SocialBusiness.pro

Latest Facebook Scam: Phishers Seeking Cash from Friends

jdavis — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:14:00 +0500

This morning I was messaged by a friend of mine from college who told me that we was stranded in North Wales. He continued to tell me that last night he was mugged and beaten with all of his cash, cards and cell phone were stolen.

I responded that I was sorry to hear that. I immediately became suspicious because the English grammar wasn't so good. I continued talking with him, waiting to see if he would ask me for money. I asked him how his wife was doing and he responded that she too was beaten pretty badly.

Eventually, after about 10 minutes, the chatter asked me to wire some money via Western Union to him so that he could pay his hotel bill. At that point, I called a few of our mutual friends to see if they knew if our friend and his wife were going to Wales. I also got my friend's cell number and tried calling - voicemail. A few questions I immediately thought of is, "You don't have cash, cards or a cell phone, but you're chatting on Facebook?" and, "I know the hotel would allow you to call your parents collect to get money, why are you asking your friends?"

Finally, I asked the person I was chatting with for his wife's college roommate's name - some information that couldn't be retrieved from a Facebook profile. The person immediately logged off and deleted my friend's Facebook account.

A similar convesation to mine is posted at TechCrunch. Apparently, this scam is very new. These phishers hack into a Facebook user's profile and gather as much public information about them as possible, including spouse, kids, education, etc.

As always, never send private information or money to anyone (including your good friends) without verifying information. Just because it's your friend's account, doesn't mean it's them.

And, as TechCrunch stated, there's really nothing Facebook can do to prevent these scams. It is technically impossible for a social environment to monitor and regulate illegitimate messaging. I assume, the violator deleted the account in hopes of removing any IP route tracing that Facebook could determine to initiate. I, however, doubt Facebook would expend HR to track down needles in haystacks. They're busy doing other things, like redesigning the user interface (again). :)

Video of the Week: YMCA by the Village People

jdavis — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:55:00 +0500

In light of the YMCA changing its name to "the Y", I thought that it would only be fitting to show the Village People. Unfortunately, the party who posted the video, doesn't want it embedded. so you'll have to click the link in the video or watch it here. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past.

Watch video

No Such Thing As "Potential" Client

jdavis — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:00:00 +0500

I work with a ton of marketing and sales teams. Often, their contacts and leads are referred to as "potential" clients. There's no such thing.

In what once seemed like a disconnected world, this may have been the case (though, not entirely). However, in a social world, everyone is a client. While a contact or lead may not buy your product or service, they will still buy into (and sell, for that matter) your reputation. That's what makes reputation management so crucial for today's business - it is just as important as sales and marketing for client acquisition and retention.

Not to toot my own horn, but just to prove a point...

As I meet with many business executives to discuss Social Media, many still don't entirely grasp the concept and, so therefore, their buy-in is often postponed. However, those leaders still call me or e-mail with questions or concerns because I've been able to establish a great reputation.

We often just "potential" clients by what they can contribute to our bottom lines. Perhaps, we ought to examine what they can contribute to (or take away from) our reputation.

Don’t Sell Your Car

jdavis — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:15:56 +0500

There’s a local car dealership offering to buy cars from those who are in need of cash. Unless they plan on downgrading on monthly payments or sorts, its a terrible idea.

While there may be many who are out of jobs this season, how do they plan on finding a new job and getting there everyday if they sale their car?

Same principle in business – don’t fire your sales team.

Currently, there are many companies cutting their sales time – non-salary, commissions-only sales associates. Why? They don’t get paid unless they make the company money. Fire and consolidate the management first. If a company let’s go of the sales teams, who needs management? There’s nothing to manage.

To many this may seem like common-sense, but what kills me is there are companies who don’t get this basic principle.

For example. there are web development companies here in Atlanta, Georgia that have boards of directors. First, why does a web development company need a board of directors boggles me. But, these companies are letting go of their designers and developers – the workers responsible for product fulfillment. They’re keeping their boards, though. Stupid.

Don’t sell your car; don’t fire your sales teams. These are the channels that increase you and your company’s income potential.

It’s Not Facebook’s Fault You (or Your Business) is Failing: Part II - Your Business

jdavis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:34:00 +0500

In my previous post, I shined a little light on the repercussions Facebook platform apps can have on the productivity and performance on an individual. But, how does Facebook apps create sluggish, under-performing companies?

Again noted, Facebook can be an incredible contributor to a company’s bottom line. It’s a fantastic resource for generating leads and promoting brands, goods and services. Companies need to define acceptable usage policies for social media so that the incorporation of social media is effective within the overarching marketing strategy.

A Few Factors to Consider When Writing a Company’s Facebook Acceptable Usage Policy

Separate Accounts
Creating a business-only account is becoming increasingly common among today’s corporate leaders. You should consider requiring your employee to create a separate account for business use and build relationships on that account. While you cannot monitor what your employees are doing after hours, you can regulate their 8-5 activities. If your employee should post something (status update, photo, video, etc) that infringes upon corporate policy, it could undermine the integrity and image of your business. While you may fire that employee, or, even, negotiate the removal of the inappropriate item for their continuation of employment, the damage may have already been done – and, very quickly to say the least.

