"Don't part with your dreams - when they are gone you may still exist but you will have ceased to live" - Mark Twain

"Do you know that this blog wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you being here to read it!?" - Bobby Gill
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts

Friday, 8 April 2011

Confused by Social Media?

Want more leads for your business? Like to be able to stay in contact with your existing clients? Need to be easier to find online?

Have you taken the first steps to get yourself and your brand online yet?

If you're reading this blog and have been redirected here from a Facebook group or fanpage, Twitter, Ecademy, LinkedIn, forum, RSS Feed or a link shared on a friend's webpage - then you're already half way there.

Did you know that you can also publish content about yourself, your company, products and services just as easily? Yes, it's true! You don't need a corporate sized budget to be able to compete with the big guys any more. For individuals and entrepreneurs it is much easier to get presence and connect with your existing and potential customers.

Have you any idea what people are saying about your brand online? Check Google to see what it comes up with. The problem is that people are more likely to complain when they receive bad service than take the time to thank you - unless you actively engage with them and ask for testimonials and do your best to deal with the complaints.

Below is a presentation I did at the Northern Property Network during March 2009 to a group of property investors and business owners.

The scary thing is that some people still aren't using the tools that they have at their fingertips to grow their business and manage their online brand and reputation.

If you need help with your online social media and advertising.
Then contact me and see how I can help find a solution that's right for you.

Email:





Press Play on the bar at the bottom of the presentation to start the audio.

Click on the bottom right icon to make it full size so you can read the slides as well.



Sunday, 3 January 2010

Facebook and Twitter Status symbols

Here are a list of popular characters and symbols that you can 'copy and paste' into your Facebook and Twitter Status. There are many more symbols, fonts, wingdings and characters but there are enough here to get you started.

¢ – cent
£ – pound
¤ – currency
¥ – yen
€ – euro sign
§ – section
© – copyright
® – registered trademark
™ – trademark
° – degree – e.g. 45°
¹ – superscript 1
² – superscript 2
³ – superscript 3
· – middle dot
¸ – spacing cedilla
¼ – fraction 1/4
½ – fraction 1/2
¾ – fraction 3/4
¿ – inverted question mark
× – multiplication
÷ – division
• – bullet = black small circle
◊ – lozenge
℠ – Service Mark
℃ – Celsius
℅ – care of
℉ – Farenheit
№ – numero symbol – number sign
℗ – Sound Recording Copyright
℞ – Prescription Take pharmaceutical symbol
Ω – Ohm
℧ – Inverted Ohm
☀ ☼ – sunshine – sun
☁ – cloudy – cloud – dark cloud
☂ – raining – rain – umbrella
☃ – snow – snowman
☄ – shooting star
★ – star solid
☆ – star outline
☇ – lightning
☈ – thunderstorm
☉ – sun
☊ – ascending node
☋ – descending node
☌ – conjunction
☍ – opposition
☎ – phone
☏ – phone symbol outline
☐ – check box
☑ – check box check mark
☒ – ballot box with X
☓ – St. Andrew’s Cross
☚ – left-pointing index finger
☛ – right-pointing index finger
☜ – left-pointing index finger
☝ – upwards pointing index finger
☞ – right pointing index finger
☟ – downwards pointing index finger
☠ – skull & crossbones
☡ – caution sign
☢ – radioactive sign
☣ – biohazard sign
☮ – peace sign
☯ – yin & yang
☹ – frowning face
☺ – smiley face
☻ – black smiley face


☽ – waxing crescent moon
☾ – waning crescent moon
♈ – Aries
♉ – Taurus
♊ – Gemini
♋ – Cancer
♌ – Leo
♍ – Virgo
♎ – Libra
♏ – Scorpio
♐ – Sagitarius
♑ – Capricorn
♒ – Aquarius
♓ – Pisces
♔ – White King
♕ – White Queen
♖ – White Rook
♗ – White Bishop
♘ – White Knight
♙ – White Pawn
♚ – Black King
♛ – Black Queen
♜ – Black Rook
♝ – Black Bishop
♞ – Black Knight
♟ – Black Pawn
♠ – black spade suit
♢ – red diamond suit
♣ – black club suit = shamrock
♤ – red spade suit
♥ – black heart suit = valentine
♦ – black diamond suit
♧ – red club suit
♨ – hot springs
♩ – musical quarter note
♪ – musical eighth note
♫ – musical single bar note
♬ – musical double bar note
♭ – flat note
♮ – natural note
♯ – sharp note
✁ – cut above
✂ – cut here
✃ – cut below
✄ – scissors
✆ – public pay phone
✇ – film reel – tape spool
✈ – airport jet airplane
✉ – envelope mail email
✌ – victory sign
✍ – signature – sign here
✎ – pencil diagonal down
✏ – pencil
✐ – pencil diagonal up
✓ – check mark
✔ – heavy check mark
✕ – multiplication sign X
✖ – heavy multiplication sign X
✗ – ballot X
✘ – heavy ballot X
✝ – Latin Roman Cross
✞ – Latin Cross 3D shadow
✟ – Latin Cross outline
✠ – Maltese Cross
✡ – Star of David
❛ – quotation mark single turned comma
❜ – quotation mark single comma
❝ – quotation mark double turned comma
❞ – quotation mark double comma

