The first thing I did was take a look at the source of that other institution’s page.  Somehow they were able to work code where the profile picture should be.  After a little research I realized that Facebook has its own markup language (aptly named “FBML”) that somewhat resembles HTML.  So here’s the process I came up with for adding this additional functionality to our page:

1.  You’ll need to add FBML as an application on your page.  It’ll look like this on your “Edit Page” screen:

NOTE: Adding this application will add an FBML “box” on your page — you should be able to edit whether not that is displayed. We don’t need it to be displayed; more on that later.

2.  When you go to the FMBL application within your page, you’ll be able to input the code you’d like to see displayed in the profile picture area of your page. You might need to spend a little time learning FBML, and here’s the best resource for learning and testing your code. Here’s what we have going on there (.odt file, please steal if you like!), however, I make no promises about it meeting any web standards!

3.  Head to your “Profile Picture” on your “Edit Page” screen, and hit “edit.”  You’ll see option now available at the bottom of the screen. Make sure “FBML” is checked:

4.  After saving, Facebook should now render/display that code in the profile picture area of your Facebook Page! Enjoy!

]]> http://admittedlydutch.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/do-more-with-your-colleges-facebook-pageprofile/feed/ 6 admittedlydutch fbml profile_pic http://admittedlydutch.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/latest-project-monthly-video-updates/ http://admittedlydutch.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/latest-project-monthly-video-updates/#comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:45:35 +0000 Andrew http://admittedlydutch.wordpress.com/?p=187 ]]> I’m pretty excited about the latest project we have going.  We recently picked up a Kodak Zi6** (pocket video camera), a cheap ($159) camera that shoots in HD at 720p.  I was initially intrigued at the idea of taking quality video from campus events (traditional events, athletics, arts events, etc.).  I then realized that video could be a great medium for delivering short messages about admissions-related topics.

The following video is our first attempt at addressing one of these topics; in this case, a brief reminder to students to apply by our early notification deadline.  We shot the video in one hour, it took me about two hours to edit on my MacBook Pro, and I used iMovie 6 HD, iMovie ’08, and Garageband (for the music).  I have to say I’m pretty proud of the opening title graphic which I created from scratch in Adobe Fireworks!

I welcome your feedback!  We’re always looking to improve our efforts.

** Many thanks to Brad Ward for pointing out the Kodak Zi6, which just came out this past September.

• On my way up from Columbus I stopped for lunch at a Chick-fil-a.  I was totally and pleasantly surprised by the conservative values of this place.  It isn’t open on Sundays, they had Christian music on the in-house radio, and the last one is the kicker: in front of each cash register there are placards that read, “God’s commandment is to not steal.”  You might be put off by all of this, but it’s refreshing to me that a company in this time would be so willing to stick to its values.
• I actually had a student look at the state abbreviation “MI” and think we are located in Maryland.  Wow, there is definitely no “i” in Maryland.
• Real conversation from a college fair this week:
  • Student: “Y’all Division I for sports?”
  • Me: “No, we’re actually Division III.”
  • Student (under her breath): “Ain’t no hot guys there.”
• Participated in three mall fairs this week. Spent time in front of Lens Crafters, Sprint, and the Bon Ton. Always interesting.
• Had a really productive workday at Starbucks on Friday. Worked through 3 HTML emails for the month of October. We’ve been averaging around 16% read rates on them — pretty excited about that.

Overall it’s been a really positive week for us in New York.  I always look forward to going back to Michigan, though.  As I put it to one of my New York colleagues this week, “at college fairs back home, I’m a rockstar!”.

• For the second year in a row I came across wild turkeys on my first day.  Reminded me of the rural community I grew up in!
• I don’t know about my other “road warrior” peers in admissions office across the country, but McDonald’s is my lifeline on the road.  Not because I feel the need to down a Quarter-Pounder every day (although they are delicious), but because the coffee is good and all have wi-fi (some even free).  Between visits, this is my place to hang out.
• We picked up an additional GPS unit for the office this summer, so I have a TomTom ONE 130 in my car at all times.  It’s invaluable for planning my day and keeping track of how long it’s going to take to get from place to place.
• I’m always amazed by how varied reactions to my visits are from guidance/counseling offices and career centers.  We provide a free service to the students of these schools, and yet some counselors seem almost inconvenienced by our being there.  I know schools are cutting back on funding in key areas like guidance, but we’re there to supplement the services they offer.
• This is the fourth fall that I’ve spent on the road, and I finally feel like I’m settling in when it comes to presenting at high schools.  I’ve gotten to the point where I know Hope enough that I can focus on how it related to the students’ lives.  That makes the “sell” so much easier.  Nothing can take the place of a genuine interest in the student’s future, however.  My goal: listen to what each student says and respond.

