Almost Savvy » Tips

Top 5 Signs Your Business Should Not Be Using Social Media

Irene Koehler — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:59:32 +0000

Beware the hidden dangers of social media.

Social media is all the rage. All the cool kids are using it; at least, that’s what the cool kids on the internet are telling us. The number of businesses on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube is mind-boggling, but the real question is how many of them are using the tools wisely?

If you own a business, work for or with businesses, I’m sure you’ve heard from nearly everyone you know that you must be using social media. The pressure to jump into the game immediately, plus the perception that social media success is both free and easy, have led many businesses to make very visible mistakes online. A poorly constructed and executed social plan often leads to results more problematic than had the business done nothing at all.

How many businesses have we all seen have their efforts undermined because they failed to recognize the signs that they weren’t prepared? The good news is that we can all learn from their mistakes, a few of which have led to…

Signs Your Business Should Not Be Using Social Media (Yet)

1. You Like It Because You Think It’s Free

Your primary reason for wanting to use social media is that you think it’s the “modern” way to send your promotional messages out to large numbers of people all at once with very little cost and effort. Perhaps, you’ve sent out promotional postcards (a.k.a. junk mail) in the past and are now looking for a more cost effective way to reach more people. If this is your primary activity online, you are not a marketer. You are a spammer.

2. You’re Obsessed with ROI

You are under the impression that you must know the precise ROI (Return on Investment) of your social media efforts before you begin. Using digital platforms successfully to build community, relationships, and trust is an iterative process. It is, and should be, a strategic approach beginning with thoughtful first steps, followed by measuring the results and adjusting things where appropriate.

Anyone who tells you that if you do X [some social media task], you will achieve Y [specific number of Facebook fans, % increase in sales, etc.] is blowing smoke in your direction. Did you calculate the ROI of the telephone or the company car before you invested in them? Did you know up front how to connect those investments to the bottom line? Of course not, but you knew they were important to the business and you have continually evaluated your use of them to maximize their value. Understanding exactly what you want to measure and how to measure it takes time. Don’t expect to have this completely nailed down before you even begin.

3. Meet Your New Chief of Social Media: The Neighbor’s Kid

The kid spends all day on Facebook anyway, so it makes sense to let him handle all of the social media for your business, right? Plus, you don’t need to pay him. He’s happy to put in a couple of hours a week just to have access to your swimming pool in the summer. If this is the direction you’re heading, or a similar plan to assign the task to a student who will work for peanuts <ahem, intern>, I encourage you to do some research and consider finding someone who is qualified to guide your efforts. Spoiler alert: Being able to tweet or post photos to Facebook from a smartphone doesn’t count as a qualification.

4. Set Up Your Social Accounts, Watch the Money Roll In

You’ve heard the stories; a bookstore (or was it a coffee shop, no wait, it was a computer company, or was it a magazine, it’s so hard to remember) set up a Facebook Page and six weeks later had 2.5 million Facebook fans and increased sales by 420%.

Stories are just that – stories, not reality. Here’s the truth about social media: It’s not magic; it takes work. It is not a “set it and forget it” proposition. Like most things in life, success comes with focus, competence, passion, a unique vision and, yes, work. In fact, simply setting up pages and then letting them go stale without any activity can do more harm to your brand than had you never set them up in the first place.

5. Your Business Sucks

Incorporating social media tools into an overall business strategy definitely offers important opportunities which wouldn’t have been possible any other way. That said, investing in social media will not save you if your product or service, uhm, sucks. If your customers or your employees aren’t happy, adopting social media will not save your sinking ship. Social media provides a larger platform to be who we are and amplifies the voices of those talking about you. If whatever you’re selling doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, it might be best to focus your efforts on fixing that problem first and tackle social media once the business sucks a little less.

If these signs describe your view of social media, take heart, you aren’t the only one. Too many are under the impression that going online is a sure-fire way to boost business with little to no effort. If you take the time to really understand the benefits, risks and best practices (or partner with someone else who understands this), you could well be on your way to building the kind of online presence that suits your business best. It won’t happen overnight, but it can happen.

