Facebook has started rolling out another round of changes. Have you noticed the new “Likes” box on the left side panel of your Facebook profile?

The latest round of changes will cause major headaches for sophisticated users who must restructure their skillfully branded Facebook landing pages, while for less sophisticated users, these changes will do little more than raise some eyebrows.

I fall into the latter group of less sophisticated users. I have an analytic and technical background. However, I opt for simple business and social media marketing solutions, as they’re easier to understand and are often more robust.

Now, About Your Left Side Pane

Facebook is phasing out application boxes that can currently appear on the left side pane of your profile, and Facebook has diminished your usable page width within your custom tabs from 720 to 520 pixels on both your Facebook profile and Facebook page.

By phasing out application boxes, Facebook gains use your left side pane for new purposes, and by decreasing usable page width, the freed-up horizontal space enables Facebook to display the new left side pane from within all tabs, not just the standard Facebook tabs.

Clearly, the left side pane will be an important aspect of the newest version of the Facebook user interface.

Say Goodbye to the Facebook Markup Language

There will be a change in the way Facebook custom tabs are programmed. FBML will be grandfathered-in but will be replaced by a newer technology. According to Inside Facebook, the change will take effect by the end of the year, so if you plan to create new FBML tabs, keep that in mind.

My parting advice: Keep everything as simple as possible and don’t put all your social media eggs into one basket.

Subscribe to my blog and “like” my Facebook page. Your comments are welcome.

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Tags: Facebook

I just launched my second promote your self/cause social and business networking event on Facebook which will run until Monday, August 2. My January Facebook fan page event went viral and drew hundreds of participants. Many of them made valuable new connections.

How the Event Works

This social and business networking Facebook event is fairly simple. Here’s how I envision the event working:

1. Registration - You go to the Facebook event page where you RSVP that you’re attending.
2. Go to the Event - Then you go to my Facebook business page where the event is taking place. Note that the event is not taking place on the event page wall.
3. Join My Facebook Business Page - If you’re already a member of my Facebook page, fine. If not, click “Like” to join.
4. Post on My Facebook Business Page Wall - Write something informative about yourself, and if you like, attach a relevant link. You may post one time every day, but try not to write the same thing each day that you post. Don’t post religious, adult or highly controversial content.
5. Check Out the Posts of Others - Find posts that resonate with you. Make sure you scroll down and click on “older posts” to view any posts that have rolled off the page.
6. Leave a Good Comment - Usually, sharing a positive opinion and asking a question help to get a conversation going. If a conversation is already in progress, you can join that conversation. Always be kind and courteous, even when you disagree.
   
7. Follow Up - When you receive a comment, always reply or follow up in some other way like sending a private message, requesting to be friends or doing something you said you’d do. Effective follow-up is an essential part of both social and business networking, online or offline, and it’s where most wanna-be networking mavens fall short.
8. Promote the Event - Your help promoting our event will help make it more successful. The best ways to promote it are: sharing this blog post wherever you can and using the “+ Select Friends Button” on the event page to invite your Facebook friends. On Twitter, please use hashtag #11dayparty or click here for a pre-formatted tweet.
9. Concerns or Complaints - Contact me privately with any concerns or complaints using one of the methods in my connect page.
10. Stay Connected - If you aren’t subscribed to this blog, you can subscribe by email or via RSS feed.

Promote Yourself Here in a Comment

You may also promote your self/cause in a comment on this article and get a good dofollow link back to your website or blog site. However, I do have a few guidelines for you to follow:

• Rules #4 and #6 from the list above apply here, as well.
• Use your real name in the name box.
• Place your link in the link box, not in the body of your comment.
• Use at least one of the following words in your comment: business, networking, Facebook, event and page. It will help with SEO. Try to be natural and not force it.
• I reserve the right to edit or remove any comments, as always.

Now that all the formalities are out of the way, it’s time for the social and business networking on Facebook to begin. Let’s have fun and get to know each other.

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Tags: business networking, Facebook, social networking

I asserted in Social and Business Networking Evolving that the integration of offline and online social and business networking, along with mobile technology, will dominate the social space for years to come.