If at any point and for whatever reason your employee should cease working for the company, then the account becomes property of the company. After all, you did pay them to cultivate relationships and you wouldn’t want the ex-employee taking those relationships with them to a competitor would you?
Personal Chat
I must say that I love Facebook’s chat feature. Let’s be honest, though. You’re not paying your employees to talk to their friends. If part of your company’s marketing strategy includes building relationships, Facebook chat is a great tool, but your employee should separate personal space from business space. Would you pay them to talk on the phone with their friends all day? However, any company would benefit if a sales team is on the phone and cultivating relationships with clients. The same is true with Facebook chat (or any other instant messaging platform).
Facebook Platform Apps
Web 3.0 and virtual space is one thing, Farmville and Mafia are another. Web 3.0 encourages channel development through virtual space. Finding an ugly duckling on the farm doesn’t encourage anything. Worse yet, should one distracted employee “share” an app with another, your entire sales and/or service team may be virally affected, thus, inhibiting overall development.
Facebook Inbox
So your company has e-mail policies? Does it have Facebook e-mail policies? You should be aware of and monitor the employee’s Facebook Inbox for their corporate Facebook account. This will assist you in alleviating some of your office fantasy relationships and virtual water cooler discussions.
Photo and Video Sharing
Do your employees know anything about bandwidth and network load? Perhaps they should. Photo and video sharing should be kept to a minimum. Some great photos and videos may include a corporate event that your company hosted or was involved with. Some not so great photos can include drunk (or high) employees, risqué dancing and locations. You also don’t want some of your “less presentable” employees being photographed. There’s sometimes more than one reason they work in a cubicle with little public interaction.

Posting photos and videos can help enhance the company culture, should your policies allow it. But, needless to say, not all of your employees should be posting photos and videos. Besides the fact of being distracted from their official responsibilities, sending and receiving larges amounts of data can make decrease network performance.
Status Updates
While you may or may not have public viewing rights to your employees’ personal profiles, you should require “friend” access to their corporate accounts. This allows you to monitor any comments that they (or any of their contacts make). If you should find something inappropriate, then you can have your employee quickly remove the update from their feed along with taking any other appropriate action.
Mobile Access
Remember, Facebook, like many other web applications, is not restricted to the desktop. Facebook accounts can be monitored and altered through mobile devices. Be aware of the “under-the-table” employees who may be constantly texting from their phone while their corporate account may still be visible on the computer screen.

There’s nothing wrong with exercising the “protective parent” approach when it comes to your company, its reputation and its employees. Take any action that you feel is necessary in order to ensure your company’s continued quality presentation. You may find that as your company grows and the use of social media grows, your company may need to consider hiring someone to direct and oversee all corporate social media activity.

It’s Not Facebook’s Fault You (or Your Business) is Failing: Part I - You

jdavis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:17:45 +0500

Facebook is a fantastic tool for acquiring leads and growing your business. However, Facebook does offer a new set of distractions.

I’m splitting this post into two parts in order to direct the content to two different, primary audiences: the individual looking for work; and, the business owner. Depending on your current position, you should be aware of the distractions that may be causing you or your business to be less productive.

Also, these two posts may seem hyper-critical, but please realize, my belief is quite simple…If you don’t like what you’re doing or the results, stop complaining and either change your attitude or change what you’re doing.

As the economic crisis continues, my Facebook status feed continues to grow with status updates painted with gloom and depression. It seems that more and more people are using Facebook to voice their discontentment and sorrow. Perhaps, you are one of them.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that there are many people hurting; and, again, you may be one of them. But, one question for you…What are you doing about it?

The origins for writing this post are the constant status updates by users who occasionally post an update of sorrow and then immediately follow the update with multiple messages from Farmville, Café World, Mafia, Happy Aquarium or a host of other Facebook platform applications. Additionally, the user’s status update is filled with these application blurbs throughout the day – everyday. Furthermore, if an employer was to look at your Facebook feed (and don’t worry, they will), what does your status feed say about your work ethic and determination?

Again, Facebook can be a powerful resource for lead generation and business growth – but, only if it is used as a building tool and not a distraction. Your use of Facebook determines your value in the workforce.

So, stop planting seeds on your farm in Farmville and Farmland and plant seeds in your future. Stop knocking off people in Mafia and start knocking on doors. Stop feeding fish in your Happy Aquarium and look for ways to feed you and your family.

A wise man once said, “Lazy hands make a man poor; but diligent hands bring wealth.”

So, what are you waiting for? Get up and get going. Make something happen today.

Google’s “Social” Skills are Still Lacking

jdavis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:58:13 +0500

Occasionally, Google will introduce an enhancement to its search engine allowing users to “opt-in” for use prior to releasing the addition live. These enhancements are found in Google Labs (www.googlelabs.com). One current feature in the labs is Google’s Social Search.

