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2009-11-19

New Rules for Facebook Contests

Earlier this month, Facebook announced a new set of promotional guidelines for running contests through Facebook. There are a lot of don’ts on this list – including things that were previously common practice to build fans and get people talking about your brand. Here’s the rundown on the new rules.

The Basics

You can’t ask someone to create Facebook content to enter (unless it’s through a third party app)
You must have express written permission from Facebook to put on any contest
Facebook has laid out specific industries and geographies that cannot be included – and no one under 18 can be eligible

What’s Not Allowed

Status update contests (where someone enters by updating their status)
Photo upload contests (where someone enters by uploading a photo)
Become a Fan contests (where someone is automatically entered by becoming a fan of the page)
Any kind of contest that requires commenting on or responding to items in the News Feed
Anything that requires purchase of a product or “completion of a lengthy task”
Contests engaging those under the age of 18

Specific prohibitions from the Facebook official guidelines:

You may not publicize or administer a promotion on Facebook if:2.1 The promotion is open or marketed to individuals who are under the age of 18;

2.2 The promotion is open to individuals who reside in a country embargoed by the United States;

2.3 The promotion, if a sweepstakes, is open to individuals residing in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India;

2.4 The promotion’s objective is to promote any of the following product categories: gambling, tobacco, dairy, firearms, prescription drugs, or gasoline;

2.5 The prize or any part of the prize includes alcohol, tobacco, dairy, firearms, or prescription drugs; or

2.6 The promotion is a sweepstakes that conditions entry upon the purchase of a product, completion of a lengthy task, or other form of consideration.

Prior Written Approval

Contests require prior written approval. More specifically, you must contact your account representative at Facebook to obtain this approval and expect a 7 day turn around. Don’t have an account rep? Use this contact form – but don’t expect a response unless you’re willing to spend a minimum $10,000 on advertising.

From the Facebook official guidelines:

You may not administer any promotion through Facebook, except that you may administer a promotion through the Facebook Platform with our prior written approval. Such written approval may be obtained only through an account representative at Facebook. If you are already working with an account representative, please contact that representative to begin the approval process. If you do not work with an account representative, you can use this contact form to inquire about working with an account representative.

What does this mean?

If you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to shell out for Facebook marketing, you can use a third party application (like Wildfire) to condition entry. It’s not free, but a $5 set up fee plus $1 a day will get the basic package set up.

Or, you can run a contest using another venue and leave Facebook out of it. Which is what some people are doing. Tweet #finalfantasyxiii to unlock a secret XBOX code when the game comes out, follow @DrewFromTV and Drew Carey will donate $1 to the Livestrong Foundation, be Whole Foods’ 1 millionth follower to win a gift card… these kinds of promotions are no longer allowed on Facebook.

Or… just hold a hot dog eating contest on Coney Island. Though that may be a little less than original.

More

For more on the impact of the guidelines, check out Inside Facebook’s post
To read the full text of the guidelines see https://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

Photos thanks to flickr users robleto and dietrich!

2009-10-292014-11-02

SPAM Tips and Tricks: How do you know when to click delete?

As the users of various social media sites grows, so too does the number of people who will try to take advantage of those users. This morning has been filled with all kinds of SPAM so we wanted to take a second to pass on some quick tips and tricks for identifying those pesky spammers and help you avoid falling prey for those who’d just love love love your password.

Let’s start with Facebook.

If you get an email that looks like THIS (minus the pink arrows of course) it is a spammy scam and you should not click on any links in the email… I have received three of these emails this week.

Let’s talk about how you identify these email hoaxes:

Who is the email from? If it’s not coming from the actual site that is requesting action from you then it is probably spam. But beware. Email addresses are super easy to spoof. Our example email looks like it’s from Facebook but when we check out the rest of our criteria for IDing spam, it’s clearly not.
Who is the email to? If it’s not “to” the email address that is tied to the account that is requesting action then ignore it. The example email was sent to a group address at Schipul but my Facebook account is tied to my gmail address so I know this is fake.
Who is the email addressed to? Social Media sites are created to be your buddy, so when they reach out to you via email they will almost ALWAYS use your real name (Dear Maggie McDonald) or your username (Dear MagsMac), if they don’t use a familiar name when they, then they do not know your account. SPAM!
Are they asking you to click a link in the email? If an email has failed all of the prior tests then most assuredly DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS in the email. Go directly to the site and check their to see if they need any info from you. If they really need something, you can bet they’ll tell you right when you log in and not just in some random email.
Even if the email looks like it’s from the site, beware! See point #1. Emails are easy to spoof. The example email includes the correct address for Facebook headquarters but that doesn’t mean it’s really from Facebook.

