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30 Fascinating Facebook Facts To Tell Your Friends

Its all the rage young, old and in biz. 1/6th of the world has an account and there is already a movie about it. Facebook is changing the world around us. Stalkers, Uprisings, 'LIKE' and bazillions of hours of wasted productivity for employers. Here are a few early facts to tell around the cocktail hour or water cooler! 

One early Facebook function was a file sharing service

The first “Work Networks” as well as the original educational networks  included Apple and Microsoft

The meaning of the term poke has never been defined

The average Facebook user has 130 friends

There is an ‘App’ to see what’s on the Facebook cafe menu

Mark Zuckerburg (CEO of Facebook) calls himself a “Harvard Graduate” when in fact he didn’t graduate (apparently his reply is that “there isn’t a setting for dropout”)

California is huge on Facebook with over 15 million users (41% of the population)

Australian’s spend more time per month on Facebook than any other country at over 7 hours on average

A Facebook employee hoodie sold for $4,000 on eBay

Facebook has over 500 million users

Facebook has added over 400 million users in less than 2 years

If  Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest

Facebook was initially bank-rolled by Peter Thiel the co-founder of PayPal for $500,000

Facebook was almost shut down by a lawsuit by ConnectU who claimed that Zuckerburg stole the idea and Technology for Facebook (the issue was settled out of court)

50% of users are on the site every day

70% of users live outside the USA

Facebook is available in 70 different languages

It is the second biggest website by traffic behind Google

Yahoo offered Facebook $1 billion which Mark Zuckerburg refused

Facebook is now valued between $7.9 – $11 billion

Most Popular Facebook page is Michael Jackson (Simpsons is second)

Monthly time spent on Facebook is 8.3 billion hours

Total number of  of active applications: 550,000 plus and growing daily

Women aged 55 and up are the fastest growing Facebook demographic in the USA

Facebook makes money through advertising  and virtual products

This year Facebook is  on track to generate sales of over $1 billion

In Australia court notices can be served through Facebook

A Facebook court summons in Australia is considered legally binding

Facebook has become so popular psychologists identified a new mental health disorder “Facebook Addiction Disorder”

Sources- www.jeffbulas.com / www.Mashable.com
Kevin Brown - www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

How to Create an Effective Company Facebook Page

Inc Magazine - March 21, 2011 - http://ow.ly/4IEJU

You've created a company Facebook page. Now what? Here are four tips, from the experts, about how to build a great fan page.

You've decided to create a Facebook page for your company. Seems easy enough: first you registered your page, created a company name and filled in your basic information. You've got less than 10 fans and a pretty basic profile picture. Now what? You obviously want the page to broaden your online presence and attract customers but how on earth do you do that? What makes some company Facebook pages more effective than others?

"In order to build a compelling Facebook page that yields measurable results, business owners first need to identify their main objectives," says Mari Smith, relationship marketing expert and co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. "So many small business fail to fully benefit from all that Facebook offers quite simply due to a lack of clear goals and a strategy to achieve those goals."

So your first question should be: why am I on Facebook; what's my goal? Whether it's selling more products, improving customer service or creating new relations, determining what you want to achieve with your company page should be the first necessary step. Then it'll be easier to use Facebook more effectively.

"There's a number ways that businesses can utilizes Facebook," says Grady Burnett, director of global online and inside sales at Facebook. "The world's always been social and the web has traditionally been fairly anonymous and Facebook is very focused on trying to provide tools and an environment to drive engagement and discussion between people and communities, institution brands, companies and small businesses."

Facebook makes it easy for business owners to set up pages. After speaking with the company and a few of the top social media experts, Inc.com has compiled a list of four key steps to create an effective company Facebook page.

How to Create an Effective Company Facebook Page: Understanding the Features

"Getting the page right and understanding what content is there is probably the best starting point," Burnett says. "There's a lot of different features and if you just focus on one, it might not get the benefit that you need overall."

From creating events to posting photos of your product to updating your status announcing a new service or deal, understanding what capabilities you have at the tip of your fingers will help you develop a rock-solid strategy, and look, for your page.

"So if you're a restaurant, sharing a video of a head chief giving a cooking tip or something like that, it's a great opportunity where that functionality is built into the page," Burnett says. "If a company is using all of that it provides a great rich environment to engage their user base."