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Image courtesy of upyernoz

How to Find and Ban Members in Facebook Groups

Irene Koehler — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:40:37 +0000

Seemingly stealth group members. You know they're there, but you can't find them.

Today’s post is written specifically for those responsible for managing a Group on Facebook. Facebook Groups don’t get as much buzz as Facebook Profiles (soon to be known as Timelines) and Facebook Pages. Still, there are many wonderful uses for Groups. I belong to many, including some business, community or family related.

Serving as an Admin of a Facebook Group can be incredibly easy or a huge time commitment, depending on the size of the group and how closely the group’s content is moderated. There are many considerations in managing a group, but today’s post will focus on just one. More specifically, it will focus on when reasonable efforts to carry out that one task don’t work as they should, resulting in frustration for group members and Admins.

When a group member interacts inappropriately in the group, it is often up to the Group Admin to remove them from the group. What constitutes inappropriate conduct certainly varies from group to group, but may include anything from spamming the group to posting hateful messages. Removing and banning that person from the group should be an easy task, with should being the operative word. It should be only be a matter of finding that person on the list of group members and removing them with a click of the mouse. The problem is that, for some reason, finding the name you’re looking for on the list of members is very often impossible.

If you aren’t able to find their name, it is impossible to remove and ban them from the group. Or, is it? The good news is that there is at least one workaround. It takes a bit of time and you’ll need Google Chrome to make this trick work. If someone is really taking advantage of the group and annoying members with their posts, it just might be worth your time to watch this video to learn how to do this yourself. (If you’re an experienced Group Admin and very comfortable jumping right to the nitty gritty details without much of the context, you might want skip ahead and start watching at around 7:00.)

You may also view the How to Find and Ban Members in Facebook Groups video on YouTube.

Are you a Facebook Group Admin? Have any tips which you think would help others?

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Image courtesy of elycefeliz.

Facebook Sharing and Privacy Tips (Video)

Irene Koehler — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:14:41 +0000

If you’re a Facebook user, you’ve probably noticed a lot of changes, especially on the homepage where you see updates from your Facebook friends. What you may not have noticed are the significant updates in how you manage your privacy, along with other new features and changes. Facebook is a wonderful tool for connecting with family and friends, as well as your favorite brands and businesses. In order to get the most out of your time on Facebook and to use it safely, it is critical that you understand how it works and how you can customize your settings in a way that is comfortable for you.

In the video, I highlight a number of key points:

What is that Ticker on the right side of the page and why am I seeing information from people who aren’t my Facebook friends?
How do I mute certain types of updates?
If I’m seeing content from people who aren’t my friends, does that mean that people I don’t know are seeing what I post?
How do I customize my privacy settings so only the right people see my information?

The video is a recording of a live webinar from last week. If you’d like to be among the first to know about upcoming events, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here.

I’ve already heard from many people that they now understand how to did into their privacy settings and how to tweak their newsfeed after watching this session. Which tip was most useful to you? Please reply below to let me know.

Confused About Facebook Changes? (Free Webinar)

Irene Koehler — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:18:23 +0000

While it may seem that David Bowie is referring to Facebook when he sings, “Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes..” I’m pretty sure he had something else in mind. Still, the lyrics do include “Turn and face the strain,” which may be how you’re feeling each time you visit the site.

The good new is that you’re not alone. I’ve been inundated with questions like, “How do I…?” and “Where do I find…?” The even better news is that you’re now invited to join me online to uncover answers to your questions.

Can’t Beat the Price

By popular demand (well, demand is a strong word, it’s more like popular request), I’m offering a complimentary webinar on Tuesday, October 18. What does complimentary mean? Does it mean that you’ll be expected to offer me compliments? Well, no, though compliments are always welcome! It means that cost of this session is on me – it’s free to attend.

What We’ll Cover

We’ll touch on a number of important updates:

What is that Ticker on the right side of the page and why am I seeing information from people who aren’t my Facebook friends?
How do I mute certain types of updates?
If I’m seeing content from people who aren’t my friends, does that mean that people I don’t know are seeing what I post?
What is the new Timeline and is it replacing my Profile?
How do I customize my privacy setting so only the right people see my information?
And, more………

I hope you’ll join me in this live session on Tuesday, October 18. We’ll be covering some of the key Facebook changes and I’ll be sharing important tips you’ll want to use to manage your own account.

