Facebook added the ability to convert your Personal Profile Page to a business page. The business pages use to be called “Fan Pages.” Although Facebook has officially changed the name, many of us still refer to them as Fan Pages.
This is great news for people who incorrectly setup a personal page as a business page. Setting up and maintaining a profile for anything other than an individual person is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights & Responsibilities. If you don’t convert your profile to a page you will run the risk of permanently losing access to the profile and all of the associated content.
Below are details you need to know about converting your personal page to a business page. I have included direct links to the Facebook help section and instructions for converting the profile. I highly encourage you to review all of the associated material BEFORE converting your page. It is a permanent action. Do NOT expect help from Facebook if you inadvertently convert a page.
The Scenario:
1. You were new to Facebook and didn’t understand the terms and conditions. You setup a Personal Profile as a business page.
2. The second possibility is that you did understand the Facebook terms and conditions but chose to setup a Personal Profile as your business profile anyway. You assumed the risk and knew at some point you would have to deal with the situation. Well, that time is now friends.
How to Know if You Have a Business Page or a Personal Profile?
The number #1 way you can tell if your page is a personal profile and not an official business page is if you can send and accept friend requests. Only personal profiles are enabled to send and receive friend requests. Business pages can only have “likes”.
How to Convert Your Personal Profile to a Business Page:
1. Review the Facebook Help Section on this Topic here
2. Notify the friends of your personal profile page that you will be converting the page to a business page as required by Facebook terms and conditions.
3. Make a back-up of your personal profile information prior to the conversion. All of your personal profile information will not be transferred to the new business page nor saved by default. It is your responsibility to save and back-up this information if you want to keep a copy. You can learn how to back-up and copy the information here.
4. Complete the conversion process paying close attention to every detail. The conversion is permanent and you will lose data during conversion if you do not perform a back-up.
5. Develop and execute a marketing, engagement and post-like plan on your new business page that supports your business goals and objectives. Remember, it’s what happens after the like that matters. You may need to work to keep some of your prior “friends” as “likers.” Communication is key in providing value for them to continue to “like” your new business page.
6. Don’t forget to change any redirect urls and domains you had pointing to your personal page. Make note also of any business cards, email signatures, social networks which included the old url path.
Why Convert the Personal Profile Page You Have Been Using as a Business Page to an Official Facebook Business Page?
1. Maintaining the business page as a personal profile is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights & Responsibilities.
2. If you don’t convert your page to a business page you increase your risk of permanently losing all of your content and access to the page all together.
What Happens Upon Conversion?
1. All of your profile pictures will be transferred to the new business page.
2. All of your content will NOT be transferred to the new business page. Information such as photo albums, profile information will not be transferred.
3. All of your friends on the personal page will automatically become “likers” on the new business page.
4. The account associated with your old personal profile will be converted to a business account.
5. The business account will be the sole admin of your new page until you add another admin.
What Personal Information is Downloaded During the Back-Up Process?
Success Tips & Important Reminders:
1. The conversion is permanent.
2. You can NOT transfer your personal profile page to an existing business page (fan page).
3. If you are using a personal page as a business page, I highly encourage you to complete the conversion to a business page. I have seen many people lose their pages due to breaking the terms of personal vs. business pages. Don’t risk it! It is better to do it when you are in control than if Facebook decides to do it for you!
3. Do a back-up of your Facebook personal profile information here. Your personal profile photos, videos and other information will be gone forever unless you download a back-up copy!
4. Communicate the change to your business “friends” prior to making the change. They will become automatic “likers” of your business page once you convert. I encourage you to let them know they will automatically “like” your page upon the conversion.
5. Do a check of your photos and other information to confirm if you want it to appear as part of your business page.
6. None of your personal engagement as a personal profile page will be saved. Your comments, wall posts will be gone forever.
7. Know that you may lose some “friends/likers” on the new page once they find out about the conversion. I for one know that I may have accepted a friend request when I was new to Facebook. It could be the person has moved jobs, started a new business. It is not guaranteed that I genuinely want to “like” the page. Do not take offense if you lose people. Value and support their decisions regardless.
8. Note, this feature is not intended for those with a personal page to decide it’s now their business page. Just because I am your friend on your personal page doesn’t mean you should decide you are now going to take advantage of that fact and make your “liker.” I highly encourage you to really think about this decision. It may seem like a little decision now but it does involve ethics. People have trusted you with being their friend. Do not take advantage of that trust. If you have thought about creating a business page to promote your business then that might be the best option. This feature is perfect for those who have broken Facebook terms and have two personal profiles, one of which they are using for business.
