Save Your Facebook Friends By Setting Boundaries for Politics and Heated Issues

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Vanessa Wood

Election season is upon us and during this time political discussions heat up. I met with a networking group this morning and the topic of Facebook came up. Business owners are concerned that the opinions they post on their personal profile may affect not only their friends’ perception but their customers’ perception of them too.

They should be worried! A new study by Pew Internet & American Life Project made headlines in the Global Post, on March 14, 2012,revealed that 10% of people unfriend on Facebook due to contrary political beliefs.

So how can business people handle Facebook posts so they don’t offend or cause unfriending?

Choose One- Profile or Business Page?  Facebook is all about boundaries starting with who you “friend” and where – on your personal profile or on your business page. It’s important to decide how you want to “friend” business associates and some experts say its’ safer to connect with these contacts on your business page. If you think this doesn’t work, you need to check out Elmer Laydon on Facebook who has 1600+ followers on his personal page (he only friends people he knows) and more than 300,000 followers on his business page The Whisper of God.  

Set Your Boundaries.  Some people can’t decide, so allow anyone who “Likes” them on Facebook to be their “friend.” However, if you don’t want business associates who are “friends” to see political or religious discussions on Facebook, then click the public link below your post and select which group of “friends” will see your post.  Yes, before you can do that you need to visit each of your friends’ profiles, click the blue friends button (it’s on the top right of the profile screen), and commit each person to a friends’ list.

Set Your Limits. It’s funny how sensitive conversations about politics, religion, sex, etc. fare better in person than a curt remark on Facebook. Like email, Facebook doesn’t fully express the tone of the content and sometimes context is lost for the reader. That’s why having limits to what you post is a smart idea. If you’re concerned about how the comment will be “read”, then don’t say it. Remember too what you say has a very wide audience– when you comment on someone else’s post or photo, your “friends” and all their “friends” will see what you wrote.

Regardless of your political views, Facebook is a savvy way to expand your business’s web audience. Contact me if you want Facebook to work in harmony with your website or blog marketing.

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Is Your Website Smart-Phone and Tablet Ready?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Vanessa Wood

Can People View Your Website via Smart Phones or Tablets?
How Does Your Website Look on a Smart Phone or Tablet

“(Apple CEO) Timothy D. Cook, said the iPad last quarter outsold the number of personal computers sold by any individual manufacturer.”
NY Times, March 7, 2012

Announcing the release of the iPad 3 on March 7th, caused us to look back on one of our most read posts from our blog, “Is Your Website Smart Phone Friendly?” It’s hard to believe that the iPad was introduced to consumers in January 2010. Sales have been out-of-the-ballpark as well of sales of other brands of tablets like the Kindle Fire and Nook. How well your website performs on a smart phone is also true for the slick and wildly popular new tablets.

The tide has changed in how people view the internet. The business world and home usage has been populated by the desktop personal computer, up until very recently. Desk top computers were relied upon to surf the Internet and view websites. When a computer died or aged out, it was replaced with another desk top. When a new innovation was released (like the latest version of Windows), users would flock to buy a new computer.

However, and this is a huge turn of events: Forrester Research forecasts that desktop computers will only be 20% of computer sales by 2015.

We all know that change will be greater and faster than predicted, as that’s the way of the technology sales and conversion. Now, here’s why this matters to you and your website: What do smart phone and tablet users see when they visit your website?

Now more than ever, it’s essential to look at your website on your own phone or tablet – borrow a friend’s if you have to. You want to make sure that the important elements can be readily viewed and accessed.

These timely tips are a “one-two punch” to keep hand-held users engaged on your website, improve your website and the mobile device experience.

Text Phone Number

Open up your website online (on your PC or Mac is OK). Mouse over your phone number. If you can highlight one number at a time, then you can be sure it is “text”. If the whole number highlights or a larger area highlights, then it’s likely your phone number has been created as an image. Phone users rely on text phone numbers because they can simply click or touch the number to dial it. Wouldn’t you like customers to be able to easily call you? They cannot do this if your phone number is a graphic image.

Flash Dead Zone

Handhelds cannot display “Flash” software. Neither does the iPhone or it’s big brother, the iPad, No Flash. If your website uses Flash, all these users see is “a dead zone”, an empty box with nothing in it! I worked with a client last year whose entire website was developed in flash. It’s turns into a white page on a white background without having Flash. Even the navigation menu is in the Flash file. Phone users see it as a white screen with no links to go to any of the secondary web pages. That won’t help you get any new business!

Your successful Internet Marketing begins with being seen online… on desktop computers and now more than ever, on smart phones and tablets!

Is your site ready? Call Vanessa at Design to Spec (203-364-4030) to ensure your website can be seen on all hand-held devices like the smart Phone and tablets and don’t lose potential business.

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What’s The Protest About Web Censorship?

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Vanessa Wood

I’m a habitual blogger. My blog posts are copyrighted material and yes, I’ve had my words stolen and reused on the Internet. There are copyright laws that protect the artist, the writer and others who’ve created intellectual material. The Internet is a glorious, magical way to share with others and promote ideas. I can take care of myself and I don’t want any more laws to protect me from piracy if it means web censorship. I refuse to have a few poo-poo-heads (see, I censored myself!) spoil it for me or for others.

Today many Internet websites are joining together to protest laws that the Federal government is seeking to enact. These laws are drafted to stop piracy of copyrighted material through web censorship  Some of the largest content providers like Google and Wikipedia are protesting this legislation. These sites provide information– anyone can post an article or update an article on Wikipedia and Google picks up content from millions of website making it available to any searcher through their search engine.  At times you may not like these companies — maybe you’ve found incorrect information on Wikipedia or Google has become “big business” and you don’t like the big guys.  But they have worked to keep information available online and have spent a lot of their own money to make legal precdence in a new technology age that has not precedence. Check out Google’s page that explains their position on these laws and offers a petition to sign.  (go to Google)

I’m a WordPress user and many of my clients use WordPress to publish their ideas online. Blogging has become the town square, the marketplace, the world’s library of periodicals. I looked at blogger.com and didn’t see a protest (by the way they are part of Google). However, WordPress.org has posted their protest for today. As a blogger and WordPress user I’m happy that they defend our right to be seen and heard.

Blogging is freedom of speech.

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