March 11, 2014 by Jolindy

Facebook starred reviews for business pages

We’ve had some questions lately at Be Sociable about the starred review section on facebook business pages.

First of all – it is an excellent feature. The starred review section allows people to give your business a rating of 1 – 5 based on their experience, as well as an option to add a written comment.

Obviously it is also important to make sure that your page type is correct. The starred review feature only works on physical entities, which means pages that are set up as “local businesses” or “companies and organisations”.

Why is this excellent? Think TripAdvisor. Your ratings give people who is not yet familiar with your product/service the opportunity to – at a glance – get an idea of what other people think of your business. Obviously if you have a good business with good customer relations, your ratings will be positive. If not, your ratings will plummet.

At the moment the starred review section only seems available to businesses with a physical address – to those businesses who only have a website, the option doesn’t yet seem available.

The process seems fairly easy, according to directions found in the Facebook Desk Help section :

Just visit the Facebook page of the business you want to review.
Scroll down to the review section on the right hand side of the timeline.
Fill in the number of stars (total of five) that reflect your experience with the business.
Fill in a written review as well in the space that asks “What do you think about this place?”
You can mark your review public or select the friends, acquaintances or other connections you want to be able to see it.
Then hit “Review” and you’re done.

Page owners be careful. You automatically enable the Facebook starred review feature by adding your physical address on Facebook. Facebook warns you cannot remove individual reviews. So the only option is to remove the review function completely by taking your address off your page.

How Facebook Starred Reviews are Different

Of course it’s impossible to think about the new Facebook review feature without considering all the controversy now surrounding online reviews.

According to Joshua Sophy, in September, small businesses in New York state faced $350,000 in fines after the attorney general’s office said they had hired freelancers to write fake online reviews.

Facebook allows only those with an account to write a review. But how many fake Facebook accounts are out there is anyone’s guess. At best, the new Facebook starred reviews feature should probably be viewed as another way to collect feedback and generate social interest rather than an objective measure of customer sentiment.

February 1, 2014 by Jolindy

Nest hunting

A year ago the hubs and myself made the monumental (and now often regretted) decision to move to our nearby big town.
We love where we live, but the daily schlepp in two vehicles (we work different hours) into town and back home became a bit much after 3 years.

The woes of looking for a new home is really a journey that is difficult to explain. As with everything, we started off bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, enthusiastic about taking our Sunday afternoon to browse show houses and meet friendly real estate agents. Sunday afternoon show houses became mid-week views, and odd hour phone calls from estate agents telling us we have to come immediately – the house is very sought-after, and a quick written offer would secure our dream home.

We’ve learnt that there is very litle point in giving a budget to a real estate agent. Your estimated budget that you can afford is pointless. We have seen countless homes that is our “dream home” if we were only prepared to fork out up to double what we can actually afford.

Another harsh reality is that the house is really more often than not much nicer online than in real life. Online photographs don’t show the damp, the sad, sagging cupboards, the broken tiles, the flat roof (consisting of more patches than actual roof, yet still leaking), the really odd smells and the tiny kitchen. You have to love how faults are concealed with using gorgeous language: quaint (really really small); comfortable (really really old); large family home (was inhabited by a small army of children and you can see it); lots of potential (bottomless pit and you are probably going to overcapitalize) … and so on.

We are hopeful that our dream home really is out there, within our reasonable market-related budget, and soon to be inhabited by us. Watch this space for that update!

January 12, 2014 by Jolindy

Silent loss

There are no words adequate enough to describe the joy on discovering that you are pregnant – especially after years of unsuccessfully doing your best to conceive, with the clock mercilessly clicking non-stop.

I found out that I was pregnant, five weeks, on the last day of 2013. I couldn’t believe the positive pregnancy test, and rushed back to buy more from the pharmacy. I’ve been feeling “sick” for a couple of weeks, exhausted, with all sorts of symptoms that I couldn’t logically explain. The only diagnosis that made any sense, yet made no sense at all, was that I had to be pregnant.

Of course, upon confirming with a blood test at the hospital, I had to tell the entire world at once. I was so happy that renting a megaphone and driving through the main road of town seemed like a good idea. I know women fall pregnant every day, but to me this was just such a wonderful momentous occasion that I wanted to tell the world.