╔═══╗ ♪
║███║ ♫
║  (●) ♫ IPOD
╚═══╝♪♪


Source: www.chatsmileysemoticons.com

Saturday, 25 April 2009

Social Media, Web 2.0, Facebook Presentation


Press Play on the bar at the bottom of the presentation to start the audio.

Click on the bottom right icon to make it full size so you can read the slides as well.

This is a presentation I did at the Northern Property Network during March 2009.


Friday, 20 March 2009

Update, Events & Free Complimentary Tickets

What's new and been happening in my life this month? Find out below...

I got a great offer at the bottom of this blog I wanted to tell you about.

Why did I put it there? So you'd read the rest first (or scroll straight to the bottom anyway...)

Well what I have I been up to?
So busy I've not kept my blog up to date, unlike Twitter, check it out if you're not on yet. Follow me tweeters: http://twitter.com/bobbygill

And excited about the sudden interest in Social Media at the moment and the new changes in the facebook layout. Loving the updated news feed stream.
http://www.facebook.com <>

I'm planning on sharing what I know about social media very soon.

Just set up some successful Think & Grow Rich Workshops with Michelle Whaite.
Listen to the Paul Martinelli call here: http://www.think-and-grow-rich-mastermind-group.com

Talking to a few people about relaunching 'Network Billionaire' (no peeking yet)

-------
Keep reading... free tickets at the bottom!!
-------


Events
--------
** is where I'll be
* are recommended

** Birmingham, Saturday 21st March
BMV Quickstart Seminar with PIN Simon Zutshi
http://www.pinbmv.networkbillionaire.com

** HUDDERSFIELD - Wednesday, 25th March 2009,YES Group North
http://www.yes-group-north.blogspot.com/

* London - Wednesday, 25th March 2009, YES Group
http://yesgroup.org.uk/
Highly Recommended! Unfortunately I can't be at 2 YES Groups 200 miles apart at the same time. The technology is coming though...

* London - Thursday 26th March 09
Dr Demartini | The Riches Within
http://www.triumphantevents.co.uk/events?access=dr-demartini-richeswithin

John Demartini is an Amazing Speaker and I highly recommend listening to him and doing The Breakthrough Experience.

* LONDON, Saturday 28th-29th March 2009
John Demartini's Breakthrough Experience
http://www.demartini.networkbillionaire.com

** Birmingham, Saturday 28th March
Keith Cunningham Business Seminar
http://www.pinkc.networkbillionaire.com

* London, Sunday 29th March
BMV Quickstart Seminar with PIN Simon Zutshi
http://www.pinbmv.networkbillionaire.com

** London, Friday 3rd-5th April 2009
T. Harv Eker presenting Millionaire Mind Intensive
(these are the tickets available at the bottom)

* London, Saturday 4th-5th April 2009
Rick Otton - Rent To Own Options, Buy A House for a Pound
http://www.rickotton.networkbillionaire.com

** HUDDERSFIELD, Tuesday 7th April 2009
Northern Property Network - with Rob Moore, Mark Homer
and Satie Punglia
http://www.northernpropertynetwork.co.uk


Offer
------
Apologies it's not really an offer; or even a deal. It's a steal!



T Harv Eker - Millionaire Mind Intensive, LONDON

Because of the great work we do with the YES Group and other great events and seminars in the UK, the organisers have kindly supplied some free tickets.

This is your opportunity to come and learn, meet other great individuals and have a profound effect on your life and business! 3-days at the ExCel in London 3rd-5th April 09.

Get booked on NOW: >> http://bit.ly/3Xjlww <<

It already looks set to be the Personal Development event of the year!

I hope it was worth reading to the bottom and I really do look forward to seeing you at one of these events and definitely in London.

Bobby :-)

--------

Other than all that it's been a pretty quiet month!

OK, it's nearly 3am, I have Friday 'off' to catch up with Rob Bell and Arry Nessa. But first, another episode of 24 with Jack Bauer.

Jeremy Dent left a great comment on my blog the other day about my busy-ness: "You need time to sleep, eat and make love as well, Bobby!" - Will schedule it in mate!

Blog post and email, two in one. Sweet... Who said guys can't multi-task!?

Friday, 6 February 2009

Dealing with loss - Facebook

Today I am mourning the loss of 100's of friends. I didn't care enough to look after them and only realised what they meant to me when they were gone.

