Some people think that print magazines are a thing of the past. I don’t. I really enjoy print magazines and still prefer a print publication about subjects that interest me like marketing, speaking, success, etc.

Many magazines are struggling today because of a variety of reasons. Primarily, they don’t seem to have a real focus. They try to be all things to all people and that formula doesn’t work. Secondly, they don’t market themselves well.

Such is not the case with TownHall Magazine. Politics aside, this magazine impresses me with it’s laser focus and it’s marketing.

First of all, it caught my attention with a targeted Facebook ad asking me to vote in a straw poll for president. I clicked on the straw poll. I wouldn’t have clicked on “come look at our magazine” ad.

In order to vote, I had to submit my email and zip code – both valuable pieces of information for them in their continuing marketing efforts.

After I voted, it took me directly to a page where I had the option of going to their Facebook page or going to their actual website about the magazine.

Choosing to go to the actual website, I was presented with the option to subscribe and to watch a video.

The video was a terrific SHORT video with two people talking and a flip of their actual magazine. I’m not sure what technology was used but it was good and kept my interest going for the full 1:48 – not an easy thing to do.

The free gift with subscription was excellent because they were giving away nice hardbacks ($14-25 pricetag) with a $34.95 per year subscription offer. And, these books were totally perfect for this target audience. As we used to say in business school, they were giving away the razors to sell the razor blades (continuous consumption).

The corresponding Facebook Page is brilliant as well: dedicated to this specific focus – the straw poll, they preserved previous results by month, and the page does a great job of promoting the magazine.

So, what can your magazine – website, business, etc. – do that is directly related to your business that can generate additional traffic? What kind of “side promotion” – voting, promotion, etc. – can you do to get people to learn more about you without saying “Hey, come over here and learn more about me?”

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related Links:

Voting Page:

http://page.townhall.com/PresidentialStrawPoll/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=cpa&utm_campaign=facebook

Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Townhallcom-Presidential-Straw-Poll/114013445328868

Youtube video – intro to June 2011 issue:
http://youtu.be/o7C2_u-LtmU

Page that appears after voting: http://magazine.townhall.com/featured

Facebook Notes are great alternative to a simple “wall post” for many reasons. I’ll list a few of my reasons here.

1. Shelf Life – NOTES has a longer “shelf life” than a post. That is to say that it goes on your NOTES instead of being lost on your wall in “older posts” that most people never see because they just won’t keep scrolling down your wall. The NOTES section is much less cluttered.

2. Sharability – it is grab the URL of your post and share these posts over and over again. Just by going to the post and clipping the associated URL, you can re-post the NOTE on your wall or on another wall. You can also send it as private message. Obviously, you can not do that with a Wall Post.

3. Display – I frequently grab evergreen or pertinent posts and put them on my wall. I call it “putting it out on the sidewalk” – as if I had a store in a shopping center. As an “intellectual capitalist” – someone who essentially “sells” my knowledge, I need to “display” that knowledge in public often. I’ve found the Facebook Notes application works very well for that purpose.

4. Blog Replacement – Facebook Notes can become your primary “blog” if you don’t have another. If you do have another, just cut and paste your post into the Notes section. You CAN use HTML inside a post. For me, I just prepare the post in my blog and copy it into NOTES.

5. Visibility – A big reason to use Facebook Notes is that Facebook is that Facebook is currently NOT posting third-party blog apps into the News Feed. It will post them on your wall but not in your friends (or fans) News Feed. That is a big negative for third party apps.

How are you using NOTES? What are some tips you can share?

If you want to use the NOTES application, you can access it by typing Notes into your Facebook search bar. You can try this link: https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?ref=ts

I just received a notice that some of my groups with the old format will be archived soon – converted to the new groups format. This would be okay except that they say that all current group members will NOT BE carried over.

From https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=20336

Things that will NOT be available in the archived version include:
Recent news
Group officer titles
The info box under the old group picture
The group network
The members of your old group. You can still add new members by clicking “Add Friends to Group.”
I’m very concerned about this. Facebook help says that if you convert the group on your own, you can keep your members. However, it seems impossible to convert the group.

Any ideas on this?

Example of New Group:

Example of Old Group – will be Archived, members will be lost.  As you can see, the primary distinctions of an old group are the old-style tabs, the facebook ads and the notification that the group is going to be archived – this can only be seen by the owner and administrators of the group.

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Have you linked your Facebook Business Page to your Personal Profile? If not, you might want to consider doing so to make it more personal and to make life easier for your fans.

The reasons that you want to do this are:

1. It clearly identifies YOU with your Page. Otherwise, people simply don’t know that there is a connection, i.e., there is no direct “link” for people.

2. People generally want to know easily WHO is responsible for a Page. After all, it is SOCIAL media. People want to know about and connect with People.

3. While people can use Facebook’s Search feature, it can be really difficult to find a particular person. Frustrating. Time consuming. Why put your fans through the trouble?

4. This makes it easy for your actual Friends to connect with you (in case they found your business page first).

5. It makes it easy for people to send you a private note. Otherwise, their only option to communicate with you is to write a post on your wall – or perhaps contact you via email if they can find your email on your Facebook page.

Now that this feature is available, there are only a few reasons I can see that you wouldn’t want to use it:

– you have a page that is really controversial (political, religious, risque), or
– you want to be able to comment on your page anonymously.

How To: If you want to add this to your page, here are three easy steps to follow:

1. Go to your page and choose the EDIT PAGE on the top RIGHT corner.

2. Choose “Featured” under the options on the LEFT side of the Page.

3. Choose “Edit Featured Owners” – Facebook will show you all ADMINs on the Page. Choose the one or ones that you want and press SAVE.

There you have it! Your page is now personalized and will provide a much better experience for your fans.

