This afternoon Facebook announced via the developer forum that Facebook Pages now need to be authenticated in order to have landing tabs. This means any new visitor to your Facebook Page will not be able to land on a custom tab unless you have greater than 10,000 fans or the Page administrator has worked with an ads account representative. This is a massive blow to smaller companies (or individuals) looking to build their presence through Facebook Pages.

This update came as a massive blow to Page administrators who were looking to build their fan base organically on their own. As we’ve written about in the past, using landing tabs is critical in converting new visitors into fans. Here’s what was posted on the developer forum earlier today:

Hello all,

We apologize for not messaging this earlier. Facebook recently made a change requiring that Pages be authenticated before enabling the ability to set a landing tab beyond Wall or Info. To be eligible for authentication, a Page must have greater than 10k fans or the Page admin must work with their ads account manager. If you are already working with an account representative, please contact that representative to begin the authentication process. If you do not work with an account representative, you can use this contact form to inquire about working with an account representative.

Also, for advertisers who don’t have a representative or 10k fans, and want to run ads and land users on a specific tab, you can still do so with standard Facebook ads by making their Destination URL as the URL incl. your tab. Unfortunately, this currently will not work with “Fan” ads.

Thanks,
Matt Trainer

As you can imagine, developers (and marketers) are not happy. This means that the odds of building a popular Facebook Page are against the average Joe. Instead, administrators will need to spend money on Facebook Ads or alternatively, have a large traffic base on the company’s existing site in order to build a large following.

We’d assume that this change was made for two reasons: to combat spam and more importantly, to boost revenue. We’ll be sure to post any updates as we learn more about the changes. We’re currently trying to find out what impact this will have on third-party solutions (Involver, Sprout, Wildfire, etc) which enable companies to build custom landing tabs. Thanks to Mari Smith for bringing this to our attention.

This also now affects FBML application feature that allows you to change the landing page to a custom tab.

I do a lot of work for small business owners that it will take them a very long time to be able to get 10,000 people to ‘like’ their page so this new limitation is not good hopefully they will rethink this and change it like they did for the pretty url limitations.

I also looked into the advertiser representative and the lowest amount is $10,000 to contact an ad rep.

Tell me what you think about this by leaving a comment.  Have you found a work around?

To clarify, ALL of your custom tabs still exist. And – this is important – each tab still has its own unique URL.  So my suggestion for the WORK around is to take that unique url and hyperlink it to your Facebook icon on your website to direct them to your CUSTOM tab (Welcome page) on your Facebook page for example.

Facebook has gone back and forth with how many Fans you need for your Business Fan Page to get this “pretty url”.

When pages first came out it was 25 fans, then they jumped to 100 and then 1000.  Many business owners sent in their feedback saying “Hey Facebook for business is also for the small business owner, don’t alienate us by making it 1000 fans.”  So they lowered it to 100.

Currently as I write this they have lowered it to 25 fans.  So if you haven’t ‘prettied’ up your Facebook  Biz URL go and do so today.

Note: Make sure when you  entering the custom business name you are doing it in the right area so that it creates your pretty  BUSINESS page URL.  You can also change your personal profile name in the same area so be CAREFUL.
Once you change it you can’t edit it.

Keep the name you use consistent with what you call your Facebook Business Page or what your domain name is.
Remember this is the url that you can also put at the bottom of your email signature on business cards, on a billboard sign etc.

Facebook at least offers the ability to get a pretty url for both your PERSONAL profile and your BUSINESS page but what if the social media site doesn’t offer that what do you do?

You can use URL shortening services like TinyURL or bit.ly to make short versions of the url link.

You can purchase a domain name set up a 301 redirect to a landing page  “Find Me At”  with ALL of your social media buttons with direct hyperlinks.

You can use http://www.unhub.com for FREE  and set which site it lands on with ALL of your social media buttons and links on top.   Here is my unhub page which lands on my blog site   http://unhub.com/virtualbiz4u

If you need help with figuring out “How To” set up your pretty url on Facebook for personal and business feel free to take the Facebook For Business Online Class which will show you how.

Post what that new ‘pretty url’ is HERE so we can all fan your Facebook page.  If you have a hub account or a custom domain feel free to leave a comment too.  Tell  us a little bit about yourself  and what your favorite social media site you use most often.

When users sign into their accounts, they can select to view either the “News feed” tab or the “Live Feed” tab. The news feed will feature items Facebook believes are of most value to you, while the live feed will list everything that is going on with your friends.

When users are on their news feed tab, the live feed tab will keep track of how many new posts have been added. This is similar to Facebook’s recent news feed which notifies users when new posts are added.