It's not the fact that they are 'gone' forever - I just can't poke them when I feel like it, send a quick private message or leave a silly wall post.

Last night I had my facebook account disabled. Yes, I finally broke facebook! I was expecting a warning message but it never came, just an instant ban! I was sharing the link and info I'd spent the evening writing up for my last post on a handful of walls.
"- Interest rates at historic lows of 1%.
- Banks still not increasing credit supply.
- Property bargains to be had and investors are buying.
- Is the economy in a recession & can you still make money?

To read the full write up with my views and what I think
about Interest Rates, Banks, Property and the Economy. Take
a look at my blog here:
http://bobby-gill.blogspot.com - interest-rates-banks-property

Bobby"

I was punished for not following facebook rules, having had a couple of warning in the past it must be three strikes and you're out, so much for sharing and socialising.
Then again it is their playground, their ball and their rules... Shame they don't share what those rules are so you can stay within the boundaries. What is a fair usage policy?


The Bad


EVERYTHING you've ever posted is removed, discussions you've had, your admin status in groups leaving it open for squatters. Your friends list disappears, along with all their messages and all the pictures you've spent time uploading. Cherished memories taken away in a flash. How would you feel? Do you get that sinking feeling in your gut of "Oh No!"

I had grown my friends list up to about 1300 ish, about 75-80% of these I actually knew, met or had conversed with, the others had just added me along the way as serial networkers. So it wasn't a marketing list I lost but the contact details of real friends. Having told people to use facebook as their main means of communication, now I felt the fool.
Emails, telephone numbers, website links, pictures together and the good times. Where were they now except in a virtual trash can of rubbish at Facebook HQ!


The Good

I got my time back. Instead of aimlessy surfing on facebook it was taking up a lot of time. Just like any other tool, it can be dangerous if not used properly and effectively.
There were also admin nightmares of figuring out where I knew some people from and how they added me. It got to the point where I was adding anyone that asked.
Whilst other people were actively 'culling' the number of friends they had, facebook did it for me in one fatal swoop! Bye bye facebook friends....


The Ugly

All the links I'd put to my profile and for people to add me are now invalid.
What would you do if your account was removed or disabled? There's no allowances for begging.
Just like the National Lottery advert, next time it could be you!

What about other companies that look after your information, data, email and treasured memories, like google, blogger, flickr, gmail, hotmail... etc... What if they had server problems, booted you from their website or shut down. What would you do then? However unlikely, it is still a possibility.


The Smart

Do I take this as a sign and take a break from facebook? Do I join again and only add real friends this time. Or should I see how many people I can add for the sake of playing the facebook friends networking game? Who knows.

Lucky I took some insurance out ;-) Just in case something like this happened. Have dropped them an email and hopefully the nice folk at facebook will reinstate my account. Will keep you updated.


Want to keep up with me till then? Join my fanpage here:



Bobby Gill's Fanpage

Join my facebook fanpage to get live updates for this blog!

13 Reasons your Facebook account could be disabled

"Here's what we're hearing from people all over the world: Facebook is shutting down accounts of users who are exhibiting any behavior it finds remotely suspicious. As paradoxical as it sounds, "suspicious" often means just using the site too much! Sometimes they warn people and give them the chance to change their behavior, and sometimes the account termination is sudden and permanent. Most of the time the disabled accounts will be turned back on, whether automatically after a cool-down period, or after prostrating yourself to the FB authorities. But sometimes they'll lock it up and throw away the key.

Facebook remains intentionally vague about what "bad behavior" looks like, and so it's no wonder that people get confused, angry or despondent when they get the ACCOUNT DISABLED message. To help people avoid having their accounts disabled, I've listed the most common reasons why people report having their accounts abruptly turned off. Keep in mind, that this list is almost surely incomplete, and until Facebook changes their policy to embrace more transparency and two-way communication we'll have to live with a bit of uncertainty when using Facebook.

Here are the things that (supposedly) will get you kicked off Facebook:

1. You didn't use your real name
Don't try to use a nickname (or initials)in lieu of the name on your birth certificate, because Facebook will find you and spit you out.

2. You joined too many groups
Remember that the maximum limit is 200 groups per user. More than that just looks desperate, don't you think?

3. You posted too many messages on a wall or in a group
Even Guy Kawasaki had his account disabled--in his case for "excessive evangelism."

4. You posted in too many groups, too many user's walls
You may be axed for being too verbose in too many places. That's what spammers do, silly. On Facebook it is better--or at least safer--to be seen than heard.

5. You friended too many people
Not so long ago this was a prime cause of disabled accounts, but Facebook has instituted a maximum of 5000 friends that should protect you from yourself.

