It was such an honor to be invited to speak at POC’s Halton-Peel Chapter Meeting last week! Since the Q&A portion of a presentation is often the most valuable, I decided to devote the entire session to answering the group’s questions about social media. I’ve posted those questions, along with my answers, here today.

Facebook:

What changes were done to Facebook pages?

On March 30, Facebook pages were converted to the Timeline layout which has been available for personal profiles for several months now. This new layout has a spot for a large “cover photo” at the top and places the page content in two columns with the posts arranged in reverse chronological order.

Why were these changes made?

Who knows why Facebook does anything?

Should we have a cover picture on our Facebook Page?

I recommend it, because it’s a good way to brand your page. And if you don’t, there will be a big empty white space at the top.

How do you add a cover picture on your Facebook Page?

When you are on your page, you’ll see an Add a Cover button near the top. Just click on it to upload an image and position it so that it displays nicely.

Is there a website/service that can help us to create the cover picture?

If you Google facebook cover photo you’ll find lots of sites that offer tips for creating a cover image.

Do you think the Facebook improvements are for better?

I think so. As I mentioned earlier, the cover image offers more opportunity to promote your brand than the original page style, and Timeline organizes your content very nicely.

How do you create a business page on Facebook?

Go to https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/pages, and at the top you’ll see a Create a Page button.

Is there a way to separate your business friends and your personal friends on Facebook?

What you need to do is go to https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists. At the top you should see “Close Friends.” When you click on the link, you’ll be able to add anyone that fits into that category.

Once you’ve created a list of your Close Friends, you’ll want to edit your Privacy Settings, which you’ll find in the drop-down menu under Home, at the top right side of your screen. Where it says Control Your Default Privacy, choose Custom.

Next, set your default privacy so that only people on your Close Friends list can view the items you post (see below).

When you post something you’d like everyone to see, set the privacy on that item to Public. Be sure to check the privacy setting before you post something personal again, as you may need to change it back.

If you don’t want your personal contacts to see business-related items you post, you can create a second list for Business Friends, and set the privacy setting on those posts accordingly, but that’s a lot of extra work. I think it’s good for our personal contacts to understand what we do in our businesses – you never know who might know someone who can use your services!

Someone I know who uses Facebook exclusively for business decided to unfriend all of her Facebook friends and ask them instead to connect with her through her business page, so that’s another option.

How do I make sure that my Facebook friends don’t see my other friends’ posts?

This is also controlled in your Privacy Settings. Under Timeline and Tagging there are a number of settings available, including one to control who can see what others post on your timeline.

Be sure to check your privacy settings from time to time, as they often revert back to the default settings when Facebook rolls out updates.

Can you schedule Facebook posts?

Yes, you can!

One way is by using Hootsuite. When you post something, you can choose for it to go up right away or schedule it for the future. You can even use it to access your other social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Twitter. For each post, you can choose which network(s) you want to send it to.

Lately, I’ve been using a service called Buffer, which also works with all three of the major social networks. Rather than setting your posts for a particular time, you just add posts to your “buffer” and they’ll go out according to a schedule you’ve created.

Keep in mind, however, that your posts have a better chance of appearing in your friends’ news feed if you create them manually.

LinkedIn:

Do you think there is a benefit of having a business LinkedIn profile along with your personal one?

I don’t really see a big benefit to solopreneurs having a business page on LinkedIn.

Where should I do my LinkedIn posts from, my personal or business profile?

You can’t post status updates on a LinkedIn business page, but you can set it up to automatically display links to your blog posts.

How else can we promote our businesses on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn  has a very powerful feature that a lot of people aren’t aware of, called Answers. Users post questions, and you can search for those you can post an answer to and get rated on your answer.

Because LinkedIn is strongly oriented towards business-to-business, this tool will be more useful if you do business organizing. If you work strictly in the residential sector, you might want to check out Quora, which features questions on a much broader range of topics.

Pinterest:

Is it good, businesswise, to be on Pinterest?

Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media sites, and it’s a great tool for organizers because you can give visual links to organizing products, as well as showcasing your own work.

How do you pin?

You can add a bookmarklet to your browser which makes it easy to pin pictures from nearly any website. You can also click on the Add link at the top of the Pinterest screen to either upload a picture from your hard drive or enter the URL for the page where the picture appears.

Can you pin?

