To see the size of picture we’re talking about, check out our Facebook fan page.

There are some rules to follow when creating a Facebook page graphic in order to make it as effective as possible.  Here are three tips:

1. Pay attention to your branding

Your Facebook fan page is a place to continue your current branding, not invent new branding.  Use the same logo and graphics you use on all your promotional materials to make everything as cohesive as possible. As the saying goes, don’t reinvent the wheel.

2. If applicable, use a picture

If you are a small business, or a consultant, or sales rep, take the opportunity to use your face in the graphic.  It is still Facebook after all, and it’s about making human connections.  So put a human face to your fan page.

3. Include taglines or SEO rich descriptions

Make sure what you do is spelled out for fans to see.  Just a picture of you isn’t enough; make sure to include a brief description of what you do.  For example, our Facebook fan page has our logo and then the words:  Internet Marketing, Graphic and Website Design, and Search Engine Optimization.

Anyone who wanders onto our page and doesn’t already know what we do will figure it out within the first 3 seconds of viewing our page.

Facebook fan page graphics are a great way to continue the brand of your business and really connect with people.  If you would like our assistance creating a new Facebook page graphic for your company leave a comment below or give us a call at 630-995-7109.

How Social Media Can Help You Land A Job…Or Not!

9 Tips for Student Job Seekers

You may not know that many employers in today’s job market are using social media like Facebook and LinkedIn to screen candidates. Forty-five percent of employers reported in a recent CareerBuilder survey that they use social networking sites to research job candidates, a big jump from 22 percent last year. Another 11 percent plan to start using social networking sites for screening. If an employer decided to look you up, what would they see?

Why Employers Hired Candidates After Screening Online

Eighteen percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate. The top examples include:

• Profile provided a good feel for the candidate’s personality and fit – 50%
• Profile supported candidate’s professional qualifications – 39%
• Candidate was creative – 38%
• Candidate showed solid communication skills – 35%
• Candidate was well-rounded – 33%
• Other people posted good references about the candidate – 19%

If you are looking for a job, now might be a good time to review your social media profiles and add positive background and content such as education, awards, activities, and work experience.

Why Employers Disregarded Candidates After Screening Online

Thirty-five percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them not to hire the candidate. The top examples cited include:

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information – 53%
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44%
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35%
• Candidate showed poor communication skills – 29%
• Candidate made discriminatory comments – 26%
• Candidate lied about qualifications – 24%

Job seekers are cautioned to be mindful of the information they post online and how they communicate directly with employers . To improve your chances of getting hired, we have listed our top ten tips every student should follow when it comes to managing their social media profiles, especially when actively seeking employment.

Facebook

#1: Get private

Make sure your privacy settings are set to ‘Friends Only. You don’t want your friends sharing personal pictures with the rest of the world.

#2: Carefully Manage the Content on Your Facebook Page

Although some questionable pictures and funny status updates may be entertaining to your friends, employers may seem them as inappropriate. A good rule to follow: delete comments and un-tag pictures that you wouldn’t let your parents see. It’s still okay to use Facebook to socially interact with your friends, just keep it clean!

#3: Using a Professional Email Address

Set up a free gmail account with a professional address to use in your resume. Example: john.smith@gmail.com. Employers usually respond using email so you don’t want them to remember you as hotstuff5888@hotmail.com. Do not use your professional email address to log into your Facebook page. This will make it harder for an employer to find your Facebook when searching.

LinkedIn

4#: Are you on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is one of the easiest places that employers can find you and learn more about your background, job experience, and interests so it is important to have a professional presence here. Completing your LinkedIn profile is fairly easy and can be done in a short period of time. If your LinkedIn profile is not complete and/or out of date, what message are you sending to your prospective new employer?

#5: What does your professional headline say about you?

Does your headline say what it is you are interested in doing? You have 120 characters, so be creative. Try something like “High school student seeking part-time retail employment”.

#6: Be professional on every level

Whether it’s your photo or profile content, make sure everything you post on your LinkedIn profile looks and sounds professional. To ensure there are no grammatical errors, have a teacher or parent read over your content before you post it to your page.

#7:  Add your Resume on LinkedIN

LinkedIn now has a feature for you to import your resume and link it to your profile. What better way then to get your resume in front of perspective employers.

#8: List yourself in a group job section

Anyone can advertise their job vacancies in any of the groups they belong to, but why not do it the other way around? Why not post an ad in the jobs section of the groups you’re a member of, stating what position you’re looking for?

Twitter

#9: Follow a Company on Twitter

Many local businesses have created Twitter accounts. Be sure to follow a business you may be interested in working for and receive all the latest updates. They may even include employment opportunities. Remember, just like Facebook, keep your Twitter domain name and site clean.

Other Good Places to Search for A Job

www.craigslist.org

www.indeed.com

www.usajobs.gov

www.students.net

To download a printable version, click here KidsMatter-Job-Fair-SM-Tips

For more information contact us at Design & Promote

Be a proactive social media business

Chicago social media is becoming more and more prominent within the small business community. Whether a company runs their own social media campaign or hires a Chicago social media expert to bring results, we should all be aware of certain mistakes that companies across the country have made on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The most common mistakes companies of all sizes have been making in the social media community since businesses started promoting themselves can be broken down into two categories. There are the mistakes that are made because a company is not being proactive enough, and there are the mistakes made because they are being too aggressive with their social media campaigns. Here are some mistakes that fall in the first category:

Incomplete Profiles: Nobody recommends businesses to join every social media outlet; it’s just too time consuming. So if you choose two to three of the most beneficial ones to your company, there should be no reason why your efforts on that site aren’t completely devoted to succeeding there. If you make the decision to create an account, take the time to enter all your information and make your identity unique to your company. Add pictures, descriptions etc. so you can show people who you are. This is where your social media brand begins, and it is very important to have a good start so visitors know you are involved in social media for the right reasons and will have a better chance to engage with you.

Not Communicating With Fans: If you have a following, however large it is, make sure you are part of the conversation. If you don’t engage with the people who are talking about you on social media sites, their expectations won’t be met. There are plenty of companies that are great at responding to fans or even replying with a thank you, which means if you don’t do that consistently you will loser followers.

Quitting Your Campaign Too Early: Many of the small businesses in Chicago try out social media but don’t give it enough time to see results, so they just give up. Try to begin with a good marketing plan before you setup all your accounts, and use different tactics to engage with your followers/fans.

Inconsistent Posting: Social media is an ongoing approach to marketing your organization, and you need to understand that people use it every day and expect new content from you on a regular basis. You don’t have to update your pages every day, but if you take weeks at a time to post something new, you will most likely lose followers.

Coming up: social media mistakes because of being too aggressive.