Stand Out From The Crowd

Every now and the I meet someone who really stands out from the crowd, someone who is thinking outside of the box and is interested in pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

I get really creative when I meet people like this, their enthusiasm is infectious and makes me realise what potentials I am capable of achieving.

Understanding Facebook Strategy

While I was completing the Facebook Groups section of my Facebook Strategies Guide I got a message from a new friend asking me to join his group. I get these kind of messages every day and usually I just ignore them. The reason I paid attention to this person was because he had adopted the exact strategy I had just been writing about and had followed it to the letter.

A Select Group Of People

I was interested because I pay attention to synchronicity like this, and when I checked out his group I could see he had done his preparations very well. There were only a few members but already it had a lot of good content and some interesting discussions. He wasn’t just inviting anyone he was inviting a select group of people who would appreciate what he was trying to teach

Promoting An Event Launch

His group was set up to promote his new book that teaches event launch strategies, I clicked through to his website and that was where I got the biggest shock. It was right on the cutting edge with a very  informative  video,  stunning flash graphics and  a cool contact/follow  widget. I  decided I had to find out a bit more about who was behind  all this so I opted in to his list and then sent him a few personal message and we started  building a relationship

Pay Close Attention

I would advise all of my friends to pay attention to what this guy is going to do in the next month. He’s already started to make some waves and get himself noticed with some great Facebook Notes on a wide range of topics.  I am now one of the privileged few who gets to see this launch from the inside and I will be paying very close attention and assessing the results. I could probably  write  3 killer blog posts just from the half hour conversation I had with him on Skype yesterday.

Invitation Only

If you want to find out more and get an invitation to the group please message me on Facebook and I’ll send you a link. Or you can go to my profile and you’ll probably find it hidden on my wall somewhere.

This group is really only for those who are serious about learning how to use Social Media to build viral synergistic networks. Synergistic networks are built from personal connections and solid relationships.

Unwritten Rules

This type of network responds when you ask it to do something and its one of the most valuable assets you can ever become a part of. Its not something you can ever own. If you abuse it’s power and break any of the  unwritten rules  you will find yourself excluded and left out in the cold. On the periphery and away from the place where the main action is taking place.

Laser Targeted

This isn’t going to be a typical launch where you send out generalised impersonal messages and spam all your contacts  using a shotgun splatter approach. That sort of thing can be left to the lazy affiliate marketers and amateur MLM newbies. Being laser targeted and selective means that you expend less energy and get much better results.

Come Along For The Ride

Regardless of your particular niche there is definitely going to be  something that you can learn.You can watch from the sidelines or you can join the party, it’s your choice

Understanding  the principles and adopting a strategic approach is whats  most important in any launch, as well as learning the right ways to engage people in conversations.

Follow Me

If you want to know what I am up to and ensure you get to observe things as they happen be sure to follow me on Twitter if you haven’t done  so  already

http://www.twitter.com/iandavidchapman

Follow me and I’ll follow you.

Erased from History

How would you feel if you woke up one morning only to discover that facebook had erased you; Your account disabled and every trace of your social networking activities deleted at the push of the button.

Facebook’s Hit List

Some of the top social networkers are getting very concerned  as their friends are vanishing without warning and they fear that they might be next on Facebook’s hit list.

If you have spent months building your network and establishing your credibility  this might come as a heavy blow, especially if you haven’t taken a back up of your friends list or exported your contacts onto your own autoresponder.

Scott Disappears

Yesterday one of my favourite people on Facebook vanished, Scott Brandon Hoffman, a guy everyone likes and a person who has added huge value to many peoples lives with his inspiring articles and his articulate and amusing replies in the discussion threads.

Where is Scott Brandon Hoffman?

Addy Tseng was quick off the mark to write about what had happened but I am still waiting to discover exactly what he did to get himself booted off Facebook. I sent Scott a message on Twitter but he hasn’t responded yet.

Has Facebook Gone Cuckoo

Meanwhile Jim Turner, one of the pillars of our facebook community has been threatened because he messaged a few people who had requested to become his friend. Jim has been maxed out at 5000 friends and wanted to direct people to his fan page. His excellent post – Has Facebook Gone Cuckoo is getting a lot of interesting comments. Martin Allsop also claims this has happened to him too

I have received messages from several other marketers who have been warned or had their accounts disabled recently but prefer not to be mentioned by name.

