There are numerous Facebook Privacy Settings that you can adjust to customize who you interact with and who sees your profile & wall posts on Facebook.  Before jumping to the settings, determine how you want to use Facebook:

• Do you want to use Facebook for business or just for personal use?
• Do you want to have a Fan Page for your business?
• Do you want to connect with people you know if they send you a “friend” invite?
• Do you want to post things on your personal wall & profile?
• Do you want to interact with only family and real-life friends?

How private do you want your Facebook profile and communications to be?:

• Do you want Facebook users to be able to send you a message through Facebook?
• Do you want people to invite you to be a Facebook friend?
• Do you want Facebook friends to post on your wall?
• Do you want clients/prospects to see what your friends post on your wall?
• Do you want clients/prospects to see what YOU post on your personal wall/profile?
• Do you want only certain categories of Facebook friends (college buddies, family, work friends, etc…) to see your wall?

Once you are clear about how you want to use Facebook and how private you want to be, you can adjust your Facebook Privacy Settings so they are inline with your level of comfort.  Click on Settings/Privacy Settings in the upper right hand corner of your Facebook screen and you’ll see a screen that looks like this:




Take time to look at each setting and determine what you want to adjust.  You can always go back and tweak a setting if you change your mind.

Before reading this post, did you know that you could adjust your Privacy Settings?  Have you had problems on Facebook trying to juggle clients, Facebook friends and real-life friends?  Leave a comment below and let us know.

Your Facebook Informant,
Kimberly Yow

Facebook Fan Page:  Social Networking 4 Biz

P.S. - I am a Facebook consultant & trainer and I help businesses get found on the internet. Subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or Email so you don't miss any free Facebook For Business Tips! @KimberlyYow

I was recently asked if I knew of an “automated” tool for getting a lot of Fans for a Facebook Fan Page quickly and easily.  The answer is “no, I don’t”.  And if there was one I’m not sure that I would even use it.

I truly believe that for a Fan Page to be effective, the page administrator needs to provide content that has value.  Depending on the administrator’s business and their target market, valuable content could be how-to tips, before & after photos, event postings, links to resources and articles about industry trends, etc…  Valuable content could also be things that are funny or inspiring.  It really all depends on what your target market wants.  If you give people what they want, the number of Fans on your Fan Page will organically increase as will the level of Fan interaction.

What is your target market looking for on a Fan Page?  Think about how you can give it to them before your competition does.

Your Facebook Informant,
Kimberly Yow

Facebook Fan Page Feedback
Facebook Fan Page Set Up

Facebook just launched another new feature.  You can now log in to your account using either your Facebook username or your email address.  If you haven’t set-up a username (a.k.a. vanity URL) for your personal profile, go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ to create yours.

From the Facebook website:

Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (“.”), for example — john.smith55.  It is important to note that a period (“.”) does not count as a part of a username; therefore, names like johnsmith55, john.smith55, john.smith.55, etc. all constitute the same username.

Usernames also must be at least 5 characters long. Usernames are not case sensitive. Facebook also prevents certain words from being included in usernames.

Once you set-up your username, people will be able to access your personal profile by going to www.facebook.com/yourusername.  Be sure to create a short username (preferably your real name) that is easy to remember so you can tell people how to find you on Facebook or use it as your login if it’s shorter than your email address.

You can also set-up a username for each Fan Page that you have.  You only need 25 Fans in order to claim a Fan Page Vanity URL.  Click link to learn more about this.

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

Have you seen a Facebook Fan Box on someone’s website or blog?  This blog uses the Fan Box Widget in the right hand column.  I also placed an enlarged, customized version of the Fan Box Widget on my website.  Click the link to see what the customized version looks like.

I love the Fan Box Widget!  It allows you to promote your Facebook Fan Page anywhere you can place html code.  When you set-up the Fan Box, you select whether you want it to show a live stream of YOUR status updates (it will not show posts originated by your Fans or comments) and/or icon photos of your fans.  I think choosing both are good because it allows your website/blog visitors to see a sampling of the posts on your Fan Page AND how many fans you have.  If they see good content and a decent number of fans, they are more likely to visit your Fan Page or click the “Become a Fan” button at the top of the Fan Box!

To create your own Fan Box, click on “Add fan box to your site” underneath your fan page logo/photo.  You can add the Fan Box to your website/blog yourself or send the generated html code to your web designer so they can add it for you.

I love my widget, how about you?

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

Did you know that Facebook has a new Twitter application which allows Fan Page Administrators to update Twitter directly from their Facebook Fan Pages?  The application allows you to determine which type of updates you want to “automatically” post to Twitter:  status updates, links, photos, notes and events or all of the them.   See example set-up screen shown below:

You’ll see from the screen shot that it shows which Twitter account your Fan Page is linked to and gives you options that say Edit Settings and Unlink From Twitter.  If you have multiple Fan Pages, you can link them to the same Twitter account or link them to separate Twitter accounts.

I already have this application set-up for my Fan Pages and it makes it very easy to post  additional tweets without logging into Twitter.  If you are importing a blog into Facebook through the Notes application, you will NOT want to post Notes to Twitter if you are also importing your blog into Twitter.  This would result in duplicate tweets.

This Facebook application can be accessed at http://www.facebook.com/twitter.

Another time saver…thank you Facebook!

Kimberly Yow
Facebook Fan Page
Marketing That’s Easy.com

The new tagging feature recently announced by Facebook looks pretty awesome!  Here are a few things I learned by using it.