It may seem overwhelming, at first, determining which features to use to enhance the look of your page, but it's easier than you think. Here are a few popular features that have proven to be effective for many business pages:

Wall Posts - This is the platform that allows customers to express themselves and tell you exactly how they feel about your product or service. Any feedback is useful feedback. So to encourage customer interaction make sure you enable that capability on your privacy settings. Click the privacy settings option on the account tab and make sure the "Friends can post on my Wall" and "Can comment on posts" option is set to "Everyone."

Upload Photos - Many companies use this feature to put up pictures of its product and customers using its product. However, a unique way to use this feature is to allow your fans the capability to tag photos of themselves using your product to your page as well. Setting the "Photo and videos I'm tagged in" option to "Everyone," or maybe just fans of the page is a way to foster a closer connection between your customers and your page.

Direct Purchase - Constructing your page to be a one-stop shop for customers to interact, engage and buy your product has proven to be extremely beneficial for companies. Adding a product tab to your page allows fans to view all of your products and easily purchase then without having to get off Facebook and visit a website that they are potentially unfamiliar with.

Custom Page Apps - This is where you can get really creative.  Facebook allows you to integrate an app can be built into your Page to create unique quizzes, games or other interactive features. Building custom tabs is what sets your Page apart from your competitors and attracts more customer engagement.  It may take some website know-how to develop your app, but Facebook's got you covered for that as well.

Placing ads on Facebook is another feature that will help drive traffic to your page and even your company. There are two main types of ads for business owners to choose from: self-serve and premium. The former has become the most popular among small business owners.

"The self serve offers a tremendous product for a local business," Burnett says. "It's very flexible and easy to get started. They can do this on their own at their own time [to] understand and apply their key target."

Dig Deeper: How to Advertise on Facebook

How to Create an Effective Company Facebook Page: Developing a Strategy

"Everybody needs a strategy," says Gary Vaynerchuk, social media expert and author of The Thank You Economy. "Most people right now are just keeping up with the Joneses. If one of their competitors has 5,000 [fans], then you need to get to 5,001. I equate it to the difference between a sales person and a marketer: sales people are always looking at what happens today, instead of long term."

So developing a strategy that will help you keep focused on your goal is important. There are several strategies to choose from. Smith highlights seven specific ones for you to consider, some of which coincide with what we've gathered from Burnett and other social media experts.  

Design Strategy - "Your design needs to reflect your primary objectives," Smith says. "Let's say one of your top goals is to drive traffic to your blog - you'll definitely want to incorporate ways to highlight your blog in your Facebook page design."

Vaynerchuk suggests creating a smart, customizable welcome tab or landing page will attract more people to your page than the traditional layout. Take advantage of the features Facebook provides to enhance your page.

Promotion Strategy - "Keep in mind it's better to have a smaller, highly-targeted, qualified and engaged audience than a large audience who doesn't pay much attention to you," Smith says.

Encourage customers to "Like" you on Facebook; give them a coupon if they do. You can do this in your store or from your website or blog.
Content Strategy - "Posting regular interesting updates, being active and updating fans quickly with the latest information," are three suggestions Burnett says you should consider when thinking about content.

Many company pages have walls filled with updates—one after another. What you'll notice is that these pages are getting little to no "Likes" or comments from fans. Why? Because instead of talking with customers, they're talking at them: read this, check out that. While some of those are OK, you need to focus on engaging your audience.

"[Your wall] should be a mix of your own content and what I call OPC - other people's content," Smith says. "It's a good thing to share other industry blogs, links, resources, etc. That way you'll be seen as a business who cares enough to share a good depth and breadth of your topic and not just your own opinion."

Dig Deeper: How to Get Customers on Facebook and Twitter

How to Create an Effective Company Facebook Page: Engaging With Fans
"One thing that matters a lot in pages as well as in ads is really being open and authentic," Burnett. "Making sure that what you're sharing on that page or in your ads also transmits that company culture."

This is where you need to focus your attention. Successful company Facebook pages are called so because they do an excellent job at engaging their community. They listen more than they speak. And if you listen carefully, your fans will tell you exactly what does and doesn't work about your product/service. But in order to start that open conversation, your customers need to feel that you're genuinely devoted to listening to their feedback and that you'll use the feedback to improve your product for them.

"Consumer's BS radars are much stronger than people think," Vaynerchuk says. "Intent is imperatively important."

"Companies like Threadless is one that engages that community and adjusts their inventory and what T-shirts they create based on what their community says," Burnett adds.