Since business networking sites first appeared back in 2003, offline and online business networking have remained dichotomous. Generally, we’ve networked either offline or online. Business networking participants who wisely bridged the offline-online networking gap were in the small minority. However, all that is changing.

Those people doing their business networking online have been learning the importance of connecting offline for building trusting relationships. At the same time, people doing their business networking offline have been looking online for ways to nurture relationships once a business event or meeting is over.

Still a Long Way to Go

Nevertheless, although we’re headed in the right direction, we’re a long way from from overcoming skepticism and from seamlessly joining offline and online business networking.

If you and I meet online, we can communicate by phone or by Skype. This type of offline contact can greatly improve the quality of our interaction. Then, if we’re not too separated by distance, we can meet face-to-face. We can also stay in touch online. This is the approach I take.

However, if you and I meet offline, we might never connect online. Neither LinkedIn, Facebook nor any other social or business networking site is open enough or prevalent enough for us to easily follow up after an offline business networking event or meeting. One or both of us might never even go online nor see the merit in keeping in touch online except for the use of email.

I’m confident we’ll gradually close existing business networking technology and credibility gaps. While we’re waiting, why not subscribe to my blog and leave me a comment?

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Tags: business networking, business networking sites

Business social networking flourished in ancient times. Anything you might have called technology had to have been very primitive. The now quaint Rolodex wasn’t invented until 1956.

With the invention of personal computers in the seventies,  people began storing contact information electronically using increasingly sophisticated software programs, such as Act!

Online Networking Emerges

Online social and business networking as we know it emerged in March 2003 when Friendster went live. I became a member of Ryze, my first business networking site, in November of that year. At age 51, I had become an early adopter of online social and business networking.

During the past seven years, countless social and business networking sites have appeared. In November ‘07, I started Online Social Networking in order to blog about effective use of these networking sites, which had already become part of the newer larger social media space.

Social and business networking sites are here to stay. The largest of the networking sites, Facebook, already boasts about half a billion users.

Social and Business Networking Changing

Although all savvy online networkers strive to take their online relationships offline, off- and online networking integration has recently become a major phenomenon with location- based social media, such as Foursquare, and offline networking sites, such as Meetup, gaining every day in popularity.

I predict that mobile technology and mixed off- and online networking will dominate the social space for years to come and enrich it in exciting ways.

I’m creating my own niche at the intersection of off- and online business networking, and I hope to be able to tell you about it soon.

If you’re new, please subscribe. Comments are welcome.

Tags: business networking, business networking sites, mobile technology, online social networking, Ryze, social networking, social networking sites

The main problem with Facebook groups is a problem that all online networking sites and offline networking groups face, insufficient engagement.

People find it easy to join a networking group but difficult to show up or to participate online or in meetings.

Facebook Groups Especially Problematic

One very serious limitation of Facebook groups is that posted content doesn’t appear in members’ news feeds.

This limitation doesn’t apply to Facebook pages and profiles. However, positioning and visibility of Facebook page and profile content on users’ news feeds is subject to Facebook EdgeRank.

Since content doesn’t appear in member’s news feeds, group members can only learn of new content or read that content if they happen to visit the group’s page.

Partial Solution to Facebook Groups Problem

Fortunately, this problem is partially offset by an important feature of Facebook groups. Moderators can send newsletters to group members that are delivered directly to their Facebook inboxes. Group newsletters can inform and help to increase participation.

Too many group creators use their group’s newsletters to spam members. Spamming members makes newsletters ineffective and kills any chance of getting members to participate. My advice is to keep members’ interests in mind when you mail them, not just your own.

Please don’t forget, you can broadcast newsletters directly to your members’ inboxes provided you don’t have 5,000 members or more, so limit the size of your membership.

That’s all I have to say about the problem with Facebook groups until you leave a comment.

And if you’re new, please take a few seconds to subscribe.

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Tags: Facebook, Facebook EdgeRank, Facebook Groups, social networking sites, SPAM

I recently discussed Facebook Groups as Alternatives to Ning Sites from a group creator’s vantage point. Here I look at ways you can get the most out of your Facebook Groups from a general member’s point of view.