That is a very good question! There are major concerns about whether pinning an image from a website is a violation of copyright. On the one hand, you’re linking back to the source, but is that sufficient? I know of people who were really into Pinterest but have deleted their accounts just to be on the safe side.

If there is a Pin It button on a website, does it mean I’m allowed to pin anything I want from there?

I would say that someone who puts Pin It buttons on their site wants you to pin their content. It would be wise, however, to make sure that they have the rights to use the images which appear on their site!

Can you pin web images only? Is there a way to add magazine clippings?

You would have to scan the clippings and upload them, but that would most likely violate copyright. I suggest going to the magazine’s website and looking for the content there.

Would you agree that Pinterest is designed for younger audience (18-35)?

Yes, that is my understanding, though of course that can change at any time.

Twitter:

I found that Twitter is lots of talking about nothing. How do you find people that are worth following?

When deciding whether or not to follow someone, the first thing I check is their bio to see whether they’re likely to be of interest. I also look at their recent tweets to see what they tweet about, and whether they engage with their followers. I’ve seen bios that made me think someone would be a great source of valuable information, only to find that their tweets were trivial.

Do you know the people you follow?

I’m following more than 1600 people, and I definitely don’t know all of them. That doesn’t mean that I read every tweet posted by every person I follow either! I have them organized into lists such as women-helping-women, organizers-cda and Blog/Social Media/Mktg and I decide which list I want to view at any given time.

What is Tweetstock? Have you been there?

Tweetstock was a social media conference which was held in Brantford on April 12, 2012. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but I heard it was really good!

To supplement this information, everyone who attended was offered a free copy of my Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter as a gift for joining my mailing list.

Since the other speaker was unable to make it, there was time for plenty more questions! Be sure to catch next week’s post when I’ll share those related to blogging, email marketing, virtual assistants, and more.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Social Media Q&A.

I know many professional organizers who are not taking advantage of Facebook to market their businesses. Their reasoning is sound: “I help my clients to make the best use of their time and space. It just doesn’t make sense for me to waste time on Facebook or other social networks.”

If you associate Facebook with playing games such as Farmville or Mafia Wars, poking friends, or completing quizzes like “How many kids you will have?” I can understand why you wouldn’t see how a Facebook presence can be beneficial to your business. Keep in mind, however, that you can be on Facebook without ever participating in these types of activities. Although new applications are added every week, taking a moment to block these applications from your news feed will save you from spending time and energy filtering through the updates of your friends who like to use them.

Here are three more ways to make sure that Facebook doesn’t distract you from more important activities:

• Use Networked Blogs or another application to automatically post an update when you publish something to your blog.
• Use an external application such as Ping.fm, TweetDeck or HootSuite to post updates without logging into the Facebook website.
• You can also pre-schedule your updates using TweetDeck or HootSuite. Take advantage of this to post helpful tips at various times throughout the day and/or week, even while you’re out working with clients. This keeps your name in front of your target audience, and allows you to increase the frequency of your updates without having them all show up one after another.

Although these strategies allow you to maintain a presence on Facebook without even logging into the site, it is important that you visit the site on a regular basis in order to communicate with other users, especially those who have commented on your posts. The name of the game is social media, and if you don’t engage with others, they will stop trying to engage with you. You should be able to manage this in 15 minutes or less per day. That is not a lot of time, so you’ll want to use it wisely. Give priority to:

• Checking your notifications, to see if anyone has responded to any of your comments, and
• Visiting your business page, if you have one, because comments posted on there will not normally appear in your news feed or notifications.

In addition to blocking frivolous applications as noted above, you can organize your friends into groups. When you visit Facebook, instead of the default news feed which lists all of your friends, go directly to the feed for the group(s) that you most want to stay connected with.

Once you have completed these three steps, if you haven’t used up your 15 minutes, you can explore other things that may be going on. If you tend to get distracted, set a timer so you don’t get off track. If you’d also like to use Facebook for sharing news and photos with family and friends, do that at a different time, not during the 15 minutes allotted to your business.

Try it for a couple of weeks, then come back and share your results!

While you’re on Facebook, be sure to “like” Organized Assistant, if you’re not already a fan.

Photo credit: Beth Kanter

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Once upon a time, all you needed was a professional-looking business card and maybe a brochure. In more recent years, it became expected that even a small business like yours would have a website. These days, prospective clients want to get to know you personally, through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social networking websites.