You'll find that it's more effective to let one person or small group of people manage your page. Presenting one consistent, clear voice for your company reassures fans that they're interacting with an actual person from your company, not a generic blast of self-promotional updates.

"Frequently interacting and making that interaction valuable for the customers" is key, says Howard Greenstein, social media strategist and president of the Harbooke Group. "Give them a reason to come back to the page, not just a reason to "Like" [your page] in the first place. That's what's going to help you turn those people into fans, and fans into customers. If they're already customers, turn them into evangelists for you—people who are going to go out and sell on your behalf."

Dig Deeper: How to Optimize Your Facebook News Feed Presence

How to Create an Effective Company Facebook Page: Tracking and Measuring
"Facebook does provide a decent range of metrics with their Insights tool," Smith says.

You'll never know how effective your strategy is without a way to track or measure it. You really don't need to develop a complex system for this, there are companies that can help you do this. But a simple way to determine what's working and what's not is looking at which posts, updates and comments are generating the most interaction among your fans.

"Be sure to track what you're sharing and at what time then compare that to the response of fans so you can keep fine-tuning your approach."

"Understanding the tone and the DNA it takes to be successful in an open environment is the key," Vaynerchuk says. "Whether it's a Facebook page, or a Twitter account or something we don't know exists, the fact of the matter is there will be a community around your business on the Web, period—forever."

Dig Deeper: How to Measure Your Brands Online Influence

Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

How to Monetize Social Media

Carolyn M. Brown April 18th 2011- Inc.com

http://ow.ly/4Fhh1

Companies are not only getting the word out about their brands using social media such as Facebook and Twitter but are also making money.

Many business executives have not found sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace, and Linkedinuseful in making money. Building genuine online relationships that are also good for the bottom line is not so easy. There is a lot of trial and error. But while monetizing social media is difficult it is not impossible. There are companies that are getting the word out about their brands using social media and are turning a profit. 

Take The New York Jets. The NFL team launched their Ultimate Fan social game in September 2010, which was the first revenue generating Facebook app to be backed by a pro sports team. The application lets football fans do online what they would normally do at home and in stadiums—root for their favorite teams and players, predict game scores, and hold a virtual tailgate party with other fans from across the globe. Ultimate Fan has since lured four major sponsors integrating their brands:MetLife, Motorola, SNY and HotelPlanner.com. This year, 10 percent of Jets sponsorships include a social media component; the team is planning to bump it up to 50 percent by next year, according to a spokesperson.

The Jets also communicate regularly on Twitter. They even advertised a Twitter-based contest to win tickets to their 2011 AFC playoff championship game against thePittsburgh Steelers. The Jets are able to engage with their fans and make them feel like they are part of the team. They are leveraging social medial to capitalize on their fans' passion for the team and their willingness to share that fervor.

Like many companies, your social media efforts have started small and grew organically. To capitalize on those efforts to generate sales and revenues you need to have a team of people dedicated to your social media presence. You also will need a deep understanding of your audience, a creative vision, and a way to measure results in order to execute a successful strategy, says industry experts. 

Here are some ways your social media can be monetized.

How to Monetize Social Media: Build Brand Awareness 

The first step is to use traditional media or word-of-mouth advertising to drive awareness and traffic to your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin or Myspace pages, says Jamie Turner, author of How to Make Money with Social Media. Unless you already have a recognizable brand like Nike or Apple, your brand needs to develop social media magnetism before you can look to make any money. You also need to create circular momentum across many platforms when designing your social media campaign, says Turner. By providing multiple channels for users to talk with you, you let customers choose the channel that they are most comfortable with, he adds; and by doing that you increase the likelihood that they'll connect with your brand in any number of ways. 

Dig Deeper: 20 Awesome Facebook Fan Pages

How to Monetize Social Media: Engage Your Audience 

Social media is about having a dialogue. When you have a dialogue with a customer or prospect, the communication is much more fulfilling and much more profitable, says Turner. The PETCO brand has developed a strong presence in social media. The pet store chain has a YouTube channel, its Facebook page generates a lot of discussions among pet owners, and there's lots of activity on its PETCO Scoop blog, which has received hundreds of 'likes' and comments. PETCO's customers are true pet lovers and treat their pets as part of the family. The company tries to keep conversation going by aiming Facebook and Twitter posts so that there's an explicit question to answer, or at least a specific piece of information to which people can react. Industry experts stress that you have to know your community and know how to take part within that community and through that create great content or conversation that will raise awareness and increase sales.

