How to Delete a Facebook Page

Since this tutorial’s original publication in early 2011, it has been one of the most-read posts at Blogging Bistro, receiving an average of 2,400+ page views per month.

So when one of my readers suggested that I update the tutorial to include the page deletion instructions for Facebook’s Timeline, I listened.

Here is the new and improved version of “How to Delete a Facebook Fan/Business Page”:

1.  Log in to your Facebook account.

2.  Click the downward-facing arrow that’s located in the upper righthand area of your screen. Under “Use Facebook As,” click the name of the page you plan to delete.

3.  Your page’s Admin Panel will probably open automatically, but if it doesn’t, click “Admin Panel,” located in the upper righthand corner of your screen, directly above the Timeline.

4.  From the “Manage” tab, click “Edit Page.”

5.  In the lefthand sidebar, click “Manage Permissions.”

6.  Scroll down. Directly above the “Save Changes” button, you’ll see “Delete Page.” The link to the page you’re on will display next to it. Click that link.

7.  A pop-up notice will inform you that if you delete your page, you’ll be able to restore it within 14 days. (Unsure whether that means 14 calendar days or 14 business days.)

8.  After that, you’ll be asked to confirm that you want to permanently delete your page.

If you aren’t certain whether you want to permanently delete your page, but you want to “unpublish” it (in other words, make it private so only the page admins can view it), click the “Unpublish this page” radio button.

Another potentially less risky way to unpublish your page without completely deleting it is to go to the top of the “Manage Permissions” area. Next to the “Page Visibility” heading, click the radio button that says “Unpublish Page.” Then click “Save Changes” at the bottom of your screen.

9.  If you’re certain you want to initiate the page deletion process, take a deep breath and click “Delete Page.”

Print This Tutorial

For easy reference, print this post by clicking the “Printable PDF” button directly below the post. It will create a nicely formatted PDF you can download, save, share, and keep on hand forever… or until you delete your Facebook page.

Also in this series:

More Timeline Tutorials for Facebook Fan Pages

  1. Facebook Fan Page Timeline Cover Photo: Everything You Need to Know
  2. How to Customize the Apps Boxes in your Facebook Fan Page’s Timeline
  3. How to Customize the ‘About’ Tab on Your Facebook Fan Page’s Timeline
Posted in Ask the Barista, Facebook, Featured | 84 Comments

30 Seconds to Better Facebook Privacy + 5 More Major Facebook Developments

Instagram Gets 10 Million New Users in 10 Days

This has been a busy week in Facebook’s life. Photo sharing site Instagram launched its Android application, and over 1 million people downloaded the app in one day.

Then Facebook acquired Instagram (for a measly $1 billion), spurring another 5 million Android downloads. All totaled, Instragram signed up 10 million new users in 10 days. Were you one of them? I’m thinking I may be user 1,000,001.

[Source: Matt Brian, The Next Web]

Facebook’s Mobile App Poses a Security Risk

A security flaw has been found in Facebook’s mobile apps. The app for Android and iOS devices does not encrypt a user’s login information. Because of this, thieves can easily access the apps if they’re in search of personal information about you. Facebook claims to be working on a fix. Learn more about the flaw at DreamGrow, in an article by Charlie Adams.

Facebook to Merge Custom URLs and Email Addresses

Starting today, Facebook is going to begin merging users’ custom URLs and Facebook email addresses. If you haven’t already chosen a Facebook email address and vanity URL, you will receive a reminder notification from Facebook. The message will display above your personal profile’s cover photo, like this:

If you use a non-Facebook email address on your account, you don’t have to sign up for a Facebook email address. They just WANT you to, to ensure customer loyalty.

However, I do strongly recommend creating a custom Facebook username for both your personal profile and for any business/fan pages you administer. Create yours at facebook.com/username.

[Source: Matt Brian, The Next Web]

Facebook Allows Backups of More Detailed Account Info

Facebook announced Thursday (April 12) that it will allow you to backup (download) more detailed information from your account, such as:

  • Previous names
  • Friend requests you’ve made
  • IP addresses you logged in from

You will not be able to:

  • Download friends’ photos or status updates or other people’s personal information.
  • Backup comments you have made on other people’s posts

The new tool can be found in the Account Settings page of your Facebook profile. If you don’t see it there yet, don’t fret – Facebook will be rolling out this feature gradually to all users.

