How to create a perfect Facebook Fan Page. Read all about it on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogspot.com

How To Create the Perfect Facebook Fan Page

This is a guest post by Jesse Stay, founder and CEO of SocialToo.com and all around great Facebook Fan Page coder. He’s volunteered to give away a copy of his recent book, FBML Essentials, to two readers. Scroll down to the end of the post for details on how to win.

Marketers love Facebook. With 350 million+ users, a self-promoting and natural way to have people promote your product, and a very active audience full of close friends and family, what’s not to like? If you had any doubt, just go on over to their stats page and see for yourself why it is something you want as part of your marketing strategy.

The best place you can place your brand on Facebook is through a Facebook Page (that’s with a capital “P”, not to be confused with your personal Profile). As of the time of this writing, over 10 million users become fans of Fan Pages every day. This number should be no surprise — when people “fan” your Page, their friends see it, and your brand spreads organically. What most don’t know is that you can customize this experience for your users. With just a little work, and either some knowledge of simple HTML or the ability to hire a developer to do the work for you, you can have a custom Page up for your business in no time. Here are some tips you can apply to your Facebook marketing strategy that will put your Facebook Page leaps and bounds ahead of the competition:

Maximize Your Avatar Visibility

Profile pictures on Facebook can have a maximum size of 200×600 pixels. This applies to Pages as well. Facebook Pages do not allow background images like Twitter, Myspace, and other services. What you can do, however, is take advantage of that full 200×600 real estate and get your brand in front of the eyes of your fans. This will make sure, regardless of what part of your Page they are on your brand is front and center.

Install the Static FBML App and Add a Custom Tab

Do a search for “static FBML” on Facebook (or just click here), and click “Add to my Page” in the upper-left. A dialog pop-over will appear with a list of Pages you administer. Select the Page you want to customize by clicking the “Add to Page” button next to the Page, and when you click the button it will disappear from the list. Now click “Close”.

Now what you want to do is create your tab. To create the tab, just go to your Page and click the link, “Edit Page” in the upper-left below your main Page image. Now when you scroll down you will see a subsection called “FBML”. Click on the “Application Settings” link for that subsection, and another popover dialog will appear. Click “add” next to the Tab field and click Okay. You’ve now just added a blank Tab called “FBML” to your Page. Now you need to customize it.

Add Content to Your Custom Tab

If you go view your Page now, you’ll notice when you click the “>>” tab there is now an “FBML” option in the drop-down. If you click on it, that tab appears in the list of tabs at the top, and you can drag it around (to the extent that Facebook allows you). You’ll notice the tab is completely blank. Let’s add some content to it.

To add content, click on “Edit Page” again on the left below your Page image. Go to the “FBML” subsection again, but this time click the “Edit” link. Now you’ll be taken to a very simple form with a “Box Title” field and an “FBML” field. This is your Canvas.

Let’s start by changing the title of the tab. As I mentioned earlier, the tab, by default gets called “FBML” when you add it. You probably don’t want to keep that name, so I recommend changing it to something productive, like “Welcome”, or “Introduction”. You can name it whatever you like, depending on your purpose!

Now you’ll want to enter some content. The “FBML” field will take almost any basic HTML. You don’t need to include any , , or tags, as the HTML you enter will only take the place of that whitespace you just saw. All the header stuff is taken care of for you. Play with it and see what you can do.

Customize Your Tab With FBML

Beyond simple HTML you can also enter very simple FBML tags to simplify some of the process. FBML stands for “Facebook Markup Language”, and is meant to be a shortcut for use in Facebook applications. Facebook has also enabled the use of a subset of FBML in the Static FBML application. FBML can be a great way to reduce the amount of HTML you need to enter, while at the same time keeping Facebook’s own look and feel. The format is very simple, and if you are familiar with HTML or XML you’ll pick it up very quickly.

To learn FBML you’re going to want to check out Facebook’s documentation and reference on FBML tags. There is a large reference of these tags on their developer wiki. I recommend you look around and see what’s available, then try them out and see how they work. You can also purchase my book, FBML Essentials, which will give you a little more details on FBML (as well as the Facebook developer platform in general).

