Today my task is to find out how to claim my Facebook Place Page without the use of a cell phone.  Turns out, I can access the mobile version of Facebook (touch.facebook.com) just fine with my laptop browser (using Firefox).  The page spreads out to fill my screen, I can post my location, access my personal profile, my Facebook email inbox, my photos, and my news feed.

Screenshot of touch.facebook.com on my laptop

It seems the only thing I can’t do is “check in” which instantly reports my activity and location to my Facebook friends.  When I click the “check in” button, I get the repeating “loading” icon and it never resolves.  This is a bummer!

can't check in!

Got a mobile device and want to claim your Facebook Places Page for your business?  Go to http://touch.facebook.com/#places.php and follow these directions from Facebook:

1. Access the Places application on your supported device.
2. Click “Check In.”
3. Click the “Add” button to the left of the Places Names search box.
4. Enter a name for the new Place as well as an optional description of it. Then, click the “Add” button at the bottom right of the page.
5. You will then have the option to both write a description of what you are doing at the new Place, and/or tag your friends there
6. Click the “Check In” button to share your visit.

The default location for any new Place you create will be where you are currently located. Also, keep in mind that any Place that you create is public. This means that other people may see your created Place while browsing Facebook or the Places application.

Please keep in mind that only official representatives of a business can claim the Place on Facebook. Click here to learn more about the benefits of using Facebook Places for your business.

Here is the official Facebook video on how to edit your Facebook Places privacy settings:

And here is the complete Facebook FAQ on Facebook Places: http://www.facebook.com/places/#!/help/?topic=places

At the end of my quest, the answer for me: wait until Facebook merges Facebook Pages with Facebook Places.  Then I should be able to update my Facebook Place on my Facebook Page.

1. Upload your .mp3 file to your media library through your WordPress backend.

2. Copy the file location.

3. Paste the file location in the “share link” area on Facebook.

4. Add a description in the text field above the link and a short link back to your site (use TinyURL.com if it’s long).

5. Click “attach” to attach the link.

6. Change the artist name and album name if needed.

7. When you are ready, choose your privacy settings and click “Share.”

Your .mp3 will now stream live on Facebook!

More Facebook techniques from Cat’s Web Weave

(*make sure you have a backup copy of all your template files before you do this!)

1) Log into your WordPress backend.

2) Go to Appearance: Editor

3) Open single.php

4) Place this code right before <?php the_content(); ?>

<iframe src=”http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=<?php echo urlencode(get_permalink($post->ID)); ?>&amp;layout=standard&amp;show-faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowTransparency=”true” style=”border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:60px”></iframe>

5) Click “update”

6) refresh your blog page and see the new Facebook Like button at play!

And if you don’t want to delve into the code, use this super easy plugin by Todd Williams!

Another free tip from Cat’s Web Weave!

Facebook is a powerful tool for marketing your products or services online.  There are smart ways to use Facebook and there are ways to lose Facebook friends.  Brenda Horton teaches you how to use Facebook effectively in her online self-paced social media training.

This post is about how to create a link within your email to help your subscribers share your content easily on Facebook.  Here are the instructions:

1) Add the text “Share on Facebook” to the content of your email

2) modify this hyperlink url with your webpage url and title:

http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=<your url to share>&t=<title of content>

3) hyperlink your “Share on Facebook” text with the modified link you created

4) send yourself a test email to make sure it works – you may need to edit your webpage to your liking so Facebook displays what you want

Source: http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/share.php

Questions?  Leave me a comment!

1. Google loves WordPress (and blogs in general) because search engines favor sites that have regularly created fresh content.  See my post on SEO.
2. WordPress is interactive.  Visitors can comment on pages and posts.  You can create a community around your business with your site.
3. You can organize content with categories and visitors can view or subscribe to the categories they want to.
4. You can automatically sync your content to social websites such as Facebook with the RSS feed.
5. WordPress sites can be translatable into many languages.
6. WordPress sites are easy to update (far easier than reglular html or Joomla).
7. Multiple authors and editors can contribute to writing content and posting photos or video (you can DELEGATE!)
8. You can add PayPal buttons or a shopping cart to monetize your site (you can MAKE MONEY!)
9. You can embed video from YouTube easily (YouTube is second to Google as a search engine now!)
10. WordPress is open-source and is constantly evolving (it’s always getting better!)
11. OK one more: WordPress is easy to learn!