[Matt Brian, The Next Web]

Facebook Rolls Out Groups for Schools

If you have an active college or university email address, you will soon be able to join Facebook groups at your college or university.

You can join a group for your major to discuss classes, for your sorority to plan upcoming events, or for your dorm to share photos.

A file sharing feature will allow group members to share lecture notes, sports schedules or class assignments.

[Source: Michael Novati, Facebook Newsroom]

30 Seconds to Better Facebook Privacy

It’s easy to control what personal information about you gets shared with apps, games, and websites. Click this handy infographic and follow the instructions for 30 seconds to better Facebook privacy. I’m doing it now!

[Source: Jon Russell, The Next Web]

Posted in Facebook | 2 Comments

Panhandler Marketing: Six Things Hobos Get Very Right

This is a guest post by Carrie Schmeck. If you would like to submit a guest article, please check out our guest post guidelines.

 

“Hey Lady, can you spare a dollar? I need to feed my kids.”

In my town, panhandlers have become fixtures. I’m not a huge fan of their blight to small business who spend precious time shooing them away. Regardless, whether you deem them a nuisance or not, it seems they’ve landed on some marketing genius through real life marketing research.

Old fashioned marketing “best practices” still work and this schismatic group has proved these six low-tech marketing principles work:

  1. Location, location, location.Successful panhandlers choose the busiest and most visible intersections. Talk about Marketing 101! Panhandlers often queue up at the most desirable intersections because they understand the value of a great location.
  2. Look for opportunity. Panhandlers who target bank exits benefit from loose cash in either direction.  They choose intersections based on traffic flow and switch corners to gain the most exposure. How can we position ourselves to capture our clients at the moment they need us most?
  3. Face time. Panhandlers do not hide behind social media. They have not forgotten that real, face time is always more effective than an electronic image. Do our customers really know who we are?
  4. Message is everything. The more compelling your message, the more effective it will be.
  5. Identify and solve a need. We need to identify our customer’s need and help them solve it. Panhandlers are aware that many of us are reluctant to end our day void of a good deed. They provide the solution.
  6. Call to action. Panhandlers are not shy about closing the sale. They are specific about how they would like you to respond.
What do you think? Have your local panhandlers taught you anything about marketing?

 

Carrie Schmeck works as a freelance marketing copywriter for businesses and a features writer for national and regional publications. She writes about small business marketing on her blog: Bizziwriter.com.

Posted in Blogging, Guest Articles, Marketing, Success Stories | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

My Favorite QR Code Fails [Pinterest]

Lately I’ve been having fun on Pinterest, searching for creative ways people are using QR (Quick Response) codes, those 2-dimensional bar codes you scan with your smartphone to view videos, grab contact information, or get deals.

During my QR Code surfing, I’ve found some great/pathetic (depending on your perspective) examples of QR Code fails. I’ve pinned them, of course, so you can see them all at once.

Here are four of my favorites:

The Toilet Tank

QR Code Fail - in a toilet tank

Source: wtfqrcodes.com via Blogging Bistro on Pinterest


Is this actually a QR code inside a toilet tank?

Let me lean in there with my smartphone to get a good shot… splash. Oops!

Airport Security

 
Waiting in line at airport security is boring. Just be careful not to shout, “I want to scan the QR code to learn more about guns and bombs!”

Spinnerooza

Whee! This QR code spins! Try to capture it with your camera. I dare you.

We Don’t Need No Education

No readin’, ritin’, or ‘rithmetic at our school. QR codes do just fine.

Share links to QR Code Fails you find

Found any good/bad QR codes lately?  Be sure to share a link in the Comments, and I’ll pin it to my board.

Posted in Infographics, Pinterest, QR Codes | 5 Comments

Get a Free 1-year Subscription to Social Media Mags

For the past few months, I’ve been subscribing to four excellent social media magazines: Facebook, Twitter, Google, and LinkedIn.

Today I received notice that effective immediately, they are now charging $7.95 per issue for each magazine. Ouch.

