Do You Have A Backup Admin For Your Facebook Page?
Do you admin a Facebook page for your business? If so, do you have anyone else set as an admin?
While you may want to maintain control of your page, there is an important reason to make at least one other person (someone you trust) an admin.
If you should become seriously ill, or should die, no one else will be able to access you page. No one can update it, change it, or if needed, delete it.
While this is not something pleasant to think about we do need to make plans for situations like these. As a small business owner we need to learn that letting other people be involved can be a very good thing. To ensure someone has access to your Facebook page, you need to either give someone else your Facebook login (so they can log in as you), or give someone else admin privileges.
Pick a trusted friend or family member, and preferably someone who does NOT live with you. I chose a friend and client for mine, and will likely add my son when he becomes an adult and we live in different locations.
As a final step, set up a plan for what the other admin(s) should do in the case of your serious illness or death. Will they delete the page, or maintain it? If your business is to be taken over or sold to someone else, do the admins turn over control of the page to them? What, if anything, do you want them to post? None of this is pleasant to think about, but better to do it when everything is good than when faced with a crisis.
So, who else is an admin for your Facebook page?
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Tags: Facebook, Social Media
New Post On Quips And Tips Blog
If your business is mobile, you are probably on a plane fairly frequently. Isn’t it fun going through security and trying to get everything you need on board?
No, it isn’t! To help make it easier, I’ve got a new post on the Quips and Tips For Achieving Your Goals blog that shares some ideas on packing light for plane trips. What can you leave behind? How do you pack efficiently to make it all fit? Check out Packing a Carry On Bag For Air Travel? 8 Easy Ways To Pack Light.
Don’t miss the tips in the comments as well – and feel free to leave your own!
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Tags: mobile business, travel
How To Add Photos To Facebook Pages From an iPhone
I’ve already covered how you can add photos to a Facebook Page you like from your computer. In this post I want show you how to add photos to Facebook Pages from your iPhone app. This is a great option to consider when you want to post photos of an event while the event is going on.
Click here to download a pdf of this tutorial.
Open the app on your phone.
To get to the page you want, select the icon in the upper left.
Then select the Friends icon in the upper right.
When your list of friends comes up, go to the bottom middle and select Pages.
This will pull up an alphabetical list of the Pages you like. Scroll down to find the one you want, and select it.
* Edited 7-21-2011 – the Facebook app has changed – here are the updated instructions – When the Page comes up, look at the top, above the logo and name of page. There are two boxes – Share Photo and Write Post. Select the Share Photo button.
You then have three options – take photo; choose from library; cancel. Pick the one you want.
If you click take photo, the iPhone’s camera comes up, and you take the picture as you normally would. After taking picture, you can choose whether you want to use it, retake, or cancel the entire thing. Select the one you want.
If you click to add from library, your phone’s library opens up and you can select a photo.
Once you have the photo you want, whether from the library or the picture you just took, you can write a caption, and tag people and businesses. Then select upload.
You’ve now shared a picture with the Facebook page!
Caution – I’ve had trouble with the app not adding the photo to the page at times. If this doesn’t work, try again. If it still doesn’t work, you may have to wait a day or two and see of it works then. I do have one of the older iPhones, so it may be an issue with my phone and not the app itself. If you have problems, please post a comment and I’ll try to find you the answer.
Anyone with a BlackBerry or Android phone know if the instructions are similar for the Facebook app for those phones?
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Tags: Facebook, How To, Social Media
How To Add Content And Connect With Facebook Pages
A great way to connect with Facebook pages you “like” is to add content, especially content that relates to the business and their events. Last May, I posted this article on fans adding photos to Facebook business pages. Since then, many things have changed on Facebook, so here are updated instructions for adding content to Facebook pages you “like”.
Click here to download a pdf of this tutorial.
Log into Facebook.
Go to the page you want to post content on. If you know the url, enter that. If not, you can search for it, or look on your Info page under “Activities and Interests”. You must have clicked the “like” button on that page in order to be able to add content.
Once you are on the page, look at the top under the photos where it says Share. Click on the one you want to add. Post is the default, so if you want to add a message, just type it in. To add a photo, link or video, click on the link for that one.
Adding content to pages you like. Go to the page's wall and look for the box at the top. Pick the link for the content you want to add.
If you want to add a photo, click on Photo. You then get 3 options:
You can add a photo from your computer or webcam.
Click on the one you want. Most people will want to add from their hard drive. If you click on that, then click on Choose File, and select the image you want.
Find the photo you want to add, upload it and share it on the page. Great way to connect with businesses you like.