Just signing up for these sites is not enough; you need to create a compelling profile that will make it clear why others should connect with you. Most social networking profiles include three basic pieces of information: a photo, a short description, and a link. Deciding what picture and information you’d like to share before you even log in will help you to simplify the process.

In today’s post, I will share some guidelines for creating an engaging profile, but first, let’s ensure that your profile data is secure and that you don’t unintentionally share any private information.

Your User Names and Passwords

Although it may be tempting to use the same password for each site, this is not wise, for security reasons. Consider that if someone is able to hack into one account, once they figure out your password, they can hack into your other accounts as well. Under no circumstances should you use the name of a pet or family member, or even a dictionary word, as your password, as these are far too easy to guess.

I’ve been using Roboform, which generates strong random passwords and stores them securely, for several years, and it has completely eliminated the need to remember my passwords or type them every time I log into a site. With the free version, you can store up to 10 logins indefinitely. I highly recommend it!

Your Privacy

Take the time to familiarize yourself with a site’s privacy policies before you decide to join, and to stay on top of any changes that might require you to adjust your settings. You can usually choose what information is and is not displayed, but Facebook in particular is notorious for changing its policies, and if you’re not up to speed with the changes, you might find yourself sharing information that was previously set as private. If certain information is optional, consider whether it is to your benefit to have it appear on your profile. Otherwise, leave it off.

Your Profile Photo

Begin by selecting the picture you will use on your profiles. Using the same one on all of your profiles will be less work for you and will also ensure that people who don’t know you well will recognize you from one site to another.

On some sites, your profile picture is displayed as a very small thumbnail image, so it’s best to use a headshot rather than a full body shot.

Using your business logo rather than a personal photo may be a good way to enhance your brand recognition, but keep in mind that it may be less engaging. As Brian Manzullo said in a recent Web Journalist Chat,

Readers want to talk to people. They want to see faces, not company logos.

Whatever image you choose, make sure that it is the correct size and proportion for the site so that it doesn’t cut off important parts or turn fuzzy.

A professional photograph is ideal, but don’t worry if you don’t have one. Just be sure to choose one that is in focus and shows you at your best. If you look tired or grumpy, it doesn’t exactly invite people to talk to you, does it?

Avoid displaying the site’s default image if at all possible, as many people won’t give you a second glance if your profile lacks this important detail.

Your Short Description

Don’t make the mistake of just typing something in off the top of your head, because what you put in this section is critical to attracting people to join your network. Also, resist the temptation to leave it until later, because it’s too easy to forget about it.

In many cases, you are limited to a specific number of characters, so you have to be very selective in what you say. Avoid making it a sales pitch, and instead create a compelling message that will make people interested in learning more about you and what you have to say.

When writing your description, be sure to use the keywords and phrases that are apt to be used by people who are searching for someone like you, to increase the likelihood that your profile will come up in their search results.

Your Link

Some sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, allow you to list multiple links, so you can easily link to your main website, your blog, and any other sites you may have. Others, such as Twitter, only give you space for one link, so you need to decide what will be most effective. Most people post a link to their business home page, but since many users will click on the link to learn more about you and decide whether or not to follow you, it might be more beneficial to link to your “About Me” page or your blog. Some people even set up a special landing page just for this purpose, which provides an opportunity to share much more detail than will fit on your Twitter profile. Your link can easily be changed at any time, so feel free to experiment.

Other Information

Take advantage of any other fields that are available on each site in order to incorporate additional keywords and to provide supplementary details that may encourage others to engage with you. Again, don’t just start typing without considering whether the information reflects the professional image that you wish to portray, and take the time to proofread everything you write before you add it to your public profile.

Organized Assistant has helped lots of professional organizers and other small business clients to develop and manage their online presence. If you need some help getting started, or if you’re not getting the results from social media that you’d hoped for, don’t hesitate to request a free 30 minute consultation.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Your Social Media Profiles.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a seminar with social media business coach Mari Smith, as part of Social Media Success Summit 2010 (SMSS10). The timing was perfect, as it allowed me to learn about some of the latest developments on Facebook, and to include a few of Mari’s tips in my presentation to the Halton-Peel Chapter of POC last night. Here are the highlights of my talk.

