Have you tried to market your business through Facebook?

Have you found that the return on investment just isn’t worth the time or money?

The solution may be in the form of a custom Facebook welcome page.

Facebook provides you a few avenues to customize your page; a custom profile picture, an info tab (which is rarely clicked), and the option to add various applications to your page.

A Facebook page tab is actually an app (in the Facebook programming world) that results in a custom page on your Facebook profile. The most important place to start is a welcome page, or landing page — also known as a gateway page on Facebook, because it can show content tailored to the current subscription status of the visitor. This is usually used to convince a visitor to take the first, all-important step of “liking” your page (clicking on the “like” button that appears just above the custom content).

The content of the page tab app is generated by a service developed and hosted outside of Facebook itself. It can include anything you can put on a website (with very few limitations, mostly size-related); text, graphics, and even video or forms to capture information.

A professionally designed welcome page tab can increase like rates by 100% or more without the use of cheesy gimmicks like contests. Holding a contest on Facebook can certainly give you more followers, but in most cases they will be low-quality followers.  People will like you just long enough to enter your contest, then either unlike the page or simply block you from their news feed, which means they will result in a negative return.

Some good examples of custom welcome tabs are those utilized by Coca-Cola and SoBe.  Or, if you’re not already a fan, you can try ours here.

Follow their lead and entice the masses to join your page and view your content.

If you’ve seen a welcome page that you like, please share it below in the comments.

You’ve probably heard the story by now. Emma Sullivan, a high school senior participating in a Youth in Government program, tweeted the above while listening to Kansas governor Sam Brownback speak last week.

The governor’s staff, like those in the service of many modern political figures, monitors social networking sites to evaluate the public perception of their policies and campaigns. For politicians and their advisers, understanding how they are being received by citizens gives them insight on how they need to adapt. Facebook and Twitter are perfect environments for gathering such information. At least that’s the idea.

In an effort to increase the number of businesses, specifically small businesses, utilizing Facebook’s targeted advertising, the social media giant recently launched a program to educate business owners that encourages them to “learn how to grow” their business “with Facebook’s powerful marketing tools.” Probably the most tangible and highly publicized part of this program is the one that will commence in January 2012, when Facebook plans to offer a total of $10 million in free advertising dispersed on a first-come first-served basis to 200,000 different businesses which will each receive a $50 ad credit.

Before you take Facebook up on this offer or even consider paying for an opportunity to market your service or product to more than 800 million active site users, there are a few steps you need to take.

Plug the holes in your current order process – Have your ordering system evaluated before you flood it with prospects. If your system is not user-friendly, your new mass of prospective clients will simply leave out of frustration. Make it easy for people to give you their money. What’s the sense of working to get people to your page if you’re just going to lose them because you failed to put work into your own site?

Formulate a plan for your social media presence – Increasing followers alone doesn’t pay, and you will see little or no return on your investment. Don’t advertise on Facebook just to get likes on your page; rather, if you’re going to use a Facebook ad to draw attention to your presence on Facebook itself, you need to have a specific plan. Once your Facebook following grows, you have a tremendous opportunity to reach the people who have ‘liked’ your page on a regular basis. Strategize beforehand on how to turn those people who have shown interest in your Facebook page into customers.

Create a targeted landing page – Any time you advertise, you should do everything you can to maximize your rate of return (even if it’s only your time). One of the most effective ways to do this when marketing online is to have a customized landing page on your website or Facebook page that is specifically targeted to the same demographics your ad is. When a potential customer clicks on your ad, they should be welcomed with a specific, personal call to action rather than a generic home page that will force them to put extra effort into purchasing your product. Again, make it easy for potential customers to spend their money on your product or service. You might only have once chance to convert this customer to a client – don’t blow it.

Set up a tracking system – In order to properly evaluate the effectiveness of a given ad, use a tracking software (such as Google Analytics). You can use the detailed statistics provided by the service to determine whether an ad has been sufficiently productive (including the dollars returned per visit from each ad) — and from there, decide whether to continue using it, change it to better appeal to a certain demographic, or terminate it altogether.

Of course, at least I would hope, your talents are not remotely similar to those of The Joker. You’re not trying to get hired by a Gotham City crime boss to “kill the Batman.” Does the assertion that you should never use your trade expertise without monetary compensation hold up in the real world?

This question has been on my mind for a long time, but to this point, I’ve failed to apply it favorably to my own experience. As an aspiring journalist, I found that the only way to insert myself into the industry was to write. I needed to get my name out there, and through writing sports on my personal website and advertising my posts to the Twitter following I have built over time, I have accomplished that. I’ve been utilizing this strategy for less than a year, but numerous opportunities have already presented themselves to me because of it; including job offers. I recently took a position writing baseball for a website. The pay was minimal, but it was there. Not long after, I had to decide between staying at the small site I was already at, which would have meant a decent pay raise, and moving to a much larger site with a sizable following, which would not be paying me at all.