Additional Resources:
Facebook Help Regarding the Conversion
Facebook Help for Back-up Your Personal Profile Information
Download Your Personal Profile Information from This Page
Facebook Definition of a Business Accounts Note this is different than a “business page.”
Facebook’s Statement of Rights & Responsibilities
Need Additional Help? Need help to zoom your social media community to reach a positive ROI in 2011? Check out our social media, training and web development services. We have social media training starting each and every week! We develop custom websites, Facebook business pages, Twitter backgrounds and more. The Pam Marketing Nut blog is loaded with free tips, training and resources to help you and your business zoom! I also provide free social media support and answer most questions in less than 24 hours on my Facebook fan page. We don't just build websites. We help you build a platform for business and life!
Success in social media is defined based upon specific goals and objectives. Most agree that Random Acts of Social Media (RASMs) and Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs) are not going to get you to the ROI hall of fame in 2011! Most also agree that social media should be executed under the umbrella of a plan with a focus on integrating into the DNA of your business in support of broader goals and objectives. So, for the sake of this post let’s assume we have a plan, we have goals and we have objectives. One might think, “great, we’re done planning – now let’s go tweet about it.” Wrong! Don’t head straight to the tweet deck until you have taken the time to understand your audience. Get inside their head and figure out what makes them tick. What attracts them organically to you, your brand and your services? Hopefully you already did this as part of building your plan, establishing your goals etc. However, I know most of you have not, thus the reason for this post! Welcome to the inspiration age! Focus on how you can inspire your audiences to action. As Brian Solis states, the online currency for social media is action. Amen! There are no words that ring truer to me in 2011 as we reach for business and personal success in using social media. The next question might be “great, sounds good – now how do I get them to take action?” The question is simple and the answer is complicated but shouldn’t be. Know your customer. Know what they need. Know how you can help them. Then figure out how to communicate with them in a way that inspires them to take action on your behalf. The action should be different based upon where they are in the sales cycle such as awareness, consideration, preference or purchase. If they’re in the awareness phase then a desired action might be to inspire them to visit your blog, click “like” on your Facebook business page or subscribe to your email list. Your goal should be to motivate and inspire them to move to the next phase of the relationship with you with a goal of building trust. As another example, if your audience member is in between consideration and preference then a desired action might be to have them subscribe to an email opt-in nurture program to receive a free whitepaper on a topic that will help them improve their life or business efficiencies. So how do you inspire them to action? Here are some ideas to get you started. I get asked this frequently so I figured I’d document some specific suggestions and ideas to help marketing leaders connect with their audience. INSPIRE DEFINED: 2. To fill with enlivening or exalting emotion: So the words that pop out to me are affect, guide, influence, enlivening, emotion, stimulate, action, motivate and touch. ”To draw in” is also interesting as is “breathe life into”. I guess the entire definition “inspires” me, no pun intended. Remember that inspiration is unique to the individual. What inspires me probably won’t always inspire my husband. Our needs and desires differ based upon our skills, life experiences, demographics and many other factors. The more you can know about your audience the better so that you can properly segment and ask many of the questions I provide below. Use it as a guide to gather research if you have not done such before. 10 Tips to Get to Know & Inspire Your Audience to Action: 1. What is the mindset of your audience? Where are they emotionally, mentally, professionally, financially, physically, and possibly even from a geography basis depending on your service offering. Are they under pressure? Are they financially distressed, in the middle of a move, or months away from getting married? The mindset of your audience can unlock many keys to connecting with them emotionally. Social Media Example: Post a morning and afternoon quote to Twitter and Facebook that relates to where their mindset is. 2. What do they need? How can your product or service feel a need in their life or business? 3. What do they want? This is different than a “need”. They may need to buy a printer, a computer, or the services of an accountant. However, they may “want” a new payroll software system, faster computer for their product development team and list goes on. Understanding the difference between needs and wants can help you not only connect emotionally but also highlight key messages that will resonate with the securities the “need” makes them feel as well as the excitement or fulfillment the securing of the want will fill. They often times are very different emotionally needs and messages that can be leveraged for such value proposition development. 