For a GREAT example of a company that takes internet security very seriously, check out ebays guidelines for IDing a legitimate ebay email.

So in summary, be careful what you click. If in doubt don’t click anything and head on over to the site requesting action for more information!!

2009-08-282014-11-02

Facebook as a phone book? #FBFAIL

A recent (and much heralded) update to the Facebook iPhone 3.0 app brought some much needed functionality to the Facebook junkie on the go – access to Facebook events, the ability to ‘like’ content, notes and zoom in on photos. Yay!

What many did NOT anticipate, however, was the contact update that allows you to call your Facebook friends that list their phone number(s) directly from the updated app. That’s right, if you have your phone number(s) posted in your profile accessible to your friends/contacts, they can CALL you all easy-like.

Last night, scrolling through the updated Facebook contacts on my iPhone and saw a blue phone icon next to a very famous publisher’s contact info. Assuming it would just go to an office line and an answering machine, I gave it a call – and what do you know…. it was his cell phone. And we chatted. He was a little surprised, as was I.

Lesson learned here – Facebook privacy settings are your friend. This morning, as you surf the Web, take a look at your ‘Contact Information’ settings and double check who sees what. Want to share all of your contact info with close friends or family only? Select the appropriate Friend List and you’re done.

Don’t want anyone seeing your information at all? Keep your settings to private or hey, just keep them blank… unless you’d like a late night phone call from one of the Schipulites too. Talk to you soon?

2009-07-30

Facebook privacy and YOU – watch those apps!

While concerns of privacy and content ownership are old news for Facebook users, a recent mix up with Facebook advertisers has gotten more than a few Facebook fans on their heels.

A scenario: Imagine being a loving husband who is going about his day, sipping his coffee, checking his Facebook updates and then… pow!!!… up pops a photo of his wife on a dating site ad. Unhappy much? Yes, we think so.

Long story short, (some) Facebook advertisers stepped out of line with Facebook advertising policy and used photos of users (without their permission) in their ads – happily married or not, this poor couple had no say in how their images were used on the network. YIKES!!!

The good news is that Facebook has just announced a new ad policy which will keep your private user data out of the hands of scheming 3rd party networks. Nice to see Facebook taking a stronger stance, we certainly hope they maintain this aggressive approach – privacy is beyond important and maintaining their users’ trust should be the utmost thought in any software developer and Community builder’s mind.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/07/facebook-ads.html
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/07/facebook-advertising-policy/

In a post on his Public Relations and Web Marketing blog, our fearless CEO, Ed Schipul, made a further interesting recommendation for Facebook users – UFAID! :

We propose September 1st 2009 as Uninstall Facebook Applications Internationally Day (UFAID).

Not all applications mind you, just the ones you don’t trust or recognize.

To uninstall your Facebook Applications follow these steps:

Login to Facebook
Click on your ‘Profileâ€ link at the top of the page.
Scroll down to the ‘Applicationsâ€ link on the lower left. Click it.
Click ‘Edit Appsâ€ link which should take you to a page like this: https://www.facebook.com/editapps.php
IMPORTANT Change ‘Showâ€ from ‘Recently Usedâ€ to ‘Authorizedâ€!
Click the ‘Xâ€ next to the applications you want to remove.
Confirm.
Repeat until all cruft and untrustworthy applications are removed.

Find any applications you did not realize were installed? Yup, thought you would. Put them in the comments below so we can see the sneaky ones?

Photo thanks to Flickr user Cortnie.dee

2009-05-26

Trend Tuesday: You’re a Facebook pro, your friends are not

Tired of getting tagged in embarassing photos? Yeah, us too.

File this under ‘(semi) oldie, but goodie’, this Facebook Blog post on 10 Facebook Privacy Settings is still incredibly invaluable if you’re one of thousands that find themselves logging on to Facebook for more business than pleasure these days.

So how do you separate your cool business persona from your old grungy college dorm pals on Facebook?