Reserve Your Spot Now

There are a limited number of seats, so be sure to register now by clicking here and save your spot. The session will be recorded, so if you aren’t able to join us live, go ahead and register anyway. This way, I’ll be able to let you know when the recording is available.

This session will cover changes you need to know about as an individual Facebook user. There is so much to talk about, we won’t be covering business use and Facebook pages. Even with that caveat, it’ll be fast-paced and cover a lot of territory.

What Questions Would You Like Me to Cover?

Will you be there? Let me know in the comments section below and tell me what questions you’re hoping to have answered.

If you enjoyed this post, sign up to receive free updates by email here so you don’t miss any future Almost Savvy social media updates and news. You are also invited to connect with others interested in social media on the Almost Savvy page on Facebook where we share news and tips.

Image courtesy of purplemattfish

10 Steps To Create An Awesome Google+ Profile

Irene Koehler — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:14:28 +0000

Once you sign-up for Google+, the first order of business should be to build your profile. As with any social networking site, your profile is your home base. It’s where you tell people what you’d like them to know about you. This is where you showcase the information you want to be publicly available when someone searches, or googles, you online. It is also the information others will use to decide whether or not to connect with you on Google+.

Before you begin, you must find your way to the right page in your Google+ Profile. If you previously had set up a Google Profile, it has now become your Google+ Profile. See the red arrows above to direct you to the correct page.

Get Started: Click on the ‘Edit Profile’ button to begin. You will then see that it is easy to click on any section you wish to edit.
Profile Photo: Select a photo to upload. You may want to review 8 Tips for Selecting the Right Profile Photo to help with your selection.
Name and Headline: Be sure your name is correct. This must be your own name, not the name of a business. Make sure to include a headline. It can be a mix of serious and fun, but use the space wisely.
Text Sections: The Introduction is important. What is the story you’d like to tell about yourself? As you write your introduction, you may want to include keywords which would enable you to be found most easily. While it remains to be seen how searchable Google+ profiles will be, we do know that Google will be giving some visibility to public content on Google+. I’d say that the Bragging Rights section is optional, but I’d suggest that professionals complete all or most of the other sections.
Employment: This tiny section is extremely powerful, though its power isn’t obvious at first glance. The information you add here will provide a window into what you’re all about to anyone who wants to make a quick decision about whether or not they’d like to connect with you or view your profile to learn more about you. Here’s how it works… If you see, for example, an insightful or witty comment I added to one of your friend’s posts and you wanted to find out more about me, you would hover your cursor (see red arrow in image below) over my name. By hovering here, you will see my hovercard (see inset box in image below). From this hovercard, you can instantly follow my public posts by adding me to your circles. All too often, I find that people have left this field blank. When their name appears in a discussion or I see that they’ve added me to their circles, I wonder, “Who the heck is this person?” and peek at their hovercard to find out. If I find no information on their hovercard, it is much less likely that I will circle them back. Make sure you put something meaningful in this section; not just your employer or name of your business, but also something about what you do there. If you are seeking employment, this would be a great place to highlight your skills or accomplishments.
Links: Any good online reputation or digital footprint is seamlessly connected. Make it easy for me to see where else I can find you online. Add links to your social accounts, blog, website, presentations, publications, videos, photos – anything you feel helps tell your story online.
Search Visibility: Now this is key. Do you want your Google+ Profile to show up in search engine results? For me, the answer is 1,000,000% yes because I know what a huge branding and visibility opportunity it is. If you are worried that this will mean that everything you share on Google+ will also be publicly viewable, don’t. You have complete control over each individual post and can easily share each item publicly, privately, or somewhere in-between. (More on sharing in an upcoming blog post. Be sure to subscribe at the end of this post if you don’t want to miss it.)
Formatting Text: In each text section, you have the ability to add links and format the text as best suits your needs. It isn’t mandatory that you do this and it is certainly something you can always revisit at another time, if you’d prefer.
Private vs. Public: Google has learned a lot about users’s desire for complete control over who can see their content and they’ve gone a long way toward allowing you to manage your profile privacy at a granular level. For each section, you will be able to determine who will be able to see your information. For example, if you added your telephone number in the appropriate section, but didn’t want everyone to be able to see it, you would select the Custom option and then might make it visible to only your Family and Best Friends circles.
Done!: Bravo, you’ve finished! Just click Done Editing and admire your work. See something you’d like to change? No problem, just click the Edit Profile button again and tweak away. You always have the ability to jump back in and make adjustments.

