10-Days of Better Business Blogging [Day 6: Leverage Facebook Notes]

So you’ve got a blog, you are regular and have consistency, you also have an authentic voice and a passion for what you are blogging about-great! So let’s talk about syndication and leveraging Facebook now.

You may be aware that you can feed one (1) RSS feed into the notes of your personal Facebook profile. While I encourage this for greater brand equity, Facebook notes are NOT a substitution for a personal blog, rather, they should be a part of the mix. If you are not on Facebook, you might want to consider the 500 million+ reasons to join, but that is a conversation for another post.

While recording an episode of the All Things Marketing Show with Debba Haupert, Girlfriendology, and show creator, Monica McGee (the “All Things Blogging” segment to be released next week online, and aired in Dayton in the upcoming weeks) the first question out of the gate was:

So, what is a blog? and Is “Facebooking” to be considered blogging? And, do you need both?

Interesting dialogue ensued. My vote on Facebook and blogging – two thumbs up. However, while I believe it is a form of micro-blogging and the notes feature can be a powerful form of giving value to your community, remember that your brand’s equity should live on your turf. Yes, leverage Facebook notes, but in a strategic way.

Here’s a quick peak at how simple it is to create a post in Facebook:
1. Click “Notes” in the applications menu on the left side of the Home Page. You may have to click “More” to expand the applications menu if you do not immediately see “Notes” listed. Alternatively, type “Notes” into the search box at the top of the page and follow the link that appears.
2. Then add a keyword rich, and interesting title
3. Add a photo – people love the visual (be sure to add a caption to your photo)
4. Type your note, and bold, italicize, etc. (Here is a cheat sheet for HTML)
5. Tag relevant people
6. Preview and post!
Here is a finished product:

Be strategic.

While creating posts or notes in Facebook is a great way to get instant visibility to your message, you don’t own the data. Let me say it again, YOU don’t own the data. Sure you can back it up, which I recommend, but the data footprint belongs to Facebook. Where will people go if you loose access to your account, or it gets shut down inadvertently or because of a breach of terms of service?

Here’s where I believe a little strategy is important. A strategy for simplifying the process is to:
1. Import your blog’s RSS so that it posts in Facebook as a note!
  Rationale: You are creating the data on your server and feeding it into Facebook. This is a much safer way and seamlessly creates content within your Facebook community.
  Go here to learn how==>>How to import your blog into notes
2. Be sure to create links back to your primary site or to a page on your site. Here’s why: the “read original post” link in Facebook notes is so small, folks might miss it. You want to create traffic to YOUR site, which is where you do business. So, you’ll need a consistent strategy for driving direct inbound traffic to your site.
So, have you imported your blog’s feed yet? What are the results? Please share them with us in the comments section below.

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March 21st, 2011 | tiffanyo | No Comments |