When it comes to technology the only thing that stays the same is change. You can always expect that something will alter.It's the nature of the business. Facebook, as you most likely know, is one of those services that seems to be constantly evolving, and in late January they introduced a new feature that will change the way we use Facebook in the future.

This new feature is called Graph Search, and with its introduction comes a number of new ways one can use Facebook.

What exactly is Graph Search? The idea of Graph Search is that it provides users with a new way to search the Internet. Now, you won't be using it like you would other search engines - to find websites - instead you will use it to find people, pictures, posts, information, etc., already published on Facebook. This feature integrates with Open Graph - a feature that allows users to share pictures, music, videos, etc., with the public.

If you enter a search query that Facebook can't find results for within the platform, it will return results from Bing (Microsoft's search engine). This is an interesting move, mainly because of Bing's lower usage rates compared with Google. Then again, Google does have Google+ - an impending major competitor of Facebook. And knowing Google, they would use Facebook's information, something Facebook probably doesn't want.

What is the main focus of this feature? Bing search results aside, Graph Search focuses on four main areas: People, Pictures, Locations and Interests/Likes. It takes these four focuses and combines them into a near limitless amount of search possibilities. Want to find small business owners, who like Office 365, in San Diego, in California? What about: Friends of friends who like Windows 8 and are looking for work? This will be possible.

Graph Search essentially turns Facebook into a powerful recruiting tool, an incredible specific targeted marketing tool, a great way to find new friends, and more. Upon its release, it will be available for finding information related to the four focuses, but you can be sure that highly advanced marketing and advertising tools that use this feature aren't too far behind.

How do I prepare for it? There's no doubt that this could give small businesses a large boost, both in terms of presence and marketing power. This will also likely make having a Facebook profile essential if you want to be considered to have any form of valuable Internet presence at all. But, with every up there must be a down. If you don't have content, or have incorrect information on your profile, you will be either glossed over or could see your online reputation falter. Here are five things you can do to get ready for the switch:

1. Confirm business details - Go through your profile and ensure your contact details are up-to-date and accurate. This includes your address, email, operating hours, etc. Any spelling mistakes and people will likely miss you in search results.
2. Confirm your classification - When you signed up for a Facebook Page you were asked to pick an industry your business operates in. It would be a good idea to check this and ensure you are in the right industry classification. This can be done by: Going to the Admin Panel, selecting Edit Page followed by Update Information.
3. Get some content ready - Content, especially pictures, likes and shares, are about to become very important. So, go find some interesting images, articles and Facebook pages and share or like them. Just be careful what you like, because this could be used against you.
4. Check existing content - Perform a profile audit to check and see if there are any posts that can be considered as inappropriate, offensive, or implicate you in any negative manner. Use your best judgement: If you think it's a little controversial, or could be construed to be negative, then you're better off unliking it, or deleting the post.
5. Optimize SEO - When the masses start using Graph Search, there's a high chance that many Facebook power users will no longer switch over to Google to conduct a search. They will likely just do this from Facebook. If you haven't been conducting any Search Engine Optimization, now may be the time to start.

There is no official release date, as of the writing of this article, for Graph Search. However, you can head over to Facebook's Graph Search page and sign up for the Beta test. If you have any questions about optimizing your Facebook profile for the switch, please contact us today.

The big boom in personal trainers as a part of people's fitness programs over the last few years is undoubtedly a good sign. It shows that not only are people taking their exercise regimes seriously, but they're also understanding the value of personalized training. But with a trainer, you should be getting fit with a workout strategy that gets you to your goals in the most effective and efficient way possible. However, as trainer numbers have risen quality has suffered. If you're with the wrong trainer then you need to know when to fire a PT and hire again!

You really believe in the power of personal training but somewhere along the line it's simply not working for you. As well as looking at your input and what part you are playing in your exercise success, consider whether your own personal trainer is a positive for you. Do you know the problem signs to look out for that will tell you it's time to get rid of your current trainer and hire someone who better suits your needs? Here's part 1 of our reasons to make a change!

1. Unreliable - You've made a monumental effort to motivate yourself to turn up for your workout only to find that your personal trainer has let you down...again! It can be hard enough to stick to a fitness schedule yourself without wondering if the person who is training you is going to make an appearance or cancel at the last minute. Fire!

