Walmart is giving away a Million Dollars to the U.S. City that collects the most VOTES (Likes) for their community.

It has been quite the race between Salt Lake City (SLC) and Fresno CA.

One of the strategies to get more votes for your community is to OPEN up your WALL to people who are NOT your Facebook Friends so they can still come and LIKE your links (this gets extra votes).

(Since you’re reading this anyway, just take 1 second to vote for SLC please:  http://fightinghunger.walmart.com/city/Salt-Lake-City-UT

One thing I have noticed as everyone is posting their links to their Facebook profiles is how many of them do NOT have a custom URL.  I was shocked to see so many since Facebook Usernames have been around for about a year.  So I guess it’s time to do a little Facebook educating.

Here’s what I mean:

My Custom Facebook URL is http://www.facebook.com/kimber.king

(instead of those long Facebook URLs you see with all the #s that look like this:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001167298)

You can have one too!

Setting up your Custom Facebook URL is easy!

Here’s How:

• Log into Facebook
• At the top of your Computer, type “http://www.facebook.com/username” into your address bar and enter
• Select a Username from their suggestions or type one of your own to see if its available

That’s it!  Now you can send people easily to your Facebook Page!

And here’s even a quicker shortcut.

You can now just use the letters “fb” instead of “facebook” in your URL, for example:

http://www.fb.com/kimber.king

vs.

http://www.facebook.com/kimber.king

And one last tip…for those of you who have Business Pages on Facebook, once you have 25 people who LIKE your page you can also get a Custom URL for that page, for example:  http://www.facebook.com/yourdestinyteam

If you enjoyed this article or learned something that might be of value to others, don’t forget to SHARE or TWEET it!  Thanks!

Kimber

P.S.  If we aren’t Facebook Friends, I’d love to connect with you!

You can go from something that looks like this, http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/yourdestinyteam/137377132960184?ref=ts

WHO COULD REMEMBER THAT URL?

to something that looks like this:  http://www.facebook.com/yourdestinyteam

How much easier is it to direct others to your Facebook using the 2nd link vs. the first link!

And, you can also set up that when you post on your FaceBook Page’s Wall, it automatically posts the status/update directly to your Twitter page!

So instead of posting both places, now you can do them both in one easy step!

If you click on this link, this video will show you step by step how to do it!

It’s easy!

Go try it and let me know how it worked for you!

Just click this link!

http://www.screencast.com/users/kimberking/folders/Jing/media/a5039782-1ca3-4678-be9e-d394d0ce9167

This seems like a very simple topic, but I have been surprised as I have been helping others with their Social Media how many don’t know they can do this or even why they should!

For example, maybe you want to update your status with something that you don’t want EVERYONE who is your friend on Facebook to read.

This might be when you want to just announce something to your clients or team about your product or business and don’t want to be constantly bombarding your friends and family with what you are doing.

For example, here’s some lists I have created:

• Family
• School Friends
• Local Friends
• Church Friends
• Business Team
• Networking Friends
• Mentoring Friends (Friends who I learn lots from their post)

and many more!  You can create any kind of list.

Now, say I want to make a status update about a Team Dinner that we are having but I don’t necessarily want to have every friend on Facebook read it. Then I can create the status update and then exclude some of these lists.

Let me walk you though the process.

How to Create New List

1. Click on “Account” in upper right hand side of your FB page.  Now select “Edit Friends” from the drop down menu.
2. Now select “Create New List” at the top of the screen
3. Enter a name for your list
4. Select which FB friends you want in this list and click the blue “create list” button

Now if you have a ton of FB friends already, it might take you a while to sort through all of them, but do a little bit everyday and you will realize down the road, what a great tool this is.

How to Update Status and Exclude a List

1. Type in a Status Update on your Profile Page
2. Click on the little black “Lock” icon in the bottom right of your status bar.
3. Select “Custom” from the drop down menu
4. Now start typing the name of the list you want to exclude in the “Hide this from these people” box.

You can also do the opposite with a certain post and share the post with “Everyone” or “Friends of Friends” so more people could see a post!

This is a really handy tool if used with the right intentions and without wanting to bombard or spam others!

