VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business

How to Create a Winning Email Marketing Campaign [Infographic]

Whether you're voting for a presidential candidate, cheering for a coveted baseball team, or aiming for higher click-through rates, we're all in it to win it. And while we're neck-deep in debates, there's no better time to discuss the (inarguable) aspects that make up a winning email marketing campaign. At VerticalResponse, we've put together a timely and informative infographic depicting 5 steps that will undoubtedly get votes for your email marketing efforts and brand:

Want to share this infographic on your own blog or website? Simply copy and paste this embed code:

<img style="width: 604px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Email Marketing Infographic" src="http://blog.verticalresponse.com/.a/6a00d83451b09469e2017ee4440640970d-640wi" alt="Email Marketing Infographic" />

Small Business Innovators - Back to the Roots

Editor's Note: We're constantly amazed at the innovations we see happening in small businesses every day. As part of a periodic series, we'll highlight some of the companies we think are turning traditional business models on their ear, starting today with Back to the Roots, who have built a business that is environmentally sustainable while also being profitable.

Alejandro Valez and Nikhil Valora sat staring at the bucket of used coffee grounds, now filled with gorgeous, plump pearl oyster mushrooms that had grown over the course of just a few days in the kitchen of Alejandro's fraternity house. Of the ten buckets they had filled with spent grounds and inoculated with mushroom spores, this appeared to be the only success - the other nine were totally contaminated with mold.

Neither Alejandro nor Nikhil had any experience in the food industry. The two had met just weeks before in their ethics class at UC Berkeley's Haas Business School, Alejandro anticipating a career as an investment banker and Nikhil considering business consulting. After a lecture in which the professor offhandedly mentioned reading somewhere about growing mushrooms in spent coffee grounds, Nikhil approached him to find out more. The professor told him that another student, Alejandro, had asked the same questions, so he connected them.

Now, they sat pondering their one successful batch out of ten. "There's no way I'm trying these," Alejandro said.

So they took the bucket to a nearby expert in locally produced food - Alice Waters, founder of celebrated restaurant, Chez Panisse. Recognizing the mushrooms as safe, she grabbed her head chef, who quickly took a cluster of the mushrooms and sautéed them in butter. They were delicious.

Three years later, Nikhil, Alejandro and a team of 31 employees in Oakland produce and sell about 2,000 grow-at-home mushroom kits a week online, at Whole Foods stores, Home Depot and through direct sales at a variety of events. During the 4th quarter rush, they expect to produce and sell as many as 15,000 units a week and are currently hustling to get their products into Nordstrom and Bed Bath & Beyond.

"The most fulfilling thing," Nikhil says, "is no one even knew what a mushroom kit was. Now people have seen them around. It's cool to build something that people recognize."

Both Nikhil and Alejandro see the mushroom kits as more than a cool science experiment or a way to save money on produce. Their ultimate goal with Back to the Roots is to build a sustainable business that is profitable, while helping both the environment and their community. This year, the company is on track to divert 3.6 million pounds of spent coffee grounds taken from Peet's Coffee & Tea from going straight to the landfill. Every time a customer posts a picture of themselves with a completed kit on Facebook, Back to the Roots donates a kit to the school of that customer's choice. "We've now donated to more than 400 schools nationwide," Nikhil says. "It's been an incredible program." And, for every kit sold at a Whole Foods store, one dollar is donated to the Whole Kids Foundation to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle amongst kids.

Whole Foods Market stores have been one of their biggest boosters since the beginning. Shortly after tasting their success at Chez Panisse, Alejandro and Nikhil brought their bucket to the produce manager at the Whole Foods in Berkeley. The store's team passed the bucket around the store and were so impressed that they called in the regional coordinator, who shared their enthusiasm. "This is the coolest thing I've seen in produce," he told them. "If you do this, we'll blow it up in Whole Foods."

Nikhil and Alejandro started out by selling their mushrooms straight to Whole Foods and farmers' markets as produce. Soon, everyone began asking how they could grow the mushrooms themselves, so the pair began making and selling the kits. The first kits were little more than bulky plastic bags filled with inoculated coffee grounds. "They looked disgusting," Nikhil said.