Facebook is the #1 social network and the 2^nd most popular website in the world, after Google. According to a study conducted in 2009, more than 50% of Canadians under age 45 and 30% of Canadians between 45 and 54 are on Facebook. The number of users has increased since then, and continues to grow on a daily basis. Mari referred to a study by eMarketer which revealed that 68% of US Facebook users are “more likely to buy on a positive Facebook friend referral.” Therefore, it’s becoming increasingly important to consider Facebook as one of your marketing strategies.

There are basically three ways that you can have a presence on Facebook: personal profiles, business pages, and groups. Since you have to have a personal profile to participate on Facebook, we’ll start there.

Personal Profile

One of the things that many people worry about is using their personal profile for business, but you can maximize your networking potential without sacrificing your privacy through the use of two features.

The first step is to create a Friends List for your personal friends and family members. To do this, click on Friends on the left side of your home page. At the top of the page you’ll see a button that says Create a List. Type in a name for this list and select the people who should be included in the list. When you’re done, click on the Create List button at the bottom. People can be added to and removed from that list whenever you like.

Next, go to your Privacy Settings. You’ll find this under Account at the top right hand side of your screen. Now, you’ll see a list of the various types of information on your profile. This is where you control who can see your Bio, Birthday, Interested In and Looking For statuses, Religious and Political Views, Photo Albums, Posts by You, Posts by Friends, as well as who can write on your Wall or comment on your Posts. Beside each one is a button with a picture of a lock on it. This is a dropdown menu. Click on it and choose Customize. Under Make Visible to… choose Specific People, then type in the name of the list you created in the previous step. This will prevent that type of information from being seen by anyone other than the people you’ve assigned to that group.

It is a little bit of work to set up, but it’s more effective than trying to manage multiple profiles (which is actually contrary to Facebook’s Terms of Service) or figuring out how to handle it when you receive a friend request from a someone that you’d like to have in your network, but you don’t necessarily want that person to see photos of your family vacation.

Using your profile is a great way to keep your name in front of people you’ve met but aren’t in regular contact with, whether it’s past clients, prospective clients who haven’t yet taken the step of doing business with you, people you’ve met at networking events, or others.

Business Page

In addition to your personal profile, you can take things up a notch by setting up a page for your business. There is value in opening up your personal profile to business contacts, but there are even more advantages to having a business page:

• You are limited to 5000 friends, but you can have unlimited fans
• You can send an update to all your fans but you can only send a message to 20 friends at one time
• Pages are fully indexed by Google
• Pages can be viewed by people who are not logged into Facebook
• Pages can be customized to incorporate a special landing page, a sign-up box for your ezine

To set up your page, click on the Advertising link at the bottom of your screen, then click on Pages. There you’ll find some information about creating and using your page as well as a Create a Page button.

When you create a Facebook page, there are a few things that you will not be able to change later, so these should be chosen carefully. This includes:

• The name of your page
• The category – you should choose Brand, product, or organization rather than local business – this is more for bricks and mortar businesses who need to list location, hours of operation, parking, etc.
• The primary administrator – you can have multiple administrators but the person who creates the page can never be removed as an admin, so it’s probably best to do it through your own Facebook account, even if a VA or someone else is going to work on the page for you, because you’ll never be able to take away their admin privileges

Once the page is set up, you can start adding content and applications to make it interesting for people so they will want to become fans. Once they are fans, things you add to your page will come up in their news feed.

If you have a blog, you can use the Networked Blogs application to automatically import your new posts to both your personal profile and your business page. This will put a link to your posts in your friends’ and fans’ news feeds. It’s a great way to add fresh content without having to log into your account. However, you should log in at least once a week to respond to comments, deal with friend requests, and comment on other people’s posts. It is social networking after all, and not your own personal ad space. Stay away from the games and you shouldn’t have to worry about it taking up too much of your time!

Other popular applications include Videos, Discussions, and Reviews. There’s even an application that will allow you to create customized pages, such as a Welcome Page, a newsletter sign-up box; really, the possibilities are nearly endless.

Groups

Because groups have been available longer than business pages, some people set up groups for their business as a way to communicate with their clients and others who might be interested in their area of expertise. Many of these businesses have now switched over to pages, because they are much more limited in what they can do.

