Epiphany Marketing's Strategic Marketing Blog

Convert Your Facebook "Profile" into a "Page for Your Business

Almost every time I speak to an audience of business owners, there’s at least one in the crowd. Someone (or their nephew) created a Facebook “profile” for their business instead of a business “page.”

What’s the difference?

A Facebook “Profile” (soon to be called a “timeline”) has a first and last name, and can send and receive “Friend” requests.

A Facebook “Page” (formerly called a “fan page”) has a business (or organization) name, and other Facebook users can “Like” it.

We’ve all seen it… you log into Facebook and you have a friend request from someone whose first name is “Bob’s” and whose last name is “AutoRepair.” Maybe you did it… you have a personal Facebook account and you’re trying to use it for business purposes.

Well… if that’s you, I’ve got some good news for you. You can migrate your Facebook “profile” into a business “page” and successfully maintain all those relationships you’ve built. We’ll talk about how in a sec… but first…

Why Should I Migrate My Facebook “Profile” into a “Page?”

First, you should only do this if you have a Facebook “profile” (see above) that is really & truly for a business or organization (or public figure — more on that later) rather than for an individual.

But you should do it if that’s the case… and you should do it immediately! Why? Because Facebook will delete the account without warning. It is a violation of the Facebook Terms. And Facebook isn’t obligated to give you any advance notice… when they discover the account (and they will) or it gets reported (think competitors here), it’s all over. All those relationships you built… all the hours you spent sending and responding to friend requests… all the time you’ve spent adding links, posting photos, sharing content, writing notes, commenting on others’ posts, etc… all gone.

To my knowledge, no one has ever successfully appealed the deletion of a Facebook account. You simply get to start over… from scratch.

Now… just because you’ve gotten away with it for a while doesn’t mean anything. Most of the business owners I run into stumbled into this situation quite by accident or without knowledge. And so you may not have realized you were violating the terms (you did read those, right?). And so many businesses got away with this for so long that they felt no need to do anything about it when they discovered the problem. But Facebook has been improving their detection tools, and their ability to discover fraudulent “profiles” has improved dramatically.

Here’s the Good News

Previously, your only option was to create a Facebook “page” for your business, and then invite the “friends” of your “profile” to “become a fan” or “like” the new page. This was time-consuming, tedious, and not always very successful. Some people would “like” the new page right away… others would be confused… it was bad.

Now, however, Facebook has a migration tool to convert your “profile” into a “page.” This is great news for any businesses who want to keep all the relationships they’ve built. But there are some potential “gotchas” along the way (in other words… read everything here before you proceed!!) First, here’s how it works:

1. You follow the link to the migration tool, which works almost identically to the “Create a Page” function. This means you need to choose what type of page you’re creating, complete all the necessary details, etc.
2. Facebook migrates your “profile photo” and all your “friends” to the new page. The “friends” become people who have “liked” your new page.
3. Your “profile” and all its other content (past posts, messages, admin privileges for other pages and groups, etc.) gets deleted permanently.
4. You continue to login to Facebook with the same email address and password.

Important Steps to Take Before You Migrate

Obviously, you’ll want to proceed with caution. While it’s great news that you get to keep those “friends” (as “likes”), you don’t want to accidentally lock yourself out of other pages or otherwise lose important stuff related to your Facebook account.

So… do this first:

1. Set up a new Facebook “profile” (if you don’t already have one) for yourself personally. If you already have one, make sure you can successfully log in to it!
2. Add your new/other Facebook “profile” as an admin on any Facebook “pages” or “groups” that you have either created or have admin privileges for. If you don’t do this, you will permanently lose access to these pages and/or groups!
3. Download a file from Facebook containing all the information from the “profile” you are migrating to a “page.” This way, all your old messages and any other content you’ve uploaded, shared or otherwise created on Facebook will be backed up to your computer before it gets permanently deleted from Facebook.

Once you’ve done the above, then you begin the migration process with the Facebook migration tool. Proceed with caution: Facebook has an “appeal” process for people who perform this step accidentally and then wish to reverse it. But I wouldn’t bank on that actually working.

Feel free to post your questions here (below). Additionally, Facebook has created some helpful resources about migrating your “profile” to a “page” that are worth checking out.

For Public Figures: Authors, Speakers, TV Personalities, etc.