Facebook has also added information back to the News Feed, like when friends are tagged in photos, when friends become fans of pages or join a group, when they RSVP to events, and when they add friends

Watch the video and learn how to ‘tame your feeds’ so that you have a better experience with what you see in your feeds.
Many people don’t realize several features that they use to help.

Couple of key features people miss…

• Changing the amount of friends that the default setting is set at.
• Using Friends lists and adjusting where the list folder is placed

This video is part of the Facebook For Business Online Class that can be found in Virtual Business Solutions Learning Center.

Discover how to use Facebook to grow your business.

It boils down to this. Facebook is all the rage now, a social networking site that has grown so fast over the past year that it has overcome MySpace as the world’s number one social network.

There are currently about 250 million active users, a number that is still growing at a staggering rate. It is compared to being the third largest continent in the WORLD!!!

That’s a lot of potential customers!!!

If you want to grow your business, the opportunities to promote yourself and your products or services are extensive. Facebook is definitely the kind of marketing tool you should have under your belt.

However, like similar social networking sites, it takes time and effort to master all of the features, applications and marketing possibilities that Facebook offers. Groups, Pages, Profiles, the best practices, examples of successes using Facebook, and more.

As a busy business owner you don’t have the TIME to figure it out.  That is where Virtual Business Solutions ‘Social Media Series ‘ comes into place.  Each class is broken down into exact steps it takes to get your business up and running using social media.  You will learn the “How to’s to be Social for your business.”

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• Videos SHOWING you how to use Facebook For Business
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Sometimes mixing business with personal can be tricky, expecially when you have personal and family contacts and business contacts on Facebook.  Many of my students in my Facebook for Business class have asked me how can I block ’silly apps’ from showing in my newsfeed so that my clients don’t see this when my friends use these apps?

Go to your newsfeed and find any post that has an application that you find ’silly or annoying’  or that you clients would find silly or annoying to see.  Then move your mouse over the right side beside the post and a box that says HIDE will appear.

Click on the Arrow down and you will see two choices HIDE the person on your newsfeed or Hide the application in your newsfeed.

This should help with those apps not appearing in your newsfeed no matter who is playing say “Mafia Wars”.

I personally don’t block any personal friends from my newsfeed but I do find that getting 20 apps on my newsfeed with sugar peeps, or Mafia Wars can cause my newsfeed to get very cluttered.  I hope this helps your newsfeed be less cluttered as well.

Fab Facebook Friend to Follow on Facebook is something I would like to see more business owner do on Facebook.
Twitter has a Follow Friday where you recommend a business owner and state why you would recommend them. Here are the directions on how to do so EASILY.

1- Go to the persons profile that you would recommend, go down to the bottom and click Share. A box will appear that you can write in why you would recommend them (See image).

It will appear on your profile wall or a message in peoples inbox.

Happy Sharing your Fab Facebook Friend to Follow on Facebook on Friday!!!!

To see this live Facebook example

Brian Solis wrote this article below which really puts Facebook enormous effects on social media into perspective.

Not to be outdone by the news of Twitter’s astronomical growth, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg announced that the popular social network has hit a noteworthy milestone, the welcoming of their 200 millionth user.

To celebrate the moment, Zuckerberg commented, “When we built Facebook in 2004, our goal was to create a richer, faster way for people to share information about what was happening around them. We thought that giving people better tools to communicate would help them better understand the world, which would then give them even greater power to change the world.”

Indeed, Facebook and other social mediums are empowering those who possess the ability to emerge and shepherd as true leaders at any level. Social Networks represent the larger impact beyond mere communication efficiency, they serve as a catalyst for organized connectivity, inspiration, and action, ultimately shifting our culture for how we consume and share information and potentially engender positive change.

To celebrate “change,” Facebook is also creating a space in the network where people can share their stories about how Facebook has helped them make an give back. Facebook is also collaborating with 16 charitable and advocacy groups to create gifts that are available now in the gift shop.

General Statistics:

It took 20,000 years for the world population to reach 200 million people

It would take 46.5 years for 200 million babies to be born in the U.S.

200 million would be the world’s 5th most populous country, bigger than Brazil, Japan, and Russia

Facebook Statistics:

General Growth
* More than 200 million active users
* More than 100 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day
* More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college
* The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older

User Engagement
* Average user has 120 friends on the site
* More than 3.5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
* More than 20 million users update their statuses at least once each day
* More than 4 million users become fans of Pages each day

Applications
* More than 850 million photos uploaded to the site each month
* More than 8 million videos uploaded each month
* More than 1 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week
* More than 2.5 million events created each month
* More than 25 million active user groups exist on the site

International Growth
* More than 40 translations available on the site, with more than 50 in development
* About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States