Call me crazy, but at this stage in my career, I chose the larger following. Why? With more readers comes a fantastic opportunity to build my reputation. Also, paid or not, the position is as close to my dream job as I can get at the moment and it’s helping me build relationships and grow my contact list. This will be extremely beneficial to me later.

Just as you’re probably not a psychotic killer, there’s a good chance you’re not a writer. But this idea of establishing a reputation, gaining industry contacts, and building relationships doesn’t just apply to journalism. These things are invaluable for anyone in the business world, whether they (reputations, contacts, and relationships) are attained through an internship or otherwise.

Before Got WWW? started attracting high-profile clients, we had to establish our portfolio; it’s hard to get hired as a start-up with no reputation. We gained credibility by helping friends, deserving non-profits, and other start-up businesses for little or no cost (this is still essential for every business, established or not, but that’s a topic for another post).

Whether you want to start a new business, expand your business, or even change career paths altogether, doing some work for free is one of the best ways to lay a foundation.

Google.com officially turned fourteen 14 today, September 15, 2011.  The domain name, google.com, was registered by two Stanford computer science grad students on September 15, 1997, almost a year before Google filed for incorporation in California.

What’s in a name? 

When Juliet coined that famous saying, she had no idea what the future held.  Though it didn’t matter to her what Romeo’s real name was, today, a name, especially a company’s domain name, is a great asset.

Whether Google is actually 13 or 14 right now might not make much difference to you, but if the internet giant had not been able to secure google.com when they did, the company would likely never have been named that.  I’m kind of glad it was, otherwise we might still be calling it BackRub  (yea, just doesn’t seem to fit, does it?).

Here are some important things you need to know about domain names:

When you have an idea, you need to protect it – immediately

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s founders, decided that the name “BackRub” didn’t fit their search engine and they came up with a great new name, they immediately protected it by registering google.com. When they met at Stanford they disagreed about almost everything, but this they agreed on. They did this almost a year before they incorporated as a company or had their first investor.

Once you have the name, you need to secure it – long term

Having your domain name expire means that your website is down, your email stops working, and you and your company look foolish.  I have seen this happen too many times to count, but it seems like the people responsible usually blame the company they registered with.  Whose fault is it that their website is down?

If your domain does expire, there is also the possibility that someone else will buy it before you have a chance to renew. While these days, most companies allow for some kind of grace period, that hasn’t always been the case, and they make no guarantees.

Most people only pay for one year when they buy or renew a domain name.  Each year they have to remember to pay again.  At minimum, you need to put your payment information on file with the registrar, so that when your domain name is up for renewal, it happens automatically.  But the best way to make sure your domain name doesn’t accidentally expire is to pay well in advance. Google has protected it’s domain in this way by paying for it through 2020. In addition to protecting your domain, paying for it in advance is usually less expensive thanks to multi-year discounts.

You should have your domain name monitored by a third party so that if for any reason the domain isn’t pointing to the right place, you will know about it immediately.  A monitoring service will watch your website and your mail server. If anything isn’t working the way it is supposed to, they will notify you immediately and in several ways – text message, Twitter, email, etc.

Ask to have your domain name locked at the registrar.  This provides an additional level of security that makes it more difficult for your name to be stolen.  Without taking this step, someone could steal it with nothing more than your email password.  We go one step further at Got WWW? by privatizing your domain’s contacts, so that any transfer request has to be approved by us.

We manage hundreds of domains for our clients, and while we’re not the least expensive place (in terms of money) to buy a domain, keeping your domain working correctly is invaluable.  Your domain will be protected in the best way possible if you follow our advice.

In July of this year, Twitter announced their acquisition of BackType, a service that helped users to further their understanding of their influence through social media, and specifically, how their Tweets translated into web traffic. The creation of this innovative new tool was induced by that purchase.

Here’s a screenshot of this essential resource:

Have you ever considered the effect what you say and do with social media has on the success of your business?

Before you recklessly upload an album full of snapshots from the party last Friday night to cyberspace –before you submit your latest 140-character bit of cheeky wit or wisdom to the world, will you stop to think of the consequences?

According to an infographic from CareerEnlightenment.com, 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters review online information about job applicants before making a hiring decision. Of those, 70% said that they have rejected candidates based on information that they found online. That means there’s an incredibly high likelihood that your prospective employer will be doing a sort of amateur background check on you; essentially, they will look for a reason to not hire you.

In June, the Federal Trade Commission gave its blessing to background check companies that screen job applicants based on their use of social media. This means that the job application process is no longer a simple paper application and personal interview. Instead, a search of what you’ve said or posted online has become standard. “We store records for up to 7 years as long as those records haven’t been disputed,” says Social Intelligence COO Geoffrey Andrews.

