The Blog

How to Create a Facebook Landing Page (a guide for non-programmers)

By amankumra On June 21, 2011 In Social media With 1 Comment

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Ah, Facebook – that oh-so-pervasive marketing tool. There are tons of ways that your business can use Facebook as a way to attract and connect with potential customers. A very simple yet very effective way is through the use of a landing page. What is a landing page, you may ask? It’s very simple: a landing page is simply the page that people land on when they first browse your Facebook fan page.

A good landing page, as Thomas Sinfield notes in his article, is “a page that gives new visitors a quick overview of who you are and what you do, and then directs them what to do next.” So, as you can imagine, an interesting and attention-grabbing landing page can help you gain more fans and therefore push your product or service out to a wider array of potential customers. Here’s an example from the fan page of a well-known cosmetics company:

Many landing pages (including this one) offer some perk to liking the fan page – here, you can join their program after liking the page. These perks can sway consumers even more heavily to become a fan. For some other great examples of well-designed landing pages, check this out.

You may be saying to yourself, “That’s all well and good, but it sounds kinda technical. I don’t know about designing a web page for my business – that HTML stuff is way over my head….”

Never fear! Creating a landing page is not as difficult as you think; a few easy steps and even the computer-challenged among us can proudly display their new landing page, attracting fans and helping to generate profit.

Facebook used to require landing pages to use an FBML format, which was a little trickier and more labor intensive, but has recently switched to the simpler iFrame application. Since iFrame isn’t hosted on Facebook, it acts pretty much like any other standard web page.

This means that to create your landing page, you’ll need a Web-accessible server where you store the files for your application. You’ll need to go into your server platform and create a folder for all of your iFrame files, to help keep everything organized in one spot! Hyperarts has a good description of how to do this if you’re not sure.

After creating a place on your server, the next step to designing your new landing page is to add a Facebook App to your developer account. You do that by going to http://www.facebook.com/developers/ and clicking the “Set Up New App” button in the upper right corner.

After naming your app and completing the security question, you’ll be taken to the administrator (admin) screen. There, you need to upload 6 things:

1) a 16 x16 graphic that will be the icon on your page’s tab

2) canvas page – name used to access the app

3) canvas URL – path to your web server

4) canvas type – set to iFrame!!

5) tab name – what the tab will be called when added to your Facebook page

6) tab URL – filename of the HTML page on your web server where you store the iFrame.

For more on this step, as well as screen shots of what the admin screen looks like, check out Social Media Charity. Brag Interactive also has a nice step-by-step overview of this process, complete with screen shots. Make sure you save your changes!

A note here on the tab URL. To enter this, you’ll need to have the graphics part of your landing page done and saved to your web server. So, here’s how…

An easy way to make the actual landing page is with Photoshop. Landing pages are designed to be 520 pixels wide, so keep that in mind as you start playing around with images. Another helpful tip, courtesy of Mashable’s design guide (check it out for more information!) is to take a screenshot of the top of your page, like this:

Then, you can open the screenshot with Photoshop and design around it – that way, you’ll know how far over the “Like” button is, so you can have an arrow on the landing page pointing potential fans right to it!

If you haven’t used Photoshop much before, never fear – it requires no HTML and Thomas Sinfield has a great guide to making landing pages in Photoshop on his blog! Another option is to “Like” Brag Interactive on Facebook, which will then allow you to use their free template.

This step might actually be the most fun – Photoshop is where you get to exercise all your creative license. You can customize colors and fonts to the best reflection of your business: girly colors and cutesy fonts for a women’s clothing store, earth tones and bold fonts for a landscape business, sleek lines and muted colors for an engineering firm…the possibilities are limitless! Let your imagination have fun with this step.

Once you’re satisfied with what the landing page will look like, you’ll want to save your template into your web server as the index.html page: the address should be something like:

http://servername.com/facebook/myapp/index.php

The server name part is whatever your server is called, and myapp is the name of your particular app. Then, you put this URL into the page tabs section as you set up your application – the graphic below from Hyperarts shows this process.

Once you’ve got the URL added to the page tabs, we need to add the iFrame tab to your profile page. Go to your Application Profile Page, then find the link on the left that says “Add to my page”. Clicking on that link will pop up a window with all the pages that have you listed as an admin. Find the page that you want this new landing page for, and click the “Add to Page” button. For some great screenshots on this, check out Social Media Charity or Hyperarts.