6. Your school/organization affiliation is doubtful
The overlords are sometimes not very trusting, and they may accuse you of not graduating from Harvard (or Plum Senior High School). The impertinence! Better have your diploma ready.

7. You're poking too many people
We've heard this from multiple sources, and it's easy enough to avoid. Save the pokes for people you *really* like, as mum always said. But beware the odd FB app that pokes on your behalf.

8. For advertising your app on wall posts
The line between spam and self-promotion is a thin one, but let it be known that pimping your shiny new Facebook app is definitely considered SPAM.

9. Using duplicate text in multiple messages
Some people paste a generic welcome message into friend requests to save time. DON'T DO THIS! It makes you look like a spammer. (Ironically, pro spammers are probably randomizing their messages to avoid this trap)

10. You are a cow, dog, or library
Being a real person is not enough, you must be a homo sapien. Accounts have been deleted for cows, dogs and libraries.

11. You are under eighteen years old
According to one report a user's account was suspended when they suspected her of being under 18. She was required to enter a work email address to prove her maturity, at which point her account was reinstated. [note: other users have pointed out that being under 18 is fine if you're part of a High School group, though underage home schoolers have been told to bugger off]

12. You wrote offensive content
Reports of "sudden death" on accounts have been reported by users who were told they had posted offensive content, but were not provided details of the offense.

13. You scraped information off Facebook
They have a zero tolerance policy for page scraping (i.e. pulling content off their web pages via a script). Unfortunately, they don't have a reliable way of proving it's you who's doing the scraping (IP matching is probably as good as they can get), so you may find this a difficult charge to defend yourself against.

Finally, you may be disabled for no clear reason at all. One Australian member reported this staggering experience:

"I was blocked for a little while because I was 'misusing certain features of the site' Naturally I closely examined their conditions of use etc for some insight as to what I must have done wrong. I couldn't for the life of me find anything...

"Upon request for clarification I was told that they were not at liberty to divulge which features or of course any thresholds of use. Then they warned me not to do it again or I would be banned permanently without recourse to reinstatement."

You have been warned. Remember that the hand of justice is swift and merciless.

Monday, 7 April 2008

Facebook - is it really social?

How strong are the friend links with social networking?

Friends usually expect me to have the answers, this time you'll just find questions for you to do the searching.

Are we losing real contact with one another for the sake of having more 'contacts'?



People add 'friends' and still don't communicate with those friends. Is it a way to feel like you have a group of friends so that you don't feel alone in the big wide world? When was the last time you replied to your friend's message asking how you are?

Some people have added you from school or where you used to work - though beyond an 'add' neither party really cares about the other.

I believe that many facebook ties are weak and a comfort factor for people. They feel a connectedness without being connected. A 'poke' or a 'funwall' post covers having to really interact with anyone. Don't even get me started on all the applications. When was the last time you called your friend?

Facebook is good to meet new people and join groups with similar interests, yet if you can't take this into the real world was it really worth the effort?


The good
If you happen to already have friends, then facebook is a good way to stay in touch and message each other, building on an existing relationship. You can also use it to create meetings/parties and go see your friends. Or if they live too far at least pick up the phone and say HI! Those are your real friends.

The bad
Others are using it to promote their businesses which is acceptable. Until they start to 'spam' people that they don't know by using the weak connection and then going in with a sales pitch. Some even leave random messages like "I'm Good Thanks" implying to other friends they know the person who they've left it for - very sneaky! They should look at my post on social marketing and Web 2.0 and learn!
Luckily there is a privacy and limited profile option that comes in handy. I can try to protect my friends from people that just want to network and build contacts or those I'm not sure who they are by hiding my friends list. They still manage to find the contacts through various groups you sign up. Until some trust is built, it will stay this way. An over reaction? Maybe, maybe not. As networks and users grow, this concern is a growing risk.

Yes I've got so many I don't keep count now, after all who am I to reject people who want to add me as a friend. I'm not sure who 20% of them are. Can anyone really keep a quality connection with more than a couple of hundred people? Or do some people like the quantity!?

And the ugly - Security and background check
In today's age there are people who are setting up false emails and profiles then pretending to know other people to increase their contact list; just because they are on someone's friends or contacts list doesn't mean they even know each other or are genuine people! There is a particular guy in Huddersfield that runs a letting agency who has numerous aliases and tells people he is the friend of other influential individuals in order to gain trust!! So beware and check credentials!
If you are contacted by someone that claims to know me (or another friend) you can always ask me (or them) if that is the case, you'll be surprised at how many people aren't really sure if they know them or have never communicated.


I can reassure you that if we have met, I will be in touch and am not just another face ;-) So if you only wanted to make up numbers to look popular, delete me quick before I come knocking on your door! :-)

Bobby likes to deal with real people in the real world!
Facebook is just for fun and to keep up appearances...