If you haven’t yet joined Google+, you can sign up here and to find out why your Google+ profile is an important branding opportunity, whether or not you’re using Google+, you’ll want to read this.

I’d love to see your Google+ Profile. Post the link in the comments below and I’ll add you to my Almost Savvy circle. I would be delighted if you added me to one of your circles to see what I’m sharing on Google+. Also, please share your tips you’ve come across about creating Google+ Profiles.

Thanks to S Sriram for capturing the screenshot of my hovercard for me.

How To Opt-Out of Social Ads on LinkedIn in 5 Clicks

Irene Koehler — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:05:33 +0000

UPDATE: LinkedIn changed the design of their social ads and posted a clarification to their policy. See below for the updated details.

Oh, how I love LinkedIn! I often speak and write about LinkedIn, as well as provide a great deal of training to help others get the most out of the most powerful professional networking site online. As much as I also adore Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn is still the one place to get started building your brand and career online. While some say Google+ may steal some of the professional spotlight away from LinkedIn, it is much too early to know if this will ever come to pass. For now, my statement stands: LinkedIn is the place to start when you’re ready to tell your branding story the way you want it to be told.

All that said, I’ve got to say that LinkedIn was wrong in this latest move. Sadly, those of us who live our lives online have become accustomed to hearing that we’ve been opted-in to sharing information we had no intention of making available to our friends, to applications or to advertisers. Facebook has a track record of irking its members in this area on a seemingly regular basis. But, LinkedIn? Surely they didn’t do this? Or did they?

Spoiler Alert: They did.

Solution Alert: Here’s how to fix it in 5 clicks. I can hear you thinking that 5 is a lot of clicks to opt-out of anything regarding privacy. You’re right, but here’s exactly what to do, step-by-step.

Hover your cursor over your name. You will see a drop-down menu. From here, click on Settings.
Click on Account.
Click on Manage Social Advertising.
You will then see a small box enabling Social Advertising. Click to uncheck that box.
Click Save.

You’re done.

This change was announced via a blog post on LinkedIn on June 23 of this year. How do you feel about how this change was implemented? Would you like to see future privacy changes on LinkedIn communicated differently?

UPDATE (8/11/2011): LinkedIn just announced a new approach to social ads today. I’m very happy with this new design and applaud them for their quick response to member confusion and frustration.

If you enjoyed this post, sign up to receive free updates by email here to be sure you don’t miss any future Almost Savvy social media updates and news. You are also invited to connect with others interested in social media on the friendly folks on the Almost Savvy page on Facebook where we share news and tips.

The #1 Reason You’ll Want to Use Google+

Irene Koehler — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:44:42 +0000

If you’re still wondering if you ought to bother spending time getting to know yet another social network, I’ve got one big reason you might want to give Google+ a try. It is clear that the team at Google thought long and hard about how people and brands use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and worked to incorporate the best features of all, while adding a few cool features we haven’t seen before. I’ll be addressing those features and how to get started using Google+ in the next few posts.

To keep things simple for the moment, let’s focus on the top reason you should care about Google+.

Google Search

I’m a huge Google fan. I use Gmail, Gcal, Google Voice and plenty of other Google products. Even if you aren’t using Google products like I do, chances are good that you’re using one…Google search. Google is the power player when it comes to online search. While there are many other search engines, Google dominates the field. Whether we’re looking for travel information for our next vacation or reviews and best prices for our next purchases, we’re probably searching on Google.