• Groups are not indexed on Google
• Groups cannot be customized
• Group activities don’t come up on people’s news feeds, so they tend to go unnoticed
• Although groups can have unlimited members, once they exceed 5000, you can no longer send out blanket messages

Once you have your business page up and running, you should promote it on your website, your blog, your ezine, and anywhere else that makes sense, and of course you’ll want to link your page back to your website and your blog. An integrated approach to online marketing will be most effective in helping you to achieve your goals.

To learn more read Mari Smith’s new book, Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Using Facebook to Promote Your Organizing Business.

I love it that I still have connections within Professional Organizers of Canada! Following my successful presentation last month for the Southwestern Ontario Chapter, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be speaking at two Chapter meetings in May. Here are the details of these and other upcoming professional organizer events in Ontario.

On Monday, May 10, I’ll be speaking about Facebook for Professional Organizers for the Halton-Peel Chapter, at Tansley Woods, 1996 Itabashi Way, Burlington. Doors open at 6:45, and the meeting runs to about 9:00. All members and guests are requested to RSVP to halton-peel@organizersincanada.com.

On Wednesday, May 26, I’ll be speaking about Organizing for Personality Types for the North-GTA Chapter, at Williams Coffee Pub, 192 McEwan Drive East, Bolton. Doors open at 6:30, and the meeting runs to about 9:00. All members and guests are requested to RSVP to north-gta@organizersincanada.com.

Both of the above meetings are free for POC members and $15 for guests. I’m looking forward to talking to some of my former colleagues, as well as meeting many of my online contacts face-to-face for the first time.

Of course, it’s not all about me, and there are some other educational activities taking place in the area that you won’t want to miss!

The POC Toronto Chapter is holding a Professional Development Day on Tuesday, May 11, featuring three dynamic speakers, who will address Business Planning, Communication, and Media Relations. It sounds like a fantastic event and I would love to go myself, but my calendar for May is pretty full, since I’ve signed up for the Social Media Success Summit.

Jane Woolsey of ProfessionalOrganizers.com told me that she is planning to attend, so it would be a great chance to ask her any questions you might have about getting started as a professional organizer. (Be sure to sign up for her Solutions newsletter, if you’re not already a subscriber, because in her May issue she’s going to be announcing a Special Summer Price on the next Comprehensive Training Program for Professional Organizers in Toronto!)

Wherever you are, there are countless educational events taking place not just in May, but every month. Never say you are too busy or can’t afford it! Instead, consider the value of lifelong learning, both for your business, and for yourself.

If you want to earn more – learn more. If you want to get more out of the world you must put more into the world. For, after all, men will get no more out of life than they put into it.

William J.H. Boetcker

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Learning Opportunities for Professional Organizers in Southern Ontario.

Today I continue my series for Improve Management Skills Month with a look at social networking, both online and offline. Mastering the art of networking will help you to build your brand, expand your reach, grow your business, and be a more confident individual. To determine whether you are networking effectively, ask yourself the following questions.

1. Do you hand out business cards without even introducing yourself?

Networking is not about one-way advertising; it’s about building and growing relationships. Don’t worry that there isn’t time at a networking event to talk to every other person in attendance – networking is about quality, not quantity.

If there’s someone there that you really want to meet, but they are engaged in conversation with someone else, patiently wait for your opportunity to talk to them. Don’t just hand them your business card and hope they’ll be so enthralled with it that they’ll look you up. People form relationships with other people, not with business cards.

A better way to make connections is to initiate a conversation and ask for the other person’s card. If they want yours, they will ask for it. It might also be appropriate to ask them to email you some additional information about something you discussed, in which case it is perfectly acceptable to give them your business card.

The online equivalent of this faux pas is to send out Friend Requests on Facebook, or invitations to connect on LinkedIn, without including a personalized note introducing yourself and explaining why you’d like to connect with that person. If you know the person already, it’s probably acceptable (kind of like saying, “Mary, can I have your business card?”), but it’s always a nice touch, especially if they may not remember immediately where you’ve met.

Twitter is a little different, because you can follow most people without their permission, but if you’re following someone with the hope that they’ll notice and follow you back, you need to try a little harder. Show your admiration and interest by retweeting some of their posts, and engage in conversation by responding to others.

2. Do you monopolize the conversation?

When you meet someone for the first time, do you talk only about your business, or do you ask about theirs? Even if they offer a product or service you don’t need yourself, it might be useful to someone else you know, and you can do both people a favor by making the connection.

