Did you know that not all of the messages that you post to your Facebook business page may be observed by the people who have “liked” your page? Even if you have a lot of fans, your posts may be seen by only a portion of your fans in their newsfeeds. Why? Because the default setting for the newsfeed on your fans’ personal profiles displays “Top News”. If users want to see “Most Rec... Read More.

Last week LinkedIn announced that companies now have the ability to share news with followers of their LinkedIn Company Pages through Status Updates.  This ability has been given to administrators of the Company Pages, and the updates appear as coming from the company rather than the individual. [caption id="attachment_1315" align="aligncenter" width="701" caption="Share a status update as... Read More.

Small businesses often have limited resources, so they're looking for more cost-effective ways to build awareness, expand market share, and improve customer loyalty. Although the actual dollars to use social media may be lower than some other forms of advertising, social media is by no means "free" if done well, so it is critical to get involved in a way that's consistent, smart and creative. ... Read More.

A recent survey by Hiscox, the online insurance company (which I've noticed has been advertising heavily on LinkedIn), asked small business owners and leaders about their usage of social media.  They found that almost half of small businesses were not using any social media channels to promote their products and services. Hiscox's survey highlights: - 47% of respondents indicated they did n... Read More.

If you've been using LinkedIn for a while, chances are good that it's time to review your profile and spruce it up a bit. Here are a few tips to give it some extra polish and "findability". Customize your personal URL. Unless you like having a personal URL (or website address) for your profile that has a bunch of random numbers in it, take a minute to personalize it. A personalized URL looks... Read More.

As a small business owner or leader, you've probably wondered if you can possibly be heard above all of the "noise" in social media.   To address that question, I've come across a couple of interesting quotes from people who are widely regarded as experts in marketing.  Do you see the common theme in both? “We’re entering an era of reciprocity. We now have to engage people in a way that�... Read More.

Twitter recently announced that they are making a couple of changes to Twitter.com that will enhance your experience. Their first new feature is all about you.  When it's added to your account, you'll be able click on the new tab (@username, replacing @Mentions) and see which of your tweets have become Favorites, retweets or tweets directed at you.  You will also see your newest followers. ... Read More.

If you've been viewing other people's profiles on LinkedIn lately, you've probably noticed that those who have Twitter accounts now have a nifty new "Follow" button next to their Twitter @name. However, when you look at your own profile, you'll notice that even if you have connected your Twitter account(s), you don't see the same cool button.  The good news is that if you have already connected a... Read More.

You've started a blog for your small business, and you (or your designated writer) have been putting out some great content. However, no one seems to know that your blog even exists. How do you get the word out about your blog and get some people to read it? Here are 7 fairly simple and practical ways to share your blog: 1.  Start an account with StumbleUpon and submit your posts there.  S... Read More.

Klout.com is a measurement of your overall online influence.  This site calculates and assigns you a score (from 1 to 100) based on variables from the various social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Foursquare.  Klout also recently added Tumblr, Last.fm, Flickr and Blogger to its algorithm. It's easy to set up a Klout profile; you just log in with Twitter or F... Read More.