There are several different options available to help you manage multiple social media accounts at once. Among the most popular are Tweetdeck, Seesmic and Hootsuite. Depending on your needs and desire for access, then you might consider  each one of these for different reasons. All of them have a web version and apps for iPhone. Tweetdeck and Seesmic also have downloadable desktop versions.

For everyday non-mobile use, I have found Hootsuite to be my preferred social media management tool. Hootsuite provides you with a comprehensive social media dashboard for managing multiple social media accounts and platforms all in once place.

First built as a Twitter management tool, Hootsuite has grown to include the ability to post to LinkedIn, Facebook, Facebook pages, Ping.fm, MySpace, WordPress, Foursquare and importing RSS feeds.  With Hootsuite, you can pull in multiple Twitter accounts, multiple Facebook profiles, multiple LinkedIn accounts, etc.

For Twitter accounts, you can quickly and easily view your Home Feed, your @ mentions, your sent tweets, your direct messages, plus add columns for any of your Twitter lists, columns to monitor keywords or key phrases, and a pending tweets column for any scheduled tweets. You can have up to 10 columns for each twitter account showing at one time. I typically add a few columns for monitoring keywords and a few more columns for lists of specific twitterers for different purposes. For example, I might like to keep up on the tweets of my colleagues, social media people and local friends.

Hootsuite makes it easy to reply, re-tweet, send a direct message, add a tweet as a favorite, reply all (for tweets with multiple twitterers listed) or send a specific tweet to email. Another nice feature is the amount of information available about each twitterer including their Twitter bio, a link to their twitter account, their website, how many they are following, number of followers and the ability to report them as a spammer. What I really like about this feature as well is that it includes easy access to their timeline, their mentions, their favorites and links to their other social network accounts. You can easily follow, unfollow, direct message or add someone to one of your lists from this window as well.

For LinkedIn or Facebook, you can monitor the news feeds of your connections in Hootsuite and schedule status updates to go out to each of them. For Facebook pages, you can see all of your posts to the pages and schedule updates.

Hootsuite offers a handy link shortner that makes it easy to shorten a URL and include in it a tweet. There are analytics available for each link shortened using ow.ly so you can track how many times a link has been clicked or you can select a specific tweet and see that stats for that tweet. This is a great way to gauge what types of content your followers are interested in and respond to. Hootsuite recently added the ability to bring in your Google Analytics making it easy to monitor yet another piece of your online activity from one place.

You can also bring in the RSS feed for your blog so that when you post on your blog, it will automatically post to any of your social networking accounts. Other RSS feeds can also be pulled in and set to automatically post to your accounts. For example, each Delicious account has it’s own RSS feed. I set mine so that when I bookmark something in Delicious, it will automatically post that article or website with a link to Twitter. I preface these tweets with “Bookmarked:” This lets my Twitter followers know that I’ve just bookmarked something that I found interesting and that I thought they might like too.

Hootsuite allows for multiple users to manage different social network accounts from their own respective Hootsuite accounts. Hootsuite confirms who is the “owner” of an account and then you can give access to someone else to that account as a team member. This is very helpful when multiple people need to manage an account and especially in the work that I do. This means when I reply to something in another account or if I schedule a tweet to go out, then the other person with access to that account will see that I’ve already replied or can see what I have scheduled to go out.

Update: Hootsuite recently announced they will start charging for different plans with different levels of features. They will have one plan that remains free with limited features. You can find more information here about the new Hootsuite plans.

Image via CrunchBase

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Among the biggest change is that users no longer “Become a Fan” of a fan page. Instead they will now “Like” a page and people will no longer be listed as fans, but will be “People who Like This.” Facebook explains the change here:

Why did “Become a Fan” change to “Like”?

To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we’ve changed the language for Pages from “Fan” to “Like.” We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.

They also explain here what it means to “Like” a page:

What does it mean to “Like” a Page?

When you click “Like” on a Page, you are making a connection to that Page. The Page will be displayed in your profile, and in turn, you will be displayed on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed.

So far I’ve found this page in Facebook’s Help Center to be the most comprehensive explanation of how all the changes work and tie together. Along with the “Like” for fan pages, they are launching Community Pages which will link to your profile info so that your interests become links to community pages that reflect these interests. You also have the option of linking your interests to specific fan pages.