Nikhil and Alejandro soon switched to putting the bags of grounds in recyclable boxes. As they demoed and sold the kits, they listened to customer feedback and improved the presentation. They also discovered that their original marketing strategy was too narrow. "When we launched, we didn't know who the buyer was," Nikhil said, explaining that they thought their biggest market would be in the natural food space. "Since then, we've learned we're getting the best response on these things from families and kids."

Kids love the kits because they get rapid gratification. It takes just 10 days to produce a batch of mushrooms with the kits. "Kids wait 90 days for tomatoes," Nikhil says. "For kids, that's a lifetime."

The Back to the Roots team is taking the lead from their customers and working to improve the kits. Right now, they're working on a box that comes embedded with vegetable seeds. When the mushroom kit has exhausted its harvest, customers will be able to plant the box, use the spent grounds and spores as compost and grow vegetables in a container or right in their garden. And it's not just about the kits; they're currently exploring ways to bring aquaponics - raising fish and plants in a symbiotic relationship that also provides fresh food - to the consumer market to further make growing food at home fun and easy.

"Our whole vision," Nikhil says, "is to create experiences that make food personal again and to educate and inspire."  

 

As a special offer for VerticalResponse customers, Back to the Roots will take 10% off your online order when you enter "verticalresponse" as the coupon code at checkout. To take advantage of this special offer, simply visit Back to the Roots online at http://www.bttrventures.com/.

Posted by Rob Zazueta.

Rob is the Evangelist at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter @rzazueta.

Don't Let Meetings Suck Your Time

This article by VerticalResponse CEO and founder Janine Popick originally appeared on Inc.com.

I was recently out to lunch with a few colleagues who work at a very cool company. The CEO of their company had left, and the second in command had taken over. They like her, but they said the number of meetings they're required to go to now has doubled.

They were describing my hell.

Now, I don't think that meetings are completely useless. But I do think that most companies have useless meetings, including my own. And the people at VerticalResponse will tell you that they know how I feel.

Why do I hate meetings? Let me count the ways:

1. Meetings allow people to delay decisions.

In a meeting, Jonathan says to the sales guy, "Jason, let's take that offline and have a meeting about it next Tuesday, cool?" What he really meant to say was, "Jason, let's take that offline and have a meeting about it next Tuesday, because it's too much for me to think about it now and make a decision. I'm a wussy, cool?" Jason just lost a full week of revenue.

2. Most people who are in meetings don't need to be there.

You can tell, because these people jump on their computers during the meeting not to take notes, but to instant message or catch up on email. Let me tell you how much time is wasted by these very people saying, "Can you repeat that?"

3. People call meetings because they're afraid to make a decision.

They get their boss and their boss's boss into the meeting so that they can bring up an issue only to be told what to do because they're scared to have a brain. Hey, people, news flash: You've probably been hired to walk into your boss's office and make recommendations on what YOU think the business should do, so do that and stop wasting everyone's time.

4. Many people who call a meeting don't have a clear agenda or objective.

Here's an idea: At the start of the meeting, say, "Here's what we're going to get out of this meeting," or, "By the end of this meeting, we'll dole out responsibilities so you know what you need to do."

5. People call 30-minute meetings for things that can be decided in five minutes.

Three people can probably come together and give the go-ahead in seconds rather than book a room, meet, probably come up with a PowerPoint presentation (more time wasted) and come to a decision that someone else needs to decide. BOO. My motto? DO SOMETHING! Even if it's wrong, you went for it, and with any luck, you either hit a home run or learned what not to do in the future.

6. Most meetings cost too much.

Two cool apps: Meeting Ticker and Effective Meetings. 'Nuff said.

Do I think there is a place for meetings? Absolutely! But the result of any meeting has to be to make your business better. Are your meetings doing that?

 

Posted by Janine Popick

Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @janinepopick, and check out more of her Inc.com columns.

5 Pinterest Knockoffs to Keep Your Eye on

Currently the third most popular social network behind Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has taken the world by storm. With a simple “virtual” pinboard concept, Pinterest is easy to use, and as you will see, easy to imitate. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but some "similar" sites have taken imitation to new heights, leaving users wondering where Pinterest ends and the “knockoff” site begins.

So sit back and enjoy our commentary of some of these “other” pinboard sites that are trying to make it in the social world by leveraging Pinterest's business model.