Facebook groups are great for meeting new people and sharing your ideas and content. Facebook groups can also help you brand yourself if you use them right.

Following are 10 tips for maximizing your Facebook groups participation:

1. Join Facebook groups with the intention of gaining the maximum possible benefit from each group. Do not just click “Join” merely to display interest in a subject or cause.
2. Be prepared to give at least as much to the group as you receive, and in the end you’ll probably receive more than you gave.
3. Abide by each group’s preferences. Look to see whether discussion is taking place on a group’s Wall or on its Discussion Tab.
4. Visit your Facebook groups frequently, as your groups’ updates don’t appear in your news feed and may have insufficient EdgeRank to be appear if and when Facebook allows group content to show up in news feeds.
5. Comment on your groups’ updates and join the conversation. You may disagree with another member’s content or opinion, but please, exercise restraint and comment with respect for that person and the group. Sometimes it may be better to send a private message rather than discuss a delicate or personal matter in public.
6. Add new content to your Facebook groups that will interest other members and stimulate conversation. Include your personal take on the content.
7. Post your own content if it’s relevant, but don’t post your content exclusively, and be very careful not to spam the group.
8. Invite your friends to join the Facebook groups you belong to. Use your Wall, a group’s “Invite People to Join” link or private messages. However, only extend appropriate direct invitations. I’ve been extra careful when inviting people to join the Fabulous Baby Boomers Facebook group, because I don’t want to insult them in case they’re too young to be boomers.
9. Invite group members to be Facebook friends if and when it seems like a good idea. In the invite message, remind them how you know them.
10. Expect to receive bulletins from your Facebook groups. If your groups hold a Facebook Event or even an off-site event, do your best to participate.

These are Facebook groups I’ve created:

• Fabulous Baby Boomers - I’m a Baby Boomer. I admit it. This Facebook group is recommended for people who were born between 1943 and 1964 — or who wish they had been. Join us for a good mixture of fun and business.
• Enterprising Business Leaders - This Facebook group is for entrepreneurs and business leaders from all business sectors including not-for-profit.
• Social Media Enthusiasts - This Facebook group is for social media evangelists and enthusiasts at all levels of experience and skill.

Once again, if you have or will have a Facebook group, tell us about it in a comment below. You can also share whatever else you desire.

Oh, and before I forget, my new blog, Optimize Your Web Presence, is already up and running.

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Tags: Facebook, Facebook Groups

You post updates on your Facebook profile, page or group and want your friends, fans or group members to find them in their Facebook news feeds — and hopefully comment on them and recommend them to their friends.

Ever notice that much too often your posts don’t have the effect you desire? This result can occur for a variety of reasons:

• Few Eyeballs - The quantity of your friends, fans or members is small to begin with, and since few check their news feeds regularly, your posts go unnoticed.
• Relevance - Your posts are irrelevant or simply fail to resonate with your audience. They don’t appeal enough for people to engage them.
• Passivity - Many people lack the assertiveness or the focus to react to your posts or share them, even if they enjoy them.
• Low EdgeRank - Facebook buries your posts so far down in people’s news feeds, that they’re in-effect invisible. Facebook computes and uses EdgeRank to assess the relative importance of posted content. A high Facebook Edge Rank leads to visibility, while a low Facebook EdgeRank leads to obscurity. Your posts are competing with others, and a relatively low EdgeRank keeps them from appearing.

As Jason Kincaid explains in EdgeRank: The Secret Sauce That Makes Facebook’s News Feed Tick on Tech Crunch, three factors influence the EdgeRank of your content:

1. Relationship, i.e., your relationship with your potential audience as perceived by Facebook. The more you interact with Facebook users, the higher the EdgeRank of your posts, and the higher your posts appear on their walls. Facebook rewards you for building personal relationships. Invest time reading, commenting on and sharing other people’s content.
2. Engagement, the extent to which people engage with your post. A strong interaction will drive up your Facebook Edge Rank. Of course, someone has to see your post and react to it in the first place. This can lead to a Catch-22 situation. If necessary, send a message to some of your good friends in order to get the ball rolling. By the way, the most engaging posts are status updates that ask questions.
3. Time Elapsed - Over time your post loses EdgeRank, which makes room for newer posts to appear. No one post gets to hog the news, so keep your creative juices flowing.