After it uploads, type in a comment about the photo , then click the Share button. The photo will be added to the page’s wall.
The steps for adding a video are similar.
Permission to let people add content is determined by the page’s admins, so if this doesn’t work permission to add content may not have been given.
So, go and add content to pages you “like” and connect with those businesses. Any questions? Let me know in the comments.
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Tags: Facebook, Social Media
Personal Account Information Database
It was a rather bad week. Nothing fatal, thankfully, but enough bothersome things that I was ready to hide. Once event that really got my attention – my internet went down late one afternoon. When I realized the problem was not something I could resolve, I had to call the company.
Since I use online billing , I don’t have a hard copy of the contact information or my account number. And without internet access I could not go to the company’s web site to get the phone number to call. Good thing I had a copy of the yellow pages on hand, and that they could look me up by my address.
I realized I need a master list with all my personal account information. And I need it to be accessible from multiple locations and in multiple forms. A password protected database saved on my hard drive and in the cloud will be the digital versions; a hard copy will be printed and stored in my fire-proof safe.
That way, if I have no internet I can access the copy on my hard drive. If I have no electricity (or a dead computer battery), I can reference the hard copy. If I am out of town, I can get to it on my hard drive – or use a computer at a local library to go to my online digital copy.
And since many of you may need the same, I’ve put it on Google Docs. Click here to download your own copy and enter your information. I’d also recommend password protecting any digital copies you save.
One final reminder – if any of your account information changes, if you add or remove accounts, be sure to update the list. At the least, I’d recommend a twice-a-year check to ensure all information is current.
Hopefully that covers all scenarios. Anything I forgot?
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Tags: backup copies, database, Internet
Fans Adding Photos To Fan Pages
Facebook fan pages are a great way for businesses and fans (currently called “likers”) to connect and interact. And a great way to do this is to add fan photos, especially ones related to the business and its events.
Adding fan photos is quick and easy to do, but isn’t explained very well. So, here’s a tutorial to get you started!
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Log into Facebook, and go to the fan page you want to post photos on.
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At the top of the wall is the box where you can post a message. At the bottom it says “Attach:” and has icons to click on for links and photos.
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Click the photo link, and select “Upload a Photo”.
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Select the image(s) you want from your computer.
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Add in any message you want to put with it.
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Click “Share” and the photo is posted to the pages Wall, and will also go to the Fan Photos section. It may take it a minute to appear in the Fan Photos, but it will.
One important reminder to fan page admins – you have to give permission for fans to be able to post their photos. To do this, go to wall page, and click “Edit Page” link under the logo in the upper left corner. Under “Wall Settings” go to “Fan Permissions” and check “Fans can write or post content to the wall”, then check the boxes underneath for photos, videos, and links. I have heard that ALL boxes have to be checked for any one of the to work, but I cannot confirm this. You can try checking just the ones you want and see if it works.
Does this work for everyone? If not, let me know and I’ll try to find a solution.
Now, go post some photos!!
Edit – As with all things Facebook, this process has changed. For current instructions, go to this post for adding content from a computer, and this one for adding from an iPhone.
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Tags: Facebook, Marketing, Social Media
Vacation Planning For A Small Biz Owner
This week something unusual is happening – I am going on vacation. Not a vacation where I do some work, as I’ve done in the past, but a real unplug-and-take-time-for-me vacation! Needless to say I’m quite excited, and ready to get away for a few days. However, as a small business owner with no employees, I have several things I have to work out before I leave. Otherwise, I will find myself making a few phone calls and checking email off and on just to make sure I haven’t missed anything. And that defeats the point of a break.
So here’s a list of what I’ve done to prepare. Anything I have missed? I’ll do a follow-up post when I’m back, but I’d love to have other suggestions before I go.
- I’ve taken care of things around my home – put a hold on my mail, found someone to feed my cat, eating out of my refrigerator and pantry to use up what I have. While this doesn’t specifically apply to preparing my business, it is good to know that these things are taken care of.
- I’ve also made sure all bills due, both personal and business, are paid before I leave. All client invoices will be sent out. Money received will either be in my Paypal account or held with my mail. Fortunately, my business bank account is in good shape, so I’m not desperate to get the money before I return.
- I notified my clients a couple of weeks ago of when I would be unavailable, and suggested they get any work to me before I left, or have it ready for me when I get back. Even though I work virtually, and have previously worked when I was out of town, this is meant to be a real break from my business. By letting them know ahead of time, they can plan their needs, and not wonder why I’m not returning calls and emails.