Less than 10 days later, the happiest period of my life, I found out that not only had I suffered something called a “missed miscarriage”, I also had large tumors in my womb.

I knew there was something wrong when my HCG levels weren’t rising like it should. My doctor prescribed progesterone, and I did everything I was supposed to. Took it easy, stayed in bed as often as I could, changed my diet, took the necessary vitamins.

Yet, it all went badly wrong. And there is no satisfactory answer as to why. I don’t want to hear about a large amount of “early pregnancies” never making it beyond the first trimester. I’m not interested in hearing that everything happens for a reason. I am in pain, with a sadness to intense that it hurts to breathe.

I know most women hide their pregnancies in those first months, terrified that something is going to go wrong. They wait before making any announcements, in case… I didn’t believe in an “in case”. I never even thought that anything could go wrong.

Although having a miscarriage is one of the most intimate losses a woman can experience, this is almost a taboo topic. There is no accepted grief period, there are no sympathy cards, there is no funeral, no real closure. I am told: “It happens all the time”, as if this line is supposed to somehow make me feel better, put my loss into some kind of perspective.

Suffering a miscarriage is not just about losing a child, it is about losing all the dreams you created for that child. The dreams you created for your life as a mother. It is about the sun disappearing from your world, and everything turning into a dark colourless void. A world where you no longer wake up in the morning with your hands protectively on your tummy. A world where you have to hide your grief because the earth hasn’t stopped turning for everybody else, and hey, life goes on.

With an apparent one in seven pregnancies ending in an miscarriage, there must be a lot of people out there in mourning. It is unacceptable that our miscarriages should be swept under the rug, and we are expected to just get over it. As another mom-who-was-not-to-be said: “Because the only thing worse than losing something that meant the world to you is pretending that you lost nothing.”

December 5, 2013 by Jolindy

Tribute to Tazz

The Tazzinator died today. We stumbled through the day, waiting for news, hoping for a recovery, but then the inevitable happened – he just didn’t wake up.

It started last night when we were handing out snacks – the Tazz was nowhere to be found. I eventually found him in the bedroom, having a seizure, immersed in a pool of his own urine. We acted as fast as we could. Called the vet, drove to the practice, spent an excruciating two hours fighting for Tazz’s life. The vet got him stabilised and sent him home – his last night with us. We took him in again this morning for a check-up, and he stayed for observation. Tazz just didn’t wake up.

What do you do when you lose a member of your family? Our dogs are our children. There are reminders everywhere. His favourite spot under my desk, where he would spend hours just watching me work. Or his bed, where he didn’t really sleep (somehow he always ended up on the bed – with all the other dogs and us). His rocking chair next to the couch where I sit in the evenings, where he’d watch Dr Who through half-lidded eyes, nodding off every few minutes.

Tazz was such a brave soul. I found him, lost in the rain on the highway one day seven years ago. He was a bedraggled bundle of mud and aggression. I eventually got him cleaned up. He wolfed down dog food at a rapid rate, and a visit to the vet confirmed that he’d been on the road for a while. His paws showed signs of damage, and his teeth were very decayed. I posted photographs everywhere, hoping to reunite him with his owner, but eventually Tazz just stayed.

In our circle of friends and family, Tazz is remembered for his short temper and his lovable nature. He either loved you or hated you. Tazz didn’t understand grey areas. Many a person has a tale to tell about a bleeding limb after an encounter with Tazz and his razor-sharp remaining teeth. Just as many are honoured to have received a loving lick from his tongue.

Tazz never barked. He was a pomeranian, and usually these brave little dogs are known to be noisy yappers. Our other pomeranian, Sheherezade, certainly does her best to live up to this reputation. He snored very very loudly, and he would make happy little grunting noises when he snuggled in for a closer hug or an ear scratch. Yet, last night I heard his voice for the first time. His swan song was melodious to my ears.

We are richer for having shared our lives with Tazz. He taught me especially about finding love in unexpected places. I never thought that such a little dog could have such a big heart, and make such a huge impact on my life. Thank you Tazz, for your unconditional love. We will meet again at the rainbow bridge.