I continue on in the coming weeks to New York, Traverse City, Petoskey, Cadillac, and other locations.  I’ll be posting updates at the end of each week.  Cheers to all of my colleagues who are currently on the road as well!

With that I would like to introduce my Pop Culture Picks.  From time to time I’d like to share music, TV, and movies selections I believe are impacting the 17 and 18-year-olds we are working with.

This first piece is all about a great live album I picked up earlier this summer: “Where The Light Is” by John Mayer.

I’ve been a John Mayer fan for some time now, having listened to No Such Thing, Heavier Things, and Continuum, and having picked up one of his earlier live albums, As/Is.  This latest album does not disappoint — it covers hits and rarities from the whole of Mayer’s career.  Check it out.

Side note: I was in Circuit City this weekend and saw the Blu-Ray disc of this concert being played on what was probably a 60″ LCD (with surround sound).  It was pretty amazing!

Have another pick you’d like to share?  Be sure to leave a comment — I’d be glad to know what you’re listening to and watching!

As you can tell, we are using a basic 2-column format with a ton of opportunities for prospective students to click through to items we believe are important.  The main body area on the right includes information specific to the particular email we are sending.

So I’m putting it out there for my colleagues and readers of “Admittedly Dutch.”  What do you like?  What would you change?

NOTE:  For a “working version” of one of our email campaigns, click here.

I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, but none of it would have been possible without kuler, one of my newest sources for design inspiration. With no color theory background to my credit, this site has been an excellent resource.

I needed to come up with a gradient scheme for the background of the logo, so I simply did a search for “sky” among the themes that other users have created. From there I was able to pull a couple of my favorite colors (using hex values) to create my gradient.

Users can also upload a photo (or quickly import from Flickr) and Kuler will create a theme from that photo. So slick.

The pièce de résistance?  A Dashboard widget for Mac.

When I stumbled across a $100 credit available for Facebook Ads, I knew there was some real potential there for driving traffic to our Page on Facebook.  Here’s what we came up with:

I have to admit that I have been pretty skeptical about the idea of online advertising. On too many sites is ad revenue to the driving force alongside the content I really care about. I’ve questioned whether there is a place for higher education in online advertising.

When Facebook launched its ads platform in 2007, I felt like the site had become estranged from the collegiate beauty that it once had. That being said, the ads featured on the left (now right) sidebar have been relatively unobtrusive and some have even been interesting enough for me to click on.

So we went with the program, trying our both of Facebook’s pay-per-click and pay-per-impressions models. We targeted students aged 16-18 that are in high school, and we targeted our main out of region students.  No Michigan students were included in these ads. The first two rows of data in the following table were our main tests; #3 and #4 were simply used to burn our remaining ad credit:

We are pleased with the results, and during the time the ads were running, this was our growth in terms of fans of the Hope Admissions Page on Facebook:

We nearly doubled our fanbase while the ads were running.  It most likely wasn’t all due to the campaigns, but there must be some kind of correlation there.

A key feature to the success of Facebook Ads is the social nature of the site. Students see what pages their friends have become fans of and it encourages them to click through to those sites as well.  I’m not sure what we’ll do with these in the future, but if we had $5.00 to budget each day for ads, it might be well worth the money. If even one student were influenced to apply/enroll based on a Facebook Ad, it would definitely pay for itself.

It’s gotten to be so much that I’ve been keeping NetNewsWire closed during the day so that I’m not continually distracted by new items from my feeds.  I have become more reliant on to-do lists to get things done, something I didn’t necessarily need to do in the past.  I’m constantly trying to invent new strategies to navigate all of new material coming in my direction.

Information and opportunity on the Internet are expanding at such an amazing rate — how will the modern workplace of my generation respond?