I’m sure you’ve heard of Facebook. It doesn’t matter if you are on it or not, active or not, or hate it or not; if you are on the Internet, you know what Facebook is. Safe to say that after nearly a decade, Facebook is still going strong and affecting the lives of millions every day. And if you have been on it for years, you would have known about some of the things Facebook users do that just makes no sense.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

But I guess this is just the new wave coming (or is it here already?). It’s quite common to see Facebookers post photos of their meals, self-portraits of them sleeping (don’t ask me why) or secret tips about how to stay healthy without exercising (hm…). If you find this silly, remember back to the time when we were sending chain mails because we don’t want to die in 7 days.

Here are 20 other things Facebookers should know by now (but still has to be said).

Recommended Reading: Facebook Etiquette: 10 Do’s and Don’ts

1. Facebook is free

… and it is going to stay that way. To be fair, you don’t have to pay with money to stay on Facebook. You may however need to pay with other things, like your data, or being subjected to ads, products and messages from advertisers.

2. Sick Babies and Charities

Do sick babies need your ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares’ to get Facebook to donate money to them? Nope. What they need is treatment for their illness, and for people to respect their privacy and not take advantage of their photos. Your clicks do help make money, for the pages that are sharing these messages.

‘Likes’ increase the fan base, ‘Shares’ give them exposure. Everything makes sense now, doesn’t it?

3. ‘Shares’ do not make you money

If the family of sick babies are not getting any money, why do you think you are getting some just for sharing? Even if Bill Gates holds up a (Photoshopped) sign saying you get 5 grand for clicking ‘Share’. Seriously, people.

You know about the think before you print move right? Maybe we should start a ‘Think Before You Share’ movement.

4. Game Invites Are Bad For Relationships

Game invites and requests are a major source of relationship breakdowns. If you play Facebook games, please try to not send help requests indiscriminately. It’s for your own good.

5. Credibility on Facebook

Not everything you read on Facebook is true. If any particular food is inducing cancer in people, reports would have been filed and it would have been taken off shelves. It takes two minutes to copy and paste the gist of the message into Google and to check if it is a hoax or not. Two minutes. Otherwise, check the image.

6. Tell-tale Images

The fastest shortcut to checking out shocking things you find on Facebook is to check the image attached to the info, if there is one. For instance, I came across a circulating hoax about Vitamin C, seafood and arsenic poisoning. The idea is you shouldn’t take ascorbic acid (that’s Vitamin C) with prawn, shrimp or any type of seafood because the combo is going to produce arsenic and kill you (or something like that… I don’t know. I’ll admit it; I didn’t read the whole thing.)

Problem is, the photo that was attached to the warning was actually a photo of a brave protester who was shot and killed in a protest in Iran, 2009. Google Image will probably help in that area.

And if you are still wondering if this arsenic poisoning story is true or not, you better stop using lemon on your sea bass.

7. Tagging and Access

Tagging a friend’s name into one of your shared photos will give their friends access to your photo. Translation: every friend you tag into your photos have friends that you do not know. And whatever drunken, funny, ridiculous or humiliating photo you tag your friends in, shows up on their friends’ feed as well.

8. Being Too Vocal

Facebook has always been the cure for a narcissistic rant. If you want people to like you, don’t voice your opinions on religious, political or sensitive issues. If you can’t help it, it’s fine, just don’t expect people to like your statuses as much as you do. And the world is at peace again.

But while we’re on the subject…

9. Liking Your Own Post

Liking your own post… hm…

(Image Source: 9gag)

It is kind of like giving yourself a high five, at times it’s like you are comforting yourself for coming in last in a marathon. It’s part congratulatory, part consoling, and you know it is bad when your own Like is the only one registered there. You posted it, so don’t you think that counts as a Like already?

10. Two Blocks Make No Friends

If Timmy and Tommy block each other, Facebook automatically breaks them up. With a two-way block, you both get pushed back to the ‘Send friend request’ stage. This is a super awkward conversation piece in parties and get-togethers. See #11 for a solution.

11. Stay Friendly

Did you know that you can keep someone out of your feed but still keep them as friends? If some of your friends tire you out with never-ending repeats of things you do not want to see, just opt out of seeing them in your news feed. Check this post on how you can better manage your Facebook Wall Feeds. Note however that they can still see your feed.

12. Pending Friend Requests

Some people just don’t like adding ‘friends’. It doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t want to be a friend, it just means that they don’t want you gaining access to their inner circles and thoughts. This is understandable when you are the boss’s daughter and company employees are delaying their approval of your friend request. *hint hint*

13. Private or Public

There is the option to set whatever you share to turn up only in your Friends’ feed or publicly. If you open your Facebook to subscription and hence have followers, this is your way to keep your personal feeds to just your friend’s views and other stuff for public scrutiny.

14. Practise Self-Restraint

I love Ellen, and the crazy things she does on her show, particular one that outs people for the humiliating things they do on Facebook on nationwide TV. Yeah, if it’s Not Safe For Mom, don’t put it up on your Facebook because once it is out there, it’s out there. Ellen will make sure of it (and give you an iPad so you won’t sue her).