November 9, 2013 by Jolindy

The Beauty of Being Broken

It took me a while to decide on a title for this blog post – and yes, it may sound contradictory, but there is beauty in being broken. The bumps and hurdles on the road of life leave scars, but also leave us with experience and knowledge.

I love the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi. I only discovered this art late in life, but as with all things, I am sure that we come across information and/or learnings as and when we are supposed to.

Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold. We can learn a lot from this art – especially the core belief that something can be more beautiful for having been broken.

So often we are embarrassed by our scars. I know I used to be very embarrassed about a 5cm scar on my right breast (lump removed 20 years ago). I have some scars on my right leg (motorcycle accident 15 years ago) and I have a definite portruding bone where my left shoulder bone didn’t grow back properly. And a few more minor scars and aches and pains – each carrying its own story, and a memory (some good, some bad).

I now embrace my scars. I lovingly trace the visible ones, and remind myself that there is joy in being alive. Each one of my larger scars could have been the end of me – instead each one means a new beginning, with new learnings and new experience. Even my invisible heart scars from hurts inflicted by loved ones once trusted has changed from throbbing, aching scars to reminders of paths that once crossed and ran together for a while, now separated.

Repainting my scars with gold, keeping the good memories, can only do me good. Negative memories lead to negative emotions, and negative emotions cause distress that is completely unnecessary.

As a lifecoach, one of the primary teachings I like to convey to my clients, is that our emotions attract the life we want. If we continuously focus on the negative, all we experience will be negative. The same energy can be used on focussing on the positive. This is no “Pollyanna” approach to life (that would be unrealistic – no-one can “fake” happiness all the time). However, we can definitely choose what we focus on most of the time, and if the negative surfaces, we can choose the coat the negative with gold, retaining the positive learnings, whilst letting go of the negative emotions.

September 29, 2013 by Jolindy

Why Social Media Marketing Should Be Taken Seriously For Your Business

We are an advertising agency, with our roots firmly established in the Garden Route. Our motto has always been to deliver the best service to our clients, and offer the best advise with regards to budget-spend that leads to maximum return on investment (ROI). We even used to own our own publications – some of you may remember some of the titles: Vibrant Living, Business Bulletin and Garden Route Property Finder amongst others. Some of these publications we sold, and the last one, Business Bulletin, we closed down ourselves after a successful 12 years. Why you may ask?

Well, let’s start at the beginning. Advertising and marketing is my passion. It has always been, and it will always be. There is nothing as satisfying as a client who becomes a friend and who trusts us to build their brand, while they focus on the nuts and bolts of growing the business. Our core services has always been brand assistance, be it graphic design, copywriting, print solutions – whatever the client required. We would design advertisements for local newspapers (including our own) for clients and assist with annual strategy planning around marketing budgets.

We started realising that people don’t really read as much physically printed matter as they used to. The forward-thinking publications are all moving online, and you often see people, wherever they are, cluthing a smartphone or an iPad or tablet, browsing the internet. Our target audience has moved online – and that is where we firmly believe our clients should be marketing themselves.

We’ve simply moved our advertising agency online, and opened a strong social media leg: Be Sociable. Social media is an excellent marketing platform choice – with the constant change-over to technology, and with iPads, Tablets and smart phones becoming more accessible and more affordable, more and more people are online. It simply makes sense to advertise your product where your target audience already spends a lot of time. Less people pick up newspapers, magazines, booklets, etc, and prefer to spend time online. Also, as with all responsible businesses, we realise that our eco-footprint makes a substantial difference in the world we inhabit, therefore advertising in printed media really makes little sense. Also, if you compare print media costs to online media, there is simply no comparison. You get far more results online for less expenditure.

Here, I cannot put it better than Marsha Friedman, and I agree with every word.

What tends to be happening now, though, is that businesses are realising that they should be on social media, but they are using the wrong approach. I remember when the internet first gained prominence and it became apparent that having a website was essential for any commercial enterprise. Back then, web designers were not plentiful and few people thought to hire a professional to create a site. They felt that any web presence was better than none at all and they found people they knew who were “into the whole internet thing” to help them.

