Archives For The Social Web

Tips and conversation about the evolving landscape of the social web, and how you can create a social strategy that will help you achieve your goals.

Social Reader by TrOVE and Washington Post

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I was hanging over with some friends at the CreativeBlogger Facebook page when I noticed a notification about the latest feature to roll out on Facebook.

It’s called Social Reader … it’s all about sharing what article you’re reading online. This app was rolled out by The Washington Post and TrOVE, which will use Facebook’s social graph to help people share what they’re reading automagically.

Just like Spotify … only for articles, not music.

What this means for artists is incredibly important. Just as Spotify has blown up the music world with their new model, Social Reader will help blow up the publishing and marketing world, because people will be automagically sharing content their reading from the Washington Post.

I’m sure it’ll roll out to you shortly if you don’t have it yet. If you already have it, what do you think so far.

Stay tuned for more!

In Facebook, The Social Web, Trending
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How to create your own Google+ Page

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Google+ is rolling out a new feature over the next couple of days … the long awaited Google+ Page.

This feature goes head to head with the Facebook highly successful Pages product, which has helped attract businesses, brands, and artists to the platform with the intention of building a social following and connecting with people. The feature rolled out to me earlier today, so i’ve gone ahead and explored it a bit and wanted to share a few things with you.

Getting stared with Google+ Pages

If you’re looking for a quick glimpse of a sample page, take a look at +CreativeBlogger.

A few things I really like

  • Image size is 200×200 across the platform, which provides a uniform for all pages.
  • Page name is front and center with large, bold characters.
  • Descriptions is just below the name, making it easy to discover what the page is about.
  • Super-clean aesthetic matching the resto f Google’s design overhaul.
  • 5 scrapbook images enable page owner to get creative.
  • The add to circles button is highlighted with the red box in the upper right.
  • +1 button is just under the image
  • Share this page is highlighted with a green box
  • The stream of posts is clean, uniform and +1 enabled.
  • Hangouts!
This is one of the few services I simply have no complaints about — at least for now. The team over at Google+ has done an amazing job with everything. A little hiccup with the pages feature early on is nothing to fret about, as they’ve clearly followed up on their promise to expedite this feature.

How to create your own Google+ Page

If you have a company, blog, or brand you’d like to get on Google+, consider creating a Google+ Page.

1. To get started, click the Create a Page link.

2. Next, select which category you’d like your page to fall under. Hint, blogs are under “Arts, Entertainment, or Sports.” Once you make a selection, the box on the right will ask you for the basic information of your page, including name and web address.

3. Add a 200×200 image for your Page.
4. Explore your page and populate the areas you see fit, including posts, photos, and videos.

That’s it!

Once you’ve created your page, you can connect it with your website using the second option in the screenshot above — Google+ is working on creating a custom badge, but for now you can still use the basic buttons. I was surprised the buttons were a solid shade of red, as I was expecting a combination of the four Google colors.

At this point, you’re ready to reach out and start building your following on Google+ … good luck!

What do you think about Google+ Pages?

Share your thoughts and initial impressions with the service here. If you still haven’t seen the feature roll out to you, hang in there — it’s coming within the next couple of days.

In Build Your Following, Google+
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F8 Conference and a Glance at Facebook Timeline

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Yesterday morning, during the annual F8 developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg and his team announced a few major changes coming to Facebook and its users over the next few weeks.

In case you didn’t catch the live feed, check out the post over at the Facebook blog for more details.

Two major features to watch for:

  • The Timeline (the new profile)
  • The Social Graph

Both features are revolutionary in their approach and possibilities for users. Facebook developers are helping “polish the edged” as Mark put it, and I can tell you, both features are awesome!

Here’s a quick glance at my profile as it stands … Continue Reading…

In Facebook
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Facebook Lists or Google+ Circles … Where Are Your Peeps?

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Facebook Lists Feature

Admittedly, I haven’t really spent that much time on Facebook this past week, but that doesn’t change the fact that Facebook recently launched a new featured called “Lists,” which is designed to include some of the functionality users of Google+ are enjoying. If you’re not familiar with Google+, think of it as a hybrid between Twitter and Facebook … a place to connect with friends and strangers.

This level of connectivity gives people the option to expand their reach beyond their friends to people they’re interested in following, including influential thought leaders, celebs, and soon to come, brands.

The Lists feature is designed to go head-to-head with the Circles feature from Google+, which is what they call your various followings. For example, I have a friends circle and an artists circle. Creating different circles enables you to filter your stream of updates to specific groups of people and interests as a reader, whereas it also enables you to create updates for circle circles. This is convenient for those interested in sharing something with their friends but not their professional contacts.

Lists introduces the same feature for Facebook users. Continue Reading…

In Facebook
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Let’s connect on Google+

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google+

Google+ is the fastest growing social network of all time … and it hasn’t even launched yet. The social network is still an invite only service, so if you’re interested in joining, you need to receive an invite from someone on the inside.

I’d like to invite you!

I have 150 invites to pass out, so if you’re interested in joining G+ … you can get your invite right here through CreativeBlogger.

  1. Use the form below to subscribe to the CreativeBlogger email list.
  2. Confirm your subscription (click the confirmation link in the first email you receive).
  3. Once confirmed, I’ll send you the invite!

In Google+
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Facebook Page Upgrade – Coming March Whether You Like It Or Not

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If one thing about the social web is certain, it’s that Facebook is constantly evolving. I just saw this Facebook Page Upgrade notification on one of my pages today, so I decided to take a tour … here’s what I found.

Though there are some aspects of the change I don’t think help bloggers, there are others that will.

Take a look for yourself – note, this update will launch site-wide as of March 2011. Continue Reading…

In Build Your Following, Facebook
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Create Incentives That Grow Your Social Following

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followingProviding visitors an incentive to subscribe to your blog is no new practice – many bloggers offer something free upfront in exchange for a subscription, such as an ebook or report. So, what’s stopping you from doing the same to grow your social following?

Exclusive Content for Your Social Following

The key is to diversify your social activity – don’t re-post the same thing to Twitter and Facebook … that makes it pointless to follow you on both platforms. Instead, consider creating exclusive content for each platform, then offering it only to the following of that platform.

You can see an example of this at CreativeBlogger, where I’ve published a post called Using Facebook Groups to Build Targeted Email Lists. Continue Reading…

In Build Your Following, Facebook
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Protected: Using Facebook Groups to Build Targeted Email Lists (Exclusive)

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In Build Your Following, Facebook
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10 Ways to Build Your Following on Twitter

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Build Your Following on Twitter

It’s not a secret anymore. Building your following on Twitter is one of the most powerful things one can do when setting out to build interest around a brand, a product, or even themself.

Artists hold no exception.

This list is very much aimed toward the beginning blogger — if you find it adds nothing to your knowledge, consider posting a few of your own tips in the comments section.

1. Engage with the Twitter Community

This is probably one of the most common reason why businesses have given up on Twitter. Though they can understand that the social web is where they need to be in order to expand their reach and find new customers, build their brand, and even increase sales or recognition, they fail in understanding that the social web is not a place … rather, a community. Approach Twitter as a community — a place full of people — instead of a bulletin board and you’ll find more success in your Twitter activity. Continue Reading…

In Twitter
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