So what should you avoid posting online, to the land of no take backs and few apologies? Here are some dos and don’ts:

Don’t bad mouth your current or former employer, your co-workers, or your clients.
This could be the most important kind of post to avoid. Who wants to hire someone who is liable to publicly complain about them later? Who wants to work with such a person? Slandering anyone in the business world can be extremely damaging to your chances of landing a job or acquiring a new client. This seems like the most obvious point I could make, which is why I find it truly amazing how often I see disparaging remarks of this nature from my Facebook friends. Some have posted such comments very regularly over extended periods of time about their current employers. I can only hope that my friends have been extremely careful about regulating who can see their posts, but even that is not enough to guard that their boss will not somehow be made aware of them. The tech-savvy have innumerable ways of getting around your privacy settings.

Don’t be negative.
Instead of constantly droning on about your problems–in the workplace, at home, or otherwise–focus on the positive aspects of your life and the progress your business is making. It’s painful to write this terrible cliché, but you should probably heed your mother’s timeless advice; if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Chronic complainers are overwhelming to their coworkers and can seriously damage the atmosphere of a workplace and the quality of customer service. From the perspective of a job applicant, if you’re equally qualified for a position along with any number of candidates, a reputation as a whiner will quickly land your résumé in the trash. Negative people have fewer followers online, and fewer friends in real life. Businesses regularly gauge their interests in working with other companies based on the personal reputations of their contacts within that company.

Don’t be overly argumentative.
We get it. You’re smart. It’s okay to be smart. It’s not okay to shove your intelligence (or arrogance, depending on your perspective) in everyone’s collective face. Steer clear of controversy for the sake of being controversial. If you feel the need to defend your opinions to someone, be respectful about it, or preferably, do it face-to-face. Hiding behind the protective barrier that is the internet is not cool.

Do keep it G-rated.
First of all, avoid abusive language at all costs. Stay away from crude jokes and curse words no matter the context. This is your personal page, but it reflects your business. In the past, some of my friend’s Facebook profiles have read like a public bathroom stall. Those “friends” have been since removed from my list. To me, and to most in the business world, raunchy language significantly reduces credibility. In addition, employers and customers alike will distance themselves from you if they find any hint of racism or sexism, even if your comments are meant humorously or sarcastically. Beyond how such words impact your reputation, job recruiters undoubtedly will fear legal repercussions should your online ignorance translate to the workplace. This also applies to pictures. Don’t post anything provocative, or any content that suggests drinking or drug use.

Do spell check.
This one’s pretty self-explanatory. You’re not in fourth grade. Watch your spelling and grammar if you want people to view you as an able, intelligent, adult–capable of effectively communicating in the workplace.

CareerBuilder.com published the results of a very interesting survey back in 2009. Undoubtedly, the percentages they found are all more extreme two years later. Their survey reported that 35% of employers found content on social networking sites that caused them not to hire a candidate. Reportedly, 53% of those candidates posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information, 43% posted content about them drinking or using drugs, 35% bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients, 29% showed poor communication skills, 26% made discriminatory comments, 24% lied about qualifications, and 20% shared confidential information from a previous employer.

All this is not limited to job applicants, however. As a business owner or executive, your social media footprint is also accessible to potential customers and partners. If you’re like most, its time to rethink your approach to social media.

And by the way, I don’t want to work with you if your entire Facebook wall is plagued by Bejeweled Blitz high scores and incessant Farmville updates.

How has a negative social media contact affected your buying decision?

At least until the term becomes more commonplace, it seems ludicrous to expect just anyone to know that definition, not excluding new business owners or those looking to start a website for the first time. Why advertise to people using a term that will seem like non-sense to them?

Recently, I overheard a conversation between my two grandmothers. One, a generation younger, was trying to explain the concept of a wireless Bluetooth headset to the other, who, to my knowledge, has never used the Internet (my family was overjoyed when she learned to send a text message last year, but I digress). Though it was an admirable attempt, it was also somewhat humorous, and it was apparent that very little progress, if any, was made in convincing my elder grandmother that this technology would be beneficial to her.

It’s vital when selling anything to know who you’re marketing to, and to market in a way that is easy to understand for that specific person or group of people. It’s even more important when trying to market in the technology industry, which adds another new gadget (or two or two hundred) quicker than you can refresh your Twitter feed.

There’s a very high likelihood that your potential customers don’t even know that there is a solution to their problems out there. In the case of cloud hosting, most people are unaware such a service exists, let alone what it means or that it will correct the fact that the servers hosting their website were overloaded by a recent spike in traffic. They’re not going to find your service by using the search terms “best cloud hosting” or “secure cloud hosting.” Rather, they’ll be looking to find a way to eliminate the issue they had with their previous hosting service. Instead of marketing the tools or services you provide, market the solutions you have to the problems real people face. Put yourself in their shoes. Tell them why they want–why they need–what you have.