As an advertising professional, when I saw a website that didn’t represent people well or looked amateurish, I’d ask who created it. Invariably, I’d get answers like, “My nephew did it,” or “I bought Web Design for Dummies and did it myself,” or “My son has a friend who just graduated with a degree in computer science.” While those days have passed for websites, I’m afraid I am seeing the same thing happen with regard to social media.

As social media has become an integral element of all mainstream media, some people regard it the same way they used to regard websites—as a good addition to their marketing tactics, but not so essential that they need to approach it with a professional sensibility. As with any marketing outreach, social media done badly will actually set a person back rather than move him forward.

At the end of the day, social media is serious business. Done right, it can create a base of thousands of followers. Done wrong, it wastes time and energy and, most important, gives people the impression that social media marketing isn’t important. In fact, it has become one of the most critical and fundamental components for any marketing strategy, which every company needs to put in place.

Speak to the Be Sociable team and book a free session with one of us – we will happily evaluate your current social media presence and advise you on the best way forward.

10 reasons to hire a social strategist and community manager:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you’re not on social media, then you’re not where your audience is—and you’re missing out. The social media potential for brands is astonishing, and it includes:
•    An endless stream of information and trends that are happening in your industry
•    The chance to check out your competitors to evaluate what you are doing right (and potentially wrong)
•    The ability to engage one-on-one with your audience and form a more personal connection
•    Tracking mentions of your brand online so you can offer customer service through social media and answer inquires (as well as dispel myths)
•    Content creation and curation
•    Community-building
•    Increasing advocates of your brand through word of mouth marketing
•    The opportunity to increase trust and credibility with your community
•    Social media can be used for sales

August 28, 2013 by Jolindy

New Facebook Contest changes – good news for business pages

Creative Touch is excited to share the news that Facebook announced some drastic changes regarding their promotional guidelines. Where fan page contents within the Timeline used to be expressly frowned upon (read forbidden), now the lives of small and medium sized business owners are much easier.

Now running a facebook content is as simple as asking for a like, comment or message in a status update. It is NO LONGER REQUIRED that contests be administered through third party apps.

What does this mean for you?

You can now run basic facebook contents directly in the Timeline of your business fan page. This will allow more small and medium sized businesses to participate in and benefit from social contests.

On Tuesday, Facebook announced these updates to its contest guidelines via a blog post on the Facebook for Business page. Of course, one of the most prominent changes is the removal of required third party apps to run Facebook contests and promotions. You can find the updates here: New Facebook contest changes

“We’ve removed the requirement that promotions on Facebook only be administered through apps. Now, promotions may be administered on Page Timelines AND in apps on Facebook. For example, businesses can now:

Collect entries by having users post on the Page or comment/like a Page post
Collect entries by having users message the Page
Utilize likes as a voting mechanism”

What does this mean for you, the business owner?

For one, your barrier to entry has been significantly lowered since people can enter straight through their News Feed via your Facebook post. Most likely, this will result in more people engaging with your brand and entering your contests. Creative Touch however ask you to keep the following in mind:

– Running a competition on your wall means your competition entrants are no longer required to like your page before they enter the competition, since there is no app with a like gateway

– If your competition requires a “like” as an entry, there really is no way to engage with customers with follow-ups, since they weren’t asked to provide email addresses/contact numbers (which is what you can collect with your third party app entry form).

– Even if you ask for contact details in the comment section, competition entrants may understandably be very reluctant to divulge their info on a public page where it is seen by people other than their friends.

However, this is a great change, and can very well be used as a teaser still with an app entry form, or if you just want to run an informal competition to engage activity on your page.

Keep us posted on our facebook page with how you feel about this change: CREATIVE TOUCH

July 10, 2013 by Jolindy

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER…. IS IT?

Tomorrow is my birthday, and wow – 40 is creeping closer. Yet, as it looms hovering in my near future, it no longer seems as threatening and scary as when I was in my early 30’s. I am turning 38 this year, and I am finally comfortable in my own skin. Not too young not to be taken seriously in my chosen field of work, and not too old to no longer have the energy to pursue my interests.