Following these steps should enable you to create an interesting and attention-grabbing landing page for your business. Once the page is up, it’s time to sit back and let the fans start ‘liking’ away!

The basics of blogging platforms

By amankumra On March 22, 2011 In Blogging With No Comments Permanent Link to The basics of blogging platforms

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Blogs are everywhere; we can’t escape them. So it’s probably not a bad idea to have a basic idea of what they are and how to use them, or at least how they work.

First – what are they? In sum, blog is short for ‘web log’, or the equivalent of an open, online journal. They started out as a way for people – bloggers – to share their thoughts, and have evolved into a tool used for everything from the basic personal online diary to a sophisticated corporate marketing/advertising/information powerhouse.

Blogs have become both highly popular and highly pervasive. In addition to the vast numbers of personal bloggers, companies and public figures have started using blogs to promote their brand.

Now – how to use them? Blogs are generally hosted by one of a variety of ‘platforms’, or services that take care of hosting the data and creating the HTML code. Popular platforms include tumblr, wordpress, drupal, joomla, posterous, typepad, and blogger.

With so many options – the list above is just a fraction of what the web has to offer – picking one platform can seem overwhelming. Here’s where I come in: let me give you a quick rundown on some of the basic differences between platforms.

Blog platforms generally come in one of two types: Hosted and Non-Hosted

In a nutshell, a hosted blog is housed on the platform’s server, and a non-hosted blog is hosted on your own server. With a non-hosted blog, you usually end up paying a third party to host your site.

Both Melanie Nelson and Darren Rowse have written articles which do a great job giving a user-friendly rundown of the biggest differences between hosted and non-hosted blogs.

What they both basically have to say is this:

Hosted sites: great because they’re easy to start up, generally free or minimal in cost, and highly user-friendly. Limited because they often seem less professional, search-engine optimization (SEO) is not good, and you have less control over the HTML design.

Non-hosted sites: great because you get to control more of the HTML, how you store archives, the post’s name – which is important to better SEO, and it’s easier to advertise. Limited because you need to be more tech-savvy to manage the HTML code (so they’re not as user-friendly) and they cost more.

So, what does this mean for you?

That depends on two factors: your intent in blogging and your level of comfort with things like HTML.

If you plan to blog mainly for personal use and haven’t worked with HTML, or with managing web pages, much before – then a hosted site is probably your best bet. You won’t have to spend a lot, if anything, on the blog and your time investment to get things up and running (and keep them running) will be minimal. Since the blog is personal, it won’t matter too much that it comes from a template and therefore may seem ‘less professional’.

On the other hand, if you plan to blog for professional use and are reasonably comfortable with HTML/managing web pages – then you may want to go with a non-hosted blog. You’ll have more control over the content, plus the ability to generate ad revenue, and your blog will probably look more professional and less formulated.

So, once you’ve determined which basic type of blog you want to use, it becomes a question of which hosting platform to use. Let me give you a rundown of 7 of the most common platforms.

First looking at five of the more basic platforms, here’s an overview of Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, and Posterous.

Tumblr is a very easy to use platform; it offers users a quick and easy way to share anything and everything. In addition to written posts, Tumblr users can share other forms of media which they find interesting: photos, videos, and other web sites. All they have to do is click a little “Share on Tumblr” bookmark, which then sends that content to their Tumblr page. It’s a little bit like re-tweeting meets blogging.

Tumblr’s quickness and simplicity, though, are also its biggest drawback – it’s more of a micro-blog than a serious blog. Tumblr is great for personal use, as it’s very fun, but not too useful if you’re looking to do something a bit more in-depth or more professional.

Of all the blogging platforms, Blogger is probably the easiest for blogging beginners to set up and use. It’s a free service that links with gmail accounts, and it’s pretty easy to customize even without any knowledge of HTML.

Unfortunately, Blogger doesn’t have very good SEO, which means that it’s not very effective to use it for commercial purposes. It also has been criticized for looking ‘less professional’ than other platforms, owing to its basic very easy-to-use nature. However, for the casual personal user, Blogger is often the easiest and most efficient choice.

WordPress actually has two different components: wordpress.com and wordpress.org

WordPress.com blogs are free and very simple to set up. They are hosted and managed by the server. They’re great for beginning bloggers for that reason. However, they are limited in design, so again not the best option for a professional blog or for someone interested in developing their own look for their blog.