Keep in mind that the Static FBML application only supports a subset of what the full FBML reference indicates is available. Unfortunately there is no documentation stating what is, and isn’t supported. Tags that have been confirmed working and are my favorites are:

– displays a specific user’s name in the standard Facebook format
– displays a specific user’s profile picture in the standard Facebook format
(great for Youtube videos or other video display) – allows you to include Flash applications in your tab
– posts a Facebook live stream widget on your Tab (you must create a new application to do this)
– adds a Facebook comments box to your Tab

If you read the Facebook wiki documentation keep in mind that “loggedinuser” does not work for the uid on the Static FBML App, but “profileowner” does. Beyond that, if you specify the specific user id in that field it should show properly. Here’s an example of a simple tab I set up:

Welcome!

Hi! My name is .



event_app_id =”293151070252″>

That produces something that looks like this:

Set Your Page to Default to Your New Tab

Now that you’ve created your custom tab using the Static FBML App you may want to set your Page to default to the new tab. This can give you a nice welcome message for your fans. To do so, just click “Edit Page” as I mentioned above. Under “Wall Settings”, click “edit”, and under “default landing tab for everyone else” select your new tab in the drop down. You’re done! Keep in mind that this default tab is only visible as a default landing page for those that are not yet fans of your Page yet.

SEO for Facebook Pages

Your Page is visible to search engines! Now that you’ve created your custom landing page, keep in mind that search engines see the page layout in the same way that someone who is not a fan of your page would see.

If you haven’t yet created a Facebook Page, you should also keep in mind that the Page title can be one of the best places to create a search-engine friendly title for your brand. Be sure this is something that describes yourself and your brand, and that you think others will be searching for. It should also, at the same time, be something familiar to other Facebook users, as this is what they will see in their News feeds as their friends become fans or you post updates. Keep in mind your Page name can not be changed once you create it, so get it right the first time! It can be a pain to have to re-create a new Page and re-establish months of work building your Page if you get it wrong early on.

Conclusion

As you can see, a Facebook Page is a powerful tool that you can use to enhance and strengthen your brand naturally using the tools Facebook provides. Be sure to leverage this tool, customize it, and make it work to get your brand in front of as many people and their friends as possible. Facebook is growing massively at the moment — is your brand a part of that momentum?

Giveaway

Jesse has agreed to give away two copies of his book (in eBook or paper format — your choice), FBML Essentials, for the best use of FBML for any fan page. Criteria are that the Facebook Page has to use the Static FBML app and will be judged by best use of FBML as a complement to HTML. If you have a Facebook Page to volunteer, just hop on over to the comments and share your favorite page. You have until December 10th to enter. Good luck!

Jesse Stay is a consultant who specializes in the integration of social APIs such as Twitter and Facebook. You may know him as founder and CEO of the social stream clean up and automation tool, SocialToo.com, but Jesse has also written two books on the subject of Facebook. His first book, “I’m on Facebook–Now What???” focuses on the beginner Facebook user and teaches you how to use Facebook as a productive tool rather than a toy. His second book, “FBML Essentials” takes you from the ground up on the Facebook developer platform, serving as a reference to Facebook’s Markup Language.

The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others

“Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.” ~Andrew Carnegie
Moral :Take time to appreciate employees and they will reciprocate in a thousand ways.

10 ways Youtube can help change a small business. Read all about it on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogpost.com

10 ways Youtube can help change a small business

1. Have Your Own Channel:  A good way to personalize your own image onto youtube…also helps users become subscribers to your channel and business.

2. Insert Subtitles Into Your Videos:  This helps for hearing impaired clients or for anyone who doesn’t have the option to keep the volume at a level that they can hear.

3. Stay Away From Annotations:  Annotations are a new tool on youtube that allows comments to be added above the video clip…this is unprofessional and annoying.  DO NOT USE THEM!

4. Get Rid Of Offensive Comments:  Nothing is more unprofessional than offensive language, so get rid of it in your comments.  Ensure that your brand name and image is protected from anything offensive.  What users see on your youtube page could greatly effect the way they feel about your company.