15. Privacy and Facebook

Yes, Facebook has lousy privacy settings but unless you are in the witness protection program or put someone in there, privacy should be the least of your worries. If it still is, that would mean that you are posting something up there that you don’t want some people to know.

Choose to share it and expect it to end up somewhere you may not like or don’t post it, and take the secret to your grave. See, you do have a choice.

16. Log Out on Shared Computers

Sharing is caring, unless it has to do with your Facebook. When viewing your Facebook account on someone else’s device, remember that the Log Out button is your friend. Avoid being the victim of a friendly ‘hack’ or worse, losing your account and everything attached to it to an actual hacker.

17. Attitude Counts

If you run a page, don’t treat it like a personal profile. Having a bad attitude or lousy PR skills negates your role as a social profile manager. Don’t bash your customers even if they are trolls, even if they are ‘asking for it’. It’s never worth it.

18. Giving Exposure

Facebook is one of the most powerful (if not the most) news-spreading tool on the Internet right now. Whatever it is that you share, you direct traffic to. If you come across a video that is showing cruelty to animals which makes you angry, the last thing you want to do is sharing the video and saying your thoughts about it.

Why? Because you are helping the video gain exposure; you are helping to spread the video. There is no such thing as bad publicity on the Internet or on Facebook. Wherever you drive traffic to, the receiver will thank you for it.

19. Speak the world’s language

It’s hard to find friends from other countries, cultures or backgrounds if you keep insisting that they speak your language. If you want to mingle, let your friends use whichever language they want, while you use Google Translate or the ‘See translation’ link you see below statuses made in foreign languages.

20. ‘Complaining to’ Versus ‘Complaining About’

Suffered an injustice in the hands of a bad waiter, a roach in your salad, a faulty product or a rude sales rep? Don’t take it to your own facebook wall to complain about them; take it up with their social media page.

You can send them a private message or post it on their Wall but try to be civil about it (hard as it may seems). If you want to release frustration, remember that the person in charge of the wall will probably be a different person than the one who made you angry. Sought for a solution rather than retribution.

Drop in your two cents. I know you have plenty. Floor’s yours.

Editor’s note: This is a contributed post by Addison Duvall, author of Food Identities, a blog that explores the crossroads of food, design, and culture. She’s written some things, designed other things, and eaten a whole lot of food.

As a freelancer, raising your rates after a certain point is essential not only to your growth as a creative business owner, but to the quality of clients you have access to. The cheaper you’re willing to work, the less interest you’ll attract from high profile clients. No top shelf client is going to want to work with someone who is cheap. Why? Because, to them, it means that you’re probably not very good.

Psychologically, something happens in our brains when we see a product or service on sale for cheap. We automatically devalue it – even if it’s of good value. That’s why, as a designer, it’s extremely important not to be seen as the cheap solution.

It’s incredibly hard to get out of that rut once you’re in it. But not to worry, we’re going to go over how to overcome that hurdle, so that you can have access to the quality clients you deserve.

Recommended Reading: How To Become A High-Demand Designer (And Get The Good Clients)

Ask Not What Your Client Can Do For You…

Here’s how most freelance designers attempt to raise their rates. They start with a nice, slightly timid email that goes something like this:

Hi so-and-so, just wanted to let you know I’ll be raising my rates.
Sorry to have to do this, but well, you know how it is.

Okay, maybe it’s not exactly in those words, but that’s the general idea.

There’s a reason why this doesn’t fly with many clients, and it’s not because they’re all cheapskates who don’t understand the value of your work. The reason this approach rarely works well is because your client has mentally locked you in as being “worth” a certain amount of money.

Read Also: Why Don’t People Want To Pay For Good Design?

What’s Your Value?

They probably haven’t done it maliciously, but regardless, that’s how they see you. Your amount of value for X amount of dollars. The way to get around this hurdle is to approach your clients from a value-based perspective, rather than a money-based one.

Rather than simply announcing that you’re going to be raising your rates, think about the kind of value you can provide your clients that would make them eager to pay you more.

Client Surveys

If you don’t know the answer, ask them to fill out a client survey. If you’ve done client surveys before, make this one a little bit different. In this survey, you’re trying to figure out what your client’s major concerns are in their business.

Keep the emphasis on what they need; ask what you could do that would make their business more successful.

A Little Bit More

After you’ve learned what, specifically, your client is looking for in terms of value, it’s time to send them an email detailing your rate change.

Gentle Reminder

First, remind your client exactly what you’ve already done to provide value. This is crucial to establishing yourself as a freelancer who has been an important asset to your client’s success. (This is your time to brag, so be specific). You didn’t just design a website, a logo, or a branded image. You revitalized their business: helped them improve their traffic flow, increased their visibility, helped them make more money.

Based on your survey results, which hopefully you’ve done with all of your current and recent clients, you will have gotten a sense of the general things the majority of your clients are looking for. The next thing to include in your email is some sort of acknowledgement of this need.