Platform
* More than 660,000 developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries
* Every month, more than 70% of Facebook users engage with Platform applications
* More than 52,000 applications currently available in the Facebook Application Directory
* More than 5,000 applications have 10,000 or more monthly active users
* More than 8,000 websites have implemented Facebook Connect since its general availability in December 2008

Mobile
* More than 660,000 developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries
* Every month, more than 70% of Facebook users engage with Platform applications
* More than 52,000 applications currently available in the Facebook Application Directory
* More than 5,000 applications have 10,000 or more monthly active users
* More than 8,000 websites have implemented Facebook Connect since its general availability in December 2008

1. Using Twitter to Tweet and Share: Perhaps the fastest and most effective way to share a great blog post is through Twitter (). Sharing or retweeting a link in Twitter can spread like wildfire. Use a URL shortener such as tinyurl or bit.ly to shorten links to fit within 140 characters.

2. Posting to Facebook: Sharing a blog post on the world’s largest social network is as simple as going to the Facebook () homepage and posting a link.

3. Digg it: Not only will you help bring that blog post one step closer to reaching the front page of the news site Digg () (which will spread it even further), but all of your Digg friends will see it as well.

4. Post on MySpace Profile: Don’t forget about the world’s second largest social network when sharing your favorite articles. Post the link to your MySpace () profile so your friends can enjoy it too.

5. Posting to LinkedIn: Some blog posts are worthy of being shared by your business network on LinkedIn. Post a link to the Network Updates area in the homepage.

6. Stumbling on StumbleUpon Stumble the post! StumbleUpon () is a favorite network for discovering fun websites and useful information, so make sure that you give the post a thumbs up. The StumbleUpon Toolbar is the easiest way to Stumble.

7. Bookmarking to Delicious: Delicious is great for not only sharing posts, but for helping categorize blog posts for others to find. In addition, you can import your delicious bookmarks to Facebook, FriendFeed (), and other social media websites.

8. Sharing on FriendFeed: The social media aggregator FriendFeed has a vibrant community who love to share videos, links, and pictures. Use the FriendFeed bookmarklet to quickly share a good blog post to FriendFeed.

9. Adding to Reddit: Reddit () is another great social media site for sharing and voting on articles. It’s quick and easy to submit a link

10. Reblogging Great Posts: Blogging about a great article is one of the best ways to engage with the topics being discussed. Post a link, write some commentary, and share it with all of your readers. And don’t forget to share your own blog post as well!

11. Sharing via Google Reader: Google Reader () has a great feature for sharing blog posts. If you use Google Reader as your news reader of choice, all you have to do is click the “share” button at the bottom of blog posts to share it with all of your Google () friends. You can also add notes and comment as well.

12. Posting on Tumblr or Posterous: If you want to share something via a blog, but don’t want to write a full blog post about it, there are great options for that as well, primarily Tumblr () and Posterous (). They are the quick and easy versions of full-fledged blogs, ideal for posting about pictures and blog posts.

13. TwitThat: TwitThat is one of the quickest and easiest tools for sharing blog posts. It will post to your Twitter quickly and easily. Just add the bookmarklet to your browser toolbar and click it whenever you come across a great post.

14. Shareaholic Firefox Extension: There are a lot of great social networks where you can share a great post, but who wants to visit Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn to share a post? If you are a Firefox () user, then install Shareaholic, an extension that goes on your toolbar. It provides quick links for sharing to all of the major social networks.

15. Ping.fm: If you’re a busy person, you might not have time to share on all of these social media websites. Isn’t there an easy way to share a blog post everywhere, all at once? Ping.fm links to all of your social networks and sends your updates to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, to any other website you wish to link to it. You can even update from your instant messenger. It’s the perfect solution for those who like to share content all over the web.

16. Emailing: Email has always been a good way to share articles, especially with close friends and family. Although it may not reach as many people as Twitter, it will definitely reach anyone who isn’t as deep into social media as you are.

17. Texting: Did you know you that many blogs, including Mashable (), support sharing an article via text message? Look out for the ShareThis button (three green dots connected by lines) under blog posts and select the “text” option. iPhones and mobile browsers have made it easy to read links sent by texts.

18. Changing IM Statuses: You probably have dozens, if not hundreds of IM contacts. Share great posts with all of them by changing your IM status to a great post you just read or wrote.

19. IMing a friend: If changing an IM status seems too impersonal, then just IM your friends the link. You can then have a fun chat about the blog post.

20. Talking to Friends: If you don’t have a computer handy, then don’t forget about the analog approach – call a friend or tell him or her over coffee about a great blog post you read. You can always send the link later if necessary.