2. Wrong chemistry - In all relationships there is chemistry and you if you're not gelling with a trainer then don't over-analyze why not. There may not be any concrete issue and sometimes it's best to simply accept that you're not a perfect match and move on. It's pointless playing the blame game either. Unless you feel that a trainer is getting a little too up close and personal for comfort, follow your instincts: if you don't feel comfortable, for whatever reason, then fire!

3. Hard sell - While taking on a personal trainer can be a cost effective way to get in shape, you have paid your cash and already made an investment. There's nothing more irritating than a personal trainer who uses sessions to try and peddle an extra fitness service or try and squeeze out some extra money from you. It taints the whole session with a feeling of insincerity. Save your wallet and spend time looking for a new personal trainer instead. It's your money, spend it wisely and fire!

4. No direction - Have you ever thought you were following someone only to find out that they think they are following you? In other words, despite outward appearances you had no direction whatsoever, no matter how determined and confident you and your partner's stride seemed to be. Get to the crux of why you are exercising. If you don't know where you are going and why, and your trainer can't illuminate the way forward either, then perhaps it's time to continue the journey with someone new. Not setting goals and strategies points to a good reason to fire!

5. Too many sticks, not enough carrots! - Motivation is key to any training program and while the military may employ tough rules, there's no reason you should be subject to a strict, over-disciplined regime when you're merely trying to tone up your tum! A personal trainer should encourage and challenge you in a positive way. If your trainer is making you a deflated, stressed out wreck then your self-esteem might go down as your muscles power up. A good trainer won't make you feel mentally strained but address your whole being. If they've been telling you that you're doing everything wrong during every session, then they are not helping you perform at your best. Speak up and fire!

Are you working with a personal trainer but feel it isn't working? Have you had bad experiences in the past and feel put-off by personal training? Now is the time to hire a PT who will work with you in the best possible way, so get in touch with us without delay.

Facebook is to some the greatest thing on earth, to others a necessity and to the rest a form of modern-day narcissism. While it's been around for nearly nine years, many users have only been using it for the past five. Since then it's become a place for people to share nearly everything about their lives, with many arguably sharing way too much. This sharing has led to a number of security updates from Facebook, and each time the Terms of Service is updated, users freak out, often sending chain letters or posting on their wall complaining about who owns what.

The most recent letter popping up on user's walls is a copyright notice. You've probably seen it and been curious enough, or enraged enough to share it. The problem is: it's completely fake and 100% unenforceable.

The letter, which looks and reads something like this: "In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, graphics, comics, paintings, photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner (sic: Berne) Convention). For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!

Anyone reading this can copy this text and paste it on their Facebook Wall. This will place them under protection of copyright laws. By the present communiqué, I notify Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, disseminate, or take any other action against me on the basis of this profile and/or its contents. The aforementioned prohibited actions also apply to employees, students, agents and/or any staff under Facebook's direction or control. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of my privacy is punished (sic: punishable) by law (UCC 1 1-308-308 1-103 and the Rome Statute).

Facebook is now an open capital entity. All members are recommended to publish a notice like this, or if you prefer, you may copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once, you will be tacitly allowing the use of elements such as your photos as well as the information contained in your profile status updates…"

If it sounds legitimate it must be, right? Wrong! Here's something you should know about this post:

• The Berne Convention: This is at least a real act, and it focuses on international copyrights related to literary and artistic works. The problem is that it was established in 1886, almost 100 years before the Internet. Therefore, anything in relation to the Internet (read: Facebook) isn't covered by this act.
• Legal language: There is some legal language, or at least legal sounding jargon, in this post. For example: 'By the present communiqué'. Communiqué is the French word for statement, it has no legal bearing whatsoever. The thing with legal language is that just because it's included doesn't mean the post is legally binding. Also, if this was a legal message, the '!' wouldn't be used.
• Rome Statute: We're not sure why the Rome Statute is mentioned here, as it covers mainly International crimes such as genocide and other serious war crimes. Last we checked, Facebook hasn't been hauled to The Hague and put on trial for genocide or other serious crimes against humanity.

So, this post and many like it are useless. There is an important underlying issue however: Who owns the data, pictures, movies, etc. you post on Facebook? The answer: You do. According to Facebook's Terms of Service you own any content you produce and put/share on Facebook, and have complete control over how it's shared.

Caveat Emptor There is a catch though. According to Facebook's Terms of Service, "For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it." Essentially Facebook can do whatever it likes with your photos and videos, and you are mostly powerless to stop them.