Building a Large Following Associated with your Personal Name? Create a Public Figure Page on Facebook.

Occasionally when I speak about social media strategies for business, we have someone in the audience who has hit the 5,000 “friend” limit on Facebook. We also occasionally do consulting for authors, speakers, television personalities and others who have large followings who have had this happen or are well on their way.

If you intend to gain a large following associated with your personal name, you should consider creating a “Public Figure” Facebook page. A few important reasons why:

• This allows you to maintain a “private” personal Facebook profile with a smaller number of “friends” with whom you can share personally, interact, etc., while maintaining a distinct persona from the “public-facing” version of your social media self.
• You will not hit the 5,000 “friend” maximum. Brands on Facebook are carrying tens of millions of “likes” without being capped. This means you can keep growing your following without limitations.
• Facebook actually becomes more useful and meaningful when it isn’t cluttered with posts from people you don’t really know very well.

If you do maintain both, there’s no reason why you can’t use both to promote your new stuff… but just keep in mind some people will choose to “unfriend” or “unlike” one version or the other of you on Facebook (maybe both) if they’re seeing too much content from you. This is normal. But of course… if you’re delivering great value on Facebook, this won’t be concern!

Want to learn more? We’ve created the Ultimate Small Business Growth Kit to help equip business people like you with winning strategies for growing your business in the 21st Century. Check it out today!

According to Google:

97% of consumers search for local businesses online.

If you don’t have a solid plan for creating visibility for your business, those people looking for your products and services will find someone else instead of you.

So what can you do that doesn’t cost a fortune?

Many businesses that we work with are surprised to find out that a great many of the most effective tools you can use today to get visibility for your business are free! Some of the others are either relatively inexpensive or can be set up in a way that you’re only paying when you’re getting results.

Here’s a Great Example of Something You Can Do for Free

You have probably noticed by now that in the last year or so, Google began rolling out a change to the way local search results work. Instead of having a separate map showing up on the results page, the map listings have been merged with organic search results on many local searches.

For example, in the picture here, I’ve run a search for a car wash in the city where we’re located. Google tries to show me relevant results from organic search as always.

What’s different now is that they are also giving me the locations of some of these businesses using the map on the right and “pins” with corresponding letters in the search results. We’ll refer to these as the “merged” listings, because the results are based on 2 things:

• the natural organic position of the website corresponding to the business on the map (based on relevance to my search terms)
• the rank of the map listing for the business based upon a variety of factors (including proximity, keywords, reviews, and more)

What makes this different is that you need to pay attention to your map listing because it is now affecting the rank of your website! Google may have already placed your business on the map using information they’ve gathered from other sources. If you haven’t already done so, it’s a good idea to claim your listing so that you can correct any inaccurate information and also provide additional details to help make the listing more relevant.

Here’s what to do:

1. Find your business listing on the map by searching for it at www.google.com/maps

2. If you find it there, click on the name of your business in the list on the left side of the map view.

3. Click “Edit This Place” on the right-hand side above the map

If you don’t find your business already listed, then go here:

www.google.com/local/add

Either way, from there you’ll need to login to your Google account or create a Google account. Then you can follow the instructions to edit the information in your listing.

The steps above don’t cost you anything, take only a few minutes, and can make a big difference in your visibility.

The frustrating thing is that you don’t know what you don’t know. And where do you turn for good solid information about what you can be doing to gain visibility through:

• search engine rankings
• Facebook, Twitter & social media
• mobile geo-targeted services like Foursquare, Facebook Places and even Google Maps
• and other means?

Well… we’re here for you. In fact, that’s why we created this webinar taking place today at 1pm Eastern (replay available here). In fact, on the webinar we’ll be showing additional free options for promoting your business as well as some important strategy to increase your effectiveness! There are still a few spots left so you may still be able to get in if you register right away. Everyone who attends will be automatically entered into a drawing for $100 in free Google advertising!

This event is absolutely free. We do these from time to time because it’s a great way to introduce you to the small business marketing training programs we offer. There are no obligations and no strings attached, so register right now watch the replay so you don’t miss out on this valuable information!

Free Webinar June 30th: The Latest Tools for Attracting Local Customers

Do you sell your products & services to one or more specific local markets?