New Anti Spam Algorithms

From all the evidence I can only conclude that facebook have changed their Spam Algorithms. These are automated programs that detect suspicious activity on facebook and disables  those who abuse its members. Spam has been a major problem for  the last few months since the influx of the internet marketing crowd, so I suspect that  Facebook are finally  listening to the many complaints  and have started cracking down.

A Heavy Handed Approach

While I support this in principle I feel concerned that they are being  a bit heavy handed and innocent people are suffering and having their businesses and reputations damaged as a result. What makes it worse is that there is no real way to talk to facebook and explain the situation except to write grovelling emails and hope that some anonymous facebook admin feels pity and approves you for reinstatement.

I know of at least 2 people who got banned for posting on a friends wall  and were then reported by that person as spammers.

Share Your Story

Blatant self promotion, signature tags, event and  group invitations  might now be considered capital offences. As more people fall foul of the new rules we can build up a clearer picture of  exactly what you can and can’t do. If you have had your account disabled or received a warning recently please leave a  comment  and tell us exactly what happened.

Don’t Get Banned – A Quick List of the Do’s and Don’ts

Here is my quick list that gives you the main offences that facebook have penalised in the past. For a more detailed explanation you can download my free facebook made easy guide.

Don’t Grow Too Quickly

Restrict How Many Friends You Add Per Day

Don’t Look Like A Spammer

Don’t Join Too Many Groups – Keep it under 200

Never Cut And Paste

Avoid  Aggressive  Marketing

Don’t Spam Facebook Groups

Don’t Create Multiple Accounts

You Have To Be A Real Person

Don’t Invite Too Many People at once To Your Facebook Groups

Don’t Message the Same Group More than Twice In One Day

Don’t Post Offensive Material – Be A Responsible Facebook Citizen

I think we need to add a few more to this list

Don’t write on too many friends walls in any one day (?? )

Don’t invite too many people to someone else’s event

If you have 5000 friends, don’t message anyone who is not your friend (???)

Don’t send affiliate  links in  private messages to people you don’t know

Take Out Insurance

There are a few steps you can take if you want to take out some insurance to protect yourself should the worst happen

Back Up Your List Of Friends

Keep a back up of your friends list in a spreadsheet.  For details on how to do this read this thread in my facebook made easy group where Alberto Escobar and Tony Williams show two different ways to do it.

Own Your Own List

Get all your friends into a group or host an event and then get the members to subscribe to your email list. Having your contacts on an auto responder makes it easy should you ever need to find people again. I use Aweber who are excellent. the other popular service is Get Response, both are paid services and they give you a  free 30 day test drive.

Get your friends to follow you on Twitter, then if Facebook choose to pull the plug you still have a way to communicate.

Share Responsibility

If you have a Facebook Group, Always get a friend to be a joint Admin, That way if you get your account shut down the group will still continue and your friend can then message all the members asking them to re-friend you when you return. You can also spread the risk when inviting friends to join your group and promoting group events.

Join A Private Membership Site

Consider joining a private membership site. I am a member of, Brian Campbell’s  Social Media Marketing  System and Travis Greenlee’s Master Business Builders Club. Travis’s is launching his new site right now and I know a few of my friends have signed up. I believe that in the future more people will want to have the freedom and protection  that a private site brings and we will  be drawn to those that provide the best value and  whave the highest quality of members. Of course you can also start your own free community at a place like Ning, there are good reasons to  belong to both free and paid membership sites and I will discuss this in a later post.

Facebook Notes – A New Strategy To Get Viral Visibility

Many of you have probably observed the increase in the number of Facebook Notes that are floating around these days. This has happened since the introduction of the new look Facebook. More people are becoming aware of the potential to gain massive viral exposure by writing notes and participating in discussions . They have also been responsible for bringing many people much closer together and creating a real sense of community

Build Solid Relationships

These are much more than just social events, or blog posts to get traffic or publicity, most people who are taking part are actively using Facebook for business and by exposing themselves with such honesty and transparency they are building real connections and solid relationships with all the other participants.

