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Recently I have seen more and more websites utilizing the facebook social plugin.  Let’s look at why this is a HUGE mistake.

First, what is the Facebook Social Plugin? It’s a simple tool that you include on your website, showing fans of your business page.  It is a display box which shows postings from your Facebook Page, a sampling of pictures of people who “Like” it, and it also includes the ability to “Like” your Facebook page directly from your website, via the integrated box.

Example of the plugin on a website is this Video Editing Software Review: http://www.clicknewz.com/3439/best-video-editing-software-reviews/

Why are people using the Facebook Social Plugin? Because, in a really straight forward way, it shows your business Facebook page, it allows for a quick “Like” and, in a way, it shows how popular you are.  It can be effective at driving “Likes” to your Facebook page.

Why you should NEVER use the Facebook Social Plugin! Because you don’t have any control over who “Likes” your page!  Yes you can ban people, but you cannot keep people from liking your page.  Why is this a problem???  Because unscrupulous folks are on Facebook.  We have all seen them.  Beyond that, there are REAL friends of yours that will change their profile photo to something inappropriate for business because they are not using their facebook for business, but YOU ARE!  Because you cannot control what fans profile pics show via the Social Plugin, you are creating the opportunity for disaster.

So how can the Facebook Social Plugin ruin your business? Think of this extreme example. I concede that this example is extreme but you should understand that it could happen nonetheless. You post a cool product link on Facebook with a coupon code or information to drive fans to your website. The fans click it and are delivered directly to your site, exactly what you wanted… Success!  Then they see the site and they see the Facebook Social Plugin which loads 10 Facebook Fan Profile photos.  However, recently, you were not aware that you got hit by a Facebook Spam bot and received 50 new likes from fake profiles that promote Online Drug Sales, or worse yet,  Adult Related Content.  Your user sees the profiles on the plugin, and out of 10, 3 are inappropriate.  Even though you had no control over those profiles being seen on the plugin, your prospect or client immediately connects that action to you the business owner.  It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility.  Furthermore, what do you believe the action of your prospect would be?  I believe the greater percentage of prospects will choose to never return to your website because they were offended by the spam-generated profile picture, and they will likely “Unlike” your Facebook page and unsubscribe from your email newsletter.  Finally, you have done irreparable harm to your company because of the inclusion of the Facebook Social Plugin.

The Solution So, if you cannot include the Facebook Social Plugin on your website due to potential harm, what should you do to drive prospects to your Facebook business page and notify them that you have a Facebook page?

Answer:  Use the Social buttons that identify Facebook and other Social Networks that most people use.  Try, if at all possible, to get these buttons “Above the Fold”.  ”Above the Fold” means that you won’t have to scroll to see the buttons from your landing page, which may also be your home page.  Make sure you are not looking at your website with a resolution set to 800×600, as very few people use that setting any more.

Establish a Routine

Don’t get stuck figuring out over and over again how to do the same task. Having good documentation is time consuming, but it’s essential to have step-by-step instructions for tasks that are extremely detailed and prone to error. Otherwise you’ll end up correcting the same mistakes. Make sure to keep this in an easily accessible place or you’ll forget or be too lazy to reach for it when starting the task. You’ll also find this handy when it’s time to pass this task to someone else.

Goal Setting

A To-Do-List allows you to set goals, and assign tasks to those goals. Setting specific tasks to goals   ensures that you keep your eye on the ball. You can look at your next steps and see how far you’ve come. Once tasks are assigned to specific goals it creates a chain display that shows the number of tasks completed for each goal, as well as the goal’s chain. The chain gets longer for each consecutive day that a completed task contributes to the goal. Make progress on a goal each day to get a long chain. Miss a day and that chain will get broken.

It’s important to see beyond the task list at the bigger picture and know that checking off the tasks brings you another step closer to your goals.

Managing Distractions

Oftentimes I’m working on something when I get distracted — the phone rings, an instant message appears, I notice a new email — and then I completely forget what I was working on. I’ll get off the phone and decide to check email. Before long I’m off doing something else with the original task left hanging. Many people call this “multi-tasking” but most of us know that there are very few things we can really do at the same time. I can walk on the treadmill and read email at the same time, but I can’t talk on the phone and write an article at the same time.

I’m not disciplined enough to follow strict rules of checking email only twice a day or turning off my phone. But I can go back (after I’m no longer distracted) and see the task I was working on previously.

A feature that helps me is a TIMER, it helps me to stay on task when my mind starts to wander and I want to do something else. Click the timer button and it keeps the clock running for the time spent on that task. Knowing that before I switch tasks I have to stop the timer button actually gives me incentive to just finish what I’m doing. That one small barrier is enough to prevent the impulse to check email until I’ve completed the task at hand.

Scheduling Your Time

Time scheduling helps me manage my time by using the timer (which tells me exactly how long I’ve spent on a task) and the time estimation I can include for each task (to get a handle of what I can expect to accomplish in one day). Sometimes a day passes by and I wonder what I did all day. With the timer function, I can see exactly where all my hours went, and it does make me feel better to know that I actually didn’t spend all day on emails, phone calls..etc. It also helps me see where or what I may be spending way too much of my time on.

Being able to see how long a task will take also helps me plan my day. If I’m just going down a list of items, I might think I can complete 10 things. But taking into consideration the time it’ll take for each task will keep my expectations realistic. If there’s a big project I need to slot most of the day to, I might only accomplish 3 things that day, but it still would have been a full day of working.

Next Week -  Setting Goals and Establishing a Routine

Enjoy Your Week