Photo: Courtesy of www.youtwitface.com

In the year 3000, Youtube,Twitter and Facebook will merge to form one super time-wasting website called YouTwitFace.
– Conan O’Brien

Thankfully, we won’t have to wait until the year 3000 to have one ultimate social website.  Using the latest in dashboard widget desktop technology you, the average user, are able to integrate your social media accounts easily and head-ache 991 years before Conan O’Brien predicted YouTwitFace. Albeit an all in one site is non-existent, developers have created other sites and tricks to aide in the integration of your social marketing sales force.  Imagine, posting a blog that instantly links to your facebook account which then fires out tweets announcing the update to your face book which in turn returns to your twitter feed which is available on your blog.   Sound confusing, well it may be a little, but it’s pretty cool eh?

The benefits of having your social marketing force linked together return to the basic principle of why you have these accounts in the first place, to communicate with your stake-holders.  But you may ask, are all three truly necessary?  Yes if you consider the possibility that some people may use only facebook and some only twitter and some may only read your blog.  What I am getting at is having a consistent message across all three platforms provides a more efficient way to provide a consistent message to wider target area rather than if you viewed each platform as its own entity.

To begin creating a true social network marketing force it is best to tackle the process one step at a time.  Begin with a blog (check earlier posts for tips on blogging) about your business and cool related topics dealing with your business.  Consider the blog as the foundation to your social plan.  From the blog you can provide links to your facebook and twitter pages.  Facebook and twitter both provide code for a badge which updates a live stream directly to your blog.

From here head on over to your facebook page and get ready for some fun.  Using the facebook application search look for blogging applications which update your RSS fees directly in facebook.  Two applications I recommend are Blogcast and Social RSS .  Social RSS allows you to input 5 RSS feeds to have updated on your page, this allows you to have your blog and twitter updates directly imported to your facebook page.  Twitter applications are also available which allow you to post to twitter directly from facebook.  Still with  me?

So what about your Tweets?   Well, the best way to keep up with the constant flow in the twitterverse is to invest in one of the free desktop modules like Tweetdeck or Seesmic.  These programs allow you to keep tabs on multiple twitter feeds as well as facebook.  From here you can tell the world what your posting on your blog in second by second updates.  Think of these programs as an instant message service for your social media marketing force.

You may dizzied by all these connected social media marketing knowledge but don’t be intimidated, break it down step by step and remember the advantages of social media.  Being completely integrated will save you time and make your message more available to a wider audience at the best price of all: FREE.

Remember the great inventors you learned about in school: Alexander G. Bell, Thomas Edison, and Benjamin Franklin.  Ever wonder what they would do in today’s age and what they would post on facebook?  Well , let’s imagine Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1980: he would probably be spending his days developing facebook applications to call people with VoIP.  Or maybe Benjamin Franklin would have developed a Facebook App entitled “Fly the kite, but don’t get struck.”  What I am getting at is that online applications, particularly ones in facebook, are advancing the internet and its user-ability in the same fashion as inventors of years past.  For this installment of our series on facebook we’ll look at how applications are mobilizing the facebook medium for e-commerce and other fun stuff.

In the not so distant past, facebook developed the facebook platform to allow developers to do what they do best, develop.  At present, thousands of applications exist for the facebook platform ranging from fun things like graffiti and — one of my personal favorites  — rocketman to viable business practical applications.  With many developers, novice to elite, building applications daily, there exists a very large pool to choose from.  If by chance you are unable to find an application to choose from, you also have the option to develop your own.  The facebook developer’s page is an excellent source for the individual willing to get down and dirty with some code.

Another alternative to add some extra “flair” to your page is to use the static FBML application.  Static FBML (facebook mark-up language) allows you to use code to create unique tabs and boxes within your facebook page.  Within these unique boxes and tabs the possibilities are endless to create unique pages to promote and improve your business via facebook.  As you can see from these examples below, static FBML allows your facebook page to become an extension of your business:

Threadless T-Shirts – Threadless utilized the Static FBML to create a customized e-commerce portal for their killer t-shirts.

RED – RED used Static FBML to create a registration page for users to join their cause.

Facebook applications have potential to be inexpensive, efficient ways to generate ROI.  I wish you luck in your facebook application quest.  Next week we’ll be discussing more social media with integration of Twitter and Facebook.