Have you convinced yourself that internet marketing doesn’t apply to your business because you serve a local audience?

Are you confused by all of the latest options available to get the word out?

Maybe you’ve wondered about:

• How Google “Places” (map listings) affect your Search Engine Rankings
• How to make Facebook work for your business
• How “Check-ins” via geo-social networks like Foursquare and Facebook Places can help you get more business
• How to deal with negative online reviews about your business

We’ve had so many business owners ask us these and other questions related to the unique challenges & opportunities available for getting more businesses in a local market, that we’ve put together a special free webinar this Thursday at 1pm Eastern replay here.

Who Should Attend?

If you own or manage one or more of these types of businesses:

• retail businesses of any kind (with brick & mortar locations)
• contractors & consumer services (plumbers, electricians, pest control etc.)
• medical practices
• even local B2B businesses

this event is for you. And best of all, we’re giving away this valuable information absolutely free!

In fact, we’ll have one of our existing clients live on the call so we can show you exactly what techniques you can use today to get results!

Space is extremely limited, so you’re going to want to RSVP early to make sure you have a spot check out the replay here.

All you need to attend is your computer (and a phone if your computer doesn’t have speakers). Reserve your spot right away! I’m looking forward to “seeing” you Thursday! 

The replay of this event will be available for a limited time. Be sure to watch it soon… we’ll be taking it down without notice. Hope you enjoy it!

Last week we talked about someone who got ripped off by an SEO provider. And while not all SEO companies are as unscrupulous as the offender we mentioned, typically SEO isn’t the first place to start when trying to improve your marketing results.

In fact… there’s a long list of places not to start:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Email
• Yellow Pages
• Direct Mail
• Groupon
• Radio/TV/Print Advertising
• Foursquare, Google Places, Facebook Places and other GeoSocial opportunities
• Google Adwords and other PPC networks
• etc.

For the record, I’m not opposed to any of the above (including SEO). Quite the contrary, we teach the members of our small business marketing training programs specifically how to use these techniques and get results from them.

But when it comes to answering the question, “Where Do I Start?” the answer is very simple:

You need a clear, written, actionable and measurable marketing strategy that is focused on the right target market.

Very rarely do any of the businesses that approach us for marketing help already have a strategy like this in place. And this is why they can be smooth-talked by the salesperson (or sales process) for the marketing outlets above or sucked into spending hours and hours of time with very little to show for it (in the case of social media).

Without a clear strategy, we may gain successes in one area or another (such as top search engine rankings or large numbers of Facebook “likes”) but we will not be as effective at accomplishing the real point: sustainable new business coming in consistently. Building a business is not unlike building a physical building: you may be an expert at carpentry, concrete, electrical or some other element… but you won’t end up with the result you want without a set of blueprints!

Get Started Building Your Written Marketing Strategy

“OK, so I need a written marketing strategy. I get it. How do I start?”

Great question. Your marketing strategy begins and ends in one place: the customer. Who is your best prospect? How much can you possibly know about them?

In our marketing training programs, we ask our clients to think about their customer base as a target. Identify who is in your target… and then narrow down to the bullseye. As narrowly as possible, identify the common traits that your very best buyers share with one another.

Depending upon the size of your business, you may need to ask for help in answering this question. Talk to your bookkeeper or accountant. Who spends the most (or most often)? We typically know which products or services sell the best… but maybe your sales team needs to help you understand who the buyers are.

Take some time this week to understand as much as possible about your best customers. This is the essential starting point for all of your marketing efforts, and the most critical element in building an effective marketing strategy for your business.

Need some help getting started? Begin with an assessment. My team and I welcome the opportunity to be of service to you.

Also… watch your inbox for an invitation to our upcoming local marketing webinar. We’ll be talking specifically about the face of local marketing in 2011. If you are primarily selling products and services to people located near your physical location(s), then this event is for you. (We’ll have other events in the near future for those businesses that sell to non-localized markets as well).

In the meantime, get started building your written marketing strategy!

Throughout 2010, my #1 recommendation to everyone who is trying to grow their business, get search engine rankings, and promote using Facebook and other social media has been:

“You need to have a business blog”

If you don’t yet have a WordPress-based blog you’re using effectively, then I’m thrilled to announce a new opportunity for you.

