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Tips & Tactics For IBOs
Tip 1
If
you’re new to social media, start off with a whisper and
test your way before striking up the big band. Try
creating a
MySpace page with some very basic information
about yourself to create a Web presence, or register
with
Facebook and create a simple profile to start. Test
out other applications like uploading photos or music,
posting comments, and reviewing books. Once you’re
familiar with the site, experiment with it and have fun.
Be social but be safe!
Tip 2
Whatever social media site you join, before you start
inviting people get to know the site and what it offers.
Facebook is full of diversions like games, groups,
and other applications.
LinkedIn offers groups, questions, and
recommendations. When you do invite people to join your
page, start with a few friends and family. Learn how to
interact with them before you start interacting with
colleagues or business prospects. Recognize the special
nature of each site and how each group of members uses
it, so you can make the most of it. Check out privacy
and security settings for your comfort level.
Tip 3
What name, username, or “handle” should you use on your social media site? That’s totally up to you, within the guidelines of the
Amway North America Rules of Conduct. Some people use their name, while some use a play on their name. Some people use something intriguing or mysterious. If you have a common name like Smith or Jones, your options may be more limited – you can always combine it with a number or an interesting secondary word. Or do something off-the-wall – just make it unique for you. Remember, you can’t use an
Amway trade name or trademark in any part of it.
Tip 4
One of the first things you should add to your social media page is an “avatar” or photo. For many, a person without a photo (or a graphic of some kind) is an amateur and won’t attract many followers. The most appreciated is a recent photo. As you will see, photos can be straight portraits or imaginative casual shots; graphics can be business logos, cartoon characters, or app renderings of actual photos – just don’t violate anyone’s copyright or trademark! Remember, you can’t use an
Amway logo or product here.
Tip 5
Your social media page is your opportunity to tell the world about yourself. While you should be careful what personal information you publish for the world to take, you should tell those who want to interact with you a little bit about you. Some long-time social media mavens won’t follow someone who
doesn’t include information about himself or herself – it’s just good etiquette! On
Twitter, you’re limited to 160 characters, but you can be creative and descriptive and still tell others why they should be interested in you. Remember, you can’t offer to sell products or sponsor anyone in this space.
Tip 6
If
you manage more than one social media account, you can
easily share the same message across multiple accounts.
For instance, if you post something on
Facebook,
you can automatically post it on
Twitter.
If you post it on Twitter, you can simultaneously post
it on
LinkedIn.
It’s actually easy to post between Facebook, Twitter,
and LinkedIn, and sharing posts saves you time. However,
you should make sure that you want to share any
particular post between accounts. Some accounts require
you to share posts all the time until you change
settings, some allow you to select when you want to
share, and some make it easy to switch back and forth on
the fly, as on LinkedIn.
Tip 7
Update: A new privacy setting on Facebook called
"Instant Personalization" shared data with non-Facebook
websites and was automatically set to "Allow." If you’re
uncomfortable with this, go to Account > Privacy
Settings and under Applications and Websites click
the “Edit your settings” link, then beside “What you’re
using” either click “Turn off all platform applications”
to disable it or click “Remove unwanted or spammy
applications” to revise your list.
Tip 8
Facebook has recently changed its
Privacy Settings page, simplifying how they show
your current privacy settings. They have been rolling
out the changes over the last couple of weeks. Read
about the changes on
Facebook’s explanation page. On the Privacy Settings
page, use the “View settings” link to see your Facebook
privacy settings in detail and “Customize settings” to
make changes. At the bottom of the page, under
“Applications and Websites,” use “Edit your settings” to
view or change any privacy settings for non-Facebook
applications and websites (see Tip 7).
Tip 9
Did you know that many of your
Facebook friends may share one or more of their
phone numbers online? To see if any of your Facebook
friends lists a Land or Mobile number, while you’re
logged into Facebook go to “Account” (upper right hand
corner) and drop down to “Edit Friends.” Then look in
the left-hand navigation list for Phonebook. Click on
“Phonebook” to show all the friends and their numbers.