5. Keep In Touch With Your Community:  Like another other form of offline communication, stay in touch with who is interested in your business…and try to engage with future clients.

6. Organize Your Content:  As with a web page, keep your content clean and easy to access.  Your youtube page can get cluttered quickly, try to prevent this from happening.

7. Tags:  Look at what youtube tags you and your videos under…the more specific  the tag, the better.  Make sure your people can find you, don’t let tags hide you!

8. Promote Your Page:  Let people know you have a youtube page outside of the internet, sell it to the offline world with people that wouldn’t normally take the time to look on youtube.

9. Use The Analytics Tool:  Youtube has an analytics tool that enables users with sites to view how often their page has been visited.  Use this powerful tool to know how your site is holding up and know what items should be change.

10. Don’t Neglect Your Channel:  If you never use it, it is worthless.  Keep up with comments and the analytics and keep up maintenance on the site.

Youtube and social media are powerful ways to get your business’s name out to the online world…but it’s critical to know how to use these tools.

Want to increase your interpersonal communication skills. Well the answer lies on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogspot.com

11 Ways To Improve Your Interpersonal Communication Skills

1. Be the first to make an introduction. Say hello first, offer a handshake, if a handshake is not an option, then at least a head nod and a smile.

2. Smile when engaging with others when appropriate.

3. Maintain steady eye contact while communicating with others. If this is uncomfortable, look just between their eyes and they won't know the difference. It's fine to glance away from time to time, but make sure they are your primary focus.

4. To improve your interpersonal communication skills, Listen, listen, listen. People will notice if you actually listen to them, and respond to what they are talking about rather than focusing on your agenda and what you have going on inside your head.

5. Don't Interrupt! This is HUGE. Let them finish their sentence, even if you are tempted to finish their thought or idea. When you interrupt, they feel unimportant.

6. When someone is wrong about something, or incorrect about a fact that you know the truth about don't feel like you need to correct them, unless the topic is of major importance. Some people just need to feel like they are right, and letting them feel this way will make them feel good and help avoid a stressful situation or uncomfortable argument.

7. If someone reads something or sees something and feels that it is important enough to tell you about it, let them tell you. Even if you already know about it. I cringe when I hear someone say something like "Hey this article I read said that we are supposed to get 3 feet of snow this month." Then the other person says..."Yea, I already know." You are making that person feel like you are "more informed" than they are and that you are better. Just say something like, "WOW that would be a lot of snow!" and leave it at that. They don't know that you are more informed that they are.

8. To improve your interpersonal communication skills, know that the most beautiful sound or word in the English language to any individual is that persons own first name. Use other people's names when communicating with them A LOT.

9. Choose your words wisely. Once a word escapes your lips, you can never get it back. Think before you speak, and make sure what you are saying is appropriate. The words you say actually steer your destiny and create your world you are living in. Saying sorry or that "you take it back" doesn't really mean much. Once you've said it, it's out there.

10. Never Criticize, condemn, or complain. It makes other people defensive, and it won't be welcomed.

11. Lastly, to improve your interpersonal communication skills, talk in terms of other people's interests. People are selfish by nature, they want to talk about what is important to them.



       
       

"Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home."

"It is necessary for me to establish a winner image. Therefore, I have to beat somebody."

Want to know what Ant Philosophy is ? check it out on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogspot.com.

The Ant Philosophy

 I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy.
Here is the first part: Ants never quit. That’s a good philosophy. If they’re headed somewhere and you try to stop them, they’ll look for another way. They’ll climb over. They’ll climb under. They’ll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy—to never quit looking for a way to get where you’re supposed to go.

Second, ants think winter all summer. That’s an important perspective. You can’t be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants gather their winter food in the middle of summer.
An ancient story says, “Don’t build your house on the sand in the summer.” Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to think ahead. In the summer, you’ve got to think storm. You’ve got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun.

The third part of the Ant Philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, “This won’t last long; we’ll soon be out of here.” And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they’ll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can’t wait to get out.

And here’s the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the “all-you-possibly-can” philosophy.