How to Monetize Social Media: Offer Special Promotions 

Dell Computers exemplifies a company that is selling products using social media. Its Twitter page, @DellOutlet, offers discounts exclusively to followers. Dell might tweet 15 percent off any Dell Outlet laptop or desktop with a special coupon code entered at checkout so they'll know which tweet you are seeing. @DellOutlet also points you to a specific web page. There is some interaction in terms of chats with tweeters. @DellOutlet has garnered more than 1.6 million followers and generated more than $2 million in incremental revenues for Dell. Traditionally, Dell would have spent a lot of money running print ads. Today, they can write a 140-character promotion to reach customers. 

PETCO is yet another example. The company provided a promo code to their customers for $40 in free shipping. The person who shared their code with the most people won a $500 PETCO gift card. About 40 percent of the sales that resulted from this promotional push came from new consumers. The desire to save a few bucks drove loyal PETCO customers to connect with the larger pet owner community and spread the word about the store via social media. 

Many companies have used display advertising (banners) and contextual advertising such as Google Ad Words. Many bloggers use Google Adsense to make money. There are plugins to help; you make money from clicks. There are also ad networks that you can join that pool several advertisers. You get a code and banner ads rotate from their network. This is an item that you will want to include in your advertising rate sheet. Major advertisers who buy display ads are finally beginning to figure out how to reach audiences through social networks, and have begun to shift significant dollars into Facebook. Research firm eMarketer estimates Facebook display advertising revenues will grow 80.9 percent this year to $2.19 billion.

Instead of a typical banner ad, consider offering a micro site, which would be equivalent to a paid supplement. For example, you could devote one page (a link on your website) specifically to an advertiser's products and services. Or you can become an affiliate. With affiliate marketing you get paid to refer people to another business.

Consider combining rich media advertising with display advertising. Video advertising and promotional material can be quickly and easily streamed to your social community. Another consideration is charging for sponsorship on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Of course, attention needs to be paid between balancing the delivery of the rich media advertising against the comfort level of your customer base.

Dig Deeper: How to Launch a LinkedIn Company Page


How to Monetize Social Media: Brand Within Applications 

The best way to use apps is to create something that is functional such as a calculator, entertaining such as a game, or provides some sort of social connection such as an app just for your community. Your app can be fee based or you can give it away to build a relationship with customers. A number of well-known company brands use mobile apps to interact with their loyal customers, including Target, Coca-Cola, Nike andGucci.

The fashion designer touts a luxury lifestyle application that is a quintessential example of branded mobile marketing. Through "Gucci Connect" users were able use their mobile devises, such as iPhone or iPad, for virtual access of a Milan fashion show, watch live runway and behind the scenes video coupled with live chat between virtual guests through Facebook and Twitter. Exclusive also to iPhone app subscribers are interactive games. The "Gucci Live" section features a music channel. Subscribers stay "in the know" with a calendar of upcoming brand events and feature articles. The Gucci "Little Black Book" provides recommendations to the hottest restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels in various cities throughout the world.

Dig Deeper: How to Measure Your Brand's Online Influence

How to Monetize Social Media: Set Up Shop on Facebook

Facebook fan pages are another way to generate sales and enthusiasm especially if you have loyal fans that follow your updates. You can list your products on your Facebook page for fans to easily share with their own friends and essentially allow your product offerings to go viral.

Businesses are increasingly selling their goods on Facebook. There are various e-commerce solutions available. One is 8thBridge which is helping companies like 1-800-Flowers and HuateLook sell from Facebook. A special deal 8thBridge ran for the designer brands retailer HauteLook along with fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg generated more than $100,000 in sales in one day, 40 percent of which came from new customers. Users were given a $10 coupon for every new member that they brought in. Using 8thBridge, 1-800-Flowers is drawing people into buying flowers and other gifts for friends and family while they are already thinking about them on Facebook.

Payvment is another storefront option that provides online stores for companies to sell on Facebook. It has a network of more than 60,000 merchants using its self-serve technology. Payvment generally serves smaller clients while 8thBridge caters to small- and medium-sized businesses. According to a study released by Forrester Research, Facebook is more suitable for small retailers, niche products, or steeply discounted items. Most of the benefit that big retailers get from Facebook is branding their company but not actual purchases, Forrester further reports. Moreover, some products are inherently social such as books, DVDs, and event tickets, which have been successful because they are easy to buy and sell online.

