Building A Facebook Page Network

Facebook pages can be effective promotion and network building tools if you utilize them with an effective strategy. Here is a method I have developed which uses Twitter and Facebook together in order to discover, evaluate and link to new sites (and Facebook pages) related to yours.

Over time I have gravitated towards using Twitter as my main interface with the online world – especially when I am searching the web for new sites related to the subject matter of mine. Twitter is a good place to get a lot of quick information and introduction to new content on the net.

I start my workday by logging into my project’s Twitter account and fishing for interesting new profiles which pass through the newsfeed as ReTweets from the accounts I currently follow. Once a new profile catches my eye I click on the profile main page to read the profile description and a few of the recent Tweets. If I like it I click “follow”.

With this strategy the next step is to follow through to the new profile’s main web site where I immediately bookmark the site (in order to return over the coming days to evaluate the site more thoroughly and than (most importantly) click through to the site’s Facebook page (which they hopefully have).

Once I am on the Facebook page I do a quick evaluation for quality of layout and wall post information. If I like it I click “like” to become a fan of the page.

The next important step is to immediately link the new page to my own related site Facebook page. This is easily accomplished by clicking on “Add to My Page’s Favorites) n the lower left section of the page. Then choose which of your pages you want to link the new page to from the dropdown menu and then click “save”.

Now that you have linked the page to your page en effective follow up is to post the following message (plugging in the information specific to your site/page) on the wall of the new page you have linked to :

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hi ___(name of page/site)____.

We have linked your page to ours :

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mortgage-Resistance-Of-America/129482893754605

Feel free to link back help the resistance!

JOIN THE RESISTANCE!
www.mortgageresistanceofamerica.com
www.studentloanresistanceofamerica.com

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The link in the above post will automatically load the logo, description and follower information of your page and display this as a nice link below the post. The new site will be happy that you have “liked” their page while at the same time you get a quick mutually beneficial plug for your page and the possibility that they will link your page back to theirs. It is a win-win situation.

Finally, after you take a few days to evaluate the new site more fully you can decide to follow up with a link request email to the site webmaster in order to potentially link your main sites together and/or discuss other ways of working together for the mutual benefit.

I have found that it is easiest to develop quick, algorithmic tasks when marketing on the web. Otherwise, it is easy to become disorganized. It is also important and helpful to create as many templates as you can (ex. the above “page link” post, introduction email to the new webmaster, etc.) which saves a lot of time and effort.

Try the task outlined here for an easy and efficient method of building your network.

Peace

**The mission of www.transcendingimage.com is to help creative people harness the power of online technology (specifically social media) to promote their projects and bring their virtual ideas to reality. Contact flancieri@hotmail.com with any questions or comments. We are here to help.

Remember : The Cyberworld is made Up of REAL PEOPLE.

With the massive information overload a constant issue for those of us who spend a significant amount of time online and navigating the social mediaverse it is often easy to forgot the most fundamental point that the virtual world is ultimately made up of REAL, (hopefully) BREATHING… HUMANS. I think that the process of looking at a digital screen for hours (that is, especially when you are not watching videos or viewing photographs) may distort our sense of the nature of the producers of the infinite content that makes up the internet. It is easy sometimes to lose touch with the fact that most of that content (especially in the social media realm) is created by REAL people just like you and I. In addition, you will do yourself a disservice by not appreciating that each online being you ineract with is a potentially like-minded person who may very likely be willing to collaborate with you in a way which helps both parties achieve their online goals.

The key to appreciating and harnessing the vast “people power” online is to slow down the process by which you evaluate and intake content. Cognitive psychology experiments have shown that when we are overloaded with information we abosrb and appreciate less of it. Isn’t it therefore more desirable to take in less and enjoy more?

A method that I have evolved in absorbing and getting the most out of the content and people I connect with online is to break the process down into discrete tasks and spread those tasks out over a longer period of time. For instance, one algorithm that I use is to spend 15 minutes at the start of the morning browsing through one of my various Twitter account in order to keep up on the day’s news (especially that news which relates directly to my project). In the process of reading the news stories coming in I regularly discover interesting new Twitter profiles (through searching the Twitter database for keywords related to my project’s research and/or from new incoming retweets from some of the profiles I am following.

The first step I take when an interesting new Twitter user comes to my attention is to go pull up that user’s Twitter profile page and read throught their profile description and a few o their recent Tweets in order to decide if they are the kind of person who will add some spice to my Twitter feed. If they pass the test I “follow” them (if it doesn’t work out you can always unfollow”.

The next step is to go directly to that users main web site (whose address is usually listed in their profile. I give the first page of the site a quick once over (and may even browse through a few pages if the content/presentation are especially appealing and then if I decide it is a site I would like to evaluate further I immediately bookmark it. I then ad it to my list of 4-5 sites which I revisit each following day in order to read through one or two additional pages of the site. If/when I decide that the content of the site is not so interesting as to warrant additional reading I drop it off of list of sites to revisit on my daily rounds.

The good thing about this methodical strategy is that when I do find a site with a hearty amount of content I can gradually become familiar with the content and the owner of the site in the process of revisiting the site and absorbing more content over the following days and weeks. Also, once I decide that value the site content I will send an email to the webmaster to introduce myself and suggest some quick and simple ways in which we may be able to work together in order to help promote each other’s sites (for more on this see yesterday’s blog entry where I describe the content of my introduction emails to other webmasters).