Glad you asked, here are our top 5 ways to keep your image all pretty-like on Facebook in the face of even the most obnoxious photo tagging collegial chums:

Create friend lists
Friend lists (accessible by visiting www.facebook.com/friends) are an easy way to sort your Facebook contacts into your own personal Facebook spheres that each sport their own privacy policy. This is not only an easier way to read updates and see content specifically for a group of people you want to catch up with, but lets you control who sees your content too.Don’t want your co-workers to see last weekend’s birthday party photos (see #4 below)? You get to say what friend lists, networks and even specific people can see them (and very specifically NOT see them).

You are a multi-faceted person, so create whatever kind of friend lists work for you: ‘college friends’, ‘high school friends’, ‘family’, ‘work’ or ‘roller derby pals’. The point of being on Facebook is to connect with people you want to stay in touch with and/or grow a relationship with. Make sure that you customize, tweak and mold Facebook into the exact kind of tool you need.
Take control of your search (be invisible or be bold!)
You may not be interested in your Facebook profile showing up in Facebook searches at all! Update your Privacy Search page and customize your Search Visibility by selecting from the dropdown box. Also take a peek at what content a search for you will come up with on Facebook (your profile pic, friends, fanpages, etc. to further customize your search experience.

For further privacy, uncheck your ‘Public Search Listing’ box to remove you from search engine indexing. This means that no one searching on Google or Yahoo will come across your Facebook profile when searching.
Watch your contact information
Depending on how open you are or what your professional goals are on Facebook, you might want to go all out and include your mobile phone number, your birthday and even your physical address. But many of us want to keep some of those personal details under major wraps.

Visit your Privacy>Profile page to select who gets to see what on your profile — you get to fine tune your friends’ access to your info. From basic details to contact info to work experience, you have the final say on who has access to what. Still concerned? You can even test drive your profile’s privacy by typing in a Facebook friend’s name to see how they see your profile.
Embarassing photos? Forget about it!
Facebook also lets you control who can see your Photo Albums – so you can send your goofy river trip photos to your family and select friends — or make it visible only to the Friend Lists you specify.Go to your Privacy page >> Profile >> ‘Edit Photo Albums Privacy Settings’ and select the dropdown applicable to who you’d like to see/not see that album. To choose from your Friend Lists, select the ‘Custom’, select ‘Some Friends’ and then choose the Friend Listing from the dropdown box.

If you want to limit who sees Photos and Videos that haven’t uploaded yourself but have been tagged in (remember those embarassing high school prom photos!?), select the dropdown and select ‘Custom’ > ‘Some Friends’ > and then choose the Friend Listing you want. No more problems!
Cloak your facebook activity
Not everyone needs to know when you’ve gone through a relationship status change, have left a note on a friends’ wedding photo or have added a friend. Check out your News Feed and Wall page to make sure that only the actions you want made public are, in fact, public.

Photo thanks to Flickr user (and awesome publication) Found Magazine

2009-05-122014-11-02

Trend Tuesdays: Yes, Dear Non-Profit, Social Media CAN Make You Money!

Welcome to the very first installment of Trend Tuesdays, where the Schipulites will bring you weekly trends in the web at-large! To kick off this shindig right, let’s talk about something that doesn’t often get a lot coverage in Internetland: charitable donations.

During a recent jaunt to the hilly and chilly city by the bay, I had the honor of attending the NTEN Non-Profit Technology Conference. I learned more than I’d ever imagined about what makes non-profits tick, what makes non-profits boil, and what makes non-profits happy.

Of course, there are plenty of things that trip a non-profit’s trigger. Widespread public support, mass exposure for a cause, endless supplies of volunteers, databases full of donors, trays full of cupcakes. Okay, I inferred that last one.

But let’s be honest. What do non-profits really want? They want funding, Sherlock! They want donations! They want to have the requisite money to carry out their amazing missions with abandon!

One of the discussion points that threaded through almost every presentation or topic at NTC was fundraising, and getting those dolla dolla bills for your non-profit, y’all. Surprised that social media wasn’t the topic du jour? Sure, the social media ticket is trendy in the corporate and marketing worlds, but for non-profits? Social media only cuts the mustard when it can deliver resources. And I came to discover that a key element to using social media as a fundraising tool is Facebook Causes.

Now, most all of us are already quite familiar with the viral power of Facebook (and if not, let me assist you in emerging from under that rock where you’ve been living). You can consider the Causes application as the Facebook non-profit niche.