Dig Deeper: How to Get Customers on Facebook and Twitter

How to Monetize Social Media: Use as a Retention Tool 

Companies don't always need to use social media as a sales tool or to acquire news customers, says Turner; they can use it as a customer retention tool. If someone likes or follows your business, it's because they're interested in hearing from you on some regular basis. It's important that you have a routine schedule for your blogs, tweets, and postings. Keeping your fans and followers up to date on what's new and happening with your business or industry will keep them engaged with you and keep your brand top-of-mind.


Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com 

11 Ways To Successfully Work With Strategic Partners

Apr 20, 2011 -

American Express OPEN Forum http://ow.ly/4FgI0

How do you best work with strategic partners who are much different, slower and/or bigger than you?

1. Tweak your communications strategy.

You likely won't change their business processes, but you can sometimes tweak your own methods to make it easier for them to deal with you. Contact them and say, "I respect what you are doing and see opportunities for a beneficial long term relationship. What can I do on my end to ensure we help you save time and be more profitable? How can I alleviate any past partnership frustrations?"

 

Alexandra Wilson, Gilt Groupe

2. Beware the big company.

Big companies can take up tremendous amounts of time and energy for a startup. The rewards may seem great at first, but often big companies are very slow to get things done. They're generally averse to working with startups. Proceed with caution and make sure the relationship is progressing as expected. 

 

David Cohen, TechStars

3. Think transformational rather than transactional.

We approach our strategic partners in a transformational manner. This results in a team approach to mutual benefits as opposed to a transactional method that is based on just money exchanging hands. Communication of concerns is critical to both parties. And as in marriage or any relationship, a common culture has to be agreed upon. This includes payment terms, quality and performance issues.

 

 Tom Walter, Tasty Catering

4. Don't try to change your partners.

The key to effectiveness in small entrepreneurial organizations that rely on strategic partners is to understand the psychological and practical implications of working with one partner vs. another. You should never try to change your partners to be more like you—this will fail and frustrate everyone involved.
  

 

Leonard Schlesinger, Babson College

5. Be clear about expectations and accountability.

When structuring a strategic partnership, always build in a communication system (conference call 1x per week, face to face quarterly) and accountability system (results reviewed and expectations adjusted.) The employee you work with at the partner company may not always be there, so make sure your expectations and accountability is in a written document.

 

Sharon Lechter, Pay Your Family First

6. Clearly define the relationship.

It is your responsibility to clearly define the relationship. Don't put yourself in a position where you need frequent approvals from the partner—larger companies are notoriously slow, or worse, not responsive. You can't wait for your partner or you'll run out of cash and be out of business.

 

Reed Phillips, DeSilva + Phillips

7. Respect differences and define what's important.

There will always be differences in intellect in individuals. Companies vary and some are chained in bureaucracy—others are nimble and fleet-footed. Be clear about what is critical and what is your whim. Make sure you communicate this and repeatedly. Foul-ups are opportunities to reinforce values.

 

Srikumar Rao, Creativity and Personal Mastery Institute

8. Culture matters.

You want to match your culture with partners or acquisitions. When you both share the same mindset for quality and speed, it sets a consistent bar for the right shared metrics or scorecards. I do seek out thought leaders who are different because I could be left behind from an innovation standpoint if I surround myself with only those in my industry.

 

Naveen Jain

9. The challenges are worth the benefit.

Teaming with a larger, established strategic partner has many benefits. It also has its challenges, like longer time frames to make decisions or to get paid. Three things to keep in mind: 1. They give you leverage and credibility; 2. Clearly understand and provide solutions to their needs; 3. You need to be patient, but once you're "in" and do a great job, you'll get more business opportunities.

 

Ingrid Vanderveldt, Ingrid Vanderveldt LLC

10. Clear expectations make or break partnerships.

One of the reasons to form strategic partnerships is to bring brand new approaches or capabilities to the market. You don't have to act exactly like your partner, but you do have to operate according to the same plan. If you mutually define values, expectations, milestones, success factors and metrics, you won't need to control the way each party gets things done, as long as they get them done.

 

Pamela Slim, Escape from Cubicle Nation

11. Determine value vs. cost.

When working with strategic partners that slow down the process because of red tape, the key is patience. It can be frustrating, but you have to weigh that against the opportunity the partnership provides. Is it worth it? That is a question only you can answer for your personal business needs. Just like every other business decision: The value vs. the cost.

 

Susan Solovic, It's Your Biz

Kevin Brown - www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com