SubscribeApril Fools’ is NOT my Birthday & Facebook Privacy Lessons
I love getting real birthday cards, but in this day and age Facebook has virtually eliminated the desire for anyone to give real birthday cards. I was a bit disappointed no one gave me a real birthday card today, but I sure did get many Facebook birthday wishes!
Thanks to everyone who wished me a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Facebook today! Now it’s time to say APRIL FOOL’S! is NOT my birthday
To make my April Fool’s Joke a bit more productive, I’ll share how I crafted a joke that virtually no one called me out on while I simultaneously teach you about Facebook Privacy Settings. Most aren’t aware of these settings but understanding them empowers you to maintain your privacy while being able to share and connect with your friends and family or in my case, pull off April Fool’s Jokes.
FACEBOOK LISTS- I highly recommend making these! Grouping friends into lists allows you to view specific status updates that are organized rather than relying on Facebook’s random algorithm to show you posts that may not be relevant. You can also add Facebook business pages to your lists. Creating lists is simple. Click on the “Friends” Tab on the left hand side, then “Create List”. Once you’ve named the list start adding people.
Viewing status updates from specific lists is also simple. Under your “News Feed” tab, click on “Most Recent” and you’ll see your lists in the drop down menu.
Facebook Lists allows you to block certain groups of people from specific info you’re posting such photos, personal information etc. I created a Group of close friends and family who I knew wouldn’t believe me about my Birthday Joke and made sure to block them from my Birthday listing.
WALL SETTINGS
I knew my Wall would be a challenge in executing my April Fool’s Joke. Even though I blocked certain people from viewing my Birthday and Photos in Facebook I knew these same people would be suspicious if they noticed everyone commenting “Happy Birthday” on my Wall so I made sure to also block these list from viewing Wall Posts left my others.
PHOTOS
I utilized Facebook photos in 2 ways to validate my birthday joke:
- You can choose who you allow to view each separate Facebook album! I changed my settings so any photo album with previous birthday images (all taken in December), weren’t visible. Keep this in mind if you post party photos and don’t want them to be visible to co-workers. To do this click on the individual album. Scroll to the very bottom left and click on “Edit Album Info”. Next to “Privacy” scroll down to “Custom” and type in specific people or lists you wish to block from a particular album.
- I posted a fake photo (Thanks Google Images) of flowers I didn’t really receive. One commenter even enhanced my joke with his own little April Fool’s joke about getting me the non existent flowers. This photo was visible to everyone, even close friends who I blocked from my wall and since I didn’t label the photo as “Birthday Flowers” I had several comments from people who believed I actually received them.
FACEBOOK IS WRITTEN IN INK
Be careful what you post on Facebook. Even if you delete a message or comment, people get email notifications of your initial post so your words are easily tracked.
I was caught Red Handed by a Facebook friend. Who sent me a message “I was going to wish you happy birthday when I remembered that I wished you happy birthday in December. Then I found this on my Facebook wall” and includes the screen shot pictured below”. My post on his Wall wishing him a Happy Birthday from a fellow Sagittarius was a giveaway.
HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S DAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
To sum it up, Social Media has significantly amplified the fun we’re able to have on April Fool’s Day. The jokes spread faster as they’re shared by the masses!
So how did you enjoy my April Fool’s Day joke? Did you like it better than the one I pulled off last year when I had A Very Happy April Fool’s Day Thanks to Social Media? Please share any jokes you’ve seen or played and even though I fooled most of you I trust you’ll accept my Facebook Privacy Lessons as a condolence.
Glimpse of a Real Live San Diego Earthquake on Social Media
Duck and Cover? No way! Tweet and post a Facebook update? This is our first instinct!
Another earthquake hit San Diego this evening and it’s evident that Social Media has revolutionized the entire earthquake experience. Rather than making sure we’re safe with the good ol’ “duck and cover” routine, the first thing on our minds was to socialize with others experiencing the earthquake and to make sure and let people know that we “definitely felt that one”. Read more
Marketing Melodie 2.0
This blog was written on June 19th, 2008
Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by
the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand
the rules for success on that new platform. –Tim O’Reilly
I’ve invested the last few years into really fine tuning my method of
creating effective interactive marketing campaigns for any type of
business. I am currently able to integrate radio, events, customized
promotions, giveaways etc. Being a person who is always striving for
more I’ve made it a personal goal to become an expert in online
marketing before the end of 2008. I want to completely understand and
be able to implement all of the rules for success in this platform.
I’ll be able to enhance and improve my current client’s campaigns in
addition I will immediately be able to offer more knowledge and
resources to new partners and clients. I will create even more
opportunities by adding the online space to my repertoire. This
includes SEO, SEM, PPC, Social Media, analytics, affiliate programs,
etc., etc.
Here’s how I will achieve my goal:
-Enhance all of my own social media sites and update them regularly. They will be tools I use to market myself.
-Document the progress I’m making in my Marketing Blog.
-Attends online marketing Meetups with Richie—he’s been inviting me
to Twitter Meetings so that will be a start
-Subscribe to online marketing blogs—Do you know any good ones?
-Attend online marketing workshops, seminars and webinars—Which ones do you recommend?