What is most interesting is the depth that some of the discussions are reaching and when posed with a stimulating question or issue to address the original post acts as a springboard to dive into and explore each topic.

Increase The Value Of Each Note

The value of the Note increases as more people add their own personal insights.The way Facebook have structured the system it forces the most popular notes to the top of your newsfeed so there is a huge potential to get massive exposure for yourself or your business if you understand some of the basic principles behind writing a good note and spotting the ones that are going to become popular.

1 – Choose A Controversial Topic And Get Personal

Sometimes this is the hardest thing to get right,  follow other notes and see if there is a theme emerging that you can write about. If you are stuck for ideas pick something that is happening in the world and reflect on its impact or the lessons that can be learned or find a quote or article from your favourite author and add your own personal understanding. Getting personal is the key to successful Facebook notes. All the best ones I have read have revealed something interesting about the author, this creates a real bonding and sense of intimacy.

2 – Write A Short Punchy Article That Ends With A Question

This will stimulate people to respond. If your note becomes too long and convoluted you will lose your readers. Consider breaking a long note into a series of shorter ones. Most people don’t have the time to read a 3000 word essay. The Blog Squad talk about the 4 E’s – Engage, Entertain, Educate and Enrich. Make sure your note ticks these 4 boxes.

3 – Keep To The Point, Make It Short And Sweet

Don’t ramble and discuss 2 or 3 different subjects in one note, this will confuse people. Keep it short and sweet. Respect your readers time, edit your note down and only include what is absolutely essential to get your point across. You can always add more later in the comments section

4 – Make Your Note Attractive

this means have good formatting, use subheads and break your note into manageable chunks. Pictures make the note more visually appealing and can give your note a stickiness factor.

5 – Tag People Who Want To Participate

Its no use tagging all your friends who are too shy to write something or are too busy to even read the note. Tag the people who you know like to participate and are regular commentators. Some people also like to tag those people who have big networks or who are centres of influence. This works well as long as what you write is appropriate and as long as you feel you have permission to do this . Not everyone wants you to use their wall and their newsfeed to spread your message so be respectful and consider asking permission first.

6 – Release Your Note At The Optimum Time

I have noticed that for my network, Facebook activity drops over the weekend, and is highest during the weekdays.  Its up to you to know your own network and when the peaks of activity are as it may vary considerably. Get the timing wrong and your note will get pushed down the newsfeed and no one will notice it.

7 – Comment On Your Own Note and Participate

Always get into the habit of commenting on your own notes and refer back to what other people have written. Become a regular participant in other peoples notes. Build a reputation as someone who adds value and always has something interesting to say, if you do this then other people will start to tag you in their notes. Which will increase your viral visibility.

8 – Press The Share Button

Sharing is a way to vote up the best quality discussions and expose them to the widest possible audience. The note will be posted to your profile page and will also be pushed out into all your friends newsfeeds. Pressing the share button because you feel obliged to reciprocate isn’t a good strategy. You will not build a reputation as someone to follow and pay attention to if you spread poor quality articles and information. Press it because it has added some value and you think your friends will appreciate it.

9 – Use Feedback and Build on Success

You know when you have written a good note by how many comments you receive and how many people press the share button. This is important feedback and it’s a valuable exercise to look at your notes and work out what elements made one note more popular than another. This way you can build on your success and continually strive to improve. My article “If Your Headline Sucks No One Will Listen“ was a good example of this process. If you write a note and no one comments go over this checklist and see what areas you could improve upon.

10 – End With A Call To Action

Invite your readers to your Blog or Website, To follow you on Twitter or to check out your latest book. Ask them in a casual conversational manner in the same style as the rest of your note. Suddenly switching to a hard sell might create a disconnect and you might come across as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This is also the case if you have too many outbound links to your own products and services. By all means include them but keep them to a minimum and be subtle about how you present them. If you comment on a note and just promote yourself without really taking part in the discussion you will might get viral visibility but it will be for the wrong reasons.

I  go into much more depth about Facebook notes in my book, The Facebook Strategies Guide available from http://www.thefacebookguide.com

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