What can we do? This policy sounds a lot worse than it really is, Facebook has publicaly said that they don't use/sell user's images or videos. The issue to many is that Facebook can use your content, and that's what has experts so nervous. At this time, there isn't much you can do, if you're really uncomfortable with this policy, you could delete your pictures, or not post any to begin with. Another option is to contact Facebook's customer service and ask them about potentially putting an opt-out clause on image and video content which allows you to determine if they can use your images or not. Who knows, if enough people do this, then Facebook may integrate it.

When it comes down to it, if you see posts like the one above, it always pays to do a quick search on the Internet to check the facts. If you'd like to learn more about Facebook and how it can help your company, please contact us.

Etiquette to generations born before the meteoric rise of the Internet is often seen as behaving politely and properly when in public and to all people. There’s certain value to having your employees behave correctly and in a way that puts customers at ease. Put employees in front of computers, and for many, etiquette rules go right out the window, especially when it comes to social media sites like Facebook. Lack of etiquette on Facebook can seriously damage your company’s reputation.

Here are seven social media etiquette tips you should be following to keep a well respected Facebook profile.

1. No ranting and raving. Remember that your Facebook profile represents your company. If you post negative rants about other products or gasp customers, you can be sure that you’ll destroy your image post-haste.
2. No over-sharing. Sharing is good, sharing too much is bad. Customers and social media fans don’t need to know every time you’ve restocked the vending machine. You should try to keep sharing to pertinent information, or updates that customers will find useful. Also be sure to not post every single little bit of news as the more you share, the closer you get to spam.
3. Cut back the quotes. Quotes used sparingly can really help customers and followers relate to the brand and the company. Some companies capitalize on this and use a quote for nearly everything. To much of a good thing is definitely at play here. You should really leave this for marketing campaigns, not day-to-day social media.
4. Size doesn’t matter. Stop comparing how many friends/followers/etc. you have to other companies. If you have a new profile, you will have fewer friends than other companies. You should instead focus on providing quality content and working on fostering relationships with existing and prospective clients and friends. If done correctly, your friend count will grow naturally, over time.
5. Use terms properly. Every industry and company uses acronyms, we love them. The only problem is, your friends on Facebook may not know what they mean. It’s best to either spell out words then provide the acronym, or not use them at all. The reason for this is because fancy speak may turn off customers.
6. Social media isn’t turnkey. With social media, like Facebook, you can’t just establish a profile, put some content on it and expect people to follow you. You need to provide updates, or information on a regular basis. Most companies post at least once every two weeks, or every week, but you should post when you have relevant information.
7. Watch what you share. Before you share anything, you should ask yourself if it’s what your customers want to see, would like to see and would share. If it’s in any way rude, inflammatory, negative or less than true, delete it.

Social media isn’t always easy for companies, one wrong post and an online reputation can be damaged. However, if you create original content and interact with your friends/followers/customers you will see success. If you feel that you could use a little help with your Facebook profile or other social media efforts, please get in touch with us.

Social media is here to stay, as it's hard not to hear people talk about it these days. It really has become an integral part of our daily lives, and of business as well. You can bet that if a potential customer is looking at your company, they will check for a social media presence. The first platform they will look at is Facebook. If your company has a Facebook page, do you know how to get the most out of it?

Here are five tips that you can use to help you get more out of your Facebook page.

1. Don't be a zombie Facebook, and all social media for that matter, is more like a talk show than the Walking Dead (a TV show about survival in a zombie apocalypse). You can't simply set up a profile with basic information and let it 'wander around mindlessly'. A zombie account that has no interaction, posts, updated information etc, will likely be avoided.

The key to a good Facebook presence is that you are active. This means sharing, posting, commenting, liking, etc. Having an active page will go a long way in cementing your brand. Like a good talk show, if users can interact they will likely stay interested and willing to learn more. This will positively affect your brand.

Beyond being active, you need to come across as human. Actions like signing your posts with your name, making an odd mistake (yes, we know, mistakes? But you are human, you make them), interacting with people, etc., will do you good. A great way to come across as human on your business's profile is to reply to all comments, even the bad ones.

2. Eat your Wheaties A healthy body is a regular body; a healthy Facebook page is similar to this: Content is posted on a regular basis. The frequency of your posts will tend to vary depending on which expert you talk to. However, most will agree that fewer than two posts a week will not engage your followers. Many recommend that small businesses post between five and seven times a week - once a day basically.

