Facebook’s New Promotions Guidelines Unfriendly to Small Business?

Contests and giveaways have long been ‘the secret sauce’ for many a brand. Way back in 1995 when I was an AOL Greenhouse Partner, we knew that two things were surefire awareness-boosters: a mention in Steve Case’s weekly email or a contest. Today we’re way more sophisticated, thanks to Facebook and its juicy toolkit of relationship-builders. Brands have been eagerly jumping on board, using contests and giveaways to boost fan counts, increase stickiness and in general, uber-engage with consumers.

The new Facebook Promotions Guidelines may radically change all that. The recently released new rules restrict the ability to use a personal profile or fan page to conduct contests, giveaways or other promotions. And catch this speed bump: Instead of being able to cobble together a quick contest and promote it asap, now you must obtain written approval from an authorized Facebook representative. (Good luck with that. You might try either Stanford’s Cool Cafe or the Empire Tap Room if you don’t get an answer quickly or at all.) For those who aren’t already working with a rep, there’s a handy form to submit your request. You can also work with an authorized 3rd party application who can obtain approval on your behalf.

My favorite part? The form lets you choose your budget range, which starts at $10,000.

And there’s more. As expert Allen Mireles explains in a very useful article — once you have obtained written approval you may only conduct your promotion using a 3rd party application approved by Facebook, like Involver or Wildfire Interactive. Read Wildfire’s update “>here.

If you’re using Facebook for your business, you owe it to yourself to check out these sea-changes as soon as possible. And then let me know: Will this stop you from using Facebook for your contests and giveaways?

Alert! Facebook Password Reset Confirmation Email Contains Virus

E-Holes have ramped up their scamming and spamming recently, flooding social media with insidious attempts to lure users into their traps. Is it a coincidence the black hats have increased their activity just as a significant chunk of Facebook’s recent growth comes from newbies in search of photos of the grandchildren?

Please Nana, don’t click on that link!

Mashable is now warning of a new virus spreading via Facebook. This one – known as Bredolab – masks itself as a “Password Reset Confirmation Email,” appears to come from Facebook, and attaches a file that purports to contain a new password.

That file is actually a trojan horse that will download a host of nasty files from the Web and infect your computer with them. Email security firm MX Lab explains further:

“Bredolab is a trojan horse that downloads and executes files from the Internet, such as rogue anti-spyware. To bypass firewalls, it injects its own code into legitimate processes svchost.exe and explorer.exe. Bredolab contains anti-sandbox code (the trojan might quit itself when an external program investigates its actions).”

How to avoid this E-Hole Epidemic: Did you request your password from Facebook? If not, you shouldn’t be getting a password reset confirmation email. So don’t open it! And even if you did ask for one, Facebook would not send your new password as an attachment. Finally, f you’re still not sure, take a look at the full details of the email – if the mail servers don’t belong to Facebook, you know the message is not legit.

Travel company gives bloggers free trips.

As those of you who have seen my “Ten Commandments of Social Media for the Travel Industry” already know, the list of Social Media Winners is growing fast and may soon overtake the Social Media Sinners category. Everywhere I travel there are new examples of social media savvy, from London’s Red Carnation properties to last weekend’s terrific ATIA (Alaska Travel Industry Association) Tweet-up.

Now here’s another shining Social Media Winner: Travel company YokmoK, which brilliantly uses social media to solve the pesky problem of unfilled space by inviting bloggers to travel free.

Here’s the scoop from their site:

You blog? Then travel free with YokmoK

Ask yourself the following questions:

• do I have a popular blog? (typically a popularity higher than 10,000)
• does my blog relate to travel, adventure, adrenaline sports, adventure travel, or similar?
• do I have quality content and update it regularly?

If you’ve answered YES to these questions, then wait no more ’cause you are entitled to travel FREE with YokmoK.

Why?

We’d love to have all our trips fully booked, the whole year, every year, but it just doesn’t happen, and some free spaces are available from time to time. It can be snowshoeing in the Swedish Lapland, hiking in the French Alps, or trekking in the Sahara desert. So if you are ready to jump on a last-minute plane, and blog before, during, and after the trip, then you have a real chance to travel for free with us.
How?

It’s very simple. Just send us an email to contact with the following information:

1. your name;
2. URL of your blog;
3. which trip, date, or sport you’re interested in (snowshoeing, hiking, bicycling, trips in August, all…);
4. a few sentences about yourself;
5. as subject line please put “I’m a blogger and I want to travel for free with YokmoK”.

The only nit I have to pick with YokmoK is its definition of blogger popularity. YokmoK defines “popularity” as those with 10,000 or more incoming links—relating to travel, adventure or adrenaline sports. As I’m a quality versus quantity gal, my vote’s for the blogger who genuinely engages with readers, delivers compelling and accurate information and uses other forms of social media — Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube– to promote the blog. While being effective with social media is certainly still somewhat a numbers game, there are other factors such as engagement and journalistic standards that should count as well.

Springwise reports that If the blogger is available to participate, YokmoK will pay for all services included in the price for the corresponding trip. In exchange, the blogger is expected to share their experience of the trip, including at least four entries before the trip starts, one entry per day during the trip, and another four entries after the trip ends; each entry must include at least one direct link to YokmoK’s website.

So bloggers, are you packed?

Just in time for the holidays, Dell goes OPI.

