Do you want to build more "buzz" on Facebook?

With two web sites and a weekly Twitter chat to promote, I know I do. That's why I signed up for Patsy Stewart's HandZon Social Media Facebook Workshop.

In one afternoon, I greatly expanded my knowledge of how to gain more user interaction, increase the number of fans for my business pages, and create a strategy to continue to build buzz for my brand. 

Here are 3 Facebook tips I took away from the workshop:

1. Your Facebook Page can be viewed by anyone even if they are not on Facebook.
2. The content posted on your Facebook page is indexed by Google. 
3. "WHEN" you post something to Facebook can be as important as "WHAT" you post. Look at "View Insights" as an admin on your business fan page. "Interactions" will show you time-of-day activity.

Having arrived at the workshop without my laptop, I pulled out my iPod Touch and created a Facebook page for Blacksburg Lodging. Using the strategies Patsy outlined in the workshop, I had enough "fans" within 24 hours to enable me to claim my page name and establish ownership of the Blacksburg Lodging fan page: http://www.facebook.com/BlacksburgLodging. The buzz is just beginning.

You're invited to read more from Z. Kelly Queijo on Handshake 2.0.

Z. Kelly Queijo is a client columnist for Handshake 2.0.  Blacksburg Lodging is a division of Smart College Visit, Inc., a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.

Blacksburg, Virginia was recently featured in the video The Future of Selling and Social Media by OgilvyOne.  It's the front page video on Blacksburg Lodging's YouTube Channel where users can find a selection of videos featuring the Town of Blacksburg, the New River Valley of Virginia, and Virginia Tech.  Of all the videos filmed in Blacksburg, we love this one the best! 

Blacksburg Lodging is listed among Virginia Tech's Visitor Resources.  You're invited to learn more about  Blacksburg Lodging on Twitter, Blacksburg Lodging on YouTube, and Blacksburg Lodging on Handshake 2.0.  Here's all about the Handshake Video.

Blacksburg Lodging, a Virginia hotel reservation site, is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated.

In Premier Transfer and Storage Starts the Connections, we traced the amazing series of "It's still who you know" connections that make great business happen.  We imagined this scenario:

They [visitors to Blacksburg, Virginia] book their hotel in the home of the Hokies through BlacksburgLodging, love the entire pre-game, game, and post-game experience, "find their fun" through NextThreeDays, and just know they have to move back to Blacksburg.  They call Nancy Phillips of Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS to help them find and buy a house, and use Premier Transfer and Storage to move their furniture into their new home.  Wanting to connect their companies with other companies to create "it's who you know" ASAP, they buy Handshake Apps of their own to showcase their companies' members.  Then they want to join all the cool companies with site designs by ACI!

For great business to happen, no imagination is necessary, however.  Jaime Clark of Premier Transfer and Storage noted in her comment on the post which featured Automation Creations's redesign of the Premier site:

We have had great success with the new website to date, including:

• An increase of over 250% in customer-submitted online inquires compared to the same period last year with our old website.
• Booked appointments for in-home estimates generated from Premier’s new website have increased over 330% compared to the same period last year.
• We have booked appointments for in-home estimates directly through Premier’s new online support chat feature.

The connections get even better.

Fantasy football software pcDrafter, a product of Automation Creations, was featured on the WDBJ7 television channel's news show.  We quickly captured this image from the video interview of Henry Bass, founder of Automation Creations, who displayed some of his company's projects.  Check out the screen on the left!

 
It's the Blacksburg Lodging site, designed by Automation Creations!

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Automation Creations, Inc., Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS(R), and BlacksburgLodging are clients of Handshake Media, Incorporated.

Perusing the client list of Automation Creations, Inc. (ACI), I had a series of wonderful "It's still who you know" moments when I read Automation Creations's description of the redesign of the Premier web site. 

I first met John Phillips, President of  Premier Transfer and Storage, when I began helping to organize the New River Valley Triathlon.  When I mentioned the triathlon to others, they urged, "Ask John Phillips!  He'll do it!"  I asked.  John answered.  When the triathlon is a go, I'll let him know when I see him at The Weight Club where I discovered we both train with Don Belote.

Nancy Phillips, John's wife, is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS where my sister, Margaret Galecki, is the general manager.

The BlacksburgLodging site, also designed by Automation Creations, features Sponsored Links, the first three of which are "Find a Home | Plan your Move  | Connect with Businesses."  "Find a Home" leads to Coldwell Banker Townside, "Plan Your Move" leads to Premier Transfer and Storage, and "Connect with Businesses" leads to, yep, our Handshake App!  BlacksburgLodging also features the events calendar NextThreeDays by Automation Creations.

Talk about connectedness!

And how about this scenario:

A married couple who met at Virginia Tech, determined to join fellow Hokie football fans after Virginia Tech's close game with Boise State, use their "It's who you know connections" to get tickets to the next home game in Blacksburg, Virginia.

They book their hotel in the home of the Hokies through BlacksburgLodging, love the entire pre-game, game, and post-game experience, "find their fun" through NextThreeDays, and just know they have to move back to Blacksburg.  They call Nancy Phillips of Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS to help them find and buy a house, and use Premier Transfer and Storage to move their furniture into their new home.  Wanting to connect their companies with other companies to create "it's who you know" ASAP, they buy Handshake Apps of their own to showcase their companies' members.

Then they want to join all the cool companies with site designs by ACI!

It could happen!

We're all shaking hands together, and we are just one subset of the handshakes that make business happen.

Automation Creations, Inc., Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS(R), and BlacksburgLodging are clients of Handshake Media, Incorporated's social media services.  Premier Transfer and Storage is not a client of Handshake's social media services because Jaime Clark is on the job for Premier!  If Premier wants a corporate mobile app, however, we would certainly welcome them as a client!

From Z. Kelly Queijo, founder of Smart College Visit, Inc. a college-visit and campus tour travel-planning resource for college-bound teens and their families:

The work we've been doing at SmartCollegeVisit on travel services for the college-bound made me realize that my own college town lacked a locally-owned resource for hotel searches. We worked with Automation Creations to create a design that includes our hotel booking services and also showcases the events and restaurant specials streaming through the NextThreeDays regional event calendar.

Pairing lodging with events makes it easy for travelers to the Blacksburg area to find out where to stay and what to do. BlacksburgLodging's Twitter list streams current postings by tweeters from the town, Virginia Tech, Hokie fans, and others who just love Blacksburg.

Folks planning to travel to Blacksburg on a Hokie football weekend can search BlacksburgLodging and find out which area hotels still have rooms available. Searches can be extended to include Dublin, Christiansburg, Salem, Roaonoke, and beyond. The site includes the majority of the hotels within a 40-mile radius. Those not listed are invited to contact me about getting added to our hotel database.

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Congratulations, BlacksburgLodging!  All are invited to follow BlacksburgLodging on Twitter at @bburglodging.

BlacksburgLodging and Automation Creations are clients of Handshake Media, Incorporated.