This, of course, means increased public visibility for your profile an the information in your personal profile. Along with these new features come new privacy settings that everyone should know and be aware of. Listed below are some of the posts and articles that have come out about these changes and how they affect users.

Connecting to Everything You Care About. Source: Facebook Blog

Facebook to Link Profiles and Pages. Source: Mashable

If You Link Your Profile Data to Pages, then You Make that Information Public by Default. Source: Inside Facebook

Facebook Launches New Privacy Section That May Make Your Head Hurt. Source: TechCrunch

Google Twitter Announcement

This means that updates from Facebook Fan Pages are currently being indexed and included in Google’s real time search feature. This includes links, photos, videos and status updates but not comments by fans. While updates from personal profiles can also be posted publicly by users, it doesn’t appear that those updates are being indexed as part of the real time search.

What is Real Time Search?

If you’re not familiar with real time search, here’s an example. Currently trending on Twitter is “Canadian Joannie Rochette” from Olympic events. If you go to Google and type in “Canadian Joannie Rochette,” you will get quite  few results, but if you scroll down about mid-page, this is what you will see.

As you can see, there is a scrolling box which shows real time results as they are happening.

The addition of Facebook page updates to real time search joins Twitter, MySpace, FriendFeed and others. Mostly what I’ve seen so far in real time search are updates from these networks about trending topics. This probably means that big brands on Facebook with large fan bases will likely get the most of amount of love from real time search right now. However, it does become yet another reason why businesses, organizations, non-profits and others need to seriously considering creating a solid presence on Facebook because now it means that just one more way to get yourself found on Google.

Need help with setting up your business Facebook page? Shoot me a message and let’s talk about it or come find me on my Facebook page!

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As a Virtual Assistant, my business model is built around being able to work with virtually anyone, anywhere. When I first started using social media for marketing, I did not focus too much on networking locally either online or in person.  However, when my husband and I started an e-commerce business, OTC Sports, part of our business model for was centrally built around reaching the local market.

OTC Sports Fleece

Around this same time, I made the acquaintance of Gary Powell with ImageWear Solutions on Twitter (@imagewear).  Gary and I exchanged a few emails as I helped him figure out some of the inner workings of using Twitter and Facebook for business.  He also reached out to my husband, Jeff, on Twitter (@OTCsports), communicating back and forth about different sports related topics. Gary is a great example of what a local business can do with social media. He reached out to other locals on Twitter and Facebook, offered a helping hand, and was always willing to help spread the word about other local businesses.  Gary doesn’t use social media to be self-promoting, he uses it for connecting with people.

When the time came for us to order promotional apparel for OTC Sports, Gary was the first person we called upon.

OTC Sports Beanie

Completely knowledgeable about promotional products and apparel, Gary made the process easy and seamless. He was even kind enough to help push the order through to meet a deadline for us. We were thrilled with the items ImageWear had made for us. The quality and workmanship was outstanding.  And what’s more, is that we have gone back for more as I ordered some beanie caps as a Christmas gift for my husband with the OTC Sports logo on them.

This is just one example of how businesses can use social media to networking locally and get seen, get heard.

Just a short and to the point post that will actually be a list of references for Facebook. You might be surprised how much information you can on Facebook about using Facebook!

• Facebook Marketing Page: A page run by Facebook which provide tips for using Facebook for marketing and brand loyalty.

• Facebook Pages Product Guide: Light overview (PDF) document by Facebook about what pages are, how they work and the various elements that make up a fan page.

• Facebook Promotions Guidelines: Facebook’s guidelines for promoting your Facebook page outside of Facebook. Includes an easily downloadable (Facebook approved) graphic to place on your website to help visitors click through to your Facebook page.

• Facebook For Non-Profits: A fan page that serves as a resource for non-profits and other organizations on Facebook who work towards social good. Often they highlight other non-profit fan pages or will post news about brands or companies who are using Facebook for social good.

• Facebook Fan Pages: Another page administered by Facebook where they share news, best practices and examples for administrators of Facebook pages.

• Facebook’s Official Privacy Policy: Facebook’s official policy regarding your privacy on the platform.

• Facebook’s Blog: This is another good place to find all the latest announcements and news about Facebook. Facebook often posts about upcoming changes and events there before they happen.