Of course you want to let people know what you offer – that’s one of the goals of networking – but avoid sharing too much information. Watch for visual cues that the other person is getting bored or wanting to get away to talk to others.

In online networking, make sure that your status updates and posts aren’t restricted to announcements about your new blog posts, upcoming events, or other forms of advertising. It’s important to engage with others if you really want to build strong connections.

3. Do you add people to your mailing list without their  permission?

It just amazes me how many people think that it’s okay to start sending you their newsletter and/or promotional emails, just because you gave them your business card. I was recently at a networking breakfast where during the group discussion, someone mentioned how much this practice annoys them, and I agreed. Despite that, the person sitting next to me added me to her weekly mailing list, and I suspect that she added everyone else that she met too.

Of course, you want to increase your subscriber base, but that is not the way to go about it. I recommend that you take one of the following approaches:

• When the person gives you their card, say, “I have a weekly/monthly/occasional newsletter that I send that includes tips about organizing/special offers/information about my upcoming organizing workshops – may I add you to my mailing list?”
• When you get back to your office, email each person you met individually, tell them how much you enjoyed meeting them, and refer to something you discussed. Tell them about your newsletter and invite them to subscribe. Include a copy of a back issue to help them decide whether it’s something that would be of value to them.

When you add people without permission, even if they have the option of unsubscribing easily, you not only risk annoying them, but you put them in the awkward position of not wanting to offend someone they have just met. Is that really how you want to start off a new relationship? Sure, it takes a little more effort to email people personally, but it’s also a lot more effective. Remember: networking is about quality, not quantity.

This is less of an issue online, but I have occasionally had people start sending me their newsletters and e-flyers simply because we’d interacted through an online network, and not because I’d signed up for a free e-book or teleclass.

I could go on, but will save a discussion of opt-in, double opt-in, and opt-out systems for another post.

4. Do you forget to follow up with the people you meet?

Clearly, by following up, I don’t mean sending them your newsletter. I mean sending them a personal email, or perhaps a card in the mail, to reinforce the connection that you made. This is especially important if you offered to send them information about something.

It’s not about sending them your sales pitch, unless they specifically asked you to do that. If you really want to be remembered, why not send them an article about one of their areas of interest, to show that you were listening?

Online, once you’ve connected with people, make an effort to stay in touch. I realize that your time is valuable and I don’t expect you to send personal messages to everyone all the time. But if someone sends you a message on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or another site, take the time to respond. And be sure to acknowledge when someone receives an award or celebrates a birthday or anniversary.

The main thing to remember here is that networking isn’t about going out and getting clients. It’s not even about getting referrals. It’s about knowing the people in your network well enough that when someone asks you, “Do you know anyone who ….. ?” you’ll be able to connect them to someone. That will make people notice you, remember you, and appreciate you, and will ultimately (but not immediately) bring you new business.

One person I know who is a Master at networking is Michael Fletcher of Neworld Coaching. He goes out of his way to get to know every person in his very large network – what they do, what challenges they face, and what type of clients they’re looking for – without ever pushing his services, and it’s this very approach that has made his business such a success.

Recognizing that not everyone can afford business coaching, Michael has developed a 13-week online course called Small Business Group Coaching 101 where you’ll learn lots of important strategies to help you grow your business. This program includes weekly webinars, workbooks and other materials, and a one-on-one coaching session with Michael. If you sign up, please mention my name in the “Tell us about your company” area of the registration form.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Don’t Commit These Networking Faux Pas!.

Blogging is an effective way to share information and show the world that you are an expert in your field. It can also be a lot of fun! On the other hand, when you spend hours researching, writing, and editing your posts, it can be discouraging if it doesn’t seem that anyone is reading it. Fortunately, Facebook has many different methods you can use to put your blog in front of potential readers.

Personal Profile

To import your blog to your personal profile, navigate to the Notes page. To the right, under Notes Settings, click on Import a Blog. You only need to copy the feed URL from your blog, paste it into the box provided, and click on Start Importing, and whenever you post something to your blog, it will automatically appear as a Note on your profile. More importantly, it will come up as a news feed item for your Facebook friends when you log in. This serves the double purpose of keeping your name in front of them even when you don’t have time to personally log into the site, and encourages them to read your blog.

The only trouble with this method is that even if your Notes are set to be visible to everyone, only your friends are likely to know about them, so it’s not likely to bring you any new readers, so you won’t want to stop there.