WordPress.org blogs are hosted and managed by the user (or a third party server the user hires). The software used to create the blog is free, but the server needed to host the blog generally costs money. WordPress.org blog users have a little more control over the look of their blog, but users must therefore also have a little more technical experience. Since the blogger has a bit more control, WordPress.com blogs tend to look a little ‘more professional’ compared to the WordPress.org and Blogger services.

Typepad is a basic blogging platform pretty similar to WordPress and Blogger. It’s pretty simple – setting up your blog is quite user-friendly. Additionally, Typepad is easy to customize, with a lot of different themes, and allows you to have ads on your site. Another bonus is that Typepad will let you have photo albums directly on your blog.

However, Typepad has its drawbacks – mainly that users must pay. After a free trial, users are charged a monthly fee based on how many blogs they want to create.

Posterous is another free, fairly straightforward. blogging platform. It’s a little different than any of the others, though – users can post via email and share their Posterous content to their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube accounts. Posterous also allows you to create and share photo albums. Its other unique feature is the ability to directly import content from a user’s WordPress blog, meaning that postings can quickly be shared to multiple accounts.

However, Posterous, like Tumblr, is more of a micro-blogging service than a serious, professional platform. This makes it perfect for the casual blogger, but not a strong choice for business/professional use.

Now that we’ve done a basic overview of the simpler blog platforms out there, let’s look at two of the more complex services.

Drupal is great for people with a lot of web development experience. Unlike some of the more basic blogging platforms, Drupal lets you build much more than plain blogs – you can work many types of web pages using Drupal software.

Since it’s got so much flexibility, Drupal users can create some really cool sites – and it’s free. However, you do need to be pretty well-versed in web developing to take advantage of everything Drupal has to offer. For the casual blogger or the beginner, Drupal may not be your best choice. But if you’re pretty good at creating web pages and want something very flexible and very versatile, then Drupal may be for you.

Like Drupal, Joomla is a free platform offering users a lot of options in terms of flexibility and creativity. Although Joomla does also require a little more knowledge of web development than the beginning personal blogger generally has, there are plenty of templates, tutorials, and forums which make it easy to learn for someone who is willing to put in a little time.

The Joomla platform isn’t quite as strong or as flexible as Drupal, but sites often are more visually appealing and easier to create once you’ve gotten started. For someone who is comfortable with web development, or at least very motivated to learn, Joomla might be a good choice.

To sum things up – there’s a blogging platform out there for everyone. You just need to assess what your goal for your blog is, how much time you want to devote to it, and your level of comfort with HTML/web development. No matter if you want to blog for personal or professional reasons, one of the services out there will match up with your needs, whatever they may be. Happy blogging!

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The rise of Groupon (infographic)

By amankumra On March 15, 2011 In Entrepreneurship, Infographic With 7 Comments Permanent Link to The rise of Groupon (infographic)

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The rise of Groupon – Infographic produced by Aman Kumra

(Zoom in to get the best view)

Future of Geo-locational media

By amankumra On March 8, 2011 In Social media With No Comments

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Geo-locational media has been hailed by some as ‘the next big thing’ in social networking. Alternately, its usefulness has been called into question. Its full impact remains to be seen, but it’s clear that this is a trend with legs.

Now, at this point, some of you might be wondering what geo-locational media is, or what all the fuss is about. Basically, geo-locational media is a platform that lets users use their smartphone to ‘check in’ to locations. These check-ins can be pushed to Facebook and Twitter so that the user’s friends know where to find them.

Foursquare, one of the more popular geo-locational services, makes checking in to places into a sort of game. Users can collect points and badges, and the user who checks into a place the most is made the ‘mayor’. Some businesses even offer incentives to the ‘mayor’, encouraging users to compete for the most check-ins.

Facebook also has its own geo-locational service, called Facebook Places. It does basically the same thing as Foursquare, allowing users to check-in and post their location, but without the badges and the incentives for checking in multiple times.

Alright. Now I’ve established what geo-location media is. So, really, what’s the fuss?

For one thing, geo-locational media has huge marketing potential. Foursquare allows users to leave ‘tips’ about whatever location they’ve just checked into. The real-world value is this: users’ friends see what businesses they are patronizing and how they feel about it.