Facebook values relationships between its members and engagement with member content. Give Facebook what Facebook values, and your EdgeRank and visibility will benefit. Use Facebook for pushing your ads or agenda, and your EdgeRank and visibility will suffer.

Please leave a comment, and if you’re a new visitor, kindly subscribe and join my Facebook page.

Also, I started a new group on Facebook called Fabulous Baby Boomers, and we’re looking for Baby Boomers to join us.

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Tags: Facebook, Facebook EdgeRank

I launched @WelkinCapital and a Facebook page for Welkin Capital Group, a top broker of residential and commercial mortgage loans, located in New York City.

The process is still fresh in my mind, so I thought it would be worthwhile to share a bit of my thinking about the Twitter part of it with you. I prefer to leave Facebook for another time, as I haven’t discussed Twitter with you in quite a while.

Here then are ten Twitter social media marketing ideas for you to consider when you set up a new Twitter business account:

1. Write Your Twitter Business Bio - Write a bio that is pleasant and easy to read. Use your principal keyword phrases so people searching for them can find your Twitter business profile. Appending your own personal Twitter @username will be appreciated by your visitors. For an example of this, please see @WelkinCapital.
   
2. Your Twitter Profile Link - Link to your website or blog. However, if you don’t have a website, or your website isn’t ready to receive visitors, consider using your LinkedIn profile or Facebook page instead. In any case, for best results, the page you link to should be relevant and well-designed – absolutely not a sales pitch.
3. Your Twitter Profile Picture - It makes sense on a business profile to use your organization’s logo. If you don’t have a logo, get somebody to help you create it.
4. Tweet Before You Follow - Add half a dozen well-thought-out tweets to your business account before you start following other users from it and before you start promoting it. Otherwise, you might look like a spammer, and that would be awful.
5. Feather the Nest - Follow the new business profile from your own personal account and ask your colleagues to do the same. Visitors will feel more comfortable following it if a few others have led the way.
6. Update Your Personal Twitter Bio - Since Welkin is in the real estate industry, I added “real estate” to my @larrybrauner bio. This will attract real estate oriented followers to my profile who will then learn about Welkin when I retweet Welkin updates. Use this strategy if it makes sense for you.
7. Promote Your Twitter Business Profile - Place links or widgets on your website, blog, social networking sites, etc.
8. Follow Targeted Twitter Users - Target Twitter users using Twitter Grader search, Twellow categories and Listorious Twitter lists, in that order. If you follow relevant people, and your Twitter profile is set up properly, most will follow you back.
9. Follow Back Relevant Users - Many Twitter users will follow you. Follow back those who are relevant. Ignore those who aren’t. They will unfollow you before long. Block obvious spammers.
10. Influence - Use your personal Twitter and other social media  influence whenever feasible to support your Twitter business account.

I hope you will find these Twitter tips helpful as you set up your new Twitter business account or enhance an existing account.

Please subscribe and comment.

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Tags: social marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Twitter Lists

Who wouldn’t want the kind of web presence that drives hundreds or thousands of targeted visitors to his or her web site or blog and converts them into customers or followers?

I’ve created that type web presence for myself. However, most businesses that try to build such a web presence fall short of achieving that objective. How about yours?

This a long article that covers a lot of ground. My hope is that this article and those articles and resources it links to will enable you to take a fresh look at your social media and web marketing program.

Over the past few years I’ve identified dozens of factors that contribute to lack of web marketing success, and in this article I discuss 25 of the most important ones:

1. Failing to Plan - Strategy must precede tactics. Taking action is easy, but will that action help you achieve your objectives? Do you know precisely what those objectives are? It’s imperative that you define your objectives and devise marketing strategies to help you reach them effectively.
2. A Flawed Plan - Including thinking too big or too small, e.g., with your keywords, quantity of social networking sites you employ or frequency of your blog posting. Be ambitious but realistic. Your time is limited. Make a plan that’s simple but not simplistic. Shama Hyder Kabani’s The Zen of Social Media Marketing provides an excellent overview of the planning process.
   
