Facebook Fan Page Basics-101!

by Mike Vallez on December 2, 2009

Facebook is the largest social media community in the world! In fact, I am sure most of you have heard that Facebook would be the third most populated country, if it were a country. So if you are a business, law enforcement agency, or anyone selling anything you should have a Faceboo Fan Page. Just to give you one more statistic if you’re not yet buying in. Facebook had just under 130,000,000 million unique visits for October 2009 and 2.5 billion visits overall. That last stat was “billions.” One last reason to set up your Facebook Fan Page is it is FREE, yep other than the time it takes to set it up initially and provide status updates, there is no cost.

First thing you will need to do is set up a Facebook personal profile account. Unfortunately Facebook at this time requires all Fan Pages to be attached to a personal profile. I suggest if you set up an empty or fake profile to attach your Fan Page to. A fake or empty profile is not one anyone will be using other than for your Fan Page. Remember to make the name for the personal account real enough and you will need a valid email address.

Now that you have your Facebook personal profile set up you click on help and search “how to create a Fan Page.”
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You will have to go through and make some choices that best fit your company, business, brand, cause, etc. Setting up your Fan Page as a website is one of the easiest ways to create a Fan Page especially if you have a website (guessing most do). But there are plenty of other choices to choose to craft your Fan Page. Be sure to put in as much relevant information in all the areas you can to adequately explain “what” your page is about “what” you offer for services and or “what” your product is about. If you are promoting a cause then be clear with purpose, how people can get involved, and contact information. Be sure to add your website address, pictures of your business, events, activities (off line), and what ever else you want to jazz up your Fan Page. If you want to take your Fan Page to the next level you can also have a customized side bar made by twitterimage.com.

Spread the word! If you have or know anyone with a large Facebook following I suggest you as them to join your Fan Page and have them use their account to send messages to their followers to join your Fan Page. You may also want to consider advertising on Facebook. The advertising on Facebook is very targeted, I mean very targeted. You can target age, male/female, occupation, location, and more. A little inspiration. I have about 2400 friends on my Facebook profile and I have used this following to jump start a Fan Page I manage (Tampa Bay Crusader). By me suggesting followers from my personal account I have grown the Tampa Bay Crusader Facebook Fan Page to 389 followers in just 4 weeks. Not bad and results may vary, but with the information in this article you should be able to get your Facebook Fan Page up and running.

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When Protectors Become Victim’s | Lakewood, Washington Massacre

by Mike Vallez on November 29, 2009

As a police officer working for the City of Tampa, Florida I went to a funeral for two detectives Randy Bell and Ricky Childers who were shot and killed in the line of duty story.
But, these were not the only Police Officers that were killed in my 7 1/2 year career working for the Tampa P.D.. No matter what you think about Police, when a Police Officer is killed in the line of duty, it is a great loss to the entire police department, city, and of course the family of the officer.

Today 4 Lakewood, Washington Police Officers were ruthlessly gunned down, while they unwittingly prepared for their day story. This story is evolving by the minute and the suspect or suspects have not yet been captured. However, take a step back and think about the 4 murdered Police Officer’s family’s. Four families have been forever changed by a psychopathic killer or killers bent on hurting specifically Police Officers. Deep down this kind of murder sends shockwaves through a community. If the Police are not safe then our communities are not safe and anarchy reigns. Fortunately, in times of crisis communities actually bond together and become very strong persevering through the horror that occurred today at approximately 8:00am PST at Forza Coffee Shop in Lakewood, Washington. Not only do communities bond together, but law enforcement comes together and works relentlessly not matter what jurisdiction they are from to solve the crimes of their brethren.

Losing one Police Officer is horrible, but today the Lakewood Police Department lost approximately 4% of their sworn (commissioned) law enforcement personnel. Unfortunately, this city will not be the same for sometime. Hopefully the person or persons responsible for this crime will be brought to justice before this article posts. Please take time after reading this article to take a moment to think, pray, or spiritually do whatever you do in remembrance of these Police Officers and their family’s. If you would like to help with a donation please send your donation to: LPIG Benevolent Fund at PO Box 99579 Lakewood, WA 98499. Please take the time and consider the Police Officers that patrol your community and thank them for their service if you get a chance Thank You.

