However, Facebook doesn’t make it easy and there are lots of fan pages out there with garbled looking logos to prove it. For many, the first impulse when setting up an organization’s fan page is to upload whatever logo graphic is on file… without taking into consideration how Facebook’s going to re-size and then compress it. Unfortunately, logos with text and clean lines don’t scale or compress as cleanly as images of people with softer outlines. So, your otherwise clean, beautiful and sharp logo ends up looking squashed, desaturated and blurry when displayed on your fan page. Bleh.

Now, Facebook’s likely going to compress any picture you upload (it’s an easy way to save space and reduce bandwidth), but there’s still hope, which is where size really begins to matter. If you know Facebook’s going to re-size your image to a fixed width of 200px and then compress it, you might as well take the re-sizing bit out of the equation. Image editors like Photoshop or Fireworks are much better at scaling your logos and images than Facebook’s currently capable of. Pre-scaling your image to a width of 200px using Photoshop or Fireworks, gives your logo the best possible chance of being displayed neatly after it’s uploaded and compressed by Facebook.

Here are two examples of a logo/ image that I uploaded to one of my fan pages (I saved them from the fan page itself after they were uploaded):

The image on the left was originally a larger 285×403 px image that was both re-sized down to 200×283 px and compressed by Facebook… the image on the right was the same 285×403 px image, pre-scaled down to 200×283 px using Fireworks and then compressed by Facebook. As you can see, the image on the right is sharper, particularly around the text as well as the detail in the snow, and it’s not as desaturated as the image on the left. The image on the left almost appears out of focus.

To some, it might seem insignificant and you may go ahead and upload your image without first adjusting its size. However, remember that my original image wasn’t much wider than the size eventually displayed on Facebook (it only went from 285×403 px down to 200x283px). If the logo portion had been smaller in relation to its background image, the text would likely have ended up being even more blurry.

Because the only dimension Facebook holds fixed is the width (200px), it’s the only dimension you need to worry about when scaling your image. With the horizontal and vertical scales constrained in relation to one another in your image editor, simply set the width to 200px and let the height be whatever it may.

Quick Steps:

1. For the maximum amount of clarity, I recommend starting with the highest quality copy of your logo, and try to make it fill the width of the image you’ll be exporting (like the example above),

2. Scale your entire image in a constrained ratio down to a width of 200px in either Photoshop or Fireworks,

3. Export your image in the highest quality jpeg format possible and then upload it to your Facebook fan page.

Improving Facebook profile pictures and album photos

The same principal applies to Facebook profile pictures and album photos… although I don’t recommend scaling your profile pictures down to a width of 200 px, because you preferably want to allow your friends to be able to click on it and view a larger copy.

Photographers on the other hand may appreciate a little extra clarity in their album photos. In this case, I recommend uploading a single photo from your camera to Facebook to confirm what size it will eventually be displayed at. Once it’s on Facebook, right click on the expanded photo and save it to your computer. Check to see what the saved photo’s dimensions are. For example, lets say it turns out to be 604x453px… then you would pre-scale all your photos to those exact dimensions (apart from portraits of course) so that Facebook doesn’t re-size them for you, and you maintain as much quality as possible.

It might sound tedious, but you can run a large number of photos through a batch process in Photoshop or Fireworks quite quickly. If you’re a professional photographer, you might appreciate a little more detail in your photos and the extra step may be well worth it!

It light of this, not to mention the growing trend towards social networking, it’s a fantastic time for you or your organization to start blogging. However, before you go jumping on the bandwagon, I should mention that the world of blogging isn’t all rainbows and lollipops. In almost every case, they require a lot of effort and perseverance on your part in order to flourish. Developing a “successful” blog depends on your ability to produce consistent, quality content. That last part’s important so I’ll say it again. Developing a “successful” blog depends on your ability to produce consistent, quality content. That is, great content attracts people and keeps them coming back. Furthermore, in most cases, your ability to create valuable content depends on what you know personally. For instance, I could probably write all day about my experiences as a skier, but I wouldn’t have a clue what to say if I started a blog about knitting. Which brings us to part 1 in this “how to blog” series.

When choosing an idea for your blog, be sure to choose something that you’re knowledgeable about

It’s important to choose a topic that you’re familiar with in order to be able to create valuable, long-term sustainable content. Successful blogs are typically run by people who are either very knowledgeable and/ or passionate about the things they write about. Visitors come to recognize their blogs as valuable resources where they can find more info about topics that interest them on a regular basis… I hope you keep coming back to read my blog because you find it interesting too!

Avoid the “dark side” of blogging

When I say avoid the “dark side” of blogging, I really mean avoid the temptation to run a blog just to try and make money. From time to time, I come across blogs that have more ads on them than decent content, or the author clearly chose a trendy topic he/she knows little about. Your readers are a lot more clever than you think, and if you haven’t chosen a topic that you’re passionate about (money aside), it will become easier for them to spot the longer you carry on. Your readers will begin to pick up on your lack of interest, and loose interest themselves.

Refine your “Niche” over time

There are several blogging references out there that toss around the word “niche” quite a bit. Many of them tell you to keep your blog’s content focused on one very specific topic or niche. It’s been my experience that this type of advice typically comes from bloggers in competitive markets, already saturated by several similar blogs. In an attempt to differentiate themselves, they narrow down their content to a specific topic within a topic. For example, solely blogging about triangle shaped widgets, instead of widgets in general.

Refining your niche to that extent isn’t necessarily bad advice if your blog’s going head to head with lots of similar sites. Or perhaps you’re just crazy about triangle shaped widgets. Being specific might help you grab a piece of the pie too with regards to people performing narrow searches online.

But if you ask me, the happiest, most successful bloggers out there are the ones who afford themselves with a little variety. Instead of blogging about one particular brand of skis, I’d rather blog about different brands, my personal experiences, the places I stay when I’m skiing, etc. Not only will variety help keep things interesting for you personally, but it also increases the pool of topics from which you have to write about. Gauge your own success as you go, and don’t worry too much about how specific your blog is until you develop a sense of what works. If your blog develops a strong following in a particular area, then gradually cater to those interests accordingly.

So in summary,

1. Blog about something that you’re knowledgeable about or really interested in,

2. Don’t do it just for the money. Choose an idea that you’re passionate about,

3. Afford yourself with a little variety when it comes to writing, and worry about carving out your niche later on.

Check back soon for Part 2 in the series, as well as some other interesting content on the way!