4. What could make their life easier? Don’t forget to connect with the person as a human being. Don’t only focus on the business objectives of your audience. Also focus on the individual needs they have as a human being, as a father, mother or friend. Are they worried of losing their job? How can your product or service help them feel more secure in their job? How can you help them enjoy more time off so they can spend it with their family? Knowing their state of mind, needs and desires will help you better understand how you can help better their life. 5. How can you help their business be more efficient? How can you decrease costs, increase margins, increase return on investment? How about improving the efficiencies within their sales or customer services departments? Really take the time in this area to understand and validate the core opportunities you have to align your products to their business needs. The better you can do this the higher chance you have at inspiring them to subscribe to your email newsletter, click the Facebook like button or follow you on Twitter! Give them a reason to do such! 6. How can you help them spend more time with their family and friends enjoying life?Who doesn’t wish they had more time to live and enjoy life? If your product can do such, time to let your audience know it can! Don’t be shy in sharing your life enhancing benefits! 7. How can you help them achieve their dreams? What do they dream of? Where do they dream of being in one, two, three or five years? Where would they like to be? Who would they like to be with? What do they want to be doing? How would they like to get there? Why do they dream of this? 8. What can help them reach a personal, business goal or dream? What career goals do they have? How can your product or service help them advance in their career? How can it help secure their position within their organization or within the community? Same thing goes for the personal goals. Who do they want to be? Do they need help securing a better job so they can pay their bills, afford to take a vacation, spend more time with family. 9. How can you help them achieve more satisfaction or peace in life and business?What brings them peace? What makes them feel satisfied? If peace for them is keeping their boss off their back then by all means don’t be afraid to include some marketing messages on such. I did this for many years when selling big iron in the high tech “dot com” days. I focused on the role of the IT director and CTO. I zoomed in on how I could help them achieve more, keep the boss off the back. I learned that when I helped them keep their job, kept the boss off their back that their boss also became very interested in our services. He/she would then want to discuss how we could help their organization or department overall. Zooming in on the human being side of business helps you navigage roadways into business opportunites as well as overcome sales obstacles you’d never be able to do otherwise. 10. How can you relate to them? What can you do to relate to them personally and professionally? What do you have in common with them? How can you help them know there are others who struggle with the same challenges? Let them know you are there to help. Celebrate their wins. Be there for them when they face challenges. Be aware of who they are, what they are doing and what they need. The better you can relate to them the better you will know then and can build an authentic relationship with them. Some additional questions to ask yourself as you’re zooming in on the pain points and goals of your audience: The key is to focus on adding value in every aspect of marketing and communications. Adding value via compelling and relevant information, positive communications and simply “being there” can help you inspire your audience to further connect with you. We must first inspire our audiences to connect with us. We then build meaningful relationships that are focused on helping our audience achieve their goals. Last we achieve our goal as a result of helping someone else succeed! Inspire – Connect – Achieve Your Turn What are your thoughts? How do you inspire and connect with your audience? What works best? Do you leverage emotional branding to do such? Need Additional Help?
Need help to zoom your social media community to reach a positive ROI in 2011? Check out our social media, training and web development services. We have social media training starting each and every week! We develop custom websites, Facebook business pages, Twitter backgrounds and more. The Pam Marketing Nut blog is loaded with free tips, training and resources to help you and your business zoom! I also provide free social media support and answer most questions in less than 24 hours on my Facebook fan page. We don't just build websites. We help you build a platform for business and life! 
1. To affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence.
3. a. To stimulate to action; motivate: a sales force that was inspired by the prospect of a bonus.
b. To affect or touch: The falling leaves inspired her with sadness.
4. To draw forth; elicit or arouse: a teacher who inspired admiration and respect.
5. To be the cause or source of; bring about: an invention that inspired many imitations.
6. To draw in (air) by inhaling.
a. To breathe on.
b. To breathe life into.
Social Media Example: Execute a poll asking what their top goals or needs are for 2011. You’ll be surprised how many people will answer this question if you simply ask!
Social Media Example: Again, ask the question. Execute a poll asking what they dream about. Ask them “what if” types of questions. Ask them what their favorite vacation spots are. Ask them “what if” time was of no constraint, how would they spend their week.
Social Media Example: This is where the rubber meets the road in regard to you establishing your thought leadership. Let them know you understand their business. Talk directly to their needs and wants for business. Give them tips, best practices. Offer them white papers. Give your best stuff within your free offers. Don’t hold back. If you do this, then when it’s time for the customer to make a purchase decision you will be one of the first that will come to mind.
