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How to Manage the New Facebook Lists
Managing Facebook Lists
Many of us that use Facebook lists regularly thought that our Facebook lists had completely disappeared and we were all screaming our discontent by commenting in groups, commenting on each others walls, and even sending tweets. Facebook had just made a change that we felt was an #epicFail. I mean how could Facebook make such a change without asking us first. The nerve of them; just who did they think they were. Our nice neat lists categories we had grouped our Facebook Friends in were no longer nicely listed on the left side of our Facebook profiles and it was totally freaking us out. After doing a little digging I figured out they weren’t actually gone… they’re still there… and Facebook has done some tweaking that you will either love or absolutely hate.
Where are my lists?
You can now access and edit your lists in two different places
- You can go to any one of your friends profile page and access your lists on the top right hand side of the page in a drop down menu. Now you won’t actually see who is on your list there but you can add your friend to a list here.
Editing lists on profile pages
- You can now also access your lists on the left side panel of your home screen where it says lists. You can either click a particular list or you can click the word List and all your lists will come up for you to edit.
Lists panel on the left of your home page
Whats new about the lists?
- Now you can view a feed of people within in a particular list. For instance if you click Family as I did in the image below you can see recent wall posts made by anyone set to the family list.
Family List Screen Shot
- I can edit what posts I see from my family by clicking manage lists. If I don’t want to see your silly game updates I can uncheck game updates and it will be removed from the List page posts. Click “Manage list” on the upper right corner of your list page wall > Choose Update types > then select or deselect the options you want to see on this list wall.
Manage Updates
Select update options you want to see
- I can view those in my list on the upper right side of the list page by clicking “see all” and I can even add more people to the list if I need to.
View those in your Facebook List
- It is now easier to create new lists. You simply click on Lists on the left side panel of your home page or http://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists follow this link. There you can click create new list at the top of your lists page to begin creating your new list.
Editing your Facebook Lists
Adding people to your lists can be done in two ways.
- The first is by going to >account >edit friends. You will see a list of friends with a clickable button that says friend next to each name. Click the word friend and determine which list you want to put them in or add new list criteria for that friend if you need to.
Adding people to your Facebook Lists
- Go to a particular list page http://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/listsand then choosing a list. After you have chosen a list go to the right side of the page and add friends to the list.
Adding Friends to your Facebook Lists
These new changes have had many of us who use Facebook as a main source of marketing were in an uproar. We talked about this all night long. I remember when I used to love a new changes to Facebook but now that we are all so involved, using Facebook everyday to update and engage our users, that when a change comes about that affects us like this one… we all cry the blues. I hope that these tips help you understand the changes to Facebook Lists. If you weren’t using lists before I hope that this blog will enlighten you on how you can now use them to your benefit.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
8 Questions to consider Before you Guest Blog
Before you guest blog you may want to consider the following:
- Do you have time to create more content?
- Does their website/blog contain relevant material?
- Does the blog allow for backlinks to your own site?
- Does the website/blog have a decent amount of traffic?
- Is the site comparable or better than your own blog?
- What type of reputation does the blog owner or blog have?
- What is the age of the blog and amount of content?
- If their site is monetized are they offering revenue sharing?
Guest Blogging? What you should know!
In the past few months I have received several requests to guest blog on other peoples blog sites. Guest blogging is a great way to increase brand recognition by introducing you to users you may not have had exposure to before.
The first time I was asked to guest blog I was totally wowed by the fact that someone thought my content was so good that they wanted me to share some of it with their readers. The dilemma was when would I find time to write for someone else. I already write on 4 of my own blogs, design ads, logos, business cards, flyers, letterhead, websites as well as print orders for my clients. Needless to say the request fell by the wayside and I never acted on it.
As more requests came my way I decided to give guest blogging more consideration. I actually began to research the people and the blogs that were asking me to guest post and found that although guest blogging has tremendous benefits, it can also have its downfalls. The following are a more detailed explanation of points you should consider before you guest blog.
Do you have time to create more content?
Writing quality posts takes a great deal of time. Most of my blogs take a minimum of 3 hours to write.
- I research other blogs for backlinks
Do you have time to blog for someone else?
- I research my content to ensure what I am sharing is valid
- I search my own blogs to anchor text to my own content
- I create and research relevant images to put in my posts
- I write the blog then proof it several times before posting them
This is not a an easy task especially when you consider that when you blog you are sharing your content for free with no compensation outside of affiliate links if you monetize your blog at all.
Does their website contain relevant material?
One of the benefits of guest blogging is writing for a site that has relevant content to your own. This will provide you with valuable backlinks to your own website which will increase your search engine ranking. It is important to keep your brand focus narrow. In my case I write about social media marketing, blogging, online branding tips, etc, therefore, it would not be a good idea to guest blog on a site that sells furniture. If the content on the blog is NOT relevant, you will be hurting your brand as well your search engine ranking.
Does the blog allow for backlinks to your own website?
Guest blogging is supposed to benefit you and your brand. If you have a website or blog and the company asking you to write a guest blog does not allow you to link back to your own site you may want to rethink this. Relevant backlinks are a benefit to you as well as the site you are guest posting on. If you cannot provide backlinks to your site the only one benefiting from your content on their website is the other guy. I would steer clear of companies who make this a stipulation for guest posting.