Causes is the world’s largest online platform for social and political activism, but with chutzpah. Boasting over 15 million active monthly users (heck yeah, you read that right!), and 50 million users in total, Causes empowers both organizations and individuals to mobilize their social networks. Every single Facebook user has the tools to create a Cause for an issue or campaign, recruit others to join, spread awareness, and raise money for a non-profit beneficiary.

Causes works ’cause it’s deeply embedded within the world’s leading social networks (there’s an application for MySpace, too!), and Causes benefiting a non-profit can:

Create community and spread awareness
Connect people and ideas in new ways; and
Attract new donors and raise money for specific projects & programs.

How does it work? Well, first, a non-profit becomes a Causes partner. By partnering with Causes, non-profits receive official profiles and access to a central dashboard, where they can manage causes, track donations, and download donor contact information. When a non-profit is ready to start its very own Cause, they can get the grab the Facebook Causes application.

HALT! There are a few things to note about the Facebook Causes application. First of all, it’s completely, 1,000% free, but it’s only available (right now) to registered 501(c)(3) organizations. This pretty much means that donations can only be processed for Guidestar-listed or Canadian charities. True, any average Joe (or Joanne) can create a Cause via the Causes application, but the recipient must be a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Non-profits get all the good schtuff, don’t they?

Another bonus? Since Causes is a third-party application, the non-profit partner is able to have Causes, a Fan Page, and a Group on Facebook, if it so desires. Talk about TRIPLE your fun! The Causes application, however, does MORE than a Fan Page or a Group. The Causes application has the ability to accept donations, it features advanced communication tools that Fan Pages and Groups don’t offer, and it comes bundled with great tools for fundraising, such as setting fundraising goals and matching donations.

So how do non-profits make the Facebook Causes application really sing?

Title: Make sure the Cause has an action-inducing, attention grabbing title.
Cause of Action: Convey a sense of urgency with the cause of action.
Make the Case: Make the Cause’s case in three points or less.
Background & Objectives: Provide a concise background for where the Cause is currently, and where the Cause is going. Don’t forget to include relevant links!
Imagery: Use an evocative photograph that inspires people to take action.
Recruit, Recruit, Recruit: Use the recruiting tools associated with the Facebook Causes application to invite the maximum number of potential supporters every day (which is 60), and personalize the ask and the thank you messages you send. But don’t stop there! Take your recruiting outside the Facebook borders to newsletters and email, too!

Of course, there are the naysayers of Facebook Causes. In fact, a recent Washington Post article pointed out that fewer than 50 of the 179,000 nonprofits that use Facebook Causes have raised $10,000, and only two (the Nature Conservancy and Students for a Free Tibet) have cracked the $100,000 mark. Yikes, right?

We can’t deny that online donations are only 3% of the donations that non-profits receive. But wasn’t it just yesterday that people couldn’t imagine shopping online, watching movies online instead of going to the theatre, or making friends with complete strangers online? What makes us think online donations to charitable causes are any different? If we’re looking at past trends, then they’re not any different at all. Facebook Causes is a great step in the right direction for learning how to better meet the needs of non-profits.

A non-profit’s priority is fundraising, right? Then we go to them, young Padawans, and we show them the way.

Image: BizJournals

2009-04-202014-11-02

What is “Uncommon Storytelling?” Find out this week as Ed Schipul presents to PRSA Gulfstream Chapter

If you are in public relations and you are not neck deep in social media you may be in trouble. Tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube have become essential for PR pros. Not surprisingly, many still wonder how to get the greatest positive impact from these technologies, so Ed Schipul will be heading back out on the road this week to make sense of it all. His presentation, “Uncommon Storytelling: Putting the Relations Back Into Public Relations with Social Media,” will be featured at the Public Relations Society of America Gulfstream Chapter luncheon.

In today’s news release on the subject, Ed delivers (ha) a body blow to poor Dominos Pizza for its mishandling of last week’s embarrassing social media fiasco.

“Virtually every week we see examples of companies that make serious mistakes or miss opportunities because they don’t understand the rules of engagement in the online environment,” said Schipul. ‘Hoping nobody is going to notice when potentially harmful conversations are happening online is a recipe for disaster. The good news is that used strategically, social media can help to create deeper and more meaningful connections between brands and their communities.

Ed’s presentation is scheduled for noon, Thursday at JM Family Enterprises in Deerfield Beach. Advance registration is $20 for PRSA members and $30 for non-members. For more information, visit www.prsagulfstream.org.

