Facebook has recently included an automatic content filtering on Page walls. This feature ensures that posts which look like they might be soliciting SPAM are removed from public view and placed in the SPAM folder which is only visible to Page administrators. In addition to this, user posts that are manually marked as spam by Page administrators will also show up in the SPAM filter view. 

To view what is in your Page's SPAM folder, follow this simple video. This video will also show you the options you can choose including removing SPAM from the folder or unmarking the post as SPAM and returning it to the wall.

For more helpful tips like this, be sure to visit the FAQ's page on our website.

Issue Three, January 2011

Welcome and thank you for subscribing to our newsletter!

A lot has happened since the release of our last newsletter in September 2010 with the most exciting being the birth of my baby boy on the 26th November. Tate Patrick makes boy number three and I can now say with all honesty, my little family is complete! With me being on maternity leave, I had to recruit someone to help me keep on top of things and that lucky person was Carmen Franz of franzipaniblankets. Carmen has been a Godsend and I can't thank her enough for her help. She's definitely a treasure!

Other happenings are the semi-rebranding of Support a WAHP. What do you think of the new colour scheme and website layout? I'm loving the brightness of it all. I think it makes us stand out more which has to be a good thing! Speaking of standing out, I have a few more exciting things planned for 2011 so watch this space.

I hope you had a fantastic break over Christmas and are ready to tackle the new year! Keep up the great work and thanks for your support.

BUSINESS PROFILES

FEATURED ARTICLE

Making The Most Of Your Online Presence

Contributed by Karen Gunton of build a little biz

so, you are working on building your little biz from home. like most of us, you probably have ideas for promoting, marketing or selling your thing online. but where do you start? should you make a website? start a blog? create a facebook page? join twitter? send out an email newsletter? what is the difference between all of these things? what is the best one for your biz?

·        website - why you need a website and how to build one yourself

this is like your ‘brick and mortar’ shop. it is where people come to browse, check out your prices and purchase items. just like a brick and mortar, you need to make a good impression the first time people visit: be sure your window display is dazzling, make it easy for people to find what they are looking for, have your price tags visible and easy to understand, make it easy for people to make a purchase and receive their items.

·         blog - http://www.buildalittlebiz.com/blog/category/blogging

if your website is your ‘shop’, your blog is like chatting with customers at the counter. it is where you might share bits about why you do what you do, what you are passionate about, the story behind your products, funny or entertaining tidbits that relate to your shop or your customers, hobbies or common interests you share with the folks who visit your shop. be real, be helpful, be interesting, give people a story to go with the stuff they buy from you.

·         email newsletter - marketing newsletters why you need one how to make one

just like you might subscribe to receive a catalogue from your favourite shop, offer your visitors the opportunity to sign up for an email newsletter. and just like you might look forward to getting that glossy booklet full of goodness in the post, make your biz newsletter just as special: include sneak peeks at new products, special VIP offers for your most valued clients, helpful tips and advice that your subscribers will look forward too.

·         facebook page - making the most of your little biz facebook page

you’ve got your shop (your website) so facebook is kind of like having a guy dressed up as a chicken out front waving to customers and handing out flyers and giving kids balloons. it is a way of drawing people inside your shop, letting people know about special offers or contests you have going on, chatting up people on the street and getting them to come inside and like your stuff.

(by the way, facebook should not be your shop. you should really have an website/online store that is separate from facebook, otherwise you are at the mercy of facebook and all of its random changes and numerous glitches. you have very little control of what facebook decides to do next, so have your own site that you control. also, it is more professional. just sayin’.)

·         twitter - social media twitter everything you need to know to get started

twitter is kind of like hanging out at the local pub with all of your favourite customers, supportive friends, fellow little business owners, even a local celebrity or two. you might catch up with a customer, share some ideas or tips with another biz owner, answer a question for someone in the community or maybe just sit back and listen in on the conversations around you. if you were down at the pub you wouldn’t go on and on about your little biz all of the time, that wouldn’t be very endearing. you would connect with people, build relationships, share, learn, listen.... that’s what you should be doing on twitter.

you don’t need to master all of these components at once. add one to your business plan and when you have that up and running, add another... there is a role for each of them and each can add something valuable to your biz. good luck, and have fun! =)

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FEATURED ARTICLE

Insurance - Child Trauma Cover

Contributed by Joanna Traill of Traill Insurance Solutions

Picture the scene - A couple with young children, earning a reasonable income with a home and a couple of cars.  I think we can agree they are doing OK.  Let’s also assume that unlike many Australians, this couple have the right amount and types of life insurance in place.

If anything happens to either of them, they are covered.

But what if something terrible happened to one of their children?

While serious childhood illness is not something most people want to dwell on, the fact is that children suffer serious traumatic illnesses and accidents. And in these circumstances, as parents, we would do absolutely everything in our power to help them.

Stopping work for months or even years to care for a child who has a serious illness or injury can have devastating financial consequences, so much so that some parents simply won’t be able to afford to do it.

Additionally, there are likely to be substantial out-of-pocket costs associated with treatment, travel costs and medicines. 

People with young families are generally at their most exposed financially, with mortgages, personal loans, and schools fees all adding up. ABS figures¹ show that for couples with children under 5, over 93% have household debt, with the average amount being 2.46 times their annual household income. In both cases these figures represent the highest level of debt of any life stage. On the other hand, household savings are generally low, with the priority for most families being reducing the mortgage.

To say that families find this stage a financial balancing act is an understatement, therefore the importance of life insurance during this time. And yet the majority of life insurance portfolios we see don’t include cover for the one scenario that could bring everything crashing down – having your child suffer a traumatic illness or injury.

Even the statistics on underinsurance tend to focus on scenarios where the husband or wife gets ill or dies. None of them consider the scenario where a child becomes seriously ill.

Why do we tend to overlook this type of cover? It is, after all, widely available, and is far from expensive, with $100,000 cover in most cases only costing around $10 per month. There is generally little underwriting required, so that shouldn’t represent a problem.

Could it simply be that it this type of cover is not ‘front of mind’ – either with advisers or clients? I’m willing to bet that most of you haven’t heard of child cover before!

A good Life Insurance specialist will recognise the financial consequences of a serious child trauma and include it in their recommendations to you, offering significant protection against a scenario which can be financially – as well as emotionally – devastating.

So in summary, please call your adviser today to discuss your family’s needs.  While Life insurance won’t stop the bad things happening, it can ease the financial burden and provide some certainty in the most difficult times.

 1. Australian Social Trends, March 2009, Australian Bureau of Statistics

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