Facebook Revamps “Pages”

Posted: February 10th, 2011 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: Social Media Opinion | 3 Comments

Facebook Page Administrators had a little learning to do today, as the world’s largest social media site rolled out an update to not only the look but also the way those pages act. Here’s an overview:

The update includes a revamp of the look of the pages, making them look almost identical to individual profile pages. They put tagged pictures at the top, and eliminated the tabs (this is a big one for us as it’s where our landing pages lived — take note).
One important change is that the links for the tabs have been moved over to the spot under the profile picture, and are now just links. Fortunately, the update didn’t change the requirements or measurements of actual custom landing pages, which is a good thing for those who build them.
Another interesting feature is that administrators can now comment AS their page on other pages or other people’s profiles. To explain, previously we could only comment as the page’s identity (rather than as Steve Mullen, for example) while actually on that page. Now I could go on the Facebook Page for Twinkies (for example) and a comment from me would show up as the identity of my Facebook Page. This will come in quite handy. Additional changes related to this include being able to receive email notifications of user comments on your Page, something previously only possible for comments on your personal wall.
Another feature related to the one above, but deserving of its own bullet is the new ability to “like” other Pages as your page. Previously you could only “like” something as an individual. Very interesting.

The one change that is causing some consternation among Facebook Page Administrators is the switch from tabs to the small links under the profile picture. I’m not particularly fond of this either, since they’re not as obvious now. In the end, though, there’s really no way around it. We’ll just have to work harder to promote the content in those links. If one of those links is to a custom landing page, it will of course be the default page seen by all “non-likers” (yes .. I just made that up).

If you administer a page and haven’t updated yet, you have until March 10, when it will be done for you!

Tags: facebook, social media

EndGame PR is now Five

Posted: February 1st, 2011 | By: Steve Mullen | Filed under: EndGame PR News | 2 Comments

On January 27, EndGame Public Relations, LLC (or EndGame PR for short) turned five years old. I meant to make a bigger deal out of it than just writing a belated blog post. But, a combination of client work and other things got in the way. I’m not sad, though. Busy is good.

It’s always a little tough to point out exactly when EPR began. I normally point to when the domain name endgamepr.com was originally purchased, which was January 27, 2006.

So, I thought I’d reflect a little on my top 5 favorite milestones over the past half-decade. Here they are, in no particular order:

EndGame PR’s First Website Launches — I don’t recall the exact launch date of the site, but I know it was in February of 2006, and I can show you what it looked like. Here’s a screenshot taken from the Internet Wayback Machine. Note that the spacing issues on the left sitebar are due to the Wayback Machine’s cache. This blog launched in May of the same year. More new site designs went live in 2007 and 2008. That last version stuck around until the site was redesigned to look like it does now.
First official client: Richmond Rollin’ Robins — The Rollin’ Robins launched in January of 2006 as the area’s first professional roller hockey team. They’re still around, but are now just the Robins. More information can be found here. Our project for them was to get local media coverage for their first game.
Longest client relationship: FightSMA — EndGame PR began working with this international nonprofit in January of 2007. The original project was to optimize their website for the search engines. Since then, EndGame PR has assisted with media relations, social media, and even a tiny bit of event planning and advertising. EndGame PR is currently building a brand new website for FightSMA, which should launch in the next month or so. Interestingly, MY relationship with FightSMA goes back more than a decade, as FightSMA used to work with The Martin Agency, where I was employed in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Startup BizCast Launches – From its launch on May 31, 2007 until July 2, 2009, I hosted the podcast Startup BizCast, conducting interviews and providing advice for small business owners. I loved the show, but the production schedule got to be too much, and it podfaded. EndGame PR provided podcast production assistance and hosting for a variety of clients during that time and since then. You can still listen to Startup BizCast at the podcast website, or on iTunes.
EndGame PR Branches Out — Not exactly a “milestone”, but if you look at the EPR launch release, you’ll see that we originally were a media relations firm that did a little bit of audio production for PR purposes. Since then, our core competencies have branched out to social media, web design, podcasting, and beyond.

I expect EndGame PR will be around in five more years, but I can’t tell you what the firm will be like. Judging by the changes that have happened thus far, I can tell you it will be interesting to see!

Tags: endgame pr, history