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Phishing, Don’t Become A Victim!

by Mike Vallez on November 24, 2009

About two months ago I was minding my own business blogging when I received an email from PayPal, or at least I thought it was from PayPal. The email looked completely authentic down to the crappy little copyright information at the bottom of the email. The email was what appeared to be an official communication from PayPal that my account had been charged over $400.00. My heart was racing because I did not pay anyone $400. I immediately called PayPal, to plead my case and they told me nothing was wrong, no charges had been made to my account and not to worry about this. They told me to email this to my internet hosting company. Kind of silly since the email looked official and from PayPal. Someone attempted to get information from me by “Phishing” or “spoofing.”

But what in the world do these terms mean, they sound more like words from a children’s book or game. Phishing is when someone tries to get critical information from you through a bogus pop-up or fraudulent email. They will indicate in either form of communication that you need to provide your account information, pin code, etc or some dire consequences will occur. Spoofing, similarly is when someone sets up a false website to mimic an official website or a false email with the same intent. Again, in spoofing the goal is to get the victim to provide critical account information or personal information to be used to commit financial crimes against the victim.

I am on Twitter everyday, throughout the day and I am sad to say, but I do not usually use my “Direct Message” function anymore due to the incessant phishing attempts. Typically, there is a very short teaser “Direct Message” that will try to lure you into their trap. I just don’t even respond to DM’s anymore because of this. Just today I saw a message from a woman who had her Twitter account hacked through a successful “Phishing” attempt through her DM. In this case the scumbags only hacked into her account and caused an inconvenience for the victim. But, mark my words the people trying to get your information through “Phishing” and “Spoofing” are trying to get data for identity theft, credit card fraud, etc. They are relentless and they will not give up, so if you feel the hair on your neck go up when you are about to click a link in an email, then don’t delete the email. If the email is that important you will get a phone call from your bank, credit card company, etc to get the correct information.

Here are some tips to avoid becoming a victim of “Phishing” and “Spoofing”, take caution and be careful. Over the next few years there will most likely be a huge spike in traditional known fraud such as these methods as well as new out of the box fraud ideas. Why? Because there are more and more people joining social networks and providing email addresses and personal information. Unfortunately criminals are opportunistic and this gives them information to work with in their criminal endeavors.

By the way, I have since received about 6 false PayPal emails each instructs me to do the same thing, provide them with key account information. The most important thing to remember about this article is no bank, credit card company, etc will ask you to provide critical information such as passwords or pin numbers, bottom line. Be vigilant, be careful.

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The Police Blog 2.0 Podcast | 5 Reasons Police Should Be Using Twitter

by Mike Vallez on November 23, 2009

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DailySplice Law Enforcement 2.0 Podcast | Introducing, Mike Vallez

by Mike Vallez on November 10, 2009


Play Social Media @Large

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Shhhhh…Do You Hear That?

by Mike Vallez on November 4, 2009

Apparently there are still a lot of corporations that are very disconnected from their employees. The most disconnected corporations are those whose employees are their number one resource to generate revenue yet they don’t listen to them. The end result is a canoe going up a creek with holes in it and no one has a paddle, I think we all have heard that expression before. But why is there such as disconnect? Complacency.

An environment exists where corporations are so fixated on generating revenue that they unwittingly overlook there finest resources, their people. They create great operational plans that in the board room make fiscal sense, but the human element is left out of most of their slick equations. I don’t have an MBA and frankly I don’t want one. I appreciate the folks who have worked hard to accomplish an MBA, but if we all had an MBA then no one would think like the employees the resources who generate revenue. Corporations that get it are communicating with their employees and actually listening to what the employees say. The “I get it” corporations are not complacent, they are fostering a sense of communication that exists in social media. A give and take communication environment that creates trust (see Chris Brogan) , which makes employees feel important, wanted, and happy.

As social media changes our culture people expect more honesty, trust, and respect in their communication with others. People are quick to cue in on less than honest communication or complacent communication that makes them feel unimportant. People are expecting honesty in the communication they receive from their employers. No, this is not where I play a few versus of Kum-bi-ya. The idea of an employer providing honesty in their communication with their employees is not science fiction. Take that a step further and show the employee that you are listening to them. That what they say is actually important and you will win that employee over. Jump up to the next level and implement an employee idea (only good ones) and you will score a huge morale victory with your employees.

Funny that people don’t want to feel like they have no say in the work place. People spend more time at work than they do at home, so it is only natural that they want to find value and importance from their employer while working. I don’t care how sucky or unimportant the job is you can still and listen to an employee. It just may so happen that the garbage man has an operational process improvement that will save money or the police officer on the beat has an “out of the box” idea to reduce crime. Maybe the employees that work at your corporation have the next great idea to help your company generate revenue from streams never considered. Maybe that sound corporations hear is their employees talking about these ideas, but because they are not listening there missing out.