Hope to see you in Fort Lauderdale!

2009-03-252014-11-02

When Poker goes Social – Beau Rivage Poker Classic online!

If you haven’t already checked it out, take a look at a cool Schipul client project that April Kyle and the rest of Schipul social media consulting team have been typing away on for MGM MIRAGE’s Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss.

The fun and excitement begins with The Wild Poker Showdown Photo Contest on Flickr. Have a photo or two of a wild poker night experience? Upload it!! The winner will be treated to two nights at the Beau Rivage during the Spring Break Poker Classic, pretty snazzy!

We also helped Beau Rivage launch a Spring Break Poker Classic blog to keep poker enthusiasts on Twitter updated, tracked down videos about poker and Beau Rivage on its YouTube channel, and will encourage poker players to network and swap strategies via the Spring Break Poker Classic Facebook group.

2009-01-262014-11-02

Stonyfield YoBaby Yogurt: Don’t Neglect Mommy Bloggers!

Stonyfield Yogurt, in my opinion, is the company to model any business after if they want to not only make a nice profit but also make a difference. Stonyfield makes delicious yogurt, ice cream and milk, all while doing their part to save the world by using only natural and organic ingredients. In addition to being environmentally savvy, they’re also pretty astute when it comes to marketing and communicating with their audience online.

Stonyfield is no stranger to using the Internet and social media to reach out to their fans. They started their first blog in April 2004, way ahead of the curve for most businesses. Currently they have two blogs that they update frequently – The Bovine Blog and Baby Babble – and their very own social network, myStonyfield, that you must log into to see. Inside there is another blog which they use to generate feedback and conversation from their readers. This blog seems to get more comments than their public blog.

Recently Stonyfield launched the Who Loves YoBaby? video contest using YouTube – or as they like to call it YoTube. They asked YoBaby lovers to submit videos of their children eating YoBaby Yogurt. The winner received a $2000 U.S. Savings Bond for college. Over all it seems like it was a success, not to mention adorable! Cooper and Cohen from Alpheretta, Georgia were the winners:

While Stonyfield seems to know how social media can work for them to create community and conversation about their products and mission, I’m confused why they didn’t promote the contest and generate more chatter about it in social networlks. Obviously, they really needed to get the parents involved in this, but how did they go about reaching out to their audience? Aside from promoting the contest on Facebook, the YoBaby website, and YouTube, only a few mommy communities talked it up (Posh Little and Pajama Mommy).

So what could they have done differently that would make the campaign even more successful? I have two suggestions:

1. They could’ve engaged the mommy bloggers – There are so many fantastic bloggers out there that also happen to be moms that not only have a large network but are also quite influential. Then there’s the mom communities like OpMom where they could’ve reached out to members or maybe they could have participated in a conference like Mom 2.0.

2. Twitter it! – I know I talk about Twitter a lot, but just searching search.twitter.com for YoBaby I saw a lot of parents talking about the yogurt:

Moms talking about YoBaby for their children

Stonyfield doesn’t have a Twitter account. How awesome an opportunity for them it would be to say thank you to these Twitterers and send them free samples for their children who obviously love the fruit and cereal YoBaby yogurt and then let them know about the video contest. I only saw that one person mentioned the contest and no one ever mentioned it again. I think they really missed out in connecting and engaging their network of Influencers buy not getting involved in Twitter.

While I am a true fan of Stonyfield and I know that their mission is to Do Good, I am a little confused why Stonyfield completely neglected an audience that could be their top proponents – parents. But maybe I’m missing something. What do you think?

Jerri Stephenson

2009-01-082014-11-02

1 or 100: How Many Social Networks Should You Join?

New Guy Courtney here! Since joining Schipul, I have learned you can not exist without a brand, well you can, it’s just not as fun. So being the risk-taker that I claim to be, I dove feet first into the wonderful world of social media.

Being a rookie to the world of social media, I found out very fast that your personal brand is just as important as your finger print. Trust me, it’s that serious. My first thought was I should snatch every social media network that crossed my path such as a fat toad to a fly. Unfortunately in this case, I was the fat toad and social media was the fly.