Does the website have a decent amount of traffic?
If the website you are posting for does not have a decent amount of traffic how can guest blogging on their site benefit you? Answer is… it doesn’t. One of the pitches I hear often is, “Blogging on my site will get you brand exposure.” Now if you are a newbie to the game or don’t have your own blog this could definitely be true but if you have been blogging for a few months and have been building a good amount of traffic, chances are, people may be approaching you because you have the exposure and traffic they want.
Is the site comparable or better than your own blog?
Although many would not agree, website aesthetics does matter. If you are going to guest post on a blog make sure it doesn’t look like something that could have been put together in 1990. Is the site cluttered or seem to be unfocused? Are their ads distracting or make the site look spammy? Think about how you would determine the credibility of a blog? What makes you or other users continually visit a website? These are qualities you want to see on a site you plan to guest blog on.
What type of reputation does the blog owner or blog have?
Don't hurt your online reputation by not researching the blog owner
Before you guest post on a blog you should research the reputation of blog owner and the blog itself. Check out their Internet footprint by doing a Google search and seeing what you find. Look them up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and see what they and their users are talking about. Are they the type of people or company you want to associate with your brand? This is important because if the blog owner is known for being a porn star… You might want to rethink that… I’m just saying 
You do not want your brand to be linked back to any type of negativity that could hurt how your clients, users, and potential clients view you or your company. Association can be good when the relationship is beneficial and it could kill your brand if it isn’t.
Blog age or amount of content
I was invited to guest blog on a website that had only 4 posts. It was obvious to me that they were hoping I could help them add content and build their traffic. When you guest blog it should benefit you not the website your blogging on. Often blogs are started without much forethought and planning. It is hard to keep a good blog going and frequently bloggers run out of things to write about. Why spend time writing original content for a blog that will get no traffic and could possible be shut down by the end of the year? That would be a total waste your time.
Is their site monetized?
Blog Monetization
This is my biggest pet peeve so I left this point for last. There is nothing wrong with monetizing your site. We bloggers write great content for the benefit of our users and are not compensated; therefore monetizing your blog can compensate you residually for the life of your blog.
When a company or person asks you to guest blog on their site and they do NOT offer you affiliate revenue sharing or compensate you, their goal is to:
- Use your content to increase traffic to their website
- Use your content as a way to increase their affiliate marketing income
Your content is valuable so remember this. If the company asking you to blog is not one of the big wigs in your industry and their blog is monetized they should offer you affiliate revenue sharing as an incentive as a thank you for helping them by blogging on their site.
Do not get me wrong there are several benefits to guest blogging, increased brand exposure is one of them. I wrote this blog to help you determine when you should and should not write a guest post for another blog. The goal in blogging is to build brand recognition and traffic to your own site. If the blog you are considering guest posting on cannot do this for you…. don’t do it.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIMWhy You Need to Protect Your Blog!
If you are anything like me you truly enjoy blogging. You take a great deal of time to research topics, you love to share what you know to help others and you take a great deal of pride in your writing technique. When I create a blog I get the same natural high I receive when designing something beautiful for my clients. This is my stress reliever and a big source of joy for me.
How You Can Protect Your Blog
So how would you feel after researching and writing out a blog for 2 or 3 hours and someone just decides to steal your content? It happens everyday and yesterday it happened to me. While checking my blog for comments, I noticed a trackback link that looked suspicious so I decided to see where it led. I was hoping for a backlink from a fellow blogger with relevant content but instead what I found gave me a headache behind my right eye. Someone had decided to copy a blog I had written regarding the need to update WordPress Themes. Not only did they copy the content of my entire blog post, they copied the pictures on the blog and even copied my entire signature with my contact information in it. I couldn’t believe it.
To make matters even worse they monetized my blog by placing “in text ad links” to almost every other word. If you aren’t familiar with “in text ad links”, these are ads placed on words that make them look like links but when you mouse over them an ad pops up. Any link that I placed in the original blog they converted to an ad as well. Unbelievable!!!! These people stole my blog and intend to make money on my content.
They did change some of the text, just enough for anyone to think that if I wrote that blog I was stupid or illiterate…. Either way this blog made me look like a fool and I don’t want any of my traffic going to that blog nor do I want them making money from my content. I now also have to worry about page duplication issues, how it will hurt my search engine ranking and what if they decide to do it again? Below I have listed a few steps to help you protect your blog.
3 Steps you can take to Protect Your Blog?
- Include Terms of Service/Use on your blog. If you are unsure how to do this you can visit Legal River and use their Free Terms of Service Generator.
- Disable right click ability on your website. Blog Protector is a wonderful WordPress plugin that disallows anyone from copying text or images directly from your blog.
- Copyright your blog
None of these options are full proof. If someone wants your content bad enough, they may screen print it, actually type it out word for word or they can grab it from your RSS Feed service.