If anyone has any other tips please let me know! I am completely open to any ideas to learn about this infinite space!
Event Inspires the Marketer
This blog was written on June 10th, 2008
Dear Blog Readers,
You’re probably wondering where I’ve been? My short blogging hiatus is due to an extremely busy May! I barely had time to breath! Being extremely busy is never a bad thing in my book! Well I’m back and today my blog is about CityChase….a Citywide obstacle course/scavenger hunt I participated in this past weekend. My day consisted of racing around San Diego eating pickled pork rinds, being yelled at by marines at boot camp, arguing with strangers at spike ball and getting hit in the head with a kayak paddle. If you were there, then you know what I mean when I say it was a blast!
Yes I know it was a day of fun but being the career focused person that I am, I couldn’t help but notice their strategic event sponsors. I commend their sponsorship team for doing such a great job at integrating the sponsors into the event. The sponsors could not be ignored because they were a part of the challenges. Some of the sponsors that stood out to me include:
Kaplan: They were integrated into one of the clues: SMARTY PANTS- It will test your smarts—just like this Klue—your pencil must be shart and A #2. Your test taking skills might depend on the condition- atLeAst they don’t count for college admission. Head to SD City College Room B103 where you’ll have to get a grade higher than a C. Yes I really had to sit in a classroom taking an ACT/SAT type test all sponsored by Kaplan!
Boot Camp 619: Perfect event for Boot Camp 619. We spent the entire warm-up doing boot camp exercises only to find out that it was prep for an even more intense boot camp workout where officers surrounded us and yelled until we finally completed our exercises.
Palm: Having access to technology was a necessity for this event. Palm stepped it up by giving the winners 2 smart phones. They created even more opportunities by offering teams who crossed the finish line with 2 helium filled orange balloons an extra chance to go on to the US Championships! They really made themselves known as a resource at this event. Although I’m a loyal BlackBerry I do commend Palm for their efforts at the event.
After attending CityChase, I’m actually excited to host upcoming events where I’ll have the opportunity to integrate sponsors through unique and strategic methods.
Marketing Your Way Out of Recession
This blog was written on April 25th, 2008
For all the new wave, young, ambitious Entrepreneurs like myself, this is the first time we’ve experienced a “recession”. While I can’t wait until my small Economic Stimulus Check to come in the mail, I’ve realized I need to take action with a forward thinking approach to help myself and my clients leap over this small hurdle called a “recession”.
Instead of viewing a recession as the start of a downfall, I recommend taking a more positive approach. Views it as an opportunity for economic expansion in the very near future. During a recession, people still have basic needs and wants. Many businesses make the mistake of cutting their advertising budgets. The more savvy approach is to realize that most people’s needs and wants require them to spend money. This is your chance capitalize on any money they will spend by creating a more efficient marketing campaign.
More sales with a more efficient marketing campaign leads to a higher conversion rate. If your conversion rate is higher you are more profitable and most likely increasing your market share….do you see what I mean by ECONOMIC EXPANSION? Don’t sit there and be the business that embraces the recession, be the business that sets the stage for getting out of it!
I am extremely passionate about being a solutions provider for your marketing challenges. If you are intrigued by the opportunistic approach I’m taking, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. As an Interactive Marketer I am full of unique solutions that might just spark your economic boom!
Emotional Selling on Weightloss
This blog was written on April 13th, 2008
Companies that help consumers achieve ideal lifestyles have really taken advantage of emotional selling to compel consumers to use their products/services. Two categories I feel really take emotional selling to the next level (sometimes unethical) are Weight Loss and Match Making.
These categories are close to heart for most consumers and marketers realize this. To paint a better picture, I’ll use real life examples. This blog will focus on weight loss campaigns.
Media portrays happy people as being super model thin. A size 4 or 6 is no longer skinny and a size 2 is close but not good enough, but size 0 is healthy. Marketing campaigns for liposuction, weight loss programs, diets, gyms, any product/service that helps people look thinner/ lose weight will make people feel inferior and inadequate as a motivator to use the product/service advertised to get rid of this feeling. They give consumers hope that by trying this new diet, they will finally be happy and thin.
My real life example: I was at the Head to Toe Women’s Expo this weekend. A personal trainer at one of the booths told me he’d test my body fat. Being that I’m health concise, I figured why not? After he measured my body fat he categorized me. The first category was FIT. The second category was HEALTHY. The third category was AVERAGE. He told me I was AVERAGE! For goodness sakes! I work out 5+ times a week, eat (fairly) healthy, am a size 2 and according to this personal trainer who was trying to sell me on his service I’m AVERAGE and need some work to reach HEALTHY and FIT. For a second, he really made me feel inadequate and self conscious about my extremely healthy lifestyle! I started thinking of what I else I could do to reach this HEALTHY level. When consumers start thinking like this way, they will spend money on any product or service that many help the reach their ideal.
Talk about emotional selling! People just want to look good and feel good about themselves. People want to feel loved and accepted for their body image. When a company goes as fas as to make you believe you need to change something about your lifestyle, not just to be happy, but healthy, they really delve into your intrinsic desires. The result of this is usually a successful emotional marketing campaign because consumers will shell out the cash!