My epiphany finally came the other day when I joined the social network change.org; only adding to my growing list of networks with access to my login informationâ€¦possibly even my finger print. As much as I respect the amazing people that devote their lives to the cause, I am sad to say I do as much for the cause as I take helicopter rides and play with trolls in my garden; they’re few and far between. I will briefly mention that I did some work with the Make-A-Wish foundation. This was extremely gratifying but I would be lying to myself if I thought joining a non-profit network would be beneficiary or even profitable for the brand I am trying to build. So that begs the question, how many social networks are too many?

Jack Humphrey is a professional blogger, author of ‘How to Make Money Blogging!,â€ a contributor to Blog Talk Radio and creator of Blogsuccess.com. I suppose it’s during Jack’s ‘down-timeâ€ that he offers his expertise to others by teaching them how to drive traffic to their social sites in order to become a profitable brand on the internet. In a recent blog post, The New Rules of Social Marketing, Jack offered his insights into whether it is better to be a part of many social sites or just a select fewâ€¦

‘Putting in more time on fewer sites is absolutely better than trying to be on 100 social sites with no chance of having a meaningful presence on any of themâ€¦It is entirely possible for you to have a blog and a Twitter account and become one of the most popular and profitable in your niche.â€

It makes complete sense right? I log into Facebook and Twitter to post updates every single day. To me, these two networks would be the obvious choice to create a ‘meaningful presenceâ€ and even more so, tell my personal story. In a sense, the time I put forth to these two sites would be the most beneficial. Most likely resulting in a helicopter ride at least once a week. I will continue to hold my breathâ€¦wish me luck.

I assume by now you are thinking, ‘Courtney, I am not a poor, little social networking rookie like you are. I have a well- established brandâ€¦people know me.â€ I applaud your success; now let me introduce you to Sarah Lacy (Thanks Dwight for the link to her post!)

Sarah Lacy is a successful blogger, journalist, co-host of Tech Ticker on Yahoo! and author of the book, ‘Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0.â€ It also doesn’t hurt to say that she has impeccable fashion sense and is probably the most adorable thing in pigtails I have ever seen. Hey, I’m a girl and I notice these things and I am almost positive she would appreciate the endearing compliments.

Now for My Next Trick, I’ll Turn Brand into Cash is a recent blog post in which Sarah Lacy chronicles her quest to promote the ‘Sarah Lacyâ€ brand. Her conviction and energy is almost contagious as she contemplates if synergy really is the best way to make your brand profitable. ..

‘â€¦the synergy and the cross promotion hasn’t been as easy as it would seem on paper. I’ve been pretty aggressive about linking between things, and if you follow me on Twitter, you get a pretty clear day-to-day account of my life. Yes, I’m stunned by how many people read my blog, but never go to TechTickerâ€¦or watch TechTicker and have no idea I write a Businessweek column. Or how many people follow me on Twitter, but still think I’m on staff for Businessweek full-time. Orâ€”I swear to Godâ€”the number of people who know me from any of those platforms and say, ‘You wrote a book?â€

Personally, I think it’s great so many people know the ‘Sarah Lacyâ€ brand despite the platform that enabled their awareness. I mean let’s be honest, things could be a lot worse. There are only about 5 people familiar with my brand and one is my own mother. Even so, an acclaimed brand on several social networks can still hinder its ability to reach its utmost potential. Sarah Lacy can even realize the pitfallsâ€¦

‘On the surface, this sounds great for me. I’m leveraged across several platforms even if they aren’t working together as well as I’d hoped. But doesn’t it also mean that my ‘valueâ€ as a brand is diminished if I can’t pull fans and readers across platforms? After all, it’s supposed to be a two-way transaction.â€

Networks are supposed to be a two-transaction and even though I occasionally talk to myself, I don’t enjoy it as much as conversing with a friend or colleague. In order to maintain valuable transactions within networks, I believe it’s in your best interest to concentrate on a select few, and since my boss absolutely loves list, here is the top 3 reasons why you should brand for less:

Trying to maintain a multitude of social networks can be stressful and time-consuming. Cut back and you might even save some of your hair in the process.

If you concentrate on select networks that are geared toward your interest, it will be a more fulfilling experience and your brand will evolve naturally.

The main goal of business is to make a profit. Whether your brand creates actual income or you benefit from excellent networking, there is still profit to be made. What would be more ideal…a brand with substance on a few social sites or a mediocre brand within twenty social sites? To me, the answer is simple…and I’m just a rookie.

Thanks to Jeff Bauche._. · ´ ¯) for the awesome Flickr photo!