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Custom Facebook URL

October 27, 2010 By Mason Leave a Comment

Did you know you can create a custom URL for your Facebook profile and Fan page (aka “Like Page”)? For example, my personal Facebook page URL is Facebook.com/MasonUpdates and my Fan page for Mason Media is Facebook.com/MasonMediaToday.

Now all that matters is, “Has someone taken your URL?” If so get creative. My personal Twitter page is Twitter.com/MasonUpdates so I matched it on Facebook for my profile. Simple URL’s are less intimidating for people to click on. They have a clear idea of what to expect when they click on it. Some people shy away from long and complex URL’s because they’re not sure what’s going to pop-up. Simple URL’s can be handy for quick reference in an email or text message. They’re also easy for people to remember (if the URL is simple enough). Since my business involves social media, the simple URL looks very clean on my business cards as well. FYI, even if your business doesn’t involve social media services, it would be good to advertise your business’s Facebook page on your business card. The more fans you have the better it looks for the business.

It’s my understanding, that you cannot create a custom URL for your Facebook Fan Page right away. You have to have at least 25 people “Like” your page before you can set the URL. This prevents spammers from taking up all of the obvious URL’s. It also creates motivation to build your following up ASAP. Reason being, you want the custom URL set before you start updating all of your other pages and sites with your Facebook page link.

To create your custom Facebook URL go to the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/username/

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Filed Under: Facebook, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Your Facebook Page ID

October 19, 2010 By Mason Leave a Comment

Question (in the tone of Dwight Schrute): Do you want to add a Facebook Fan Page Widget to your blog?

If you have a blog and a Facebook page, I would strongly encourage you to use your blog to give your readers an easy way to show you their support. This can be done effectively with a Facebook Page Widget. I use the Facebook Fan Box Widget and have been happy with it.

One piece of information I needed was my Facebook Page ID. Honestly, this was the first time I had ever heard of this and did not know it. Low and behold, after a little digging, I found this helpful video on Vimeo:


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Filed Under: Blogging, Facebook, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Sac Bee E-edition by Mason Media

October 15, 2010 By Mason 2 Comments

The Sacramento Bee has the largest distribution of all Sacramento based newspapers. As a subscriber, you can also read the Sacramento Bee right on your home computer in an electronic format called the “e-edition.” Mason Media produced a short tutorial video for the Bee to explain how their electronic edition works. This video is beneficial to the Bee’s customers via visual demonstration along with a clear explanation. You can view the video below or see the Bee’s web page where this video is being used by clicking here.








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Filed Under: Mason Media Vids Tagged With: , ,

The New Twitter

October 14, 2010 By Mason Leave a Comment

Have you seen the new Twitter? At the time I’m writing, you may not have. Twitter has changed it’s format but you don’t see a difference unless you log into your Twitter account.

The new version has a new template with a wider column on the right along with some new features. You have infinite scroll which automatically extends the bottom of the timeline when you scroll down. This streamlines your browsing process by eliminating the “Click For More” action.

It’s now easier to see embedded media without leaving your twitter page. Quote from Twitter’s blog, “Now, it’s easy to see embedded photos and videos directly on Twitter, thanks to partnerships with DailyBooth, deviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube.” This is a great way for people (more specifically me) to integrate photos and video into their social media. Before, if you posted a link to a photo or video, a follower would have to click away from Twitter to see it. Not anymore! Now you can easily browse your timeline and if you see a small media icon in the upper-right of a tweet, click on the tweet and you’ll see the photo and video to your right. Clean, fast, and simple! There’s a specific way to setup your account to show your embedded media this way which I will cover in the near future; maybe if you post enough comments and requests I’ll do it sooner than later : )

There’s also a handful of other features like related content, mini-profiles, and expanded DM messaging that are definitely upgrades. I’ve learned so much about Twitter that I was nervous when I learned they were changing things up, but after looking at the new version I must compliment Twitter on a job well done! Now if only I could delete all those spam DM’s in my Twitter inbox with one click! Oh well…

Here’s a photo I thought would be interesting. It’s a screenshot of me posting a pic of the screenshot on my Twitter page (MasonMediaToday) resulting in a never-ending sequence of screenshots within screenshots:

The New Twitter

Here’s the clever little promo video Twitter used to launch the new version:

So what do you think of the new Twitter???

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Filed Under: Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , ,

Presenting to RE/MAX Real Estate Agents

October 13, 2010 By Mason Leave a Comment

Today, I got an opportunity to speak to RE/MAX Real Estate Agents in Ripon, CA. I was invited to present on the topic of Social Media. There were approximately 40 agents in attendance. They were a fun crowd to speak with and there were a lot of questions after I was finished. At the beginning of the session I asked for a show of hands of people who weren’t going to be getting on Facebook or Twitter no matter what I said and there was a good 5-10 hands that went up. Afterwards, several agents came up to me and told me that even though they didn’t feel like getting into Social Media, the presentation made them realize they need to reconsider.


Special thanks to David Darmstandler, co-founder of Data Path and Patrick J. Wallace, Broker and Vice President of Operations at RE/MAX for the opportunity to present.

Here are some photos from the iPhone:

REMAX1

REMAX2

REMAX3

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Filed Under: Featured Articles, Mason Media Updates, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,