Supposedly, Google offers subscribers the ability to search their own networks for relevant results to their query. Those results, in turn, may be given higher precedence than those results returned from outside the user’s network. Notice the word “may.” I’ve yet to see any such results. Perhaps, my network isn’t big enough. However, I would have thought with a few thousand friends, someone’s got to be talking about the same thing(s) for which I am looking. Maybe, we’re just not compatible and I should find new friends.

Or, maybe Google has yet to penetrate the social community for the same issue with which it has always struggled. Furthermore, Google now introduces its own hurdle.

First, why many users are turning away from major search engines and to Twitter for locating news, current events and hot topics is because Twitter offers one thing the major players don’t – real-time search.

Traditional search engines reside on multiple servers. These search providers have a few scavenger servers (crawlers) that visit web sites and store page content in a database. The database must then replicate itself to multiple database servers where the public search engine can access the data and provide its search results. While major news sites may be index quite frequently, the process previously described could still take a few hours to complete. For less popular sites, it may be a matter of days before the site’s information is indexed and an additional 24-48 hours before the content is available for search.

Twitter offers real-time search enabling users to quickly find up-to-the-minute information and news on recent events – sometimes merely a few seconds, literally, after the information is published or the event occurs.

Perhaps as an appeasement to current social users; or, a limitation during an eventual (maybe) migration, Google Social Search’s “fine lines” in its labs description specifies the extent of its returned results.

“Your social circle consists of contacts from Gmail and sites listed in your Google profile.”

There you have it. In order for you to see results from Google’s Social Search, you must either: 1) be a Gmail user; or, 2) set up a Google profile. Could this be a ploy to “encourage” users to go Google? It so, I sincerely doubt it will work.

While there are quite a few people who use Gmail, there are still many more who don’t. As for myself, I have quite a few e-mail addresses and none of them are Gmail accounts.

I do, however, have a Google account, but only because I use tools such as Analytics, Webmaster Tools and Feedburner. Additionally, I’ve taken the time to create my Google profile and added some preferred links. But, I’m sure not everyone who has a Google account has taken the time to manage their profile.

While you and I may have many “friends,” “followers,” “connections,” etc. (take your pick of your preferred network), good luck in finding their information in your search results.

Social Sites Ranked Among the Top 50 Web Sites for Professionals

jdavis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:07:47 +0500

Website Magazine’s November issue lists 50 leading web sites for marketing and business development professionals. As one could imagine, the list paints a different picture than that which would have been constructed only a few years ago.

As Website Magazine points out, the use of social sites has increased among top enterprises. Among the listed social sites are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning and Yelp.

Blogging sites have also become increasingly popular with enterprise trend setters. Of course, the two most well-known, free blogging platforms, WordPress and Blogger, were ranked high in the list – #’s 9 and 11, respectively. And, blogs could not receive nearly as much customer attraction if it wasn’t for the aggregators that push their content to subscribers and increase the blogs’ visibility. A few aggregators, namely, Digg and Technorati, were included in Website Magazine’s list.

Finally, any company seeking to solidify their online presence, must now syndicate video content. YouTube is now the second-largest search engine, following only its parent, Google, and provides easy and rapid traffic generation through professional and grass-roots video creation and delivery. It’s no wonder that YouTube was #4 on the list. Other video platforms like Blinkx, MetaCafe and Ustream.tv were included in the top 50, as well.

In conclusion, I must agree with Website’s disclaimer, “Keep in mind that the sites on this Top 50 are not an acknowledgement of their effectiveness but rather their popularity.” Website Magazine asserts that the effectiveness of the given sites still highly depends on the manner in which they are used. Again, I completely agree.

Video of the Week: Crazy Shopper

jdavis — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:48:00 +0500

Ever had issues like this while trying to fill your car with groceries?

Watch video

Again, Diversify Your Social Media

jdavis — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:16:39 +0500

On a previous post, I discussed the importance of diversifying your social media marketing channels due to the attacks on the social network Twitter.

As these attacks were taking place, marketers rushed to other channels such as Facebook and FriendFeed. This, in turn, brought heavy stressed upon the infrastructure of these two servers making their responses to traffic requests quite sluggish, as well.

Over the past few days, we’ve witnessed some of Facebook’s own growing pains.

As Facebook has been adding some great new features, bugs have also been surfacing. Some issues have been minor annoyances like the random session timeouts and a user being forced to logged back in. In the spirit of National Talk Like a Pirate Day this past Saturday, Facebook users switched their native language from English to “Pirate” where all Facebook correspondence from the user is automatically translated to a “pirate-ty” dialect. Unfortunately, as Saturday ended, Facebook users were met with much grief as they attempted to revert their native language back to English – some are still unable to complete the reversion. Today, I, among many others, were temporarily locked out of our Facebook accounts for what was reported by Facebook as a “system maintenance,” thus, rendering our Facebook channels inaccessible for a few hours this morning.

What does all of this mean? Again, do not solely rely on one or two social media channels. Diversify your networks and rely on multiple providers for redundancy and a solid failover strategy.