Copying someone’s content and using it as your own is a Copyright infringement and there are laws against such activities. Enforcing these laws especially when the user is not located in your country can make things a bit more difficult. If you happen to have a relentless trespasser you may need to take things a bit further and report them via their host service company. You will first need to look them up and Whois.net can help you with that.
I hope you find the above information useful and feel free to add your own blog protection tips in the comments below.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIMHaving Trouble Updating Your WordPress Elegant Themes?
Today I received a notice in my WordPress Control Panel (cPanel) that I needed to update several of my themes. I often test themes, so I may have 20 or more themes on a specific site to play with and manipulate for use with my clients as needed.
Blog Updates Due Today!
So today when I received the notice to update every Elegant Theme I was using I attempted to update them from the WordPress cPanel like you would any other update. Unfortunately this was not working and I was unable to update the themes via the cPanel.
How to update your Elegant Themes
Now I’m sure all seasoned WordPress users know how to correct this issue but for those of us who are new to WordPress this is what you need to do:
- Delete all previous versions of Elegant Themes from your computer
- Log into the Elegant Themes website and download the newest versions of all the themes you are using
- Remember to unzip the files you need to replace on your WordPress site
- Using an FTP program delete all unused WordPress Themes on all of your blogs (I use FileZilla)
- Leave the Theme you have active alone we will fix that in a second
- Back up your blog!!!!!!
- Using an FTP program, upload the newest version of the Elegant Theme you have active on each of your blogs
- Be sure to change your FTP settings to overwrite the old files.
- Now you are all done… check your website to ensure it is running properly
Why you should NOT ignore this update
It is important to delete all the old Elegant Themes on your website as well as on your computer for security reasons. Often updates are done to improve the usability of a theme… this time though, there was also an issue with WordPress Websites being hacked via a timthumb.php file included in most of the Elegant Themes. This file renders your website vulnerable even if it isn’t being used. This means that even themes you are not using and are inactive, could still pose a threat to your WordPress site.
It may also help to read what Elegant Themes has to say about this timthump.php issue as well as their security update. Elegant Themes were not the only Themes affected by this timthumb.php issue. You should do a thorough search of all your websites for this timthumb.php file. Most people have just renamed the file “thumbs.php”. I decided it was best to just delete all inactive themes until I had time to update them all with the most recent updated file.
I hope this helps any of you wondering why you couldn’t update your theme. I also hope this helps you understand why you can’t afford to ignore any of your Elegant Theme Updates.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIMWarning! Do Not Update Your Tweet Old Posts Plugin Just Yet!
Today while updating one of my blogs I received a notice via the WordPress Dashboard that it was time to update a plugin. The notice was for the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin, which made me cringe a bit. The last time this plugin was triggered for an update, those of us who didn’t check our settings were sending out tweets with just the URL, which made it look as though you were spamming our followers. Luckily Ileane Smith, of Basic Blog Tips sent me a Tweet about this update error, with a link to her blog that explained what needed to be done to correct it. Problem solved…
Tweet Old Posts Error
Now forward to today, with me being fully aware that I might have to check the settings again, I began the “Tweet Old Posts” update. When it was done, I froze with terror; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My control panel was gone; all I had now was a white screen with some verbiage about a fatal error. Not only was the error affecting my control panel, it was also appearing on the homepage and any other link to my website… OMG, I panicked and thought…. My website is gone! I remembered Anderson Curry’s words, “You know you need to back up your blog girl, because some of the WordPress updates can jack your website up.” Anderson is always full of advice and even though I think I am a know it all (Cause I am) I hadn’t backed up my site so I was pissed and Anderson was right… I should have backed up my site.
How to fix the “Tweet Old Posts” Fatal Error? Well….
Fortunately I didn’t let myself get too crazy before I noticed the path that was given in the error. It was simple, all I had to do was use an FTP program, follow the path and delete the Plugin which is exactly what I did, problem solved right?… except…. I need the plugin… So, I tried to reinstall the plugin via download because “tweeting old posts” is an important tool for building traffic to my website. It also serves as reminder to my followers about tips they may have forgotten. I again got the same error but this time the error was only in control panel and this time the control panel didn’t disappear…. I know… not good… but Hey… My website was still in tact so I am happy about that.
So for those of you who use the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin I suggest you wait a few days before you do the update and let Ajay Matharu, the creator of this wonderful plugin, give us the all clear to ensure this doesn’t happen to you.
Update August 16th: The power of the Internet and Social Media is a wonderful thing. If you have already updated your “Tweet Old Posts” plugin and do not have the previous version saved somewhere. Guorilla Media has found a website that will allow you to download the previous working version of the plugin. For people like us who just can’t live without this plugin, you can download the previous version of the the “Tweet Old Posts” plugin here. Thanks so much Guorilla Media to finding this solution.
Update August 25th: The “Tweet Old Posts” Plugin has been updated and is now functional. I updated the plugin just yesterday and and suffered no crashes and it is Tweeting my posts perfectly.
Aries – Graphic Design & Internet Marketing / AriesGDIM Tami Highbaugh-Abdullah Creative Marketing Director 317.345.4182 Tami@ariesgdim.com AriesGDIM.com / AriesGraphicDesign.com @ariesgdim – Twitter Google+ AriesGDIM