When your LIFE is in DARKNESS, PRAY GOD and ask him to free you from Darkness.

Even after you pray, if U R still in Darkness - Please PAY the ELECTRICITY BILL.

You are not a good Manager if you are making these 6 mistakes. read all about it on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogspot.com

Let us be generous like this : Four Ants are moving through a forest.

They see an ELEPHANT coming towards them.

Ant 1 says : we should KILL him.

Ant 2 says : No, Let us break his Leg alone.

Ant 3 says : No, we will just throw him away from our path..

Ant 4 says : No, we will LEAVE him because he is ALONE and we are FOUR.

You are not a Good Manager if you are making these Six Big Mistakes

Management in all business areas and human organization activity is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.

Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
 

Lack of communication.
 In any industry, at any level, communication is key to being a successful manager. Employees need to know what is expected of them and when specific projects or tasks need to be completed. Communication needs to be clear, and any questions that arise need to be answered.
 

Favoritism.
Once a manager has obvious favorites, he or she loses credibility and the respect of the rest of the team.
 

Just do it.
The Nike slogan does not work when employees are trying to gain an understanding of the process or project. Rather than expecting your team to simply work blindly on tasks they do not understand, a good manager takes the time to explain what the project is all about and how the team's work is incorporated into the plan. Remember, the more the team is invested in a project, the better the results will be.

Never change.

In a rapidly changing business environment, not being open to change can be a major mistake. While you may stick to tried-and-true methods in some areas, you should consider and weigh the value of change in others. Above all, be flexible.

Failing to hear what your employees have to say.

Managers make the mistake of listening but not always hearing what their employees are saying. To manage effectively, you need to understand the needs and concerns of your employees.
Too much technology.

A new breed of managers are more tech-savvy than they are comfortable handling and managing people. Embracing technology is a key to success in the modern office environment, but not at the risk of embracing people skills. Do not hide behind e-mails and other technology.

Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?

“Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other."

Rare Pictures

Rare Pictures

http://www.bezbrige.com/index.php/WoW/rare-pictures-of-famous-people.html

Doing VS Being.What is more important ?
Read all about it on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogspot.com

Doing VS Being. What is more important?

I've been reading a lot lately about the idea of being versus doing, the concept that we can get so caught up in the things that we have to do that we stop simply being, that we stop growing and changing as human beings.  Yes, we learn more information and we learn more ways to do things and we learn more strategies for success in material ways and at work, but what do we learn about who we are and how we fit in on this planet?  What do we learn about our relationship to God and life and love, and how do we grow as the spiritual beings that we are?

I believe that we get caught up in this trap because doing is so much easier.  We can quantify what we do--the results are right there to see and count and judge.  We can count how many sales we've made, we can measure how much of the yard we've landscaped, and we can count the number of times that we've driven to the store.  We can also see the results of not doing, such as the dishes on the kitchen counter, the full "to-do" list of things that still need to be done, or the bed that hasn't been made or the clothes that haven't been washed.  There's a lot of value in doing, of course, for doing allows us to keep things clean and to take care of problems, often before they even come up.

But there has to be time for being in there, also.  "Being" doesn't consist of sitting in front of a screen, be it television, computer, games, of movie, for that is a form of passive consumerism, taking in something that someone else has done.  And while this can be valuable for unwinding after a long and stressful day, it still isn't a way of being.

It's hard for me to define "being" as I'm using the term here.  No one has taught me what it means, though I have read many books that address the idea.  It seems that being is getting in touch with that deeper part of ourselves, that inner power that many people call "spirit," that many others call "God."  I'm not sure what I'd call it, but I do know that I don't let it out nearly enough, and my outward behavior and actions aren't guided nearly often enough by its power.  this is the part of me that can help me define who I am in this world, as opposed to what I do in this world, yet I keep it under wraps, buried beneath all of the activities and tasks and chores that keep me running seemingly all the days of my life.

I believe things are getting worse rather than better, for I see the way many kids are being raised these days.  Between soccer and basketball and cricket and music and homework and skiing and all of the many, many tasks that are part of their lives, they are much, much busier doing things than members of my generation were as kids.  Children these days often have very little time for playing, for having fun, for just being kids, and that's both sad and frightening.  As they grow up, they can't help but develop a nagging sense of having missed something very important.