Business Fan Page

Hopefully, you have already created a Fan Page for your Business. If you’re not familiar with this feature or how to use it to benefit your business, please let me know in the Comments section or through the Ask a Question form, and I’ll cover this topic in a future post.

Once your Fan Page is set up, you can begin importing your blog to the Notes section, just as you did for your Personal Profile. Many of your fans may also be your friends, but since anyone can become a fan, you’re much more likely to pick up new readers (and hopefully new clients) this way. I recently noticed that the number of my fans has more than tripled in the last six months, and was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few unfamiliar names and faces among them. By the way, if you’re not yet a fan of Organized Assistant, I hope you’ll become one!

Applications

In addition to the two methods described above, there are a number of Facebook applications designed to help you find new readers for your blog and, since blogging is part of building online relationships, to find interesting new blogs to read as well. I have not explored all of them, but am happy to share information about those that I’m using myself.

One such application is Networked Blogs. This application allows you to import posts to your Facebook wall, and have them show up in your friends’ News Feed, but unlike Notes, you are not restricted to importing from one blog, which is very beneficial if you happen to have multiple blogs. In addition, it adds your blog to a directory which appears both on Facebook and on NetworkedBlogs.com, which greatly expands your reach. Once you’ve added your blog, you will have to ask your friends to confirm that you are the author, as it will not appear on your profile until 10 or more confirmations are received. Readers can choose to follow and/or rate your blog, and this information will appear on the blog’s page on Networked Blogs.

Blogged is another blog network that has a Facebook application. Similar to Networked Blogs, you begin by creating a profile, and you can then add as many blogs as you own. Once added to the database, your profile and your blog will appear both on Facebook and on the Blogged website. Since different people use different applications, this is just one more way to expand your reading audience.

There are currently over 50 blog applications on Facebook, many of which allow you to import your blog to Facebook. If you’re not yet taking advantage of this free and easy way to promote your blog, it’s not too late to get started. If technology is not your forte, I’d love to be of assistance, so please contact me and we can set up a time to talk.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on How to Promote Your Blog on Facebook.

If you use Twitter or Facebook, you’re probably aware that there are several different attacks circulating right now. You can often tell that someone’s been hit when you receive an unusual message from them. These messages are usually about making money online, but may also relate to losing weight, gaining followers, or something else that is out of character for that person.

If you receive such a message, please don’t make the mistake of clicking on the link to see why your friend is suddenly sending you strange messages, or you may expose your computer to a virus, spyware, or phishing attack. Instead, contact the supposed sender via another method and let them know about the strange activity on their account.

That’s what professional organizer Monica Ricci did when one of her friends supposedly initiated a chat session with her on Facebook a few months ago. Being a smart woman, she suspected that it wasn’t really her friend, and her suspicions were confirmed when her “friend” said she was stuck in London and needed her to wire her some money. She immediately telephoned her real friend, who then logged into her Facebook account and began using the chat feature herself. As soon as the hacker realized he or she had been caught, the conversation ended abruptly.

I don’t know why certain individuals are affected by these attacks, but I do know a few things you can do to reduce the risk of becoming a victim.

1. Watch where you’re entering your information.

Before you enter your Twitter user name and password into an external website, make sure it uses OAuth, so you can be confident that your information is secure. If you have any doubt whatsoever about the authenticity or integrity of a website, err on the side of caution.

2. Use unique and random passwords for all your log-ins.

I know lots of people who use the same password for all or most of their accounts, because it’s easy to remember. Very often it’s a word that could be guessed by anyone who knows a little bit about them, such as the name of a pet or child. With so much personal information displayed online, it’s not hard for someone with ill intent to figure it out.

A strong password will include a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and even characters, and will be at least 8 characters long. Although it may be difficult to remember and to type a password like nQ7WxwMhB#7H, let alone a different password for every account you create, it’s also much more difficult for someone else to guess it.

3. Avoid entering passwords.

Another way that hackers steal passwords is by using spyware that records your keystrokes when you log into a website. Hopefully you’re using software that blocks spyware, but you can add an extra layer of protection by using software that stores your passwords securely.

Last year I bought an amazing, yet inexpensive program called RoboForm, which allows me to securely store my passwords in a bookmark-style toolbar, which I’ve organized by category. When I need to log into a site, I simply click on it in my RoboForm toolbar, and it takes my browser to the appropriate log-in page and enters my user name and password for me. I no longer have to remember which password goes with which site or worry about keystroke loggers! Oh, it also generates random passwords whenever I create a new account or need to change my password, so I don’t even have to think of clever passwords myself.

