The Facebook fan page is a public profile for businesses, non-profits, celebrities and causes of all kinds. It’s a killer concept that has helped bring a new layer of communication to the platform.
The goal is to attract “fans” to your page so that you can amass a virtual following of sorts. This enables you to keep a close level of connection with people interested in your cause, and to see what those people are like. It’s great for connecting with clients, prospects, partners, users and other parties who might interact with your brand.
As a regular Facebook user, I’ve noticed four primary reasons why people become fans. I’ve highlighted some ways you might be able to take advantage of those reasons if you’re thinking about building a fan page. 
Ah, web design, good buddy..you’re about to die. That’s right. Web design is on its deathbed. There are no cures or operations that can save it. Web design is dying.
If you’re a web designer and reading this then you’ve probably put down your coffee and asked yourself what the hell I’m talking about. I’m a designer, too, so let me shed some light on the grim death of web design.
Web design started pretty much around 1995 or whenever companies decided it was a good idea to get online. It was the birth of a new level of communication. It was pretty freaking exciting, too (though, at the time, I was 11 and had more pressing concerns such as the release of Independence Day).
As companies scrambled to get online, web design became a new, uncharted avenue for making money. To know HTML, DHTML and JavaScript in those days was like having a PhD, but you didn’t have to pay gazillions of dollars to acquire those skills! So some smart fool started selling these skills.
When you have one guy raking in boatloads of money for something that’s actually pretty easy to do, it catches on. The next guy opens shop and says, “I can do what that guy’s doing and I can do it better.” Now you have new people with new skills and ideas permeating the new found web design industry. It’s pretty cool, especially during the dot com bubble. Imagine gobs of money. Don’t I wish I had started web design back then? That’s a different story.
My favorite strategy when it comes to combating email headaches is simple: respond late. Many people tell you that once business hours are over you should close down your email and not look at it. I think the smart way is to do the opposite.
Think about it. We’re forced to multitask on multiple issues everyday. Emails are a big contributor to this. Each message represents a new challenge, question, complaint, problem or idea that we have to confront, investigate and address. By removing email from the equation, the day can be made less hectic.
More and more, I’m realizing that the power in Facebook for companies is not in finding new clients, but keeping existing ones. Often, I’m presented with the dilemma of how to use Facebook to get new clients. There just aren’t many avenues in Facebook to do it.
The reason is because Facebook is a closed social network. Both you and the other party must agree to be "friends" in order to exist in the same social network.
The Internet has led to many enhancements in the way we communicate, consume information and do business. This has been a great advancement in technology. In no other period could someone build and launch a product or service, and capture a target market in such speed.
The web has also led to a saturation of knowledge. With so many open channels, knowledge has become easy to access and consume. The chances that you have the same knowledge has someone else is now greater.
What does this mean?
It means that general knowledge is less valuable. The barriers to information access are thinning out. Is this a bad thing? You can arguably go either way.
On one hand, the old hat "information brokers" are going to die out. People will no longer seek general knowledge experts because they can access the information themselves. This could be bad for some businesses.
On the other hand, it actually enhances business. Businesses must adapt to the ease of knowledge accessibility by focusing on a specific segment of knowledge. It’s called a niche and anyone familiar with marketing knows what that is. But this goes beyond the traditional niche. Businesses need to become true experts in a very narrowly defined field. There are no experts in web design, for example. There are experts in landing page effectiveness, conversion strategy, social media measurement and so forth.
Another benefit of knowledge saturation is that talent is cheaper. Instead of learning a general set of knowledge, you can hire it out at a cost that is less than your time value. And you can easily scale on the concept to build a strong business.
My stance is to be at least superficially knowledgeable in as many things as possible without sacrificing the ability to be super knowledgeable in one or more very specific fields.
Meetings are a great method for sharing information, developing task items, getting feedback, and so forth. However, I think meetings outlive their effectiveness once they reach a certain length threshold.
Time value is an underrated concept. We spend so much time committing ourselves to such meaningless engagements. The problem is that most people live through the eyes of tunnel vision with a narrow focus on things that will only have a short-term impact.
How does one devalue their time? There are many examples. Excessive social outings, trying to tackle tasks that you can pay someone else to do, too much entertainment, driving, email, doing things inefficiently, and so on.
When valuing time, there are three primary things I try to weigh:
- Time Commitment
- Opportunity Cost
- Level of Satisfaction
Measuring time commitment is simple. How much time will I need to dedicate toward this task or outing? Opportunity cost is also pretty basic stuff. What am I giving up by spending my time on this certain task or outing? For example, I could spend two hours working out or I could spend those two hours reading a technical book to increase my knowledge. Measuring what is more valuable is difficult, though, which is why I include the third item. Level of satisfaction helps me determine how fulfilled the task or outing will make me feel relatively speaking. Will I be happier if I worked out or if I read the book?
The idea of valuing your time extends beyond personal life and should play an important role in business as well. In business, there are real costs and real opportunity costs that may be more measurable as opposed to personal life.
The insane thing is that all of this is straightforward and doable, but a majority of people can’t manage it. That’s why it’s an advantage to you to value your time.