Once I make contact with the webmaster I may offer to link their site to mine if their content is valuable and complementary enough to my site’s content to justify a link. Alternatively, I may supply them with my Facebook, Twitter and/or YouTube pages and request the address of theirs so that we make link up deeper through the social media network. I have roughly ten to fifteen additional tasks which I suggest regularly to facilitate the process of working together with the new member of my social network for the benefit of both parties. In addition, in follow up emails I ask the new contact to feel free to share additional ideas they may think of for ways that we can work together for mutual benefit.

The good thing is that once you complete the process of forming a strong connection with the new contact you can always send them an email when you come up with additional marketing ideas in the future. By working together you both become valuable assets or the means of leveraging each other’s social networks in order to increase the exposure of your projects.

To get back to the main point and wrap up this rather long post the goal is to always be careful to “humanize” the contacts in your network. They are REAL people who are often talented and resourceful (just like you) and by maintaining a regular, comfortable connection you will be able to leverage the “two heads are better than one” power which is a major benefit of establishing contacts.

I also find it very productive to send out a regular email update to my network. The frequency of the update will depend on the nature of the site goals and the network members. By maintaining regular contact the members of your network will keep you fresh in mind and more likely to think of you when as they proceed with their marketing tasks online. In the update email I always try to provide some information and immediately usable information to give my network members some ideas to boost their marketing effort. If they implement this information it also benefits me in the end (as any increased exposure or network building they achieve ultimately returns bsome benefit to me as a member of their network. It is a win-win situation.

The currency of the cyberworld is information. Build a network of quality people and then help them increase their marketing efficiency (as thus yours as well) by helping them build skills which will enable them to increase their command over the power tools available online (specifically in the realm of social media).

Constantly remind yourself that the members of your network are people who want to work together and make progress. Tap into their creativity. Get to know them gradually over time and send them links/resources that you think will be helpful to them as you discover more about their desires and needs as your working relationship develops over time. Cultivate your network and look for every opportunity to put your heads together. The fruits of your combined efforts will pay off exponentially.

TranscendingImage’s mission is to help creative people harness the power of internet technology to expand the exposure of their projects and bring their ideas to virtual reality. Feel free to send your questions and/or comments to : flancieri@hotmail.com . I welcome you all into my network and look forward to collaborating for the higher good.

Peace

Using the Power of Blog Comments In Your Site Marketing Strategy

I left the following comment (for my www.mortgageresistanceofamerica.com project) on an interesting blog article on the “www.economiccollapseblog.com” site :

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-one-percent-gigantic-government-gigantic-corporations-massive-wealth-inequality-in-america/comment-page-1#co

My comment is posted under “FrankyFreelance”

This is a good example of how to use comments to provide good information to the other blog readers and then follow up with your site’s call-to-action. As people read your informative comment and become confident that you know what you are talking about, and the more like-minded to you they will be EAGER to click on the links to your main project web site (where they can consequently follow your project’s FB, Twitter, YouTube, email newsletter and other communication tool accounts).

Another very effective element in the effective comment is to include some links to hard and solid resources (ex. articles, YouTube videos, free ebooks (as I have done in the comment used as an example above). When you help readers along by providing links to resources which will further them along in their research they will be very grateful and usually more than happy to click through to your site and follow your accounts for additional information in the future.

Activists on the net are looking for bright people who they can connect (and ultimately collaborate – in various potential ways) with. Look at your comments as ways of reaching out to other like-minded people out in cyberspace.
Look at the information in your comment as a sort of ADVERTISEMENT/PROMOTION of what you have to offer intellectually and spiritually. The right people will naturally be attracted to this and help your effort along in any way(s) they can. As a consequence, you will likely be happy to reciprocate and thus collaboration will begin to grow from there.

Once you make contact with the people who have responded to your comment(so) it is a very good idea to suggest to them a few simple and quick ways that you can work together for mutual benefit. For instance, you may add a link to their Facebook page from yours and then provide them with a link to your page to show them their new link. Add that you do not expect them to reciprocate, but that it would be helpful. Try to also offer additional simple marketing tasks that you and your potential new collaborator can implement quickly to get the working relationship rolling fast and smoothly. Tasks which produce quick tangible results are the best. Try building a list of such tasks that you can present to new contacts. They will feel more confident and interested if they can see that you have thought out your strategy. In addition, directing them to other collaborators who you have implemented similar tasks with will also help build their confidence in you, as well as show that there are other people who have been interested in your efforts enough to help. This also gives the new collaborator a good idea of the size and quality of your network. One of the most valuable things you can offer to new collaborators is a sizable and high quality network which they can tap into and leverage in order to progress toward their own project’s goals.

The key to using the power of the internet is toi

1. FIND those like-minded people who are doing similar thing
2. SHARE information, ideas and resources for the mutual benefit
3. BUILD strong networks which can be leveraged to get your message heard

Remember, online marketing and political activism SURELY cannot succeed by the efforts of individuals (or small groups of people) working in isolation. Victory will come only if people pool their intellectual resources and talents using the internet as the main medium of collaboration. Harnessing the reach of the social network is the most powerful key to success in your online endeavors. All of the tools you need already exist out there in the virtual world. You main job is to harness those tools and leverage your network in order to exploit those tools to their highest potential.

www.transendingimage.com – bringing good ideas to virtual reality. Visit our site to discover more about how to utilize the power of the internet to bring your ideas to a wider audience.