Of course, this concept isn’t limited to just hosting and servers. What are you marketing that just doesn’t seem to be catching on? Maybe it’s time to reconsider who is seeing your ads, and to evaluate the possibility of re-wording them to increase their effectiveness.

In some ways, they are right. The evidence is not hard to find. Even a quick check of Twitter’s trending topics would back up such a statement. As I write this, they range from “#WorstFeeling” to a real revelation; “Today is Friday”.

So, yes, Twitter is full of mindless chatter that barely qualifies as conversation. However, ask a business person or someone who knows how to network, and Twitter is a completely different animal.

For me, Twitter is the fastest and most accessible way to keep up on the sports world–which I follow obsessively. The key is to follow only a select group of users who are posting interesting and engaging material relating to your interests. For me, that includes just upwards of 1,000 sports bloggers, news outlets, and major sports network analysts and anchors. My Twitter feed is the first place I go to look for breaking news. Within the last 5 minutes, it broke the news to me that the Chicago Cubs dismissed general manager Jim Hendry and that hockey star Chris Drury retired. Mixed in with this information is a blog post analyzing the Detroit Tigers’ defense and an alert that a popular soccer podcast just went live.

As an aspiring sports journalist, I’ll re-post the information I think my followers would be most interested in and maybe even use what I’m reading on Twitter as inspiration for a blog post of my own. If I post enough compelling and unique content, I’ll increase my followers, and at the same time, my influence in the sports community.

The point is, on a personal level, Twitter is what you make it. Rarely does my Twitter experience include learning the reaction of psychotic fangirls to Justin Beiber’s latest haircut, simply because no one I follow cares.

From a business perspective, companies of all sizes can use social networks, specifically Twitter, both to keep up on trends and to gauge customer satisfaction.

Touch Marketing recently posted some revealing information on the subject of brands’ use of Twitter. Some highlights:

88 of the 100 Fortune Global Companies post daily news and updates – According to a study by Burson-Marsteller, “the Fortune Global 100 are now more likely to directly engage users on social media.” Before this year, companies were mainly using social networks to broadcast one-way communication. Now, they are beginning to realize the value of answering the questions and concerns of customers in the most public forum possible.

85% of companies are now using social media as part of their recruitment process – BizTechDay notes that 10% of corporate tweets are job info related.

43% of people follow a brand on Twitter for special offers/deals, and 75% of users are more likely to purchase from a brand they follow – 28% of corporate tweets are deal related, according to the aforementioned blog post.

24% of current customers follow that brand on Twitter, and 66% of all questions asked on Twitter have a commercial intent – That’s a lot of people potentially talking about your business, whether positive or negative. Which leads us to what might be the most important number…

1,000,000 people view Tweets about customer service each week, and around 80% of those customer service Tweets are negative or critical – Twitter is becoming a great way for potential customers to see what people are saying about your company, and what they’re saying could be the deal-breaker. Engaging with existing and potential customers on Twitter is a great way to show you care. It also expands your influence and is a fantastic way to keep your company on the customer’s radar.

If you’re interested in Detroit sports, follow me (@garretkc) on Twitter. If you’re interested in the latest internet marketing news and strategies, including tips for small businesses and social networking, follow Got WWW? (@gotwww).

As the show began, the young guy firearms instructor was made out to be quite the “portable entertainment center” as his competitors were introduced … a former navy seal, a police SWAT team trained defense contractor, and a U.S. Marshal  (watch the scene here: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/one-man-army-brothers-in-arms/ )

I could tell right away that the young firearms instructor was going to get blown away by the much more experienced group of highly trained professionals.  He had very little real world experience and brought more attitude than anything else to the game.

As I continued to joke about how bad this guy was going to do, he eliminated each of the other competitors, one by one, and ended up winning the competition, sending all three of his opponents home in defeat.  This disturbed me a lot.  Did his age simply trump their experience, or was there something else?

The more I think about it I wonder… did the highly trained veterans rely too much on their experience and fail to stay competitive?  Had their pride in their war stories become their poison?  Had they let their skills wane?

In the business world we have to remember that things are always changing too.  New technology makes what we learned 10 years ago completely obsolete.  Just because we were at the top of our game doesn’t mean we can stop training.  Staying at the top means continuing to learn, for me that means staying current with new technology; reading and exercising my skills in new ways every day.

Attend all the training classes and seminars you can on social media and the latest in technology. Integrate technology into your personal life to increase your fluency in unfamiliar mediums. Read magazines and blogs that keep you current on technology and trends.

In the end I like to think that we can accomplish more as a team than a “One Man Army”, but either way, your years of experience are only an asset to the team when your skills are sharp and up to date.