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I don’t usually plug tools too heavily here, but I have to share one that has lately become a staple for me – Plancast.com.

Described by Techcrunch as “Foursquare for the future,” Plancast is a tool that lets you tell friends and followers where you’re going to be rather than where you are right now.

This may seem like a minor tweak but as someone who just moved to a new town (hello Austin, Texas!) it has been a real game-changer when deciding where to spend my networking time.

By adding all the people I follow on Twitter and my Facebook friends to Plancast, I can easily see what events they have RSVP’d to recently. On any given evening here in Austin there are often three or more events that seem like good bets for meeting the kind of people I’m hoping to connect with. By browsing Plancast, it’s easy to see which one “wins” among the people I’ve chosen to connect with already.

I’m crowdsourcing my calendar to people I already trust.

And the best part is, I don’t have to think about adding my events – by connecting with Facebook and Eventbrite, any events I RSVP to automatically show up in my Plancast, which means that mine and my friends’ plans are usually pretty accurate and up-to-date.

If you spend time out networking, check it out! It’s a great way to know which faces to look for when you walk into a new event. Happy Networking!

If you’re going to the trouble of writing a blog, you should make sure that it gets as much traction with your audience, whether they prefer to visit you at your blog or elsewhere on the web. Today we’re going to add our blog posts to your Facebook Page (not your personal Profile, but your business Page) automatically.

We’re going to do this by having Facebook search for your blog’s RSS feed, which is a bit like having TiVo watch for latest episodes of your favorite shows. We’re going to tell Facebook what to look for (your RSS Feed), and when you post a new blog item, Facebook will grab it and post it to your Page as well.

Find your RSS Feed Address

• Let’s start by figuring out your Blog’s RSS Feed URL. Visit your website and click on RSS symbol in the URL address bar, usually orange or blue. On the screen that pops up, look for a URL that almost matches yours but with RSS or Feed in the link. Often it is just your web address with “/feed” at the end, like this: http://www.betterwaytosayit.com/feed/

• Copy and paste this feed address for later use

Check to See if the App is Installed

Next you want to see if you already have the Application (aka “App”) you need installed on Facebook. Probably not, but worth a look.

• Go to your Facebook Home Page, click “Ads and Pages” from the column under your Profile photo.
• Under the Page we’re trying to update (if you have more than one) click Edit Page.
• Scroll down to Applications and see if you have the Blog RSS Feed Reader Installed:

• If not, don’t worry, you just need to scroll to the bottom of that screen and click Browse More:

• In the upper left corner of the next screen, type Blog RSS Feed Reader in the search bar, and click the Blog RSS Feed Reader Application when it appears in the column to the right.

Add the App to your Facebook Page

• On the Blog RSS Feed Reader Application Page, in the left column, click Add to my Page, and on the next page, beside the Page we’re trying to edit, click Add to Page again:

Edit the App to Display your RSS Feed

• Now go back to your the Edit Page section (Home > Ads and Pages > Edit Page) and underneath your new Blog RSS Feed Reader App, click Edit.

• On the next screen, enter your RSS feed URL that we discovered in the first step, edit any other settings as you see fit (default is fine) and click Save Settings:

Facebook should go back and grab the last 10 blog posts and populate them on your Facebook Page. It can take a while the first time, so be patient. Now anytime your blog is updated, your Facebook Page is as well! Consider repeating the steps on your Facebook Profile (your personal page) if the content of the blog is a good fit not just for your Page’s Fans, but also your Profile Friends.

And, as always, let us know if you have questions!

Ok, so you have a Page on Facebook for your business, and  you’ve made sure that your Fans (people who “Like” your page) can post photos, videos and links to your page.

But if you want to allow those lovely people to tag themselves or other people that appear in those photos, for whatever reason, Facebook has made it rather difficult. To save you the headache of searching the user forums, let me share the solution I found just this week:

1. Go to your Facebook Page.
2. Directly below your Page’s Profile photo, click on “Edit Page”.
3. In your browser’s URL, note the number that comes AFTER ‘edit/?id=’ (numbers only, if anything else follows)
4. That number is your Page ID – Copy for use in step 5
5. Go to this URL, but change YOURPAGEID to your Page ID from step 3:
   http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/app_settings.php?id=YOURPAGEID&aid=2305272732
6. Click the setting for “Allow All Fans to Tag Photos” & Save settings

Voila! Fans will now sse this option when viewing photos on your page. Happy Tagging!

1. Shorter wins. Studies show that the internet is changing the way we read – Keep text short and easy to scan
2. Use bullets and numbered lists for groups of three or more ideas
3. Write a solutions-driven headline – make the benefits obvious

Bonus #4: Remember that the test of good marketing material is whether it adds value – make sure you’re adding something useful to the conversation, rather than selling.

What other tricks do you use to keep your posts interesting?

This guide from the smart folks at Hubspot has 15 different examples of companies using Facebook for Business, and doing it well. There are some great tips for anyone thinking about venturing into that space: Facebook Guide for Business

That said, we often tell clients to remember that most people are in “weekend” mindset when they get on Facebook, so even if you’re a serious, B2B company, you’d better be prepared to lighten up, break into business casual mode, and show some personality. A dry, brochure-type Facebook page isn’t going to get you far!

We’re always advocating the use of article syndication for our clients, both because of the “added eyeballs” on your content and for the SEO value. So when I recently came across this list of Top 50 Article Directories By Traffic and Pagerank, updated daily, I was thrilled. Here’s a link to the most recent version: http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php.