More importantly, you have an opportunity to support our 2011 Haiti Orphanage project at the same time! You may not realize that the January earthquake spiked the number of orphans in Haiti to nearly 500,000.

Signing Up by December 31st Supports our 2011 Haiti Orphanage Project

We’ve connected with an organization that is building a new orphanage, and I’m personally heading down there at the end of January.

We’ve committed 20% of every purchase made now through December 31st to support this new orphanage.

And at the same time, we’re offering our “Business Blogging Basics” package, which includes the training you need in order to use your new blog effectively for a special low price. It’s so low, in fact, that you might think I’m a little crazy.

But I’m trying to raise as much as possible for this orphanage project, and so we’ve got the price ridiculously low.

Check out all the details here. And remember, the price goes up on January 1st.

You can get started 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just go here to see all the details and learn about this special opportunity to grow your business and do some good at the same time!

Committed to Growing Your Business,

David G. Johnson, Founder
Epiphany Marketing LLC

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the details here.

Photo courtesy of Caring4Haiti.

You’re reading Top Marketing Trends for 2011 from Epiphany Marketing’s Strategic Marketing blog. Subscribe: Email | Facebook | RSS.

Today we’re beginning a series on the stuff you need to be paying attention to as we head into 2011.

“What?! We’re in the middle of the holiday season… Christmas is still weeks away!”

Yeah… I know. And you’re probably not quite too late to begin thinking about what your 2011 strategy looks like, but you can’t afford to wait any further.

Begin at the Very Beginning

So… speaking of strategy, you do have one of those right? You know… a written plan that will produce growth in your business. One that identifies:

• precisely the person(s) to whom you are focusing your message
• your identity (or that of your products and services), and
• the message itself

…along with specific steps you’re going to take to attract those people, get their attention, and plug them into your sales process.

If not, this is where you must start. Otherwise, you’re going to be overwhelmed by all the stuff you could be doing. Strategy is as much about knowing what not to do as it is about knowing what to do.

2010: Monumental Shifts

And speaking of what you could be doing… looking back on 2010, I can’t recall a year ever in which so much has changed in marketing.

• Google rankings mean more and less than they used to… on the one hand, more businesses have shed their offline advertising and marketing expenses and are looking to online search to help bring in new customers. But on the other hand, the online mix must now be much more robust than ever — engaging customers (present and future) in a conversation through social media outlets
• Mobile devices continue to change the rules… and are now inventing new ones. Text messaging, Twitter, mobile browsers, maps and navigation, social media apps on the go… all of these affect how your buyers receive your messages, and this year has brought some amazing changes to this space with new devices, maturing platforms (particularly Android and iOS), and high adoption rates. People spend more time “connected” on the go than even I ever dreamed… and it’s going to increase.
• Local businesses have an amazing (and dizzying) array of options to reach out to customers with geo-location services like Foursquare, Google Places, Facebook places, and Gowalla. Which ones are effective? Which ones are a waste of time? Consumers are using location-based services from mobile devices in record numbers. Are you missing out on the opportunity?

These are just a few of the major shifts we’re watching from 2010. How do they affect your business in 2011? What else should you be paying attention to? We’ll be tackling these questions and showing off some pretty nifty stuff over our next few posts.

Stay tuned!

Can You Grow Your Sales Quickly?

One of the most common questions I get asked when speaking to audiences of small business owners and salespeople who earn commissions is:

What can I do that will rapidly produce results for my business?

Now, I’ll be honest with you: I’m not usually a “quick fix” guy. I believe in strategy… and particularly, in consistently executing strategy over time to get results.

But sometimes, a business or salesperson finds itself needing new prospects or customers quickly. Yes… a well-formed, consistent strategy is great, but sometimes you need sales quickly so you can make it long enough to create and implement a longer-term strategy.

The truth is… I understand completely. I’ve created and owned multiple businesses, and sometimes you just find yourself in a tight spot.  I’ve been there.

When that happens, you know that with a bigger budget (or more time), you’d do some other things. But sometimes you just need to do something that gets results so you can create the budget (or time) to do more.

And that’s why I put together Fast Ideas to Skyrocket Your Profits & Sales Now.

Check out the details here.

This is something that’s especially designed for you, and it starts this week. To get on board in time, you’ll need to respond right away.