The good news:

Through April 13, 2012, anyone can sign up for a free year’s subscription by visiting this link: http://socialmediamags.com/oneyear

If you don’t sign up for the free subscription by the deadline, you can always pay for one at socialmediamags.com/subscribe

Posted in Facebook, Google Tools, LinkedIn, Social Networking, Twitter | Leave a comment

Dinner with Tens of Thousands: What Social Media Did for One Author’s Career (Guest Post)

This is a guest post by Kathryn Jones. If you would like to submit a guest article, please check out our guest post guidelines.

When I published my first book ten years ago, I had no idea how prolific social media would become for me. I had no clue how easily and freely the internet could be used to find new friends or let others in the social media arena learn what I do.

  • Ten years ago I spent much more money than I should have on review books. Hard copy was the rule. And I found that while many review books went out, very few reviews came back. Today, many reviewers take PDF versions of my books.
  • I spent more time on the telephone trying to find homes for my book. At the time, I didn’t use social media for much more than getting involved in an occasional chat room. Since Twitter wasn’t a household word then, (it was a new thing in 2006), I had no way to share quickly with book readers what I was doing. Today, I not only connect with new people all across the world, I can write a blog about writing on my website and have Twitter automatically transfer the first few lines to my followers.
  • Social media saves me time, as long as I use my time wisely. It’s so easy to get sucked in to all the wonderful opportunities to share out there that I’ve limited how long I’m working and playing and sharing. I make time for writing, too.
  • I used to be afraid of social media; especially Twitter. But maybe that’s not quite right. I wasn’t exactly “afraid” of it, I was more, “this is so stupid to tell people when you’re going to eat dinner” sort of stuff that I really didn’t want to take a closer look. I didn’t want to see what the truth was. I know now that Twitter is not only a great way to meet new friends; it’s a superb business tool.

Social media is a great way to connect in this world, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it will never outweigh that person-to-person chat. No matter how tech-savvy the world becomes, (and how easily I get sucked into the sometimes busy life of social media) I will still vie for that one-on-one chat across the dining room table, especially that dinner for two.

Kathryn Jones is a published writer of fiction, nonfiction and journalism. Her newest book, Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones, was published in January of 2012.

Posted in Guest Articles, Marketing, Social Networking, Success Stories | Leave a comment

How to Customize the ‘About’ Tab on Your Facebook Fan Page’s Timeline

In Part 1 of this series you learned how to set up your Facebook page’s timeline cover photo.

In Part 2 you learned how to customize the apps boxes that display directly below the cover photo.

In today’s tutorial, we’ll focus on the third major element of what I call the “cover module”: the “About” area.

Let’s start with brand pages categorized as a “local business,” because the information that displays in the “About” area is different for local businesses than for other brands.

In this example from Texas Trash and Treasures, we learn that the business is an art gallery/gift shop located in Carmine, TX. Their phone number and business hours are also displayed.

Here’s another local business, the famous Hotel del Coronado, near San Diego, CA. The “About” area identifies 1) type of business; 2) physical address; 3) phone and 4) business hours.

How to display your website address, if you’re a local business

Sadly, Facebook doesn’t provide local businesses with a means to include a link to your website in this area. But there is a workaround. Two, in fact. You can either delete your business address or your business phone number.

I’m not so sure that deleting your business address is a wise idea, as the whole purpose of categorizing yourself a a local business is so people will visit your store. Deleting your phone number is the best choice, IF the main way people contact you is via your website.

To delete your phone number:

  • Go to your Basic Information section.
  • Click the dropdown next to your phone number and select “No Phone.”
  • In the “Website” field, insert your full URL (with the http://). A link to your website will then replace the phone number.

No physical location? Here’s how to write your “About” description

I’m flabbergasted by how many of the “big brands” devote little or no attention to their “About” description, when they could (and should) be using real estate to make a powerful statement about their brand.

Apple, for example, writes:

Welcome to our Apple facebook page. Get to see all the latest information,products and more right here.

Apple did a sloppy job of writing and proofing their “About” text. They didn’t capitalize the F in Facebook, and they didn’t put a space between “information” and “products.”

My rating: *

 

Lip Smacker doesn’t do much better.

