A Facebook account is one of the most valuable tools you can use as a corporate blogger.
Sharing your content with friends and family is the first step in getting the word out that you have new content to read on your blog. This also gives your friends and family an opportunity to support you by posting comments and reposting to their friends.
If you haven’t started a Facebook account, there is no time like the present to get moving. You won’t want to be the last one aboard, and I think we are down to the final ten. If you are one of them, click here to get started with Facebook.
Why do you need a Facebook account? Facebook is a great way to stay connected. You’ll connect with friends and family, reconnect with old buddies, and meet new acquaintances. Most importantly, Facebook is a great way to remain in touch with a larger group than you otherwise could manage. Sharing your blog content with your greater audience of friends is a great way to spread the word, get good feedback, and even test the waters among people who will give you some encouragement.
How to share on your Facebook account? It’s easy, and it’s free. All you need to do is get an account; just visit http://facebook.com and complete a quick form. Look for a few friendly names and you can be up and running in just a couple of minutes. Now all you have to do is ’share’ your content. Sharing is fairly easy, and can be as difficult as copying the URL for your post and copying it to your Facebook account (not really THAT hard), or installing a plugin to provide a simple button that will automatically publish your post to your Facebook account.
A couple of Wordpress plugins that I really like for sharing include Social Bookmarking Reloaded and Add To Any. I like Social Bookmarking Reloaded because it is easy, and allows you to select the specific icons you want to show on your posts. Add to Any is my current favorite because it reads your reader’s browser history and automatically displays the icons they use the most. It also includes an email forwarding option, which is a great idea.
When should you share your posts with your Facebook friends? Every time you have new content on your blog. Plain and simple. Social media marketing is easy to do, but requires diligence in order to be effective. Get in the habit of sharing your posts as often as you create them. Your Facebook friends will become regular followers in no time.
Using FireFox? Use Facebook toolbar to make it even easier to post your blogs to Facebook. I use this toolbar every day and have grown to depend on it because it is so convenient; I can post to Facebook, stay in touch, or make some comments without the hassle. It saves me time and keeps me in the loop.
I talked about Facebook in this week’s tech call with Paul Jensen. Here’s an excerpt:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tags: blog copywriting, Blogging Tips, Facebook, Social Marketing, Social Media Marketing
As always, Cary, great insights. I am amazed each day at the new ways in which Facebook can be used as part of a social media strategy. I still think that there are some Facebook limitations as an “end all” social network platform, but in terms of getting up and running quickly (and taking advantage of its broad membership) there is nothing better.