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The US Army Is Up Keeping Up With Social Media

by Mike Vallez on November 2, 2009

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The US army with approximately 1,050,000 active duty soldiers is keeping up with social media when a lot of others are still trying to figure out what a Tweet is. The Army’s brand for their social media efforts is appropriately called Army Live. Social media/new media’s use is only limited by one’s closed mind. In this case the folks at the US Army are paying attention to the communication change that is occurring through web 2.0 and they are responding.

The US Army has no less than 18 blogs on their blog roll and they are all related to the US Army. The blogs range from specific units, the reserves, Army medical (Tricare), Army ROTC, Army Corps of engineers, etc. I will guarantee you by this time next year they will have twice as many blogs or more. But the US Army is not only blogging they are active on no less than at least 8 major social media websites to include Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to name a few. The way the US Army is leveraging social media is very customer service based. They are reaching their members through social media because that is where a lot of their members are spending time.

The use of social media by the US Army is very smart on their part. They realize by offering social media as a communication tool (not the end all be all) that they are empowering their members. How are they empowering their members? By allowing them to blog and express their feelings, their worries, their questions in an open forum. A forum where others in the US Army may also have the same issues and can commiserate with or provide advice to the blogger. The US Army has developed specific rules and procedures for the blogging process, which clearly defines right and wrong behavior while participating in Army Live. One of the biggest takeaways the US Army’s social media efforts is increased morale by their members and as the credit card commercial goes, “that is priceless.” Some takeaways by US Army personnel: a feeling that someone is listening to them (better communication), they are better informed on pertinent army issues, and they are able to keep up with their families through a single expansive US Army social media network.

The US Army is a progressive government agency, especially since their main function is protection of the United States. One would think, the US Army may not want to have a very public image displayed through social media. I think they are being realistic, but cautious. Social media/new media communication is a cultural change, which frankly not even the US Army can stop. Since they cannot stop it they are using social media as a tool to help their communication efforts. I applaud the US Army for their social media implementation and I look forward to watching how they use social media in the future.

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Why Honesty Is Coming Back Via Social Media

by Mike Vallez on October 26, 2009

So to prep for this blog post I decided to post a question on two of my Twitter accounts CrazyMikesapps asking “what is honesty.” I got only one question, but no answers. Is that surprising? Does honesty mean different things to different people? Probably. So not to get too morally righteous, but honesty to me is telling the truth. The truth would be reality, what really happened as opposed to what did not happen or made up excuses.

As I spend more time blogging, Tweeting, posting Facebook updates, I readily see that people do not want to communicate with someone who appears to be fake, dishonest, or a narcissist. One of the fundamental characteristics of social media is transparency, which one could equate to honesty. People want to share their life experiences, but they don’t want to share them with a 54 year old pervert who has a Facebook picture of a twenty year old girl and communicates as such. That is just plain creepy. So ask that person you are communicating with through social media some basic questions. Like what they like to do, what they like to eat, what year were they were born, etc, and do this quickly. If they provided weird answers, or they provide unreasonable delays in answering then maybe you should consider who you are communicating with. Consider they are not who they say they are.

When it comes to social media one who is dishonest can only hide for so long. Bloggers call it the way they see it and if a blogger provides wrong or discrepant information the pack tends to right itself. People unfollow, weirdos, or those who have proven to be untrusted. That is what I love about social media and the honesty that comes from this forum. Not to get political, but from Bill Clinton to George Bush there is this belief that lying is acceptable in a sense by people on both sides of the political spectrum, which is nonsense. Lying is never acceptable and I don’t try to foster some “greater than though” moral righteousness. I have lied and probably will lie again, but that is not the point. The point is a true sense of honesty is alive and kicking in social media websites where millions of people are having conversations.

Who would have thought that “social media” websites would be the catharsis for honesty, not me. Not to be naive, I realize there is plenty of dishonesty on the web, but if you pay attention you can ferret out the dishonest, but you must pay attention. People want honesty. They want truth, they want to feel like they are actually being told something that is not a fairy tale. Take 5 minutes and look at Mashable the social media website for case studies in social media success by corporations. The corporations that are winning at social media are those that are engaging their consumers with a funny little thing called “honesty.”