3. Be a boastful Bob Many of us grew up being told not to brag. When it comes to social media, bragging is not only ok, it's a part of life. If something great happens in/to the company, by all means brag about it. Just be careful, it's still not professional to constantly brag.

A good example of when to brag is when your business is featured in a trusted source (news, blog, radio, etc) or receives an award. Sharing this news makes your business not only look more credible, but more professional; a real expert in your field.

4. Share and share a lot Businesses often struggle to come up with unique content on a regular basis. If this sounds like your company, don't worry. The first thing you have to realize about Facebook is that almost nothing is original. Peruse any profile and you will see that people share a lot of content, most of which isn't theirs.

For businesses, it's perfectly acceptable to share content that isn't yours. If you come across a great article that's relevant to your company and you think your followers will enjoy, go ahead and share it. Have you found a funny comic, picture, video, site, etc.? Share it.

There is no limit on what you can share, as long as you attribute it. Writing a post like: 'Check out this great article on customer service from this company [use the name].' is fine. That being said, you should have some original content. A successful strategy may be to have one post out of five being content you have created, three to four shared content and one company news.

5. Highlight and pin what's important to your company If you have some important information or news that you want your followers to see, you can highlight them on your page. This will expand the post, so that it takes up the whole width of the Timeline, making it easier to see. Combine this with a bigger image, and the news will really stand out.

To highlight a post/status, hover over the top-right of the post (after you have posted it to your timeline) and look for the star beside the pencil. Press it, and the post will be highlighted.

If you want a post to stay at the top of your Timeline, you can pin it there for one week. This is done by hovering over the top-right of the post and pressing the pencil icon. From the dropdown menu, select Pin to top.

Facebook can be a useful tool in growing your business or establishing a quality brand. If you are looking for more ways you can leverage your company's page, please contact us today.

Facebook is one of the most popular communication platforms available to small businesses. Some have even gone so far as to adopt it as their main communication platform. Facebook is more than happy to provide business users with the medium, but has been making changes to the overall layout that aren’t in their best interest. The latest change is in regards to your contact information.

On the normal Facebook profile, before the recent change, when a user clicked About to find more information about a company, how to contact them for example, they would be presented with an email address for the company. That’s changed, now your primary email address presented will be username@facebook.com.

This is a potential problem for companies that rely on their Facebook profile to encourage users to contact them directly. If the user does want to email, they only have access to the Facebook email address, which sends messages to the Messages centre (located the the top left of the Facebook window) of the profile. Hardly ideal.

The upside to this is that the change of email address hasn’t resulted in a new set of security rules, or made any changes to security. Also, Facebook isn’t forcing users to keep their Facebook email address as their primary contact, they can still set which email address to use as their primary by:

1. Logging in to Facebook, and viewing their Timeline profile (clicking on your username from the main screen.)
2. Clicking About followed by Edit under the Contact Info field.
3. Selecting the blue upside-down triangle beside their email address. Note: the “no” sign means the email address won’t show up on your Timeline.
4. Selecting Shown on Timeline for the email they want shown, or Hidden from Timeline for the address they don’t want shown.
5. Pressing Save.

While some users are making a mountain out of a molehill on this issue, it’s important to be aware of this and if you would prefer your primary contact email to not be the Facebook email, change it. If you’d like to learn more about using Facebook in your business, please contact us.

Facebook has gone through many changes since it was first introduced. Now it’s one of the main communication tools for both people and businesses alike. The way most communicate is through “posts” that other people can see and comment on. The problem with posts is the amount of users that see the post is often limited. Recently Facebook introduced a new feature to help improve the exposure of your posts.

The feature is called “Promote” and aims to give businesses a way to increase the reach of their posts. Think of it as a simplification process: instead of having to go through the ad dashboard to create an ad, it can now be done with one click.

The idea behind the promote button is to turn posts on your Page into ads that show up on a user’s News Feed – the area where posts are viewed – instead of in the ad bar, which is located on the right hand side of the page. This will, in theory, help your promotion or information reach more users while making marketing and advertising easier.

When you create a post, you can press the Promote button, located at the bottom of the post window. A pop-up window will appear giving you options. As this is a form of paid advertising, you pay to reach a guaranteed number of users. When you enter an amount to pay, (USD 5.00 is the lowest amount), you’ll be given the approximate number of fans the post will reach. You’ll also be able to target demographically and geographically. The post will be promoted for three days.