So a business which offers incentives to Foursquare users not only attracts them as a customer, but also creates an opportunity to give their business some good publicity. Plus, since this kind of publicity comes from a trusted source (a friend) as opposed to a commercial or news brief, people are more likely to find the recommendation genuine.

It seems like currently, we’re just on the tip of the iceberg in terms of tapping into this kind of marketing potential. But more on that in just a bit – geo-locational media also has enormous potential benefits to consumers.

First and foremost, geo-locational media offers perks to loyal customers, like the above-mentioned incentives to Foursquare users, especially those who become ‘mayor’. The ‘mayor’ generally gets the best incentives (think a free coffee, free pastry, and the like) but other customers using Foursquare who can show that they’ve checked in often receive incentives as well (something like 10% off their purchase seems to be pretty typical).

As businesses start to see more traffic driven by users hoping to earn the most points and the best incentives, they in turn will have more incentive to offer those incentives. Keeping customers happy = giving them what they want, and you as a customer will reap those benefits.

Secondly, as Foursquare, Facebook Places, and other geo-locational services like Gowalla, SCVNGR, and Loopt become more and more popular, users will benefit from the reviews and tips left by other users. Looking for the best coffee in Seattle, or the tastiest bagel in New York? Simple – whip out your smartphone and see what other customers had to say when they checked in to nearby coffee shops and bakeries.

Ok. Now I’ve established the basic benefits of geo-locational media, both for businesses and consumers. Anastasia Kolobrodova details many of these benefits, as well as ways that geo-locational services impact large chain businesses vs. local mom-n-pop enterprises, in this interesting article. So – it’s time to tackle the question of what this all bodes for the future.

Remember the marketing potential that I mentioned earlier? Time to go back to that. Using geo-locational media as a marketing tool can hugely change the way businesses advertise.

Buying traditional ads (think newspapers, radio, TV, and the like) can get very expensive, very quickly. There’s also the chance that those ads won’t reach the target audience. Plus, for small businesses, competing against the large chains with all of their advertising muscle can seem futile.

But geo-locational media is cheap and spread from consumer to consumer. A long-time, dedicated customer using some kind of geo-locational service can check in, see the business’ information – and special incentives, if they offer any – and then spread that knowledge via word-of-mouth to their friends, relatives, and colleagues: the people who are also likely to patronize said business.

This kind of ‘viral advertising’ also has the benefit of spreading exponentially. One person might tell ten other people, who in turn tell ten other people, and so on. Businesses can potentially reach huge numbers of customers just by creating a Foursquare or Facebook places account.

Even if customers don’t actively go out and tell other people about the business, and the incentives they’re received, other geo-locational media users can still see where they’ve checked in. The more people that frequent a location, the more others will assume that it is a good place to go.

So, the more people who check in to your business, the greater the chance that others will be drawn in as well. Which means an increase in foot traffic and presumably also an increase in profit – all for a minimum of advertising cost. What’s not to like?

Additionally, the potential customer base to be reached via geo-location media is HUGE. Facebook Places has yet to catch on the way Facebook itself has, but the user base is enormous. Once Facebook Places finds a way to replicate Facebook’s overall popularity, it has the capability to spread like wildfire. Jeff Gibbard offers up some ways that Facebook Places may be able to attract more users in his January 10 article.

You may be wondering why, with all of these benefits, geo-locational media hasn’t exploded onto the scene. Unfortunately, like any technology, geo-locational media has its drawbacks too.

A first and foremost concern for many people is the potential loss of privacy. Checking in to places reveals a lot of personal information. Ari Herzog shares some stories on his blog of people who have had bad experiences because of this.

Secondly, giving people your location at all times might open you up to victimization. It makes a robber’s job a whole lot easier knowing you are across town at that hot new Italian restaurant instead of parked in front of the 50” flat screen TV he wants to steal.

While the chances of these occurrences are pretty remote, that possibility still does exist. So please, embrace the new technology of geo-locational media – but do so with caution. We all know to set our privacy settings on Facebook and limit the reach of our Tweets; what’s to stop us from doing the same with our favored geo-locational service?

Still, despite the potential drawbacks, geo-locational media has huge potential to grow. The benefits to both users and businesses far outweigh any drawbacks. Geo-locational media holds advantages for everyone; this is one kind of technology to watch.