- Additionally, I’ve reminded clients I maintain social media accounts for that they will need to check in every day or so to make sure there aren’t comments they need to reply to. As my business grows and clients accounts require more maintenance, I will likely hire someone to take care of this when I am away, but for now I believe this will work.
- I’m setting up an autoresponder for my email and changing the message on my phone voice mail. This will let people know I’m not ignoring their messages, and when to expect to hear back from me.
- I always set up my tweets ahead of time, and I’m doing the same for my vacation time. I am wondering though, if anyone retweets me I won’t know it for several days, and would hate for them to think I’ve ignored them. I’m going to try it this time and see what happens… (and if anyone has had a similar experience, please share what worked for you.)
Each business is different and will have unique issues to consider when taking off on vacation. Anything you think I’ve missed doing business-wise? Anyone taken a vacation from their business? Please share your experiences both good and bad.
And I’ll see you when I get back!
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Tags: Clients, vacation, work at home
How To Set Up Google Alerts
How do you keep up with what is being said about your name and your business on the internet? Of course you can manually do searches on those names, but there is a way to set it up automatically. Google Alerts are sent to you by email or feed, and on the schedule you request. Alerts can be changed, so if you are getting alerts too often – or not soon enough, you can change it.
What should you search for? For starters, you name and any variations you use, and your business name. Got an industry, or niche area you are in – or wanting to be in? Set up an Alert for that as well. I suggest starting small – with what you have to keep up with – and add more once you see how many you are getting everyday.
Setting up Google Alerts is easy. When you are logged in to Google, along the top left of the page are your various options – Gmail, Calendar, etc. Click on More, then at the bottom, click on Even More.
This pulls up a new page, and at the top on the left is Alerts. Click on that.
Up comes the page where you can create your Google Alerts. Put your search terms within quotation marks to help limit the number of results you get. Options for Type include News, Blogs, Web, Comprehensive, Video and Groups. How often options are as-it-happens (which I would recommend for your name and business name, to keep up with any mentions about them as quickly as possible), once a day, and once a week. The length of the email can be up to 20 results, or up to 50 results. Remember you can go in and change or delete the alerts anytime, so if you don’t like the frequency or are getting to many, you can change it. When finished, click Create Alert.
You are set! Check you inbox for the alerts and keep an eye on what is being said about you, your business, or any other topic of interest to you.
Anyone got other ideas on what to set alerts for?
NOTE – the information in this post has been updated. Click here to download a copy – and feel free to share!
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Tags: Biz Resources, Google
It’s Tax Time – Are You Ready?
Yes, it’s tax time in the US. Not my favorite time of year, but a very necessary one. Ice and snow are forecast for today, so I think it will be a good day to get warm and start getting my information together to take to my accountant.
If you have your own business, you really should have an accountant. I met with mine when I first starting thinking about my business. He gave me a couple of tips to get started the right way, and told me when he needed to see me again. It was a good feeling to know that I had things in order to start with.
If you don’t have an accountant, how do you go about finding a good one? Well, I asked a friend and client who has a small business, and her referral was a great one. So I would suggest talking to other business owners, especially if their business is similar to yours, to get their feedback.
Need more helpful suggestions? Take a look at this blog post on the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. Mike Michalowicz collected tips from 62 business owners to help you in your search, and he included my tip at #23.
Have any other ideas on finding a good accountant? Leave a reply here or over at the TPE. And good luck getting all the paperwork together!
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This Week’s Articles of Interest
It’s a new week – and another chance to make great things happen in your life and your business. Here’s a list of articles I found that seemed especially helpful to me, and I hope they help you as well.
I’ve used Google as my search engine of choice for years now, but I am still learning to make the results better. Here are some great tips to use when searching Google from the Work At Home Life blog.
Are you using Google Analytics? If not, this video is a great place to start to get the basics. If you are, watch anyway and see if you can learn some helpful hints.
I’ve heard it from several clients – “I know I should be using Twitter, but I don’t want to talk about what I had for lunch and I don’t have the time for it”. While Twitter is not right for every small business, this article from Small Business Trends of 80 ways for small businesses to use Twitter should provide at least a handful of ways you can use (or improve your use of) Twitter. If nothing else, you should be tracking what others are saying about you, your business and your industry.
Google Wave – have you tried it yet? I’m on there, but haven’t really been able to find much to do on it, but this article gives a great list of 20 ways to use the Wave. How many of these would be helpful in your business…or personal life.
If you found any interesting/useful articles this past week, please share in the comments. And go make it a great day!
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