A few notes came through the grapevine lately that Fanpages could now book their user names without the minimum requirement of 100 fans.  Seems the limit has now gone down to 25 again, the original limit set.

Read this post from July to understand more about how to set your fanpage username.  If you have more than 25 fans now, go do it.  Better to get your brand name now than have it scooped up by someone else.

Don’t forget to add the Fan Box to your website or blog if you would like visitors to be able to easily connect to your facebook fanpage. You will find the link to this application under your fanpage profile picture.  Click on “Add a Fan Box to your website” and it will take you right to the application.

Time on Task Va Services

Promote Your Page Too

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Social Media, social networking, virtual assistant

One of my clients – and one who is my best social media success story – recently had their Facebook fanpage disappear.

No warnings, no explanation – just gone. It was a fanpage we have been working on for a few months and one that had more than 500 fans and a lot of good interaction with the fans.

I sent off an email to several areas of facebook, but will not be holding my breath for a quick response. I did get the automatic emails stating they have received my request and that ‘we may contact you for more details’

Honestly, I expect nothing less from support of a ‘free’ platform that has millions of users. Users of any of these types of applications are at the mercy of the limited resources available to support them.

This loss of a fanpage is one more scenario that makes me think the unthinkable for many people.  Is it time for some of these applications to evolve and move to the next level? A level that requires users to pay (Yes, I said pay) for a service in order to receive more reliable support and service.  A service you can count on, especially when using it for business.

“You get what you pay for”, my Mom always said. A statement that certainly rings true when you are dealing with millions of people using a free platform.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Social Media, social networking, Twitter, virtual assistant

Personally the biggest item on my list is an easy way to Retweet someone’s fantastic post. Quickly, easily and directly in Twitter.

I find it odd that an application that discusses and has rules regarding Reposting others’ content, does not make it easy to do so.

One of the hardest things I have to teach during training sessions with clients is teach them how to do send an ‘at reply’ directly on Twitter. (I know it’s easy on Tweetdeck and other platforms, but getting into a management system is even more complicated and sometimes too overwhelming for people new to Twitter)

So, that’s the #1 item on my wishlist.  What’s on yours? What would you like to see? Think of what would make your life on Twitter easier/more efficient?

List your items here, and I will forward the entire list off to the guys at Twitter… you never know, feedback can sometimes be a great kickstart for new ideas!

Include your Twitter id as well, so we can connect there too!

Technorati Tags: Social Media, Twitter, virtual assistant

August 6th, 2009… the day that Twitter almost died.

My fear was near realized today when both Twitter and Facebook were part of targeted attacks that caused issues with their service which means for us users – we cannot Log In!

Once I realized this early in the morning…as it is part of my practice daily to log on to Twitter and Facebook – I then ended up doing some unexpected blog reading – Mashable is fabulous at keeping me on top of things with his updates.  This lead me to sending notes to clients and after finishing some other work, I realized this Denial of Service Attack was not going to end soon.  I headed to the beach with the kids, got out my pen and paper and started writing some blog posts.

Yes, your Blog.  it’s another way of using social networking though some don’t always realize the benefits in blogging. (more…)

Technorati Tags: Social Media, social networking, Twitter, virtual assistant

Recently, there was a grand example from Nova Scotia (my home province) that makes it clear to businesses and consumers exactly how social media has changed the way these parties interact.

Dave Carroll , a musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia, had his guitar broken in the spring of 2008 when his band was on a United Airlines flight.  United refused to acknowledge responsibility or pay for the damages even though there were witnesses who saw the ‘luggage” being thrown around during unloading.

After many months of trying to get United to accept responsibility for the damage (it cost $1200 to have his guitar fixed) Dave finally decided to take his frustration out the best way he knew how… via his music. (more…)

Technorati Tags: business, Social Media, social networking, Twitter

As I was setting up a new fanpage for a client today I noticed that the username section in facebook now seems to have an option to allow you to change it.  Something they said would not be available when they announced usernames in June.

When the usernames launched last month some people chose a name not necessarily related to their actual name and one they later regretted.

If you were in this group, you can fix it now.  Simply go to your settings tab and under   account settings you can go in and change your username.

My advice… choose wisely, especially if you have a business presence attached to your facebook profile.

Technorati Tags: branding, Facebook, Social Media

One of the most important branding tools you can do with your Twitter profile is to create a customized background.  Personally, I create them in Adobe Photoshop using clients unique images, logos and anything else possible to make it part of their business brand and image. 

Not everyone has Photoshop, nor the skills to use it… there are many other resources on the internet and several are very easy to use.  Today, in my readings, I came across a blog post that makes reference to several of these do it your self sites and other ones that help you create twitter backgrounds.

Thanks to Bill Stevens at the DailyTwitip for his great post and I am sure many of you can use one of these resources to set up your own custom background.

Technorati Tags: branding, Social Media, Twitter, twitter background, virtual assistant

When using applications you are using that require your twitter username and password, you must remember to keep things up to date.  If an application requires your password for use on a regular basis and you change your twitter password, you have to remember to change the password on these external applications as well. Two prime examples are Tweetdeck and Tweetlater. (more…)

Technorati Tags: passwords, security, Social Media, social networking, Twitter

Twitter. It’s been in the news a lot lately. The growth of Twitter, a micro-blogging social networking site, is amazing. Some reports suggest more than 10 million users are now signed on to Twitter and the majority of them are 35 years and over.

Many ask, how can something like Twitter help my business? If used properly, and this means by providing a good mix of posts and updates, Twitter can help a business accomplish the following: (more…)

Technorati Tags: small business, social marketing, Social Media, social networking, Twitter

Social Media work has been taking off for my Virtual Assistant business, Time on Task VA Services, lately.  Clients are contacting us from all over to get help setting a plan in place that along with custom profiles can help establish an effective online presence and be a support for their marketing plan as well.

That said, I wanted to create a new look that would stand out and say to the world “We love working with social media and helping our clients bring their social networking efforts to a new level.”
(more…)

Technorati Tags: social marketing, Social Media, social networking, virtual assistant