3. Ignoring Your Competition - Developing your plan in a vacuum without any competitive intelligence prevents you from learning from your competitors and identifying optimal marketing strategies and tactics.
4. Having Unrealistic Expectations - View social media and web marketing as a marathon, not a sprint. It takes a substantial amount of time to build credibility with your potential customers and with search engines too.
5. Not Focusing on Your Niche - The more focused your message, the more it will influence your target audience. Trying to be everything to everybody will make your website look like a patch quilt. I’m sure you’ve been to websites that look like menus at diners or aerial views of battle zones. You hit the back arrow and breathe a sigh of relief. Successful offline marketers know that a highly targeted ad gets the best results, even with those people who aren’t targeted by the ad.
6. Following the Pack - Don’t do anything solely because it’s trendy. Check new options at your disposal for consistency with your plan and expected return on time invested. You’ll need to rely mostly on intuition, but the more extensive your knowledge, the more reliable your intuition will be.
7. Not Optimizing Your Web Site - What good is a website that looks great yet is dysfunctional? It doesn’t attract any traffic. Search engines are confused by it. Or it attracts traffic, but that traffic doesn’t convert. The lack of web site results is so wide spread that business owners tend to be very skeptical about the web’s marketing potential. See 10 Easy Way to Improve Your Blog or Website and 10 More Easy Ways to Improve Your Website.
8. Optimizing for Search Engines Only - Some marketers optimize their web sites for search engines but fail to optimize for humans. The result: traffic that doesn’t convert. Optimizing “user experience” is more important than search engine optimization. SEO is only one of numerous ways to attract visitors to your site. On the other hand, all methods drive traffic to your website, and if that site is weak, your work is in vain.
9. Your Logo or Flash Dominates Your Website  - A constant battle! A client said he wants his website to have an upscale image similar to that of the fluffy Tiffany site. Will that work for him? He’s trying to build his brand online. The Tiffany brand was powerful before the web even existed. All they really need is a pretty site with product illustrations and a shopping card to help you spend your extra funds on beautiful high-end jewelry. However, let’s be real. If you’re not a Tiffany or an Apple, nobody cares as much about your logo or flash as you do. They want content to digest. They want to know what you can do for them and whether or not they can trust you.
10. Too Little or Lame Content - They say that content is king. I believe that is true. People are searching online for content. To succeed, feed people great content, such as text, video, pictures, podcasts, etc., and you’ll  gain positive recognition for your brand.
11. Trying to Spam the Search Engines - Search engines are smarter than you might think. Game them, and you’ll come to regret it. But, feed them lots of solid content, and over time they’ll send your web site thousands and thousands of targeted visitors.
12. Leaving Everything to Your Web Developers - Web developers are neither experienced marketers nor skilled copywriters. Check out Web Developers Don’t Know Social Media.
13. Making Bad Money Decisions - How about the following example? You spent tens of thousands to engage top notch social media and web consultants, but you don’t want to spend a couple of thousand on the new website design they recommend. Why not? Because that would imply that the money you spent on the original design was wasted. Am I missing something here? Tell me.
14. Not Hosting Your Website or Blog Yourself - Your website or blog is the core of your web presence. Should Blogger or Wordpress.com determine its disposition? Invest in a web hosting account — it’s not pricey. Learn how to use the Wordpress.org content management system to create and maintain your website or blog.
15. Not Building Yourself an Online Community - If you have doubts about social media or the power of your own community, Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk will make you a believer. Gary has built a community of wine lovers around his Wine Library TV brand, and his social media efforts have greatly added to the bottom line of his business, the Wine Library.
16. Not Engaging Your Community - To cultivate and nurture your community of customers and fans is a golden opportunity to connect with the people who matter to your brand.
17. Not Being Authentic - We live in an age of trust and transparency. Being who you’re not will set you apart from your competitors in a counterproductive way.
18. Not Integrating Online Marketing with Offline - Relying only on Internet marketing when you can achieve results offline as well, including driving visitors from offline to your website. Marketing offline is not dead.
19. Never Meeting People Face-to-Face - Nothing builds trust like an in-person meeting. If you’re in the New York area, let’s have coffee or do lunch.
20. Not Diversifying - Don’t put All Your Social Media Eggs in One Basket — nor all your other eggs.
21. Not Using an Autoresponder to Build an Email List - Most potential customers need to get to know your brand better before they buy. Keep in touch with them by letting them add themselves to your autoresponder newsletter or blog subscription list — even if you use RSS.
22. Not Touching Base Frequently with Your Email List - If you don’t stay on people’s minds, they’ll forget you. Then when you do email them, they’ll flag your message as spam. That in turn will hurt your ability to get your email through the filters of the Internet service providers.
23. Relying on Trial and Error - Keep reading. Keep learning. Trial and error is a luxury you may not be able to afford.
24. Never Seeking Help - A little help can save you from much trial and error and many hours of spinning your wheels but remaining where you are.
25. Taking Your Web Marketing Too Seriously - Lighten up. Make friends. Have fun.