Social Media Example: Same thing goes here. If your product helps their life, tell them so. However, don’t focus the message on your product. Focus the message on the benefits and what it can do for your audience!
Social Media Example: Start a Facebook “keep your boss off your back Friday” event on your Facebook business page. Crowdsource the discussion. Ask them to partiicpate and share the best ways they know to keep a boss off your back. Guess what, in asking such questions in the open social media world not only are you establishing yourself as a thought leader, engaging with your audience, but you are also doing research without having to do a whole lot of work.
1. What is the most challenging thing in their biz?
2. What literally drives them nuts each day?
3. What eats away at their Return On Investment (ROI)?
4. What affects foot traffic into their location or storefront?
5. What affects web traffic? How can you help improve web traffic?
6. How can you partner with them for mutual benefit?
7. What is on their list of goals, objectives or dreams they wish they could do but can’t afford?
8. What are the things they have to pay for in business or life but don’t want to?
9. How can you make a menial task fun!
10. How can you help them help their community?
Most of us know that social media is about 1:1 connection. At the core of the social ecosystems are people and relationships. Connecting with your audience, partners, influencers and yes, customers with more than just an avatar is essential. It’s easy to get caught up in the science of social media, the Klout scores, number of followers, retweets and other metrics and forget why you’re doing social media in the first place. Yes, the metrics and ROI are of great importance. However, it’s important to not forget that there are people behind the tools, widgets, gadgets and avatars. What matters is that you are inspiring your audience, partners and social friends to connect and engage with you. How does your social community respond to you? Do they know you exist? Are you inspiring them to take action? Or are you a silent lurker sitting on the sidelines? One key aspect for success in understanding the art of social media is advocacy. It’s amazing to me how many social media leaders who preach about relationships, authenticity, and connection do very little when it comes to actually “giving”. If you look at their tweet stream there is no love happening except for love of self. Give to get is the saying you’ll hear many preach in the world of social media. I say “give to inspire and connect”. Quit worrying about what you get in return. Instead focus on connecting. Focus on a real conversation that helps nurture a real relationship. Relationships are the key to action which is the social currency of online marketing. Let’s do a double click on how you can be a good friend and advocate for others in social media. If you engage in social media with an objective to inspire and connect with real human beings, then giving becomes more natural. The better you can genuinely and authentically connect with your social community the more profitable your relationships will be both personally and professionally. 1. Stop, look and listen before you share the tweets. Remember being told as a child to “stop, look and listen before you cross the street”? Social media is the same way. We should “use our eyes, use our ears and then use our tweets.” Take some time to listen and understand the ecosystem before you blast noise to the masses. Listening, learning and advocating is a great way to learn the ecosystem of social media. Follow thought leaders, business leaders in your niche, friends and colleagues. Watch what they do, how they speak, what they share, and where they hang out online. The more you can listen and learn the better you’ll be able to provide value for your audience. 2. Come out from behind your avatar. You can’t show any real advocacy if you are hiding behind a logo. Put that bright, shiny smiley face on your social media profiles. Logos are good but leave them for the Twitter backgrounds, Facebook welcome pages and blogs. Let people know there is more than a logo, keyboard and 140 characters behind your tweet machine. 3. Have a social mindset. Do not focus on only giving to get. Focus on inspiring to connect. If you inspire your audience to connect with you, their giving in return will happen organically. 4. Relationships don’t happen overnight. Be realistic. Not everyone is going to fall in love with you at first tweet. Give people a chance. Most successful business people have a life and a day job outside of Twitter. Just because they don’t respond back to your retweet within 2, 24 or 48 hours doesn’t mean you should go crawling back behind the avatar and call it quits. Stay focused on connecting with people who have common interests. 5. Stop lurking. Are you guilty of visiting numerous Facebook pages, blogs, tweet streams and more but never comment, retweet or let the content producer know you exist? If yes, shame on you! No better time to start than now. Sitting on the lurk bench will do nothing for you, your business or your social relationships. 6. ENGAGE! Now that you’re off the “lurk bench” focus on engaging. Be yourself. Share yourself. Get to know the person on the other end. Build a relationship. You’ll never do such sitting behind your computer monitor reading all day long and wishing you were part of the conversation. Join the conversation and become part of the DNA of the ecosystem. 7. Grab a daily dose of advocacy. Be the best advocate you can possibly be! If you read something you like, tell the person you like it. 8. Will the real you please stand up? Be real. Be authentic. Or don’t be! There is only one you, not an online you and a different offline you. Being your real self will help people connect to the real you and enable you to nurture authentic and meaningful relationships. 9. Don’t give to get. If you are only advocating to be advocated in return then don’t do it! Don’t comment on a blog just to have a link back to your site. Most people can spot a fake or spammer with one quick look. 10. Don’t be afraid you’ll lose your followers or potential clients if you tweet a link to someone else’s blog. I am shocked I still see self proclaimed social media consultants recommend that you shouldn’t tweet a link to someone else’s blog. I disagree with this advice 100%! Hopefully you are inspired by your mentors, thought leaders, and influencers. Your audience wants and needs the same. If you take the time curate good information with your audience, they will value your time in doing such, knowledge of such information and content creators. If you are worth the Twitter follow back or the Facebook “like” then you should be smart enough to know you’re not the only person in your niche with a blog or participating in social media.
