Facebook Privacy – Who Can See Your Personal Information?

October 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Facebook Privacy

Who Can See My Facebook Posts?

This is a question I often get from clients regarding Facebook Privacy. The answer is “that all depends”.

  • How have you set your privacy settings for your Facebook profile and/or page;
  • When you created the wall post did you leave the default of “everyone”, or did you change it to friends of friends, only friends, or a specific list of people before hitting the share button.

You might be asking at this point — how do I do either of the above? Also, what if I want to change the default Facebook Privacy from “everyone” to “friends only”?

Then, I’m glad you’re reading this because setting the appropriate Facebook Privacy on your profile, and sending messages to the appropriate target audience, are important.

Protecting your personal information is extremely important on the internet. The “everyone” default means absolutely everyone on the internet has access to that particular information. Check out the Facebook tutorial videos for information on how to control your privacy on Facebook, and understand how to control who sees your posts. These videos are available to everyone via Facebook’s Help Centre. If you still require assistance, call us at Original Ginger for some social media training.

This is one article in a series of articles on Facebook for Businesses. Interested in other articles from ‘Fresh Ginger’? Subscribe now to receive topics of interest delivered straight to your inbox.

Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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E-Commerce Websites – Attention Online Shoppers!

August 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

E-Commerce - A Retail Storefront is Just Not EnoughYou can bet all shoppers are paying attention to E-Commerce for all the great deals they can get online without ever leaving the cozy comfort of their own home.They just grab a cup of coffee, huddle up with their laptop or mobile device, pull out their credit card and “voila” their christmas shopping is almost finished.Wow! Welcome to E-Commerce. E-Commerce is about buying and selling products or services over the Internet and other computer networks.  But it’s more than just that. It includes the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing and paying for those products and services. Innovations like electronic funds transfer, online transaction processing, and inventory management systems have changed the playing field.  Purchase transactions are completed in real-time, in NO time flat!!

Why Should YOU Consider E-Commerce For Your Business?

It depends on the type of business services or products you sell; BUT, it’s time to take a serious look at E-Commerce for many VERY good reasons.

SCENARIO 1:

You are “Paige Turner” the proud owner of a book shop at #4 Privet Drive.  You’ve lovingly displayed your books in the window (one of which is entitled “E-Commerce for Dummies”) and listed your business in the yellow pages and phone book. You’ve probably even paid for some traditional advertising in magazines and local papers to attract the attention of potential customers. Okay. Once upon a time this would have been enough. One small problem.

You require your customers to physically walk into your shop. What if the customer doesn’t have transportation? What if they don’t live near #4 Privet Drive? What if they can’t make it to your store before closing? What if they don’t have time?

SCENARIO 2:Lucy wants to buy a new umbrella (because like us, she lives on the rainy pacific west coast) so she ‘googles’ umbrellas online. YOU own an umbrella shop.

If you’re set up for E-Commerce, Lucy is likely to find you and just as easily purchase her new umbrella from you, than any big box store. If you’re NOT online. Well — you just lost a sale.

How Does E-Commerce Change Things?

  • Your market becomes global (or at least as far as you are willing to ship using Fedex, UPS, Canada Post, US Post – you get the picture).
  • Your store hours extend to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (without the physical requirement of staff at all hours)
  • You have instant inventory tracking
  • You exist – and now people know it (what’s more they can hit the “share” button and tell all their online friends about you)
  • You have trackable customer information in a database for easy access, anytime, all the time; and
  • Your customer can view, select, and pay for their product in less than 10 minutes.

The above scenarios are exactly why you should seriously consider using E-Commerce website design for your business.

Get plugged in! Don’t be intimidated because you are not a techie.  There are tons of companies available to support you and teach you how to put those basic typing and computer skills to work – and it’s so much easier than you may think.

We don’t suggest you do the “heavy lifting” yourself. Get the experts to research and implement the shopping cart, shipping, and payment gateway solutions. You’ll save yourself time, money, and frustration in the end.  Having said that — just like your customers — YOU will be able to sit down with a cup of coffee in the cozy comfort of YOUR own home to manage your products, check inventory, make adjustments, and follow up with customers ALL BY YOURSELF. Now that’s something you can take to the bank!

Next Installment

Stay tuned for our next article where we talk about some of the things you need to know when considering implementing E-Commerce for your business.

Want to leave the heavy lifting for us at Original Ginger. Check out our E-Commerce web design services and call us at 778.298.1966. We’ll help you plan your E-Commerce from square one.

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Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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Twitter – How to Get Started

June 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Twitter - Only a Tweet Away From Success

How To Get Started With Twitter

Twitter is a FREE promotional and networking opportunity for your business. If you want to engage new customers YOU need to be where they are. So if you haven’t already — set up a Twitter account.  But then what?!  What do you do once you’ve got your account, added your logo, and chosen your branded url?