I am a huge fan of Dara Torres, who wrote: Age Is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life. Dara captured the hearts and minds of people of all ages all over the world when she launched her Olympic comeback as a new mother at the age of forty-one—years after she had retired from competitive swimming and eight years since her last Olympics. When she took three silver medals in Beijing—including a heartbreaking .01-second finish behind the gold medalist in the women’s 50-meter freestyle—everyone loved her all the more for her astonishing achievement and her good-natured acceptance of the results. (source: amazon.com)

Another woman that I greatly admire is the world’s oldest supermodel. 82-year-old Carmen Dell’Orefice is beautiful, stylish, and yes, a supermodel – at her age. She’s been a model for 65 years. Take a few minutes and watch this inspiring clip featuring Carmen on youtube: http://bit.ly/187SSID. In her own words: “… I am less able to pretend to be somebody else, because I’ve let my look be what it is.”

As tomorrow comes closer, I realise that I welcome becoming older. I cannot say that I have completely figured out who I am and where I am going, but I am fairly close. I realise that I don’t really like people and that I really, really prefer sharing what free time I have with my dogs. I realise that I have no tolerance for people who “steal” my joy, my pleasure in living, and my dreams. I love me – just the way I am.

And finally – I want to share some words that was emailed to me today:

George Carlin’s Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions. “How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.
You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. “How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life – you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70!
After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there.
Into the 90s, you start going backwards; “I Was JUST 92.”
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies,
whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can
improve, get help.
9 Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. (source unknown)

June 23, 2013 by Jolindy

How committed are you to your goals?

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
— J. K. Rowling in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Today was our wedding anniversary. And, as with every date that celebrates a moment in time, or marks an occasion, it is a time for contemplation. At least for me.

I wondered at the fact that we reached this date against all odds. Obviously on the decision scale, staying together weighed more than splitting up. As with all change, there is a lot of stress involved when two people decide to live together. Two often very diverse lives are merged, sometimes with different values and definitely with different viewpoints and ways of doing things. Yet, because of love, we make it work. And it seems to be working fine, so far. We are both committed to making this marriage work, and that counts for a lot.

Marriage or even relationships in general, is not the only aspect of our lives that requires a level of commitment. Our choice of employment, our choice of residence, our health, our studies – the list is endless. The chance of success in all these areas seems unattainable – unless we are committed. And right there – there is the keyword: commitment.

The word commit comes from the Latin word committere, which means to connect, entrust. When we stand behind our words, we demonstrate commitment. Commitment exists when our actions meet the expectation of our words – when there’s a congruency between intent, words and action.

This commitment to one’s goals is most definitely the most important rule for success. Without it, we fall prey to procrastination, bad habits, laziness, rationalisation and a host of goal-defeating problems. Commitment is a strong word – much stronger than “agreement.” If I agree to meet you for dinner, I have three options: keeping my agreement, cancelling, or changing it. If I commit myself to meeting you, I will meet you no matter what.

Why is commitment to our goals so difficult? We have even labelled this difficulty: commitment-phobia. It is an easy term to bandy about, especially when it comes to relationships. Fear of commitment in much popular literature refers to avoidance of long-term partnership and/or marriage but the problem is often much more pervasive, affecting school, work, and home life as well.

Commitment fear/phobia is not only about balking at the idea of being in a steady, exclusive relationship. It is about not buying that house because of “what if”, or not embarking on a career or even a study direction. It is about not making good health choices, or not sticking to them.

When you are committed to your goals, attaining them is easier. Your choices are clearer. If your goal is to be the top salesperson in the company where you work, your actions will be congruent with this goal. You will make more calls, more appointments, and close more deals. You will put in more hours, because achieving this goal will mean more success and yes, more income, for you. Making those extra calls won’t be easy, but if your goal is clear, you will do it. If your goal is to shed extra weight, the choice between grated carrot and a chocolate cake won’t be so difficult. It is when you are not committed to your goals that choices appear to be hazy.

We are still here to celebrate our wedding anniversary not because we are still in love. There is that, but often love is not enough to wield against the petty conflicts. It is commitment that keeps us together through the darker times, and that reminds us that things have been better, and will get better.

Talk to us at Chrysalis Coaching about achieving your goals. About being committed to what you want. For an appointment, call Jolindy on 082 780 9209. For more info, please “like” our facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/chrysalisnlp

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by Jolindy Dreyer