11. Share your best stuff. One of the best ways you can be advocate and show the social love is to give of yourself. Don’t just give your second hand goods. Give your absolute best stuff. Offer helpful tips, resources and best practices. The more you give the more your audience will organically and authentically be attracted to you. 12. Each day set aside time for some social love and advocacy. If you don’t make the time it will never happen. When you advocate you are also listening. You are learning. You are engaging. You will then be able to better connect with your audience because you have taken the time to listen to what someone else has to say, engage in a meaningful conversation and hopefully learn a different or new perspective. 13. Read with an objective to UNDERSTAND! Don’t just read with an intention to retweet and get retweets for yourself. Read with the intention to listen, learn, understand and engage. 14. Have an opinion. Don’t be afraid to disagree. If you don’t like or don’t agree with what someone has to say, let them know. Many bloggers write content with the assumption and sometimes intention of receiving a flurry of comments disagreeing. Conversation is good. If someone disagrees with something you say or write don’t take it personally. Learn from it. If you disagree with their comment on your blog don’t be afraid to let them know. 15. Comment on a blog. Let a blogger know you stopped by. If you liked what you saw, tell them so. If you have a question, ask it. If you disagree with their opinion, state yours. Be genuine in your response and have a true interest in connecting and engaging.
16. Promote other people’s content. Share it on Facebook. Click the Facebook “like” button. Add a comment on Facebook. Retweet it.
17. Add value via commentary. Don’t just retweet all day with no comments, remarks or opinions on the content you’re sharing. If you are being authentic in sharing then make it a goal to at minimum 50% of the time have something to say vs a blind retweet.
18. Subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs. With an RSS Feed you can receive an email each day with any new blog posts or content they have posted. This is a great way to stay up to date on the content that you are hopefully authentically interested in.
19. Subscribe to the newsletters and other email subscriptions of your favorite bloggers and thought leaders. This is one of my favorite ways to connect and learn from my social community. Often times you’ll see content in email communications and newsletters that don’t appear on blogs and tweets for the masses. It’s a great way to get to the heart and soul of the content creator.
20. Subscribe to your favorite YouTube channels. Similar to an RSS Blog feed, you can stay up to date. YouTube is often overlooked but can be filled with great content to help you learn, connect and inspire others while advocating at the same time!
21. Support the objectives of your mentors, influencers and thought leaders. Are they speaking at an upcoming event, launching a new book? Sell or give away seats to a webinar? Build a tribe or community? Support their objectives. You will learn over and over again in watching how people respond, engage and help you build someone else.
22. Visit more than their blog or tweet stream. Check out the other social profiles of your favorite social friends. Check out their LinkedIn profiles and YouTube channel. If they have more than one blog, check out the second one. Many bloggers create amazing content and distribute across the social sphere in multiple formats. Guaranteed the content producer will appreciate the time taken to engage and become part of their community across their multiple social platforms.
23. Don’t be afraid of your competition. You might actually learn something from them. Instead figure out how you can cooperate with them to help your common communities. You’ll often times find amazing joint venture opportunities by not being so stuck on yourself. If you are so good then why are you worried about them to begin with. Be confident. Your potential client base knows they exist anyway. Focus on building bridges, not burning them.
24. Get a profile on the common commenting platforms and tools. These include Discus, CommentLuv and Gravatar. If you don’t already have a profile on these platforms get one. They will enable others to see your smiling, happy face and you only have to upload a photo one time! Then when you comment on a blog people will see the photo as well as a link to your site if you include such in your profile.