Trial Run

This will be your ‘bait’, so to speak – you’re going to reel the client in on the strength of this next offer. If your clients are really looking for a specific way to get more Twitter followers, for example, try offering them that one service, free of charge. That’s right, this is one time where working for free will actually be a benefit.

The purpose of this offer is not to give away valuable services for free. You’ll want to restrict it to just one service offer, for a limited number of hours. Just a taste of the value they’ll be getting at your newly adjusted rate.

Now if this is a good client whom you’ve had a good run with, be sure to let them know that. You’ve helped them with some very important parts of their business – their online presence, their brand, their reputation with their customers. This makes you and your client part of the same money-making team.

Make The Announcement

So now you’ve detailed exactly what you’ve done for your client so far. You’ve offered to provide even more value going forward. You’ve laid the foundation to announce your new higher rate. Be clear about what your rates are now, and what they’re going to be in the near future. This is no time to get wishy-washy or timid, no excuses or apologies are necessary – or appropriate.

You work very hard to provide a valuable service to your clients. If you really believe you deserve a raise, your client will believe it as well. If you don’t believe you deserve a raise, they’ll believe that also. So be firm and give a solid ‘no’ to any offers to haggle. If this means you lose a client or two, then so be it. Perhaps you can refer them to another service provider who is more in line with their price range.

The Icing On The Cake

But don’t just stop there! There’s one more important step to cinching the deal and making your clients thrilled to give you more money. The final part of your email ought to include some sort of plan of action you intend to take in the next 2 weeks, 30 days, 3 months, or whatever block of time you feel is appropriate to the work you do.

Give your client something to look forward to, so that they can immediately see the benefit to keeping you around. How long would it take them to find another designer as organized and dedicated as you are? If they are a valuable client, they won’t be interested in finding out.

Why take time out of their schedule to find someone cheaper to do an inferior job when they have a superstar offering them the perfect solution right now? When your clients know they are getting real value, saving real time, making real revenue, they’re less likely to quibble on price.

In Conclusion

If all of this sounds like more work than you may have signed up for in the beginning, that’s a good indication to re-evaluate your relationship to providing value for your clients. If you think about it, you’re already getting paid a certain rate for the type of work you do.

Logically, there is no reason to request more money for the exact same thing you’re doing now – going above and beyond your current level is the only way to confidently ask for a raise. As the saying goes, the more you give, the more you get; and nowhere is that more true than in the freelancer-client dynamic.

What Do You Think?What are some strategies you use to raise your rates? Is there anything you can improve on in order to create the kind of valuable relationship with your clients that you want?

[Windows only] If you own an iPhone and work mostly on Windows, you will find limitations and restrictions to managing your iPhone data via iTunes. You will probably need another app to manage your contacts, edit your calendar and yet another to backup your text messages. Should managing your iPhone data really be such a hassle?

Well, not when you use CopyTrans Contacts, a Windows program that allows you to manage your iPhone contacts, calendar and text messages all from the same app.

Recommended Reading: How To Set IPhone On Silent Mode Except For Selected Group

Managing Contacts

To start, download and install CopyTrans Contacts. After installing, connect your iPhone to your computer via USB. Now, run CopyTrans and choose CopyTrans Contacts.

Then, click on the ‘Contact’ icon on the left sidebar to access the Contacts page.

You can add a new contact by clicking the ‘+ New contact’ icon.

It will open a new page where you input the details of your new contact. After you’re done click ‘Apply changes’ and it will save to your phone.

You can also back up your contacts using CopyTrans. To do this, just click on ‘Export contacts’.

It will open a new window which will show different types of backup options you can choose from. You can save your contacts to your computer or transfer your contacts to other devices.

After choosing ‘Save your address book’, all of your contacts are now saved in your computer.

Managing Calendar

To manage your calendar with CopyTrans, first, connect your iPhone via USB to your computer, run CopyTrans and wait for it to finish syncing.

Now, click on the ‘Calendar’ icon on the left sidebar.

You’ll notice that all of your calendar events are displayed. To edit your calendar, just click on the selected event and you can drag it and drop it to the time slot you want.

You also can adjust the starting time and the endtime for the event by dragging the bottom line of any hour and extending it to the hour you want.

To change dates of events, navigate your calendar to ‘week view’ or ‘month view’ and simply drag the event to a different date.

Managing SMS

Apart from managing your SMS, CopyTrans also can be used to manage your MMS and iMessage.

Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB. Click on the ‘speech bubble’ icon and your messages will load.

On the text messages list, there’s a small box on the left where you can tick which message history you want to back up. Tick the ones you wish to back up and click on ‘Export selected’.

After exporting it, the backed up files will be in HTML format.

Double-click on the backed up files and it will open on your default browser where you can read your messages.

Limitations

The free version of CopyTrans only allows you to do 50 actions, so, when you’re out of actions you can’t edit anything anymore on CopyTrans. However, you can gain more ‘actions’ by helping to spread the word about CopyTrans on Twitter or Facebook.

Alternatively you can buy CopyTrans for a one-time fee of $12.99, with 1 year of free updates. Note that after this first year, you will not receive anymore updates.