Of course, working with an experienced social media virtual assistant who is already aware of these resources and keeps tabs on the latest happenings with Facebook can help you navigate using Facebook efficiently and effectively.

Image via Wikipedia

After seeing this update, I went over the Army’s Facebook page to see just what was going on and it seems as though the Army’s fans were posting their opinions on the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. Obviously, this is a highly charged and highly emotional issue for many people on both sides of the issue.  The parts that particularly caught my interest was:

1. The response from the Army’s admins for page who were actively engaging with their fans and letting them know they were being heard. It also appears Admins are actively watching the page to delete any completely derogatory and profane messages. But the ones that are on there seem to be posted by people on there who are willing to post their opinions without resorting to name calling or hurtful words.

2. That this issue was being so openly discussed at all on their fan page.

While fan opinions on Facebook may not change whether the policy continues, it does seem entirely feasible that at the very least, these comments will be forwarded to those in the higher ranks and quite possibly to congressmen and women and other policy/decision makers.

I believe this speaks to power of social media today. Not only is the US Army using Facebook to connect with people but those people are using the platform as a way to make themselves heard and they’re doing it without a second thought. Just a few short years ago, (heck, even just a year ago), the ability of the public to get their opinions directly to an agency like the Army would have been limited to poll or survey agencies or to sending a letter directly to your congress person…something that only small percentage of people would actually do. Additionally, it also shows how much more comfortable people have gotten with discussing such highly charged issues in a very public forms.

Is it a good thing? I think so. You need to remain objective though about whether the majority of opinions on the Army’s Facebook page are in support of the policy or if they oppose it. They currently have over 148,000 fans and one would venture to guess that a significant portion of those fans support the Army and it’s principles so opinions may be skewed in one direction or another. You also have to consider that the Admins may be removing the most inflammatory posts.  However, a good portion of the comments that I read seemed to mostly support not discriminating against any of our service men or women based on race, gender or sexual orientation.

I think its an example of a good use of social media.

Facebook recently changed not only how news and updates are delivered to users, but they’ve also implemented a formula for deciding which news is delivered. When you log into Facebook, you will most likely first see “News Feed.” (Unless you’ve moved Status Updates to the top of your left side menu, in which case, you will see just the Status Updates from your friends.) What shows up in your News Feed is determined by Facebook based on their own formula.  The News Feed typically will include content from your Friends and from the Fan Pages that you belong to. However, unless you click on view “Live Feed,” you are only going to see the content that Facebook has decided you might be interested in.

This means Facebook now takes into account what Fan Pages your friends like, or what Fan Page stories they are commenting on, which fan pages you interact with frequently and which fan pages you visit most often.

What does this mean for Facebook Fan Page Administrators?

It means that engagement and interaction on your Fan Page just became much more important if you expect to get your Fan Page to show up in your fans’ News Feeds. No longer can you just post on your Facebook and expect that it will get seen by your fans by showing up in their News Feed. It will still show up in their Live Feed, but the Live Feed is not the default and we have no idea how many users are actually moving from their News Feed to the Live Feed.

Fan Page Administrators will now have to work to earn a spot in their Fan’s News Feeds. While this might seem like this approach works against small businesses and works more for big brands with a huge fan base and tons of interaction, it really just means that Facebook is working towards keeping content in user’s news feeds that is relevant and interesting to the user. Fan Page should be places where fans come to interact with a brand or business. It’s never been the intention that Fan Pages should just be advertising billboards who can blast out marketing messages to anyone who becomes a fan. As a social networking platform, Facebook is a place where people go to network and socialize either with people, brands or business which they have *chosen* to interact with.

Next up…How to Keep Your Fans Engaged.

Image by J.Rio via Flickr

Now when you log in you will first see the “News Feed” on your Home page. According to Facebook’s Blog this is

“the most interesting things that happened in the last day in the “News Feed” view. News Feed picks stories that we think you’ll enjoy based on a variety of factors including how many friends have liked and commented on it and how likely you are to interact with that story.”

What this means is that Facebook has “picked” some of your friends and fan page’s updates or postings that they think you will be most interested in regardless of when they were posted and is essentially *highlighting* them for you. This does have some benefits in that you might find a posting or update that is interesting to you from several hours to a couple of days ago that you might have missed when you were not logged into Facebook. However, it also means that Facebook is picking these for you so there may also been people or pages showing up in this stream that really are not a high priority for you.