There are more advanced reasons that concern templates, tags and permalinks, but the 10 reasons listed above should satisfy most folks who need a fast and easy way to get their business website up and running.

Here is a screenshot of what WordPress looks like from the back-end:

Live in Nevada County and want to learn more about WordPress in person?  Come to my free class.

I took this course a couple of months ago and I am still implementing the HWare strategies for my WordPress Web Weaving business.  It’s a course that I plan to re-visit over and over again, at my own pace, to glean all the tips and techniques for using social media in the most effective ways (and also how NOT to use social media!).

<–Click here to get started!

If you are not completely satisified with this course, HWare offers a 125% money-back guarantee.  WOW!

This training covers the importance of creating a social media plan using Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging with WordPress.

“The information about the evolution of social networking and specific internet marketing strategies was enlightening. I left the call with specific actions to take to increase my visibility and went to work that day to implement what I learned. I can’t wait to learn more strategies! For anyone who is new to social networks, or wants to increase their proficiency at social networking, do NOT miss this Course! I only wish I had taken it 6 months ago!!” – Sonika Tinker, Relationship Expert

Who is it for?

• Small Business Owners
• Entrepreneurs
• Start-ups
• Non-profits
• Coaches
• Marketers
• Salespeople
• Virtual Assistants
• Work-at-home-moms/dads
• Anyone trying to get there hands around Social Media

• WordPress
• Search Engine Marketing/Optimization
• Podcasting with audio and video
• Social Media: YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and more

Need to delegate internet marketing to someone else or just don’t have the time to do it?  Hire a Web Weaver™!

Catherine Scholz synthesizes the best internet marketing tools available: WordPress, SEO, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, podcasting to iTunes and more.

She also trains other Web Weavers™ how to use these tools to jump start their internet marketing strategy.

Hire Catherine to be your Web Weaver™ (monthly retainers start at $144/month), or sign up a member of your staff to learn how to become a Web Weaver™ for your business.

Winter has arrived in the Sierra Foothills and being snowed/iced-in at my place has fostered a wonderful sense of stillness.  Between winter-wonderland walks, I have been working on my new music album and this valuable blog post on how to sync your blog with your Facebook Page.

Networked Blogs is an application developed for Facebook that pulls your RSS Feed from your blog on a regular basis, then posts a thumbnail image (if you’ve included one in your post) and an excerpt from your blog onto your Facebook Page Wall for all of your fans to see in their News Feed.  With this application, you can also follow other blogs on Facebook and invite people to follow yours.  It’s a great way to share your content with your Facebook fans and to drive traffic back to your website/blog.

So far, my experience with this application has been mostly good.  Sometimes it takes a few hours to pull the feed content and sometimes it needs attention to keep it working.  Like most Facebook applications, it is still under development.  To get started using Networked Blogs, follow these directions or watch the video I made:

1) Log into your Facebook account and type “Networked Blogs” into the search field.

2) Click “Add to My Page”

3) Choose your page

4) Go to your page (type the name into the search field)

5) Click “Edit Page”

6) Scroll down and find “Networked Blogs” and click “edit”

7) Follow the directions (you may to first register your blog – open this link in a new tab or window)

Once the blog is registered, go back to the setting page for Networked Blogs, find your blog and do a test publish (you can delete the post from your Page after it posts)

9) Make sure you click “grant permission”

10) then save your settings and your blog posts will begin appearing on your page within hours.  If they don’t show, check your settings.

Any questions or comments?  You can write a comment on this post or send me an email at cat @ catswebweave.com.

Blessings of wonder for your holiday season!

-Catherine

Here is a short video that teaches you how to add a Facebook fan box to your WordPress site.  You can watch the video on my website (and folks with Mac’s Mail program may even be able to watch it in their email!) and you can also subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

How is your WordPress website/blog coming along? Would love to hear from you.

Here to help you make your finest dreams come true,

-Catherine

This video teaches you how to add an admin to your Facebook page and is the first of a series of short video tutorials I will be making about how to use WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Watch the video.