stories, but what do the people want to talk about?

We invest on the value of the content, it is now time to fully embrace the responsibility of innovative engagement. Bring value, acknowledging the experience.

When something is awesome, funny or horrible, people talk about it with their friends now on a viral scale.

• Are you a social media strategist? How do you engage authentic experiences?
• Do you use social media tools to tell your circle of influence about things? What calls you to action the most?

 Quick 3  posts saved on the Evernote not to miss:

-YouTube Redesigns Its Web Site to Promote Personalized Video Channels
-Facebook to Start Placing Ads in User News Feeds in January
-The New, New Twitter and What It Means to You and Your Business

photo credit

I read a recent post from Frank Emanuele on the Likeable Media Blog  about how easy it is to fall into a simple mistake when preparing your traditional media for new media users.

Over and over again at my workshops, I remind marketers and development personnel to add their Facebook and Twitter locations on their traditional flyers, print media, brochures, bus-stop signs, billboards, etc.  And, over and over again I’ve seen nonprofits and companies do this:

These are badges to be used online where people can click on them. They are calls to action when you are on the Internet and are fine to use and you obviously want to look for badges that fit your brand.

These are not helpful on the bottom of a menu in a restaurant or on a brochure.  When only in print form, these badges become assignments to do, like homework.  I don’t want to see this on a billboard driving down the interstate and then have to come home a search for your company in order to say that I like you… that’s not time that I have in my life.

Solution:  

• Join The Conversation @mytwitterIDgoeshere

• Get tips and share storys with friends on fb.com/myfacebookPageNamegoeshere

If you are planning an extensive hashtag campaign – just give me that, if I’m in your audience, I’ll know what to do.. heck it’s all over  my TV shows now.  Give me a hashtag I’m good to go. #carpediemtips

photo: creative commons

From The Female Farmer of Madison Creek Farms

No matter the platform of choice, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumbler, Vimeo etc etc etc., the focus on building audience and shaping conversation is solidly in the lap of one thing:  Content.

If you have great content, original or curated, you must be generating dialog that creates the action you are hoping for, right?  Maybe not so much.

I’ve been helping my clients understand that Content is vital. But in a great strategy, it is also about Context.  It’s pretty fun to decide what you want your conversation to be about and to lead people into that conversation. But if the people you have invited to the conversation find your content interesting, but not relevant to them.  They will bolt.

There are way too many other interesting shiny objects with other great content that they are being invited to check out. There is way too little time to spend on something that simply doesn’t matter. Or that your audience perceives, doesn’t matter.

It’s time to get subterranean with our communication strategies.  It’s not just the grass, it’s the grass roots we are looking for. The community you wish to engage is there, let’s be sure that our content is in context with what they are looking for to enhance their lives.

How are you keeping your content relevant and in context with your audience?

Random Art By Rômolo

I recently tried to design something for print on my own.

Silly mistake.

I can do some pretty clever things on Prezi and I can whip up a few things for on-line instruction.  What I don’t do well is print design. There are a lot of folks I know that are very good at it. I should have just let them do it. I whipped up a new business card on my own using Pages and a low-res image and .. baulk.  (They looked okay to me) Off they went to an on-line printer that I use for short orders; JakPrints .  My local printers, both union and not, have always done great work for my clients and me.  JakPrints was recommended for stickers to me buy the folks at Cool People Care and I’ve had them do all my sticky stuff ever-since. However, professional designers prepare the orders I usually send them. I just winged this one and, ick. (They looked okay to me)

First it was Ryan’s email – something like, “We received your uploads, your image doesn’t quite look right.”  He called me, like a real human being, and warned me that it looked funky and asked if “maybe I should try again and upload new files.”

Here’s the difference, other businesses may have just printed what I sent and it would be my fault when I saw them all pixilated and funky. JakPrints stepped in and told me what was wrong and gave me another chance. So I took it, I changed it and sent it a 2nd time.  Then it was Danielle, she sent an email that said that she stopped the print order because the image still looked funky.  Okay – Now I feel really stupid. I have been working with designers and printers since, well – since you had to go to a font shop and literally cut and paste the artwork to a board for the engraver. I hadn’t ordered a proof but she sent one anyway.  I was able to see the problems and try again.

I  got on the phone with Danielle today and I sent it a 3rd time. She not only said that it looked better and would print fine but she actually gave me a better version of it to choose.

I pledged to never upload files that I created myself again and Danielle and Ryan get gold stars for being the face of Jakprints in such a way that builds customer loyalty. I’ll still use local union printers, but when its time for stickers or business cards – I’m loyal to JakPrints !