Here are social media and web marketing resources you might find useful:

• Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
• Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani
• 31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Darren Rouse
• Building Social Equity free and premium social marketing videos
• Who’s Blogging What free web marketing newsletter and digest
• Web marketing articles from this blog and other archived posts
  

Wishing you success with your web marketing.

Please subscribe, leave a comment, click on some of my Facebook like buttons and share this article with your friends and colleagues. 

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Tags: Books, marketing books, SEO, Web Marketing, web presence

“You’ve got to hand it to Facebook. They certainly know how to do security — not,” wrote Steve O’Hear in Video: Major Facebook security hole lets you view your friends’ live chats on TechCrunch Europe last week.

Security flaws that exposed private chats and other private information to so-called “friends” have enraged many Facebook members and critics.

In Facebook needs to face the music, InfoWorld links this misstep and previous Facebook transgressions to the social networking giant’s plans to control the web.

More Facebook backlash is likely, but this possibility really doesn’t concern me very much.

My Key Facebook Concern

I am very concerned whether or not this incident will deter you from using Facebook for your social media marketing and digital public relations.

While many will use the Facebook blunder to justify their hesitation to market on Facebook, don’t you join their ranks. Don’t you let Facebook’s speed bump become your speed bump.

A Little Company Called Microsoft

How often has Microsoft released software that contained bugs and security glitches? Although their aggressive marketing has been held in check by anti-trust suits and fierce competition from Google and Apple, Microsoft continues to make billions and still dominates the PC niche despite a long history of computer software problems.

Please Ignore the Naysayers

My advice to you:

• ignore all naysayers, there will always be plenty of them
• get your Facebook page going and growing as quickly as possible
  
• attract lots of targeted followers to your Facebook page
• start your Facebook conversation and share your content
• build your brand on Facebook and all over the social web

Come join my Facebook conversation too!

Have any comments? The floor is yours.

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Tags: Facebook, social networking sites

You may already have a website or a blog, but do you have a Facebook page yet?

If not, you will before long. Nearly everybody will create a Facebook page. I’ll try to paint the big picture for you.

Facebook pages are the public side of Facebook and are fully accessible to search engines. They are free and easy to set up.

Facebook is continually making changes to their pages hoping to enhance their utility and value. In my opinion:

Facebook pages are part of a grand plan to dominate the Internet to a far greater extent than Google does today.

Once such change, seemingly minor,  is the Facebook page “Like” button that supersedes the  familiar “Become a Fan” button.

Facebook Introduces the Like Button

Facebook fan pages are now simply Facebook pages.

This notice appeared for the first time yesterday when I visited my Facebook page:

Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site.

Facebook Page Rationale

Facebook is changing more than just words or buttons.

Coming are Facebook community pages, which are going to be built around concepts rather than personalities or businesses. Facebook pages may also tie in to Wikipedia pages in some way. Will it not make more sense for people to “Like” community pages than to “Become a Fan” of them?

