Facebook Timeline for Pages

One of the fun parts of my job is to stay on top of every…single…new…tool that comes out. I grew up on the internet and have been doing this whole internet marketing thing since the Prodigy days, so it’s in my blood.

Insider tip: you DO NOT have to be first!

This is a common misconception online. You may even see comments like “FIRST” on popular blogs. Just like those commenters, if you are FIRST but look like an idiot, you’re still an idiot.

Should I switch to the new Timeline?

Yes, you don’t have a choice. But you don’t have to do it this second. PADI just released sidemount course materials, did you go out and immediately buy sidemount gear? I sure hope not.

There’s a preview option for a reason.

There’s also in-depth help and rules/regulations regarding your page.

Read these rules first. It would be stupid if you didn’t and ended up jeopardizing your entire Page, especially if you’ve built up thousands of Likes (or hundreds of thousands of Likes).

Your very public face is the new Cover image. Make sure you follow the rules or risk getting your Page suspended (or at least looking foolish):

Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

It’s only been about 12 hours and already I’ve seen “experts” in the industry breaking rules 2, 3 and 4. Oops.

As for New SCUBA Marketing and the other Pages I manage, they’ll be on the new Timeline soon enough, but I’d rather be excellent than first.

While the evil side of me wants to point out who failed at rolling out their Timeline Cover image, they’ll realize their mistakes soon enough and fix them…but I will always have my screen shots 🙂