Facebook Gifts

Facebook is introducing a new feature, Gifts!

This new feature allows you to send real gifts to your Facebook friends. When I logged in to Facebook this morning, I saw this:

Facebook Gift link on profile

A new entry called Gifts between  App Center and Games Feed. As you can see in the next screenshot, Facebook has made it really easy to send gifts to friends.

How to send gifts to Facebook Friends

You can send gifts in a few simple steps. Browse for the right gift to send to your friend, Add your message and send!

Facebook Wine Gift

They have a decent collection of gift items, from chocolates to cards to variety of wines.

What are the countries supported by Facebook Gifts?
According to their help page:

Counties supported by Facebook Gifts

"Please note, the ability to send or receive a gift is currently limited to people located within the United States. If you are located within the US, you will only see the option to give a gift to friends also located in the US."

So, if you are living outside of US, you have to wait for Facebook to launch this feature in your country.

Some interesting things to know about Facebook Gifts:

• You don't need to know your friend's address to be able to send gifts!
• Your friend won't see the price of the gift!
• They can choose a different size, color or style(if it's available)
• They can even swap it for another similarly priced gift before it ships!
• Your friends gets to decide the shipping address.

Sounds interesting right?  Go to https://www.facebook.com/about/gifts to watch introductory video.Or head to their help page for more information.

Happy Gifting!

What Are Testimonials

A testimonial is a statement made by a person in praise of a particular product or service. Wikipedia says:

"In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of some product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whereas the word "endorsement" usually applies to pitches by celebrities. Testimonials can be part of communal marketing."

You can go to Wikipedia page for Testimonials to read more.

This is the first post in a series of blog posts I plan to write about the importance of testimonials for your business and personal life.

Testimonials play an important role in social connections. The first thing you do after meeting an interesting person is to find her on Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter. Reason to do that is very simple. You are always looking for some references while making new connections. Common friends, common connections, common social groups. Something to find a connection some how. You ask common friends about the new person. In summary, you are trying to get a handle on her Reputation.

Testimonials are important for both individuals and businesses. In this post, I will talk about testimonials for businesses.

Testimonials can be used as a powerful marketing tool. It's through testimonials that you tell the world what your past and current customers think about your business.

Due to the increased use of Internet, customers have access to many more tools and services than ever before. Internet users use Google and other search engines to find products and services. That makes online presence a must for even offline businesses. Whether your business is offline or online in nature, you have to have a strong online presence. 

Search engine visibility and a good page rank are crucial for getting prospects(prospective customers) to your website. However, having more people visit your business website is not your end goal. The end goal is to make them trust your business and do business with you. It could be purchasing a downloadable software package or signing up for a web service. This is where Testimonials come into picture.

In future blog posts, I will be writing more on testimonials.