10 Great Social Sites for Resume Building is a great article for using Social sites for getting your name out there as to what you do when job hunting.
I would have to add one more site which is Facebook because you never know who knows someone who can get you in the door of a company that you would otherwise never be expose to.  So you see that I changed the title to “11 Great Social Sites for Resume Building.”

Facebook
My suggestion is to set up a facebook account if you haven’t already done so and add the url’s of the places that you have your resume posted, monster, etc.  Use the Info section to add additional information about what your profession is and what you are looking for.
Post often so that people that may have not seen an update on your facebook page see it the next time they log in.
People are nowing recording videos  resume ‘about me’ type to seperate themselves out of the crowd.  Load that video to facebook also or link to your video.

Dan Schawbel is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 09), and owner of the award winning Personal Branding Blog.

Creating the perfect resume is not easy. Luckily, there are a number of online resources dedicated to helping you create outstanding traditional and social media resumes. Here are 10 great social sites with unique features that let you create your own resume-like profile, edit your resume online, get it reviewed by experts, print it, share it on social networks, and much more.

Remember, building a strong profile can help serve as a great marketing tool to help you get the job you’re looking for.

Have another resume building site to recommend? Tell us about it in the comments.

1.  Razume

2.  LinkedIn

As you accelerate in your career, your network can easily observe your change in jobs or positions.  You can also update your status bar, just like in FacebookFacebook reviews or on TwitterTwitter reviews, with the type of job you’re looking for.  Your LinkedIn “resume” will be perceived as noteworthy when you fill it out completely, acquire endorsements for your work, join groups related to your interests, and add applications (such as your blog).

3.  VisualCV

The latest capabilities that they offer allow job seekers to integrate their resume with social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to share their qualifications with friends and colleagues.  When you update your resume, it can be shared through websites such as DiggDigg reviews and StumbleUponStumbleUpon reviews.  Your resume, or VisualCV, can combine other elements, such as images, charts, awards and recommendations, in addition to traditional resume fields such as “work experience.”

Disclosure: VisualCV sponsors my blog and magazine.

4.  Emurse

You also get statistics and graphs to aid in resume distribution. In addition, Emurse lets you keep track of your contacts, invite contacts and always access their latest information, similar to LinkedIn.  Just like GoogleGoogle reviews does with AdSense, you get job postings in your local area that are relevant to your resume.  There is also a job search area and organizer, similar to Monster.com’s, where you can keep track of the resumes you submit over time.

5.  Xing

Xing offers many of the same services as LinkedIn, and like LinkedIn, can serve as your online resume and cover letter. The standard service lets you create a professional profile page, search for people by name and industry, and join groups and events.  When you login, you’ll see jobs that might interest you, new members, visitors to your profile and much more.

6.  ResumeBucket

If you’re currently employed and would like to keep your resume private, you can. ResumeBucket also provides you with sample resumes and cover letters as best practices to help you when you build your own.  And if you need assistance, they have a resume writing service where their professional writers can help you along the way.

7.  ResumeSocial

There is also an area for sharing cover letters and follow-up letters, which are very important as well.  When someone finds your resume on this site, they can print it, quote it, favorite it and email it to other people.  There is also a job search area, a blog and a career area, which gives you advice for putting resumes together.

8.  Gigtide

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9.  Howtowritearesume

10. Ziggs

Now that Facebook changed the way that applications land on your Facebook wall all these applications look like graffiti.
I personally don’t like all those silly applications that send people things but today I decided to send a ‘peep’ to a friend who had a difficult procedure and wanted to make her smile.  Well after I sent her the ‘peep’ it was littered all over my wall and I know no one else wanted to see all of those peeps.

I found out HOW to change my application settings.  So many people don’t realize this setting and thought this tutorial would help others stop their Facebook wall graffiti.

Step #1

Go to top of  your Facebook page and click on Settings. (  It is to the left of the LOGOUT button at the top.)
Then click on Application Settings.

Step#2
This now will show you a list of all your applications Groups, Photos,”Silly apps like peeps, gifts etc.  Each application has individual settings.
You can edit how those applications show up on your wall.  Click on Edit Settings

Step #3
Now this box pops up and lets to decide how this application shows up on your  Wall, Profile etc.
Look at the Tabs and go through them and explore them.

I want to point out the WALL tab.   This is the one where the default setting gives you too many ’silly apps’ on your wall which  looks like graffiti and if you want people to read your wall having too much of this is a BIG turn off.
With the way the new Facebook is having these applications default to the setting ALLOW that is why you are seeing the increase Wall clutter.

So to get less clutter on your wall click on the button either PROMPT ME or NEVER.
Your friend will still get your ’silly app gift’ but everyone in Facebook cyberspace doesn’t have to see it.

If this post helped you feel free to leave a comment.  Feel free to also share it by click on SHARE THIS button below.