1. Gentlemint – Known as the Pinterest for men, Gentlemint was launched in January 2012 after a 12-hour “hack day” by co-founders Glen Stansberry and Brian McKinney. The concept behind the venture was to build a “manly social site.” They have succeeded from that point of view, as the site is chock-full of weapons, men’s fashion and cult movie references. So, if you have a male-dominant audience for your products or services, Gentlemint just might be the pinning site de jour. The site was also redesigned recently with the goal of providing a little flair and functionality to their minimal design. I think they succeeded. 

2. Pinspire - There are copies and then there's Pinspire. Seriously, if you took the Pinspire logo off the site and replaced it with Pinterest logo, you'd be hard pressed to know there was a difference. They even go as far as lifting description terms in their "About Us" section that Pinterest has become known for, including weddings and recipes. This is what one would call a true copycat site. If you're currently using Pinterest in your social media strategy, it might be wise to pin your content on Pinspire too. This might save you from missing those potential customers that haven't been bitten by the Pinterest bug.

3. Thinng - This is the pinboard site that was named on a computer with a sticky keyboard. In all seriousness, this site is great from a visual standpoint. The main difference between Thinng and Pinterest is the lack of copy around the photos when you first visit the landing page. This makes for an appealing visual presentation, but it does lose a little of the context until you roll over the photo and reveal the description. You can also share these photos instantly on Facebook, Twitter and even Tumblr. So if your products or services are visually appealing, and you want to distribute them easily to other social networks, Thinng might just be the thing you need.

4. GetVega - We love the concept of categorizing photos into "Smart Lists." But unless the pinner provides fairly detailed information around the list, there's a lack of understanding of just what you're interacting with. Some of the lists only have a title such as, "Best Travel Ideas," but there aren't any subtitles for each individual photo. So this leaves you scratching your head a bit as to what you're viewing, and the photo URL link takes you to a larger photo rather than provide additional information. If you're a little more savvy, you could leverage GetVega to highlight your products. An example might be a shoe style that comes in multiple colors. You can have the same description for the shoe, but show individual pictures of each color. This would be a much better layout than you can currently present in Pinterest.

5. Stylepin - If Gentlemint is Pinterest for men, then Stylepin is known as Pinterest for fashion. If you only want to see dresses, shoes, accessories and the like, then look no further than Stylepin. This niche pinning site might be just what the doctor ordered if your products or services have a fashion-specific twist.

So there you have it: five Pinterest knockoffs that are leveraging the pinboard concept with zero shame, or are trying to put a slightly different spin on it. New Pinterest-like sites seem to pop up every day, so we'll keep an eye on these and will "pin down" any up and comers.

 

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

These 3 Questions Will Help You Close

This article by VerticalResponse CEO and founder Janine Popick originally appeared on Inc.com.

If you're marketing to a business, you know how hard it can be to close a new sale - It's like pulling teeth trying to get five minutes on the phone. And, if you're lucky enough to get an in-person meeting, even better!

Why is it so tough?

It might be time constraints, since everyone is so busy. It could be budgets, because the person you're selling to probably has to be careful about how much he's spending, and on what.

But the most important thing you need to know about your prospects is this: What are they really looking to accomplish by talking to you?

Understanding the needs of your prospects is paramount to a cool close. After more than 20 years in the sales and marketing trenches, I've come up with three essential questions that any person who's in a position to sell something – which everyone at a company should be, no matter what their job title – should ask their prospects.

1. What does your business do?

Knowing what your prospects do and what their needs are lets you tailor your pitch. Restaurants are far more picky about budgets than software companies because their margins aren't as big. A prospect in education might have more seasonal needs. Government prospects might make you jump through hoops in order to close the sale. Don't have a one-trick pony pitch for anyone and everyone. Tell the story that's going to work for each individual prospect.

2. Are you using a product or service like ours now? What do you like and not like about it?

This gives you insight as to whether the prospect even knows what it is you sell. If they haven't purchased a product like yours before, don't really know what you do, or why they need you, they may need more of a sales pitch on your industry rather than what your company does specifically. Then, get into what problems your business can solve for them.