While their cover photo smacks of the Lip Smacker brand (sorry, I couldn’t resist), their copy reads:

A subsidiary of ASPIRE Brands, Lip Smacker offers a wide variety beauty products for young women.

Talk about a buzz kill! What “young women” (or even an old woman like me who still uses Lip Smacker) cares that Lip Smacker is a subsidiary of ASPIRE Brands? Maybe Lip Smacker has to include that information in all their marketing materials, but couldn’t they have placed it later on the About page?

My rating: * ½

 

Then there’s DIRECTV.

Their cover photo pops, and the apps boxes below the cover are carefully planned.

Then we glance at the copy. The official Facebook page for DIRECTV. Don’t Just Watch TV. DIRECTV. http://www.directv.com/

Yawn. It’s better than the previous two examples, but not by much. They included their tagline, “Don’t just watch TV. DIRECTV,” which is fine, considering that’s the message they want to hammer home into our television-warped brains. And I’ll give them points for including a link to their website. But overall, the message doesn’t move me to rush out and sign up for DIRECTV.

Rating: **

So, what text can you put in this space that will enhance your brand?

Several suggestions (and please add your own in the Comments):

  • Brief description of your key services or products
  • Mission statement (if it’s powerful)
  • Statement about your company’s history (if it has a history)
  • And my favorite: a call-to-action

Here’s the challenging part: While I’ve heard that the About description can include 255 characters, only about 178 characters, or three lines of text, is visible on the front page of your Timeline.

So get your Twitter brain in gear and compose something short and punchy.

My first attempt opened with a call-to-action and followed up with a brief description of Blogging Bistro’s key services:

Like us and get a daily social media tip. Blogging Bistro helps business professionals improve your online presence. We develop websites, write content, do social media coaching.

I forgot to include our website URL, so I took my description to the chopping block. Here’s attempt #2:

Like us and get a daily social media tip. Blogging Bistro’s menu (http://www.bloggingbistro.com/) includes custom website creation, content writing, social media coaching.

How to edit your “About” page

When you click the “About” link that’s located directly below the “About” text on your Timeline, you can edit each section of your “About” page.

An alternative way to edit your page is to go to your page’s Admin Panel.

  • Under the “Manage” tab, click “Edit Page.”
  • In the lefthand sidebar, click “Basic Information” and edit the form fields.

My company is listed in the “Companies & Organizations” category, so, in addition to the “About” form field (the one that displays 178 characters), I also get form fields called:

  • Description (for more detailed info about your company, or info about your services & products)
  • Mission (if you have a mission statement)
  • Awards (ditto)
  • Products (I substituted links to several of our social networking accounts in this field)
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Website (include your full URL, with the http://)

As I edited each area of my About page, I saved frequently and then clicked “View Page” (top righthand corner) so I could see exactly how the page would look to visitors. Click this link to see how my About page looks: https://www.facebook.com/bloggingbistro/info

Need ideas? Here are examples of About descriptions

During one of my visits to Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs, I discovered a forum in which people were sharing links to Facebook page timelines. Here are screenshots of several of them, with my commentary and rating of each. (Click the title to go directly to each Facebook page.)

Animal Humane Society

About text: To engage the hearts, hands and minds of the community to help animals.

I made an instant emotional connection with the cover image. The apps boxes are ho-hum, but the text succinctly delivers their mission statement. They have room to add a link to their website.

Rating: ***

IFrames Made EZ

About text: Helping You Bring The Power Of WordPress To Your Facebook Fanpage. Like Us And Get Started Today For FREE. http://on.fb.me/IframesMadeEZ

Cover definitely caught my attention. Although it’s a bit cluttered for my taste, it does capture the essence of what this company does. Creative use of custom apps box images… I may just have to borrow this idea! Text lets the visitor know “what’s in it for me.” It also includes a call-to-action and a link to their site. The only thing I would change is to write the text sentence style, capitalizing only the first word in the sentence.

Rating: ****

Gap

About text: Gap was founded in 1969 with a single store in San Francisco. We are committed to bringing you accessible style.

I didn’t know about Gap’s history, so that first sentence grabbed my attention. But things went downhill after that. Similar to Lip Smacker, Gap followed up with a bland statement that absolutely kills the impact of the kicky picture above it. They need to customize their apps boxes, too.

