Watch my latest FREE webinar where I cover 7 Essential Tips for Generating and Retaining More Business Using LinkedIn? You can leave your feedback at my Marketing Mentor Facebook Page

What implications does the new feature of Facebook Questions have for our online reputation of our business or our personal brand?

In the last 24 hours Facebook has been rolling out it’s ‘Questions’ functionality – you will see it on the left hand side of your Home Page or at the top of your Profile or Business Page.

the Answers and Questions feature of Linkedin have been a great way to build online visibility and be a source of lead generation for a number of years. This move by Facebook is another example of them looking to have people spend more time in their company and become a source for information and research about questions we have.

One of the most powerful features is that you can post a reply to a Question as the name of your ‘Facebook Page’ – unlike when you comment on a Facebook Profile or Facebook Page.

Here is a quick video review of the Facebook Questions feature which I published today over on my Biz Growth Media Facebook Page.

You can also ‘follow questions’ and edit the answers to the questions that you respond to.

However one potential disadvantage is that when people click on the links to the questions you ask using the ‘Questions’ feature it will take people away from your Facebook Page.

If you are monitoring your online reputation on Facebook it will be important for you to start to listen to the questions being asked and answered.

When you post an answer or a question it will be seen by the whole of the Facebook community irrespective of your Facebook Profile privacy settings – so be careful what and how you ask and answer questions.

More details about Facebook Questions are here on the Facebook blog.

Remember the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams where the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything was 42 – perhaps Mark Zuckerberg is looking for that book to be re-written – and the answer now being Facebook.

What are your thoughts about Facebook Questions?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Access my FREE Facebook webinars about using Facebook Pages and Facebook Advertising

Access my guide to Facebook Pages best practice guide for colleges and universities

Perhaps Facebook not where your potential clients are networking online? If they are using LinkedIn you might want to access my FREE LinkedIn for business – make sure that you leave a valid email address so that you can access a discount off my forthcoming 4 week programme starting the 9 August 2010 called “LinkedIn for Business Leads and Profits”. The discount is valid until the 31 July 2010.

Do women and men interact differently online is a question I often get asked. Well here is some research that will help us all when considering how best to connect to our community online.

comScore, Inc. has today released a global report how women interact with the web called, “Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet” – it’s an extensive analysis of how women are are interacting online across social networks, online video, mobile communications, online retail trends and a number of other key areas.

The report comments that social networking sites reach a higher percentage of women than men globally, with 75.8 percent of all women online visiting a social networking site in May 2010 versus 69.7 percent of men.

Here are a few conclusions I drew from the comScore report.

1. Don’t just look to connect and reach women on women’s magazines, celebrity gossip and baby sites – the report comments that “women are more engaged than men on the Internet -you just have to know where to look”. Think beyond the obvious suspects when looking for online communities where you can reach the female consumer.

2. If you want to connect with women you need to understand how they interact in social networks – the report states “social networking is central to women’s Internet experience”. Women of all ages connect on social networks sharing photo’s, playing games, and watching online video. Globally, women spent an average of 16.3 percent of their online time on social networks in April 2010, compared to only 11.7 percent for the men.

3. Women in the US control the cash – more women than men get engaged with online transactions and collectively spend more.What does this mean then when it comes to the tone and content of your online marketing?

4. Act global but understand local influences – we need to deep our understanding of regional and cultural differences impact in Internet behaviour. The report goes into some depth about differences they have found across the globe.

5. Stop making the excuse that Social Networking is only relevant if you are marketing to a youth audience -  the 45+ female segment is driving the greatest proportion of growth for Social Networking sites, in terms of both visitation and time spent. Yes the 15-24 may use these sites more frequently and use them more however the 45+ age group visit and use Social Networking sites just as much as the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups.In fact older women are using Social Networks significantly more than men do. In North America, with 9 out of 10 female Internet users visiting a social network site in April 2010.

6. Men and Women use Twitter differently – the report comments that in an April 2010 comScore survey, men were found to be more likely to post their own Tweets than women; women on the other hand used Twitter more to find deals and promotions, as a place for conversing online and to follow celebrities.How does that change your content strategy for Twitter?

What other research and insights have you found about how female consumers use the web and how is it influencing your online marketing, PR and communications? What other insights did you glean from the comScore report?

