Archives for July 2011

How To Use Facebook Video Calling: The New Facebook Skype Partnership

July 29, 2011 by Louisa Chan 1 Comment

New Facebook Features – Facebook Video Chat

Facebook introduced another new feature as it team up with Skype. It now allows you to have video chats within Facebook with any of your Facebook friends without having to log onto another VOIP application.
I tested it briefly and while there is a little lag, I could hear the conversation clearly and I could also re size the window of the video chat.
This is a great feature for small businesses as it allows you to reach your clients and potential partners easily for a quick connect without having the both of you log onto a third party VOIP application outside of Facebook.
And your friend does not even need to have a Skype account. Now that is a big win since everyone you know seems to be on Facebook these days (apart from the 750 million people on planet earth)!
This is a free application so there is no hefty tele communication charges involved while improving work flow with your business partners and contacts.
This feature is very simple to use and lacking in features since it is still in its infancy. I believe there will be improvement soon and in the mean time, here are my findings:

This is a PC to PC call, I do not see an option to use it on my iphone – yet. I am suspecting that will be in the near future.

This is a one-to-one video call – there is no option to add more than one friend to the video call and therefore group calling is not yet possible

I could however place a video message if the friend I want to call is currently not available for a video chat

I could call anyone on my Facebook friend list (but not to anyone outside of this list) and they can either respond to the call or have a video message from me.

I do not see an option to control privacy or filter calls from certain Facebook friends.

So how do you initiate or activate your Facebook Video call? Here’s a 3-minute video that shows you just how you can do that.

New Facebook Feature – Facebook Video Call/Chat

Look for the video icon on your friend’s profile page or on his/her chat box. Clicking on that will initiate a video call. He or she will be prompted to download a small plug in to set this up for all future calls.
If you do not see the icons, you can go to www.Facebook.com/videocalling and get started there. It is pretty straightforward, you can just follow the instructions there.
If you find this post helpful, remember to leave me a comment and click the “Like” and “+1” button at the top of this post so others too can enjoy this post. Thanks!
You can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

How The New Facebook Comment Gives You More Coverage

July 28, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

What is new with the Facebook Comments?

Facebook recently introduced preview links in its comment section. These preview links are not new to Facebook; they have been around in status updates. Most people are familiar with using links to lead to blog posts or YouTube videos. Links in the comment section remained as text links until very recently.
Today as I leave a link to my YouTube video and press “enter”, I see a thumbnail image of the video player with a title and description of the video. And I can also play the YouTube video right from the comment section.
While this is not a big change, it is a very convenient and effective way of leaving comments.

Why is it so? Why is this new feature important to you?

1 – It is a cleaner and more effective way of leaving comments and feedback especially when you are explaining something that requires more details or a visual walk-through.
2 – Being able to play a video in the comment section saves your readers from leaving the Facebook environment and they can still read the rest of the comments that relates to the status update.
3 – These preview links with thumbnail images for your blog posts and videos are graphic. And visuals are eye-catching. They draw attention to your comment and they stand out from other comments.
All these give your link extra exposure. And if you are using your page to leave valuable comments on others status updates, this can be a lead generator bringing others to your Facebook Page or Blog Website.

How do you do implement this change?

Simple, just leave your links as you did before and your YouTube will play at the comment section itself. Other links will be given a thumbnail image, a title and a description. You don’t need to do anything differently!
Just a note though for your YouTube Videos, you will not be able to change the description and title as you would be able to if you were to post at the status bar. This is because the image, title and description are only displayed after you clicked and submitted your link.
These are 3 good reasons why you will want to use links in your Facebook comments. I believe these will bring you more eye-balls and may even generate you more traffic.
If you want to watch my 3-minute video which explains this new Facebook feature you can visit “New Facebook Feature – Facebook Comments with Preview” or get my Free Report on “5 Steps to Mastering Social Media in 1 Hour A Week“.

On Page Optimization Alone Does Not Guarantee Search Engine Ranking Nor Traffic

July 7, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

Businesses and individuals are beginning to set up Facebook Fan Pages and Google Place Listing after reading about their effectiveness in generating free and new traffic.
I am glad to see many taking action to make use of new and digital media for free and viral traffic. However there are 2 things that I like to highlight:
You need to know how to set it up correctly. Any high school kid will be able to set up a Facebook Page or a Google Listing; it is no rocket science. However, not everyone will know how to set it up correctly so that it is search engine friendly.
And even less will have a strategy for how businesses can make use of the newly set up pages and how those tie in with the total marketing strategy.
Setting up the page remains the easiest part of the equation. Using the correct strategy for your business niche and market will require some expertise and that is where you can tap into your marketing agent’s expertise.

Dynamic Nature of Organic Search Requires On-Going Optimization.

Google Place Listing With Synergy Marketing Pro

Another point to note is that ranking and positioning is dynamic in the organic search engine world. Having your business listing on page 1 today does not guarantee that you can retain that position if you do not continue to optimize your page – especially when your competitors are doing so.
Nothing stays constant in a dynamic world. So while having a presence is getting into the game, it is only the first step. To consistently showing up on searches will take on-going effort. With a little help from your marketing agent you will be able to achieve that and tap into free Google and Facebook traffic.
Feel free to pass this on to your friends and remember to leave me a comment or two. You can also get my Free report on how to Master Social Media in 5 Easy Steps Using 1 Hour A Week here.

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