We highly recommend that you add a short bio to your Twitter profile. You’ll need to keep it short but with enough information that people  know exactly what your service offerings are. List your official website address. If you don’t include a bio, there are people on Twitter who will not follow you back. Remember this is social media — people interact with people who have similar interests and who are interested in actively participating. This is your chance to show your brand personality and have a little fun while you’re at it!

Before you start tweeting, we’ve listed a few KEY points and KEY commands you’ll need to know:

  • Since Twitter limits all of your tweets to only 140 characters you will need to be creative about typing messages. For some tweets you may want to leave a little room for others to add a word or two and retweet your message.
  • Use the RT (retweet) function to re-share tweets by others with your own followers. The original person who tweeted will see the RT and they are likely to do the same for you.
  • When you want to send a personal message to someone in private, go to their profile and click on the message button.
  • @username plus your message directs your tweet to a specific person and displays on the @Mentions Tab in their profile. It singles out that the message was directed specifically to them. All of your other followers will still see the message on their wall as well. They may even decide to join the conversation.
  • On Fridays Twitter has a tradition where users can give a “shout out” on behalf of their favourite twitter followers. How do you get involved? Create a list of @username’s for people you already know on Twitter. Preface the list with the #FollowFriday or #FF hashtag, and a short message recommending them to others.
  • The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages and link common interests. You’ll see hashtags listed under Trends right on your profile. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.

Helpful Tools to Use With Twitter

  • Twilert = a free web app that enables you to receive updates via Email on tweets containing your brand, name, product, or specific keywords specified by you.
  • ManageFlitter.com = a free web app that cleans up and manages who you follow, who follows you back, which accounts are now inactive, and links google+ to your Twitter account.
  • Buffer = an app for sharing interesting content with your followers but staggering the release of information throughout the day.
  • Twable separates into lists: people you follow who DON’T follow you back; people you follow who ALSO follow you back; AND people who follow you, but who you DON’T follow back.
  • Refollow = a web app that allows you to manage your followers, establish relationships, block users, sort by importance and much more.
  • Tweetdeck = an app to view and manage your tweets in a personalized user-friendly dashboard. It allows you to arrange and schedule tweets and much more.
  • TweetLevel = An app you can use to search and analyze hashtags or order topics by popularity, engagement, and trust.
  • Schmap.it = is a tool that helps you share Places, Events and Photos on Twitter for FREE. In addition to posting it on your own profile, it also adds your event listing to regional event listing profiles.

This is by no means a complete list of all of the tools available for use with managing your Twitter account; but, it’s a great place to start. Have fun, and happy online networking!!

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Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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What Does It Mean to Like A Facebook Page?

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On Facebook when you “Like” someone’s page, you will now receive status messages in your newsfeed from that page, be notified when they post new photos, and receive invitations to their events. You may also receive “Updates”. It will show in your recent activity on your wall that you “liked” that page. If you “Liked” it when acting as your personal profile, a link to their page will appear in your Activities and Interests area on the info section of your personal profile.

By the same token, when someone “Likes” YOUR business page, it means that they will receive YOUR status messages in their newsfeed, be notified when YOU post new photos, and YOU can easily send them invitations to YOUR events. You can also send them “Updates” easily. YOUR page will show on their wall under recent activity. When their friends see it they may take an interest and do the same.

How To Like a Facebook Page

When on a Timeline Page that interests you, click “Like”, which is displayed just above their views and apps boxes. You can Search for Pages by visiting the Facebook Pages Directory. OR search for a term or name on Facebook. Facebook  filters the results to show Pages, Apps, etc. Select the page that interests you.

How To Unlike a Page

You can unlike a Page by taking the following steps:

  • Find the post in your profile that states you like the Page or find a post from the Page in your News Feed
  • Click the “x” located in the top right hand side of the post
  • From the drop-down menu, click “Unlike Page.”

You can also navigate to the Page by entering its name into the search bar in the upper right corner, and click the “Unlike” link located inside the messages dropdown labelled unlike. The messages dropdown is located directly underneath the Timeline cover image.

Where do the Pages I’ve “Liked” display on my profile?

The Pages that you Like will be displayed in the views or apps boxes below your cover image. They may also be displayed in the right hand side of the newsfeed on your Facebook Timeline profile. You can hide the likes box in the newsfeed if you want to by selecting the edit pencil and selecting “hide from Timeline”.

How Do I Know How Effective My Facebook Business Page Is?

On your business page, in the top right corner next to the cover image you will see a button that says Admin Panel. Select this button and open your admin panel to “View Insights”. Insights provides Facebook Page owners with helpful statistics regarding page content. This will help you better understand how to improve your interaction and engagement with others on Facebook.

Only YOU, as the Page administrator can view the insights.  This is a FREE service for all Facebook Pages.

Promoting Your Facebook Business Page

Invite people to engage with your Facebook business page, promote your Page via Email Marketing Campaigns, include a link to your Facebook Business Page in your email signature, and promote your Facebook presence on Twitter. There are so many ways you could be promoting your page!

This is one of several articles in a series on Facebook and Small Businesses.

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Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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