What Does Facebook’s Timeline Mean to Marketers

Facebook is known for the frequent changes it makes to its layout and functionality. While many of its changes have been only individual users oriented, there are some recent changes like Timeline which is concentrated not only at its users but also at internet marketers as well. Timeline is considered to have a potential to be the best app introduced for marketers. Here is what you should understand about Timeline as a marketer.

Appealing advertisements

You will have to come up with very appealing advertisements to gain the attention of users. Provide information on sales promotion in your advertisements. Discounts and offers can definitely grab the attention of the users. Know your audience when creating advertisements. You have to observe the timeline of the users closely and carefully to integrate you ads into their timelines.

Importance of Likes

Timeline is not going to change the fact that “likes” are still the most important part in Facebook. Keep your brand pages active so that they appear in the live feeds of the user. If the users like your story, it is good for you. But if they don’t, chances are that they might “unmark” your content from their live feeds which may affect your brand page visibility on Facebook. The more you interact with your fans, the better chances you have in keeping your news active on their feeds.

Brand building tool

Many people like to know stories about their favorite brands. You can use this to your advantage and have your timeline tell an interesting story of your brand. Have the company’s past and present incorporated in the page so that the users can go through the story easily. Use this tool to create a good impression of you brand in the minds of customers.

Cover image feature

Cover photo part in the timeline can be used to promote your business in a big manner. Have the pictures of your logos and products in the cover image. You can even include a large font brand name in the cover picture. If your company has a brand ambassador, you can have the poster of your ad with him/her in your cover page.

You can also use cover image picture to give information on any upcoming events or any promotional offers in an interesting manner. Be creative when you design the poster for cover photo.

Plug-ins

Some old plug-ins like Opengraph can be used with this new layout. In fact Opengraph connections can be used in an even simpler manner with this new layout. Marketers are still researching on the plug-ins which can work the best for websites and blogs.

These are a few basic things you should be aware of regarding the new Facebook timeline app. Timeline can be used to communicate better with your fans. Engaging with your clients on a timely basis is going to fetch your brand a recognition that may have not been easier if you used conventional brand building strategies. Timeline has opened more opportunities to build a strong image of your company.


Author Bio: Penny is a senior writer with writer company and article writing service firm Godot Media. She has interests ranging from social media, copywriting to following web technologies and trends.

LinkedIn and Your Resume

With 130 million profiles on professional networking website LinkedIn, there’s great potential for you to increase your professional visibility among those in your industry and beyond. It would be almost silly not to consider the benefits of actively participating in LinkedIn's social networking as well as maintaining an up-to-date resume. But despite the fact that social media networks are fast becoming a primary form of communication for millions of users, some people aren’t quite convinced that a social network for professionals is worth their time.

There’s evidence, however, that social networks are useful for the job market: more hiring managers are turning to social networks like LinkedIn to find and screen potential job candidates. And since many recruiters use LinkedIn, you should ensure that you know everything that they know about the online resource. LinkedIn can create visibility for prospective employees and employers. LinkedIn helps to link each industry in a small web-based community, and when you seek to become a part of that community, you may find your options broadening at the same time.

While your resume is a unique document that can make you stand out, LinkedIn is essential in today's job market.  That means it’s important that your resume and your LinkedIn profile work together in your job search. There should be similarities between your LinkedIn profile and your resume, but the two should complement each other, and serve to give HR professionals a more complete picture of you as a potential employee.

LinkedIn vs. resume

Although your LinkedIn profile and resume should be somewhat similar, one of the fundamental differences between your LinkedIn presence and your resume should be the tone. Your resume should serve as a "just the facts" report of your work, skills and educational background. It should also provide a recruiter an organized copy of your quantifiable success and career history. Often, companies require that a cover letter accompany your resume when applying for jobs. A cover letter gives you a chance to stand apart from candidates with similar professional backgrounds. Similarly, LinkedIn combines the uses of a cover letter and resume. Using a LinkedIn profile can be a real asset during your job search.

But although your resume should be somewhat cut-and-dried, your LinkedIn profile should be more detailed and provide more information about yourself. LinkedIn allows you to expand on your skills, education and experience in a much friendlier and congenial tone than a formal resume. LinkedIn also encourages you to combine the two purposes of your profile and resume, giving hiring managers a good idea of your personality as well as what you can bring to the table in terms of your professional background.