What’s that you say? You’re not interested in search engines and don’t see what that has to do with you? After all, you’re not all that into tech stuff. Fair enough, but I suggest that even if you think you’re not interested in search, you really are – you just don’t know it yet.

When a Brand Name Becomes a Verb, You Know Something Big is Going On

When was the last time you googled yourself? Do you know what information shows up at the top of the search results? Your current, past and potential employers, clients, and dates are googling you (oh, yes, they are) and you should be monitoring your online reputation and take steps to be sure the best information about you to be the easiest to find.

Google Gets to Make the Rules

How does the stuff at the top of the search engine results get to the top? Well, we don’t know exactly. How each search engine ranks content is a bit of a mystery:it is based on a proprietary algorithm, which is their own secret sauce. Google, Bing, Yahoo – none of them completely reveal the criteria they use to rank certain items higher than others.

It remains to be seen exactly how Google will incorporate content from Google+ into their SERP, but speculation is that it what we post and how others engage with our content (by commenting, for example) will definitely be a factor. Prior to Google+, my Google profile appeared at the bottom of the first page of search results. It now appears at the top, above even my own website. That makes Google+ pretty darn important right out of the gate. This make Google+ a critically important place to build a presence for your business or career. (Note that businesses are not yet allowed to set up profiles on Google+. Business profiles are expected to be launched in a few months.)

Does this mean that all the work you’ve done to polish and optimize your LinkedIn profile, Twitter, blog or website no longer matters in terms of what people will find when they google your name? Absolutely not. If Google were to no longer assign weight to your other online properties and engagement, it seems they’d likely have an antitrust problem on their hands. Don’t stop what you’re currently doing, but I do encourage you to either dive head first into Google+ (for those extremely familiar with Facebook and all it’s features) or approach it taking baby steps soon (for those who are still learning to use Facebook’s features).

Want an Invitation to Google+?

I’ve got a limited number of invitations left to share with my friends. If you’d like to sign-up for Google+ and learn as you go, you can grab an invitation here while they last. You’ll need to have a Gmail address to sign-up, but it is easy to create one if you don’t already have an account. Once you’re in, add me to one of your circles. This will enable you to see what I’m sharing on Google+. See you there!

8 Tips for Using Social Media for Political Campaigns

Irene Koehler — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:50:40 +0000

By now, most candidates for public office have figured out that incorporating social media into their campaigns is a critically important step. It’s the how to do this that escapes most of them. That’s perfectly understandable. The last couple of election cycles, much of this social media business was new. That was then, this is now. Your audience is very savvy online, shouldn’t you be, too?

First a note to the candidates:

You have my deepest respect and admiration for being willing to step up and commit to helping our community, state, school board, water district, transportation or other sort of infrastructure management body. Democracy is not a spectator sport and I applaud your willingness to spend so much time in the service of others, let alone spend the time it takes to just get elected.

That said…can we talk? Much of how campaigns have been using social media amounts, at best, to a waste of people’s time and attention, and, at worst, to relentlessly spamming your friends. Not only is this ineffective, you’ll likely be irritating some of your friends and supporters – and I know you don’t want to do that.

For the candidates (and those who love them), I offer a few tips for using social media to get you started:

