Social Media Saves the Day for Boring Websites

So tonight I was doing a little bit of what I call “pre-shopping” shopping where I scope out what’s new at all of my favorite stores ONLINE the day before I go shopping so I already know what I’m interesting in seeing when i hit the stores the next day.  (Yeah, it’s a little shopping secret I picked up when time began to be a precious commodity.) And today’s pre-shopping led me to the Marshall’s website.

Now, for all of you shopaholics out there this won’t come as a surprise, but Marshall’s doesn’t actually post it’s clothing online because, like other overstock-type stores, inventory is dependent on boutique and department store mess-ups.  Knowing this ahead of time, I was visiting the site only to check store locations when the company’s new savvy online marketing campaign hit me square in the heart.

Instead of marketing products directly like most retailers, Marshall’s is now using their web site to market the Marshall’s shopping experience.  Clever, I thought, since their former website was nothing more than a  store directory.  So instead of staying on their website for 30 seconds to get the map for the D’Iberville store location, I actually poked around a bit longer, viewed a few “shopportunity” comments like “I just scored 1000 thread count sheets” and “Another Fabulous Michael Kors find” and thought about how social media has saved the day for a company that wouldn’t have otherwise had much of a web presence.

My favorite little tool is the twitter “tweet” box at the bottom on the right hand side of the screen.  Twitter boxes aren’t new (I’ve had one on my website for almost a year now), but the way the designer has it displayed permanently at the bottom no matter the size of the user’s monitor is what caught my eye.  It’s static-ness makes it almost impossible to miss and like your browser tool bar, it follows you no matter where you go on the web page and changes with each new tweet giving the user the unconscious feeling that they are part of some alive social network of equally excited shoppers!

Ok, so maybe that’s a little too much analyzing of a twitter tweet box, but I can’t help my utter fascination for new ways of displaying content online.  If you didn’t know this already, I love web design.  I’m passionate about layouts, placement, colors, lines, and font.  And through the inspiration of others….  Jaimee Designs continues to grow.

So stay tuned.  I just may turn my next brochure website with zero “stickiness” into a social media haven complete with it’s own stationary tweet box in the corner!

Am I inspiring you?  If you have a favorite website, tell me about it.  I love to get new ideas.

How to Start a Business Fan Page on Facebook

Not sure how to get the facebook fan page going, check out my video blog for step by step instructions.  And check out my blog, “Facebook Fan Page: What To Do and What’s Taboo” to learn about posting ideas.

Facebook Fan Page: What to do and what’s taboo

I’m sure all of you have heard of Facebook.  I’m also sure that most of you out there have a Facebook account.  Many businesses are now starting to see the benefits of creating a social space for promoting and communicating with their customers too.  But just because social networking offers a free platform for sharing doesn’t mean you should abuse your friend’s and fan’s constant attention.  Promoting your business or organization on social media sites is like having a conversation… keep it social, find what works for you, and determine success through engagement.

Don’t Sell, Socialize

Remember that your friends and fans don’t love Facebook because it’s a constant stream of ads.  They love it because they get to keep up with their friends, family and colleagues.  They enjoy seeing what everyone’s doing.  While selling a product or service may be the end goal, you have to meet your goal slowly through daily or weekly posts that are more like talk around the water cooler instead of TV commercials. So keep that in mind when you post information on your fan page.

Find Your Niche

Telling you to socialize, not sell is easy, but teaching you exactly how to socialize is difficult.  Each business has a different relationship with it’s customers and finding exactly what your fans enjoy knowing about you is the key to having a successful social media account.

Ask yourself the following questions before you hit the “post” button:

• Is this interesting?
• Am I giving my fans an inside scoop?
• Am I building trust?
• Am I being professional?
• Am I keeping confidential information, confidential?

Here are some examples of good business post ideas:

• A photographer sharing recent photography session photos
• A news organization posting breaking news stories
• A sign company sharing daily work pictures from across the U.S.
• A beautician sharing pictures of her best hair styles
• A non-profit sharing weekly stories of success to show fans where the money goes
• A musician telling fans where the next gigs are

Never do the following:

• Talk bad about your clients or customers.  You may think it’s entertaining, but people aren’t stupid.  If you complain about someone else, you’ll complain about them.
• Give out confidential information.  Social media is still media no matter how private it can seem.
• Get too personal.  You may tell your personal facebook friends what you had to lunch, but your business’ fans don’t need to know that.
• Talk too much.  Communication is great in moderation.  Don’t bombard your fans with 10 updates a day.  No one is that cool!

Judge success by the number of comments you get

Finding what works is all about finding what makes people talk.  If you post 10 articles about your business’ services and NO ONE comments? Then maybe it’s not working.  Don’t give up; try something else.  And keep trying until you find what produces comments and feedback.

At the end of the day, building a successful facebook fan page is easy… as long as you remember to keep it social, find your niche, and measure success through engagement.

How to Change Your Profile Picture on Facebook

I know to most internet savvy people of my generation, changing a profile picture on facebook is ridiculously simple.  But, being a designer and developer to the masses, I am blessed to have clients from all walks of life with varying levels of experience online.  Since I’ve had more than one person ask me how to change a profile picture on Facebook, I figured there must be more of you out there in the dark. Here’s my attempt to bring you to the light!

I’m going to show you two ways to add your smiling face to your page for the world to see.  You can do either one in 5 steps.

Step #1 – Login
Step #2 – Select your name at the top on the navigational bar

Step #3 – Select your current profile picture or the area where the photo should be

Step #4 – This brings you to your “profile pictures” page. Select the photo you’d like to use

Step #5 – Slide down the page and under the photo you’ll see a list of photo options. Select “make profile pic”.

OR

If you don’t already have any pictures on your profile picture page (which is probably the case if you don’t know how to select a profile picture), follow these directions:

Step #1 – Login
Step #2 – Select your name at the top on the navigational bar (example #1 above)
Step #3 – Select your photos tab in the middle of the page.

Step #4 – This brings you to your photo albums main page. You can either select a photo from the “tagged” photos of you in the top region or select an album from the bottom that has the photo you want in it. Select a picture.

Step #5 – Slide down the page and under the photo you’ll see a list of photo options. Select “make profile pic”.

Let’s it! You’re done!