Continuing our series on facebook, our next feature will concern the articulate art of wall posts and searching for friends. The wall originated in facebook as the main form of communication between friends. Typical wall exchanges in the early stages of facebook consisted of inside jokes and college students’ weak attempts to impress females. Now in the newer more improved facebook, the wall serves as an advanced multi-media communication tool.

The wall, also known as the “news-feed”, displays the updates to your profile in a column style fashion, very similar to posts in a forum. The news-feed has many features to enhance your facebook profile.

Text-Based Updates: The facebook equivalent to tweets, these form the basis for the wall and allow you to share your thoughts with the subscribers to your news feed. Friends have the capability to comment and express their fondness of these posts allowing them to take part in your daily business and let you know their thoughts on the matter.

Link-Posts: So you are taking a quick break from work and surfing your favorite web pages. You find an interesting article on digg.com and think “my friends HAVE to read this!” With facebook’s wall you can post the link, accompanied by a thumbnail and description to your wall. This will show up on your subscribers’ pages. Furthermore, you could get really motivated and go to specific profiles and share the link with individuals.

Multi-Media Updates: A real possibility for business is the new ability to post picture and video to their news-feed. Similar to the link, these posts can be accompanied by text. Adding creative content provides endless avenues for promotion of your business. A few quick ideas that come to mind are showing examples of your work alongside press releases, short web-commercials for promotion, or perhaps something outrageous to attract attention.

Privacy Settings: Of course you may want to be selective in who sees your posts. Utilizing the “friends lists” feature allows to organize your friends into groups based on location, relationship, or whatever you prefer. This is possible in the friends application. Using these lists allows you to filter the visibility of your posts which in turn may save you some face.

Importing From Other Sites: In these exciting days of Web2.0/Social Media Revolution/ Ubiquitous Internet, a lot of our time is spent updating sites, posting information, and of course, checking out other peoples’ similar activities. Now with the news-feed you are able to link to other Web2.0 sites and have those updates posted in your news-feed. This makes the sharing of information even easier because facebook does the work for you!

Learn to utilize the wall/news-feed to keep in touch with friends and perhaps attract some new ones in the process. Enjoy your updates and posts until next week when we delve into the world of facebook applications.

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Perhaps the biggest thing since Google, Facebook is a social epidemic that began on college campuses as a way for students to “connect.”  Facebook is now 150 million users strong in 170 countries represented by 35 languages and growing strong (FB grew 85% in 2008).  Within the past year facebook has targeted the private sector for its newest pool of users.  With the new service titled “pages”, which provides a presence for an organization, product, or public personality in the realm of facebook.  For a business, this presents many possibilities, possibilities that are cost effective and possibly addicting.  A series of facebook blog posts ensues covering the Facebook Revolution. Let’s get started on getting started.

Before heading over to facebook you should consider what is achievable through an account on facebook:

• Connecting With Customers – Facebook brings B2C communication to a new level of direct communication.  Reviews can be written, discussions started, and comments made about your business.  Communication in facebook is mutual, fun and comfortable for both parties.

• Informing Customers – “Fans”, the facebook equivalent to customers, to your page will receive updates whenever you post them.  Perhaps your business now offers a new product line; post it on facebook and inform your “fans” instantaneously.

• Brand Management - Your facebook page is an extension of your brand.  By adding information, photos, updates, videos, and applications your page acts as the digital version of your brand which users may interact with.  Facebook personifies your brand and allows extra value to be attached to your brand.

• Brand Awareness - Creating a business account allows other users of facebook to subscribe to your page as a “fan.”  Gaining fans is the facebook equivalent to creating brand awareness.  A bonus to generating fans is that once someone becomes a fan, a link to your page is then displayed on their page; viral campaign anyone???

These 4 things are just the tip of the benefits-facebook-provides-iceberg.  Social media is a young and undiscovered business phenomenon with its full potential yet to be realized.  You may feel overwhelmed by the size of facebook at first, but you must remember to start small and build your page’s elements one by one. Follow this link to start a page for your business.  Complete the forms and be prepared for your journey into facebook.

Stay tuned as we continue our facebook journey next with the wall and finding friends!