Advertising on Facebook

I finally gave in and paid for an advertisement on Facebook.

Now, what's especially difficult about advertising, at least in my case, is the fact that I write ninety-nine cent ebooks. I don't sell 'widgets.' I don't even offer a hard copy of my books to put in your hand.

For a long while, I wrestled with what to do. Then I decided I wanted to make the cover recognizable. So, I uploaded that. It was rejected. The text totaled 44% of my image(?). According to their standard, it could not exceed 20%. Here's the rejected cover:

So, I put up a link.

The link connected to my blog post, which offered another link to Amazon, which offered the opportunity to purchase my ebook, McShane Mini-Mystery, The Trilogy of Thrills, a compilation of the first three ninety-nine cent ebooks of the series. How did having to click three separate links do, you might ask? Well, you might. C'mon! You might.

Okay, okay. It did a great benefit. For my JL Mo fb page (feel free to 'like' my page!). For the sales of my ebooks, not so much. But, as the spirit of the great Marketing God has been quoted, "it got my name out there." The stats on the fb page said that my five bucks got me 2,607 views (if you can believe that). I still didn't make enough to cover the five bucks.

The moral of the story? Well, 5 divided by 2607 is 0.0019 (that calculation is for those who have read the books). I couldn't buy that kind of audience, for that price, to see my name in any other forum that I know of.

So, I just keep writing, working, hoping, that one day, someday, maybe I'll make my five bucks back.

Facebook Messages

An important update follows the article.

 



Facebook Messages


 

Facebook has been sending out notifications they are eliminating the message format from their program. They seem genuinely excited about a new app that they want me to install on all of my devices, replacing the current system of “private” conversation between account holders. I fail to share their enthusiasm. There are already several methods of communicating with my friends privately in place. Not the least of which, of course, being the phone. 

A highlight of their new system is people who are not “friends” can still contact one another. I do recall a database which provided that service to the average user. It was called a phone book. But I digress.

I decided to do fb a favor and delete all the messages stored in my account. Once I accessed the database, I found conversations dating back to 2009. Yes, five year old messages.

[sarcasm]To my surprise, no “Select All” option existed[/sarcasm]. Instead, I would be made to go through each individual line of each individual conversation and select “Delete”. Individually.

 

Since this is the manner Facebook utilizes for every single one of its account holders, I understand their need to create a new database format. The more obvious reason for creating a new messaging system however, would be to extend yet another advertising tendril into my social life. By “my social life” of course, I mean, all of ours (Google already has us pretty well wrapped up in that department). Therefore, it is my decision to decline the “new app”.

Should anyone need to contact me (in private), then they should know the half dozen means by which to do so. I'm afraid the new Facebook messaging app will not be one of them.

***

Update:

Since posting this article, new information has come to my attention. I chose not to accept the app sight unseen, so I did not reach the point of their “Terms and Conditions”. Fortunately Sam Fiorella, of Huff Post blog, did that for us. If you are one of the 1,000,000,000 who have downloaded this app, here's what you've agreed to:

·         Messenger can make a phone call without your “intervention”

·         Messenger can record your phone calls without your “intervention”

·         Messenger can read your contact list without your “intervention”

·         Messenger can send a text message without your “intervention”

·         Messenger can read your text messages without your “intervention”

·         Messenger can read your personal profile and send it to others without your “intervention”

·         Messenger can obtain other accounts you have set up on your phone without your “intervention”

You can read Sam Fiorella”s article here: The Insidiousness of Facebook Messenger's Mobile App Terms of Service. But, personally, had I downloaded Messenger, I delete it first, before doing anything else.

That is, if you're allowed to.

Facebook Strikes Again

Facebook Strikes Again

I'm a realist. One life lesson I've imparted to my children is "Privacy is a thing of the past. Deal with it." I still take the precautions I can, but the entities have their way around our paltry, pitiful defenses. I still try to make it a little difficult for them. So, when I get those messages about how the corporations and/or government is monitoring us, all I can do is shrug.

This morning I read an article in USA Today advising five things to do on your facebook page for your privacy's sake. The first was clearing all your searches, and that made perfect sense to me. So I decided to check it out. The first item became the first problem. The article explains how to go to the activity log and clear all the searches so fb won't have this info to sell to their advertisers. The problem? The referenced "Clear All Searches" under "Activity Log" doesn't exist on my page. Instead, I can only access one item at a time and unlike, thereby removing it from my timeline.

I wonder, was the author wrong, or has the machination of facebook already covered their loss of information by simply removing one option? Do you have any idea how many posts you've liked? Check it out under Activity Log. I bet it's a bunch. I'd be sitting here all day doing that. I pretty sure fb was counting on that.

Here's a link for you to try your hand at thwarting the monster. 5 Facebook Tweaks to Make Right Now -
(http://usat.ly/PqNLL

Fashion Statement

Has anyone else noticed the latest fashion statement presented on television and in the movies? It’s a unisex design of shirts tucked in the front and left out on the sides and back. 

My husband has labeled this as a Fashion Mullet! Business in the front, party in the back! 

Bwahahahaha!

Groupon Ads

I received an email ad in my inbox today with a banner reading, “Get out and have fun.”

The ad offered six online classes, two television related offers, two board games, one software package, an iPod docking station, one magazine subscription, one projector (yes, projector) and a savings on $40 t-shirts.

So, I’ll wear my $40 t-shirt and take six computer classes while downloading software and watching television. I’ll listen to my iPod while reading my magazines and flipping through my favorite slides. Then I’ll play a board game with, um, well; maybe my online classmates would like to Skype a game!

If there were such a thing as truth in advertising, the banner would have read,  "Stay in and let us sell you more stuff."