3. When would you be looking to make a change or buy this product?

This question tells you what a prospect's motivation might be. It might be that their boss is telling them to look into the product more. It might be that they'll lose budget if they don't spend it now. Or, it might be that they're tired of not having a solution to a problem and your solution will save them time, effort and money.

Getting clarity on your prospect's situation with just a few easy questions will get you on the road to ABC: Always Be Closing!

 

Posted by Janine Popick

Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @janinepopick, and check out more of her Inc.com columns.

Be the Webinar Host with the Most - 4 Tips!

I conduct a lot of webinars here at VerticalResponse. From giving product demos to hosting special guests with great advice, I've done and seen it all. If you've considered creating and hosting your own webinar, or you already have and need some pointers, look no further! Read on as I share 4 tips on how to be the webinar host with the most!

1. Choose a Topic - Before we jump into the nitty-gritty, let's consider the most important thing - what to talk about? This may seem like a hurdle, but you'd be surprised by what your customers are interested in learning. Think about what your customers should know, or want to know about your business, products or service. What can you do to help them get past any obstacles they may have? What advice or tips would you offer? Do you get frequently asked questions? If you have a service, for example a non-profit, consider conducting a webinar to create awareness, or demonstrate how to use the services you offer. If your organization works with other businesses or software programs, demonstrate how they work together, and maybe consider co-hosting with a partner business.

2. Pick a Tool - Hosting a webinar has become easier, inexpensive and much more accessible over the last few years with just a few tools:

• Hosting system - You'll need to do some research to see which system best suits your needs and budget. At VerticalResponse, we use GoToWebinar, but there are many others including WebEx, AnyMeeting or InstantPresenter just to name a few. Some offer free trials so you can take them for a test drive, and some are free. And, while free may seem like the best deal, make sure you have access to all the tools you'll need to conduct and follow up after your webinar. If your phone line cuts out in the middle of a webinar, of if there's a small limit for the number of attendees you can have, a moderate fee may actually end up saving you stress and headaches. A few things to look for in a webinar hosting system:
  
  
  • Emails - Does the system send out reminder or follow-up emails, or will you need to do separately? There are pros and cons to each.
    
  • Recording - If you wish to have a recording of the webinar and don't already have software to record it for you, make sure the hosting company does. If you don't need a recording, find a system that doesn't, or a plan that doesn't include it so you aren't paying for something you won't use.
  • Platform - Make sure the program runs on your system, the version of the OS you have, your preferred browser and internet connection. Providers list the minimum system requirements on their website, so check that out before you sign up.
    
  • Number of attendees - You'll want a lot of people to attend your webinar naturally, but most systems charge based on the number of attendees. Think about how many people could show up (generally about 30% of sign-ups will attend) and if the hosting system can accommodate that many. For example, GoToMeeting allows up to 25 attendees but GoToWebinar can allow up to 1,000 depending on the plan.
    
    
• Slide deck - For most webinars, you'll need to create a visually compelling presentation deck. We use PowerPoint at VerticalResponse to create our decks, but there are a slew of other options to jazz up your deck including Google Docs and Sliderocket.

3. Send an Invite - Sending an invitation to your customers, prospects and clients is a must if you want them to register to attend your webinar. Without this step, you may just hear crickets on the other end. Let's go over a few ways to get the word out and create  buzz:

• Email - Create a targeted list for your invitation and send out an email with a link a to register. Include a description of what attendees will learn, any take-ways or incentives for attending.
  
• Social media - Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are easy ways to get the word out and its allows your followers to spread the word to their networks. Potential attendees and word of mouth about your webinar is a win-win.
  
• Website or Blog - Advertise your webinar on your website or blog. Again, include a blurb about the webinar and a link to help pique interest and get sign ups. 

4. Follow-up - Once your webinar is over, follow up! Some webinar hosting services will automatically send out a follow-up email, which is handy, but you'll want to edit the message to give it your own voice and include a link to the recorded version if there is one. If your service doesn't send out a follow up email, you can easily create one yourself (and VerticalResponse can certainly help you with that). Simply download a list of all attendees and registrants from the hosting service, then upload to your email service provider and send out a follow up.