Once the promotion campaign has started, you’ll be able to view how effective the promotion is by going to your Page timeline and hovering over the numbers at the bottom of the promoted post. You’ll also be able to see how many users the post has reached, and how they viewed it. A useful tool to tell if the Promote feature is actually working.

At this time, the Promote feature is available for Page owners located in the US with more than 400 followers, and should be rolled out to all Page owners in the near future. If you’d like to learn more about the Promote feature, or other ways you can utilize Facebook as a marketing tool, please contact us.

Facebook has become one of the most popular brands on the planet. It seems like everyone and their dog has a profile. It has been instrumental in changing the way we communicate and has ushered in a new era of collaboration. Recently, Facebook announced a new feature to their Groups page, the ability to share and edit files with members of the group.

With the update, there’ll be a new files tab added to a group’s page. Members will be able to upload and share files with all members in the group. When you click on the publication box, you’ll now have the option of uploading a file to share with the group. You’ll be able to upload files up to a maximum of 25 megabytes in size. The majority of file types can be uploaded, however, music files won’t be allowed.

Groups can currently create and edit documents within the Group page, although these documents can’t be exported to a word processor or be printed. The new feature covers this hole but does not allow online editing at this time. To edit a file, users will have to download it to edit it and reupload it when they’re done. The edited file won’t replace the old version, allowing for reversal of changes if need be.

Will Facebook be the death of cloud collaboration services like Dropbox? It’s too early to tell, but, it does provide Facebook users with an enclosed sharing solution that all users will have access to. If you’d like to learn more about ways you can use Facebook in your organization, please contact us.

Privacy of information is important to all people. Granted, some are a little freer with it than others, but there’s a limit to what people are willing to share. Over the past few weeks a disturbing trend has come to light: some companies have been infringing on potential employees’ privacy by asking for a little too much during interviews.

News agencies have been carrying stories about companies that have been asking job applicants for their Facebook logins and passwords before or during an interview. This is a slightly unsettling trend when observed from the job interviewee viewpoint.

It’s become a common practice of employers to look at the social profiles of potential employees to get to know the job seeker on a more personal level. Users have responded by ensuring that their profiles are private, much to the chagrin of would-be snoopers. So what have companies done? Some have started asking potential employees for access to their social media usernames and passwords. This new practice has the masses wondering, “Is this legal and am I protected?”

Currently there are no laws (in the US) that state that it’s illegal for employers to ask employees, potential or otherwise, for their social network usernames and passwords. There are however lawmakers in California, Maryland and Illinois who have introduced legislation that will bar companies from asking for account information. But this is by no means law yet.

Facebook has weighed in on this as well, “This practice [asking for passwords] undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user’s friends. It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability.”

What Facebook means by this is that if a company does check into a potential employee, sees they are part of a protected group e.g., LGBT, and does not hire a person on those grounds the company could face claims of discrimination. Beyond that, Facebook also pointed out that giving out or soliciting passwords to your or another user’s account is a breach of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

According to most articles, this is a fiasco. But if you look at it from an HR point of view, you want to know that the person sitting across from you really is who they say they are. You are protecting your interests as much as the interviewee is protecting their privacy. Short of asking people for their passwords there are five legal actions you can take to find out more about an interviewee.

• Basic Internet search: Your results may return hits for other people with the same name. To get around this, narrow the search by adding an email address, phone number or address.
• Facebook: It’s perfectly fine to use Facebook to search for a job seeker’s profile and do a little social snooping. Don’t forget, there are other social media sites out there, LinkedIn is a particularly good source for discovering a person’s work history. A big boon of Linkedin is that users tend to be free with their work related information on this site.
• Conduct background checks: It’s a good idea to conduct checks, especially if you work with money or other high value items. If you don’t have time to conduct checks, there are companies that will conduct checks for you. It’s important to be aware of the law regarding background checks in your region.
• Ask for, and check references: Companies just don’t do this anymore. It only takes a few minutes to call or email each reference provided. If you call the referrers and ask the right questions, you could learn a lot more about the applicant this way.
• Prepare ahead of time: We are all busy, but it’s important that you look over a resume before the interview. Pay close attention to employment history and take note of gaps in employment or short stints (less than one year) at companies.

You will be able to find just as much information about a person by using legal means to research as compared with asking for their social media accounts. If you would like to learn more about Facebook or other social media sites let us know.