25. Inspire. Focus on inspiration. Always be thinking “how can I inspire my audiences…how can I help educate them, share knowledge with them, help them learn a more efficient way of doing business or living life?” If you focus on helping others achieve their goals first, then you will as a default achieve your goals. Focus on inspiration both in your own content as well as when you engage and advocate others. 26. Have fun. The key with all of this is don’t take the conversation part of social media too serious. Yes, it’s both a personal and business conversation. However, don’t over analyze every word you say. Similar to what my hero Dr Seuss would say “Be who you are and say what you feel as those who matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter.” What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You lose a few followers? No worries, there’s 10 million more where those came from. Your Turn!
Do you feel the social love from your influencers, mentors and thought leaders? Is your audience feeling the social love from you? Or are you guilty of advocating only yourself? What do you do to show the social media love? What do you prefer in terms of advocacy from others?
If you would like to learn more about social media and how to best integrate it into your real estate or other business, check out our social media and brand training launching February 10th! You can also download a free 7 Page whitepaper on how to Zoom Your Brand as well as subscribe to our newsletter for loads of tips, tricks and best practices to tweet and zoom your way to success in 2011!
If you had to pick one, what would it be? A Facebook “like” or an email address? When building a community and connecting with your audience, would you rather have 1000 fans on your Facebook page or 1000 qualified names?
Although the answer on the surface seems quite simple, the truth is it’s not so simple.
A social media speaker and friend of mine, Steve Mordue asked a similar question on his Facebook page last week. Within minutes he had a string of comments with many strong opinions. I found the conversation quite interesting and haven’t been able to get it off my mind since.
Although I don’t usually do this, I am going to provide you my opinion right up front.
My answer: If I had the choice of a qualified email address or a “like” of my Facebook business page, I choose the email address.
Coming from someone who believes in social media you might think “she’s crazy, why doesn’t she want a Facebook like versus an email address?” Yes, I do believe in social media. However, anyone that knows me knows that I also believe in the importance of integrating social media into your business to obtain a positive return on investment. Social media is not a band-aid for a broken business nor should it be managed as a stand-alone silo of Facebook likes.
Because I was so curious of what others thought I ran a Poll Daddy poll as well as started aLinkedIn discussion. The response has been almost a unanimous “I’ll take the email address.”
Some will argue that nobody uses email anymore. Hmmm… I think my inbox would beg to differ. Only the future will tell if the teens of today use email tomorrow or if it will be some converged form of Facebook, Text and integrated social platform in 122 characters versus 140 (joking).
Maybe the truth is that we’re comparing apples to oranges. The two are obvious not the same. They each bring different benefits. The key is to build authentic social relationships that inspire your audiences to action. Yes, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the hundreds of other social platforms can all help do this.
However, for the purpose of this post let’s discuss the preference of marketers to leverage email versus a Facebook “like” to foster relationships with a goal of a sale of a product or service. I acknowledge in the real world we don’t obviously have to choose. However, for the purpose of this post we’re going to pretend we do.
1. Why do I have to choose? Since I practice integrated marketing, not Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs) or Random Acts of Social Media (RASMs) if I had my choice I would pick both. However, since I can’t even for my own exercise I pick the email address.
2. “Likes” are good but the real value comes in your ability to inspire them to action past the “like”. Just because someone “likes” your page doesn’t mean they have ever looked at anything you’ve posted since the first day they clicked “like”. The majority of Facebook “likers” will never visit the page they liked again. It’s up to you to inspire your Facebook fans to further engage and join your community.
3. eMail is not dead yet. It reminds me of the Monty Python Holy Grail movie in the scene where they are all bringing out their dead. I remember the one man yelling “but I’m not dead yet”. Another responds with “he will be by morning.” Yes, email could eventually morph into something else. However, for most businesses it’s not dead yet.
4. My target market still uses email. The data proves it. They open, they read, they click thru and they pick up the phone to inquire about our services. They take action which equals a positive return on investment for our business.
5. It is more intimate. It helps us nurture client relationships. We know who’s opening what content. We know what they like, what they don’t like. We are then able to better serve them up entertaining content on the Facebook page, Twitter feeds and LinkedIn conversations.
6. eMail builds trust and thought leadership. Obviously the email subscriber has more skin in the game than a simple “liker”. From first click of the “subscribe” button they are making a silent statement of trust. It’s up to me what I do with that trust.