Bonus tip - Always log in and set up your webinar early. If you run into any technical issues, you can fix them well before the webinar starts. Plus, most webinar hosting systems let attendees know if the presenter (you) has logged in yet, so an early arrival will make you look good and will ease the minds of your attendees. 

With a little planning and some easy-to-use tools, you'll be webinar pro in no time!

Are you hosting any webinars, or planning to after reading this post? Do you have any tips to add? We'd love hear them in the comments!

 

Posted by Jill Bastian.

Jill Bastian is the Training and Education Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter @Jillieb3.

DIY: 5 Free Tools for Creating Killer Infographics

To paraphrase from The Social Network a bit here, a million (words) isn't cool, you know what's cool? An infographic. Nowadays, people don't have the time or energy to sit and plow through pages or screens of text; they want to be able to ingest information as quickly and easily as possible. Thankfully, with the recent rise of infographics (information graphics), what used to require an avalanche of stats or analyses to dissect, can now be interpreted and relayed into an easy-to-read, fun, and visually appealing schematic - an excellent content marketing concept! Indeed, you can use infographics to spruce up your different online assets (and again, avoid the monotony of text-only posts), such as your website, blog, email/newsletter, or your social network pages (Facebook, Pinterest...). 

Listed below are 5 free (!) apps that allow you to start easily infographic-ing:

1. Visual.ly

Visual.ly hosts a large database of infographics created by other users, while allowing you to create your own in a matter of seconds and share it afterwards, no design skills required.

2. Easel.ly

While still technically in beta, Easel.ly is an incredibly easy-to-use application, as you can simply select a template (called "vheme," short for "visual theme"), add some info, drag-and-drop elements to move them around et voila, you have a workable infographic. 

3. infogr.am

While not as simple as Easel.ly, Infogr.am should also appeal to non-designers. It allows you to upload your data to the site, then translate it through static charts or complete interactive infographics using the tools’ different features, all in a smart interface that includes different options for displaying information.

4. Wordle

Describing itself as a "toy" for generating word clouds, Wordle can automatically generate a colorful design based on the content you provide (either from a URL or text you paste in), emphasizing the most commonly used words from your source. You can then put your own twist on it by playing with the fonts, colors or layouts. We created the image above with the words from our Marketing blog.

5. StatSilk

StatSilk offers both web-based and desktop client software that lets you create infographics using interactive, customizable and animated graphics, charts, maps and any other type of data visualization. 

 

Are you using, or have you used of any tools not mentioned here? Share away in the comments!

 

Posted by My Truong

My Truong is the Marketing Programs Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter @PtitMy.

Subject Line Length - Is Longer Better?

I've spent years in the trenches of email marketing cranking out my fair share of messages. Hence, I've also done a heck of a lot of testing around the basics, including subject line length. For years, we lived and breathed the golden rule of "keep your subject line to 40-50 characters." Why? Most email browsers cut off anything longer, and that put the kibosh on your open rate.

Fast-forward to 2012 and a few things have evolved in the wild world of email marketing, including devices we use to read email, like mobile phones and tablets, and the emails we receive, like flash sales (which have the longest subject lines known to man). So, does your subject line length need to evolve too? Let's examine some facts first:

In a recent article on the EmailAudience blog, Jordie van Rijn cites a study from Adestra in which nearly a billion email marketing messages were analyzed. The study shows some thought-provoking results which vary pretty drastically between messages targeted at businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2C). According to the article and study, "in B2B emails, longer subject lines work better than shorter subject lines. Also when looking at the number of words. Subject lines with 6–10 words will drive open rates, but don’t deliver the clickthroughs. In the report 6-10 word subject lines are advised for awareness emails that don’t necessarily have a direct need for a call to action to click.

After 130 characters, there is a drop of the open rates, but also a huge increase in the number of clickthroughs. Anything over 16 words can deliver on both opens and clicks."

And the study further notes, "The differences in B2C are much bigger than in B2B. Subject lines with 3-5 words appear to have a very bad effect on open and clickthrough rates. Subject lines with 3 or 4 words perform around 40% worse than average both in open rate and in clicks.

The subject lines with over 80 characters do hugely better in B2C email marketing. It seems to be that making your subject line stand out, is ever important. A long subject line can do just that in B2C, with the added information and length to account for higher open and clickthrough rates. A 20-word subject line appears to be the real champion in this research, with a 115% uplift in opens and 85% uplift in clicks."