Leveraging social media

The modern workforce has become increasingly more reliant on social networking. From high school to post-secondary learning, students and workers alike are integrating technology into their everyday lives. Since LinkedIn’s features include the opportunity to write recommendations of your peers, colleagues and managers, it creates a platform on which you can give a full presentation of professional objectives and your personality to your target industry. Don’t be afraid to add multimedia to your LinkedIn profile: slideshow presentations you’ve done for school or other jobs, video, and other media can show a side of you and your professional experience that hiring managers almost never see in a simple resume.

With the use of smartphones and tablets on the rise, particularly with the younger generation of job seekers, using social networking as an effective job search tool is critical to today's mobile culture. Keep that in mind while you craft your LinkedIn profile: while your profile should be designed to show more of your abilities and strengths, it should still strike a balance between detail and conciseness. Smartphones are becoming as user-friendly and as powerful as computers, but a profile that’s easy to read from a smartphone might make the difference between drawing readers in and readers skipping over a profile.

While it’s still vital for job seekers to make real life contacts and build professional relationships, it would be unwise to ignore the power that LinkedIn wields in the professional world. The best idea is to maintain both your real world contacts as well as cultivating an online presence.

About The Author:
Lindsey Harper Mac is a writer and editor living in Indianapolis. She writes on behalf of  Colorado Technical University

Why Google+ is better than Facebook and twitter

1. Editing posts and comments.
2. No spam
3. No Advertisement.
4. Google Ripples
5. what's Hot
6. Text formatting: *Bold* _Italics_ and -Strikethrough-
7. Google+ Badge.
8. Keyboard shortcuts
9. Better Privacy.
10. You can gain thousands of followers within few hours organically.
11. You can lock your post at any time.
12. Seo Friendly
13. No useless apps
14. Create your own meme.
15. circle sharing
16. Hangout
17. YouTube Integration.
18. #hashtag support with auto completion.
19. Drag and drop feature.
20. Google+ Brand Pages.
21. Search plus your world
22. Better content
23. Google product integration.
24. You can mute circles.
25. You can Ignore if you don't want to receive notification.
26. You can Add links to profile
27. Google+ Games
28. Awesome community
29. Google+ search: better than twitter and facebook
30. Google Chrome apps
31. Control who tag you.
32. Post URL
33. Link to original post.
34. User friendly
35. Simplicity
36. No character limitation(Practically unlimited)
37.  Better Mobile apps
38.  Feedback button button at the lower right.
39.  Easy re sharing
40.  Easy to find useful content
41. You can reply to comments without leaving the page, Awesome!
42. You can use it at office.
43. They listen and respond

Recommended Googlers to circle:
Vic Gundotra    Natalie Villalobos   Louis Gray    Yonatan Zunger    Dave Besbris     Mike Wiacek

More posts about why Google+ is better.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY GOOGLE+ APART FROM FACEBOOK   By Shamil Weerakoon
https://plus.google.com/109471940039062886080/posts/BCYqe34iKiY

GOOGLE+ IT'S ALL ABOUT QUALITY By Gabriel Vasile
https://plus.google.com/106393478695568433143/posts/drsnunqbFT6

Big Difference between Google+ and Facebook By Basil Arackal
https://plus.google.com/111257578778968899643/posts/H9RG9VGwtKb

Can G+ catch Facebook? Some Points to Consider  By Marc Razia
https://plus.google.com/114613911236813249666/posts/A9k2oNF5Vsw


If you have any doubt about Google+, circles these plussers.