Here are three new resources from Facebook that I think you will find of interest:

1. A new Page about Facebook Safety to provide you with updates and information to keep you and your family safe while using Facebook or surfing on the Internet. This compliments the Facebook Security Page.

2. A Facebook Page for PR professionals where the Facebook team share what they have learned about creating social content, promoting events, optimising Pages, and integrating with tools off of Facebook – it looks as though this will be a great resource for PR an marketing people alike. Check out the hour long video recording of a live event held last week at Facebook HQ in the US with information about using Facebook advertising and live streaming

3. A Facebook Page for the Media where they are providing guidance and tips for media outlets  in terms of best practices and tools to drive referral traffic and increase engagement on your site. They are recommending all journalists should have a Facebook Page, and provide tips about running events, adding Facebook social plugins and how to use Facebook search to monitor conversations.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Access my FREE Facebook webinars about using Facebook Pages and Facebook Advertising

Access my guide to Facebook Pages best practice guide for colleges and universities

Perhaps Facebook not where your potential clients are networking online? If they are using LinkedIn you might want to access my FREE LinkedIn for business – make sure that you leave a valid email address so that you can access a discount off my forthcoming 4 week programme starting the 9 August 2010 called “LinkedIn for Business Leads and Profits”. The discount is valid until the 31 July 2010.

Did you hear the news? Yesterday Facebook announced that now some 500 million people are actively using Facebook from across the globe.

I recently noticed a post from Jeremiah Owyang asking the readers of his blog for their input on Facebook marketing best practice.

Here is the feedback I shared:

1. Understand the online habits of your community – identify when your community are online so that you can time your Facebook update so that it has a chance to appear when they log on in their feed on their home page without too much scrolling. This simple online visibility tip could increase the possibility of them engaging with your update

2. Manage the frequency of posting – Take care not to publish content too frequently to your Facebook Page – if all people can see on their Facebook home page feed is your updates not their friends they may ‘unlike’ your Facebook Page or hide your feed

3. Don’t forget to promote your Page – When starting a Facebook Page we have found that also investing in engagement ads (on the home page of Facebook) has assisted in increasing the visibility and number of people joining your community quickly

4. Post relevant refreshing content – Keep your competitions relevant to the community on your Facebook Page. This may seem obvious but it is often overlooked. Your competition does not have to be for something that has an expensive price tag – but it is something valued by your community. Note – if you are hosting a competition or give way, make sure you comply with the guidelines for promotions and competitions (there are many brands who don’t and risk their Facebook Page being deleted)

5. Make it easy to do business with your app – When adding applications make sure you test it for useability – too many clicks as part of the process and people won’t add your application and if it’s not easy to use and does not add value (or fun) to them your Facebook app will remain a secret.

But what ideas would you add?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Access my FREE Facebook webinar about using Facebook Pages

Access my FREE Facebook webinar about Facebook Advertising

Access my guide to Facebook Pages best practice guide for colleges and universities

Perhaps Facebook not where your potential clients are networking online? If they are using LinkedIn you might want to access my FREE LinkedIn for business – make sure that you leave a valid email address so that you can access a discount off my forthcoming 4 week programme starting the 9 August 2010 called “LinkedIn for Business Leads and Profits”. The discount is valid until the 31 July 2010.

If you missed my recent webinar about LinkedIn you can access the 52 minute recording online now – it’s available in a webinar format and if you prefer you can download the MP3 of the seminar.

Here are some of the areas I covered:

• How LinkedIn can assist you if you want to be make sure that you are found online for professional expertise
• Tips for optimising your professional LinkedIn profile so that it can attract leads for you
• Guidance on how to develop a network of strategic business contacts
• How to ensure you never lose the important connections you make on LinkedIn
• The most important rule you need to follow when using LinkedIn to represent your personal brand online or offline
• Ways to expand your network to support your personal and professional goals
• Guidance to boost your online visibility and your visibility to your LinkedIn network.

Just head over to the opt in page and leave your name and email address – make sure that you leave a valid email address as there is also a special offer that will be emailed to you – a discount off my forthcoming 4 week programme starting the 9 August 2010 called “LinkedIn for Business Leads and Profits”. The discount is valid until the 31 July 2010.

I have delivered this programme in workshops with clients but this is the first (and possibly only) time I will be delivering the programme online.

I was also recently interviewed on a national radio show about LinkedIn for business and career success – you can listen to the recording here.