If you have any questions about this, please post them in comments or on my Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/ginacarrfanpage

From the Awesome Women Hub Facebook page: April 4, 2011 http://www.fb.com/awesomewomenhub

Good news begets better people. That’s the conclusion of researchers at the University of British Columbia. In four separate studies, results showed a direct link between a person’s exposure to media stories of extraordinary virtue and their yearning to change the world. “If more attention was devoted to recounting stories of uncommon acts of human virtue, the media could have a quantifiable positive effect on the moral behaviour of a significant group of people,” says lead author Karl Aquino, who studies forgiveness and moral behavior. The more positive and powerful stories we put into the world, the more good people we may start to see.

My Response

This is so true! This was the unconscious basis upon which I co-founded and built my last business – a chain of community magazines. We focused on the GOOD news of what was happening in our community. I developed beliefs about what I called “The Cycle of RAI – Recognition, Appreciation & Inspiration.” That is, when someone doing something good for the world is noticed – recognized – by public/media, others appreciate the efforts and are inspired to do something else good. It is a beautiful thing.

What are your thoughts on this matter? Do you think that people are inspired to do great things when they read what someone else has done?

I know that a lot of people are frustrated with the new Facebook Profile. Here is a terrific marketer who is making “champagne out of lemons (not just lemonade)” as the brilliant relationship marketing expert Terry Brock likes to say.

Donna did two things to help build her credibility as a professional speaker and trainer by strategically placing pictures* on her profile that show her viewers the following:

1. Credential – she very smartly displays her NSA MEMBER (decal) – NSA is the National Speakers Association. Similar to walking into a store and seeing a “Better Business Bureau” on the door or a diploma hanging on an office wall, this shows the world that she is a serious player in her field of expertise.

2. Relationships – she also very wisely chose a picture of her with Mari Smith, arguably the most recognized thought leader today on Facebook after Mark Zuckerberg. Many people in social media will easily recognize Mari in the picture with Donna.

If you actually click the photo, you will see that Donna has a succinct caption: “Mari Smith and yours truly at the NSA 2010 Winter conference. A pleasure to meet Mari.” (Smart mention – Mari and an important industry event).

Cheers to you DONNA on a job well done with this new tool!

*How do you strategically select the pictures you want on your profile? Follow these steps:

From the awesome guide by @marismith Quick Guide To The New Facebook Profile Layout http://www.marismith.com/quick-guide-facebook-profile-layout/

The five photos at the top of your new profile are the last five you were tagged in – whether you tagged yourself or a friend tagged you. Note: anyone viewing your profile sees these five photos. (Though I have heard some users say they see different photos than the ones the profile owner sees).
To change the photos, mouseover each one and click the “X.” Another will automatically appear in its place.
To control the exact five photos you want, untag then retag (or upload new ones) and tag from right to left (left is the most recent photo). For a fun profile “hack,” see thistutorial/app and these examples on Mashable.com.

I get this request a lot. Initially, I found the VIDEO share link on FB very difficult to use. Here’s my take on it…

Two ways:

1st way – if the video resides on the web ala Youtube (my preference and the easier method)

1. Go to the Home Page or the Profile Page.
2. Click the LINK button that is to the right of the SHARE button which is to the right of your picture.
3. Insert the link and click ATTACH.
4. Then you can write something about the link.

2nd way – if the video RESIDES on your computer hard drive (or mobile device) (more difficult)

1. Go to the Home Page.
2. Click the “Photos” filter on the left side of the page.
3. Click the “Videos” sub-filter.
4. Select which type of video you want to make. You can choose “File Upload” to upload a video from your drive, “Mobile Video” to upload a video from your mobile device, or “Record Video” to record a video with your webcam.
4. Follow the on screen directions for your particular upload type.

A successful video upload will generate a story about your video and store the video permanently in My Videos.

Please let me know if you have any questions or add any tips that you have discovered.

Embed 'What is your favorite social media management tool?' in a web page | Poll Everywhere: “

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This is a great interview by Skype’s Chief Enterprise Blogger, Terry Brock, of the President of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Gary Shapiro. The CEA puts on the world famous Vegas-based Consumer Electronics Show. Gary is also the author of a recent book, Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream.

It’s clear why the Consumer Electronics Show continues to be such a big success with Gary Shipiro at the helm. My big takeaways from Gary are:

1. “Broadband is important because that is what access for information and education is all about for everyone in the world.”

2. “The only way to grow the economy is through innovation.”

3. “Politicians are stealing from our future – democrats and republicans.”

I can’t wait to read Gary’s book Comeback. Thanks for giving us an up close and personal interview with someone who is actually bringing about significant positive change in the world.

Here is the link to Terry’s interview…

http://terrybrock.com/2011/01/garyshapiro-2/

See http://bloggingsuccesssummit.ginasentme.com)

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The following quick tips will help you with Linkedin:

1. Check to see that your profile is up-to-date with everything that you want it to say. Remember Less is More. Better to leave them wanting more than to bore them to tears.

2. Follow the steps to “Link in” with more people using your email database – personally and we can import from 1shoppingcart

3. Look for GROUPS that are your target audience. Join several. Then “lurk” around to see how they work – who is posting on the discussions, what sorts of things? If there are questions you can answer or comments you want to make, go ahead. Just don’t post anything until you are comfortable.

Social Media Magic – Advanced Twitter – Here’s a quick video (about 6 minutes) about how to make your Twitter posts more viral by combining RSS feeds with Hashtags. What do you think? Warning – if you are not really familiar with Twitter, hashtags, RSS feeds, and Hootsuite this is NOT for you. #twittip #some

Three Quick & Easy Ways to Make Your Facebook Posts More Viral (10)