Okay, so Della was a disaster, igniting a social media firestorm last spring. But all those “Lollipop, Lollipop” colors popping off the assembly line clearly struck a merry chord with consumers. That’s why just in time for the holidays, Dell Mini, Inspiron and Studio laptops will be available in colors including “I’m Not Really a Waitress,” “Strawberry Margarita” and “Kyoto Pearl.” Twenty-six new colors will be added to the current Dell Design Studio palette along with a variety of patterns beginning next month. They’ll include not just 20 classic OPI colours but also six holiday-themed shades such as “Dear Santa,” “Merry Midnight” and “Smitten with Mittens.” Seasonal shades will vary, and availability in other countries will follow the palette’s US introduction. Select OPI colours will also be available at many retailers. Maybe we’ll paint our fingers and toes to match when we go Christmas shopping.

“Beautiful nails really are the ultimate accessory to any look,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive Vice President & Artistic Director. “And now, with Dell laptops that coordinate with OPI Nail Lacquers, you can match your nails to your emails!”

So it looks like I’m finally going to get some competition for my neon green Macbook. Years ago at CES I discovered the wonders of a site called colorware and very promptly colorized my iPod in Berkeley gold and blue. I loved it so much I graduated to a full colorization — the Minnesota company uses a process similar to colorizing cars — for my laptop. Half the fun is gawking at the glossy lipsticky colors posted on the site. Dell’s brilliance in partnering with OPI is tempting indeed. I wonder if they’ll have my fave “Cajun Shrimp.”

Via the awesome site Springwise.

STACKD helps people in office buildings get in touch – for business or beers.

Do you know your office neighbors? That guy you see on the elevator everyday? Those familiar faces you see when you’re buying your morning latte? One of the ironies of our social networking world is that we often end up communicating more frequently with those across the planet than we do with the people living right next door. Stackd is a site that aims to change all that by helping to connect those who work in the same vicinity.
1 Building
19 Floors
103 Companies
10,609 Connections.

New site STACKD “helps people in office buildings get in touch – for business or beers. We would like to think that it’s the people around you that should be part of your social network: people you meet in the elevator rather than on Facebook, people you follow to the 14th floor instead of on Twitter. Online social networks are great for what they are. We built STACKD to tap the potential of the place you stick around most: the office.

Now in beta, Stackd was created by New York-based Supermetric to enable its own neighboring office workers. Currently focused on Manhattan and Brooklyn, the site is free to use for both individuals and businesses, which are encouraged to list their offices on the site. (I didn’t find any of my old Manhattan office buildings yet — but it’s early on.) After signing up with Stackd, users can browse by address through the listings of other businesses in their area, hook up and expand their social network locally.

Can’t you picture this concept thriving here in the Bay area, where the trend toward co-working spaces is already spreading? Check out these San Francisco co-working options. And then keep your fingers crossed that STACKD will catch on here.

Thank you, Springwise.

The surprisingly simple way social media can change your life.

Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated. In French its sérendipicité but also heureux hasard, “fortunate chance.”

And that my dears is the very definition of Social Media. Fortunate chance. Random reward. Luck on steroids. In the old (analog) days, the answer to “What are the odds?” would be a rueful chuckle. The only way to increase your possibilities of connecting, whether in business, opportunities, love, relationships, insights, anything, was either to up the elbow grease via traditional networking or bury a statue of St. Jude in the backyard.

Today in our Kevin-Bacon-World, serendipity now gets an upgrade. I call it “Strategic Serendipity” and when I teach Social Media workshops, this phrase gets a nod from newbies to experts alike. When you use Social Media effectively (note that vital word), what you’re doing is greatly increasingly the odds of stumbling across exactly who you want to stumble across:

* If you’re writing a book, agents, publishers and writing experts show up
* If you’re looking for a job, the right contact, the opportunities show up — including some you never imagined
* If you’re running a business and need help, the right virtual admin, the right CPA, the right insurance agent show up — and maybe even partnership and joint venture opportunities

Obviously this list could stretch to the end of the page. I cannot tell you how many people, opportunities and fruitful insights have come my way via Social Media. But make no mistake. Strategic Serendipity is no random, hippy-dippy flinging of one’s personal brand or business into the Universe. Yes, your personal message-in-a-bottle is floating quixotically in the tumultuous seas of Social Media. But you have a choice about when, where and in what direction you want it to bobble. You don’t have to toss it willy-nilly into the world. You can pick your ocean. For example, if you’re into music and entertainment and seeking fans, labels, producers, then you’d want to throw your bottle into the sea that’s MySpace. You’d tightly target your message so it’s immediately engaging to the people who find it washing up on shore. You research the influential beachcombers, learning where their favorite sandy patch is and when they’re out roaming.

Be prepared also, for whatever shows up. Often it’s not the way you imagined it. But even more often, it’s far more intriguing.

There is an art and a science to putting the tools and technologies of Social Media to intelligent use. A few tips to tap into Strategic Serendipity:

* Remember the word ’strategy.’ Before you run off and start tweeting like mad, friend your entire kindergarten class and zip through entire blogrolls, have a solid plan in mind. What do you want to achieve with your social media program? What business effect do you want to achieve? What personal effect do you want to achieve?
* Quantity versus Quality. This continues to be hotly debated in social media circles. My point of view, one that’s been reinforced recently, is that engagement is what counts, not huge networks of people who have no clue who you are. You want a healthy percentage of people who share your passion, including enough influentials to help you make things happen. But don’t always think the well-known ‘rockstars’ are the only ones to know. Many of them don’t manage their social networks anyway — all too often it’s still a “I’ll have my girl tweet your girl” world out there.
* Fish in lots of ponds. You’re far more likely to connect with a wide variety of people, networks and possibilities. One of the biggest mistakes networkers make is to spend too much time in professional networking groups. Why waste time in a pond of everybody trying to sell something? Find a pond of buyers instead.

I’d love it to hear your Strategic Serendipity stories. Please post below or email: Hello@guruofnew.com.