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Why Customer Service Reigns In Social Media

by Mike Vallez on October 24, 2009

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When I started this blog, Mike’s Social Media Blog I wanted one of my first post’s to be on customer service. Well this blog has been a little neglected due to simply being to damn busy. Yes, no excuse, but putting food on the table, being a good employee to my company Altegrity, and fitting in my family (notice they are last) has been to say the least a balancing act. So I have decided to blast my customer service post out today.

Do any of you see it a little ironic that social media is reviving a sense of customer service? The companies/people who are engaging their consumers in social media and actually listening to them are bringing back a sense of customer service. If you have attended college you have heard a rant or two that the Untied States is fast becoming a “service industry” country. But, go to your local Walmart, doctor, government agency and you would all but think customer service is in the crapper. Here are a couple of real life examples of horrible customer service, which I am sure none of you have experienced (sarcasm).

Example#1-The Surgeon-My wife Lisa was having some problems with her hand and it led us to an orthopedic surgeon. Post MRI, x-ray, initial exam we were at our last appointment before surgery. My wife had an issue with one of the front office personnel at this visit before seeing the surgeon. The issue, we showed up early for our appointment and we continuously had others go before us who arrived after us. Typically not a big deal, but after 45 minutes after her scheduled appointment we began to become annoyed. My wife spoke out to a rather cranky front office person, but within 5 minutes we were in a room, problem solved right, wrong. Apparently, the surgeon was informed we were insurrectionists and he had an attitude upon entering our room, 20 minutes later. He treated my wife like an idiot, her questions were dumb and his answers were evasive. Point blank, we asked him a question about the surgery and his answer, “the pain has nothing to do with the surgery.” The why have the surgery? My wife and I left extremely dismayed that the surgeon was so uninformative and cold during this vist. Neither myself or my wife complained once during this visit.

Now, I like you would think, yes my wife or I caused this problem in the first place. Bull crap! A professional, especially a surgeon who takes an oath to treat his patients with sincerity should be able to overcome agitation (if you can call it that) and keep a good bedside manner. Remember, no matter how you slice it the customer is always right.

Example#2-Government agnecies-There seems to be an almost “carte blanche” attitude that because someone works at a service position in a government agency that they can treat you like crap. For 7 years I conducted federal background investigations and had to obtain police records from law enforcement records sections at numerous agencies. Seemed like no matter what day it was, the majority of the time (80%) most of the folks on the front end of these sections were difficult to communicate with and were resistant to doing their job. Bottom line, they appeared to have a high level of disgust for their jobs, at least from my perception. End result, they dish it back to you and I the consumer, a hard time when we go in for service.

I am not trying to be overly sensitive and, yes, I realize people have off days, bad days, yes I get it. But, I was a waiter during college and while in the police academy. My revenue during this time depended primarily on my tips. I did not receive good tips if I provided terrible service. Maybe the people in the above scenarios would provide better service if they truly received compensation from each service experience they provided.

The reality is people are tired of the bull crap and shotty service they get. They are tired of being treated like mushrooms and kept in the dark. They are tired of having products designed and produced with little to no input, then having those products shoved down their throat (car industry). People have had enough and I don’t blame them. If I am going to spend my money with a business that provides great customer service. So why do some in social media get it when it comes to “customer service?”

The basis of social media is to listen, engage, and to provide others with something of value. The irony is the web is the last place you think this positive “customer service” movement would have started. Bloggers to their credit have pushed this issue by blogging about everything. Social media customer service has blossomed from this movement. Yes, movement! There is a cultural change at foot and the change is a sense of inclusion into business models, inclusion of you and I the lowly consumer, end user, people with the money. This movement also includes law enforcement.

Law enforcement agencies like the Boca Raton PD and the Lakeland PD get it. They realize they can offer better law enforcement protection by getting their citizens involved through social media, because that is where a lot of their citizens are getting information. Instead of waiting to see if social media will last more than a couple more years these agencies are aggressively attempting to add this piece of the communication puzzle to their existing communication plans. By doing this they are providing their citizens better customer service. They are offering more, becoming more transparent, listening to their constituents, etc. These law enforcement agencies are providing a level of customer service not often seen in law enforcement (wow what a breath of fresh air).

My customer service goal is to be able to provide my wife, boss, kids, friends, acquaintances, and anyone I have contact with a great experience when dealing with them. Making them feel special, included, and important. People want that extra touch service that makes them feel special.

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It’s Just A Little Bug Bite!

by Mike Vallez on October 12, 2009

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