Gabriel Vasile     Jaana Nyström        Shamil Weerakoon


Helpful hands:

Anthony Fox     stephanie wanamaker      Lee Smallwood

Google+ 2012 Feature requests

>> Bookmarking post: So that you can read it later.
>> Translator: Ability to Translate post
>> Shared circle notification: Receiving notification when someone shared a circle with you in it.
>> Ability to pause your stream: Self explanatory.
>> Google Group integration
>> Categorise notification bar: categorise notification bar with mention, plus one and comments.
>> Post Preview.
>> Ability to follow the post without commenting.
>> New post alert: You should receive notification when your favourite Gplussers post publicly.
>> Birthday reminder feature.
>> Google News integration.
>> Schemer integration.
>> Google Reader integration.
>> Task Management.
>> Google Calender Integration.
>> Ability to change sharing detail after post has been shared.
>> Google Maps Integration.
>> Google Music Integration.
>> Enable Group Chat.
>> Ability to add smileys to post ;)
>> Better circle management : Ability to manage your circle according to location, post frequency etc.
>> Ability to share post from blogger to Google+ brand pages.
>> Ability to scheduled and draft your post.
>> Increase 500 limit.
>> Facebook and twitter like apps.

Add your Suggestions

How to Get circled On Google+

1. Have a profile picture: First thing I look when someone circle me is their profile picture and I don't visit their profile if they don't have a profile picture. So upload your own avatar and not the logo of your blog.

2. Fill your about section:  No introduction means no circling back.

Tip: Add a simple line "You can add me to following circle" or "My interests" with suggested circles.

3. Post to public: No public post means inactive profile.

4. Post original content: Bunch of reshare, no thanks

5. Comment on others post: This is the best way to get circle, remember its quality which matters and not the quantity.

6. Use plus one button: If you plus my content, I will visit your profile and look for information.

7.  Post Regularly : You have not posted anything since last few months, in that case only spammers will circle you and the real Gplussers will actually uncircle you.

8. Don't copy use reshare button: Google+ is a bonded community where everyone help, respect and appreciate your work and if you are going to copy content instead of using reshare button you will be blocked publicly.

Add your suggestions. 

Are You Suffering From Facebook Fatigue?

A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center determined that over the years, people are not tiring of using Facebook. The term “Facebook fatigue” is used to describe a decreasing interest and engagement in Facebook. The social networking site is used for so much online activity, and is now so integrated into the daily lives of many, that eventually there may be a burn out. While it seems like the world as a whole isn’t suffering from Facebook fatigue, it doesn’t mean that you, as an individual, are still as involved as ever. Lots of people are withdrawing from Facebook, especially with recent privacy changes and the introduction of Timeline. Are you one of them?

Daily Routine

Billions of people worldwide use Facebook to interact with others. They update their statuses to let their friends know what they’re up to. They share pictures of personal events in their lives. They share the online content that interests them. They have conversations and make connections. They read the statuses, posts, and comments of their friends. And most people do all this on daily basis, even spending hours at a time on Facebook. Even though there is new content every day, does it ever get boring? You might find that Facebook just doesn’t satisfy your craving to share and connect as much as it used to. When you’re bored, instead of logging onto Facebook, you wonder what else is out there to interest you. If this is the case, you’re suffering from Facebook fatigue.

Over-Sharing

Because Facebook encourages so much communication, it can lead to a lot of over-sharing. People who over-share on Facebook say and post things that they wouldn’t in real life. They broadcast everything from the inconsequential to the extremely private, and all of their friends and acquaintances can see. In real life, maybe only a handful of people would find out. There are also lots of “Facebook stalkers” who love spending all their time digging up juicy gossip on the site, and they love over-sharers. However, if you’re suffering from Facebook fatigue, these highly impersonal forms of connecting with others are beginning to get old. You’re tired of seeing all that information in your news feed, because most of it you just don’t care about or don’t want to know. You wish there was some way to separate the few things that are relevant or interesting from everything that isn’t, and you can’t.

Real Relationships

If you’re suffering from Facebook fatigue, you also realize that your life is beginning to lack true personal connections. You talk to your friends and family from behind a computer screen, rather than having a real conversation. You might begin to wonder why no one picks up the phone anymore. Nothing can truly replace hearing someone’s voice or feeling their touch, but Facebook has come very close. If you crave more, you’re fatigued. The good thing is that you recognize your growing disillusionment with Facebook. Now, you can put more time and energy into the relationships that truly matter in your life.

Maddie Sharp would have a better byline for this article but it is her turn in Words with Friends. Never publish a piece without using a grammar checker.

Is E-Mail Out and Social Media In?