I’m looking forward to being in touch!

Committed to Growing Your Business,

David G. Johnson, Founder
Epiphany Marketing, LLC

Growing a small business can be a wild mix of challenges.

Your website’s contact form is — if it’s anything like mine — constantly bombarded with SPAM from SEO companies (“We noticed your website doesn’t rank very well in search engines,” or “We can get you to the top of Google.”).

Obviously, today there’s Facebook, Twitter… and now Foursquare. We’ve had e-mail for decades now, but it seems that many small businesses still haven’t figured out how to use it effectively for marketing purposes.

It can be downright overwhelming.

And if you’ve even got a small perfectionist streak (full disclosure: I’ve got a big perfectionist streak), you hesitate to step out because you’re convinced that you’re not doing it correctly.

But… I’m reminded today of the words of one of my favorite mentors, “It doesn’t have to be perfect… it just has to be!”

Get started. If you’re already moving… keep going. As Seth Godin recently pointed out, doing marketing is a powerful way to learn it.

And if you find yourself needing guidance, then get some! But by all means… get started! Today!

Ah summertime… the dog days of summer… sweating under the sun with the smell of coconut and salt water wafting by…

Wait a minute!

If you’re in business, then those may not be relaxing thoughts at all! It’s time to do something about growing your business!

Unless you’re in a tourist industry (in which case you need marketing ideas fast) or other seasonal business, summertime may be a slower time of year. Customers, clients and prospects are more inclined to be on vacation, and that can make it harder to get results with your marketing.

So how can you use the slower season to your advantage? Here are several ways you can use right away!

1. Develop Your Content Marketing Plan

I’ve said it for years. On the web, content is king. Regardless of any search engine “tricks of the trade” you (or your web designers) may have employed, none of them will have any significant long-term effect if you don’t have good quality content.

But having the right content strategy is even more valuable now than ever before.

Why?

2 words: social media.

In a time when Facebook fans are being shown to spend hundreds of dollars more per year than non-fans, it seems awfully attractive to “get some fans.”

But you won’t… not without highly focused content.

Developing a solid content marketing strategy takes time and energy… even if you’ve got someone else to implement it. More importantly, however, it can take some time to get results — particularly if you’re just getting started or if you’ve neglected this for a while. So there’s no time like the present to get started!

2. Revisit Your Contacts Database

If you’re old school, this means whip out the Rolodex and go back through it. Here’s what you’re looking for:

• Potential Joint Venture or Referral Partners: Separate out the non-competitive contacts who serve the same market you serve, or for whom there is significant overlap. For each one, write down 2-3 possible ways that you could each cooperatively reach out to your existing relationships with an offer for the products/services of the other. Teaming up gives you the ability to share resources and gain new prospects at very low cost.
• Customers You Haven’t Heard from In a While: You’re looking for people who used to buy from you, but who dropped off the face of the earth. Set aside an hour or two a week to reach out to them. If they’re local, take ‘em to Starbucks or to lunch. If not, set phone appointments. Find out what’s changing in their world. Your goal here is to listen, not to try to win back their business. This is one of the most valuable exercises any business can engage in since the changing needs and wants of a given customer can be a big clue about what needs to be changed in your business. Maybe a new product or service needs could be rolled out that’s a better match for their needs. Perhaps your message is missing the mark. You won’t know until you listen!
• Happy Customers: Find the people you’ve done a “bang up” job with and reach out to them. Find out: why they bought from you, what thrilled them about your product or service, and who they know that needs what they got from you. After you’ve heard them tell you in their own words about their experience, ask if they’d mind if you write down what you heard them say and post it on your website, Facebook, YouTube, etc. after they approve it. Even better: get a photo (or video… keep reading!) to add authenticity and credibility to their words.