Define your objectives: It’s amazing how often this step is bypassed. Do you want to use social media to communicate with your existing supporter base or grow your base? Do you want to raise funds, awareness or both? Knowing the answer to these question will have a lot to do with your strategy. I’ve seen campaigns hoping to grow (don’t they all?), but using the tools as if they only wanted to be in touch with an existing audience. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that the online community didn’t grown much.
Engage (a.k.a. It’s not all about you): Don’t just publish. If you primarily use these new channels to push out your “Come learn about me” events and links to your “Donate here” page, people will tune out pretty quickly. Don’t miss the important opportunities to talk with, not at, your audience. Doing this well will build your reputation and visibility.
Public vs. Private: Know what content (information, photos, etc.) about you can be seen online by the many (everyone) or by the few (close friends and family). Then, assume that it all can be seen by the many and plan with that in mind.
Connect the online and offline worlds: Most of your activities and content should have both online and offline components woven seamlessly together. This can range from posting photos on Facebook from an offline event to holding live events online allowing a large group the opportunity to interact in real-time, and everything in between.
Fish where the fish are: People want to hear from you where they hang out, not where you want them to be found. The fish are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube; not on your website. If you wait for the fish to come to you, you may be sitting alone with your pole in the water for a very long time.
Get a running start: It takes time to build real momentum, so start early. Sure, you can easily get a certain number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers in a short period of time, but will they be the right ones? Would you prefer to be connected to more people who don’t care about you or your message or fewer who are engaged and interested?
Damage control: Most people aren’t thinking about this as a top priority when they begin engaging through social media. We don’t really expect damage, so why would we be thinking about damage control? The fact is that, should something go awry or someone have something negative to say, it’ll be online in a heartbeat. If you’ve done a good job establishing your community online and have shown yourself to be authentic and responsive, you’re in a much stronger position to be able to respond to the situation in a faster and more credible way than had you not built your online presence so thoughtfully.
It takes work: Social media is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition. For some reason, many have the misconception that all that is required is the up-front work to set up a “presence.” In order for your online presence to work for you, it takes work – attentive, responsive, ongoing work. I’ve seen many people set up Facebook pages, encourage people to join and then allow it to go dormant, even when community members post messages or questions. This is akin to publishing your phone number, yet not answering when someone calls.
On a list of 8 tips, this important one comes at no extra charge: This may not be the best job for the intern or your neighbor’s son: I’m sure the intern and the neighbor’s son are delightful people. They might even be heavy Facebook users. Just because someone does something often doesn’t mean they do it well. At speaking engagements, I often use driving as an example. I know people who have been driving for years, but when I’m in the car with them, my foot instinctively searches for the brake pedal on the passenger side. They drive a lot; they don’t drive well. Understanding best practices, the nuances of various tools, social media analytics and the pace and etiquette of the different social platforms are not simple tasks. There is too much at stake. Find (or hire) the right person to help you leverage the potential of social media and taking your campaign online – where the fish are.

Running a campaign isn’t easy. It takes a dedicated team to develop and execute the campaign’s strategy. You don’t need a separate social media strategy. What you need is a good understanding of how to use social channels in a way which supports your campaign strategy. Understanding why this is important and how to execute this will go a long way toward having the candidate be every bit as compelling online as they are in person.

If you enjoyed this post, sign up to receive free updates by email here to be sure you don’t miss any future Almost Savvy news. You are also invited to connect with others interested in social media on the friendly folks on the Almost Savvy page on Facebook where we share news and tips.

How To Manage Your Online Reputation By Using Google Alerts

Irene Koehler — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:45:41 +0000

In addition to the wonderful feedback to my post last week about 3 Mistakes You’re Making Online, I also received questions about my third point – using Google Alerts to monitor your reputation online. While I know throngs of hyper-connected people for whom using Google Alerts is second nature, the fact is that this is a new tool for many people. If you’re part of the second group, I strongly encourage you to consider using Google Alerts. There are definitely more comprehensive and sophisticated tools out there, but this is the place to get started tracking what’s said about you online. Best of all – it’s free and incredibly easy to do.

What is Google Alerts?

Google Alerts is an extremely simple tool to help monitor what is said or shared online about any topic of interest to you. While you are undoubtedly interested in keeping up to date on industry-related topics, local news or your favorite sports teams, one of the most relevant topics to you should be you. This may include information posted online somewhere by you, someone you know, organizations or companies you’re affiliated with or public databases.

Here’s how Google explains the Alerts tool:

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Enter the topic you wish to monitor, then click preview to see the type of results you’ll receive. Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

monitoring a developing news story

keeping current on a competitor or industry

getting the latest on a celebrity or event

keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

Surprisingly, there is no mention of monitoring your reputation online, which simply is a must do step for every professional, business, non-profit and anyone who deals with other people who may want, at some point, to learn more about them. Really, who doesn’t this include?

Why should I bother?