There’s a free version that’s fully functional for 30 days, which you can continue using after the trial period if you have 10 or fewer passwords. For an added measure of security, you can password protect your RoboForm toolbar, so if someone else uses your computer, you don’t have to worry about them accessing your accounts. If you work on more than one computer, you might prefer RoboForm2Go, which runs from a USB flash drive.

In terms of keeping my passwords organized, saving time looking them up and typing them in, and general peace of mind, RoboForm is one of the best investments I’ve ever made.

4. Change your passwords as needed.

In many corporate settings, users are required to change their passwords every 30 days. This may not be necessary for your home-based business, but use your common sense and change yours when something out of the ordinary occurs, for example:

• If you’ve logged into a website and your computer screen flickered – maybe it was a power issue, but maybe it was spyware activity
• If you sense that someone was watching you while using your laptop in a public place, or using a public computer
• If you’ve had to give your password to a helpdesk employee – how do you know that he or she is trustworthy?

When in doubt, change your password – better safe than sorry!

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Tips for Securing Your Online Accounts.

Internet Marketing is one of the most important tools in your business arsenal. Not only does it cost less than advertising in print and broadcast media, its interactive nature allows you to build relationships with clients and prospects without the need for time-consuming telephone or face-to-face meetings. Internet marketing is much more than just putting up a website! Your Internet marketing plan may include search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging, social networking, and other strategies.

There are lots of resources available to help you understand various aspects of online marketing, including this blog, but did you ever think it would be helpful to have that information neatly packaged into a 90-minute seminar? Do you prefer learning in a live group setting, rather than participating in a webinar or teleclass? Have I got news for you!

I am really excited to announce that I’ve been invited to be the guest speaker at the POC Toronto Chapter meeting this month, where I’ll be sharing some of my best Internet marketing tips to help you decide the best ways to market your organizing business.

The meeting is being held upstairs at Loblaws – Forest Hill Market, which offers free parking and is right across from the St. Clair West subway station. Come at 6:00 for networking and refreshments; the seminar itself will start around 7:00, and there will be plenty of time allowed to ask questions after my formal presentation.

There is no charge to members of Professional Organizers in Canada to attend, and guests pay only $15.00 at the door. I hope you will try to make it if you can, as it’s such a great value, and I’d love to meet as many of my blog readers as possible! I’m especially looking forward to reconnecting with POC members that I haven’t seen since I last went to Conference, in 2006.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Live Seminar in Toronto: Maximizing Your Internet Marketing.

There’s no question that social media has taken the world by storm. In addition to business-oriented sites like LinkedIn, micro-blogging tools like Twitter, and one-size-fits-all sites like Facebook and Plaxo, there are lots of new sites dedicated to professional organizers and other special interest groups. If you’re in any doubt, check out some of these Social Media Statistics.

You can look forward to future posts on this blog covering such topics as identifying the sites that are most worthwhile for you, setting up your profiles, and effectively maintaining your online presence. And of course, since one of my functions as a virtual assistant is supporting my clients’ social networking activities, you are welcome to contact me at any time to find out how I can help you in this area.

But perhaps you are anxious to get started, or you’d like a more in-depth understanding of how it all works before you can develop your own social networking strategy. If so, be sure to mark Embrace Social Media on your calendar for June 10 and 11! Because this is a telesummit, you won’t have any travel or accommodation costs, and you won’t have to get dressed up. In fact, you won’t even have to leave home! You will, however, have the opportunity to learn from eight experts in various aspects of social media, who will each present for 75 minutes over the course of two days.

If you can’t fit the live calls into your schedule, or you don’t want to spend that much time on the telephone, you can still benefit from this event. Enhanced plans are available, allowing you to access the recordings online, or to receive a complete package including audio CDs, transcripts, and Tweet notes from Twitter, delivered right to your door.

All participants will also receive a two-month free Teleclass Membership and two teleclass audios from A Red Bench, a finalist in the “Most Valuable Educational Resource” category of the 2009 LA Organizing Awards.

Visit the website for complete information about Embrace Social Media, including a full schedule and registration details.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Isn’t It Time You Embraced Social Media?.