There was once a time, apparently during the dinosaur days, when communication was between two or more speaking individuals who met face to face with each other. Throw in a few attempts with the modern technology of the times, a cup and string, Morse code and the like, and we find ourselves all the way into the 21st century with more communication options than we can shake a stick at. Who knows, perhaps all in good time something amazing will be done simply by shaking a stick, as well.

"Who Am I Speaking With, Please?"

As we run down the list of communication alternatives, it is interesting to note the growth that takes place within the realm of each specific creation. The old-fashioned telephone, which was once considered the most popular and most effective way of communicating with friends, neighbors and those in far-away lands has been upstaged by fanciful phones that not only connect two or more people through the magic wires, but also provide pictures, games and cameras all-in-one. What a lovely surprise for us all, or so we assume.

Computers have been designed to "do the work for us." Little did we know it would do almost all of the work of personal communicating, period. Certainly this incredible creation is one to be admired and appreciated. However, it would seem evident that people still actually enjoy talking to real people. Add one point for ingenuity and remove one point for incomplete planning, or anti-social media games at the very least.

Social Media or Anti-Social Media, That Is The Question


As the never-ending yet always creative methods of communication continue, we find ourselves within today's technological updates being swept away with electronic e-mails and online social networking or social media. The buzzword protocols fluctuate almost as much as technologies do. E-mail was once the amazing new creation that seemed almost unfathomably available for the regular Joe. Mostly beginning in the work setting, e-mail made communicating easier, faster and organized. Spreading news around was a breeze. Hence another new name for electronically reaching even further out into the world is born. We dub this new protocol as social media news.

Is Social Media Becoming a Preferred Method of E-Communication?


Social media news extends far beyond that of ancient e-mail. In fact, social media news capacities are spreading like wildfire in homes, offices and personal spaces everywhere. Corporations are beginning to realize that e-mail could be losing ground. The attraction flows toward newer methods of communication that deliver audio and visual capacities in place of answering and organizing hundreds of e-mails on a daily basis. Many believe that e-mail actually slows down productivity due to the constant maintenance factor.

Somewhere down the line we have to ask ourselves what kind of value systems donning so many avenues lined with indirect contact with our peers is really doing to our world. Social media certainly does have its advantages. Perhaps a little more personalized one-on-one mixed in with our world’s doses of techno-frill would hit the spot.

Fran Delaney writes extensively and humorously on technology, social media and gadgets.

Cute or Crazy? Social Media for the Pet Set

It didn’t concern me when a few friends created blogs for their dogs. But when I started getting more Facebook friend requests from pets than I did from people, it seemed time to question the adoption of social media by the canine and kitty cat set, and the humans who care for them.

We’re living in an era where people treat their pets like they would children. Last week I was invited to a baby shower for a new “mom” with a pit bull puppy, complete with a registry gift list from a major chain pet store.  This dog doesn’t have its own Facebook/Twitter/blog yet, but it probably will soon. Those doggy shower pictures will need to be shown off somewhere. I took a little survey and discovered that I am friends with a horse, a pot-bellied pig, and an alpaca on Facebook. The alpaca’s name, appropriate, is Al.

I love animals. I love them in the same way that I love children – they are so much more adorable when they are someone else’s problem. I even like looking at pictures of my friends’ animals on the aforementioned blogs. They are cute, endearing and a great distraction from whatever stress is going on in my day. I think it’s great that my friends take the time to photograph their pets and post the pictures – it shows they really care about their animals, and they are true members of the family. But when the pet is sending out the annual Christmas card message in their own voice, I start to wonder just a little bit about how my friends are doing, mental-health wise.

Another place I draw the line is when a pet’s Facebook feed shares all the mundane details of Fluffy or Spike’s day-to-day life. I do not care about the walk you took to the park, the play date you had with the bulldog down the street, or the lazy hours you spent napping in the sun. Maybe I’m just jealous. Those all sound like a pretty great way to spend the day.

I want to hear from others about whether this trend has gone too far. How many furry friends do you have on Facebook? Am I just being a grouchy old geezer? Maybe it’s time for me to get a dog .. with a blog. A tortoise who Twitters? Suddenly Fido with Facebook sounds just about boring.

Kombucha is a contributing writer for RENTCafe where you can search apartments in Austin, TX plus find entertaining articles on dealing with roommates, personal finance, and apartment living.