If you don’t want your phone number to appear on other
friends’ phonebooks, delete it from the Contact
Information section on your Profile or change it under
“Contact information” in your Privacy Setting.
Tip 10
Facebook Places is the
newest check-in app, which lets you tell the world where
you are at any moment. It was automatically included in
Facebook’s latest
mobile upgrade. For some, it’s fun to trace out your
whirlwind day. For others, it’s a way to tell home
invaders when you’re away or intruders where to find
you. If you like showing the world your movements,
Facebook Places is
active by default. If you don’t like it, you can easily
disable it: Take “Account” to “Privacy Settings”, and
then click on “Customize Settings.” Scroll down to
“Things I Share” and “Places I check in to,” which
should be set to “Friends only” by default – click on
the arrow by “Friends only” and either select “Only me”
(or “Customize” and then “Only me”). Beneath “Places I
check in to” should be “Includes me in ‘People Here Now’
after I check in” – uncheck “Enable.” Your friends may
be able to tag when you’re at a place, too. To disable
this, scroll down from “Things I share” to “Things
others share” and across from “Friends can check me into
Places” click on the arrow next to “Enabled” and choose
“Disabled” instead. Other popular mobile check-in
applications unrelated to Places to be aware of are
Foursquare and
Gowalla.
Tip 11
You have probably noticed the
appearance of ads on the right side of your friends’
Facebook profile pages.
Often, a wide range of businesses and causes show up,
but many of them come up again and again, sometimes not
messages you appreciate having to read. Did you know
that you can close an ad from your screen? If you see an
ad that you find offensive or otherwise unsuitable,
click the “X” in its upper right-hand corner. You will
then be asked why you don’t like the ad:
“uninteresting,” “misleading,” “offensive,”
“repetitive,” or “other” (and you will be given a little
text box to explain what “other” means to you). You may
also
Report an Ad for
violating Facebook’s
ad guidelines, in which
case after investigation Facebook may remove the ad.
Tip 12
LinkedIn
is the
social networking site
for professionals. It’s meant to
connect people
who know each other or are familiar with each other’s
work. However, there are other ways to connect besides
direct connections. For instance, you can ask a direct
connection for an introduction to someone else with whom
they are connected. Or you can meet people by joining
Groups,
the interactions from which relationships often spring.
And, you can interact with people in the
Answers
section, answering questions and sharing your expertise
– provide valuable answers and people may ask to connect
with you. However, as always, be careful of those with
whom you accept a connection.
Tip 13
One of the
most recent changes on
Facebook is to your profile page. It now displays
information about you in a different, more engaging way
that Facebook feels makes it easier to begin
conversations with others – new people you meet or
people you’ve re-met after a long time. For instance, it
includes any photos that were tagged with your name. It
also includes some basic information about you, like
your occupation, where you live, areas of study, and so
on. You can change some of this information (look for
the “Edit
Profile” button) to focus the attention of readers
as you want, and you can highlight which friends or
family are featured on your profile page, plus you can
create new groups to feature, all as conversation
starters. Learn more on Facebook’s “Introducing
the New Profile” page.
Tip 14
It’s easy to “like” a page on
Facebook, and it’s fairly easy to unlike that
page individually. However, what about if you want to
review all the pages you’ve liked or if you want to
unlike several at a time? For instance, what if you
don’t remember all the pages that you’ve liked and want
to see if any are out-of-date? Or what if you know there
are several you want to unlike, but you don’t have time
to hunt them down individually? Log in to Facebook and
using the left-hand navigation links, click on “Edit
Profile” and then “Activities & Interests.” On the right
side, look for the link at the bottom that says “Show
Other Pages” and click it. A page of your current likes
should pop up, showing a button for “remove page” (which
means “unlike”) next to each. Learn more in the
New York Times article, “How
to Unlike Pages on Facebook.”
Tip 15
Before you begin
social networking – or even if you’re already an active
networker – take a look at Amway’s new “Using Social
Media for Your Amway Business,”
guidelines to using social media. They will help you
make the most out of your social networking efforts and
help you abide by Amway’s IBO Rules of Conduct while
doing so. You can even download this pdf document for
convenient referral.
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