Does this mean that all your B2B email subject lines should be long, and all your B2C emails should be 20 words? Nope. That would be far too easy, and it's truly not all about how long or short your subject line is, but also about how targeted your email is to your audience. As with many things, one subject line length does not fit all, or even most. But, the good news is your subject line is one of the single fastest and easiest things you can test in an email.  

Inspired by daily deal sites and our own desire to provide more context, we recently began testing longer subject lines for our weekly VR Buzz newsletter. Like many of you, we struggle to pick just one topic from the newsletter we think will resonate with most of our readers. So, we started using longer subject lines like the following:

In this example, we made the subject line longer (using about 67 characters) and included 2 topics vs. just one, as we'd done in the past. Over a nine-week period, we saw about a 1% improvement in open rates from our most engaged subscribers. This isn't earth-shattering, but what's interesting is that it led to a marked improvement in our CTRs (clickthrough rates) - an improvement of nearly a percent and a half. To make things really interesting, the longer, multi-topic subject line newsletters also produced significantly higher revenue (ca-ching!). So, what seems to be hitting the mark for us, is not just the length, but also the multi-topic inclusion.

How can you make your subject lines hit the target with your readers? It might be time to try multi-topic subject lines or to test out the length. Longer may be better for the new iPhone 5, but will it get results for your subject line?

 

Posted by Kim Stiglitz. 

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

10 Common Facebook Questions Answered!

One of the great things about working at VerticalResponse is that we help solve problems, and not just with our own products or services. We make it a point to keep up on new trends and technology because our customers usually don't have the time, and count on us to provide answers.

Today we're focusing on 10 commonly asked questions we get about Facebook:

Question #1: I feel like I'm only seeing posts from a certain group of people on my news feed. How do I see post from all my friends?

Answer: There are two feeds you can see in your news feed: Top Stories and Most Recent. The default is set to Top Stories, which basically shows you people the platform thinks you would be most interested in. If you'd like to see posts from all of your friends, in chronological order, change this setting from Top Stories to Most Recent.

 

Question #2: How do I change my privacy settings?

Answer: Next to your name in the upper right-hand corner you will see the word Home. Next to it is an upside down triangle. Click the triangle and a drop down menu will appear. Click on the Privacy Settings link. This will take you to the section where you can edit all your Privacy Settings.

Question #3: Can I send messages to "Likers" of my Business Page?

Answer: Yes you can, but only if they message you first. The messages appear in the upper right-hand corner of the Admin Panel of your Facebook Page.

Question #4: Who are the Subscribers on my Facebook profile?

Answer: Several months ago, Facebook implemented the ability to allow users to subscribe to a fellow user's Profile instead of "friending" them. This is very useful for public figures, as it allows them to share content with a larger audience as opposed to the 5,000 friend limit previously enforced on Profiles.

Question #5: Can I invite my friends to "Like" my Business Page?

Answer: Yes! If you click on the "Build Audience" button at the top of your Admin Panel, you will see the "Invite Friends" option. When you click "Invite Friends" a box will open allowing you to send a Page request to friends. You can only send one request, as your friends' names and pictures will be grayed out if you've previously sent them a request, or if they've already "Liked" your Page.

Question #6: Can I control what posts I see from people/pages in my News Feed?

Answer: Yes. If you move your cursor over the post you'd like to control, an arrowhead will appear in the upper right-hand corner. Click on it and a drop down menu will appear. From here, you can follow the post and receive a notification on any update to this post. You can also hide the post or report the story if there's questionable content. If you hide a story from a Page, another message will appear that will allow you to hide all future stories from the Page or allow you to unlike the Page all together.

Question #7: I created a Facebook Page, but I don't know where to access it from my profile? How can I find it easily?

Answer: When you're in your profile News Feed, if you look on the left-hand side of the page under your name and photo, you'll see a listing of all the Pages you're an admin for. If you click on one of the names, you will be taken to that Page.

Question #8: What is the difference between a Page and a Group?

Answer: A Page is like a secondary blog or website. People can view your Page and interact with the content, but you have almost complete control regarding the content that's shared and the interactions that takes place. A Group on the other hand, is more like an advanced chat room. You can start a group around a particular topic, make the group open or more private and allow anyone in the group to participate by posting content or creating a discussion.