Whether you know it or not, and whether or not you like it, everyone is looking you up online. You should assume that your current and potential employers, clients, customers, donors, friends, dates, family members and neighbors are typing your name into Google to find out what you’re up to, how much you paid for your home and to which political candidate you donated money. Sure, if you assume that everyone is googling you, you’ll be wrong in some cases. Still, don’t you want to know what they’ll be finding? You might be surprised to find out how much information is online right now about you.

In addition to monitoring your own reputation, it is also a simple way to keep an eye on what is being said about your company, your competitors, the company you hope to work for and so on. Don’t be the last to know!

Is it really that easy to set up Google Alerts?

In a word – Yes. Google has a simple guide to walk you through the steps, along with some helpful examples.

A few tips when setting up your alerts:

Use quotation marks when you want to get results for a specific phrase, as shown above for my name. Without the quotation marks, I will receive alerts for every instance online of when the words irene and koehler appear, but not necessarily together as in “irene koehler” and I definitely don’t want to receive emails for all of those thousands of pages which aren’t relevant to me.
Set up alerts for any nicknames or usernames you have on different online forums or social networking sites.
In addition to creating alerts for your own name and business name, consider creating alerts for your children’s names. Even if they’re young, you might be surprised to find their name listed online as a result of a soccer tournament or school activity. Set up alerts for your spouse’s name at your own risk.

Your turn…How have you found Google Alerts useful? If you haven’t used them before, do you plan to set them up now? Add a comment below to let me know.

Facebook Friend Requests: Accept or Ignore?

Irene Koehler — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:45:40 +0000

Everybody uses Facebook differently. Just like all of social media, there is no one right way to use it. Still, I’m often asked how I use it. One of the common questions about Facebook concerns friend requests. How to choose which to accept and which to ignore? My own criteria may or may not be a fit for you, but here’s my best attempt in articulating my very unscientific process:

I’m kind of picky

I currently have about 600 Facebook friends, which is probably too many for me. I think I was much looser in accepting friend requests early on than I am now. Part of this is due to my own learning curve and part due the evolution of my own idea of how I choose to use Facebook. This isn’t because I’m posting scandalous content that I don’t want people to see or that I’m having controversial conversations I’m afraid will rub people the wrong way. Anyone who knows me knows that I am incredibly dull and really don’t have much to hide. For me, it’s really a matter of where and how I want to have particular conversations and connections.

Not really a person

Have you seen Facebook profiles for organizations or businesses? They really should have set up a Facebook page, not a profile. Most of the time, the mistake is usually made due to a misunderstanding of the difference between pages and profiles. Still, there are many businesses which have done this intentionally as it allows them to directly contact their friends – something which can’t be done as easily from a Facebook page. I don’t accept friend requests from businesses, period.

No note

Do I know this person well? If not, it would be really nice to receive a note along with that friend request. This helps me to know (or remember) who the person is, how they know me and why they’d like to connect. Even if we have friends in common, if I don’t know you, if you are still new to me.

Friends in common

Speaking of friends in common, yes, I do often look to see if we have have some of the same friends. What’s more important than how many friends we have in common, is which friends we share. I know which of my friends are relatively selective about who they connect with online and which tend to connect with everyone on the planet. If our common friends are those planetary connectors, I’m less likely to accept a friend request.

Unwarranted compliments

Facebook friend requests that arrive with gushing compliments about how cute or sexy I look have zero chance of being accepted. Seriously, no one I know would actually say this to me (especially in a friend request). While these compliments tend to play to one’s vanity, I know full well that they are coming from spammers. (On a side note: It amazes me how many people are actually accepting these friend requests and giving spammers access to their accounts.)

Almost Savvy page on Facebook

The place where I most love to connect with people on Facebook is on the Almost Savvy page. For those who’ve come to know me through my blog, twitter, or at a speaking engagement, this is the best place to continue the conversation. The community on the Almost Savvy page is extremely friendly and helpful. It’s the best place to post any social media questions you have or share any tips. Like Twitter, the barrier to connection is virtually nonexistent. Anyone can join and participate. In fact, if you are reading this and and haven’t yet joined the page, why not do so right now by going here and clicking the Like button at the top of the page?

So there you have it in all its unscientific glory. Not exactly rules, more like general guidelines. How does this stack up against your own criteria when accepting friend requests?

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