Rating: ** (because a major brand with a whole team of social media experts can do better!)

One thing Gap does that I appreciate, though. If you click the “About” link and visit their full “About” page, you’ll notice their commenting policy. This element is missing from most Facebook brand pages (including mine – oops!), but is an excellent way to set boundaries with your fans, particularly if your page gets a lot of fan comments.

Gatorade

About text: Fueling athletic achievement for over 40 years.

Short. To the point. Complements the text on the cover picture. I like.

Rating: ****

TJ Formal

About text: http://www.tjformal.com/ TJ Formal is the largest online Bridal, Prom, and Formal Wear store. We carry a large selection of designer bridal and prom dresses, shoes, accessories & more. 508 N. Range Line Rd., Suite A, Joplin, Missouri 64801

They started with a hyperlink to their website. Good. They let us know what they specialize in. Good. They even told us how to find them. Excellent. I would not capitalize bridal, prom, and formal wear because they aren’t proper nouns. Also, they repeated the same information in both sentences.

Rating: ***

DesignModo

About text: DesignModo is one of the most popular Design and Web Development blogs in the world. It covers tutorials, design trends, coding, tips, freebies as well as inspirational posts.

Designers and developers don’t like wasted words. These guys get right to the point. They likely have room to include a link to their blog in the description.

Rating ***1/2

Agents of Change

About text: The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference is on 9.14.12 in Portland, Maine and online! Register for your free pass at http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/

Tells me everything I need to know about the conference at-a-glance. Fun cover photo and coordinating apps box images. Sign me up!

Rating: *****

Painted Hill Studio

About text: Featuring the watercolors of Renée (Ré) St. Peter (pronounced “ray”). See more at www.paintedhillstudio.com!

Wonderful example of the artist’s work. Lets me know how to pronounce his (or her?) name. Axe the exclamation point after the web address.

Rating: ****1/2

Dove Chocolate Discoveries by Elizabeth

About text: A Chocolatier samples chocolate. People smile. They savor, smile some more. www.dove-chocolate-discoveries.com/sites/dcddiva

I love chocolate. Enough said!

Rating: *****

Limited-time Offer:

Get a custom-designed Cover for $99

You need a professional-looking cover for your brand page’s timeline. Why not do it right?

We are offering an extra-special deal for the first 10 people who sign up for a custom cover design. Your cover will be designed by our extraordinarily talented graphic designer who has 30 years of experience creating marketing materials and websites.

For $99, you get:

  • A custom-designed cover photo. We recommend something that coordinates with the look, feel, and brand messaging of your current website.
  • 1 revision to your cover photo (revision might include repositioning images or text, changing a font or colors).
  • Your profile photo (which you supply) cropped to the correct size.
  • We’ll even help you edit the “About” copy that shows on your Timeline if you ask nicely!

What we need from you:

  1. A description and/or rough sketch of what you’re looking for (the more specifics you provide, the better).
    1. Do you want one large picture on the cover?
    2. A series of smaller images? If so, how do you want the images laid out?
    3. Will your cover include your logo? A photo of you and/or your staff? Your products?
  2. Attach the photo you will you be using for your profile picture (the 180x180px picture that’s overlaid in the lower lefthand area of the cover). Think about how that photo will complement (or clash with) your cover photo.
  3. What is the exact text you will display on your cover (text is not required). Where do you want the text to appear?
  4. What colors do you want (for text, or overall color scheme)
  5. Please attach all image files you wish to include in your cover. If you do not own the copyright to the image, explain who owns the copyright, and include the necessary permissions for you to use the photo. If you are using stock photos, include a link to the exact web page from which you purchased the photo, or to the creative commons page from which you downloaded the photo.

E-mail the above information to info@bloggingbistro.com and we will add you to our production calendar.

Payment Details

We accept checks in USD or pay with credit or debit card via PayPal (you do not have to be a PayPal member to use their shopping cart).

All orders are paid in advance.