3. Acquire a New Skill

Marketing is a continuous process. It happens all the time in your business whether you want it to or not. Proactively getting the right message out in today’s world involves using some skills you may not have need in a while (or ever before!). Here are some of the most valuable skills you can acquire right now — either by learning them yourself, sending a team member for some training, or hiring someone who has one or more of them:

• Writing better copy. We all need marketing copy all the time. Your Facebook posts, Tweets, blog posts, postcards, in-store promotions, e-mail, newspaper ads, radio spots… whatever you’re doing to reach out… they need to effectively communicate and compel the right people to take action.
• Simple video production. Using video on your website, Facebook posts, or even on YouTube can pack a substantial punch in terms of communicating quickly and powerfully with prospects and customers. Here’s a tip: grab an inexpensive digital device like this Flip UltraHD Camcorder that makes creating and uploading videos a snap! You can get great results even if you’re shaking like a cold Chihuahua when you show up at a customer’s location and shoot.
• Actually using Social Media as a marketer. It’s one thing to share pictures of the kids (or grandkids… you know who you are!) and “like” the latest funny video posted by your friends. It’s another thing to roll out an engaging stream of content from your business fan page or Twitter account that measurably produces new sales.

Incidentally… while I hope that the thoughts here have been useful to you, we’ve got a valuable webinar coming up next week that I’d like to invite you to. If you’re an e-mail subscriber, you’ll get your personal invitation automatically. If not, sign up here and get a free download in the process! It’ll be worth your while… I guarantee it!

Waste of Time?

You or your company have probably already grappled with the question at some level or another:

Should employees be permitted to use Facebook or Twitter on the job?

The typical reaction from owners & managers is some flavor of: “What a waste of time!” And while I’m the first one to agree that there are zillions of ways to waste time online, here are some factors worth considering.

Productivity

How productive are you and your team? This is typically cited as the top consideration for employers creating policies about Facebook and other social media activities.

But in the interest of solving real productivity problems, a far bigger loss of productivity may be the culture of interruptions in your workplace. Are your employees fair game to be interrupted at any point in time by superiors? It may be time to consider the cost. This New York Times piece reveals some interesting tidbits:

• the average workplace interruption takes nearly 30 minutes to recover from
• interruptions now account for 28 percent of workers’ time (and therefore salary!)
• routine interruptions, coupled with constant time pressure, lead to frustration, stress and loss of morale

Compare this to Facebook and other forms of “workplace internet leisure browsing,” and you find that people who use the internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive than those who do not.

Counter intuitive? Perhaps… but when you consider that people often use leisure browsing and social media to help them effectively take a break and regain focus, it starts to make more sense.

Oppressive Restrictions

The workplace can be stressful enough without feeling boxed in by hard-line policies that are clear meant to serve the organization and not the individual within it. Yet 54 percent of companies ban workers from using social media sites at work.

Before you jump on the bandwagon, consider the cost:

How will this policy be enforced?

Using technology to block access to sites? What about mobile devices? Facebook and Twitter are being accessed from mobile devices and via text messaging more than ever before?

Plan to “friend” or “follow” your employees? You could find yourself getting sued.

How’s your marketing?

Properly empowered and trained employees may be one of your company’s biggest assets in helping engage your prospects and customers. After all, do you have a person or department focused on brand management? We’ve pointed out in the past that social media is the new word of mouth. And since appropriate places to spend your marketing budget (you do have one of those, right?) are rapidly disappearing, it’s time to be effective with social media.

Frustrated employees faced with stress and dropping morale can rapidly do more harm to your business with their social media posts (during work hours or otherwise) than you can imagine. And faster than you can imagine.

What to do?

Develop a Policy and a Process

My recommendation: build a clearly-articulated, concise strategy that authentically empowers your team to help spread the appropriate message(s) about your company while permitting them to use social media sites. There is no “one size fits all” for every business, of course. But my conclusion is that you will not actually be able to stop people from using social media at work, and efforts to do so will backfire sooner or later.

Should everyone have carte blanche to abandon their work and surf the web? Of course not. But the most effective businesses are measuring (and rewarding) output rather than activity anyway.

It takes some strategy, but your business can build a policy that creates a big win for all involved. It’s time to take action.

Free Webinar - Improve Morale & Profitability: 5 Proven Methods You Can Use Right Away

Incidentally, a colleague of mine is presenting a fantastic webinar tonight: “Improve Morale & Profitability: 5 Proven Methods You Can Use Right Away.” Patrice Say & her business partner, Joe Bettley, have a fantastic operation that improves business performance in a variety of ways. I highly recommend tonight’s event to you. Reserve your spot here — do it even if you’re not sure you can make it… it will be recorded.

In the meantime… what kind of policies do you have about social media? How are they working? Leave a comment here to discuss!