Does the new Facebook tagging feature work from a Fan Page or a Group?
It works from personal profiles AND fan pages.  It does not appear to work from a group at this time.

How does it work?
You simply type the @ symbol in your status update and then select the item you want to tag from a drop-down menu that will appear.  It’s fast & easy!  You can tag friends, events, groups, fan pages, etc…

What happens if someone tags my Fan Page?:
If someone tags your fan page from their personal profile, a post will be created on your fan page wall that’s identical to what the person posted.  You’ll also see a link that says “view post”.  Clicking the link will take you to that person’s original post and you’ll be able to see any additional comments that were attached by other Facebook users.  (The same scenario happens if someone tags your personal profile.)

How can I use this new tagging feature from a business stand-point?
A couple of ideas:  1) If you practice the “givers gain” attitude of helping others, use the tagging feature to tag your friend’s fan pages, groups or events.  2) A couple of times a month, post an invitation from your personal profile for readers to join your fan page (or group) and be sure to “tag” your fan page/group so they have easy access to it.  3) Tag your own events.

So what do you think of the new Facebook tagging feature?  Let me know in the comments below.  Thanks!

Kimberly Yow
E-book:  How To Promote Your Business On Facebook…Without Alienating Your Friends!

Facebook just announced that they are adding a new way for you to tag friends, groups, events, applications and fan pages directly in your Status Updates.  This is another way you can let the Facebook community know who you are talking about and what you are saying about them.

So how does this affect a business that has a Facebook group, fan page or event postings?  I’m assuming that items tagged via a status update will appear in the home page highlights section thus giving the tagged items more exposure on Facebook.  If this is true, you could potentially tag your own groups, fan pages and events AND your endearing friends could also tag your items as a way of promoting you and your business.

Here is info directly from the Facebook blog:

Now, when you are writing a status update and want to add a friend’s name to something you are posting, just include the “@” symbol beforehand.  As you type the name of what you would like to reference, a drop-down menu will appear that allows you to choose from your list of friends and other connections, including groups, events, applications and Pages.  Soon, you’ll be able to tag friends from applications as well.  The “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update or post after you’ve added your tags.

Friends you tag in your status updates will receive a notification and a Wall post linking them to your post.  They also will have the option to remove tags of themselves from your posts.

Exactly how this feature will work and the benefits that it will produce remain to be seen.  Facebook will be rolling this feature out over the next few weeks…you may not have access to it yet.  One way to check is to start typing a status update and use the @ symbol.  If a drop-down menu appears, your account has the new feature.  If it doesn’t appear, try again in a few days…

I will post additional information on this blog or my Social Networking Facebook Fan Page as it becomes available.

Tag…you’re it!   How do you think this new feature will benefit your business?

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

The history of the Facebook Fan Page Vanity URL – Fan Minimum:

June 13th:  Facebook started allowing users to claim a Fan Page Vanity URL if they had a minimum of 1000 Fans.

Facebook announced that the 1000 fan minimum would be lifted on June 28, 2009.  (I thought this meant the new minimum would be zero.)

June 27th:  I noticed that the Facebook website said there was a minimum requirement of 25 Fans.

June 28th:  Facebook suddenly changed the Fan minimum from 25 to 100…just minutes before Fan Page administrators would be logging on to claim their Fan Page Vanity URL!  Here is the exact text from the Facebook website as of June 28th:

All Pages created after May 31, 2009 or that had less than 1,000 fans on that day will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009 if they have more than 100 fans.

I’ve checked the Facebook website numerous times since June 28th and the Fan minimum was still 100 Fans.  I think I even checked on 8/31.

September 8th: OMG!  I checked again today and the only info I could find on Facebook said the Fan minimum was 25 Fans!!  I have a client who has a new Fan Page with 52 Fans.  I tested the fan minimum with his Fan Page…and guess what…I was able to claim a Fan Page Vanity URL for his page!

If your Fan Page has 25 or more Fans, go to www.facebook.com/username to claim your Facebook Fan Page Vanity URL before someone else does!

Sometimes vanity can be a good thing…LOL.

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

On Friday, Facebook officially announced its web page dedicated to Facebook Widgets.

The Facebook Widget Page showcases two Badge widgets that are linked to your Personal Profile and can be placed anywhere you can use html.  They are the Profile Badge and Photo Badge.

The Widget Page also has links to a Fan Page Badge, Fan Box and Live Stream Box.

• The Fan Page Badge works similar to a Profile Badge.
• The Fan Box widget allows you to place a box on your website that contains a stream of your Fan Page status updates and/or random photos of your Fans and the number of Fans your page has.  It includes links to your Fan Page as well as a button that says Become A Fan.
• The Live Stream Box allows Facebook users visiting your site to view and post status updates to their Personal Profile in real-time.

All of the above are great ways to drive traffic to your Facebook Fan Page or Personal Profile.   Check out the Facebook Widgets and start using a couple of your favorites!

Get widgetized!

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

I am in the process of migrating all of my previous blog posts pertaining to Facebook Fan Pages, policies, how-to tips and a whole lot more…to this new Facebook For Business blog.

Original blog posts can be found at www.marketingthatseasy.com/blog until the migration is complete.

Thank you for stopping by!  I look forward to providing you with many Facebook tips and resources via this new blog.

Kimberly Yow
Marketing Thats Easy.com