Here’s another great tip!  When you click on your “Home” page, now your lists are on the left hand side of your page and if you click on a List, you can just see that lists’ status updates! It sorts them for you.  So if I want to just see what’s going on with my family, now I can read all their status updates fast!

Try it out today and let me know how you like it and also what types of creative “lists” you have made.  Just drop me a note below!

Aweber - just $19 through link

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Aweber is an Email and Marketing Program that helps you communicate with your business associates, clients and team members.

In the past, I have used Aweber because of its ability to set up A/R messages (auto responder messages).

For those of you new to email campaigns, an A/R message are automatic messages that are sent to a person who fills out a form on your website.

For example, I have a website about Nutritional Cleansing, www.HappyCleansing.com and when people visit that site, they could fill out a form if they want more information from me.

Now, I have it set up in Aweber to then automatically send them a series of email messages I loaded into Aweber about Nutritional Cleansing. I am communicating with them on a continuous basis with less time and more results.

Anyway….that was a great feature about Aweber that I loved.

There are several other Email Marketing Programs that can do the same, such as Icontact.

But now, Aweber has joined the world of Social Media Tool Marketing!

They have seen the value of making it even easier for those of us using social media sites to communicate even easier and more effective with our clients and business partners.

There is now an option that as you email a list of contacts, you can also automatically have that email “twittered” and even posted to your FaceBook page!

And another favorite feature that can save you a ton of time for those of you who have a WordPress or blogging site, you can now have your readers subscribe to your RSS feed through an Aweber form and every time you write a NEW post on your site/blog, it is sent to your list of contacts automatically!

Here’s more about that from Aweber:

The success of your blog depends on being able to drive people back to it to read your new posts, click on ads and purchase products.

Blog Broadcaster merges the best of email and RSS, helping you reach the largest possible audience.

• Convert your blog’s RSS to email newsletters automatically.
• Schedule blog newsletters weekly, daily or as you publish new posts.
• Fully control your newsletter’s design and content.
• Track website clicks using your own domain name, without ugly click tracking links.
• See who clicks your links, who opens your messages, and more.
• Segment subscribers based on who clicked (or didn’t click) and send follow up emails.
• Automatically twitter your Blog Newsletter.

For those of you who like to use Social Media Tools and Email Marketing Programs, Aweber just might be the tool for you!

CLICK HERE FOR Aweber Discount. Try it for just $19!

What’s all the hype about Skype? Hey…that rhymes!

Most people were introduced to Skype by watching an episode of Oprah and seeing people chime in by Skype Webcam from all over the country on her TV show.

So instantly, when others hear the word Skype now, they think they need to either use Skype with as a webcam or use it to make phone calls.

Although these are both great ways to use Skype…

another useful way to use Skype that is overlooked, is the ability to “instant chat” with others online.

Many are familiar with the concept of online chat because of FaceBook.

On Facebook, you can turn on your chat, in the bottom right hand side of your screen and you can chat in real time with one of your FaceBook Friends.

Skype can do that too but what’s so great about Skype taking it a step further is that you can create “group chats.”

So for example, if you are in business and you need to keep in connection with several team members or if you have a group of friends that are separated by long distance…you can set up a “group chat” and you can have a “party” online (or a online business chat for you professionals out there).

You don’t need a webcam…You are TYPING back and forth to each other.

This is a great way to keep in contact in real-time with people.

I was again reminded about the value of Skype this week as I am working closely with a group of 5 other business partners on a company incentive to win a VIP trip to New York.

All of us are in different locations/states and we were sending endless emails between each other (copying everyone into them) and I know all of our inbox’s were getting backed up.

Group Chat on Skype

So by creating a group chat on Skype for this team, in an instant, we had a real time group chat to quickly ask questions, share ideas, encourage each other, get some direction or advice, etc….

Many times, I don’t have time to pick up the phone and get into a lengthy discussion but if I can quickly “skype” someone from my desk (multitasking) this saves me a lot of time.

Now those other things that Skype can do, like webcam connecting, making phone calls are really quite cool and can connect people all over the world but don’t forget the basics of Skype as an “instant chat”  tool as well.

You can download Skype for FREE at www.Skype.com

Let me know if you do it and how you like it!

Check back here in a few days to find out how to find others on Skype, set your privacy so you don’t get a lot of “perverts” contacting you, etc…