Ever wonder if your Facebook Fan Page could appear in a search result on Google? Your dreams have come true…if you use Google’s Real Time Search you will now also see Facebook Fan Page posts included.

According to Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan, Real Time Search also includes:
* Twitter tweets
* Google News links
* Google Blog Search links
* Newly created web pages
* Freshly updated web pages
* FriendFeed updates
* Jaiku updates
* Identi.ca updates
* TwitArmy updates
* Google Buzz posts
* MySpace updates
* Facebook fan page updates

So what does this mean for your company? Because you have to know about selecting the “show options” link on your Google search results page. I would like to see the statistics on how many people are selecting it, and actually using the Real Time Search Results. I have a feeling it is under utilized because it is so new, however time will tell!

I recently wrote a blog post asking if your business is using Twitter effectively. Today I’d like to tackle the topic of corporate Facebook accounts. Coca-Cola was recognized by Slate magazine as the number one Big Money Facebook account. What’s unique about their page is it was created by a fan; theirs is an authentic page made by two Coke aficionados.

The importance of authenticity within Social Media must be stressed here. These Coke enthusiasts wanted to “fan” their favorite soda-pop on Facebook but couldn’t find an official page so they created one. Once corporate got wind of this they did the right thing; they embraced the page, made it official and added all sorts of advanced applications. As of January 15th they have 4,142,073 fans. Wow.

Now I’ll move to an unsuccessful, unauthentic Facebook page that turned a corner . . .

Walmart’s official Facebook page started out with few posts and even less fans. Their “fans” often left disparaging comments and even questioned why the page existed.

Since then Walmart has taken a page from their peers and warmed up to Facebook by using their site to promote discounts and foster positive comments from their fans. Over the holidays they added applications linking to Black Friday specials, online deals and they even launched a charity-related application.

I would like to point you to a favorite article on the topic of Facebook vs. LinkedIn, but after browsing a couple pages of Google results I’m here writing because there was a disappointing amount of industry-centric commentary. We’ve got A-List bloggers scorning one or both systems (hardly a “use case” or fair comparison for the average business person); pundits debating which network will succeed, and scenarios describing the use of these systems in getting (and unintentionally losing) jobs, etc.

While all of that analysis has its place, what do Facebook and LinkedIn offer to the average business person? Here’s my “elevator pitch” answer…

LinkedIn
If you’ve got a business card or a resume, you need to be on LinkedIn. It’s a tool for sharing professional recommendations, which means you belong here if you’re working on growing your business or your professional network. Period.

Facebook
If you want to get back in touch with your buddies from college and high school, join FaceBook. That’s what it was designed for, and what it still does best.

For a little more detail on both LinkedIn and Facebook, read on: Read More

I’m not an early adopter – I just hang around a bunch of them.

By November 17, 2003, enough of these early adopter types (aka friends) had bugged me about LinkedIn that I finally felt compelled to sign up and give it a whirl. For a long, long time it was mostly my techie friends there. And not much happening.

Years later, when facebook took off and I became a Twitter addict, I figured LinkedIn was dead. Unlike these other social media tools, LinkedIn wasn’t “giving back”. You could collect data (ie make connections and add resume items) but beyond that, what was the use? It seemed limited to being a virtual file cabinet for resumes – and I’ve already got enough places to file things, thanks. Read More