The Live Feed is a feed of what’s happening currently…the most recent posts as they happen in real time. This is the same as the feed you had before with a few small exceptions. One is the return of information about when friends become friends of someone else, when they are tagged in a photo or video and when they become fans of a fan page. While I’m not entirely too keen on having this information back in my newstream, there are probably others out there who don’t mind it. I do think that the addition of know which friends became fans of which fan pages or members of a new group along with the ability to become a fan or join a group right from the newstream is actually going to be a big benefit to helping fan pages grow their fan page and increase their visibility- something many fan pages and groups struggle with. However, if you have friends who are highly active on Facebook and each and every action they take is in your news feed, then I think there is the risk that more people may be hiding their highly active friends as Facebook has failed to provide people with the option of opting out of seeing some types of items in your Live Feed.

It is also important to be aware that Facebook has initially set your Live Feed to have a maximum number of friends in your live feed to be 250. You can change this to higher number and Facebook informs you this means there will be a higher number of posts. You can also choose which friends or fan pages that you want to see more of and which ones you wish to hide altogether. To do this, find the “Edit Options” link at the bottom of your Live Feed/Home page.

As with most changes in Facebook, this one will take some time to get used to and there are many out there who will oppose the change initially starting different groups and pages with a stated mission of trying to “bring back” whichever feature they felt should not be removed. Ultimately though, these changes will be here to stay. Well, at least until the next change that is.

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This is awesome new feature which allows you to create yet another way to engage with your target audience and to bring them in to part of your online social network. It’s also a great move on Facebook’s part to push Facebook out even further into the Internet stratosphere.

To get the code for the widget for a fan page, you must first be an Admin for the fan page. This means you can’t just go and add a widget for any fan page that might grab your attention. As with anything that you post on your site, it should be something that you have explicit permission to post. As an Admin to a Fan Page, when you go to the page, you will see the option just below the picture or your logo which says, “Add Fan Box to Your Site.” There you will actually see two options, one for getting the code for adding a fan box and the other option provides you with code to get a Live Stream box which shows all the updates from your friends and where you can also post your status.

Grab the copy and paste it into whichever pages, site or blog that you want to add it to and voila, you just created a great way for people to connect with your business/fan page via your website. And here’s mine below- if you’re not a fan already…Join me!!

For many of us who already use either our name, our business name or another specific username, there was some added pressure to be the first to stake a claim- especially if you have a fairly common name. I chose to go with my proper name instead of my business name. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, as a Virtual Assistant, there is just as much likelihood that someone will search for me by name as they will for my business name. My URL for LinkedIn is also under my proper name. Secondly, Facebook made it very clear that users would not be allowed to change their username and were advised to choose wisely. I figured that if I ever wanted to re-brand myself or decided to change my name or my industry, then I would want to still have a relevant username/URL for my Facebook account regardless of what I was doing or the name of my business. Besides, in a few weeks, I’ll be able to choose a username for my business Fan Page that can specific to my business and thus help me in that way in the search engines.

It was reported on Mashable that 200,000 users claimed their name within the first 3 minutes after Facebook opened the gate. Today, they reported that over three million names were claimed by 2 p.m. EST. And along with that, Twitter was all a-buzz with everyone pronouncing their claims and with reports of other names being snatched up before people could claim the one they wanted. Mashable also followed up with a post today about some of the funnier, wackier and nonsensical names that were chosen.

Now, as a Social Media Virtual Assistant, I made sure to inform all of my clients who are Facebook users of the need to make sure they claim their username as soon as possible and why this was important. I also made sure to give them heads up about the Fan Page username limitations (a 1,000 fan requirement as of May 31) but that we would be able to go in and get a Fan Page username as of June 28th regardless of the number of fans. A few of my clients asked me to take care of claiming their username for them since I was already going to be claiming mine at the same time. This is yet another example of how a small business owner or solo entrepreneur can benefit from partnering with a Social Media Virtual Assistant. I stay aware of what’s going on daily in social media and am sure to alert my clients to whatever news or opportunities that I feel they will benefit from in their social media efforts.