Click the button below to pay with PayPal:

 

Checks for $99 USD should be made out to Blogging Bistro and mailed to:

Blogging Bistro
PO Box 1254
Snohomish, WA 98291

Also in this Series

Posted in Branding, Facebook, Featured | Leave a comment

Send Beer Over Twitter, and Other Creative Ways to Make Friends and Influence People

I didn’t believe it at first. But you can tweet a beer to a friend.

With the Tweet-A-Beer app for Twitter, you can become a “beer benefactor,” and buy a friend a beer, no matter where they are. The app links up your Twitter and PayPal accounts to a service called Chirpify, allowing you to send a cool $5 to anyone on Twitter, based on their @ handle. [from Alex Wilhelm, The Next Web]

I’ve come across all sorts of interesting Twitter articles lately — I’ve learned dozens of ways to lose friends, gain friends, and engage with my followers.

Click each headline to read the full article:

“Get More Followers” Tips

How to Lose Friends and Alienate Twitter Followers

5 ways to drop your network numbers in a flash. [Amber Mac, Fast Company]

20 Tips to Get More Twitter Followers

Succinct tips about what to do – and what NOT to do. I don’t agree with all his suggestions, but they certainly got me thinking. [Chris Brogan]

12 Ways to Get More Twitter Followers

Three reasons why you would want more Twitter followers, and strategies that work for developing your following [Michael Hyatt]

Improve Your Tweeting

Be Better at Twitter: The Definitive, Data-Driven Guide

Not surprisingly, informative and funny tweets evoke the best response, while stale news and “sandwich” tweets should be avoided. [Megan Garber, The Atlantic]

20 Days to a High-Quality, Highly-Engaged Twitter Following

An excellent tutorial for Twitter newbies. [Neil Patel, KISSmetrics]

Twitter Tools & Tricks

9 Twitter tools you should be using

Tools to help you schedule tweets, find and connect with others in your niche, and monitor your stats. [Mart Prööm, DreamGrow]

5 Twitter Changes and How to Make the Most of Them

An overview of Twitter’s at-a-glance streamlined navigation; new Twitter smartphone apps, plus excellent tips for how to make the most of Twitter in 10 minutes a day. [Leon Widrich, Social Media Examiner]

Share!

Have you written or read a great article about Twitter lately? Please post a link to it.

P.S.

I’m not a big beer drinker, but my favorite is Hefeweizen (wheat beer). Just in case you want to tweet a pint to @bloggingbistro.

Posted in Social Networking, Twitter | Leave a comment

The Best Words to Describe Twitter [Infographic]

During my research for a Twitter workshop I’m teaching, I’ve read dozens of case studies and how-to articles. I noticed the same words cropping up again and again, so I generated this Wordle to give you a visual representation of the words that describe the key things Twitter users should focus on:

Pin It

  • Which do you do best?
  • Which do you most need to improve?
Posted in Infographics, Twitter | Leave a comment

How to Create Your Own Custom Twitter Infographic

Ever wondered how you’re doing on Twitter?

…Or how your tweets stack up someone else’s?

Twitterize yourself!

Go to Visual.ly/twitter and follow the instructions to create a custom, Twitter data-generated infographic.

  1. First, you must sign in to your Twitter account and allow the app access to your account (you can revoke access any time).
  2. Then select whether you want to generate a “solographic” or do a “faceoff” with another Twitter user, or with a random celebrity.
  3. If you choose “faceoff,” enter the usernames of the two accounts you want to include.
  4. Next, customize the character that will appear in your infographic.
  5. Click “generate infographic” and wait a few minutes while the app gathers your Twitter data.
  6. Visual.ly will supply you with a link to your infographic, as well as embed code you can copy and paste into your website or blog. Scroll down to see the infographic I created.


Pin It

My Custom Twitter Infographic

I created a “solographic” for the @bloggingbistro account. My results are kind of depressing, because I use Facebook much more actively than Twitter. Strangely, it “thinks” I am a “foodie,” which is totally off base, as anyone who knows me can attest. But here are my results, for better or for worse:

Pin It

More Infographics Tools

Visual.ly offers lots of free infographics creation tools (they currently have three styles of Facebook infographics, and are releasing new customizable infographics on a regular basis.

Try It!

Give it a shot. Generate an infographic, post it somewhere, and share the link.

Posted in Infographics, Twitter | 1 Comment