7. I can easily get my email subscribers to my Facebook page. Not always so easy to get a Facebook “liker’s” email address.
8. It works. Bottom line, every time I send out an email to our audience, the phone rings. Can’t say the same thing for every time I post on my Facebook page or get a Facebook like. We are seeing good results with integrating email to our marketing and social media efforts. I can’t imagine our business without our automated email nurturing system integrated into the DNA of our audience communications.
9. It cuts down the sales cycle. By integrating email with social media we have substantially cut down the lead qualification to sales close cycle. Usually our leads are self qualified and by the time they contact us they have followed us on Twitter (if they’re on Twitter), joined our Facebook fan page, connected with us on LinkedIn and usually subscribed to our email updates. By the time they call they are ready for a meeting to discuss specifics. My co-founder meets with them and usually by the second meeting I show up for 30 minutes and close the deal. The meeting usually ends and starts with a hug as they feel they already know me from the video, Facebook posts and email nurturing. It’s the nirvana of integrated marketing with a turbo dash of social media.
10. I ask “why not?” There is not yet a replacement. If you implement an automated email system like Infusionsoft, the return on investment can be out the roof. It’s easy to leverage content you create for social platforms and blogs within the email. It helps readership and increases the return on investment for all marketing and content as it offers an intimate and personal method to share information. Unless you are targeting the teens who aren’t on email, I question why you wouldn’t want to leverage email within an integrated marketing program and plan?
As with any marketing medium, platform or tool, don’t put your eggs in one basket. The key to success in business, online marketing and social media is to develop an integrated plan, platform and execution strategy that supports your business goals and objectives. Choosing only a Facebook like may wind you up with a lot of people who like you a lot but never buy from you.
As Brian Solis states “the social currency of social media is action.” Inspiring your audience to take an action such as subscribing to your email newsletter could be the holy social grail you’re missing.
Don’t base you decisions only on the opinions or results of your colleagues or believe every blog post you read. They may be ready to set the email campaigns on the next “dead pick-up bus” prematurely. Do the due diligence for yourself, your business, your audience and build a plan that helps you meet your business goals.
Remember, it’s not just the Facebook Like that matters. It’s what happens after the Facebook Like that matters most!
So what do you pick? The Facebook “like” or the email address? Why did you choose your answer? What are you seeing your business partners, clients and colleagues doing? Are they putting all of their eggs in one basket?
What is your goal in social media? Are your goals focused on Facebook likes, Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, Facebook fans or all of the above?
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One question any blogger, marketing, social media or business leader should never ask themselves: “Should I copy somebody else’s content or create my own?”
Note: This post comes with strong opinion as my content has been blatently plagiarized numerous times the past few months.
The worst case study I have seen recently was with my own content. The guilty party was a so called “social media consultant” who literally copied and pasted my Green Eggs & Facebook: 15 Social Media Tips from Dr Seuss article. She copied the entire article, changed the title by swapping “Facebook” with “Twitter” and went on her way to claim it as her own. She even tweeted about it and didn’t respond to my tweets, LinkedIn message, comment on blog, Facebook msgs and took four days to remove it from her blog! Sad thing is my article wasn’t the only one on her blog that was not her own.
Since the latest event noted above I have had many ask for words of advice. I am working on a more comprehensive blog post that will include input from thought leaders in this space as well as relevant links to helpful information. As I started doing research on the topic I realized how complicated and difficult it is to actually find hard core right and wrong answers. Common sense for me is when it includes law, I do my research before posting any must do type of information to keep you out of trouble. I’ll leave that to the attorneys!
So for now, here are some common sense reasons & best practices tips.
For purposes of this article and discussions regarding plagiarism and copy/paste shenanigans I am not referencing experienced thought leaders who are leveraging and promoting other people’s content the legal and right way.
Two good examples of best practices when leveraging content:
1. My Green Eggs & Facebook article referenced in the plagiarized scenario above was also creatively included on Guy Kawasaki’s HolyKaw! Blog. Of course I was thrilled to see my post referenced on Guy’s blog in such a fun and supportive way. Thanks Guy!
2. Shari Weiss contacted me via LinkedIn prior to publishing this post to ask my permission. I think she did an amazing job of adding value to her audience via her own opinion yet including my post and referencing me as the author.