Where is your focus--on "being" or on "doing"?  Both are very important, but they must be maintained in a careful balance.  If we go too far over on the doing side, we're definitely risking missing one of the most important aspects of who we are, and we're risking never getting in touch with that deeper part of ourselves that can bring us fulfillment and peace.  When we ask ourselves why we're here on this planet, I'm pretty sure that the answer is closer to "finding out who I am" than it is "accomplishing more things than my neighbor."

How to best promote yourself at the workplace. Read all about it on my blog www.nauman-uselect.blogspot.com

How to best promote yourself at the workplace

You’ve been happily overworking yourself all year, you’ve been putting your every effort into your “dream-turned-reality” job and you have modestly assumed that the Top- Notch quality of your work, your utmost devotion to the job and the organization, the voluntary overtime you have been indulging in are enough reasons to “magically” earn you a long awaited and much deserved promotion/raise etc.? Think again!

You might consider the following statement cheerless, but it is largely true: doing your job - even if “a la perfection”- in many cases will not get you the praise/ reward/ promotion you so much deserve, it will not even get you the employee of the year award unless you go the extra mile. What more can a steadfast employee do? Blast your own horn; yes, you’ve read it correctly. Should you wish for your co-workers, boss, director, CEO to know about your accomplishments (and maybe later on keep the superstar that you are in mind for that senior position you have been eying), you might as well not brag, but lay the facts to the public (the office in your case), in a gentle and thoughtful way of course, never aggressively or offensively. Think of it as pitching yourself for a new position, you’ve been there and done that successfully at a certain point, the slight difference is that right now, you get to pitch yourself while on the actual job, leaving your options open for any career advancement or promotion opportunities (and also of course the bonus, rewards and words of appreciation).

Question is: What are the best ways for you to market yourself at the workplace

• 1. Be nice to your direct boss: You do not necessarily need a reason to pop by his / her cubicle. Make it a point to drop by twice a week to give him/ her a face to face update about your job activities and have a light chit-chat about other things (such as football, extra-curricular activities, pancakes with blackberries, or whatever else might put a smile on their face).
• 2. Be present during department/organizational meetings: By being present, we are not referring to mere physical presence but rather active presence and positive contribution when and where convenient. Always aim to ask a question (don’t settle for less than brainy ones) or answer a question (especially when you are 100% certain it’s an answer to wow the crowd)! You will be surprised by how many people will remember and refer to you as the positive team player with remarkable insights and a genuine interest in the department/ organization’s wellbeing.
• 3. Don’t restrict yourself your office connections to only people in your department: Are you the senior marketing executive? Befriend other colleagues in other departments such as IT, accounting or maybe HR. You never know where the next opportunity lies; an opportunity that might perfectly suit your bundle of exceptional skills may not necessarily be bound only to marketing. Broaden your horizons and expand your networks!
• 4. Voice your accomplishments: Have you just closed a deal with a hot shot client? Have you made you department’s filing system much easier by suggesting an efficient simpler “personal” technique? Spread the news (in writing if doable) – a statement of facts that need not transcend a self congratulation letter. Make sure you do however include a line or two that state how your deed will contribute to your company’s betterment. Documenting your accomplishments will be a great resource for your boss to refer to during the annual appraisal (and this might actually just get you that raise you’ve been longing for).
• 5. Gear up to wow the crowd: Your aresenla of skills does not mereley consist of technical and interpersonal skills required for your role, you do have as well many other skills (and hidden talents). Put them in use when the situation allows it. Do you have an eye for design? Volunteer (in front of your boss & upper management) to give the decorators a hand with the new office design. Have you studied Spanish as a foreign language? Offer to be the middleman between a colleague and one of his “Only Spanish” speaking clients. News flies, and so do good deeds. Be a good–doer who does not shy away from sharing his accomplishments with an entourage that he respects and learns from everyday!

Your business deserves to be on the Inc.com 5000 List. So go for it! http://ping.fm/imY7c