Consider this likely scenario:

Everybody and everything will have a home on Facebook pages making Facebook the largest website hosting service in the world.

Facebook’s Exquisite Revenue Model

All Facebook pages will be sponsored by ads as they are right now. Facebook ads work somewhat like the popular Google Adsense ads except for four key differences:

1. Facebook inserts Facebook ads at their discretion, not yours
2. Facebook earns revenue from the ads
3. Google doesn’t earn any revenue from the ads
4. You don’t earn any ad revenue either

Of course, Facebook could introduce premium services and, similar to Ning, let you to pay to:

• remove Facebook ads
• share in the revenue from ads
• use your own domain name
• turn nofollow links into dofollow links
• rank higher in their search results

Facebook already lets you pay to advertise and find people to “Like” your page.

Integrating Facebook Pages and Profiles

Facebook now also enables you to see which of your Facebook friends (if any, up to a maximum of 200) “Like” a particular Facebook page.

However, Facebook pages will become even more integrated with Facebook profiles and will serve to characterize each Facebook member’s interests and values. Facebook profiles will attract new members to Facebook pages, which in turn will attract others, creating a giant web of page and profile relationships.

Who wouldn’t want to have a presence on such a dynamic and connected Facebook?

Build Up Your Facebook Page

Can Facebook be prevented from dominating the Internet? Unless they commit a major blunder or suffer an extended outage, I doubt it. Consider the following five factors working in Facebook’s favor:

1. Facebook pages (enhanced and expanded)
2. An enormous and rapidly growing membership
3. Facebook Widgets (which extend Facebook’s influence)
4. Facebook Friend Connect (lets members easily log into other sites)
5. Facebook search engine ambitions

If you have a Facebook page, I recommend that you build it up. If you don’t have one, create one as soon as possible.

Please “Like” my Facebook page and leave a comment below.

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Tags: Facebook, Google

This is not the first Ning Social Network Controversy and probably not the last one either.

In Ning’s Bubble Bursts: No More Free Networks, Cuts 40% Of Staff on TechCrunch, Jason Rosenthal, the new CEO of Ning, revealed that his company will let go of staff and discontinue hosting free social networking sites –  both in an attempt to bolster Ning’s bottom line.

In an update on Ning Creators, Mr. Rosenthal wrote that Ning will cater to users of its premium services who “represent over 75% of our traffic,” and that he would announce the details of the changes on May 4.

To address the mounting concerns of Ning’s free site creators, he also wrote,  “We recognize that there are many active Ning Networks for teachers, small non-profits, and individuals, and it’s our goal to have a set of product and pricing options that will make sense for all of them.”

My Take on Ning

I personally have been unhappy and hurt by many changes to the Ning social network in the past half-year or so. Nevertheless, I want to make it clear that I completely support whatever Ning decides to do with its business.

After all, Ning exists to generate a profit and return on investment. If Ning believes that changes — no matter how radical they may be — are required to improve its service and increase its likelihood of success, Ning must effect those changes.

Many Ning social networking sites will close down rather than upgrade. I’ll be sorry to see some of them go.  However, there will inevitably be more broken links than broken hearts, since most free sites with active members will upgrade and pay.

I’ll close some of my own Ning networks that are providing little benefit and open other Ning sites.

Alternatives to Ning

A few good free alternatives exist for Ning site creators who prefer not to upgrade:

• SocialGo - Says on their website that their free social networking sites are “free forever.” It will take effort to get your network started again, but this looks like the best choice as of now.
• Facebook - A Facebook group isn’t a bad alternative. You’ll need to change your networking paradigm, but in the end, you may be able to attract far more members from within Facebook.
• LinkedIn - If your network is business oriented, a group on LinkedIn could make sense too.
• Ning - Start a group within a premium Ning social network. You already understand the Ning platform. If you can find the right home for your group, it will benefit both you and the creator of that Ning site, a win-win situation for both of you.

Let’s all wait until after May 4 to decide upon a course of action.

Have any thoughts about Ning or a good alternative to Ning you’d like to share? Please leave a comment below.

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Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, Ning social network, social networking sites, SocialGo

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