12 Reasons Why You Should Create Your Own Content:
1. Content takes time to create. Chances are the reason you’re plagiarizing to begin with is you’re either lazy or clueless on the topic you’re copying.
2. Copying and pasting content without permission and proper reference/credit can be equivalent to stealing, i.e., copyright infringement.
3. A link to the original article does not equal referencing and proper credit to author or get you out of copyright infringement.
4. Ignorance does not get you out of copyright infringement.
5. Content is not free. Just because you find it on the web, it doesn’t mean it didn’t cost someone’s precious time and/or money to create.
6. Real content requires creativity, connecting with an audience to provide value.
7. Real content requires a brain. Copying and pasting content is not using your brain.
8. The primary purpose of content is to connect with an audience, educate them, inspire them. Spend some time inspiring yourself reading other people’s blogs, not copying them. Maybe after reading enough you’ll feel motivated to write your own content versus steal someone else’s.
9. If you’re copying content, you’re connecting the reader to someone else.
10. Yes, Google likes content. However, Google likes unique content and usually knows when the same content is located multiple places. Your copy/paste episodes could actually be hurting your SEO versus helping.
11. If your social media consultant, marketing agency or copywriter is posting primarily posts filled with other people’s content, run! What value are they going to add for your business if they can’t create their own content about their own business.
12. All blogs and article are equal in the world of Copyright infringement. It doesn’t matter if it’s an article from Social Media Today, Alltop, HolyKaw!, Mashable, Hubspot, Hubpages, USA Today or ABC News. If you copied it, you are creating legal risk for yourself and your business.
15 Common Sense Tips:
1. Don’t copy
2. When in doubt, ask for permission.
3. Notify author of post when published. You might actually get some kudos from the author if done correctly.
3. Include reference at top of your blog post that the article is NOT yours. Reference the author and provide YOUR opinion on what you liked about the content and why.
4. Always include a link to authors site and original article. I also recommend including twitter handle when available.
5. Do not modify copy, article or title.
6. Do not copy/paste images. Images are also protected. If you copy/past and article and an image you may get a double whammy in infringement as image rights are managed by original provider such as Shutter Stock, iStockPhoto, Getty Images etc.
7. If you struggle for copy, it’s okay. Acknowledge it and hire a legit copywriter. Not every thought leader can write. If you have ideas in your head but have a hard time getting them documented, a copywriter might be just what you need.
8. Look at content as intellectual capital. Your business needs intellectual capital of your own. Create it! Copying it won’t get you there!
9. If you are a consultant or agency offering services of any kind you are only hurting yourself and your reputation by only publishing other people’s content. Business leaders are looking for innovation, creativity. If you struggle with being innovative then you probably have bigger problems than just your copy. You should probably look at your core business services, brand differentiation and positioning in the market.
10. Quit playing stupid. I am tired of the professional, educated people “playing stupid” when it comes to content and plagiarism. You know when you’re taking the easy way out. Quit being lazy and create your own business, market niche and differentiate peeps!
11. Copyright is not the same as trademark.
12. Do your research. If you want to play the copy/paste game then at minimum do your research. Do a simple Google search and you’ll have more than enough results to hopefully scare you out of the copy/paste mentality and into the content creation game!
13. Just because you remove the plagiarized content from your website, it doesn’t delete your legal risk. You may very well still be guilty of infringement because you had it there to begin with.
14. If you are a blogger, do your research and protect your intellectual property. Leverage social media listening tools and monitor the use of your name, trademarks and content.
15. Do not be afraid or wait to contact the guilty party if your online content is plagiarized. Take screen captures immediately. Keep records of all contacts, correspondence, etc.
What’s Your Opinion?
What is your opinion on this topic. It is a touchy subject and you should have an opinion. Has your content been plagiarized before? What did you do about it? Have you copied other people’s content before knowing you were setting yourself up for legal risk?
Additional Resources
Need help to zoom your social media community to reach a positive ROI in 2011? Check out oursocial media, training and web development services. We have social media training starting in January. We develop custom websites, Facebook business pages, Twitter backgrounds and more.
The Pam Marketing Nut blog is loaded with free tips, training and resources to help you and your business zoom!
I also provide free social media support and answer most questions in less than 24 hours on my Facebook fan page.
We don't just build websites. We help you build a platform for business and life!
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I am a social media and marketing speaker, coach, trainer and consultant. CEO & Founder, FRUiTZOOM, Inc., a digital marketing, brand, and social media agency. I help business leaders zoom!
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