Question #9: How do I create my own Facebook Page?

Answer: Go to: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. You can then create a Page under six different categories. Most businesses will use the "Local Business or Place" or "Company, Organization or Institution" options. The easiest way to distinguish between the two is that a "Local Business or Place" is usually used when your business has a distinct "brick and mortar" location.

Question #10: What is "Timeline" all about? And why is my Facebook Page and/or Profile missing a Cover Photo?

Answer: Facebook has officially changed all Profiles and Pages over to the new "Timeline" format. Timeline is a new way to look at the information and content you share on your Profile or Page. It puts all of the information in chronological order and even allows you to include significant information from the past. The layout also has a more artistic aspect to it and includes a large photo at the top called a Cover Photo. If your Profile or Page has been changed over and you're missing a Cover Photo, you'll see a button in the upper right-hand corner that says "Add a cover." Click it and you will have several options to add a Cover Photo to your Profile or Page. You can learn more about Timeline on Facebook, or you can read our post: The Ultimate Procrastinator's Guide to Facebook Timeline for Brands

Well there you have it. 10 answers to some of your most pressing Facebook questions. If we haven't answered a question you've been pondering, provide it in the comments and we'll get on it!

 

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

5 Must-Knows for SEO

Search algorithms seem to change more frequently than the latest fashion trends. Although the Panda and Penguin updates have received lots of the attention lately, experts say that Google alone makes adjustments to their algorithm several hundred times per year. Every time Google makes another update there's a mini-panic from webmasters and small business owners – “oh no, now what?!?”

Take a deep breath and stay calm because there are some things in SEO that stay consistent. Here are five SEO constant concepts to consider and build upon:

1. Build your site for people, not for ad dollars or search engines. When creating your site, remember who you're building it for. Don’t bombard your visitors with too many ads or anything other than what will provide a positive user experience. Don’t make them click “next” 25 times to see 25 ways to make Ramen. Put your readers first and deliver the user experience they're looking for. This improves bounce rate, repeat viewers and, maybe you’ll get a new newsletter subscriber (if you have your opt-in form on a page), which could lead to sales.

2. Be a resource. There’s no Candyland slide for good content. Create content that will reach your desired audience. Make useful pages that educate and inform, and ensure that it’s easy for viewers to navigate and find what they're looking for. Teach, share and most importantly, don’t limit your site to just selling. Show some personality, your artsy side and/or spread knowledge through guides, articles and examples. Show Google what a good resource you are by including outbound links, plenty of images and even a video or two. Don’t forget to include social sharing icons so your website visitors can easily share all your great content with their own social networks!

3. Use Keywords. Use relevant keywords in copy that users may use in search to find you. Unsure what they are? Check the AdWords keyword tool for ideas. Don’t over-optimize by stuffing these terms too much throughout the copy (remember #1 above). Include it only where it makes sense when reading. Include it in the page title, description and throughout the copy a few times. You can also include it in the image name if it’s relevant, as well as the alt tag attribute.

4. Don’t cheat. I’m a firm believer in playing fair. If you don’t want to get de-listed or bumped down to page 50+, be a white hatter (aka - do the right thing). Don’t spam, keyword stuff, buy links, cookie stuff, create fake profiles, buy “likes” or any other shady tactics. The last thing you want is to have your site to be removed from the Google index. Yes, this does happen!

5. Get links. Put your wallet away, you don’t need to buy links. The right way to get links is to create link-worthy material. You can create guides, infographics, interactive calculators, a unique article, comparison charts, an illustration, a storytelling photograph or dozens of other content types.  No matter what it is – the more thought and care you put into it the better. Another great way to gain new links is to guest-post on a blog relevant to your brand's services or products.

These five simple concepts have been consistent in SEO for the last 10 years and will most likely hold true for many more. Although this generally means working harder than some folks, rest assured you won’t be banned, blocked or have to duplicate your efforts to regain visibility. Learn more about webmaster best practices.

Posted by Bonnie D'Amico Rogers

Bonnie is the Affiliate & SEO Marketing Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter @bonnie_d_rogers